#that's a new one in my books. usually every character I relate to I slap bpd on like it's flex tape

[bunnyhysteria]

a few people are bringing up depression in response to my shen yuan post, and while do what you want yes, I feel this does go back to how people don't know how to write disabled characters as another person brought into light. including mental disabilities.

mayb now I'm projectin on this one, but seein the absolute cluster fuck of shen yuan, it feels strange to go "it's depression!". I see narcissistic personality disorder, other cluster b traits, I see autism, mayb even ocd. he's a paranoid, hot head mess whose constantly calculating every moment. but people don't really know how to contextualize mental illness, especially not the "scary" ones, even if they have mental illness themselves. just slap on depression and anxiety as a bandaid and don't talk about the rest! it's not that people don't want to go further (or at least I have some faith), I just think our current society has not prepared people to step out of the "nice" mental disorders.

so I don't fault anyone who reduces his nonsense into the socially acceptable depression, but I can't act like that it doesn't make me uncomfortable. but also not uncomfortable enough to directly respond to strangers on the interwebs HSKDHDH.

but I also did want to talk about the depression to slob pipeline as well because that's I suppose the part that gets me. he's unwell, so he's a slob and a disgustin mess. a statement that could be made about someone who has depression, but I have a hard time applying the "he" to shen yuan in this case. I'm personally under the "I care so much about my image that I feel like I'm gonna rot from the inside out" type, and my response has been to hyper clean. clean and clean until I can't clean anymore and so I'm stressed that I can't make my space (and by extension myself) better in a small matter of time. I was once a slob in the past as a teen, but I'm immensely embarassed by it. I'm vain, so I take photos of myself with my backdrop being my room, and I will loose my marbles if someone looks down on me because I threw my pjamas onto my bed while gettin changed. no one but me and my family enter my room. no one else even enters the house.

*picks up shen yuan by the scruff of the neck* yer telling me this rich pretty boy obsessed with tryin to get people to take him seriously wouldn't have an instagram or whatever the equivalent would be?? honestly I feel like it would be expected of him, and he might also flaunt his wealth (that he didn't earn) to try to feel better. if you couldn't tell I'm tryin to shove a superiority/inferiority complex onto him over his status. that's just cause I think it'd be funny I don't have any text evidence off the top of my head for that lmao.

ultimately with all this, I just want something different. I want people to step back and look at shen yuan for who he is and then extrapolate out from that and into how they want to play with his character. I don't know how, with all these complex thought processes and characterizations of binghe, we have landed with a very 2d, copy paste version of shen yuan every time. maybe I just need to dig more into shen yuan fan creations, but I have yet found one to step out of the invented fanon version mold or their small variations. and its quite strange to me given how divorced fanon shen yuan is from canon shen yuan. I suppose I'm not used to a fandom with a character so warped away from canon well accepted. dare I say, ooc.

#svsss #shen yuan #text #mine #shout out to my first therapist who looked at my cluster b clusterfuck and went 'yea that's just depression and anxiety' #mam I have psychosis. #also now I'm briefly thinkin of shen jiu and shen yuan in a blender known as DID. I wonder if that's been done. #I feel like its has to have been??? #I'll look it up on ao3 later. mayb. if I feel like it. I will most likely forgor since I'm not that invested in the idea #also shen yuan doesn't have to be my flavour of mental ill that's not the point of the post. I am sharin my experiences as an example of how #he might be instead or just in general mental illness that doesn't fit the mold of 'nice' mental ills #binghe has bpd though I'll say that. the fear of abandonment is strong with this one #strangely im gonna make a wild claim for a character I relate to but I don't see shen yuan as a bpd bitch #that's a new one in my books. usually every character I relate to I slap bpd on like it's flex tape #but it's just not a part of how I interpret his character and I'm not gonna pretzel him into how I am just because #if I'm gonna project I'm gonna use text based sources to at least say that it could be in chatacter #cause do what you want with characters but at some point of pretzeling yer just slapping a canon name onto an oc #and I'm not clickin on a shen yuan fic to read about your oc. like I'm sorry but I'm just not

[popculturebuffet]

Pride Month Triple Feature: Monthly Muppets Madness: Muppet Babies 2018: Gonzorella

Happy pride! Usually pride is a pretty big to do on this blog, with my first pride here being also my first pride publicly as a bisexual man. But with my move pretty much every review I had planned for this month got thrown around. So to make up for it i'm condensing my pride plans into one day. Two shorter reviews and one longer review that i've been trying to do since the first pride, and seems the most timely given everything going on. So with that it's time for Monthly Muppet Madnesss yayyyy. The plan here was changed as with a lot of longer reviews originally planned.. I just wasn't up to doing Return to Labyrinth quite yet. I still plan to, in or outside of pride, but I realized it didn't really FIT the season the way the original movie did. So instead we're going to daycare for this one as we look at the muppet babies reboot. I finally watched some with my young nephew a month or two back while watching him, and honestly.. it's a delight. I can't say how it compares to the original as I watched maybe two episdoes as a kid as it was before my time, though i'm sure i'll be covering some of it eventually, but the reboot is a lovely preschool show. Admitely like most preschool shows it has to be simple: our heroes have some sort of dillema young kids can learn from, they work through it, usually with the help of Nanny(this time played by the incomprable and wonderous Jenny Slate), and we all have a laugh or two. It's not bad, it's just not clearly meant for a 31 year old man, and that's fine. My 2 year old nephew, whose in the target age range, loved it. Not every cartoon has to aim for both adults and kids, and there's still a ncie nod here or there for the adults who do watch. As for this episode in paticular, this one I found while trying to see if the Muppets had done anything related to the Transgender community, as I felt i'd neglected them in previous prides and it was time to rectify that. They hadn't as far as I could tell.. but they did do this episode, in which Gonzo wants to wear a dress, and said episode is not only wholesome and heartwarming.. but also brings up a larger issue kids have been facing lately. As most of you reading this defintely know the right's faviorite new weapon is accusing trans and gender non conforming folks, as well as non binary, gender fluid, and genderqueer persons, of "grooming" children. Which is a fancy and douchey way of saying

While the right has naturally captalized on this as their new boogieman. It's why gender affirming care has been banned several places and why the world truly and clearly sucks right now. So naturally a muppet preschool show just casually saying "it's fine to wear a dress if your a boy" without slapping a label on what Baby Gonzo is just yet... got a lot of the same bollocks. And it's just.. depressing honestly. Disgusting, horrible and hard to stomach, also yes, but mostly depressing that they can't just.. accept that gender has ALWAYS been complicated, it's just now many a person, many who likely always felt lost, know what to call themselves. This isn't some RADICAL NEW CONCEPT, it's just society finally acknowledging that gender isn't binary or assigned at birth. It's why i'm GLAD that more and more kids content like this is making it clear to kids whose parents may not be accepting for very stupid reasons.. that no, your normal.

So as for the episode itself like most Muppet Babies 2018 episodes the premise is a pretty simple dillema of the week: Piggy and Summer are having a princess party based on an old book that says just how it should go. For those less familiar with this version of the series, Summer is an original character, a purple pengy. She fits right in though and i'd honestly love to see her grown up self join the rest of the muppets someday. I mean Skeeter eventually got there via the comics. We also get Rizzo, who lives in the walls of the daycare and shows up ocasoinally to hang out giving us the story of cinderella.

This naturally comes into play given the title: the book says boys dress up at knights and girls as princesses, but Gonzo wants to wear a frilly dress. Gonzo also feels like the perfect charater to do this: he's always been the outsider of the group, someone who on the outside is full of confidence but on the inside is full of self doubt. So having him WANT to simply wear a dress but be too scared of loosing his friends to is a good narrative for him. We know they probably woudln't care or if anyone did the rest would stand up for him, but for a tiny child wanting to wear a dress when boys have typically not done that, it could be scary, not helped again by the many grown people telling them their brainwashed and they don't know what they know. Just as I relate to the adult gonzo, a small child can relate to Gonzo's fears of not being accepted. Hell when I came out as bisexual, i was terrified my family wouldn't accept even though I had zero reason to think they'd be assholes about this and they've been nothing but loving and accepting. It can be hard to be who you are for an adult who knows that most people in their life will accept them, I can't imagine what it'd be like for a small kid.

Rizzo becomes his fairy god rat, and helps him become gonzorella, but tells him the spare wears off at cake o clock, because tha't when they have cake and my brain will just accept that because i'm stretched for time.

The episode goes pretty stock from here: Piggy and Summer try to stick to the book, Gonzo does something Gonzo like make a chicken themed crown or bust a move on the dance floor during a boring ballroom dance, it makes it better, they see "hey being diffrent isn't so bad". It's as subtle as brick to the head.. but it's also for kids around 2-6, ones whose own parents may tell them nto to be so "different", so I can see why subtley isn't really needed and the show still treats kids smartly enough to not feel like it's talking down to them, which is something I feel is necessary in a kids show of any audience. It just tells a story with a moral and while the moral is obvious, it's one kids need to hear and MANY adults need to hear. Naturally gonzo has to run out, his neighbor has been kidnapped... and also the spell is running out. But I like the nice twist: instead of our heroes seeking out our cindy stan din, Gonzo realized he dosen't LIKE having to hide and Rizzo enrouages him that since they liked the other diffrent stuff.. they might like this after all, and Gonzo reveals he likes wearing dresses... and everyone accepts it. Most touchingly Piggy fully apologizes, realizing she made him feel bad and deciding

We get a dance party ending and ew're out

So yeah this episode is good. I didn't have much to say because i'ts both short and not exactly something I need to deeply dive into to understand, but still VERY good for kids, and for muppets fans alike. Thanks for reading

#pride month #gender nonconforming #transgender #genderqueer #gonzo the great #gonzorella #monthly muppets #kermit the frog #miss piggy #summer penguin #rizzo the rat

[author-a-holmes]

I posted 1,037 times in 2022

That's 266 more posts than 2021!

142 posts created (14%)

895 posts reblogged (86%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@author-a-holmes

@faelanvance

@fey-touched-trilogy

@afoolandathief

I tagged 754 of my posts in 2022

Only 27% of my posts had no tags

#writeblr - 383 posts

#reblog - 378 posts

#writeblr community - 357 posts

#writing - 331 posts

#boost - 270 posts

#writing community - 269 posts

#ari speaks - 255 posts

#arista speaks - 241 posts

#fey touched trilogy - 111 posts

#fantasy - 99 posts

Longest Tag: 113 characters

#and while i don't consider myself chronically ill i probably classify as such if i were to start ticking boxes <3

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

My Newsletter is finally working! I think...

Over the last year and a half, I've been focussing on becoming a self published author. Some days it doesn't feel like I'm making much progress at all, and some days it feels like I'm making so much progress I don't know which direction to turn in first.

But today is one of those brilliant days that sits slap bang in the middle.

My newsletter is, finally, up and running! Apart from news and updates on my publishing progress, I'll be sending out behind the scenes snippets and sneak peeks each month, and in the future will be contacting people on my mailing list about sales, and potentially signing up as beta readers or arc reviewers of my works in progress.

For now, you can exclusively get a hold of "Whatever Happened To Madeline Hail?" by signing up to my newsletter. It's the Prequel Short Story to my debut series, Fey Touched, the first book of which, Changeling, will be published March 2023.

Sign up HERE or by clicking the image below;

37 notes - Posted August 25, 2022

#4

Book Review: The Stray Spirit by R.K Ashwick

I, admittedly, went into A Stray Spirit with some hesitance because it's not my usual brand of fantasy. The magic in the world of Thalis is softer, and quieter, than I've grown to expect from my fantasy favourites, and yet…

It works.

It works beautifully. So much so that by the time I'd realised I'd fallen in love with the characters, I was already seven chapters into this masterfully woven adventure. R.K Ashwick weaves the story through your head much like the lutesong that our protagonist, Emry Karic, plays at the Red Rat inn.

Emry is kind, and relatable. He has goals that anyone can empathise with and understand, and a backstory I was eagerly waiting to discover as the tale progressed.

Cal is headstrong, stubborn, intelligent, and a perfect companion to work alongside Emry, balancing out his character. I can see their character developing even more beautifully as the series progresses and I can't wait to see where she goes next.

Aspen is an absolute sweetheart. They stole my entire soul the moment they caused trouble with Stef in a fabric store. If you've read the book, you know exactly the scene I'm talking about. It painted such a vivid picture of innocent mischievousness, I laughed aloud, and if you don't know the scene I'm talking about, then you should absolutely pick up this book and find out!

This is an entirely enchanting tale, with enough adventure and tension to keep you engaged, while weaving affection for the characters through every line you read.

A truly beautiful piece of writing. I wasn't intending to purchase a copy in paperback, but now I've finished it I think I'm going to have to (I have, in fact, already put my order in!). It would be a crying shame not to add this book to my shelves, and I'm eagerly awaiting more stories of Emry, Cal and Aspen in the future.

46 notes - Posted August 5, 2022

#3

First Draft Completed

*Crawls into the room, panting*

*Staggers over to the desk*

*Slams down a stack of papers*

Fucking did it!

The manuscript for Changeling, Book One of the Fey Touched Trilogy, is complete at 108,623 words.

*Collapses*

Tiny sneak peek from the final chapter, beneath the cut

"I am a fey of Arbaon," Booker sneered, "I don't answer to you or your council."

It had been a long time since Lizzy had heard Booker utilise his court voice, and if the room had been coated in ice it couldn't have felt colder than his hissed words.

Turning, Booker looked over his shoulder at Walcott and raised a single eyebrow, "I assume our discussion will remain... confidential, Headmaster?" Booker all but demanded, and Lizzy watched the headmaster raise his eyebrows.

"Of course, Master Reed."

"Good," Booker said simply, before turning back around, placing a hand on Lizzy's elbow and marching them both out of the office without another word.

Tagging my Fey Touched and General Tag Lists <3

@jezifster @cedar-west @faelanvance @noirepersonal @queen-kass-the-writer @athenswrites @thelaughingstag @talesfromaurea @authorminamoroz @bardic-tales @writeblrsupport

If you'd like to be added or removed from any of my taglists, please let me know &lt;3

52 notes - Posted August 11, 2022

#2

Writeblr Introduction 2022

Updated: 10th of October 2022

Redoing my Writeblr Introduction for 2022 since a lot of my projects and publishing goals have shifted slightly in the last year.

First of all, let's get the 'hello's' out of the way! My name is Ari! I'm a fiction writer in her thirties based in the South-East of England.

I live with my mother and my cat, and spend my days wandering through the fantasy worlds that I've created, and drinking copious amounts of coffee.

While Tumblr is my primary social media platform I'm also on Instagram, Facebook, and reluctantly Twitter. If you'd like to follow me on any of those platforms, you can find links to my profiles via my website; www.aristaholmes.weebly.com

I also now have a functioning newsletter! I try to put out monthly updates around the 15th-17th of the month, including sneak peeks or behind the scenes snippets of my projects. In the future I hope to use the list to reach out to people for Arc Reviews, and special sale prices on my books. For the moment, my newsletter is also the only place you can get your hands on "Whatever Happened to Madeline Hail?" the novelette prequel to my Fey Touched trilogy, which is scheduled to be published in the first quarter of 2023. To sign up for my Newsletter, please click HERE.

My planned projects can be found below the cut. If you'd like to be added to my general tag list, or one for a specific project, please let me know! Either drop me a message on this post, or shoot me an ask. My inbox is always open <3

I've also created dedicated side blogs for each project, where I reblog any project specific content, world building notes, prompt fills, or snippet shares etc. Links to those side blogs can be found below.

General Tag List:

@/faelanvance @/noirepersonal @/queen-kass-the-writer @/athenswrites @/thelaughingstag @/authorminamoroz @/bardic-tales

@/talesfromaurea (No gore or torture)

Tags: #wipnook #Laughingstag

See the full post

56 notes - Posted February 14, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

Everyone, I'd like to introduce you to my very supportive mother...

After sending her a snippet from Changeling...

So I put together a google doc containing chapters 1-22 for her to read the story so far...

See the full post

207 notes - Posted July 17, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

#tumblr2022 #year in review #my 2022 tumblr year in review #your tumblr year in review

[kiingocreative]

The Structure of Story is now available! Check it out on Amazon, via the link in our bio, or at https://kiingo.co/book

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The More You Learn, The Less You Know

"I know nothing." That's what I say to myself when I'm stuck. It's my go-to Socratic writer's block motivational quote. Most writers usually have that critic inside trying to bait them into procrastinating or, worse, giving up when they hit a crossroads in their writing. It happens to me when I start overthinking and ask myself, "what happens next?" What a scary thought. If my character chooses door A, they might not complete the journey I started them on. If I choose door B, they might lose some of their uniqueness that makes them relatable. If I decide on door C, oh, screw it, I should just give up because I'm lost! And despite all the screenplays I've read, books I've obsessed over, and podcasts I've listened too I still don't know what to do next. If you're a writer, I know what you're thinking "Sounds like my Tuesday night breakdowns."

We all agonize over the choices our characters make. We all start to feel like we know nothing. We're just a bunch of aimless Jon Snows with our mighty ink swords roaming the backwoods of creativity in our minds looking for the perfect scene to write. But it doesn't have to be that hard. First, admit to yourself that you know nothing: "zero, zip, zilch, nada." If you know that you know nothing, then you're teachable. If you know nothing, there's an answer, and there's a tool out there somewhere that someone has created for you to learn and use ad nauseam until you get sick of it or learn to use it appropriately. Sounds too good to be true, right? That's just your inner critic at the wheel. Slap that judgmental procrastinator and get back in the driver's seat.

I know nothing, but I do know this...dun dun dunnnn! The more I learn about writing, the less I feel I know. Not because I forget tools or rules, even though sometimes I do, but because I understand that the world of writing and the ways to do it are endless. I can keep learning! It's ok to pick a writing book like "Save the Cat" and attempt to write a "paint by numbers" type of screenplay. I've done it, and I made a pretty funny, some would say, a decent little indie flick by just trying it out and learning from it. I find most screenwriting books to be equals because you can learn a new tool from any of them.

"Give us a tool already!" I feel you murmuring, reader, so here's some practical wisdom.

Marry Your Scenes

One of the biggest reasons we get stifled as writers is because we don't remember one fundamental guiding principle of storytelling: causality.

Causality? Yes, causality, the relationship between cause and effect. The principle that everything has a cause.

Every choice we force our characters to make should have a consequence, and therefore the consequence can help you set up your next scene. I don't want to over-simplify this, but let's see what happens if I do. If two people get married, what happens next? What comes to mind? Do they celebrate with their loved ones? Good? What else? What happens next? Do they go on their honeymoon? Great! What happens on their honeymoon? They make love? Excellent, or one of them gets too drunk, leaving the other to order room service and watch an overpriced movie. It's very much like a domino effect. Each one of those events happened because of the one preceding it. Marry your scenes to each other and understand why the choices are being made–and what consequences can occur because of them.

Where do you go from here? Well, if we use our newlyweds, maybe our sober character leaves the room to get some ice or puff a "J". This could lead to their getting arrested by island police without identification in her wedding dress. Or if it's the man, he runs into his high school girlfriend who's on a business trip on the same island and wants to go for a drink to catch up. All of this is just because one of our characters couldn't monitor their alcohol. Consequences to actions, to choices, are everywhere in your writing. Write a few and pick the most interesting ones. Which ones are those? The ones that make you smile, laugh, cry, or squirm. All of which will lead you to the next scene.

Background on These Thoughts

During the pandemic last year, I was fortunate to get a reduced price "writing scholarship" at the Jacob Kruger writing studio. On top of that, I started learning how to speed read so that I could consume as much written writing advice as possible, never to have an issue breaking a story or creating a helpful scene.

Consequently, I started writing more and more every day without fear of messing up or writing a bad scene. Could it be because I was reading and writing every day? Was I applying all the little things I was learning? Was it slowly becoming second nature? The answer's; yes. I read everything! My wife, an exceptional RN, was in the ER fighting off the plague. My industry was shut down, so as I stayed home with our kids trying to keep from going stir crazy, I read books and articles to them out loud until they started booing me or to myself, until my eyes needed a break. I read many things on Dan Harmon's story circle, the: "But & Therefore Rule" by Matt Stone and Trey Parker, listened to John August and Craig Mazin, and went on Kiingo's Instagram live discussion to participate, and see what else I could learn, watched old movies, new movies, read scripts I was a machine.

I have since written and co-written three feature-length screenplays, a handful of pilots, live-action and animation, and a couple of short films. Writing is HARD, but finding rules and tools to apply to your writing isn't.

Rule-Tools

Here are a few things I picked that were reinforced and to keep in mind when writing a scene. In every scene, you must know what your characters want and what they need; if you know their wants creating an obstacle that fuels causality is pretty straightforward.

So try the following:

1. If you know what they want, GIVE IT to them, and therefore what is the consequence? (There are many)

2. If you know what they want, but you DON'T GIVE IT to them, what is the consequence? (There are many)

3. If you know what they want, but GIVE THEM SOMETHING NEW instead and see if this stops them from wanting their original want. (How strong is their want? Strong enough to continue to pursue it? It better be if your movie is any good.) What is the consequence? (There are many)

4. If you know what they want, GIVE THEM a part of it but make them sacrifice something for it, and therefore what happens? (Maybe it's too expensive, maybe it's too embarrassing, perhaps it could hurt someone they love.) Consequences just start falling out of the sky once they MAKE A CHOICE!

Try applying one of these four rule-tools to your scenes and watch as your characters create their story and structure for you. I promise it works. Next time I'll show you how to combine these rule-tools to something like Dan Harmon's Story Circle.

Then again, I know nothing.

#writingtips #creative writing #screenwriting #writers on tumblr #writers #writing #writerblr #writing advice #writing community #writing resources

[hiccanna-tidbits]

Autistic Hiccup x ADHD Anna Headcanons

SO I’ve been really into the whole Autistic x ADHD ship dynamic and Hiccanna...highkey fits??? Like y’all know I will die on my “Anna has ADHD” hill, but after reading this post by @hobie-brown I’m like wait, the autistic Hiccup headcanon is wonderful too??? And blends SO WELL with ADHD Anna??? And I absolutely HAD to explore it more so BOOM headcanon time! Another special thanks to @hobie-brown for writing the super lovely autistic Hiccup headcanon masterpost that inspired me to do this!

Disclaimer: I myself am not on the spectrum (part of the reason I’ve always felt a little weird about definitively HCing characters as autistic unless I see actual autistic people HC them that way too), so most of the stuff here is stuff I know secondhand from my autistic friends! I do have ADHD, so I can always promise that ADHD Anna will be 100% authentic XD

~Anna absolutely gets into Hiccup’s special interests to try and impress him. The most obvious one being, of course, dragons, but also dinosaurs (extinct dragons), lizards (tiny dragons), and Dungeons and Dragons (An RPG game that does, in fact, include dragons). Hiccup absolutely had that dragonology book as a kid and got obsessed with it beyond all reasonability. Hilariously, Anna’s wooing strategy of indulging his special interests works like a charm--mainly because a) he’s pretty flattered that someone takes THAT much of an interest in what he likes and b) half the time, ANNA finds that she genuinely gets into whatever said special interest is and finds them easy to hyperfixate on. It helps that the more she obsesses over it herself, the more she has to talk to Hiccup about XD

~Specifically, Anna definitely joins a DnD campaign at some point so that Hiccup will think she’s a “cool gamer girl”--and then gets unironically obsessed with it and starts writing 10-page backstories for all of her characters. She later tells Hiccup it started out as a ruse to win his heart via nerdiness, and he absolutely loses his shit laughing.

~One of their overlapping special interests/hyperfixations is high fantasy. Hiccup is, unsurprisingly, all about the mythical creatures while Anna is more into the magic and the zesty political drama, but you dun best believe they catch every CGI-ridden fantasy movie that ever comes out. They’ve both spent a literal fortune on fantasy movie tickets, even moreso on watching them in 3D or Imax. How embarrassing for both of them.

~Another less-obvious overlapping interest is history. Hiccup gets into it while looking into the cultural mythos of dragons (he’s pretty fascinated by the fact that so many cultures around the world thought up similar creatures independently), while Anna gets into it because she grew up cooped up bored and lonely in a big house, and entertained herself by looking into the history behind some of the family paintings. They don’t seem it at first, but they’re actually both huge medieval and ancient civilization history buffs.

~Hiccup is THE most touch-repulsed person you will ever meet. This is unfortunate, as he is also SUPER touch-starved and absolutely does not realize it (I mean, I’ve never gotten the vibe Stoic was the super huggy type, considering his and Hicc’s relationship in HTTYD 1). This means he has absolutely no fucking clue what to make of Anna when they first meet meet. Anna’s the sort of person to give physical affection pretty freely, especially if she likes you--usually in the form of hugs, arm pats or playful swats, putting her elbow on your shoulder, etc etc. Hiccup is kinda just like “this is way too much touching but like??? I kinda like having her this close to me??? What do???”

~Anna, meanwhile, notices that Hiccup kinda stiffens up whenever she touches him and seems to not be crazy about it and she’s just immediately like “yo what’s wrong???” And as SOON as he admits he’s not all that crazy about being touched randomly she’s like “OH MY GOD I AM SO SORRY” and never touches him without asking again.

~As soon as she finds out touch a kind of A Whole Thing for him, Anna is like...AGGRESSIVELY respectful of Hiccup’s boundaries when it comes to physical affection. Almost annoyingly so. She gets in the habit of basically never initiating any kind of physical touch without asking first--even long after they’ve started dating, and he’s told her it’s okay to initiate touching as long as she’s not smothery about it. She still refuses out of principle.

~They come up with a kind of “consent language” so Anna can pretty quickly determine when it’s all right to touch Hiccup--because Anna still really likes being physically affectionate with him, and he does actually like receiving physical affection a lot of the time (because, again, touch-starved), he’s just choosy about who does it. They work out a system based off of small, light touches that Hiccup doesn’t mind where it’s basically 2 taps on his shoulder for “can I hug you around the neck,” 2 taps on his side for “can I hug you around the waist,” 2 taps on his arm for “can I grab/lightly slap/punch your arm,” and 1 tap on is shoulder for “can I put my arm/elbow on your shoulder.” If he’s cool with it he’ll either nod or just say “yeah go ahead.” It works a lot quicker than asking “can I do such-and-such specific touch” every single time, and allows Anna to keep some of her spontaneity. They develop this during their friendship and it ends up rolling over into their relationship, even after Hiccup has basically told her she doesn’t need to ask permission for a lot of these anymore. She adds a new one after they start dating--she taps him a couple times wherever she wants to kiss him to ask if it’s cool to give him a smooch! It usually is.

~INFODUMPING. Literally SO. MUCH. INFODUMPING. Hiccup absolutely WILL NOT SHUT UP when he gets to talking about one of his special interests. Anna just will not shut up in general, but when the topic changes to one of her hyperfixations, it’s even worse. If you try to have a conversation with these two while they’re infodumping, you WILL get talked over. Honestly, left to their own devices, they could probably infodump to each other for literal days on end.

~Despite how much they both like to infodump, they’re both pretty good about being patient and indulging the other when it’s their partner’s turn to infodump in the conversation XD They are, however, notorious about accidentally triggering a barely-related infodump in the other person. It’s not uncommon for one of them to finish a rant and then the other goes “OH THAT REMINDS ME” and sets off on a completely different, barely-related rant.

~Hiccup actually really appreciates how overexpressive--and occasionally overdramatic--Anna tends to be. He never has to try and figure out what she’s thinking because she just says everything in her brain, and her body language basically always matches how she’s feeling to a ridiculous extent, so he never has to give himself a headache trying to read her. The fact that she’s the opposite of subtle and has no filter whatsoever works great for him, because he doesn’t have to drive himself insane trying to understand her. He gets her better than he gets most people because she’s an open goddamn book. The boy’s never been the best with social cues at all, never mind the nuanced, obscure ones, so Anna’s general straightforwardness and utter inability to hide her true feelings at literally any time is a breath of fresh air. What you see is basically what you get, and Hiccup wouldn’t have it any other way.

~People think when Anna and Hiccup start dating it’s gonna be a disaster, mainly because he’s so blunt and she can be...”oversensitive” (i.e. has a REALLY bad case of RSD). Turns out they’re dead wrong--because Hiccup has RSD too! (I mean, come ON--look how BADLY he wants to get his village’s approval! And how hard he takes it when his dad or someone else is mad at him--even if he tries to hide it with snark) He’s actually one of the few people who can be blunt enough with Anna that she realizes when she’s being a dumbass but tactful enough not to hurt her feelings or set off her RSD--because god, has he been there. When Anna is being especially difficult and has worked herself into a real bad funk, Hiccup (and sometimes Elsa) is the only people who can talk to her and get through to her without getting blown up at.

~They stim in similar ways!!! They both tend to fidget or kinda bounce up in down in place as a way to comfort themselves and calm themselves down (I see them both having a lot of anxiety and generally being kind of paranoid, although Anna is MUCH better at hiding this via putting on a cheerful face). They both do the leg bounce!!! Also if they get SUPER excited they’ll do a little awkward happy dance!!! They both also tend to stim by rubbing things in small, repetitive motions--with Hiccup, it’s usually his sketching pens, his ear, his head, or the back of his neck, while with Anna, it’s usually her other hand, her arm, her clothes, or really anything with kind of a comforting, consistent texture (some favorites are rubber, felt, and velvet). After they start dating, they actually will stim with each other’s hands while holding hands--usually by squeezing the other person’s hand in kind of a repetitive pattern or doing the thumb-rub thing on the back of the other person’s hand. It’s not uncommon for them to each be doing something completely unrelated while holding hands and just stimming on each other’s hands the entire time. Anna especially really loves when she feels Hiccup stimming on her, because it’s her little indicator that he’s happy and feels at peace and content in her presence and she LOVES being able to do that for him!

~They both stim by playing with hair too! Anna likes to play with her own to stim--mainly by figeting with the end of her braids or tucking hair behind her ear. She DOES love to ruffle Hiccup’s hair too (and she LOVES how fluffy it is!), but it’s usually not a stim thing. After they start dating, Anna does occasionally stim by massaging Hiccup’s hair/scalp, but she doesn’t usually do it for very long. Hiccup really loves braiding Anna’s hair, or just playing with it when it’s down. it helps him relax and clear his mind to have something fairly repetitive and/or mindless to do.

~Even after gaining some confidence, Hiccup still has a fair bit of social anxiety, so he and Anna basically always go to parties and social events together and stick with each other the whole time to make it less intimidating for him. Hiccup generally prefers to let Anna do the talking when they chat with people, and sometimes if he’s REALLY nervous he’ll sometimes even let her kinda talk for him (not in a condescending “speaking over” kinda way, but more in like a “I can sense you’re not comfortable speaking here so I’ll help you out as best I can” kinda way). She always makes sure to leave space in the conversation for him to take over talking if he wants. She’s also incredibly prone to bragging about his accomplishments to basically everyone they know. Hiccup is both embarrassed and flattered by this.

~When Anna finds out about meltdowns (probably through Hiccup mentioning it kind of offhandedly--“Eh, sorry I went AWOL last night, I was having a bit of a meltdown. Don’t worry about it, I’m fine now.”) she lowkey gets super anxious and frustrated because she REALLY wants to help, but has no idea how. Cue literal HOURS of research on the internet and AGGRESSIVE memorizing of any and all tips that she reads that she thinks would help. Which, of course, means several MORE hours spent going over flashcards like she’s studying for a goddamn test, because Anna has never been known for her sharp, expansive memory.

~The first time Hiccup ever has a meltdown in front of her (maybe after a really bad phone fight with his dad or something? Just general sensory overload?), she takes him to a secluded room and IMMEDIATELY gets rid of anything that could be agitating sensory-wise. She dims the lights! She closes the blinds! She throws a nearby clock, an alarm, a timer, and several other objects with only the slightest potential of making an annoying noise out of a nearby window in a fit of passion! She goes on a frenzied quest to find Hiccup’s noise-cancelling headphones--and finishes it in record time! Even in a state of emotional turmoil, Hiccup realizes that Anna’s being just a little too methodical in how she goes about all this--these are the kind of things that wouldn’t ever occur naturally to her to do. So as soon as he calms down a bit and has screamed into a pillow for a while, he’s like “...did you go on the internet to look up how to help with meltdowns?” and Anna’s like “...yes?” And Hiccup is lowkey so touched he starts crying all over again...and then, naturally, makes a long string of snarky comments to try and distract from it XD

~For their anniversary Anna saves up a bunch and buys Hiccup a lizard and a terrarium!!! She gets him a crocodile skink because, I quote, “Well, they always look annoyed, they’re kinda shy, they don’t like to be touched, and they look like tiny dragons, so they reminded me of you!!!” Hiccup screams like a goddamn fangirl, he’s SO excited. As luck would have it, Hiccup’s crocodile skink is a lot less skittish and prone to hiding than they usually are, and he actually lets Hiccup pick him up and pet him without much issue. Which is honestly great, because repeatedly touching something smooth and even like lizard scales helps calm Hiccup down when he’s agitated and helps with some of his sensory issues.

~Probably goes without saying, but Hiccup basically NEVER genuinely gives Anna a hard time about her memory problems or how she’s not always the quickest on the uptake, and if anyone tries to call her annoying, dumb, or immature he will absolutely roast them into oblivion. He does sometimes like...lightly tease her about jumping into things without thinking or never shutting up, but he never pushes it if he can tell she’s genuinely bothered by it (and, again, Anna is very easy to read, so it’s not hard to tell XD)

~I’ve seen other people in the fandom HC either Hiccup, Anna, or both of them as BOTH autistic and ADHD, and honestly...fuck yes!!! I’m down for this too! I love the idea of these two disaster ND kids just vibing with each other on so many damn levels that it’s like...incomprehensible to the average human XD Like man, they fuckin GET each other!!! I’m pretty happy with most combinations of ADHD + Autistic headcanons for Anna and Hiccup, so long as they end up vibing!!!

~THEY JUST. THEY LOVE EACH OTHER. SO MUCH. THEY LITERALLY WOULD DIE FOR EACH OTHER. I AM SURE OF IT. I’M CRYING. 

#hiccanna #hiccup x anna #anna x hiccup #hiccup #anna #hiccupxanna #annaxhiccup #autistic hiccup #adhd anna #headcanons #hcs #httyd #frozen #crossover #rotbtd #rotbtfd #hiccup haddock #princess anna

[sirescumbag]

AA7 thoughts

So I just finished Spirit of Justice and then I heard about Ace Attorney 7 apparently in the works, so my brain decided this is the time to make up potential plot twists to be excited about that don’t actually exist. I know this is divergent from my usual fanart posting but here’s a very long text dump of some new stuff I’d be interested in seeing but will probably not happen because it is all very specific and caters to my own desires, probably not the fandom’s in general:

Phoenix is still there, but not as active as an acting defense attorney, though he’s still key to the plot (as a mentor, or to be used as emotional blackmail). He’s not playable (or if he is, it’s not for long), but more there as a plot point in a Maya sort of way (oh the turntables). This time, he’s the one under threat or danger. Instead of switching around from lawyer to lawyer, I think that Athena should undergo some more development as a main character this time around since Phoenix and Apollo have had their time to shine. The removal of Phoenix and being all alone, I think, would also be interesting in her character development

On that note, bring on the major character angst!! Having a big tragedy occur, with a fairly major character. Usually the tragedy pulled is a murder/death, but how about a different sort of tragedy-- a fate worse than death/on par with it to someone who is still alive? Someone is severely incapacitated, a psychological injury (classic old memory loss, or perhaps a genius who is reduced to a very limited mental capacity), coma, or even a temporary death (like with Petenshy, Edgeworth), or perhaps a kidnapping (not Maya this time, please). If it happens to a major character, it’ll have greater impact, BUT there’ll be fan riots if it’s not reversible. So have the tragedy with the character get resolved, but not in a deus ex machina way-- recovery is slow and angsty but filled with hope.

There’s often a focus on the past haunting you-- let’s try shifting this to the present! Building suspense on a case that is happening in real time-- I am fond of the idea of a serial killer on the loose in the present and the dread of suspense in present time throughout trials as they continue to kill and hinder key advances in solving the mystery.

Very often, there are personal ties in court-- both the prosecution and defense are tied together in some way in the past, resolving their own personal backstory. Instead of oneself, maybe let’s have some focus on a client instead? It might be interesting to see a lawyer get so deep into protecting a single client-- instead of a new client for every case, protecting a single person over multiple cases-- that they get roped into an outsider’s story instead. A little idea in my head is of playing around with maybe witness protection, or say (off the serial killer idea) someone is expected to be the next target for a murder and you are tasked with trying to protect them in real time (and then a tragedy happens to them that moves plot forward, bonus if players gets to build an emotional connection between you and the client).

In SOJ and DGS, the stakes were big on “saving the masses” and government reform-- the stakes can still be high, but instead of something lofty like reforming the world or community, instead it could focus on the relationships with the people immediately around you, protecting them, or just some good old self-preservation.

Newer characters like Athena being really fleshed out! Whether there are new or old characters, really build and explore the depth of their character beyond that of a plot point. Not just slapping on relationship labels that immediately trigger emotion but have no context beyond it (like the killing off “my best friend” Clay in DD, or the classic parental death). I thought the fleshing out of Dhurke and building an emotional relation to him in SOJ was a lot more effective in making it really feel like a tragedy than with Clay in DD.

For introducing any old characters, please show some personality changes due to age. Or, maybe! Even a 180 change from the personality from the original trilogy for intrigue-- what happened to the old person I knew (and have it be integral to the plot)? I know I griped about the old “ah That Event 5/7/10 years ago” past plot thing being used but I wouldn’t mind this being used as a part of plot development either

Maybe try to bridge the feeling of separation between the old trilogy and newer characters’ worlds by, instead of kind of sequestering them into their separate spheres of interaction to preserve nostalgia (like in Turnabout Time Traveler, where the old gang is all together in the same dynamic, Maya and Phoenix and Edgeworth, etc), have old trilogy characters interact with newer ones in significant ways and build their own unique bond. So, not just a passing mention where the old encounters the new, having the old interact with the new and build a bond through going through significant conflicts together (for example, this has already been mentioned but if Athena is the main focus of the next game, there could be an opportunity to explore this if she confronts Franziska in court!).

I know there’s already so many gimmicks added (Apollo’s perceive, Athena’s widget) but if there has to be something new added, instead of making it individual-specific, maybe have be similar to spirit channeling as a concept-- have it be a broad phenomenon in the world that plays a key part in causing a case, rather than a tool for discerning the truth of a case.

Or, if we’re sticking with the same gadgets/tricks, instead choosing to tamper more with the tools of the trade that were supposed to never lead you astray-- this has already been seen in DD, where Apollo’s bracelet led him to the wrong conclusion about Athena, and AA4, where evidence was tampered with. Perhaps instead of adding new gadgets, let’s manipulate, tamper with, lose, have it used against them in new ways!

The use of a civil case in SOJ was very much unexpected but in my opinion a very interesting one! Would be very interesting to see more in-fighting among the prosecutor group or within the defense attorney group and see how that moves the plot along. Messing more with the court system instead of adding new gadgets would also be interesting.

More threats during investigation, not just in court! Remember when von Karma tased you in the evidence room? Let’s have suspense in AND out of the courtroom.

I’m sure there’s plenty of interesting psychological phenomena that could be used to complicate court cases (for example, that use of Justice Minister Inga’s cognitive disorder in recognizing faces coming into play)!

Different approaches for moral ambiguity for clients using psychology-- we’ve seen this with defending clients who are actually guilty, or being blackmailed. I’d be interested in seeing a Jekyll and Hyde situation where 2 different sides of one person commit a crime, but one side is unaware of it-- and how a defense lawyer would handle this!

Exploring the plea for insanity in court! Double jeopardy! Escaped convicts! A murder whose trial to find a good jury has been delayed for a long time and is forced to find its resolution outside of court due to the murderer striking again!

Also, to pull in some stuff I read about elsewhere, after reading about moral psychology in Jonathan Haidt’s book The Righteous Mind and moral triggers that typically pull strong reactions (care, fairness, loyalty, authority, sanctity), I was also thinking about how ace attorney manages to build emotionally compelling cases in relation to this model. Ace Attorney imo so far has done pretty alright at hitting most of these triggers at some point to hype the emotion, but for the final case, it ends up being played in what I see as generally the same way (ex: character development starts from from my duty as a lawyer is my role as the defense/prosecutor into that of my duty is to find the truth, authority corrupt and that is bad, justice should be served fairly, I am loyal to my group of prosecutor/defense, also played with loyalty and betrayal in DD with Apollo and Athena splitting, also triggered sanctity a bit in SOJ with the religion, lots of other examples probably but that’s a few). I’d be interested in seeing these same moral triggers played upon in different manner for some variety! Maybe even pursuing some different themes than justice and truth and duty and all that jazz, but idk what else could be alright to explore cause the courts kinda embody all that and deviating to make a statement about other themes might not fit as well in the courts hmm

Also part 2, I wonder if there’ll be romantic undertone somewhere (or heavily implied) for any new or old major characters. Romantic love isn’t usually used with major characters as a plot point (usually platonic stuff, friendship, family, or duty to the truth is instead) but I’d think it’d be interesting if romance was used this time around as an emotional motivator to drive the plot

#ace attorney #ace attorney 7 #aa7 #i kind of wrote this all at once so it's probably really jumbled ahhhhfhhhh #basically i want that sweet major character angst #i might just end up making an AU with these ideas if they're not in AA7 because i want an excuse to see these in a plot hohohoh #anyway i'm trying not to have expectations but i got myself all excited anyway so here we are

[goodticklebrain]

POCKET BLOGS: Saye Anything

Hey everyone! Mya here. I’m really excited today to introduce a new feature here on Good Tickle Brain: POCKET BLOGS! As regular readers will know, since 2019 I have been working on my comics with the world’s first, foremost, and possibly only pocket dramaturg, Kate Pitt. (For more on Kate, including the etymology of the term “pocket dramaturg”, check out this Q&A with her.)

Kate is, if anything, an even bigger Shakespeare geek than me, and certainly has a bigger Shakespeare brain. I will often text her a random Shakespeare fact and say “Isn’t this cool?”, only to receive back “YES, and…” followed by a dozen more related facts, complete with footnotes. As I am taking the month off, I thought it only fair to share some of her delightful geekery and expertise with all of you.

So sit back and get ready to peer into some of the most geeky, random, and entertaining corners of the Shakespeare-verse with Good Tickle Brain’s new series of POCKET BLOGS!

Spare a thought for poor Lord Saye. The ill-fated lord’s entrance in Henry VI Part II is often overlooked because he arrives at the same time as Queen Margaret. Margaret makes consistently dramatic entrances across the four Shakespeare plays she appears in and there is an excellent chance that someone is about to be stabbed, slapped, or screamed at if she is nearby. 

In this scene, Margaret enters carrying the severed head of her very dead ex-lover the Duke of Suffolk, and talks affectionately to it while her husband King Henry desperately tries to work out how to put down a major rebellion. 

Saye is in the middle of all this and spends most of his first scene (and he’s only got two) standing around awkwardly while the King and Queen talk to everyone who isn’t him. It can’t feel great to be ignored in favor of someone who is missing his trunk and all of his limbs, and when King Henry finally turns towards Saye it is to point out that the advancing rebels would very much like to turn his head into a tote bag just like Suffolk’s.

Cue the awkward laughter and a messenger running in with the news that the rebels have arrived and everyone present who still has their heels should immediately betake themselves to them and get out of town. King Henry reminds Lord Saye that everyone hates him (because he raised taxes and can speak French) and he should probably join the bravely-running-away royals. 

Lord Saye however, declares that he will stay and face the rebels. He is innocent after all. Why should he flee when he has done nothing wrong? At this point, practiced Shakespearean audiences will be reaching for the popcorn. Declaring innocence never ever (ever) works when attempting to avoid unpleasant consequences in Shakespeare and indeed, Lord Saye is captured less than forty lines later and dragged before the rebels to be interrogated. 

Jack Cade, the leader of the rebellion, accuses Saye of such abominable crimes as printing, teaching grammar to children, and dressing his horse in excessively fancy horse-clothes. Saye is definitely not guilty of the first indictment, as this scene takes place in 1450 and the first books in England weren’t printed until at least twenty-five years later.

Regardless, the rebels continue to hurl increasingly ridiculous accusations at Lord Saye – “thou hast men about thee that usually talk of a noun and a verb” – while he confidently bats them aside by speaking Latin and quoting Caesar’s Commentaries. Not necessarily the best strategy when negotiating with angry men with pikes, but Saye also demonstrates that he can speak eloquently in plain English: 

Tell me, wherein have I offended most? Have I affected wealth or honor? Speak. Are my chests filled up with extorted gold? Is my apparel sumptuous to behold? Whom have I injured, that you seek my death? These hands are free from guiltless blood-shedding, This breast from harboring foul deceitful thoughts. O, let me live! 

Lord Saye’s contention that his hands are “free from guiltless blood-shedding” is equivocal, given that he menacingly indicates elsewhere that he has definitely shed some blood: “Great men have reaching hands. Oft have I struck those that I never saw, and struck them dead.” There were rumors that Saye was involved in the murder of Henry VI’s uncle Duke Humphrey, though Shakespeare depicts that death as definitely Suffolk’s fault.

In addition to being a cunning politician and a huge classics nerd, Lord Saye is also a war hero. Jack Cade contemptuously challenges him, “when struck’st thou one blow in the field?” but Saye fought with Henry V in France. He is now in his mid-fifties and past his fighting days (the rebels mock his palsy) but Lord Saye feels that his prior service to his country should save his life. 

Cade disagrees. Even though he admits, “I feel remorse in myself with his words”, he orders Saye to be dragged offstage and beheaded. The rebels also break into Saye’s son-in-law’s house and behead him too. They then put both their heads on pikes and parade around London smushing the heads together to make them look like they are kissing because the rebels are apparently twelve. 

Lord Saye is one in a long line of Shakespeare characters who appear briefly and die quickly. Cinna the Poet in Caesar, Young Seward and The Family Macduff in Macbeth, Cornwall’s servant in Lear: all of their deaths, like Saye’s, serve to make the bad guys look worse. However, Jack Cade and his crew have already murdered innocent people before Saye comes on the scene, so what does his death teach the audience that they don’t already know? Dramatically, there may be an argument for cutting this scene. Next week however, I’ll explain the extravagantly silly reasons why I am delighted by Lord Saye and think he should be in every production. (Hint: he’s related to Shakespeare!)

by Kate Pitt

#pocket blogs #henry vi

[nekrophoria]

OC Asks for Serena

requested by @goldenlegacy

Thank you so much! And again, sorry for the format. I hate the mobile tumblr version...

✨- which fictional character (book, show, or movie) do you relate to most?

That switches on like a bi-weekly basis but...right now I'd go with a mix of Chloe Price (Life is Strange) and Diane (Bojack Horseman)

I fucking hate Diane...okay I don't hate her, I hate the way she acts sometimes...but I see a lot of familiar traits in her. Dunno what that says about me to be honest but...ah well.

🐝- describe your aesthetic in emojis

🧟‍♀️👾🙃🍕🌚🎃

🍼- what is your favorite memory?

Our group home used to do these trips to the sea every summer, kinda like class trips if you will.

And I don't have a particular memory, it's kind of a giant blur at this point...but these times were really special to me. Probably the happiest I've ever been.

💖- have you ever been in love?

Yep...it happens.

🎂- if you had 3 wishes, what would they be?

1. a week off

2. a new desk chair

3. a giant meatlover pizza with cheesy crust.

...what can I say I'm a simple man...woman...whatever.

🌧️- favorite thing to do on rainy days?

*moans* Honesty, rain makes me so fucking tired. I just wanna crash on the couch and doze off while the telly is running or something.

🍩- current mood?

Ooof... I dunno. It could be better. I'm a bit under the weather. It has been raining for days and *laughs* I just wanna barricade myself in my room until it's nice and warm outside.

❄️- what is your favorite season?

I have a sort of...love/hate thing going for all seasons *laughs*

Dunno...I like them all, but I get sick of them quite quickly. Right now I'm in a real summer mood but that'll probably change once it gets warmer. *shrugs*

💅🏻- do you like being spoiled?

In theory...yeah.

But I think I'm a bit too tense for that. *shrugs* at least that's what people tell me.

I just...i guess I don't enjoy that mushy stuff quite as much as I'd like to.

🕊️- 3 habits you have?

I'm a smoker...I...hmm...

*thinks for a bit* I talk to myself, especially when I'm doing chores I just sorta tend to narrate everything I do, but only when I'm alone *laughs* it's weird.

Umm...oh yeah and I tap my fingers on cups...or glasses when I'm holding them.

🦄- how do you perceive yourself?

Oh! I got the perfect picture for this right...here:

There we go. That's pretty accurate.

🦋- how do you think others perceive you?

I've got no fucking clue.

I feel like like people are intimidated by me? Which is weird because I'm like as harmless as it gets...if you don't piss me off.

But I guess I can be a bit...overtaking sometimes.

🌈- things I find attractive in girls/guys

I really don't give a shit about the personality, it's more of a subconscious thing, if it clicks it clicks.

As for looks. Soft eyes are really important to me...not the colour just the look...i can't really describe it.

I don't care too much about the rest. Not too clean cut though...kind of a ruffed up puppy look? Think David Duchovny or Mark Sheppard...

It's weird...I feel like I have more of a preference when it comes to men? I have yet to find a type of woman I find like super unattractive *laughs*

Curves are a huge plus! In general a bit of pudge doesn't hurt...big eyes...I'm a sucker for eyes, okay?

I prefer women who look a bit more...harsh though. Okay not harsh but...rough around the edges? Imperfect? *laughs* I'll leave it at that.

⛅- what is your morning routine?

Umm absolute chaos.

I usually curse at my alarm for like 20 minutes...by the time I get up I'm most likely late for work already so I just grab some clothes, and coffee, slap on some eyeliner and hair spray and make a run for it.

💗- who do you miss?

No one in particular.

I...*smiles and shakes head*...nah nevermind.

🔪- scariest/creepiest experience?

*exhales*

I...okay...i'm not gonna go with the scariest one for this cuz...i don't really wanna think about it. *laughs nervously*

But...*contemplates for a few minutes* Alright. It was around Christmas time and one of my mum's boyfriends/dealers/I don't even really know what he was to her...I don't even remember his name...showed up at our group home and demanded to see us...me and my brother.

He was clearly on some shit and he was livid...Roy was hiding upstairs but I couldn't take it and snuck down...

One of our caretakers was trying to calm him down. But he went on about how he was gonna get us and that what they were doing was child abduction... and he tried to make his way inside.

I...i don't remember everything but the cops showed up and...he got a restraining order or some shit...I don't know...

Our caretakers gave us the "light" version of what happened and I spent the next couple of weeks being scared shitless that he might come back for us.

*smiles bitterly* Good times.

💤- date someone younger, older, or same age as you?

I definitely have a thing for older men.

I feel like there's a certain...power imbalance when I'm dating guys my age...I don't wanna generalise but from my experience a lot of younger guys perceive me as a like...substitute mum? No. Just no...

As for women...i haven't made quite enough experience there to have a preference. But...theres something about older...mature women that makes me feel things.

Huh...I guess age is a bigger factor for me than I initially thought.

#Oc Asks #SerenaOcAsks #goldenlegacy #SerenaOcAsk #I keep forgetting which tag I use for the character page xD

[coloraturadiva]

A mistake - Chapter 2

Pairing: Napoleon Solo x F!Reader (You)

Summary:  Napoleon comes home and finds a surprise

Chapters: Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3

Warnings: angst, pregnancy (I’m sure I forgot something...) 

Word Count: 1551

A/N: a special thank you to my lovely beta @iloveyouyen​ ! The third and last chapter of this story has already been written so don’t worry, you’ll get to read how it ends 😉

Disclaimer: a strict work of fiction, I own nothing except the original characters and the plot line. In no way am I affiliated to any of it.  

Feedback, reblogs and constructive criticism are appreciated!

Please don't post any of my content anywhere else without my permission. Comments and reblogs welcome!

Tagging some people that never asked for it and others that actually did: @iloveyouyen​ @littlefreya​ @aletheladyinred​ @madbaddic7ed​ @promptandpros​ @mrsaugustwalker​ @jencanbeyouryengeralt​ @radaofrivia​ @henrythickcavill​ @ladyreapermc @mary-ann84​ @onlyhenrys ​ @qualitynightkoala ​ @eefjedegraaf ​ @summersong69 ​ @minillamakeup-blog @ladyreapermc

If you want to be tagged in the next chapter, please ask me!

You were walking home after work on a rainy afternoon, one of your hands resting protectively on your belly. You were still in distress, but you were also extremely excited to finally become a mother. You loved your little one to bits.

In your hand you were holding a bag with new clothes. 9 weeks had passed since you had talked to your grandmother and most of your clothes didn't fit you well anymore: you needed new maternity ones.

In the past weeks you talked infrequently with Napoleon: this mission was incredibly demanding, and dangerous, you imagined, and he didn't have many occasions to safely phone you without risking to compromise his work. You missed him terribly. He was trying, as always, to reassure you, but you felt from his voice that he was very tired and always on the edge. You would have given anything to have him home safe, resting in your bed. On a couple of occasions you tried to tell him about the baby, but you never had the courage to bother him during a mission. You would have preferred to talk to him face to face, but weeks passed and he never mentioned the date of his return, so you had made up your mind to tell him on the next call.

Once you set foot in your apartment, you realised that the light in the kitchen was turned on. Maybe you had forgotten it in the morning? You hung your coat by the door, placed your shopping bag on the console table and moved towards the kitchen.

“I can't believe that you are home late from work for the first time in years right on the day I come back from the longest of missions” his unmistakable voice coming from the kitchen made your blood freeze in your veins.

You entered the room and saw him standing by the sink, washing something he had likely used to prepare what was now cooking in the oven.

“My lovely lady is having fun without her man at home? Did you go shopping? Did you meet...” he turned around and stopped dead on his tracks. His eyes went to your abdomen. The light blue dress you were wearing didn't do much to conceal your growing roundness.

He stood there for what felt like hours, his mouth gaping, his eyes focused on your belly.

He had a bruise on his cheek, you noticed. And he looked pale and tired. In another situation you would have run to him, taking him in your arms and caressed his bruised cheek, but your legs weren't working and your brain was exploding. Say something Leon. Please, say something.

“What have you done?” he talked like a robot. His usually caressing voice sounded cold.

“What have WE done” you answered with a strength you didn't know you had. Maybe it was your maternal instinct talking?

He finally moved his gaze to look in your eyes. Your hands went to your belly.

His gaze was as cold and empty as his voice. He wasn't looking at you with loving eyes as he had done for years.

“We?”

“It takes two people to make a baby.”

“But you...”

“I am the one with a baby bump. Yes, it works like that. You were listening during biology hour.”

“I didn't want this.”

“I know, but it happened. Now we can...” you attempted a weak smile, moving a step in his direction.

“No!” he shouted at you. You took a step back, scared by his violent reaction. He had never ever shouted at you. “I still don't want it.”

The first tear rolled down your cheek.

“I envisaged it” you whispered, bowing your head.

“You should have told me.”

“Why? You don't want this baby. What's the difference?” your voice was trembling.

“I wouldn't have bothered coming here, seeing you like that...”

You looked up and shot a furious look at him.

“Listen my... Y/N. I overreacted and I'm sorry for that. Still, I can't be a father. I never wanted to be a father. I shouldn't be there.” He started walking towards the door, but you blocked his way.

“Napoleon, what are you doing?”

“I'm going away. I can't bear to stay here.”

“This is your house.”

“You can keep it, if you want. Or sell it, do whatever you want.”

“I don't care about the house! But us? I'm your wife...”

“You're right” he nodded. “I'll talk to my lawyer. I think we can solve this easily and with full satisfaction for both of us.”

“Leon, what are you saying? You want to blow up everything we built like that?”

“I can't stay like this.”

“So you leave me because something is not like you want it?”

“It's something really important.”

You sighed, he wasn't listening to you. He had already made up his mind.

“This is the one thing I've always been against. I never asked for much...”

“You never asked for much??? Do you have the faintest idea of what I do for you? I've been lying for you to family and friends EVERY. SINGLE. DAY about nearly anything regarding you to protect you and your job for years. Last year you were away from home 273 days. 273 DAYS. And when you come back you were deadly tired and bruised or injured. Most of the time I have no idea of where you are and when you'll be back. Or IF you'll be back. We can't go to certain places because you fear you can be recognised or I can be related to you. We are not even in the damn phone book and YOU dare to tell me that you never asked for much???”

“You knew about it all before marrying me. And you never complained.”

“Because I love you, you idiot! I endured it all for you, because I wanted to be with you despite it all.”

He bowed his head and stayed silent for a moment. You were right, you knew it.

“This just happened” you began, getting closer to him, resting your hand on his arm. “It's nobody's fault.”

“I'm not accusing you. I just saw it coming. I knew a baby would have come to separate us. We couldn't be happy together for too long.”

“It's your baby Napoleon, for God's sake!”

He looked at you like you were speaking an unknown language.

“I... I have to go”. He moved away from you and went to the front door. “I'll come tomorrow to get my things when you are at work, so I won't disturb you. I'll have my lawyer contact you for the bureaucracy. You can keep everything you want.”

He turned his back to you and opened the door.

“Leon, we can't end it like this...” you started to cry.

“I know, but there's no other way.”

“I want you.”

“You can't have me. Not like this.”

He closed the door and walked away, into the night.

You felt all your strength slip away from you. Your legs turned into jelly and you had to lean on the wall to carefully help yourself to sit on the floor.

It went exactly how you had envisioned. It was your worst nightmare taking place in real life. He couldn't even look at you. You had shared so much and now everything was gone. All ruined.

No one made a mistake. No one did anything wrong. Yet, both of you were paying the price of it.

Well, three of you. Your baby having to grow without a father will be paying as well.

This was so unfair.

You felt your heart breaking into small pieces. You literally felt it burn in your chest.

You loved him.

Despite everything, even what had just happened, you still loved him.

You curled on the floor, caressing your belly, and cried uncontrollably for hours. Your sobs were loud. Your neighbours had probably heard you from their apartment. You didn't care. You were physically hurting so much and being heard was the last one of your problems. You needed to throw out at least a bit of that pain. But it didn't work. You were just desperate to have him back, even if he was the cause of your pain. You couldn't believe that he was now your ex husband. You had hoped to spend all your life with him, fearing only the dangers provided by his job could take him away from you, but instead it was your defenceless and innocent baby to separate you. How ironic!

It should be his hands caressing your bump to soothe you, not your own. He should be here cuddling you, whispering you reassuring words, but he was gone.

The thought of not seeing him again felt like a slap on your face.

You'll have to do it all by yourself. Going through the pregnancy, giving birth, raising the baby. Alone.

You should be hating him for how he behaved, for how he treated you, for having abandoned you, but you couldn't do without loving him anyway.

Sometimes things are easier when you hate someone.

You weren't good at hating in general, and it was impossible for you to hate him.

He would still be the love of your life, despite everything.

And this hurt even more.

#henry cavill #henry cavill fanfic #napoleon solo #napoleon solo fanfic #fanfic #fan fiction #the man from uncle #napoleonxreader #napoloeonsoloxreader #napoleon solo x reader #napoleon solo x you #x you #napoleon solo xfemale!reader #writing

[kaypeace21]

do you think it’s possible sarah (hoppers daughter) was an early-formed alter that went dormant before the events of season one? it’d make a lot of sense with how much of hoppers arc in season one was him mourning her and channeling that grief into protecting will (which would make sense since he seems like a protecter to both will and el). love your posts!☺️

Yep . :D

I already discussed all of this in the original did post - how sarah was a “little” (kid ) alter. And how hopper was a protector /introject alter. I also discussed her going dormant as a major possibility in my did theory. My assumption is she either (a) “became dormant” like some alters do- aka they are “gone” sometimes for many years but can return . And this can happen in a myriad of ways - sometimes alters go dormant after they had a simulated death in the inner world . theoretically sarah had such a Death. And so did El. Death isn’t really a permanent thing for alters ...they usually will come back or stay dormant - unless the body of the host dies (or they integrate) . They can’t really die . I think it’s very possible she comes back and Hopper while exploring the various innerworlds of Will’s minds (like the Russian one, the memory scapes , etc ) reunites/ finds her . look at the st s4 movie inspirations. In ‘what dreams may come”  a guy with the guidance of his dead kid explore a heaven like world influenced by a painter’s emotions.We also have the movie ‘inside out’ -which involves “memory islands” (distinct worlds based on a child’s memories) which are influenced negatively by the kid being depressed she moved to California. The characters traveling to these memory islands are constructs of  kid’s mind -and 1 of them also has a guide helping them explore the ‘memory islands’. in  Inception a guy says he’s a construct of a guy’s mind and needs to help him escape the many different Ievels of the dream worlds.The in inception who made the worlds- had dad issues. 'the cell’also had alternate dimensions of a man's mind that a cop explored ( the dimensions were created by a man who was ab*sed by his dad). Movies like inception, matrix, Truman show, total recall, the cell, enter the void, wizard of oz, Peter Pan, hellraiser 2, dream warriors, bill & ted’s bogus journey, and welcome to marwen  also allude to this: because they involve entering simulated abstract worlds usually created/based on happy& traumatic memories/fears.Cough s4 using the movie wizard of oz quote “we’re not in Hawkins (kansas) anymore.While truman show/matrix are more about realizing your reality isn’t real.in bladerunner 2044/total recall it has the theme of false implanted memories… probably relating to hopper realizing he’s an alter and not in “actual Russia.” Before seeing the other segments of the innerworlds with sarah. Like in total recall- the bad ass spy is told all his memories: his wife/ years of marriage,  , his name, are just implanted memories. And she says “you’re life is a dream.” 

In s2 Nancy asks Steve how his “grandpa’s time in the war is a metaphor for your life?” And steve compares the mf to the germans in the war. Dr owens mentions Will has ptsd like “ (vietnam) soldiers’, Hopper saying he had buddies like Will . “In the 70s there was a study that compared the post-traumatic stress symptoms in Vietnam veterans and adult survivors of childhood s**ual ab*se. The study revealed that childhood s**ual ab*se is traumatizing and can result in symptoms comparable to symptoms from war-related trauma.” Hopper isn’t actually in Russia -but in one of the innerworlds (after he jumped through the rift of the machine- into Will’s mind). We’ll see flashbacks but also present circumstances of his imprisonment echo Will’s past with Lonnie (if the movies indicate anything)- being starved, guards getting payed in order to let other prisoners  r*pe a gay prisoner (than claim incorrectly because of his sexuality he wanted it) , as well as a gang of sadist men who r**e others and a warden using that as a threat to be compliant , being thrown in a dark room of solitary confinement and starved when they didn’t obey the warden, the warden being religious, etc. And the Anerican soldiers (in Vietnam) in the movies aren’t much better and do similarly horrific acts to civilians like r**e and bragging/ happily k*lling women, children, and the elderly. The drill sergant in vietnam calling them homophobic slurs & women, and chocking one of the soldiers with one hand, slapping one for not believing in christianity. Tying up a soldier in a bed , gagging him, beating him and saying “remember it’s just a dream.” Only praising them when good in fire arms.(movies : fullmetal jacket, papillon, shawshank redemption, platoon, welcome to marwen, etc ) . My assumption is  flashbacks of his life- will hint he’s an alter of Will’s-the boxes in the basement are “vietnam” ,“dad”, and “ny” (and these are the memories of his we’ll see). And some of the bad characters in said stories will also parallel Lonnie . For instance in s2, Jonathan mentions Indiana writer Vonnegut- In his book ‘slaughterhouse 5′- Vonnegut begins the story of Billy Pilgrim, a man who has “come unstuck in time”. It accounts of Billy Pilgrim's capture and incarceration by the Germans during the last years of World War II, and scattered throughout the narrative are episodes from Billy's life with his dad, and his own wife and kids.Billy is forced to be part of the war and similar things against his free will. The moments start from his childhood when his father throws him in the water to teach him how to swim. He was unwillingly drafted into the war. Later, he is kidnapped by Tralfamadorians  (aliens that are implied to be caused by his mental health issues/trauma) against his will. Therefore, he realizes that this concept is just an illusion.

  And some of the bad characters in said stories will also parallel Lonnie . Like how in ‘peterpan’- the young girl Wendy imagines netherland and the villain -captain hook- is based off her father ( in the movie they have the same voice actors/while in all stage productions the 2 characters are always played by the same actor). Similar to the other s4 film- ‘wizard of oz’ where the wicked witch of th west from the mythical land of Oz (is played by Dorothy’s real life mean neighbor in the real world/kansas). Or ‘in the cell’- every villain from the alternate-mind- dimensions is played by same actor in diff makeup. Not sure if they’d use Ross Patridge (actor of Lonnie) in this way . But it would be very interesting if (In makeup) Ross played many negative people in Hopper’s life/past -as a way to show Will’s past tr*uma.

Like also-look at Sarah’s tiger plushie! In chinese mythology/culture: “The tiger is personified by the constellation Orion (interesting given Sara’s interest in space/blackholes). The tiger represents protection over human life (hmm?). Tiger charms were used to keep away evil and disease (that’s awful ironic if she died in the manner she did). In Buddhism, wearing tiger skins during meditations was believed to bring protection from spiritual interference and potential harm while exploring astral dimensions.” HMMMMMMMMM  XD

Kali in the stranger things novel ‘Suspicious Minds’ says…

“I was named after a goddess. She wore a tiger skin and was fierce in battle.”

Then Kali says to Alice (a women who can see future visions): “I love you, Alice. We can be tigers together.”This parallel (in relation to Alice) is fascinating because Kali actually uses her powers to fake Alice’s death- and to trick Dr. Brenner, and allow Alice to escape. The allusion was so realistic, that Terry could even touch the ‘dead’ Alice.

So the tiger symbolism could be a HUGE hint- that Sarah’s death was simulated and she’ll come back and travel the innerworlds/alternate dimensions of Will’s mind (as Hopper’s guide). Hopper about sarah “galaxies the universe-she always understood that stuff.”

Another possibility (theory b) is she integrated with another alter or with Will (which means she can’t return) .Hopper saying about Sarah “the black hole it got her.” Could imply she integrated with the mf/shadow monster? And ,or maybe she will later ?

But... I lean heavily to theory (a) the most , though.

Obviously sarah has a lot of the connections to Will. will and Sarah both being into science, Sarah winning a spelling bee, Will winning the science fair, both being connected to tigers. Both hallucinating something no one else can see and people trying to snap the 2 out of what they’re viewing. Joyce saying as a witch she’ll eat Will. Parallels Hopper saying as an ogre he’ll eat sarah. Hopper, in s1, when seeing Will (with a vine in his mouth) has a flashback of Sarah on a mouth respirator. And he also has a flashback of Sarah when seeing Will’s lion plushie which resembled Sarah’s tiger plushie. And el also had a lion plushie-like Will’s in s1. Hopper monitored both Will and Sarah at the hospital when they were “dying”. Will has a fear of clowns- and Sarah’s hospital gown had clowns on them. All 3 kids draw.

Plus, we all know the parallels of Will to El (Hopper’s new daughter).

I discussed in my did theory that Hopper (as an adult alter) is a form of protector to all the kid alters - el, Sarah, and Will (host/core). And Hopper as an introject-alter (who are alters based on a person the child knows ) are usually put in the system cause the kid assumes that person could protect them . And since original-Hopper was a police man (a little kid could easily assume that). Although, because he’s a “father figure” for the system he has some of Lonnie’s traits- which are reflected in other perpetrator alters/ bad npcs in the system- Brenner, Neil, Billy, the evil’s Russians,etc . So sometimes he acts similar to a Perpetrator alter too . And I listed those examples/bad parallels extensively in the original did post (linked in the beginning).

And I used these quotes from psych papers in my original did post to pretty much sum up Hopper’s use in Will’s system .

“Introjects can also be based off of  figures that the dissociative child found strong, courageous, heroic, or otherwise worthy of being emulated and internalized and could theoretically protect them.”

“Older adult alters are created to serve a nurturing or parenting role, thus serving as a protector. (*protecting Will/el) . However, sometimes their older age is related to taking on the identification of the ab*ser and can therefore take on any of the other more hostile roles too ... Introjects which are mimicking ab*sers are trying to "keep you inline" in order to protect you from external ab*sers. They are copying behaviors shown to them by bad people, not harboring the intent, s*dism or imm*rality of the actual perpetrators.”

I think it pretty much sums up the nuances and motivations of Hopper’s character.

Thanks for the ask, anon :)

#jim hopper #stranger things #sarah hopper #will byers #kali prasad #el hopper #stranger things theory #did theory #s4 theory #st movies

[favoniuscodex]

Hewwo I really love your writing and I want to improve my own to a form similar to yours. If it's okay, can I ask what your writing process is or if you have any writing tips? Sorry if you already answered questions like this. I am not a native speaker by the way, can i also ask about how you built your vocabulary as well? Thank you very much in advance and I hope you're having a great day/night! Drink lots of water and don't forget to eat three meals a day.~

hello, anon! you’re actually the first to ask about something like this and i’m honored you think my writing is good enough for me to give advice on (and honored that you think it’s good enough to take inspiration from!).

i have two different writing methods, which are as follows:

long fics (10k+ words)

i write an outline and have my friends look over it to make sure that the scenes are both impactful and enjoyable, along with being organized. the most important part of writing a long story is making sure the timeline is coherent and that you have proper buildup to the climax of the story.

before i write a scene that contains foreshadowing to a future event, i write down what themes i wish to convey with this scene, along with any future information that will be relevant later in the story. this is helpful because you never write something all at once if it’s this long! you might forget important details, so having notes is always nice.

if i’m hesitant on writing a scene, i’ll talk it out with some of my friends and see if i’m still comfortable with writing it.

one of the biggest things i can recommend is being adaptable! being willing to change your story plans is crucial, because (typically) the first idea you think of isn’t always the best one. in my own experience, i change my ideas a lot as i write something. this is because i will get bored writing otherwise.

this is from my own experience, other writers may disagree, but i NEVER set word count goals for myself. i write when i want to write, otherwise i will get discouraged when i do not meet said goals.

take breaks or you will hit burnout fast!

have a glass of water and set a timer every 15 minutes to relax your eyes from your screen and drink some of it. it gives your mind a chance to soothe itself from the bright lights of a screen and also gives you a short break. and you stay hydrated!

short fics (<10k words)

when i write short fics, i typically don’t have an outline (unless if it’s a series) and i just go with my gut

if i don’t really like where a story’s going and i know it’s short, i finish it anyways because a finished product is better than giving up in my eyes? at least i know what not to do next time!

sorry a lot of these tips don’t pertain to actual writing! they relate more to planning. :( i’ve been writing stories for fun since i was 6 or 7 (i have journals upon journals of my first stories in my basement!) so most of what i do is just... gut instinct at this point? i apologize if that’s not very helpful of me to say. ;.; i don’t think of myself as very talented but like... i wish to say this in case it happens: please don’t compare your writing to mine! i’m sure your writing is lovely in its own right.

now that that’s said, here’s some stuff i can actually help with, which is under the cut because this is getting long:

word choice / vocabulary

first off, the best thing you can do for yourself is read something complex. like... the type of book where you have to pull out your phone and look up what words mean. if you’re not exposing yourself to new words, even if it is annoying to have to pause, you won’t learn new words.

this typically means ditching the fanfics and looking for actual published novels, typically older ones. i love fanfics (i write them lol), but the word choice in fanfics is typically limited to casual conversational language as they are written for fun, not necessarily to challenge the mind.

next, the best thing you can do is use a thesaurus. i personally use thesaurus.com but it’s different for everyone! but this is dangerous. using a thesaurus can be one of the worst things you can do for your writing if you don’t use it properly. you use a thesaurus to get synonyms for words that are commonly used, but may have a lot of other alternatives (i.e. happy, sad, etc.) and NOT super specific words.

ONLY use words listed as synonyms in a thesaurus if you know them and it’s safe to assume your readers likely know them as well! for example, i used the word ‘insouciant’ as a joke in my last fic. however, if i used that seriously, that probably would’ve been bad as it’s a SUPER rare word. nothing will ruin a reader’s experience faster than a story that blatantly uses too many words from a thesaurus and, worst of all, uses them improperly.

let me give an example:

starting text: “she was happy to see that he had returned safely. she could see relief in his eyes that she was safe as well. he smiled happily at her as she ran into his arms.” this is good enough, but it’s rather plain. it’s an easy read, but nothing about it is super engrossing.

good thesaurus example: “she was overjoyed to see that he had returned without harm. she identified relief in his eyes that she had stayed out of harm’s way as well. he smiled enthusiastically at her as she sprinted into his embrace.” it sounds a lot nicer before and definitely more polished, but nothing about this requires someone to whip out their phone in frustration to google a word. the point of typical writing is not to challenge your reader’s intelligence but to entertain them.

bad thesaurus example: “she was jocular to perceive that he had reappeared in an unharmed manner. she prognosticated solace in his blue orbs that she was guarded as well. he smiled jovially at her as she charged into his forelimbs.” this is a bit of an exaggerated example, but this is actually how i feel some authors tend to write. it’s very blatantly using a thesaurus, it uses words incorrectly, and it overcomplicated things to where it feels like the reader has to do a mental exercise to read it.

tl;dr for this section: if you don’t know a word, do not use it. if you are familiar with a word, it’s probably good to use as long as your writing still seems natural. thesauruses are your friend but can be your enemy.

i would like to clarify that i am a native speaker and it’s not necessary to read books forever in order to keep your grammar and word choice up to date. i have not picked up an actual published book within the last 4 years (don’t laugh at me i know this is bad). however, in learning to expand your grammar, reading books is essential.

some miscellaneous writing tips i have include:

you don’t have to take every request that comes within your inbox if you do decide to do tumblr writing. i probably, much to the behest of the people that submit, throw a good chunk of my requests out. write what you’re passionate about and your writing will improve and your followers will be happier.

if someone criticizes your writing, this does not mean they’re trying to criticize you (usually. don’t go on twitter if you want this to remain true). they are providing something most people don’t want to offer: advice. many times you will find yourself surrounded by people who will applaud you for writing nearly anything. this is not good. living in an echo chamber will ensure that your writing never improves. you want to ask people for advice and find those who will give you genuine advice, even if it may hurt to hear.

try to discern what authors you like do with their writing versus authors you don’t like. consciously making these comparisons will allow you to directly apply them to your own writing and help you emulate someone’s style as well.

please don’t write meme references into your work. it will get outdated fast. try to write something you can look back on within a few years and not cringe at. :) this is just my personal opinion lol, someone might disagree.

i do not proofread my writing. it makes me second guess everything. everything on my blog, as you see it, lacks proofreading, aside from inheritance, in which i had a beta reader glance over it. for beginner writers, this is probably shit advice if you’re not used to grammar BUT that’s just how i roll and i wished to share that.

the most important thing i do for my writing is have a good music playlist in the background. NOTHING will make you write better than listening to music that fits the mood of what you’re writing. find a premade youtube playlist or slap together a spotify playlist of songs you think fit the mood and get grooving to it. you’ll find that you’ll write better and you’ll enjoy the process of writing much more with the mental stimulus.

don’t write jokes in which you have to overexplain them. if you have to explain to the reader what the joke is, it won’t be funny. humor is difficult to write, but no jokes involved are better than a bunch of failed ones.

don’t worry about pinpointing fanfic characterization of a specific character perfectly. i get praises for my characterization of diluc and kaeya within inheritance a lot, even though i specifically altered them from canon (??????? this confuses me a lot that i get praised for this but anyways) and haven’t even read the webtoon. as long as it’s within reasonable expectation, you should be fine. zhongli shouldn’t be written as going off the walls crazy with excitement just like venti shouldn’t be written as super serious about frivolous matters. as long as you get the general gist of a character, people will enjoy it.

try to find some writer friends. they don’t necessarily have to be in the fandom, but being able to shoot off ideas with other people is amazing at improving both your plot and your writing overall. (shoutout to @shannara because for as much as i annoy him, he’s always willing to listen to me blab about any story and any idea, even though he doesn’t read reader-inserts nor should he care about my dumb OCs, but he cares about mine because he’s a cool dude)

don’t get discouraged if a fic doesn’t get good reception. in fact, it’s probably better if your first few fics don’t blow up in popularity if you do post them because it’s humbling and you can decide if you’re actually writing because you enjoy it or if you’re just doing it for clout.

i hope this made sense and if you (or any other people reading this!) need any more writing advice, my ask box and DMs are always open. if you ever want me to beta read something, please send a DM and i’ll see if i can as long as it’s like... not super long and i have spare time.

sorry this turned out to be so long but it turns out i had far more to say than i thought! good luck writing and i believe in you!

#long post #mail #advice #i hope this helped? i'm not very good at this sort of thing. #Anonymous

[mable-stitchpunk]

So how would you rewrite the Fazbear Frights books if you were in charge?

Well, for starters I don’t think every Fazbear Fright story needs work. Here are the ones that I think do a good job in what they set out to do.  (Note that I don’t like all of these stories, so I’m not just picking the ones I like. I’m picking the ones that actually get the job done.) These are the Fazbear Frights stories that are perfectly fine:

Into the Pit, To Be Beautiful, Count the Ways, Fetch, Out of Stock, Room for One More, The New Kid, Coming Home, and Hide and Seek.

Why the others don’t work is typically one of these reasons:

1. They’re boring and feel like they’re there to fill space. 2. They don’t utilize animatronics that they could. 3. If they DO utilize animatronics, usually they’re either a hallucination or they appear once and then the rest of the story is humans talking. 4. Many times they’re just reskinned sections of story from the game, just done in a much more bland way. 5. Sometimes they’re blatantly copied horror stories seen in your typical “100 Ghost Stories to read in the Dark”. Usually done with little change beyond names and occasionally slapping in a Freddy namedrop.

I’d say the biggest problem is a lot of them don’t feel like FNAF stories. Forget the lore, they just don’t engage in the one thing that makes the games scary: the animatronics. They’re typically just long-winded descriptions of the life of the human protagonist and then a squeezed in horror trope at the end.

The stories feel rushed. Probably because they’re done with a conveyor belt mentality. Just get ‘em done and get ‘em sold. Put Freddy in the title and people will buy anything! In which case, why not buy a cheap ghost story book from a dollar bin?

Now here’s the tricky part... How would I change the stories? Well...

Lonely Freddy: Go all the way with it. Instead of having a bunch of filler and then a swapped body story, have a young man getting stalked by a small animatronic bear, only to reveal that it is the real Alec trying to get its body back. A better twist, more dramatic tension, and feels a little more original.

1:35AM: Have Ella be an actual threat. Instead of being just a hallucination as we hear about a woman’s woes, have her get closer every night, or have her get more broken, until Delilah finally tries to stand up to the doll. Only to have it reveal what it was really made to do. Or have it lure her into that (apparently random) vent only to reveal that it was trapping her there, or that it lured other- now deceased- people there, or to find the body of the spirit possessing it. Something!

Step Closer: Instead of ripping off Final Destination, why not have Foxy actually start hunting the brothers? Or maybe the older brother convinces the younger to stay overnight at the pizzeria with him- an overnight challenge- and then as Foxy comes to life and becomes aggressive, Pete and Chuck must work together to fight him off. Maybe Pete gets seriously injured and still loses that eye and arm in the process- still would be a payoff. Heck, or have it a toned down story where Foxy’s targeting Pete for his bullying and doesn’t back down until Chuck musters up the bravery to stand up for him.

Dance With Me: THIS ONE I have a great idea for. Instead of glasses where she sees a Ballora hallucination, Kasey gets a security bracelet stuck on her wrist that drawls a broken, crawling, spider-like Ballora to her. Perhaps with all her little Minireenas hanging on. Kasey must find a way to get it off. I’ll let you imagine how that turns out, because there’s a multitude of rewarding endings.

Bunny Call: Why not make it Music Man? Or better yet, instead of another guy in a rabbit suit, why can’t it just be a rabbit animatronic? Or perhaps numerous small rabbits popping up around the cabin?... No, forget it. This story was made for Music Man. He is terrifying and underutilized, and making a cymbal rabbit just because “killer wore a rabbit suit” is lame.

In The Flesh: First of all, rewrite the story so it doesn’t wander all over the place. Secondly, scrap the pregnancy thing- it’s not scary, just awkward- and have THIS be the story with hallucinations. Let him imagine he sees Springtrap around him. Have him do something about it that he may regret. Maybe to a friend, maybe to himself...

The Man in room 1280: Forget the build-up to the lame Stitchwraith twist, you have this man carrying Ennard inside of him and you show us what it would really look like to watch someone’s body decay. This is another case where reframing a scene from the game could’ve been disturbing enough to work.

Blackbird: As this is pretty much not a FNAF story, why not make Blackbird an actual animatronic that the main characters find while looking for props for their movie? Or, have them sneak into a burned down pizzeria to do filming and run amiss of a fried Chica? Heck, make it a dark comedy. Have the boys try to use this fried chicken as a prop in their movie, only for something to go terribly wrong. You don’t have to run fast, just faster than your friends!

The Real Jake: This is pretty much just some of FNAF 4′s bullet points rewritten to give Jake a backstory that, honestly, he didn’t need. They could’ve at least done something more with it! I couldn’t say how though with how bland it is.

And the thing is that while my ideas are not perfect, at least they relate more to FNAF. There are so many ways they could’ve gone by thinking about it, but they didn’t, because they didn’t put that much thought into them. They cut corners where they could and wracked up words counts when they had the chance. Even some of the stories that got the pass did this.

Do I think the Fazbear Frights books will get better? No. Probably the next six or seven books have already been written and they’re of this same quality. Nobody has to give a little extra effort because they’ll sell regardless. It’s a mockery to writers who actually have to work for what they create, but I digress.  

TLDR: More animatronics, more effort, less borrowed ideas.

[oveliagirlhaditright]

Trust Me Coda

The ending to the Joshyme story I wrote years ago "Trust Me", that I've since deleted. I was hoping, that with the Way Back Machine, I could get all the chapters back and post it again and include this as the ending. But unfortunately, the Way Back Machine only gives me the first chapter (maybe someday I can find a way to get it all back). So I'm posting the ending by itself. It can be read and enjoyed by itself, as it also summarizes some things that happened in "Trust Me."

How They Met

Rhyme’s PoV

“Raimu… you’re reading the Shiver series? What if I started calling you ‘Ringo’, since that’s what Cole calls Sam in that series? You both have names that begin with ‘R’, yes?”

…Somehow, Rhyme just knew that this was Joshua who had suddenly appeared beside her and was asking this question. Even though she’d never met him before and had only heard horror stories from Beat, Shiki, and Neku. Because who else would so brazenly come up to her and ask such a question? As if he’d known her whole life and she owed him an answer for reading such bad literature in his eyes?

Blinking at the ashen-aired boy here at Molco, while she waited for Beat and Neku to get their Tin Pins that they were shopping for, Rhyme couldn’t help feeling a little incredulous here. “Really? You make yourself known to the Player you just randomly bring back to life even though she didn’t win—which must be a huge deal—and that’s what you have to ask? Honestly, I expected more from you, Joshua—if you don’t mind me calling you that—from what I’ve heard about you.”

Joshua chuckled at this… which Rhyme saw as a good sign, and as a hint that he wasn’t angry that she wasn’t poking fun at him and wasn’t going to turn her back into a Squirrel Noise again. But he still seemed to want to want to insult her, however, she noted with a frown on her face. “I can’t believe you’re reading something like Twilight. I expected better from you, Raimu.”

Rhyme really wanted to let Joshua have it here. She did (and usually she was such a nice person, too!). Because first off, where did he get off insulting her literary choices? And why was he being a creep, anyway?

But deciding to be the responsible little sister that Beat had always looked up to her for, Rhyme smiled and decided to be the bigger person and extended a hand Joshua’s way for him to shake… which he did very reluctantly, as the sun seemed to get in his eyes. “Why don’t we just start over here. I’m Rhyme, and who are you?”

“…I’m Joshua, I suppose. Though I really don’t know if I want to play along here, dear Raimu. Though I guess I’ll bite, and give this to you… Why are you reading Inkheart? You are reading that series at the same time as that horrible Shiver series, right? Actually, that is a good question. Do tell.” That was the first question Joshua had asked Rhyme when they met, when he came to see her in Molco when day when she was reading outside in the beautiful sunlight, waiting for Beat to come back out and join her after he’d bought some new Tin Pins.

Rhyme had turned around to happily tell the stranger why she was reading the book, because she loved having conversations with people about literature, but then she was met with the look of who could only have been the Composer of Shibuya, based off Beat, Neku, and Shiki’s descriptions of him, in order to keep her safe.

“I-” Rhyme suddenly stammered here. Because she was suddenly afraid of Joshua, as memories of what Beat, Neku, and Shiki had said came back to her. She was afraid that her reasons for reading this particular saga might upset him, and he might even strike her down for them. What to say here, then? Rhyme panicked. Or maybe she shouldn’t say anything?

“Do you like the fact that Mortimer and Meggie don’t believe in gods?” Joshua filled in her silence, smirking, as he played with a strand of his hair.

And Rhyme really thought that she had done something to offend him now—and that he might actually murder her in cold blood, like he had Neku—so she knew that she needed to find her words, and do something to make amends towards her savior.

So, taking a deep breath, Rhyme tried to do just that. “Even if I did… it wouldn’t be because of you, Joshua. I know you’re somewhat god-like. I just think it makes sense that those two characters would think legends about gods are all just stories, since they surrounded themselves with literature.”

“…Hmm. And perhaps it does, Raimu. Perhaps it does.”

Joshua was sitting beside Rhyme now; he had simply been standing before. And curiously… he was sitting rather close to her—not like a lover might; not quite that—but he also wasn’t at all caring about her need for space. And he stole Rhyme’s book from her before she could even blink, and flipped it to a certain page (it didn’t escape her attention that he left the Shiver sequel, “Linger”, alone. He must have really hated that book for some reason, which made it even weirder that he did, in fact, start calling her “Ringo.” Though Rhyme oddly didn’t mind. Perhaps she was too nice). “What do you think of Dustfinger having a thing for Mortimer’s wife?”

Though Rhyme could tell that that wasn’t the question Joshua had wanted to ask; and she told him as such, as she gingerly tried to take the novel back from him. “If you think I’m reading this because of the Game… I’m surprised you don’t ask if I think characters getting pulled into the fictional Inkheart world, is like Players going into the UG when they die. Joshua… can you be honest, and not make this all about tomes right now, and tell me what you really want with me? I’m sure it’s not this. Honesty is always the best policy, right?”

“Hehehe,” the might-as-well-demi-god laughed, as he put his legs over Rhyme’s… not in a sexual way. But in a teasing one, as if he was showing he was comfortable with her and didn’t understand social norms at all. “I suppose it is, huh, Raimu? That being said… I came to visit you, because I did think you forgot who so kindly brought you back to life, and wasn’t thanking him. And because I wanted to see if bringing you back to life was worth it… fortunately for you, I certainly think it was.”

That was certainly a lot to process! And there was a part of Rhyme that wanted to slap Joshua for thinking she owed him gratitude for not playing with her life, while another side of her wanted to grovel in gratitude at his feet for what he had done for her and Beat (Rhyme knew Beat never would have ever gotten over it if she hadn’t come back. So, she almost appreciated Joshua more for his sake than her own).

Rhyme also wanted to know how, exactly, she had proved to Joshua that she was “worth it”… and if she could do anything to ruin that idea in his head. Though hopefully not!

But before Rhyme got the chance, Neku and Beat were leaving the store to join her, and Joshua was disappearing, with the words, “We’ll meet again, Rhyme, and talk for real. I promise,” just barely heard in her ears.

…

And Rhyme and Joshua did meet up after that… a few times, actually. He showed up to one of their group hang-outs, where they’d decided to make pocky, and ended up helping Rhyme with that (when everyone else went to get sauces), when it was clear she was a disaster in the kitchen, she thought…

And then one time when she was at school… and they’d doodled some together, while they’d sat on the green—getting grass stains—and then after that, at a dance, weirdly enough (that Rhyme thought Joshua had only gone to because it reminded him of his deceased parents. She, however, had been forced to go, because her parents had been trying to make more of a girl out of her. And they’d danced together, as Joshua had reluctantly told her some of his backstory before he stomped off).

But even with all of the mixed feelings and signals… the two of them had fallen in love. But neither one of them were fools. And they knew if they really wanted to be together, Rhyme might have to die for it to happen—which made things taxing for them, too—but even with that… they had found happiness.

One of their best times being when Rhyme let Joshua brush her hair, and she ended up relating a story to him that she thought she’d never tell anyone.

“For the longest time… I actually didn’t know how to brush my hair. At least not fully, to be able get all the tangles out, that is. I think that’s why I kept it short for so long.”

And thankfully, it showed just how far they had come, that Josh did not mock her for this. Instead, he began massaging her shoulder with one hand, while continuing to take care of her hair with the brush in the other. “Is this because you’re autistic? I’ve often wondered if that’s why you’re so smart. And sometimes, autistic people have a hard time doing normal, every day things, and can almost need caretakers for them, but do genius things to make up for it… and there’s no shame in that. You just see the world differently.”

“Yes,” Rhyme admitted, placing a hand over her heart now, and leaning back to kiss Joshua on the cheek once. And he leaned into her gesture, she noticed, smiling. “It took me a while to figure that out. But I think it’s the answer. And I’m not ashamed of it anymore. Even if I hadn’t figured out how to style my hair… I wouldn’t hate who I am. Especially since, in so many areas, I am a genius, as you say… And thanks for saying that, Josh. Though I swear I’m not fishing for compliments here.”

Joshua “hmmed” at that, almost like he didn’t believe Rhyme (though she knew he was just acting). And she thought about bumping him on the head… but then they turned to face each other and both burst out laughing. And they somehow found their way into each other’s arms, too, with Rhyme’s back against Joshua’s chest and his chin on her head.

“As if I think you’d ever do something as selfish as ‘fish for compliments,’ Raimu,” Joshua told her, rolling his eyes.

“Hey! I’m not that selfless now, I’ll have you know…” Rhyme protested. “But in all seriousness,” Rhyme pretty much hummed here, “can we stay like this forever, Josh?”

“Yes, dear,” he promised, starting to remove her clothes, so they could tenderly make love. “I think we can.”

…

But their happiness wasn’t meant to last.

Joshua had angered the previous Composer of Shibuya (Jeffrey), who he actually hadn’t killed (and who had instead ascended to become an Angel), and the current Setagaya Composer (when he had murdered the old one accidentally… when he’d been fighting the hold Composer of Shibuya to become the new one and had erased Setagaya’s, when he’d been standing right on the line that separated Shibuya from Setagaya, and Setagaya’s Conductor had had to step up). As, if he wished it, he could be both the Composer of Shibuya and Setagaya.

Because of that, the Conductor, Rinoa(1), who had stepped up as Setagaya’s Composer had always feared that Josh would try to take their throne.

And Shibuya’s former Composer—who had been an elder to Josh, somewhat like Sanae, who Josh had forced to ascend, lest he kill him, and Josh didn’t want that—was afraid that he would try to become Composer of both places and become even more powerful than the Angels, perhaps.

And there was even more to the story than that.

And they wanted revenge on him.

And to do that, they murdered Rhyme… they actually locked her in a meat cellar, so she would freeze to death. By the time Josh and Mr. H found her, she had already been fading away. And Joshua had then done something that no Composer or Angel was supposed to do (and Rhyme had found all of this out far too late), which was go back in time one day so he could save her… But it had had its consequences.

Josh had targeted the Composer and Angel’s loved ones so they’d know what it was like to lose the one they loved, and maybe leave Rhyme alone… but in seeing this hatred and destruction from Joshua, for no good reason in her eyes—and thinking that maybe he was the monster she’d feared all along—Rhyme had broken up with him… and doomed Joshua to fall to darkness even more.

But things hadn’t ended there, either.

Because of course the Angel and Composer wanted to try and steal Joshua’s powers back. Of course they did. And thankfully, Joshua had had the good sense to come clean and explain everything to Rhyme a week before everything went down, so they could try to plan for the worst accordingly.

Joshua had stayed in the Room of Reckoning, and the Composer and Angel had sent quite a few Conductors and Reapers after Josh.

And Josh, after everything, was too heartless to really fight back. Partly because Rhyme was being horrible in not telling him she loved him and that they were of course going to get back together, she knew, but it was all too much and she needed a bit more time to process here.

And honestly, as it was, Rhyme was afraid that with the way Joshua was acting, even he and Sanae together wouldn’t be able to win against these Reapers and Jeffrey and Rinoa when they made their appearance. Which was when she came up with an idea.

“Sanae,” Rhyme begged now, as Joshua and her world was falling apart (and how much of her world was in Joshua, she realized now. She loved him so much! And she was foolish for ever having doubted him and risking this. But Rhyme knew that if she told Josh this now, it wouldn’t change anything. It wouldn’t affect his morale, as he would think she was just lying for him), “can you fly me to where Joshua first became Composer and put me into the UG there?”

“I can…” he allowed. “But you’ll be vulnerable without your Partner, Joshua. Though I suppose I can stay and help you for a moment. What are you-”

“Actually, it’s the fact that Josh and I are Partners in every sense of the word that I’m counting on.”

So, Sanae held Rhyme in his arms, and flew her out of her Shibuya River and up, up, up into the sky and further away from Shibuya and Joshua—and how Rhyme prayed to him that she was making the right choice here—and closer to Setagaya.

Once there, the first person she saw was Rinoa. And of course she would be here and wouldn’t have left yet. Rhyme could only hope that she could make a big enough show to get the bigger threat, the angel, to show up here, too, and not just this sniveling girl with the stiff upper lip.

“Where’s Jeffrey?” Rhyme demanded, as she wasted not even a second and sent lightning flying Rinoa’s way with her pin in hand.

And the blonde with the near white hair (gosh, was she blonde. And maybe her hair had even gotten lighter with her Composer powers. And perhaps that had even led to her becoming as entitled as she had? Would Rhyme become the same way if she chose this fate, she feared?) didn’t waste a moment in sneering at Rhyme for her efforts and sending earth magic her way with her own pin.

And though Sanae tried his best to dodge it, the rippling earthquake sliced Rhyme’s left leg open a decent amount as they moved and she cried in pain.

“Nowhere you need to know, girly. You should know this is above you, anyway. You only ever learned how to use just one psych, didn’t you? What are you going to do with just lightning?”

“The key, though, is being clever with it,” Rhyme challenged, sending a blast right at Rinoa’s heart, as Sanae got them to the ground and desperately tried to heal Rhyme’s leg. Rinoa shrieked in pain. And Rhyme felt bad for having guessed right, that even in death the arteries and joints that would have hurt you if injured while alive, would still hurt you badly if touched in the afterlife… But she had to save Joshua, so she didn’t have time to worry about it right now.

“Rhyme, as silly as it is, Angels can’t use healing pins like Players can,” Sanae whispered to her now, reaching into a bag he’d been smart enough to bring with him to look for gauze to try and wrap her leg in. “I guess who or whatever’s even higherup than us feels we’d be too powerful if we could use magic as well as pins. But if I use some of my powers here healing you, I may exhaust myself so I can’t help you and J later.”

Rhyme was about to tell Mr. H that it was fine: that while she was in a great deal of pain right now, she had figured that that would be the case for a lot of this, and had tried to mentally prepare herself to be able to withstand it.

But, of course, the real deal was something else entirely. Rhyme found herself biting her lip quite a few times, so she wouldn’t start crying, and so that Mr. H wouldn’t feel horrible upon seeing it.

But before she could get the words out, Rinoa had already recovered and was running headlong at Rhyme with a sword pin. And Rhyme just barely whipped her own shield one out to try and be able to parry. And she was able to dodge a few strikes. And she was amazed that she was able to do just that, as her knees tried to buckle under her weight, for Rinoa was unfortunately right that Rhyme wasn’t the best Player.

And as such, Rhyme eventually lost hold on the shield psych, and had to attempt the lightning psych once again, to try and use as a defense… which was more than faulty, since thunder in her hand hurt her, as well, but it was better than if an enemy had been throwing it at her, or if she’d just been being hammered on by Rinoa’s attack.

“Stop. Please, stop!” Rhyme cried out. “I know we can reason about this, if we just talk!” Rhyme had of course come here planning to erase Rinoa and Jeffrey if it came down to it—as she doubted they would give her another choice—but Joshua had changed so much for the better in loving her. She knew that he would give up being the Composer, and just return to the RG to be with her, if they gave him the option (though she knew he, as well as her, would hate the idea of leaving Shibuya to these monsters). But they were so out for blood, Rhyme doubted that they would see reason, but she would try, as her face started to bleed now, and the night sky took on a yellow color because of this intense light show.

“Rinoa, we don’t have to do this! Just get over your hate for Joshua and stop! You all partly brought this on yourselves, you know, by destroying his family and perceiving him as a bigger threat than he is. He didn’t mean to get the power of two Composers, so…”

And here Rinoa tipped her head back and laughed uproariously at Rhyme. Sanae, bless his heart, flew to Rhyme now and got her out of some of the line of fire. She knew he couldn’t interfere here much (as Producer, and since then it would be like he was trying to become two Composers plus an Angel), but he could still defend her some. “That’s rich, little girl,” the blonde whispered now, while looking at her nails that she had bitten to the quick. “I’ve been told a lot of lies as an elite. But I think you’ve been told even more for being in love. Clearly someone who once thought of destroying all of Shibuya is on a power high and wants that power… I almost feel bad for you for believing his lies. Step aside, little one, and Jeffrey and I won’t erase you for your infuriating Partner.”

“What’s most of all infuriating is murdering someone’s parents in cold blood, just because he can see the UG as a child, and you think he will be a threat to you. It’s not infuriating. It’s cruel, cold, disgusting, and inhumane. Especially since you two destroyed Joshua’s parents through beheading. Beheading! And then what you did to Rhyme... ” Sanae said the words that Rhyme had so desperately wanted to here, as he bravely stood in front of her to protect her.

His voice was furious, and Rhyme couldn’t blame him for that in the slightest. She was furious about what they had done to Joshua’s parents. And Sanae had known about this longer than Rhyme had, and had had even longer for this to make his blood boil.

But at the same time… his body language wasn’t hostile. He had a hand outstretched towards Rinoa, as if trying to tell her it wasn’t too late for her to end all this hostility and make amends, but Rhyme in her heart of hearts knew she wouldn’t take the olive branch.

And she didn’t.

She started shooting fire at the two of them now.

And then, Jeffrey appeared from the Higher Plane.

Rhyme really only knew about him from what Joshua had been able to tell her of the Angel. While he’d been able to use some magic to show her some memories he had of Rinoa, Josh wasn’t powerful enough to do that for an Angel. But he was as she would have expected: someone carrying a war hammer, and desperately trying to look stronger, for having been born with a “weak-sounding” name, perhaps.

“Yoshiya really sent his girl to face us and do his job?! Get out of the way, girl, or I’ll squash you flat!” “His name is Joshua,” both Rhyme and Sanae countered now, as Rhyme rolled out of the way of Jeffrey’s hammer and then Sanae helped her get out of the way of roses that Rinoa had tried to aim at her, like she was Tuxedo Kamen or something.

“No, it’s not,” Jeffrey argued. At which point, Rhyme just glowered at him. How had Joshua ever been close to this guy? It was clear that whatever love they had once had was long lost. And also… why were they standing having a discussion here, while these two were trying to kill them? Rhyme almost would have rather had the violence without the aimless talking, thank you very much!

“It’s Yoshiya!” Jeffrey continued on, much to Rhyme and Sanae’s annoyance. Rhyme continued to glare. Rinoa looked at them with a gloating look on her face, as if she thought all of this was true, too. And Sanae, seeming annoyed, and sensing a break in the answer, fished into his bag and started eating coffee beans. “Which sounds like ‘Yeshua.’ And even though everything about him was a load of bologna—and ‘Joshua’s’ parents only named him ‘Yoshiya’ so he’d fit in Japan better, when they really wanted it to just be ‘Joshua’—the name on his legal documents being so close to ‘Yeshua’ still seems to indicate he was made for great things. And I can’t stand for that. For that reason, he must die.”

“And so must you, for calling him ‘Yoshiya!’” Rhyme yelled furiously, charging at both menaces now.

And it was with her rage for everything they had done to Joshua—and them not even respecting his identity and wishes for his name now—that she finally snapped and put her full plan into effect. Rhyme pushed the two of them onto the line dissecting Shibuya and Setagaya and stood there herself.

And she then thought of Joshua, and their bond in every way: how they were eventually Partners in the Game, but also Partners in every sense in the word (she remembered the time he had tried to seduce her by touching her back. And she had had her clothes on, and really it shouldn’t have had a large effect on her at all. But since it was them, and they were so bonded, it had. It had).

Eventually, she and Joshua would marry… and, legally, what was his would be hers (in the eyes of the RG, at least. But Rhyme was banking on that being enough here). And so, she chose to be Composer of both Shibuya and Setagaya like he had the right to do, and encased herself in lightning.

Rhyme absolutely shook with power, but did not feel like she was losing herself, and she erased these two like it was the simplest thing in the world. With a snap of her fingers.

And Sanae breathed the sigh of relief that Rhyme herself couldn’t right now, because she still felt horrible for her actions, and somewhat at a loss with this power.

But finally… it was done, and these two’s hate for Joshua would never touch him again.

And the followers of these two should have been giving up now, if they sensed an all-powerful Composer was coming their way and Joshua would finally—finally—be safe.

They would all finally be safe.

Crying, as she began flying back to Shibuya now—her city, for the time being—with Sanae by her side—Rhyme told her companion, “Let’s get back to that kid, who needs us more than anything.”

And Sanae laughed, flying closer to her, so he could wrap an arm around her shoulder. “You got it, R.”

He’d officially adopted her into the family.

And Rhyme grinned. “The more the merrier with the letter nicknames, huh?”

And honestly? She couldn’t have been happier?

…

Once Rhyme made it back to the Room of Reckoning, she instantly wanted to run to Joshua and wrap him up in her arms. He definitely looked the worse for wear. Even more than she did right now: Probably because she was the Composer of Shibuya at the moment, and Setagaya, and thus that massive energy was healing her.

But she knew that she couldn’t.

To do so now, would make Joshua look weak, while he was still surrounded by Reapers, surprisingly, and any one of them could make a move to erase him now, if they weren’t careful.

Rhyme did settle on yelling to him, “Joshua, I love you… and I’m sorry for everything. If you’ll still have me, I’ll be with you and marry you!” however.

And never had she been so tactless and reckless, perhaps. But she thought if it would do the duty of giving hope to one that had been so without hope before—the one she loved most of all—she would happily look silly.

And Joshua caught Rhyme’s glance from across the room then, and he smirked at her: he was gazing at her as though she was the big man on campus for being the Composer of two areas right now, and she supposed she technically she was. And for now, that was enough and would have to do.

There also might have been lust in his eyes, but she was not focusing on that now. No, she wasn’t!

“So, as you can see,” Joshua said, flipping a strand of his fabulous hair, as he stood atop his throne—even as a mere Player now—and looked down at the Reapers below him, as if they were mere insects. “My Partner and I have a million schemes up our sleeves. Go now, if you don’t want to be erased like your superiors were. There might even be a promotion in it for you social climbers, if you act accordingly. Hehe.”

And since most Reapers were angling for the spot of Composer, and would want it now that that spot would soon be open in Setagaya (once Rhyme let that power go, and gave Joshua his proper title of Shibuya Composer back), they didn’t have to be told twice.

Rhyme could barely make out that one of the Reapers was redheaded with blue sunglasses… that another was a bigger man with long black hair, and that the strongest one seemed to be a dark-skinned little boy, who actually seemed about to help Joshua, rather than hurt him, she could see now, as he’d been leaning towards him with healing energy in his hand…, before they were all flying away, leaving Rhyme, Joshua, and Sanae alone.

“Joshua, I can give you powers back right now, if you want,” Rhyme whispered, the moment that everyone was gone. And she found herself by his side before she could even blink, hating how he was slouched over and injured like this. “Because if you steal something, you spend your whole life trying to keep it, and-”

Really, Rhyme had no idea why she’d said just that. And perhaps that was why she had quickly cut herself off. She didn’t mean to keep Joshua’s powers, of course. And he knew it well, too. It was just one of her silly adages that had come out of her mouth. And now, more than ever, did Rhyme hate how she seemed to say them at the drop of a hat.

She was about to try and back pedal and defend her position here—while Sanae guffawed at her lack of grace in the background… which was kind of like how her and Joshua’s whole relationship had started, huh?—but Josh actually seemed amused by her words, and moved in to kiss her as he laughed.

And it felt so good to kiss Joshua again! Rhyme found herself thinking, as she found her lips moving with his and their bodies becoming nestled together. Even without his Composer powers right now, loving him was like loving starlight, and Rhyme now honestly had no idea how she’d ever planned on giving any of this up.

“Hold onto them for now, dear,” Joshua told her, looking into her eyes for a long time and looking for nothing, something, or everything. Rhyme wasn’t sure which. “I’ll get them back soon enough, I know. But if you’re really going to become an Angel for me… it might be nice for me to fully understand what you’re giving up. And for you to try your future kind of power out, too. Anyway. What you did was so clever, Rhyme. I’d say I was proud of you. But I would have never expected less of you, Raimu. Of course you would just come up with the most genius plan to save the day. That’s just who you are.

“…But if you don’t mind, Rhyme. I think I’m going to take a nap right now. My body needs to heal. And it’s been a long time since I’ve really needed to sleep, so it might be nice to try it out just once”

There was a part of Rhyme that couldn’t believe that Josh didn’t want to sleep with her, or at least cuddle, now that they were finally back together again, and after everything they’d just been through together. But finding that she was at least mentally tired herself, Rhyme thought that that was the best idea in the world here, and curled up with him on his throne, and closed her eyes.

Joshua’s laziness wasn’t the worst thing in the world, really. Sometimes, it could even be inspiring.

…And soon, the two of them felt another body joining them, as well. It was Sanae, Rhyme knew. And Joshua woke up for a moment at that, to glare at him. But Sanae just puckered his lips at Josh, and then just leaned in ever closer to Josh and Rhyme, so Josh gave up and went back to sleep.

If Rhyme had to guess, Sanae wasn’t really exhausted—and truly couldn’t get exhausted—but perhaps just wanted to cuddle the two of them after everything that had just happened, where he might have thought he might lose two of his favorite kids. Or maybe he was messing with them some. Or just wanted to spend time with them here, if he was going to have to go back to the Higher Plane for a little bit, to sort Jeffrey’s mess out.

And Rhyme was more than fine with that. She completely loved and trusted Sanae and saw him as a part of her precious family, that she was so glad to have now.

So, in the arms of two men she loved more than anything… even as a sort of god that really didn’t need sleep, Rhyme slept well, and felt like she was home.

And really, she was. She knew that she was.

Some Months Later

Joshua’s PoV

“Rhyme… are you sure you want this?” Joshua asked now, looking at this girl who truly looked like the sun and might as well have been the sun to him.

And usually, he hated the hyperbole. But how else was he supposed to feel after she had recently saved him as expertly as she just had? He just… loved her so much. And Josh was no longer afraid to think the word anymore. It just seemed like a simple truth to him, like how he would also gladly annoy Neku until the day the former-Player died.

And it was for the reason that Joshua adored her so much, that he was willing to let her go, if he thought there was even the slightest chance that her being without him would make her happier than being by his side would.

Josh seriously doubted that she would take him up on the offer to refuse him. In fact, as she stood above him now, about to ascend, she looked at him incredulously for voicing these thoughts and he chuckled, putting his hands in his pockets.

Rhyme had been standing on a raised platform, preparing to ascend. And though she didn’t have to actually be “up in the air” in order to do just that, she was putting on a show like she did have to. Clearly, she had been hanging out with Shiki and Eri too much for being so dramatic now… but Josh wouldn’t have had it any other way. He was glad she was becoming louder in voicing her desires.

As Rhyme gently stepped down the stairs to reach Joshua’s level now—in a room that might have been a wedding dress fitting area in another life—and he held her hand to help her down the steps, Joshua expected her to tell him one of her favorite sayings, perhaps. That a problem shared was a problem halved, so of course Rhyme would be helping him out this way.

But instead, Rhyme laid a gentle hand on his cheek, beamed at him with crooked teeth, and explained her vision to him with the most sky-colored eyes that Joshua had ever seen. And it was hard not to get lost in both and choke up a little.

And Joshua did choke up some. Because it was too much. All too much. After he’d been tortured as he had—and been left by Rhyme for what he’d thought to be forever; though he understood well why she’d done it. Oh, did he ever—to see and feel such grace. This kind of love was more than what his parents had ever given him, definitely.

“Joshua,” Rhyme whispered, her palm curling against his cheek and finding a strand of his hair there, too. And oh, when she unintentionally brushed her fingers through his lock of hair that way, it was good. So good. “I love you. I love you so much. I have for a long time now… And you know this—being able to read my mind and all, you creep,” and Rhyme giggled at the last thing she said, so Joshua would know that she didn’t truly mean the end part of that sentence.

And Joshua was certainly glad that she did. Because while he suspected it—and could have even gleaned it himself by listening to her thoughts, like she’d said—it was still better to hear it from her, in what, perhaps, truly was some kind of wedding here. “So… of course a part of me was always going to make this decision. But becoming Producer of Shibuya, as Sanae gets promoted so he can look into some of the Angels’ corruption, allows me to protect the city I love. It’s the best of both worlds. I can still be in Shibuya plenty.

“And, eventually, I’d die again and have to make this sort of decision, anyway. I’m just speeding up the process. And since I defeated Rinoa and Jeffrey… it’s like my body’s already begun to ascend, you know… So, I will happily do this, if it means you don’t have to be alone anymore. Trust me.” And Rhyme perhaps smiled wider at him than she ever had before. It was in her eyes, too, as she took his hand.

…“Trust me,” there was the lesson Joshua had wanted his Players to learn in his Game. It was what he had desperately hoped that Neku would, perhaps, to give him reason to save this wonderful place that Shibuya was. And, yes. Joshua did see Shibuya as wonderful now.

How could he not? In this room they were in, there was a large picture window just behind Rhyme. And Josh could see the green of Miyashita Park spilling in. He could see a man walking his dog… and a girl helping a little old man across the street… as well as all the beautiful multi-colored flowers that were starting to grow in the Spring here, that none other than Neku and Shiki had stopped to smell in this moment (though he suspected they might have also been giving Rhyme another subtle goodbye).

Shibuya—no, the world—really was a beautiful place. And Joshua could finally see it now, because of people like Rhyme, Sanae, Neku, Shiki, and Beat. And he wasn’t afraid to live life anymore. Rather, he wanted to make up for all the time he’d lost and he knew that this was a good place to start.

“…I do trust you, Rhyme. I love you. And I thank you for trusting me, even though there were times I didn’t deserve it.” There had been times when Joshua had been pretty abusive to Rhyme during their relationship—or at least unhealthy with her—and he hated himself for it.

But Rhyme understood it as being because of the trauma he’d gone through. And how he’d never really been taught how to love, as his parents had thought he was a freak for being able to see the UG. But he’d finally figured it all out. And he could make up for the past, by loving Rhyme better than she’d ever been loved every single day. It was the least he could do for someone who had treated him so selflessly and opened his eyes and soul.

“Joshua, you do deserve it. I promise you. It’s not your fault you’ve been hurt. And there’s so much good in you—good that I’ve ever seen—that’s growing every day, and I love to help that flourish. It’s my own personal garden, and I’m happy to be a gardener… But we’re talking about things we’ve already hashed out plenty of times. Hehe. Are you ready to go?”

“Has there ever been a time I haven’t been ready, Raimu?” Joshua quipped.

Rhyme swatted his arm for that, but it was all in good fun. They both laughed.

Joshua extended his wings then, so he could begin fly towards the Higher Plane, just above them.

And Rhyme watched him… and remembered when she’d been Composer just a little bit before, and drew upon that knowledge and power (even the intense love she’d felt then) so she could do the same thing. And she, too, grew wings, and joined Joshua as they flew about in the sky.

She would always join him, and stay with him forever.

Joshua’s PoV Towards the Start of This Story

Though Joshua would never admit it to anyone but himself after having met her… there was something about that Raimu girl, that he couldn’t put his finger on.

But she was interesting. And fun, perhaps. And she challenged him.

And his clairvoyance kicked in now—preparing to tell him some things, if he wished it—but Joshua pushed it back.

He would rather have the mystery.

Whatever was going to happen with Rhyme, he thought he was probably in for a wild ride with her… and as someone who had always liked fun that others might deem as weird, Joshua knew that he wouldn’t change it for the world, as he watched her gleefully join her brother and Neku now, with their Tin Pins in hand.

Author’s Note: (1) NOT Final Fantasy VIII’s Rinoa. I just chose to name her that for reasons I don’t entirely know now, but it’s not FFVII’s Rinoa. Sorry for any confusion that might cause.

And it should be mentioned that I don’t hate the Shiver series. LOL

I hope you all enjoyed:)

And if anyone remembers “Trust Me” from ages ago, are you glad it has an ending now? Let me know!

And happy reading!

And happy TWEWY days, now that we finally have a sequel! Hopefully we might get a third game, too!

Dedicated to Liz, Dina, and Nicole, if you're still around (heck, Saro, too. Because even though you never read "Trust Me", none of this would have been possible without you, dear), and everyone else who loved this story. I'm sorry I couldn't end this in the best way possible (with all the chapters together here), but I'm glad I finally ended it. Thanks for everything, guys! You're seriously the best!

#twewy #the world ends with you #subarashiki kono sekai #it's a wonderful world #neo twewy #neo #ntwewy #neo the world ends with you #joshyme #oneshot #au #alternate universe #mine #my work #shanna writes #Shanna's various forms of art #trust me #trust me coda #yoshiya kiryu #raimu bito #joshua kiryu #rhyme bito #yoshiya #joshua #raimu #rhyme

[lesbian-vmin]

How much do you think Vmin's ao3 underratedness is just because the archetypes of Jimin & Tae don't work together? I've given up on reading ao3 fics (for all pairings) because the boys, but ESPECIALLY Jimin and to a certain extent Tae, don't feel like themselves at all. I'm so into their relation relationships, but honestly, most of the time - it feels like the writer took some gay archetypal pairings, slapped BTS names on them, and sent it out the door.

Honestly, I’m not sure. I write my own Vmin fics, but I hope they don’t turn out this way, as I’ve been writing since I was five. So I’d like to think I’m somewhat decent at world building and creating my characters, but this isn’t about me, so....let me talk a little about why I don’t read fan fiction most of the time. Every once in a while I’ll read some, but I mostly stray away from fan fiction.

I don’t wanna say that fan fiction is trash like a lot of people do. I have read trashy novels on shelves of book stores. Filled with poor characterization and a cliche plot line. No surprises and a very bland world. And these things got published.

The thing about fan fiction is that anyone can write it. These stories come from people of any age and any writing experience. Sometimes they’re aspiring authors, and other times they are just people who have an idea and want to get it out there. Others, like me, love to write but don’t dream of ever getting published. Because it’s just a hobby.

Anyway, I also think the poor characterization comes from a few things. People making very flat characters in general. They choose a personality point and act like that’s the only characteristic this person can have.

“Okay....let’s give Jimin a personality....well, he’s small and cute. He could really be the damsel in distress type. So that’s what he is. He always needs to be saved.”

No one is going to find an always weak and quiet character relatable. No one is going to find an always happy, never down character relatable. Okay, I shouldn’t say no one because people get offended. But virtually no one.

People who are quiet in general are usually loud and goofy with their friends. And people who are happy have their down days. They often have at least one person they can confide in and let see them in a vulnerable state. Just by adding those people (friends and confidants) as side characters, you can get to whole new levels of your own main characters.

Not to mention. A good story always has good side characters. Often the side characters are actually better than the main.

And finally. We get to the fact that these people are....dare I say it...........probably straight cis people writing stories with very little knowledge on LGBT people, so their imagination is limited to stereotypes. I’m sorry to say. And I actually am sorry to say that for both parties. Because it sucks that gay characters are always poorly made, even in official media. Because people tend to forget we have whole ass personalities. And I’m sorry that that makes it difficult for non-lgbt to relate to us and find us as nothing but exaggerated characteristics.

You can create a character, and the only indication we have of him being gay is that he likes boys. And that’s fine. Because that’s the only thing that makes him gay. Not the fact that he might be a little more feminine or likes fancy clothes.

[norgestan]

Hi! You haven’t posted much recently, but I loved reading your thoughts about eskam so much, so I decided to ask you: What were the last pieces of media like shows, movies or books that you enjoyed?

first of all: nonnie!!!!! you're a sweetie <3 i do randomly come up with new things to talk about eskam every now and then, and i still plan on doing the reviews for all other remake seasons. i am supposed to have more time from now on so let's see how that goes!

second of all, i don't really... watch media per se. like, i usually enjoy very mind-numbing, easy to swallow stuff like the marvel movies and stuff like that. my thing is more like, irl content. yes i've gone down the streamer rabbit hole. yes it is a disease.

but here are two pieces of media i've enjoyed lately!

3%

this one is a brazilian show in netflix that i randomly discovered while looking for shows to watch, many moons ago. the general premise of it is that everyone is born in the continent - a city drowned in poverty and violence, and once you turn 21, you have the chance to go through the process: a series of tests that dictates if you're part of the 3% who will move to the offshore. the offshore is in contrast an island where life is idyllic and simple, and concentrates both most resources of the country as well as the people deemed "worthy" of such lifestyle.

in general, the show provides a good social critique and what it means to be "deserving" of a quality life, but imo the strong suit of everything lies in its characters. i am honestly shocked by the amount of great characters mixed in there, especially women! for such a big cast of actors, they all have their own fleshed-out personalities, motivations and moments of growth. the large quantity of women in the cast also means that they are so different between them, and the writers are not even a little bit afraid of making them flawed and get them to fail. it's such a refreshing thing to see in an era of fake, profitable "female empowerment" in media. just as eskam, the show is four seasons long and exactly what it needs to be: i really liked how they carried the main cast and most of the side characters, and it gives them a really satisfying resolution as well. likewise, it does feel like it prioritizes characters over plot - which means plot is a bit wonky at times (esp during season 3) but that's how i prefer it and i really respect that the writers took that decision. when i finished it, i felt like it gave them all a fair ending and i've never felt the need for more content or even something different. i really recommend it if you're looking for good character writing.

undertale

(megalovania plays at 500% speed) yes, undertale. yes, fellow tumblr guy sans the skeleton. okay, now that we've gotten over that... god, i really appreciate what toby fox did with this game. while its fandom thrives nowadays for the mere concept of an underground and these characters existing, the og material is genuinely great and holds up still. undertale is meant to be a lighthearted game but it still tells a very nuanced story about grief, guilt and hope. not only that but it drags the played into this and kinda makes it a dilemma for them as well!

however, while i think the fourth wall breaking aspect of it is really neat and refreshing, the story is definitely the strong suit for me. the main 3 ladies of the game are also really unique and interesting characters: both toriel and alphys are flawed characters that have carried bad decisions on their backs for years and have been slowly losing hope for the future of their people, that go through arcs that i found surprisingly relatable. and undyne... well, undyne doesn't go through that much growth per se, but i find that her character is a really unique take on the strong female character archetype and i can see how depressingly boring she could've been in the wrong hands: in the game she is not only a very layered and entertaining character, but she's also the emotional core in multiple moments. i guess, what i'm trying to say is that, for a game that tells the story of a family of monsters who are also royals and have been banished and forced to live in the undergrounds, this story is surprisingly layered, mature and grounded. i also really respect that the game doesn't spoon feed you information or throws in a weird twist just to throw you off: there is a twist in this game, but i think it's carefully foreshadowed and it makes sense and adds greatly to the story. it definitely treats its audience with respect! to this day i still discover and realize more things about the characters and i love how thought-provoking it is. not to mention, it is a really fun game on its own and the music fucking slaps. give it a go if you haven't already!

#can i just say right now asgoriel [handshake emoji] norandro for being the superior m/f ships #VERY narratively delicious yummy yummy #answered #lol just realized both things i mentioned have a really front-and-center wlw pairing. i know my audience i do

[bondsmagii]

5,15,20,28,38,54,80 👀 (nosy but also bored on a long ass bus trip, pls entertain)

> questions to ask at 4:02am meme 🌕🌃

ahh thank you! please feel free to be nosy I love it 👀

5: Do you have to be related to be family?

absolutely not. in fact in my personal experience I’ve found more success in not being related to a person, lol. there’s precisely one member of my family who I’m proud to be related to and who I love in the expected way you’re supposed to love family -- the rest of my blood relatives are, to put it as gently and diplomatically as possible, dead to me.

as well as friends (both online and offline) who I consider my family, I’m not ashamed to say that there’s a lot of fictional characters in there, too. before the internet was a big thing, before I had the close friends I have now, I always had books and I always had my imagination. I didn’t have anyone else growing up, so the characters I loved provided the blueprints for how to be a person. even now, I’ve learned more about myself through books than any conversation I’ve ever had with any of the adults or the people who were supposed to be my guidance, and my friends and my partner have done more for me in one year than my entire family did from birth to age 18, when I left them all behind. 

absolutely you do not need to be related to be family, and I’m of the opinion that a lot of people could meet their parents on the street as strangers and probably not think much of them.

15: Do you think you’re special, or just another person amongst billions? Can you be both?

I’m very special and I’m also super sexy. like. in all seriousness, I don’t mean this in a conceited way but I really do hold the belief that I’m special but also that I am just another person. this is something I think about everyone, though. no two people are the same, and every single person has an entire world in their head. we can’t even comprehend the depths of someone else’s collective experience and thoughts; it’s absolutely fascinating to know that everyone you pass by, glimpse, meet... everyone has that kind of entire universe in there. even if we picked one single person and studied them for our entire lives, we would never, ever get to the bottom of them. I think that’s brilliant, and it certainly makes everyone special in their own way. 

at the same time, humans all have enough in common that we are a collective in some respects. I think it’s important to remember those things you have in common with humanity as a whole, and just because you are unique doesn’t mean you have to be a jerk, basically. personally for me it makes me want to share things with people and hear what they think in return; it makes me want to exchange ideas and give people things to think about. I don’t have any desire to blend in, but I also don’t see myself as inherently better than anyone else, if that makes sense. I don’t know -- some people seem to view a person wanting to define themselves as different or unique in some way as the person being arrogant or an attention seeker or whatever, but that’s not why I draw attention to these things. I draw attention to my differences because I think they’re cool and I think it’s very awesome and sexy of me. I’m not saying that makes me better than anyone; in fact the opposite. I’m really hoping you’ll share some stuff that makes you cool and sexy too.

20: Do you want a grand adventure?

fuck yeah I want a grand adventure

I’m very lucky to have already had a few grand adventures in my time -- the road trip I went on in 2013, for example, and I suppose growing up in the North of Ireland was an adventure in itself (albeit a very different kind of one) -- but I am always looking for more adventures. this doesn’t have to necessarily be a physical trip, either -- I love to learn new things, I love to teach myself new skills, I love to sneak into abandoned buildings to rummage through what’s left, I love to fuck around and find out, baby! I’m always looking for adventures. I’m always trying new things, or stopping randomly in the car to check out something cool I saw, or embarking on new projects. I’m of the firm believe that with the right attitude and some decent nosiness, you can turn pretty much everything into an adventure.

28: Would you want to live forever? How about for a billion years, a million, a millennium, a century?

I already have this planned out. immortality, but with the following conditions:

I remain in perfect health;

I can regenerate quickly from any serious injury inflicted on me;

in strenuous circumstances (such as trapped in a place where escape is impossible) I can teleport the fuck outta there;

some supernatural ability allows me to constantly remake my identity as needed with no issue;

if I do so with clear, informed intent, and the universe knows I Mean It™, I can kill myself.

this last one is to avoid floating around after the heat death of the universe, or any other situation where life is genuinely unbearable. got to have an out, you know?

anyway, with these conditions met, I would absolutely want to live for hundreds, maybe thousands of years. there’s not enough time to learn everything I want to learn, and I have so many books to read. I’m only 587 years old, you know? that’s no time at all.

38: Is your life what you expected it would be five years ago?

answered!

54: Can human really understand the complete nature of the universe, space and time?

god, no way. I would love to go off all intelligently on this question but like... just no. I don’t think there’s an argument for this at all, because everything is just far too complex. we can’t even understand the complete nature of our own planet, or our own species -- or even ourselves. I mean, not to get too deep, but who actually understands the complete nature of their own mind? I don’t think that’s even possible, so to be able to understand not just the universe, but space and time as well? come on. we fucked up so much that we have to slap an extra day on the year every four years to keep things adding up. twice a year the clocks jump forward or backwards. we haven’t even decided on a universal calendar. understand the complete nature of the universe, space, and time? please. let’s agree on a universal system of measurement first.

80: Is your music organised by mood or sensation or do you just listen to everything at any time?

I hit shuffle and let chaos reign, baby!

if I’m feeling a certain mood there’s usually a particular song that I’m thinking of, so I might listen to that on repeat for a couple of hundred times or some other totally normal number. I do also have a sort of unofficial Night Driving Playlist, because driving around for a few hours in the middle of the night is a way I like to unwind, especially in the winter when it’s too cold to wander around on a walk (and especially so now, with all the quarantine nonsense). I’m thinking about making it an Official Playlist like I had on my old music player, but at the moment I’ll kind of just have Vestris swap until we find one that matches the aesthetic 😂

generally, though, I’ll just pick a song and let shuffle play. I have a very impeccable and righteous taste in music and sometimes it’s nice to just let the emotional whiplash play out. you cannot beat hearing Numb -- Linkin Park -- 80s Remix followed by The Night We Met followed by Dancing Queen followed by Come Out Ye Black and Tans. absolutely unrivalled. unparalleled.

#4:02am meme #long post #about me #filippa-kosta #asks