#...but this is really niche so I doubt I'll do that

[painted-bees]

I went looking for a list of OC questions that had a majority of things I hadn't answered yet wrt the hi-note trio, and found this lil' one abt "love and relationships" lmao I'm not gonna make anyone submit a number in my ask box for it, it's only 15 questions. I'll just answer them all for Margie and Raf under the cut.

1) How does your character view the idea of romantic love? Raf's got a complicated relationship with it. He's a very romantic person, and wants desperately to believe in the whole "true love "thing-- to believe that someone could love him just because it was predestined for them to do so, or because of some hard coding in their DNA or whatever--and that it'd work the same way for him, too. Just effortless, unquestionable, natural and unbreakable love. But that doesn't exist, it's a fantasy. People don't get into relationships unless there's something tangible in it for them--and then it's a tug-o-war of compromises and capitulations, and it's impossible to imagine anyone ever being truly happy and comfortable under the weight of an obligation as undefinable as 'love'. And so, he figures he'll be lucky if he can find someone he can tolerate, who can tolerate him--who might, once in a while, give him the euphoric feeling of being valued as a person rather than as an asset. And hopefully, those moments can outweigh the inevitable fights and disagreements, and all the emotional damages that arrive in those situations. As for Margie, there's no clear distinction between romantic love and platonic love for her, much of the time. She loves her friends all very intensely, and she loves her romantic partners in very much the same way! Her expressions of love do not change much between friends and lovers--and maybe for this reason, people who take the plunge into being a committed romantic partner with her find her to be somewhat underwhelming. There is very little difference between Margie as a friend and Margie as a romantic partner. There is very little difference between her definitions of these two things. Arguably, she's a very loving--but not a very romantic--person. She doesn't believe in soulmates or true love or any of these things, either. It feels too limiting. It puts so much unnecessary pressure on a single person and needlessly mystifies something that really shouldn't be all that strange or complicated.

2) What was your character's first heartbreak, and how did it influence their approach to relationships? Raf's first heartbreak, romantically...hm. He had a few friends who grew up with him, most of whom were also part of the junior classical music circuit; some of whom he kept in contact with even as his career pivoted away from the classical niche and into pop performance. I think perhaps there was one lass who he might have returned to Monaco for rather than fucking off to Juilliard--if she had returned his affections. He had confessed to her over the phone, just after being announced as a semi-finalist for a large, televised popular music competition. She asked him to call her again after the competition was over, when he was gonna come home. He didn't make it as a finalist, and she never answered his calls then after. So he followed his initial plans and absconded to Juilliard with a different friend who he awkwardly...briefly fell in with romantically instead. Who knows why she never answered his calls, but Raf has no doubt attributes the fact that he didn't make it as a finalist to the reason why she stopped talking to him. That was kinda the first and last time he made the first 'move' for a romantic relationship, and has since taken a much more disinterested, aloof approach...as with most things, really. Margie's first heartbreak was in grade five! She had a huge crush on a boy one grade above her, and mentioned it within earshot of one of her classmates from the 'popular' clique. Those girls got really excited for her and offered to help set her up on a date with him, got him to come over and ask her out during recess, and when she provided a very overenthusiastic, "yes!", Margie found that she had only been set up as the butt of a very hilarious joke between the lot of them. In that same interaction, the lad coined a new name for her, "FleaGirl", and it stuck all the way until she graduated highschool. It's still one of those embarrassing moments that crop up in her brain during the Midnight Carousel of Shame that keeps her awake during restless nights. As a teen, she started flirting with people as a joke, cuz that's her affection could really be–and she delighted in weirding people out with the overfamiliarity she performed. It felt nice though, when the other person would volley back and try to out-skeeze her. She still doesn't know how to flirt in earnest, and will always make a joke out of her affections. It's always kinda up to the other person to respond sincerely if they're actually interested in her.

3) Does your character believe in soulmates, and why or why not? HAH woops, I accidentally answered this in the first question lmao

4) What traits does your character find most attractive in others? Raf values honesty and genuine expression. He really...really loves joyful, unironic cringe. Like, there's something really attractive to him about a person who can let their guard down in order to fully enjoy something. He's really attracted to people who seem impervious to expectation and can cut through what he perceives as the superficial, performative gestures of day to day interactions. Sometimes that takes the form of a counter cultural "I don't care what they think of me" rebellious personality. Sometimes it takes the form of, well...[[gestures at Margie]]. Also, he'd never admit this, but Raf is attracted to messes that he can clean up. Margie is attracted to nice hair, cute smiles, and warm kindness. Unprovoked kindness towards her is the fastest way to make her fall in love with you. The other is casual, affectionate physical touch. She is not immune to a well groomed sense of style and easy confidence, either. If someone is well dressed with nice hair, a straight, open posture, and a warm smile--that's an attractive looking person to her.

5) What does your character fear most in a relationship? For Raf, it's expending his usefulness and being discarded. In every relationship, he's waiting for that one chance to prove that he can't give, or be, or provide what his partner was hoping to get out of him. Or maybe they finally get what they were after and don't need to keep suffering the act of 'loving' him anymore. Or maybe something better will come along and make him redundant. He's always waiting for that other shoe to drop. His biggest fear is just learning that his partner was only pretending to love him, so as to pacify him while they extract from him whatever it is they wanted. For Margie, she's terrified of overstaying her welcome. She feels like as soon as she gets into a relationship a timer starts ticking down where, every day, she starts becoming a little less cute, a little less fun, a little more annoying, a little more difficult to live with. She's identified herself as a kind of 'manic pixie dream girl' that people initially enjoy because she's weird and quirky and playful. But the more time they spend with her, the less fun those things are. She never stops being weird and quirky and playful. There's no point where she is able to get serious and organise herself, and behave like a normal adult. No one wants to live with that for very long.

6) How does your character handle jealousy or insecurity in relationships? Margie has no jealousy. She's straight up chill to let her partners have other relationships or flings or whatever so long as they don’t lie to her about it. And she’s extremely trusting about this. Her insecurity about her own lack of desirability probably played a huge part in developing this polyamorous stance, but she genuinely does feel very comfortable and secure in it. Raf [[gritted teeth]] deals with it. Not very well, in previous relationships. Poorly, in fact. The very uncommitted, open ‘friends with benefits’ relationship he had with Margie for a while before he eventually admitted to himself that he really needs her to stay in his life–has done a lot of weird psychological lifting for him. There’s a really strong precedent for Margie to be honest with him about the nature of all her relationships. On top of this, she doesn’t have locks on her phone, she makes him hold her phone most of the time. She doesn’t care if he reads her messages or checks her emails [he Does Not Do This, if only for the exercise in restraint]. If he’s having the Weird Paranoia about Margie, the thought that “well, she’d let me go through her messages right now if I asked” is enough to leverage himself with. Sometimes he does ask, and she’s just like “sure, w/e”--and he pacifies himself on that without feeding the impulse further. And so, the paranoia usually picks a far more fruitful subject to latch onto.

7) What past relationship still impacts your character's current life?

  Raf is still comparing and contrasting his current relationship with Margie to his previous relationship with Lacey…and has been learning a lot about himself through the differences. Lace was arguably his only other “real”/serious relationship before Margie, and it was such an absolute trainwreck. But it’s also just what he assumed relationships were Like. Nowadays, he kinda dreads ever meeting with Lacey again because most of what he has learned is that he absolutely could have, should have treated her better, and she deserves an apology.

 Margie still thinks about her ex girlfriends in Montreal. She just really misses them a lot…She’d love to rekindle those friendships, and thinks there might still be a chance to do so, some day.

8) How does your character show love and affection?

  While Raf hates to have things expected of him, treating and gift-giving is genuinely his biggest show of affection. It stops the moment he feels like he’s being taken for granted, or as soon as he gets even the faintest whiff of entitlement. He doesn’t take kindly to being “hinted” at any more than he appreciates being straightforwardly asked for gifts or favours. It’s the fastest way to get him to withdraw. But If he gifts things and he feels like the gesture is genuinely unexpected and appreciated–it’s almost kind of a bond-strengthening exercise in of itself. He enjoys being helpful and feeling needed and appreciated, he just pathologically hates being taken advantage of or used. So–like…a lot of love and trust goes into the act of Raf giving something. It puts him in a vulnerable position, because the way the gesture is received will forever colour his perception of the relationship and can really…make or break it for him–beyond reasoning or any logical recourse.

 Margie shows her love and affection with physical closeness and careful patience. If there is someone she exceptionally loves and loves being around, she takes a lot of extra measures to make sure she doesn’t overwhelm them with her presence and she tries to really reign in how she acts around them so as to not be unpalatable. But she’ll drop her head on their shoulder or throw her legs across their lap. She’ll hold onto their arm while walking, and lean against them in casual settings. She just wants to exist in the same space, and reciprocated touch is a comforting reassurance that they do, as well.

9) What significant change has your character experienced in their understanding of love?

 The biggest thing Raf has so far learned is that love isn’t a tug-o-war of compromises and capitulations after all. If you love someone, you genuinely want them to feel safe and happy and secure, and so you’ll give things up and change your behaviour willingly for their sake with very little sense of loss about it. They’ll do the same for you, and neither will keep score about who gave up what, or who was willing to do the most work for the relationship. In the end, it’s not about him vs her or who gets to live ‘better off’ in the arrangement–but it’s a matter of collaborating to build a comfortable, happy environment together. One’s happiness is the other’s happiness. Not a competition, not a game of carefully measured concessions. A better whole.

  Margie has learned that she has a lot more to offer in a relationship than she thought; that emotional labour is an enormous contribution to a partner who is able to appropriately value it. Just because it comes easy to her doesn’t mean it’s worthless. Her love and affection is not a joke; it has meaning, it has worth. It’s worth a whole lot. 

10) What sacrifices has your character made for love, and were they worth it?

  Raf has to sacrifice his entire sense of safety and wellbeing every time he commits to a relationship. And, just this once, it’s been worth it.

  For each person that Margie has pursued as a romantic partner, she has sacrificed a friendship and definitely mourns each one. Raf is the first time she’s not had to sacrifice anything.

11) How does your character's cultural or familial background influence their views on marriage and relationships?

  Oh man lmao Raf’s Monegasque billionaire family dynasty…his parents genuinely really really love each other, but he has had very limited exposure to that. I don’t think he has ever seen them hug or hold hands, they stand very attractively next to each other and exude an imposing aura that commands respect. So…his idea of what marriage and relationships should look like is severely lacking. “Absolutely No PDA” has definitely stuck with him though.

  Margie’s from a lower income northern Ontario blue collar family with a dad who probably still makes “ol’ ball and chain” jokes about his wife, and a mom who does all the cleaning and cooking and doesn’t really get to enjoy her hobbies outside of the house. Actually, in a small way, this has probably contributed to Margie’s lack of enthusiasm towards getting married. She doesn’t wanna be anyone’s ball and chain, she doesn’t want to cook and clean, she doesn’t want kids. She’s written herself off as being absolutely unfit for marriage. She thinks she’d be an abysmal wife lmao

12) Does your character have a relationship that everyone else misunderstands?

No lmao everyone around them understood Raf and Margie’s relationship better than they did themselves for a long while lmao.

13) How does your character handle rejection or unrequited love?

  Raf has only really had to deal with this once, and he got pretty spiteful mad about it at the time. He also holds a mean grudge just…generally…so I do not think he’d be excited to ever meet her again.

 After the initial emotional gut-punch, Margie suffers a lot of shame and embarrassment and gets really depressed and quiet for a few days until something new and shiny comes along to divert her attention away. Anytime she randomly remembers a rejection though, she gets to re-experience it all again for a brief moment lmao stings.

14) What lesson about love is your character still trying to learn?

  Raf is still trying to really honestly believe that it can be this easy. He’s still waiting to hear what the catch is.

  Margie still has to fully internalise that the people who love her don’t find her annoying and will never tire of her–and that she doesn’t have to apologise for existing as a person with wants and needs

15) How has your character's professional life affected their romantic relationships?

  For Raf, it has severely limited his options–he refuses to date fans, past and present. If they recognize him as a public figure, but aren’t from a similar economic background as him, it’s basically a write-off in his mind. Eligible peers are hard to find…

 For Margie, it’s uh…homelessness definitely complicates things. All of her relationships prior to Raf were plagued with financial stress…and that can probably be cited as a major reason as to why most of her relationships fell apart.

[i-literally-cant-with-this]

"Headcanons of Hanma letting you dominate him then suddenly switching up after ten minutes and just dominating the fuck out of you I'm talking failed orgasms rough fingering rough degradation"

~ Thank you, @katkusuo for saving my limp ass brain and giving me something to go off of. I KNOW it's long as fuck and I doubt I'll ever be as efficient at HC's as @kazutora-kurokawa but my god. We're all good at something. Conciseness is not my niche.

CW ::: Rough sex, language. It's me, guys. The warning is up there.

MDNI Under the cut.

WC ::: 802(The actual body of writing, not this shit up here)

Hanma doesn't fuck around when it comes to fucking around. He knows what he likes. He knows what you like. And he knows a whole lotta other shit that he doesn't let on.

Hanma is more than happy to give you control ... most of the time.

He lets you tie him up, lets you tell him what to do.

He will sit there while you tease the tip of his heavy, leaky cock.

Gently wiping the tears from your cheeks and smudging your black makeup a little more than is really necessary while his words and whimpers are anything but gentle.

He'll bite his lip and groan when you finally push him to the edge when you drop a few well-timed praises and a single swipe of your tongue.

But there is really only so much the man will put up with. Especially when you get bratty.

Hanma loves it when you get bratty, though, because that means that he gets to put you back in your cute ... little ... place.

So, when you start to get mouthy and try to deny him an orgasm that he feels is well-deserved? It's game on.

He'll grab your wrists and pin them above your head, grabbing the binds that he put above the bed after your 4th date, tying you up.

Asking you if it was worth it: Making him almost cum time and time again.

His mouth pressed firmly to your ear he whispers not-so-idle threats to you while he finishes tying your wrists together.

"You think you're cute? Hm? Fuckin' around with matches in an ocean of gasoline, aren't ya, baby girl? You're so fucking stupid sometimes. Ya know that? I love it. I fucking love it."

He grabs your hair and tugs hard, bringing your face to meet his. His eyes are wild, his breathing is erratic.

His fingers trail down your body, grazing your nipples and pinching them harshly before they finally reach your dripping cunt.

He doesn't bother with any preamble. He shoves two fingers inside of you roughly and begins to finger you, using his thumb to rub your clit in a way that makes your eyes roll back in your head.

He watches you open your mouth and waits for the sound to come out but there's nothing. You've been rendered speechless. Exactly how he wants you.

Hanma's mouth moves to your neck, nipping and biting and licking while he continues to work his fingers inside you. Bringing you right to the brink of cumming your brains out. But no, he won't give you the satisfaction of that just yet.

Your legs begin to tremble and your moans become louder and more desperate.

He watches closely for the moment when you're not able to stand anymore. He's counting on it.

When you can no longer hold yourself up, Hanma releases your hands and flips you onto your stomach, yanks your hips up, and slams his cock into you without warning.

You let out a loud moan, but Hanma is quick to cut you off. "Nuh-uh, baby girl. You don't get to make any noise until you take what I have to give you. Got it?"

You nod quickly, unable to speak.

Hanma's thrusts are hard and deep, his hands gripping your hips are already leaving bruises, you can feel it. He can feel it.

He growls low in his throat, his nails digging into your skin as he fucks you harder.

Hanma's fingers reach around you, rubbing your clit while his cock plunges in and out of you.

Your moans turn into even more desperate whimpers and gasps.

"Oh, fuck, baby girl, you're such a good little slut for me, hah? So-hoh fuckin' good."

He continues to fuck you, his thrusts becoming more erratic and frenzied.

He rubs your clit harder, his fingers moving faster and faster until you can feel your orgasm building.

Your attempts at vocalizing your thoughts become louder but no more comprehendible, and Hanma's grip on your hips becomes almost too much.

He thrusts into you hard one last time, and you feel his cum spilling inside of you. His cock throbbing so hard against your burning walls. His fingers rubbing your clit furiously, almost like he hates you or something.

You cum hard, your entire body shaking and shuddering. Your ass involuntarily grinding back against him for that last bit of tension to be wiped clean from your now-soiled body.

Hanma lets out a shaky breath, his fingers slowly releasing their grip on your hips.

He pulls out of you and flops down next to you.

You think you know what to expect but this motherfucker is full of surprises.

"Little girls shouldn't play with fire. Lucky for me, you're the flame. Now spread those legs, 'm not anywhere near done with you, sweetheart."

@arlerts-angel @bakubunny @southside-otaku @reiners-milkbiddies @darkstarlight82 @trevengersprincess

[more-better-words]

fic author interview

Yoinked this from @ladytharen because it looked like fun. Hope that's not presumptuous of me. <.<

Tagging @deadheaddaisy, @phoenixflames12, @butcharondir, and anybody else who'd like to play.

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

60! That's a nice round number.

2. What’s your total AO3 word count?

Currently 593,580 - though in fairness, nearly a third of that is a single fic.

It was a different time back when I wrote that.

3. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

The four fics of my Built to Last series (though not in order, lol)

What We Build Here

For the Duration

From the Ground Up

The Place We Call Home

And rounding out the top 5, a Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency fic!

Lay Down the Beat 

4. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

Absolutely! And because I have very little self-control, I will often do so within minutes of receiving them! 😅

5. What’s the fic you’ve written with the angstiest ending?

Hmmm. I don't really do angst - I mean, I'll write stories where angst happens, but that's rarely the point of the story. If the plot demands a dash of angst, then, much like a chocolate recipe that needs some salt, it will get its angst. But I don't really set out to write A Series of Sad Events in Which the Characters Are Sad; that's just not my style or my taste.

So I can't really say that ANY of my stories have an angsty ending. Oh well.

6. What’s the fic you’ve written with the happiest ending?

With the above in mind, happy endings are basically a guarantee, at least up to a point. 😆 I let my darlings be happy, I let them get married and have things work out, because it's fiction, dammit, and I can.

That being said, probably the happiest of all would be just about any of my Trip/T'Pol fic, because I let them get married and have kids and successful careers and be surrounded by friends and family who love and support them because SCREW YOU CANON.

7. Do you write crossovers?

No, I don't think my brain's wired for that. I just...can't seem to.

8. Have you ever received hate on a fic?

Never on AO3 (okay, I once got snippily told I'd mistagged something, but that wasn't hate). I have gotten hate here on Tumblr, though never anything specific, just general "u suck" which...whatever.

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

For a long time, I did not.

That answer has since changed.

As for what kind...the sweetest, fluffiest, most loving, happy, vanilla, tooth rotting smut ever.

10. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not to my knowledge, and I seriously doubt I ever would. I'm rather niche.

11. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Again, niche. Haven't yet, doubt I will.

12. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

Years ago, I worked on an AU fic project with a friend that was very cool and a lot of fun. None of it ever got published, though.

13. What’s your all-time favorite ship?

Which ever one I'm writing right now. 😁

14. What’s a WIP that you want to finish but don’t think you ever will?

I wouldn't mind finishing my Shadowrun: Dragonfall fic The Haven. Maybe some day.

15. What are your writing strengths?

Dialogue, baby! I can have two characters sit and talk to each other FOREVER.

16. What are your writing weaknesses?

Action and physical description. Even when I can clearly see a room where action is occurring in my mind, I have real trouble describing it on the page.

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

I used to not have any, then I started making up words and phrases in my own version of Andorian for my Trek fic.

And I still don't really have many thoughts, because I'm sure I'm doing it wrong.

18. What was the first fandom you wrote for?

Hmmmm. Pretty sure there's some BtVS fic of mine still existent on LiveJournal. 😅

19. What’s a fandom/ship you haven’t written for yet but want to?

I'd love to write Discworld (I adore Carrot/Angua), but Discworld is already so perfect. It would have to be an absolute gem of an idea.

20. What’s your favorite fic you’ve written?

Whichever one I just finished. 😄

[the-most-faithful]

IF HARRY HAD BEEN A FEMALE WHAT WOULD SNAPE HAVE DONE TO HER?

This accusation is gaining more and more traction and is truly worrying. I was hoping it was a niche thing, a kind of dark humor brought forward. But there are people who seriously think that if Harry had been a girl similar to Lily Snape would have had "unwanted attention for her".

I won't say it any other way, because just the thought of it gives me shivers of disgust. As is often the case this is an obviously false accusation made by Snaters but it really is crossing the line.

As always a necessary premise, it is clear that we are talking about an invented story, fictional characters, but the themes are real and the reactions too. Attacking a character with false accusations, inventing the worst theories in order to demonize him is not only disrespectful but also immature. You may not like the character, you can't discuss your tastes, but inventing false accusations makes no sense.

I don't like James and Sirius for various reasons, but I would never dream of accusing them of horrible things that never happened in canon (the actions in the books are enough) So let's get one thing straight: Snape doesn't treat Harry badly just because of his appearance. I wrote an entire chapter on this, I'll leave it here (https://www.wattpad.com/1331630987-colpe-e-meriti-piton-trattava-male-harry) Snape is certainly prejudiced towards the boy, he thinks he is a photocopy of his father, but it doesn't all boil down to that. If Harry had been a female, perhaps similar to Lily, this would have affected Snape more, he would have been more melancholic, he would probably have found it difficult to have her in class.

But he would never, ever try to attack her. Snape is not a ped***ile. This is a terrible accusation. Not that I'm surprised, so far I've heard and read the worst things: "Snape was a stalker" "Snape was obsessed" "Snape was a multiple murderer" "Snape was a ra*er." But all these accusations are FALSE.

There is not a single doubt, proof, or idea of this in canon. If you want to write or read dark fanfiction in which the characters are horrible multiple murderers with disgusting inclinations towards some characters, do it (putting warning tags) but don't confuse the canon with fanfiction.

Snape has never shown particular attention towards any student, he is not a creepy character who wanders around the corridors following little girls. The really irritating thing about this point is that it's obviously not provable so even a "defense" is useless.

The people who make this false accusation have no basis, they simply throw it there like a firecracker and then go away leaving the smell of burning behind them. It has no meaning, it leads to nothing except feeding the sick and distorted imagination of those who, not appreciating a character, must destroy him completely. The Marauder Stans (the toxic ones) over the years are turning into the worst kind of bullies, just like their favorites, they invent false accusations, spread hatred in the fandom and try to destroy a character just because of their dislike.

​

[hawkogurl]

Ok, I know I get on insomniac a lot because I think a lot of their writing is deeply flawed and I'll no doubt eventually end up critiquing this one scene that singlehandedly made Insom Harry go from "good!" to "fine" in terms of writing quality for me, but! I would like to sing the praises of one scene I think is genuinely really well executed to me.

Coney Island.

I know a lot of people see it in largely a ship lense, which is fine and valid, but there are so many aspects of it that I think make it go from good to great that I never see talked about. And "If nobody else is going to do it, I will" is basically my ecological niche in the harry community. So here I am.

As a general plot beat, it is perfectly timed as an early game moment before much of the main plot begins. I don't think it could work anywhere but there. Part of the reason it functions so well to me is because it is the calm before the storm: It is a very well done moment of quaint existence before the plot of the game, which, if done the best it could be, would leave this moment as a piece of normalcy the characters cannot ever truly return to.

I think what I mean by this will be more clear when I get into it more, but I also think the fact that it is specifically Coney Island. I don't think any other location in New York would work so damn well. Coney Island is pretty much a theme park, but it's also a theme park specifically made to draw off of the motifs and vibes of a carnival. Carnivals are normally brief events, most local ordinary carnivals will only last a couple weeks at absolute most. Coney Island is basically a permanent carnival, an indefinite version of an event normally designed to be brief by nature. I hope I don't need to get all flowery about how carnivals sort of cannot last by nature while Coney Island has made itself a permanent version of a normally ephemeral concept for my point to get across.

That's not the only reason I think the setting is so vital here. While Coney Island is itself the sort of thing kids and adults are both allowed to enjoy, the concept of amusement parks and carnivals as sources of entertainment are things that, especially in the modern age, are connected more heavily with kids as a demographic. It's the sort of thing that many people are going to consider childish or see as more of a nostalgic memento of their childhood. Connecting it with youth, nostalgia, and easier, more innocent parts of life experienced before adulthood is also pretty vital here. This is a point in the story very soon after Harry re-enters Peter's life. Harry, a person in his life who he was connected to most in his youth, particularly his high school and college years. While college itself is normally very much a part of adulthood, it is often still sort of viewed more closely with youth. If I recall correctly, Harry also disappeared from Peter's life at a point very close to Peter's more "official" transition to adulthood: leaving college and entering the workforce. Especially because Peter's arc in insomniac is in a lot of ways connected to adulthood and learning how to be an adult, I find that in this regard Harry can be a very effective symbol for youth and parts of Peter's life he might be nostalgic for before the constant stress that being a self sufficient adult brings.

I could probably get a lot into how a lot of my favorite moments of Insom Harry's writing as a character are moments where he functions as a symbol. I swear to god its a good thing.

Getting back on point, while their emotions are very much a lot more complex than that, the moment of nostalgia and normalcy that this story beat provides something very useful. If Harry gets to symbolize youth and Peter's (and MJ, I have a lot to say about her) want for a more normal, quaint life his responsibilities as Spider-Man--and as an adult--mean he can't have, you're having a moment where the personification of Peter's nostalgia for simpler times brings him and MJ to a location that represents childhood and youth to experience the sort of normal, stress free life they will never be able to live. But I think on a mental level, MJ and Peter engage with this moment in a very different way than Harry.

MJ had a more chaotic childhood than Peter or Harry did. In the sort of spectrum between the three I am about to try and express, I think that fact is important to remember. Part of the reason she can handle Peter well as a romantic partner is because she has been used to instability and chaos since she was a kid, her father and the numerous issues that plagued her household basically training her to be able to handle the instability that Peter will always bring to her life. Even if I don't doubt that for her, Peter is very representative of freedom from that and the sense of peace and power that adulthood has given her, being away from her unstable childhood and having the power adulthood brings to choose what chaos she's going to allow in her life, Spider-Man still causes instability in her life. Her complicated feelings on this aren't really something I have time for in this post but... *motions to Scream*. With that being said, if it isn't already super clear I have a lot of love for what Harry symbolizes here, Harry still is very much connected to the parts of her childhood that WERE good. Being her friend and disconnected from her family, for her there's no doubt a massive connection between him and the pieces of that time that were peaceful and that she can look back fondly on. She isn't immune here. But she's also got a much lighter tint on her rose-colored glasses: I think she does want normalcy and that she does wish for simpler times like that, but I also think that how many painful times were associated with her youth have done a lot to make sure her nostalgia can't overcome her. She is the person here best equipped to know that things were not as great as the three of them want to think they were before they became fully realized adults. And I don't think she'd be willing to give up the life she's built if it meant she could have something peaceful. She knows that things weren't as great as nostalgia paints them and she made her choices as to what she wants in adulthood, as rough as they might often be. I don't think she'd give that up for the world.

It should be obvious Peter is the middle point here. Much of his arc is symbolic of coming of age, adulthood, and maturing. His character beats often include things that either draw on the imagery of or are metaphors for various aspects of maturing and becoming an independent adult. But this is only the second game out of what seems like will be three, and very early on at that. Peter has experienced the disillusionment of realizing idols and mentors will often fail him and the loss of innocence that comes with losing May, his parent, something that I like to see as symbolic of becoming truly independent as an adult--especially because he had to make that choice himself, out of maturity rather than the childishness of trying to cling to her. But many of those beats are very painful: becoming an adult is in a lot of ways, it can feel like losing a lot of yourself to let go of childhood. He's on the path there, but he's at a point where a lot of him resents that. Spider-Man is responsibility, is maturity, is adulthood. He has matured enough to know he can't reject it, to know the consequences it would bring, but he would yearn to live a normal life--feel that nostalgia for simpler and more peaceful times--much more than MJ does. When he looks back on times without Spider-Man, on his youth, most of the painful and hard times are going to be connected with Spider-Man, our metaphor for adulthood here, rather than his youth itself while MJ's painful memories are far more connected to childhood itself. MJ feels pain towards childhood and sees being an adult as freedom from that. Peter sees adulthood as painful and sees youth and nostalgia as his potential freedom from that

As I have no doubt nailed into your heads, Harry and Coney Island are both heavily symbolic of just that. Harry comes back into his life when the weights of Spider-Man are at their worst and when he would be wishing he could have normalcy more than anything. Peter knows that he can't have it. He's much more resentful of that fact than MJ is, but he does know. And as much as he knows that, he is repeatedly and constantly attracted to parts of his life he feels like will give him that. MJ seems to see this moment as a briefer indulgence, much like most people would see any sort of weekend lapse from the stresses of life. She is happy to have those on occasion, as a treat if you will, to bring her joy. Peter knows he cannot have it forever, but he hasn't accepted that he can't ever go back to that place, so much of the early game, especially moments with Harry, shows Peter seeming to chase after moments of nostalgia and normalcy as a method of running from the fact he can't go back. I think if it was best executed, the plot would have resolved with something relating to that very idea: It's hard, it's painful, it's never going to be easy, but you can't go back, and maybe the things you yearn for aren't as perfect as you remember them.

So MJ has accepted and come to terms with her metaphorical adulthood, Peter is on the path to accepting it but still yearns for and chases it, so what is Harry? Well, where is he in this moment in a narrative sense? Prior to his time in stasis waiting for a cure, assuming my memory serves me correctly, Harry hadn't actually experienced all that much independent adulthood. And what adulthood he had experienced was, when not plagued by the stressors of his terminal illness, also tethered to his rich father. I think enough people have dissected the weird writing of billionaires in insomniac games, but I think there's still an argument I could make about the fact that having the amount of money the Osborn's do can serve as a sort of barrier from the earliest, most stressful, and most rapidly maturing aspects of early adulthood. I don't intend to discredit the stress of chronic illness whatsoever, but a lot of aspects of Harry's life would delay much of the development that happens in a person emotionally in early adulthood without even getting into the two years he lost. I do think we need to remember Harry is a grown, adult man, considering that my least favorite moment in the game is a sudden moment in which they write Harry to not behave like an adult man when he was not established to behave like that, but that is off topic. Harry has been deprived of a lot of the normal experiences of youth and early adulthood by chronic illness, his father's sheltering, etc, but has had the experiences of early adulthood diluted enough that he can't entirely see that the way he thinks of things is unrealistic and overly idealized. While he very much behaves like an adult, a lot of his optimistic view of things can read as somewhat childish in a way.

All that to say that in the sliding scale of MJ-Peter-Harry, Harry has lost so much of his chance to experience a normal life and has lacked the normal maturing experiences most people have enough that he wants the normalcy and nostalgia ridden ideals of life that MJ and Peter yearn for, seeing regular life with the same rose colored glasses Peter does, but unlike Peter, still thinking he can achieve that. Peter and MJ are, at least in some capacity, aware of the fact they can't ever go to the place they yearn for and it would be hopeless to try--but Harry doesn't think like that. And alongside that, MJ and Peter all will, by nature, have a better relationship with that ideal because they both, in some regard, got to choose the parts of their lives that are chaotic and painful. Harry lost a lot of his youth to chronic illness in many regards and then lost more of it to Norman's hollow, desperate promise he could cure him if he was willing to give even more time up. MJ and Peter chose the chaos of Spider-Man, each in different ways, while Harry doesn't get to choose the chaos that terminal illness brings. The combination of that barrier from maturing experiences, idealism, and the fact he never got to choose result in the fact that Harry will pursue his ideal and is willing to give up so much more than MJ or Peter to achieve it, to "heal the world" and achieve that existence because he never got to choose that. And hell, because it's terminal illness, it would cut his life short if he wasn't willing. MJ and Peter will always have the reassurance of the existence of the rest of their lives being waiting. For them, normalcy gets to be an indulgence, something they only get to partake in on occasion, while Harry wants that to be their norm and is willing to pursue that with his everything. They are, even if it's more complicated than that, willing to let it be the exception and not the rule, while Harry wants it to be the rule and assumes they want the same.

As I referred to prior, this moment gets to be the calm before the storm, a moment symbolic of those mentalities and how the characters interact with that theme in the other moments I think are best executed. Peter slowly walks the path to accepting that he can't go back and reconciles his adulthood, while Harry consistently clings to it. Hell, a lot of my favorite uses of Harry are uses where I really get to see the value he brings narratively as a symbol. I think, if they couldn't commit more fully to his character in relation to chronic illness and venom and let go of the pieces of his character they've already written out, they should have committed to this idea. Hell, in an ideal world I would get both. And I know it conceptually sounds off putting, but I swear that Harry functioning as largely a symbol more than a character is actually a really good thing and really good for his character as it stands, that's not an insult. I am genuinely enthusiastic about that idea.

[cygninae]

Hi! 👋 Could you please do 20 and 23 for the Quagmire triplets for the character ask game? :)

Hi Ven ! Sure !!

20 (Weird headcanon)

Quigley

i have literally SO many headcanons for Quigley but I'll try and hold back and only share a few. (I'll refer to Quigley with they pronouns because that is my headcanon !)

if they had been raised in the 2000s, would absolutely have thomas the tank engine or cars bedsheets. so embarrassing

couldn't take serious photos, always had to be pulling a face or doing bunny ears or something

tried to pierce their ears with a safety pin and lemon (did not go well.)

disastrous handwriting. Like incomprehensible.

Isadora

gay awakening was Veronia Lake in I Married A Witch (dir. René Clair)

went through a goth phase (after discovering Mary Shelley and Edgar Allen Poe) where she attempted to dye all of her clothes black. They came out brown.

Duncan

tried to pull a prank on Carmelita Spats by balancing a bucket of water on a doorframe and have her walk through, getting drenched. Forgot to let himself out of the room first and drenched himself.

obsessed with lava lamps

23 (Future headcanon)

Quigley

felt so betrayed by Jacques leaving, that they completely turned away from VFD. Lost a lot of their love for cartography and it took a long time for it to come back. They began to prefer sketching landscapes and people they loved.

discovered David Bowie (this depends on your theory of when ASOUE is set) and he changed their life. Became obsessed with Ziggy Stardust and embraced gender fluidity through makeup, piercings, shiny clothes, etc. learnt to love themself :)

finally got that ear piercing they had botched when they were younger.

actually became really good friends with Fiona. She taught them that it was okay to view the world with more criticism. They got along and were actually really similar. Bickered a lot.

moved to a big city with Duncan and Isadora and got really into the world of music, art, freedom, self-expression. They probably joined a band at some point, no doubt.

Isadora

in the big city, joined a sapphic society and made friends who loved poetry (and girls).

got her poetry published in the paper on multiple occasions, but anonymously. She wanted to spread the beauty of poetry without getting attention for it.

opened up to the idea of writing prose too, and learnt that she was really talented in that area, too, joining writing societies and book clubs and learning so much more about literature. it gave her the opportunity to express herself in more ways than one.

her and Klaus (if reunited) absolutely became an unstoppable best friend duo. They were practically unseperable, and he was in a lot of the same book clubs with her. He worked at one of their local libraries and let her sneak in the back to write in the staff room while he ate his lunch or read on his break.

Duncan

aside from writing journalism, he actually got really into photojournalism. He loved the peace of the dark room and the process of developing photos. He got into the habit of photographing his friends and siblings to immortalise them and kept his favourite pictures in his shirt pocket.

got an internship at a newspaper (NOT the daily punctillio, lol) and had a niche in foreign correspondence, (with the rise in use of the telephone) and he made so many connections across the world. Learning about so many cultures gave him a sense of freedom after feeling so trapped post the death of his parents.

and a dunklaus headcanon, since I can't hold back: after he and Klaus started dating, he would very occasionally sneak coded messages into the newspaper, just sappy stuff saying he missed him and hoped he was having a great day :)

interviewed Lemony Snicket once without knowing it was him.

This was so much fun !! Thanks so much for asking :)

[matchamabs]

Okay, it's been a while since the last interest check, which I thought would be the last one, but life stopped doing what it was supposed to, and then I kept bumping into people who hadn't seen the check for this comic! So, here's a better, more official interest check now that I stopped getting the shit kicked out of me by colour print hurdles lmao. This comic is hell to edit

I gotta state, please only vote on this poll if you're absolutely, completely, totally, 100% very sure you will buy a physical copy! This shit is kinda niche, if I make too many, I doubt I'll be able to shift them lmao

Shipping prices are dependent on where you are in the world! I try and always used tracked shipping to make sure it doesn't get lost!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Misthallery's yearly kids disco, like any other, is a pit where it's every man for himself. Between sweets and dancing, finding that first love and maintaining social reputation, the Black Ravens get some much needed downtime, which proves to be humbling for a bunch of kids secretly above the rest.

[gatheredfates]

I thought I might start using this graphic for the updates, too! At least until I get bored of it and end up creating another. 🌊 We love eye-catching visuals in this house.

Anyway, sorry for the delay with this update! Last weekend was insane, putting it lightly, and I only really feel like I have started to return to capacity now. I appreciate your patience!

As of 04/27, I have added the following resources (in no particular order) to Sea's Community Compendium for FFXIV Creatives:

LARGE SCALE

XIV TODO — honestly, huge thanks to whoever submitted this resource because I didn't know it existed! This is another set of tools and tailored checklists for XIV that help you track encounters, content completion, dailies and more! It's also extremely alt-friendly for those of us who have more characters than sense.

FREE COMPANY / COMMUNITY FOCUSED

THE VIERAN MAFIA — do you like suave Noir-themed bars framed by mystery and intrigue? How about a bit of organised crime? This Free Company is for you! (They're also hiring, if you're interested. Get in touch with @fjotla-vithir!)

MISC

FFXIV BUFF AND DEBUFF MAKER — if you have ever thought a screenshot of yours would be made funnier by a buff/debuff but you don't have access to photo editing software, @fortunafavore has you covered with this simple tool!

XKIT REWRITTEN — The most up-to-date iteration of the original XKit tool, XKit Rewritten provides a series of enhancement tools for Tumblr's web-based interface including accessibility tools, anti-capitalism bocks and recommendation tweaks.

Want to submit? You can either fill out the google form here, send me an ask with the relevant information contained on the Compendium, or join my Discord at SEAFLOOR (21+ only)!

As a reminder, the answer to the question of "Is my resource/community applicable to the Compendium?" is almost always a resounding yes. I want to know what's out there. I want to feature your project!

However, for the sake of clarity, I'll pop the FAQ from this post below in a read more for you to check out if you're worried. ✨

I want to put my community on the compendium but we have an application process. Is this okay?

Yes! Just note somewhere in your application that's a requirement. The only thing that is mandatory for the Compendium is that you must be open to new members or have a public-facing/accessible facet. There's no point advertising a community if no one can join it in some way!

I want to put my community on the compendium but I only have x number of members —

Also totally okay! People don't start with large communities. Activity is a must but, whether your server has two or two thousand members, if you're looking for new people to join, I'd love to help you find people.

I want to put my community on the compendium but I worry its too niche?

Okay, and? If your Eorzean Fishing Alliance has four members but you roleplay every second weekend, I still want to know about it.

What resources/communities can I add if I'm not the owner of them?

Mutual consent is extremely important to me, so anything that isn't a large-scale community OR a publicly accessible resource must be endorsed by the owner/admin/moderators in order to be added to the compendium. I operate under the assumption that a resource posted to a public space (tumblr, googledocs, youtube, etc) is open to all. A large-scale community is one with a significant member count or openly advertises itself as being accessible to everyone for whatever purpose it serves. If in doubt, please get in touch with me. I'm happy to contact your community owners for you!

How active does a community need to be?

If you find a community has not been active in about two/three months, send me a message and I'll take a look at it. Communities have ebbs and flows, especially event spaces that may take hiatuses depending on member interest/life events. I'm not strict in my implementation provided a space isn't dead. If a link or anything is broken, absolutely contact me about that.

I have [insert a question not stated here]?

No drama! Send me an ask or use the #Compendium channel in my Discord!

[azrielgreen]

I could really use some advice if you're feeling up to it. I have been writing for a little over a year now. I hadn't written for fun since middle school probably. I genuinely have a lot of fun planning and writing and get excited about new ideas but lately more and more I've been have more moments of feeling like I'm horrible at it. I want to just do it because I enjoy it and it's a way to cope sometimes but the thoughts are still there. I can't help but look at the stats for the things I've put out there and number of hits versus kudos doesn't really help, like 95% of those don't leave kudos. I don't want to care about the stats, I want to just do it for fun but I'm feeling a bit discouraged. I almost deleted 30k/3 months of work because I just felt like everything I've done sucks. Thankfully a friend talked me down. I know I'm always going to be harder on myself than anyone else but it's still hard. Any advice so I can keep doing something I enjoy without letting it have that negative effect on me at the same time?

Thank you in advance 💜

Hello, lovely. Firstly, I'm so sorry you're feeling that way. Writing can be really lonely and self doubt creeps in through the cracks, so it feels natural to compare and check stats, but my god is that NOT an accurate reflection of anything resembling success/talent. Sometimes I really wish AO3 wouldn't publicly show things like hits/kudos/comments or at least give people the option to hide them if they wanted. Those numbers are tremendously distorted and will never accurately reflect what self doubt drives us to seek out.

At heart, you have the right outlook 100%. Writing for yourself is always the true path and if you follow your joy, you'll never go wrong but I think something I've noticed over the last year in fandom is how people have become quite bitter over stats and numbers, obsessive even, declaring something a "flop" if it didn't get certain numbers/likes/kudos etc... and that is just a recipe for fucking disaster. It's really hard to write something and work on it while wondering if anyone will even read it, so I do totally understand that doubt, BUT.

One thing I will say that I hope is heard by those who need it: FUCK THE STATS. They are no true indication of anything, are insanely warped over time and I do think that at this point the Steddie is oversaturated. It will always have a strong readership because it's a massively mainstream pairing in a hit show and there will be an upswing when SE5 drops (not that I'll be watching, fuck you Noah) but I think that people have to understand there is no level basis of comparison for numbers and that everything you see now is skewed by time or people using socials to market and plug their fics, driving traffic.

The attention is diminishing. All energy is cyclical, it ebbs and flows. It's been two years, people aren't reading like they were in 2022.

So, my advice to you. Don't write for other people. Don't write for popularity, numbers, relevance or praise because there is no consistent way to reliably ensure the attainment of such things in a fandom. Write for YOU and only you. You will always be your own biggest fan, so make THEM happy first and foremost and then if anyone else enjoys it, bonus. Your art is coming out through your passion, your stories are born through curiosity and creativity and they will be NEEDED by someone. Maybe not the day you post, maybe not a year after but one day, someone will find it and love it so much and it will save them.

Not to be all "back in the good old days" but I think often about a very formative and impactful fic I read which was already complete by the time I found it, it had been for years and I never got to follow & comment weekly encouragement at the time. The fic was extremely niche and controversial. It changed me as a person and I'm grateful every day the writer pushed on and completed it because I needed it so much and it was waiting for me. I think sometimes the social aspects of fandom are a real distraction from the core pull of what we are driven by as writers; creation. I think fandom was never meant to be this visible or socially accessible and comparison wrecks many people's confidence.

Those numbers are fucked, cooked or legacy. Ignore them.

In ten years, when someone is having the worst night of their life and they get on AO3, and they find your stuff that you posted, shared and created, it will be their shining light. Keep going, be brave, explore. Make a bubble for yourself with ONLY obsessively positive interiors where you create and trust that THIS THING is the greatest thing you've ever made and then move onto the next.

Writing is incredibly difficult for numerous reasons and I have nothing but the utmost respect for those who devote their time, energy and effort to it the way fic writers do. Self doubt is common, no matter how much people project success.

You're doing great. Fuck the numbers. Focus on yourself.

💜💜💜

[duchezss]

Once in four years mcsm hyperfixation is back baby, and on this most recent rewatch some interesting patterns popped up for me. Honestly this might not be a new conversation, but I had no idea the fandom was still so lively. I've loved this game since it first came out and I really love that so many people still talk about it. Anyways, disregarding S2 for a moment (my opp), I think it's so intriguing the way the writers set up S1 and the art of history repeating itself.

The Order of the Stone were (supposedly) the greatest group of heroes that every lived, but they started out as something so much simpler. They were just friends who wanted to go on adventures and maybe make a difference in the world. Of course their trajectory and outcomes were much different from the modern crew, but in many ways they're still similar. I'll get to the in a sec, but I wanna talk about the originals first.

The original Order kinda breaks my heart, because frankly I think their intentions were good, they just lost their way and got caught up in the glory, not the adventure. They all make it seem like they've known each other for a lifetime, so it's easy to assume that even if they hadn't seen each other in like a decade, they had still known one another for practically twenty years. Soren describes their first adventure like a shot in the dark, and how they were so young. So my guess is they met in their late teens/early twenties, the same age I assume the modern crew is when their story starts. Yes they're all bitter in the main story, but their history seeps into every interaction. Magnus called Ellegaard, Ellie, and it might feel malicious at first, but he still uses it after she dies, which leads me to believe it started out with affection. Then there's Soren and Ivor, who were constantly fighting and at each other's throat. This makes me feel like there might've been a point when they were the closest. Magnus and Ellegaard seem almost relieved to see Ivor, even after they know what he'd done. The command block had led them to great success, but it also ruined the one real thing they had, their friendship with each other. Honestly I think the most heartbreaking thing is they were so close to reuniting again, but Magnus or Ellegaard dies, and Gabriel doesn’t have his memory. Then when the dust finally settles, Soren is gone. Ugh just tragic friend group save me, they are the ones that made me realize how much I love the niche trope of a friend group "haunting the narrative". Their friendship and fallout is what causes the events of the entire story, and thus thrusts Jesse into action. If they had never been friends there would've been no Wither storm, their actions led the modern crew to where they are now. Anyway mini rant over my fault, but how does that effect the crew? Well honestly it felt like they were doomed to repeat the same mistakes.

There's Jesse, the fearless leader who always has the answers and a plan for that matter. Caring, direct, and motivated, she begins the story feeling like she is destined for more. She would do anything for her friends and she's a quick learner in a life she doesn't fully understand yet. Soren was likely the same, he was trying to herd three maniacs and a genius together, and something tells me the leader role wasn't his original goal. He thought the command block was helping, when he was really just fighting his friends battles for them. Soren's life became one of solitude and guilt, one I think Jesse was perhaps destined to as well. The courageous leader doomed to isolation and doubt, unable to comprehend the road that led to their downfall.

Petra's pessimistic and sarcastic nature defines her a first, but it's clear that she's so much more than meets the eye. She's determined, chivalrous, and sometimes (overly) reckless too. Above all she strives to be a protector, of people, of her friends, and of her ideals. That's what keeps her from laying down her sword even though she longs for a life without battle. History says Gabriel was the same protector, even if we truly know him to be different, but this isn't about reality right now. Regardless of this they were seen as the fighters, with the only enemy too strong to beat lying in their imagination. The brave warrior doomed to die and lose their self in battle, interpreting life as nothing more than a fight to be won or forever lost.

It's hard to say what else describes Axel but bluntness. He's an out of the box thinker who can perhaps be slow at times, but he makes up for it when it really counts. He holds his friends close, and views others in a hostile matter (for better or for worse), and at the end of the day his hard exterior is easy to see right through to those who matter. Magnus is spunky and edgy, and rolls his eyes at the mere mention of the others, yet like Axel, it's simple to see right through him. His love for the others is something he shields, and it's clear he does this by pretending his life is perfect the way it is. The maverick doomed to surround themselves with a false sense of community and leadership, forever unaware of all that lies out of their reach

Olivia is intelligent, innovative, and practical. She usually prefers a simple solution but that's not to say she can't also have fun. She's compassionate and curious, and enjoys going through hypotheticals just to be extra prepared (or simply for a easy pass time). She's amiable and while her skills aren't exactly adept, it's clear she has a desire to learn. Ellegaard is a similar, and although she's jaded and has far more of an attitude, it's not hard to believe she used to be similar in her youth. It's also very likely they would have the same coping methods, focusing on red stone is far easier than focusing on others. The brilliant engineer doomed to surround themselves with their machines and inventions, who instead distance themselves from any real connections.

And finally there's Lukas. Selfless, kind, and impeccably loyal, in some ways he's the glue that held them all together. His intense desire to meditate got them out of a few fights, even if his presence initially caused them. He's the resident worrier of the group, and his only goal is to make sure his friends are safe and sound. Glory and adventure are the furthest thing from his mind, they're just a welcome bonus. Ivor clearly cared very deeply for the group, because he was the most hurt by Soren's secret. Even after his anger at them, it's evident they were never far from his mind. He tried so much to get them to see reason, but it was all for nothing. The permanent outcast, doomed to try the best they can to save the group, but who will inevitably be the one to ruin them all.

Of course those fates didn't really fall on the old order, that was just what people expected of them. Soren understood very well what he did wrong, Gabriel lived on, Magnus or Ellegaard died, and Ivor didn't ruin them, he just exposed them (even if his wither storm did kill one of them, but that wasn't really the point). Yet what truly happens in history, versus what we've been told or come to expect are quite different. I just think it could've been interesting for the writers to play into this predetermined fate the group already had, perhaps they would accept it, or maybe they would run from it so fiercely that they end up right where they feared. Or maybe their friendship was enough, and they never got wrapped up in the greed or the glory. Obviously that's not where S2 went at all, but it's was just something interesting to think about.

[talkshowboyluvr]

talk treechy to me 🤭 any modern au hcs you have for him?? he looks like the type to create playlists for his friends and for overly specific situations that are niche to him

TREECHY TALK MY FAVVVV

okay modern au treech 🤩 channelling the four (4) modern au fics i have (even tho two are unreleased, leave me be 😭)

okay so starting w the foundations even if the au isn't based in britain, he has a thick english accent (never erasing hiroki's Londoner voice) but the reason's for it can get more and more ridiculous.

one of his favourite celebrities is english, so he's picked up the accent to be more like them. growing up his mom used to only put on english cartoons so he came into school the first day saying shit like "good morning fellas" and got Bullied so bad.

really close friends with lucy gray!!! (even tho most of the hc's come from the lucy gray/treemina fic im not gonna base the relationships on it or else i'll Rant abt coralbalism) i see their personalities as very similar, specifically their love for performing and such

they were roommates in the olive garden fic and im probably bringing that back for the band au, i think they're so good as best friends 😭

okay obviously emo king extraordinaire, but i doubt he ever dropped the phase. like, he stopped dyeing his hair purple (bc yes he would so do that) by the time he was seventeen, but i think he'd still wear the mcr band tee out and about.

goes all out for halloween. i personally imagine he wouldn't watch horror much, but he'd read it (except hereditary, he'd watch hereditary bc that's my favourite movie) and would really dress up for the occasion. he goes as book accurate dracula like five times bc he just Loves vampires (wink wink)

eats so much fruit its unhealthy. man is obsessed w strawberries.

really good at history in school. definitely a history major.

cannot fight to save his life. the one (1) time he tried to punch someone coral and tanner had to step in to save his Life.

brandy despises him. why? because i think it's really funny. (i usually say it's to even out tanner hating lamina but after songs i've decided tanner and lamina are actually best friends)

okay this one is genuinely just funny to me, but i imagine he has had a BUNCH of embarrassing crushes on his friends that Haunt him. (lamina, jessup, reaper, lucy gray) i really think he fell in 'love' constantly growing up and Coral was Sick of it.

oh and autism. i didn't write treech as autistic originally, but i realised half way through allies or enemies he read as Very autistic lmao.

i have. more. but im unsure how to word them, so!!!! here we are.

[demigirlravenqueen]

Historically ever after part 5

Darling Charming 2 New And Improved!

I wanted to do an updated version of this post because, it was really just my second attempt at doing something like this so it's not really the best and I've learned quite a bit more about 18th century fashion since then and I'm not really satisfied with that post anymore. Darling was the fist character that I decided to make these posts on because everybody kind of knows that her design was 18th century inspired. I think that it's just one of the recognisable historical styles .

Starting with the dress, it has an open front showing another layer underneath like most styles of dresses from the Georgian period which usually had a petticoat underneath as well as a matching stomacher if one was worn. The robe robe a la francaise is, I think the most iconic for this look. The robe a la francaise also featured large box pleats at the back and were commonly worn over side hoops which gave the iconic wide hip look.

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I think that darlings dress more closely resembles an English gown or robe a l’anglaise which is more fitted and less often worn with side hops therefore usually having a more round skirt shape.

Either way it doesn't really matter as I doubt that the people designing these outfits really had this in mind. But I'll leave this article by the American Duchess which dose a good job explaining the different styles of 18th century gowns if you're interested.

We also have those lovely elbow length frilled sleeves which were common on fashionable gowns.

The print on her dress really resembles some of the floral patterns common during this period, such as these ones I found in the Met's online collections.

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the underlayer's pattern is more subtle and and resembles these silk woven fabrics.

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Her hair is swept back and curled in a way that's meant to reference the large fancy hair styles iconic to the period, mostly around the mid 18th century. Feathers, ribbons and jewellery were all pretty common hair pieces.

Her hair is also verry light which is again a reference to white powdered hair.

While were talking about hair I'd also like to mention that we plenty of primary sources indicating the use of blue and pink hair powder during this time. I don't know a lot about that (or just historical hair in general I'm trying my best), but Abbey Cox did a great video the history of coloured hair, and after watching that I was able to find portraits showing it. It's such a niche fun fact that I don't think that it was intentional and they probably just chose blue to go with the colour scheme they already had but it's still cool.

Her jewellery was interesting to look into, full disclosure I don't know much about jewellery outside of the Victorian era and even then my knowledge is pretty limited so I was mainly digging through the V&A archives and comparing them.

Her necklaces are I think the most similar. You got the jewels arranged in a circle around another jewel and the elaborate patterns.

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I think her bracelet is more armour inspired I'm not really able to get a good enough look at it to notice much detail.

dangly earrings sort of like hers I've seen a lot of but rather different.

With her flower shaped ring I was either expecting to either find nothing or something similar but smaller which they made more bulky for doll production. I didn't find a similar ring, most were verry simple in shape, but I did find this broch and gasped verry loudly when I did because it was so similar.

I might do another one on her dragon games outfit, but I don't really think there's anything there, and this post is getting long, nothing compared with what I have in the works for Lizzie but... I have homework to do and this has already taken up enough of my time.

As always, feel free to add on or correct me.

Part 0.5 Part 1 (original darling post) Part 2 Part 3 Part 4

[mid0khan]

I got tagged by @the-apocrypha in the last line game, so I'll share a little bit of the (really big) Sandman fic I'm working on (like seriously I went from 'only writes one shots' to 'start a 100-chapters-long project' with no transition and I don't know what I'm doing I can only pray it's good)

Anyway, enjoy

Hob stood across the street from the bookshop.

When Abel had told him there was an angel in London, and one with a passion for books and a knack for magic, he had hardly believed his luck. If the revelation hadn’t been immediately followed by Cain stabbing a butter knife in his brother’s head (“How dare you ruin a perfectly good mystery you miserable maggot!”), Hob would have hugged him. Cain had assured him such a “benign” wound would heal pretty quickly, and he had even proposed to burry Abel near the surface, so he would rise up more easily, but Hob had awoken before he had a chance to thank his unlucky informant.

Finding the bookshop had been easy enough, but Hob was now facing an unexpected difficulty.

The ghost car, the one he had seen driving itself and that had caused him to avoid Soho for years now, was parked right in front of the shop.

He had feared he would see it; he was in the middle of its territory after all. But he had never thought the thing would be waiting for him there.

Hob had been standing there, staring at his newfound adversary for at least half an hour. The thing hadn’t moved at all. It was waiting for its time to strike, no doubt. Hob had no choice but to try and get around the car to reach the shop’s door, and pray that the car wouldn’t have a sudden crave for blood.

He warily crossed the road, keeping his distance with the ghost car as much as he could. It didn’t move. He hugged the wall, slowly approaching the door while never taking his eyes off the beast. From up close, he could see what a beautiful car it was. He hadn’t seen this kind of Bentley in ages, and this one looked brand new! He would have been in awe if he hadn’t been so suspicious of the thing. He finally reached the door, all but fleeing away from the car with a sigh of relief.

When his eyes got used to the relative darkness of the shop, Hob gasped.

Books everywhere. Books on shelves so full they looked like they were going to crumble. Books in piles on the floor. Books on the stairs, because there was a mezzanine filled with books too. New books, old books, children’s tales next to things that really should not be read by children, big classics and very niche authors… It was untidy. It was crumpled.

It was lovely.

“Go away,” a voice slurred to Hob’s left, making him jump. “We probably don’t have what you’re looking for, and if we did, we wouldn’t sell it to you anyway.”

Hob had been so focused on the books, he hadn’t noticed the little reading space next to him. Slumped in a very old armchair, a red-headed man was staring at him, slightly menacing. He looed very out of place in the bookshop, with his old-rocker style and his sunglasses, but somehow, he also seemed to perfectly belong there.

“Weird way to handle a bookshop,” Hob mused, and the redhead hissed at him. “But I’m not here to buy anything, actually I have a book to show to M. Fell?”

The redhead raised an eyebrow, curious, all trace of aggressivity leaving his body.

“Oh! Well in that case, welcome. Aziraphale is out for now, but he should be back soon. You can wait for him here, take a sit.” With a lazy raise of his arm, he pointed to a chair, and after carefully putting the pile of books covering it away, Hob sat, trying not to stare too much.

He was sure he had already seen the man somewhere.

The thing with being immortal was that he had seen a lot of people. It wasn’t always easy to remember which face belonged to which name, or where and when he had met someone. But there were situations that were harder to forget than others.

He had frequented a few circles that were… not very legal, in the 60’s. He had missed the thrill that came with doing something forbidden, that he had grown up with as a mercenary, and he had been quite good at picking locks. He had made sure never to kill anybody (his life and the last century both had had enough death already, thank you very much), but still, it had not been as fun as it had once been. He had felt like a fraud, stealing alongside people who struggled to make ends meet when he himself had been richer than any of their victims.

But there had been a weird job, not long before he had left his group. Someone had offered thousands to simply walk in a church and steal holly water. Of course the client has made it look like a big coup, but Hob had not been fooled. He had refused the job. He didn’t want to risk getting dragged in some demon summoning or whatever.

The redhead was the spitting image of the client.

Maybe it was just a man looking a lot like his father. Or maybe it was the same person. A fellow immortal? Another angel? Something else?

Maybe he could help too?

“Could you take a look at the book, too?” Hob asked, making the redhead frown. “I really need advices on how to use it.”

“How to use a book? Well, usually, you’re supposed to read it.”

“This one is a bit special; besides, I can’t read it.”

Hob took the grimoire out of his Marlowe was better tote bag, and the redhead tensed

“Nope! Absolutely not.”

“Could you help me-”

“No.” The redhead stood and grabbed Hob, forcing him toward the door. “I’m not helping you with that, Aziraphale is not helping you with that, you get out and you never come back.” He pushed Hob out of the shop and slammed the door shut behind him.

Hob stood there, dumbfounded. Welp, that didn’t go as planned. What was he supposed to do now? Could he convince the redhead to let him back inside? Was there maybe another book-specialist angel in London?

He was snapped out of his thoughts by a squeal. He realized he was still in front of the bookshop’s door, and a white-haired man was standing in front of him, a look of bewilderment on his face, his hands flapping in front of him in excitement. The man pointed to the grimoire still in Hob’s hands with a shaking finger.

“Oh my, is it really… No, it can’t be, but it looks just like… Where did you… Come in!” The man grabbed Hob’s arm and dragged him back in the bookshop, while almost screaming. “Crowley? Crowley dear, you won’t believe what I just found!”

I am supposed to tag people there too, which makes me a bit nervous, so I'll tag @cuubism, @kydrogendragon and @mimisempai if you want to play, and if you don't, forget I ever tagged you

[fandomscraziness22]

20 Questions for Writers

tagged by @legolasghosty thank you friend!!!!

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

88!! that's crazy!

2. What's your total AO3 word count?

257,528 which is also freaking insane

3. What fandoms do you write for?

lots of different ones! i have the most for julie and the phantoms, but also lockwood and co, the bright sessions, and jurassic world: camp cretaceous/chaos theory. i do have ones for leverage, the flash, the 100, and a few others i think

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

love came crashing in (lco)

Butterflies and Glitter (jatp)

it's like this heart is defenseless (lco)

watching is worse (the second time around) (jatp)

stand up when it's all crashing down (pjo)

5. Do you respond to comments?

I try to! i used to be much better at always responding, but now i can't always muster up the energy to do it

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

literally all of them???? uhhhhh for jatp i've killed just about everyone but the most unmentionable ones are learn to live with the unimaginable (carlos) and i miss the days when (luke survives). for lockwood it's probs but the wolves came and went (and we're still standing) aka my torture fic. one of my personal favs is my flash fic, Betrayal (Or, how he finds out) ALSO ALMOST FORGOT i thought i was innocent (but there is blood all on my hands) for bright sessions!!

7. What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

i do happen to have some fluff fics!!! you are alive. is one of my favs of my jatp ones, and what a glorious feeling (i'm happy again) for lockwood. also shoutout to i need you like water for my happy green boys kissing in the rain

8. Do you get hate on fics?

nope! i think i maybe sorta did once, but i just screenshotted it to share with my friends and laugh about it lol

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

no, but im not opposed to someday doing it. the closest i've gotten is i hate you i love you (i hate that i want you) for bright sessions or what a glorious feeling for locklyle

10. Do you write crossovers?

i sorta did once, but that fic is abandoned. i tend to do more of aus "just the one scene" combining my fav things, but not really crossovers

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not that I know of

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Nope, though i wouldn't be opposed!

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

yes! me and @anthonyjlockwood have our club au series for jatp, and then our green boys fluff come meet me at the end of the (cereal) aisle

14. What's your all-time favorite ship?

oh i cannot ever pick!!! percabeth is a childhood fav, elias/laia from an ember in the ashes (my favorite book of all time), bellarke (i refuse to believe rothenburg on that), juke and locklyle and green boys and nahri/ali from the daveabad trilogy (i love them)

15. What's a WIP you want to finish but doubt you will?

joan helps caleb actually!!! i wanted to change how college tapes went, but idk if it's gonna happen. i just want joan to set caleb straight lol

16. What are your writing strengths?

physical injuries/angst is what i'm best at! also comign up with teh most niche of au ideas but only for one scene and nothing else lol

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

i wish i could write flowery language and amazing metaphors, but alas, i cannot

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic?

i've only really done it for jatp which i feel like was what everyone was doing in that era? idk, i try not to do it too often. tho i do still really want to include sign language into a fic because i actually know that

19. First fandom you wrote for?

the 100, though i wrote some of my own stuff for Lost and Narnia before that

20. Favorite fic you've written?

can't pick, and i've mentioned a lot fo my favs already. i'll give a shoutout to i know where i belong, my leverage parker happy feels fic, and i keep getting better at slowly getting worse my habor crest fic for caleb and mark!

tagging @sabetha and @anthonyjlockwood and anyone else who wants to do it!

[mayhemchicken-varneyposting]

Varney the Vampire, Chapter 21: Now Sea Here Young Man

[Previous chapter] [Next chapter]

Charles takes his uncle into a private room to explain the situation with Flora and the vampire. Admiral Bell, who persists in thinking a vampire is a kind of mermaid, spends a lot of time bantering and arguing with Charles before he's finally able to get the full explanation out. The admiral agrees with Charles' decision to stand by Flora wholeheartedly, and tells Charles that if he had not done so then he, the admiral, would have married Flora himself.

Their conversation is interrupted by the sound of a scream. Both of them rush towards the sound at the same time and jam up the doorway like cartoon characters, so Henry is the first to arrive on the scene. Flora has fainted, and Varney has escaped the scene by smashing through a full-length window.

Flora is revived by splashing some water on her, and receives a somewhat jarring introduction to Admiral Bell. She tells them that Varney has been in the house, and urges Henry to leave the place and let Varney have it. Marchdale, who is also here, takes Flora's side, while Charles and Admiral Bell want to duel him. Marchdale passive-aggressively threatens to leave again, but Henry and the admiral manage to restore peace. Everyone except Flora leaves for the parlor to hold a council of war. Meanwhile, George is off running errands and missed the entire chapter.

The story reaches new Looney Tunes heights in this chapter. In addition to Varney crashing through a window and Charles and the admiral getting jammed up in a doorway, the chapter is packed to the brim with humorous banter, mostly between the admiral and Charles. I continue to enjoy their dynamic. It feels natural, a lot more natural than any of the other relationships Rymer has written so far.

Charles claims his reason for returning to England early as literal lovesickness. This sounds ridiculous to me, although I can't help but wonder - this story was written some 30 or so years before the advancement of germ theory. Did Rymer think this was a plausible thing that could happen? (Equally possible is that Charles is being melodramatic. He's 21 and we already know he has a penchant for theatrics.)

Once Charles has explained the situation to Admiral Bell, he attempts to prepare him to meet Flora, prompting his comic relief uncle to assume the position of incredibly embarrassing older relative.

"I will fetch her, uncle."

"Ah, do; I'll be bound, now, she's one of the right build—a good figure-head, and don't make too much stern-way."

"Well, well, whatever you do, now don't pay her any compliments, for your efforts in that line are of such a very doubtful order, that I shall dread to hear you."

"You be off, and mind your own business; I haven't been at sea forty years without picking up some out-and-out delicate compliments to say to a young lady."

"But do you really imagine, now, that the deck of a man-of-war is a nice place to pick up courtly compliments in?"

"Of course I do. There you hear the best of language, d——e! You don't know what you are talking about, you fellows that have stuck on shore all your lives; it's we seamen who learn life."

This colorful back-and-forth is interrupted by a scream from Flora, but the tension of the plot is not enough to dislodge Admiral Bell from his niche as a cartoon character.

In their efforts to leave the room, the uncle and nephew for about a minute actually blocked up the door-way, but the superior bulk of the admiral prevailed, and after nearly squeezing poor Charles flat, he got out first.

The next sentence I am pasting in purely to make fun of.

Charles fancied correctly enough at once that it proceeded from the room which was called "Flora's own room," and thitherward accordingly he dashed at tremendous speed.

If gifted writers are "silver-tongued", then Rymer's tongue is Tupperware plastic.

Mrs. Bannerworth sat down on the edge of the sofa which was in the room, and could only wring her hands and weep.

Mrs. Bannerworth is in this chapter too! She didn't make it into my summary because she doesn't actually do anything, a constant issue in this text. Given the way Rymer writes middle-aged women, however, this treatment may actually be doing her a kindness.

Varney isn't in this chapter, but even his absence is a show-stealer.

"D—n me, and he's gone, too, and carried half the window with him. Look there!"

It was literally true; the window, which was a long latticed one, was smashed through.

Absolutely incredible exit, 10/10 very dignified. The great and terrifying vampyre everybody.

The cartoonery doesn't stop, as the admiral is at the top of his game in this chapter.

Flora opened her eyes timidly as the said— "Has it gone?"

"Yes, yes, dear," said Charles. "Look around you; here are none but true friends."

"And tried friends, my dear," said Admiral Bell, "excepting me; and whenever you like to try me, afloat or ashore, d—n me, shew me Old Nick himself, and I won't shrink—yard arm and yard arm—grapnel to grapnel—pitch pots and grenades!"

"This is my uncle, Flora," said Charles.

"I thank you, sir," said Flora, faintly.

You can really feel the "wtf" energy radiating from Flora.

Flora, in her plea for the family to flee Bannerworth Hall, says something that highlights the weird gendering of vampire attacks in the story:

"Why should you allow yourselves to risk a personal encounter with such a man, who might be glad to kill you that he might have an opportunity of replenishing his own hideous existence from your best heart's blood?"

"Your best heart" refers to Flora. Men are not potential victims of the vampire, they are obstacles standing in his path to his true victim, Beautiful Young (White) Maidens. The worst they have to fear is just that the vampire will kill them, and not even in a cool "tearing the jugular out with one's teeth" way. There is not ONE throat ripped out in this whole damn 650k word text! Not one! What is the POINT, I ask you? Bite the men, Varney! There's perfectly good blood in there you're letting go to waste!

...Ahem. Where was I?

"His strength is immense," said Marchdale. "I tried to seize him, and I fell beneath his arm as if I had been struck by the hammer of a Cyclops."

"A what?" cried the admiral.

"A Cyclops."

"D—n me, I served aboard the Cyclops eleven years, and never saw a very big hammer aboard of her."

"What on earth is to be done?" said Henry.

"Oh," chimed in the admiral, "there's always a bother about what's to be done on earth. Now, at sea, I could soon tell you what was to be done."

I don't have much to say about this bit, I just liked the jokes. Dumb wordplay always gets me.

"It is true," remarked Henry, "we dare not, even holding all the terrible suspicions we do, take his life."

"By foul means certainly not," said Charles, "were he ten times a vampyre."

You poor buffoons would not last ten minutes against Dracula.

Charles has been steadily trending away from his earlier position of reasonable doubt regarding vampires, and towards a more hard-line skepticism. This seems to be partially fueled by a strong desire to face Varney in a duel, and a need to justify such a course of action - dueling an immortal and supernaturally enhanced vampire would be extremely foolish, after all. His expression of doubt is met by an odd defensiveness from Marchdale.

"I cannot, however, believe that he is so invulnerable as he is represented."

"No one represents him here," said Marchdale. "I speak, sir, because I saw you glance at me."

Which is followed, of course, by yet another passive-aggressive threat to leave.

"For some reason," added Marchdale, in a tone of emotion, "what I say seems to fall always badly upon Mr. Holland's ear. I know not why; but if it will give him any satisfaction, I will leave Bannerworth Hall to-night."

What really peeves me about these sequences is how immediately all the other characters take Marchdale's side, when to me he is always the one being the most unreasonable. You're leaving because...why? Charles looked at you funny? Grow up, Marchdale. You're like twice his age.

Flora is left out of the war council for being Female, which I maintain is a fatal mistake on our heroes' part not only because of the sexism, but because Flora is easily the most competent of them all by a mile. (Then again, this is probably because her never taking part in the action means she doesn't have to be handed the idiot ball again and again the way the other characters do.)

George is also left out of the war council, as he left to go fetch Chillingworth. This is foreshadowing for when he later disappears from the narrative entirely.

Next: Maybe they ought to have called it a waffle council actually

[herashifts]

CAFAE LATTE DR.

So this is more of a niche DR, so uh, strap in y’all! Hjfkdhkgd

If you’re unfamiliar, this DR is based on the urban fantasy series of the same name by @/c.m.alongi_author on Tiktok. In the series, fairy tale creatures and beings of folklore have become ingrained in modern society. The main character of the series is a fae sorceress named Bob, and she runs a coffee shop (called “CaFae Latte”) with her ward, Cyrus. Over the course of the series, the audience meets a gallery of characters, such as the humans Nicole and JC, as well as vampires, werewolves, goblins, and even the Tooth Fairy! There are adventures and shenanigans galore, and I’m gonna be a part of that when I shift. 

In my DR, I live in the same town as CaFae Latte, though I don’t really get involved with the “canon” characters until a bit after I shift there. You see, the whole reason why I made this script in the first place was so that I could have a hot demon girlfriend dkjghfjkdgk

As of right now, she doesn’t have a name, I’m leaving that one up to fate, but I have picked a faceclaim for her. She looks more or less like this, but with some minor adjustments:

So, yeah! She originally met me because she wanted to try to spook me, but I invited her to my at-home movie night instead sjghfkjdkdf (We slowly became friends after that, and then we will date, if she’s interested OvO)

While she doesn’t have a name, I do! My name in this DR is Hera Corvus, and I’m a very powerful witch with boss ass tattoos. We’re both such badasses, I can’t wait!!

To make things easier for the both of us, I scripted that demons can shapeshift into more human-like forms to blend in on the mortal world more easily. Of course, I don't doubt that Bob will see right through that, so our first meeting should be pretty interesting 😂😂😂

Speaking of Bob, I don't plan on working at the cafe, but I do absolutely want to be one of the regulars there! I'm an artist, writer, and poet in that DR, so it'll be nice to vibe there while I work. And the free entertainment when Bob curses Karens is a definite plus 😂😂😂

I really hope I'll be able to join the main cast in their friend group, they're so much fun! And I wanna play Mario Kart with Cyrus SO BAD HJGHHJFDJGDK

As always, thanks for reading, and if you have any questions, feel free to ask! Mwah Mwah Mwah ily <3