#I still think he’s one of my favorite characters to get quotes for—and the easiest

[incorrect-fnaf-quotes]

While, yes, I started doing the Springtrap & Y/N quotes because I thought they were fun (and that the quote fit best for them, rather than anyone else). There was another thing...

Basically, yeah, I was sort of thinking of @spaciebabie whenever I figured: “Yeah, I should do this.” Because it’s fun, and I knew they’d like these, along with other people.

Spacie, I have joined everyone else messing with you with the Springtrap stuff—except instead of art and fics, it’s quotes 👍

[physalian]

On Writing Theme (Or, Make it a Question)

An element of story so superficially understood and yet is the backbone of what your work is trying to say. Theme is my favorite element to design and implement and the easiest way to do that? Make it a question.

A solid theme takes an okay action movie and propels it into blockbuster infamy, like Curse of the Black Pearl. It turns yet another Batman adaptation into an endlessly rewatchable masterpiece, seeing the same characters reinvented yet again and still seeing something new, in The Dark Knight. It’s the spiraling drain at the bottom of classic tragedies, pulling its characters inevitably down to their dooms, like in The Great Gatsby.

Theme is more than just “dark and light” or “good and evil”. Those are elements that your story explores, but your theme is what your story *says* with those elements. 

For example: Star Wars takes “dark vs light” incredibly literally (ignoring the Sequels). Dark vs Light is what the movies pit against each other. How the selfish, corrupted, short-sighted nature of the Dark Side inevitably leads to a self-fulfilling prophecy of doom—that’s what the story is about.

A story can have more than one theme, more than one statement it wants to make and more than one question to answer. Star Wars is also about the inevitable triumph of unity and ‘goodness’ over division and ‘evil’.

Part of why I love fantasy is how allegorical it can be. Yes I’m writing a story with vampires, but my questions to my characters are, “What makes a monster? Why is it a monster?” My characters’ arcs are the answer to my theme question.

Black Pearl is a movie that dabbles in the dichotomy between law-abiding soldiers and citizens, and the lawless pirates who elude them. Black Pearl’s theme is that one can be a pirate and also a good man, and that neither side is perfect or mutually exclusive, and that strictly adhering to either extreme will lead you to tragedy.

Implementing your theme means, in my opinion, staging your theme like a question and answering it with as many characters and plot beats as possible. In practice?

Q: Can a pirate be a good man? A: Jack is. Will is. Elizabeth is. Barbossa is selfish and short-sighted, and he loses. Norrington is too focused on propriety and selfless duty, and he loses.

Or, in Gatsby.

Q: Is life fulfilled by living in the past? A: Mr. Buchanan clings to his old-money ways and is a sour lout with no respect for anyone or himself. Daisy clings to a marriage that failed long ago, to retain an image and security she thinks she needs. Myrtle chases a man she can’t ever have. Her husband lusts after a wife who’s no longer his. Gatsby… well we all know what happens to him.

The more characters and plot beats you have to answer your theme’s question, the more cohesive a message you’ll send. It can be a statment the story backs up as well, as seen below, questions just naturally invite answers.

—

Do you need a theme?

Not technically, no. Plenty of stories get by on their other solid elements and leave the audience to draw their own conclusions and take their own meaning and messages. Your average romance novel probably isn’t written with a moral. Neither are your 80s/90s action thrillers. Neither are many horror movies. Theme is usually reserved for dramas, and usually in dramatic fantasy and sci-fi, where the setting tends to be an allegory for whatever message the author is trying to send. That, and kids movies.

Sometimes you just want to tell a funny story and you don’t set out with any goals of espousing morals and lessons you want your readers to learn and that is perfectly okay. I still think saying *something* will make the funny funnier or the drama more dramatic or the romance more romantic, but that’s just me and what I like to read.

When it is there, it’s right in front of your face way more often than you might think. Here’s some direct quotes succinctly capturing the main theses of a couple famous works:

“He’s a good man.” / “No, he’s a pirate.” - Curse of the Black Pearl

“What are we holding onto, Sam?” / “That there’s some good in this world, Mr. Frodo, and it’s worth fighting for.” - LotR, Two Towers

“Even the smallest person can change the course of the future.” - LotR, Fellowship of the Ring

“A person’s a person, no matter how small.” - Horton Hears a Who

“You either die a hero, or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain.” - The Dark Knight

“Can’t repeat the past? Why of course you can!” - The Great Gatsby

“Your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could, they didn’t stop to think if they should.” & “Life finds a way.” - Jurassic Park

"Ohana means family. Family means nobody gets left behind." - Lilo & Stitch

“But… I’m supposed to be beautiful.” / “You are beautiful.” - Shrek

“I didn’t kill him because he looked as scared as I was. I looked at him, and I saw myself.” - How to Train Your Dragon

“There are no accidents.” & “There is no secret ingredient.” & “You might wish for an apple or an orange, but you will get a peach.” - Kung Fu Panda

*If any of those are wrong, I did them entirely from memory, sue me.

Some of the best scenes in these stories are where the theme synthesizes in direct dialogue. There’s this moment of catharsis where you, the audience, knew what the story has been saying, but now you get to hear it put into words.

Or, these are the lines that stick in your head as you watch the tragedy unfold around the characters and all they didn’t learn when they had the chance.

When it comes to stories that have a very strong moral and never feel like they’re preaching to you, look no further than classic Pixar movies.

“Not everyone can become a great artist, but a great artist can come from anywhere.” - Ratatouille

“I’m not strong enough.” / “If we work together, you don’t have to be.” - The Incredibles

“Just keep swimming!” - Finding Nemo

Ellie’s adventure book, to live your own adventure, even if it’s not the one you thought it would be - Up

The Wheel Well montage, to slow down every once in a while, because in a flash, it’ll be gone - Cars

The entire first dialogue-less section of Wall-E, to stop our endless consumption or else

The real monsters are corporate consumption - Monsters Inc

One cannot fully appreciate happiness without a little sadness - Inside Out

With enough loud voices, the common man can overthrow The Man - A Bug’s Life

A person’s worth is not determined by their value to other people - Toy Story

These are the themes that I, personally, took from these movies as a kid and later in life. If I remembered the scripts any better I could probably pull some direct dialogue to support them, but, sadly, I do not have the entire Pixar catalog memorized.

—

After you’ve suffered through rigorous literary analysis classes for years on end, the “lit analyst” hat kind of never comes off. Sometimes you try to find a theme where none exists, coming up with your own. Sometimes you can very easily see the skeleton attempt at having a theme and a message that came out half-baked, and all the missed opportunities to polish it.

Whatever the case, while theme isn’t *necessary*, having that through line, an axis around which your entire story revolves, can be a fantastic way to examine which elements of your WIP aren’t meshing with the rest, why a character is or isn’t clicking, how you want to end it, or, even, how you want to approach a sequel.

Unfortunately, very, very often, a movie, book, or season of TV has a fantastic execution of a theme in its first run, and the ensuing sequels forget all about it.

No one here is going to defend Michael Bay’s Transformers movies as cinematic masterpieces, however, the first movie did actually have a thematic through line: “No sacrifice, no victory.” They didn’t stick the landing but, you know, the attempt was made. Where is that theme at all in the sequels? Nonexistent. They could have even explored a different theme and they abandoned it altogether.

Black Pearl’s thematic efforts fell away to lore and worldbuilding in its two sequels. Not that they’re bad! I love Dead Man’s Chest, but to those who don’t like the sequels, that missing element may be part of why.

Shrek and Shrek 2 both centered on their theme of beauty being how you define it and no one else. Fiona finds true love in her “true” form, then strengthens that message in the sequel when she has the chance to be “normal” and conventionally attractive, and still chooses to be an ogre, to be with Shrek. Shrek 3’s theme is…? 

When it was never there, that theme is missing isn’t so obvious. When it used to be there and got left behind, it leaves a crater in its wake everyone notices, even if they can’t pinpoint why.

—

TLDR: Theme is more than just vague nouns and dichotomies. Good, evil, dark, light, selfishness, altruism, beauty, ugliness, riches, poverty, etc are what your story uses. Your theme is what your story has to say with those elements, using as many characters and plot points as possible to reinforce its message. Is it necessary? No. Is it helpful and does it lead to a richer experience? Yes.

[ghost-proofbaby]

fic authors self rec game

When you get this, reply with your favorite five fics that you've written, then pass on to at least five other writers. Let's spread the self-love 💞

thank you so so much for the tag @thecreelhouse <3

the shire is burning (eddie munson x oc) - ao3 linked

shire will always, always, always have a very near and dear space in my heart. it is the proudest i have ever been of any fanfic i've ever written, and one of my only works i can consistently reread and admit to myself that i wholeheartedly enjoy. it's not perfect, it's not everyone's cup of tea due to being an OC fic, but it's my baby. i sat down in a booth at denny's one night in 2022, said i wanted to write an eddie munson fanfiction, and did it. i think it's my best work for capturing canon eddie, and any time i reread any bit of it, i just get the warm fuzzies all over. there are so many wonderful memories attached to it (from writing it, to experiences it led me to), and it brought me so many friends in this fandom that i love very dearly. i just love it, and even if i have to drag myself across the finish line, i will be finishing the sequel/fix it fic for willow and eddie. their love story is one i'll probably get to carry with me forever, which is pretty fucking neat, all things considered. <3

2. the moon will sing (astarion ancunin x oc) - ao3 linked/tumblr here

the moon will sing (i loved you like a sun) is still a fic currently in progress, but i really enjoy the concept, and i'm really excited to see where i take it! just like shire was my ultimate love letter to eddie munson, this fic is my ultimate love letter to astarion <3 it's got just as many, if not more, moving parts and i like the challenge it presents to me as a writer. i've always been the type to know every single experience my characters go through (both borrowed loves and original characters), and having to write a character with a strange sort of amnesia has presented a wonderful stretch for muscles i didn't use previously. it's also been really interesting writing astarion, because as a character, he's pretty different from eddie (who is my easiest character to write due to practice). he's canonically a wild card, a whole bundle of contradictions, and i constantly find myself making notes along the way in these drafts to overexplain and remind myself of his motives. i just really love it. i just really love him <3

3. house song (eddie munson x fem!reader)

this is from my 1k celebration, and it's definitely one that didn't get much attention. and probably for good reason. it has little to no dialogue, it has little to no actual interaction between eddie and reader. at the end of the day, it's long form poetry at best, and a nuisance of an elongated metaphor at worst. but i am really proud of it still. i had an entire version of eddie set up in my head, an entire reader with her own backstory, and whenever i reread it, i think that really shines through. it was a quiet softness about the boy we all still continue to love, even two years later, and i think it even perfectly shows why i still love him as the years pass. just a love note, rather than a full love letter.

people (fictional and real) don't always make good homes, but i think eddie munson might just be the exception. and that's why i stick around.

4. sweet like honey (steve harrington x fem!reader)

now for one from my 3k celebration! and i don't think this list would be complete without some sort of smut. i once had this fic quoted back to me from a friend (who i fucking adore with all my heart), and i didn't even recognize it as my own. it's no love letter to steve harrington (that one is in the works, trust me), but it's fun, and it hits all the right spots for me. i like steve harrington putting up a cocky bastard exterior only to be cracked wide open to find all that softness inside. this fic doesn't quite crack him open, but it definitely showcases that image of 'king steve' that i think we all enjoy fantasizing about a lot <3

this last one is hard. very, very hard. i have three fics that still come to mind that i'd love to put on this list, because in a strange turn of events, being in this fandom has taught me to love my writing far more than any fandom before. it's taught me my words are worth something. not in a money way, but in a 'i have something to say, a story to tell, that is worth yelling to the void - regardless of how many people will listen' way. and i've just been lucky so many of you have been willing to listen.

i'm giving honorable mentions right now to twenty four hours (because how could i not? for all the hell it gave me writing wise, i still like it, ya know?) and kissing lessons. the latter didn't make the list solely because i'm so new to writing robin, and it was a really tough subject matter for me despite being such a sweet fic. it's hard sometimes to love what you make out of a bad thing, even if the end product is something far more beautiful and healing than the reality of it all.

anyways, enough yapping.

5. who could stay? (you could stay.) - eddie munson x reader

this was one of the scariest fics to ever post. it was a request, and it was something i knew all too well, and it was putting a lot of myself into a reader. most of my fics that are this personal/include so much of myself never leave the google drive (and i have a few). half the time as i wrote it, it felt like just another diary entry. the other half, it felt like i was making some momentous mistake and shouldn't project so much of myself onto someone's request. but you know what happened? instead, all of you who have read it and showed it any love cradled it carefully in your hands and said "i see you" or "i am you", and reminded me it's alright. sometimes experiences are unique, sometimes experiences are factory-born. either way, posting this fic taught me i'm not always alone. and sometimes that isn't a great feeling (we all want to feel special, right?), but sometimes... it's a nice feeling. a giant group hug over the internet. i've definitely written similar fics in the same vein as this one since, and i don't know if i'll ever post them, but it proved to me that if i do choose to post them - it's safe. or at least, as safe as the internet can get. basically it was one giant lovely reminder of the space i've managed to create here on my blog and the type of people i've managed to attract to this corner of the internet, and i'm grateful for it. <3

alright. this was one of the hardest things i've ever done (i've obviously led a very privileged life). i'm gonna shut up now and reread some old writing because i feel like i just chose my favorite kids and now i need to reassure all my silly fics that i also adore that i totally still love them just in a different way.

no pressure tags: @andvys @hellfire--cult @hellfirenacht @lokis-army-77 @rosewaterandivy @take-everything-you-can and anyone else who wants to partake, because we all need to show our fics a lil love. you're your first reader, first and foremost <3

[frogadir]

Okay I'm literally falling asleep as I type this so I just want to get my point out there while it feels immediate to me... 03 moment

Episode 1

The famous atheist speech we all know and love... never mind that ed has come as close as any human can to staring god in the face <3 his bad attitude and cynicism are all over this, so it's funny to hear al call it out by name at the end. Especially remarking on the fact that he's trying to push his beliefs onto someone who's fighting them...

Episode 50

So obviously a lot happens between episodes 1 and 50, and this increasingly difficult journey culminates in ed finding himself on the other side of the gate, disturbed by the revelation that equivalent exchange, the foundation of his belief system, might not be real. Ed's found himself in a similar position to rose in episode 1, whose beliefs he tore apart... now it's hohenheim telling ed what he doesn't want to hear, and ed fighting against it. Compare the first highlighted line in the episode 50 scene to the first highlighted line in the episode 1 scene... he goes from mocking rose's dedication to... more or less earnestly saying he believes in an idea he once made fun of... and the highlighted line at the end has been one of my favorites for a long time. cynicism is crucial to ed's character, so what does it mean for him to give up on it? to stop acting like he doesn't care about anything? because that was never true. He was protecting himself from getting hurt again. He put his faith in something that seriously did not work out for him lol and it changed the course of his life... and then he watched a lot of bad things continue to happen... it's no wonder he developed the attitude that he did. But at what is perhaps his lowest point he turns around and says actually I want to believe in something good... it's better than writing off the world

and I don't think faith is purely religious and/or spiritual. There are a lot of things we can believe in as ways of centering ourselves in this world. We're losing the plot here a little sorry just stay with me but like so many times growing up in hebrew school we would talk about whether or not we believed in god. and I didn't have an answer to that as a kid because if I spoke I knew I would say I don't think I do and I was too embarrassed to admit that to everyone. I would think why would god let bad things happen. and as I got older I decided that life wasn't that simple. I always think about the george costanza quote where he's like "I only believe in god for the bad things" lol. because sometimes when life gets hard and you don't understand why things are happening it's easiest to blame some higher power for fucking you up. but no one really knows if god is real and that aside ultimately our lives are our own. so you can believe in god you don't have to though but either way it helps to have a little faith that things will be okay... not necessarily in a religious way but in a like... I made it this far I'm still here and I can keep going as long as I believe in myself way... Okay so I literally don't know what I'm talking about anymore actually I do but like I am definitely saying some bullshit rn but yeah. That line. I think about it a lot and watching that clip from episode 1 over a few times because I put it in my presentation got me thinking about how these scenes reflect each other... and also I think it's awesome that after he says that a flaming zeppelin falls on him and he gets trapped under the rubble. Crazy stuff

[kachikirby]

For the OC ask!

Fettuccine: 2, 4, 6, 12, 14, 16

Kurabe: 5, 6, 12, 14, 16, 20

Katsumi: 1, 9, 12, 14, 16, 25

Thank you for the ask!

Fettuccine:

2. I feel like it's the fact that she's actually an interrogation genius and child prodigy. She was the youngest person to ever join Task Force Zetta, which is basically the elite unit of the Intelligence Division of the Organization. But I feel like people wouldn't realize that based on how she look.

4. If Fetty is frightened, she would probably freeze. It takes a lot to scare her, but she can get scared.

6. It would be extremely difficult unless it was someone she highly respected. (i.e. Meta, Risotto, or Pandoro would have the easiest time convincing her) But even then, she would be a bit skeptical why and ask them to justify why.

12. She often tries to put on a brave face with her work, especially if whoever she is interrogating had some way to end themselves while she was doing it, but it does haunt and upset her, but she never says it. Other than that, she does try to act confident in the face of death. (i.e. when she was poisoned by someone) But overall, the moments are few and far between because her job doesn't really involve fighting.

14. She overall just wants to be seen as a good person and a close friend or even lover to Meta.

16. Her pain tolerance is surprisingly high. There's a reason her mirror world counterpart is a masochist. (i.e. she likes it rough)

Kurabe:

5. Depends on what it is she wants. Generally, she can chuck a lot of money at her problems, and they'll go away because she's rich. But if her family is threatened, she will kill.

6. It would be near impossible to. The only way for her to be convinced to do something against her moral compass is for it to literally be the only solution.

12. Kurabe is EXTREMELY hard on herself. Like if something horrible happens and she believes it's her fault, she will go into a mental spiral and have a breakdown. She also doesn't like being a burden on others, so that adds to her self-destructive behavior at times.

14. While Kurabe doesn't really care about the opinions of others, she does want her students to see her as a teacher they look up to and rely on for years to come. It works, seeing how a lot of her former students visit her. (Meta tends to visit the most of them because he's also her adopted son.)

16. One of the things she teaches those who are willing is an unnaturally high pain tolerance while still being able to fight. Like being shishkababed and having a limb cut off level of pain tolerance.

20. Kurabe doesn't really get jealous if I'm being honest. She knows that Mikuto only has eyes for her and she's content with her life. Most is she will teasingly get jealous if Fetty mentions how Meta is more snuggly with her, because she loves hugging her son too.

Katsumi:

That time Yona broke through all the traps in her home just to see where she lived. It took her forever to get her out and replace them all.

9. "Aaan? Bukkorosu zo!" (Nn? I'll kill you!) because that was one the the quotes I had in mind when thinking of Katsumi's design. The specific character that I associate this line with is actually her voice claim. (Neru from Blue Archive)

12. She will do anything for money, no matter how destructive or deadly it is or even if it means she'll cross paths with the Organization. She just has that much confidence that she'll make it out alive.

14. She doesn't really care how she's seen by others. She just wants to be paid. She is literally willing to backstab the person she's working for if someone else is willing to pay her more for what she does. Also, one of her policies is literally "I get half of my full payment in advance in case you all die".

16. I'd honestly say on par with Kurabe. Maybe a bit more than that, since she's a ruthless mercenary.

25. Honestly, while I like her personality a lot, her design is my favorite thing about her. I came up with her because I really like the aesthetic of bancho and sukeban and I wanted an OC that reflected that. I also made her a puffball/Astral/whatever you would call Kirby's species because I wanted to have one that was more in the morally grey territory after having a lot that were more on the lawful or neutral good side, and that was why I made her a mercenary as well. Everything else followed after that.

[flaim-ita]

Odd numbers for a Geats character of your choice!

You know I have to go with Ace

1 - My first impression of them

Love at first sight. I’m a Tsukasa fan so it goes without saying that I was THRILLED to have a new asshole boy for the first time in nearly 15 years. And then ep 1 his and I was fully cursed forever. He was so confident and cool and I just KNEW he was going to have something so very wrong with him

3 - A song that reminds me of them

Outside of canon Geats ones I guess the only one I can think of might be Black Sorrow from Alien Stage https://youtu.be/v0Rl9Au21lI

5 - My favorite ship of them

Ot4. I was obviously a mark for this one of course I am a Decade fan but they are all so mentally ill and I want the series to end with the four together or looking for each other, depending

7 - A quote of them that you remember

“My mother has done no wrong. I’ll prove it” the poor man is setting himself up for failure. Plus like wow. On a scale of Ace to Steven Universe what is your stance on blaming your abused mother for all war crimes and suffering ever?

9 - Your least favorite outfit of them

Ace wears this ridiculously oversized everything for Zombie arc and I cannot stop bullying it. But his worst suit is LazerBoost it’s too bulky and Mk II is sexier.

11 - What’s the first thing you think about when thinking about the character?

I want to ruin him. If he’s lucky, his cule will get the pieces to put back together.

13 - Your favorite friendship they have

Ace slowly going from forcing Tsumuri to be his sister to them clearly being genuinely open and honest with each other in the latest ep gives me Life.

15 - Worst storyline they had

I don’t have a single complaint about Ace like genuinely at all. But if I had to choose and acknowledging that I know why (making it easier on his beloved friends to fight him if he plays the villain mode up, also Keiwa basically just called him a sin to be rectified), I do wish he’d told the others what was being done to his mother.

17 - What do you think their first word was?

Mama. In every life, the first word he parses out, and usually much faster than most children, is whatever form of mother is easiest to say.

19 - The most random ship you've seen people have with them

Someone on Ao3 has written Ace x Hideyoshi Kan and I want to study their brain. I do not however want to read the fic.

21 - When do you think they were at their happiest?

Neon’s birthday. When Keiwa said “Ace is Ace”. I think in that moment Ace felt close to true happiness for the first time in centuries and it crashed as soon as it rose.

23 - Future headcanon

When everything is over, Ace keeps his hollow wishes. What he does not keep is his true one. His mother is dead, and he isn’t sure if he will finally forget, after this life. What he does know is none of the others can go home, and he built one especially for a DGP built family.

The Star of the Star of the Stars lives with popular breakout streamer Neon, who speaks openly about abuse and mental health issues in careful video essays but also chats and dances and is bright during actual streams. They live with three more mysterious individuals, Keiwa and Michinaga, who sometimes appear on streams, and Ace’s mysterious “Nee-San.”

What they don’t see: Ace is empty. Perhaps he forever will be. But having a family helps.

Even if it’s not who he spent so long searching for.

25 - When do you think they acted the most ooc

Ace rescuing Giroli like 2 days before Fox Hunt was hilarious timing but not necessarily OOC. Although it’s the only time his actions felt off from the reality of the story, it’s minor and movies are filmed super early.

As for proper OOC, when he’s all “I don’t care” about Michinaga. It makes sense, he finds Michinaga far too pathetic now to be a real rival, but it still feels odd.

27 - If they could meet a character from another show/movie/etc, who would be the most fun for them to meet?

I want him to meet Tsukasa because I miss Tsukasa desperately and I think they’d vibe together.

Also for non Toku I have this distinct image in my head of a Steven Universe crossover where not only have multiple Aces been friends with Rose, he then meets Steven and is kind of like “oh yeah of course there were things wrong with your mother but at the end of the day I think she wanted to be a good person, more than I did at the times, and we don’t necessarily have a right to judge what worlds our mothers definitely hoped would be better to us than to them.“

29 - How do you think they would be as a parent?

Ace seemed unsurprised that past and future people could not have kids so I do believe every Ace has had fertility issues, as a half breed himself. Any kids he did have, they didn’t live very long.

Ace is a doting father but he is distant and hyper vigilant. By the time the baby is two months he has had them checked for every possible disease and condition. He will always make sure the baby is clean and fed and cared for, but it takes longer to bond. After all, it never stops hurting when he loses a child.

When he does bond, it’s even more obvious. He is convinced his child is the most wonderful person in the universe, takes her with him when it’s safe, and cherished every moment.

If it’s Ukiyo Ace, the child survives.

[gigantomachy1916]

🤡🎢❌💞🤩

I'm saving the first two for last because my answers are loooong.

❌ What's a trope you will never write?

Pregnancy, it gives me the ick! Also I don't like writing about healthy, well-adjusted people in happy relationships. Booooring.

💞 Who's your comfort character?

Loki from Marvel tbh. Coral Fang was mostly just me playing with him like a little doll, trying to put him into absurd situations and show different facets of him. Also L and Misa, and Villanelle from Killing Eve, and lots of others.

🤩 Who is your favorite character to write?

As far as writing from their perspectives, I find L and Misa the easiest and most fun to write. I like writing his deductions because the way we think is pretty similar. With Misa, writing her is just like I'm indulging the bratty, attention-seeking 19 year old girl that still lives in my heart.

🤡 What's a line, scene, or exchange you've written that made you laugh?

Honestly there are so many parts of Coral Fang that were just me entertaining myself. I'm gonna be super self-indulgent and quote several, especially since most people who follow me on here just know my Death Note fics and might not have read it. (It's my longest fic and is about a broke punk dumbass accidentally putting Loki from Marvel in her debt and using that to make him be her friend. Then they bone a lot and get up to shenanigans.) This is gonna be a long response, sorry.

The opening line of Chapter 9:

Avery was not entirely sure if her biggest mistake had been taking Loki of Asgard to the aquarium, or if it had been smoking a metric fuckton of weed first, but either way, mistakes had been made.

From Chapter 17:

It was like a riddle. What do you get when you cross a magic alien god-prince with nearly a thousand micrograms of LSD? Hopefully the answer was not ‘Avery’s apartment being blown to pieces with Avery still inside it.’ But even if it was—fuck, what a way to go.

I had the time of my life writing Chapter 26 ("come back with a warrant"), when the Avengers track Loki to Avery's apartment, kick down her door, and attempt to "save" her from him. When Loki leaves, Avery accidentally reveals herself as his accomplice, and the Avengers decide to question her and search her apartment, leading to several incredible conversations:

Black Widow: [holding Avery's backpack, with $3600 in $20 bills inside of it] Care to explain how you got this? Avery: I'm a barista. People tip me. Black Widow: Lot of money for a barista. People tip you twenty dollar bills? Avery: [shrugging] Some of the money was a birthday present from my grandma. Black Widow: What about this? [sets a plastic baggie of weed on the table] Avery: ...That was also a birthday present from my grandma.

Then Captain America and Black Widow notice a bite mark on Avery's neck, pull off her hoodie, and find bruises all over her (from having rough sex with Loki while he was in his frost giant form).

Black Widow: [trying to be gentle and reassuring] Did Loki do this to you? It’s okay, you can tell us. Avery: No, I got the bruises at my fight club. Once a week, me and the ladies get together in a parking garage and beat the shit out of each other. Oh, fuck, I wasn't supposed to talk about that. Black Widow: [under her breath] God, she's worse than Tony. Captain America: You've clearly been bitten by something very recently, and whatever it was, it wasn't human. Avery: Oh, now that you mention it, that was Loki. Did you know that Loki’s actually a vampire? He’s been sucking my blood. He promised me that one day, if I’m a very good girl, he’ll make me a vampire, too.

But the scene that makes me absolutely crack up is in the following chapter, when, after they take Avery into SHIELD custody (where she says basically nothing to Director Fury other than "Lawyer" and "Go suck a bag of dicks"), Captain America tries to appeal to her conscience and get her to reveal Loki's plans.

Captain America: [finishing a very long, sincere speech] If you're afraid of Loki, we can take you into protective custody until he's caught and put behind bars. If you're protecting him for some reason, such as a, uh, personal relationship, all I can ask is that you think long and hard about what you are doing. You have a choice to make here, one that could potentially determine the fate of humanity, or at least the lives of a lot of human beings. I believe that, in your heart, you know the right thing to do. Avery: [voice shaking, looking at him trustingly] You promise you'll keep me safe? Captain America: Of course. You have nothing to be afraid of. Avery: Okay... I don't know what Loki is up to, exactly, but he did say something about his plan. Would that help? Captain America: Yes, anything you can tell us will help. Just tell us everything you know, no matter how little, and then you can go home. You have my word. Avery: From what I can remember… He told me the next thing he was going to do, after getting the scepter, would be to go get some Updog. Captain America: What’s Updog? Avery: Not much, dog. What’s up with you?

🎢 Which of your fics would you call your wildest ride?

Coral Fang lmao. Avery passes out drunk in a park, wakes up to find Loki of Asgard standing over her, invites him to Waffle House, lets him crash on her couch, is granted one favor by him, immediately gets drunk again and uses it to ask him to carry a bookcase up the stairs to her apartment, and it goes from there. During the story, Avery and Loki: [SPOILERS AHEAD]

have a birthday party

watch terrible porn

go to the aquarium

rob various establishments, including a bank, a convenience store (just for slushies), and SHIELD

beat the shit out of some construction equipment with bats and pipes

regrow a forest

turn a man's beard into centipedes for catcalling them

read a lot of Kurt Vonnegut

take an insane amount of LSD

hold each other at knifepoint on numerous occasions

kidnap an internationally renowned scientist and drop him off in a random town in Wales

destroy Mount Rushmore

put a Waffle House at the bottom of the Grand Canyon

make a deal with an infinity stone

telepathically mind-meld with each other

travel into Thanos' mind and quote Game of Thrones at him

get Avery's mugshot in Time magazine

[daughter-of-melpomene]

I got some questions for your Tav’s based on the ask game! These ones are for your Tav Raven! The questions are 3,16, 23, 27, 32, 35, 44, 51, 62 and the bonus 70, my bonus questions is what are some headcanons for Raven and Wyll once they finally start a relationship together? And the bonus question to the bonus, what are they headcanons like for the poly relationship with Astarion?

Ahhhhh, thank you so much for asking about my sassy little bard!! Answers are under the cut! (And I’m also gonna tag the BG3 moots @astarionbae and @reyofluke-ocs. <3)

What is your character’s moral alignment?

I’d say that Raven is solidly Chaotic Good. They do want to do the right thing ultimately, but they don’t always want to do it for the right reasons, and they certainly have no qualms about doing some less-than-legal things in order to accomplish their missions.

Which of the companions does your Tav trust most?

Already answered this here!!

What is your Tav’s favorite moment they’ve had with their lover?

I think Raven’s favorite moment with Wyll might be the first dance they share. Raven hasn’t exactly been the easiest person to get along with up until this point, at least not with Wyll, but they’re just starting to come around to him at this point, so sharing this sweet little moment with him, with him teaching them a courtly dance while they show him the looser style they’ve picked up in taverns, goes a long way towards improving their relationship, and it’s probably the first moment when Raven started to genuinely like Wyll.

What is their sense of humor like?

I’d say it’s the closest to Astarion’s over all of the other companions - Raven is incredibly sarcastic and loves to make constant little digs at people they don’t like. A lot of their jokes and comments also tend to be very witty and creative, an indicator of their talent as a songwriter. They’re also not above quoting some of the many bawdy jokes they’ve picked up from performing in taverns, even if Karlach’s usually the only one who laughs at them.

How did your Tav get their scars, if they have any?

Before the whole adventure with the party, at least, Raven only has one scar, a thin slash travelling from their jaw up their cheek. They got it when they were still young, after a group of other street urchins cornered them and attempted to steal the money they’d just earned from one of their first jobs performing at a tavern. Raven managed to get away with all their money, but one of the urchins had a knife and managed to slash their face as they escaped.

How does your Tav react to wearing the Wavemother’s robe? How do they react to their partner wearing it?

Very unlike Nifara, Raven freaking loves this outfit. They’ve always loved a bit of style, and the Wavemother’s robe is without a doubt one of the most stylish and most elegant things they’ve ever worn. If it was at all practical for fighting it, they’d probably refuse to ever take it off (and it definitely helps that Wyll can hardly tear his eyes away from them when they have it on).

And Wyll wearing it? Oh, don’t even get me started. Depending on what point in their relationship it is when he wears it, Raven might tease him relentlessly for wearing it (but still with the occasional appreciative glance his way), but if he wears it after their romance has started? There will be enough drool involved to douse Karlach’s Infernal Engine, and there’ll be no chance of Wyll wearing it on the road because Raven will walk into many trees because they’ll be distracted watching him.

What song best represents your Tav?

Okay, this may be at least in part because a lot of Raven is based off of Lucy Grey Baird from The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, but I really think that “Nothing You Can Take From Me” by Rachel Zegler is perfect for them! It’s representative of the kind of music they usually play and write, plus it speaks to Raven’s steadfast determination and refusal to let anybody change them unless they want to change as well.

What does your Tav want in their future? (domestic bliss, more adventure, a family, etc)

I really do think that Raven wants some kind of stability in their future - being essentially raised on the streets and having to live off of meaner pay from tavern gigs, combined with all the stress of the parasites and the party’s adventure, means that so much of their life has been in constant uncertainty, and they would really like that to change further down the road. They don’t really want kids, especially if it would involve getting pregnant themself, but they do want to hopefully be able to settle down with a partner and live a sort of domestic life - and luckily enough, they’re able to find that with Wyll after he marries them and takes over the duties of duke from his father.

What meme describes your Tav the best?

I definitely think that Raven’s whole friendship with Astarion and Karlach can be summed up by that one meme that’s like “local dumbasses knew what they were getting themselves into and did it anyway”.

Some headcanons about Raven and Wyll’s relationship:

They’re sort of a black cat/golden retriever couple, except Wyll also has a bit of cat energy, so it’s really more black cat/polite cat.

Raven calls Wyll “dukeling” when they first meet as an insult, but as their relationship progresses, it slowly becomes more of a term of endearment.

In return for Wyll teaching them the noble dances of his childhood, Raven teaches him some of the dances they’ve learned in taverns. He’s not quite as good at them as Raven is at his noble dances, but he does his best.

Raven writes a great many songs about Wyll after they officially get together, and in quiet moments Wyll can often be heard humming one or another under his breath. The servants, after the two of them are living in the duchy in Baldur’s Gate, finds this absolutely adorable, but Astarion and Karlach don’t hesitate to tease Wyll relentlessly about it whenever they visit.

Some headcanons about Raven, Wyll, and Astarion’s relationship:

Whenever the three of them cuddle or sleep in the same bed, Astarion is always in the middle, soaking in the warmth of his two lovers’ bodies.

After Wyll takes over the duties of duke from his father, he will often stay up much too late working or forget to eat, but Raven and Astarion will always make sure to bring him food or tempt him to bed with the promise of “some fun” (only to bundle him up in a blanket and tell him forcefully to get some sleep, and he somehow falls for the trick every time).

Neither Astarion nor Wyll can sing even half as well as Raven, but when the three of them are alone, that doesn’t stop them from joining in when their love is practicing or working on a song and turning their solos into group numbers.

Though most of Baldur’s Gate refers to Raven and Astarion as “the duke’s lovers,” Wyll will never hesitate to correct people when they say it in front of him, insisting that he belongs to the bard and the vampire much more than people as amazing as them could ever belong to him.

bg3 tav questions!!

[parvulous-writings]

Patrick  McKenna // SFW alphabet

​Summary: A sfw A-Z for Camerlengo Patrick McKenna

Warnings: Breaking of church vows (kinda, if you think about it)

Notes: Please be aware that this is purely off of the movie where McKenna features, this is in no way related to how he is portrayed in the book (mostly because I haven’t read it yet). Also I don’t know how the Roman Catholic church entirely operates- as although I do study it, I have never experienced any of it first hand, so there may be inaccuracies, for which I apologise.  My requests are currently open! My pinned post (found here) contains both a list of characters I write for, and a masterlist!

Not my gif

A - Affection (How affectionate are they? How do they show affection?) 

Publicly, Patrick can’t be affectionate. He’ll give you a look every so often, just so you still know he cares for you, even though he can’t exactly show it.  He makes up for it in private though- making food once a week, some beverages, and lots of time curled up together on the sofa. Sometimes, if you’re lucky, he’ll even read to you.

B - Best Friend (What would they be like as a best friend? Where does the friendship start?)

As a friend, he would be the voice of reason, a moral compass for those who had little or none (whether they listened to him or not though, he couldn’t control). 

C - Cuddles (Do they like to cuddle? How would they cuddle?)

Patrick does quite like cuddles. Curling up to cuddle wherever is probably his favourite way to cuddle- having you both embrace one another as close as you can fills him with such a sense of joy that nothing else can replicate. 

D - Domestic (Do they want to settle down? How are they at cooking, cleaning, ect?)

Despite his vows to the Roman Catholic church, and the Vatican, he would love to settle down with you. Hands down, he’d probably do it in a heartbeat. He’s a pretty good cook, and often does some cleaning around the home. 

E - Ending (If they had to break up with their partner, how would they do it?)

He would be very sympathetic about it- he understands it hurts, but if he’s leaving you there is most likely a good reason for it; most likely linking to his profession and position in the Vatican. 

F - Fiance(e) (How do they feel about commitment? Do they wanna get married?)

Despite his vows of celibacy and chastity, this man is still a follower of Roman Catholicism. His commitment to a person would be unwavering, everlasting. But it would have to come after his devotion to the Vatican itself. 

G - Gentle (How gentle are they both physically and emotionally?)

He’s very gentle. He may be firm when implementing his beliefs and his opinions, but he is still gentle when he needs to be. He can be a little extreme, but for the most part, he knows how to take care of you, physically and emotionally. 

H - Hugs (Do they like hugs? How often do they do it, and what are they like?)

Similar to cuddles, Patrick really likes hugs as well. A quick form of affection, that works well when out in public. He’ll often hug you from the side, as it’s the easiest one to have whilst on the move or staying mostly out of sight. 

I - I Love You (How fast do they say the “love” word?)

It may take him a little while. He wants to be absolutely sure that love is what he’s feeling before he admits it to anyone but himself, even you.

J - Jealousy (How jealous do they get? What are they like when jealous?)

Jealousy is a trait that McKenna both has and despises. He can become incredibly jealous sometimes, but has become very good at hiding it. Sometimes even you don’t realise that that is what he’s feeling. When it gets really bad though, he’ll come to stand beside you- usually unable to touch you, since this usually happens whilst he is working- and speaks with the offender who made him jealous until they get scared off. 

K - Kisses (What are their kisses like? Where do they like to kiss you? Where do they like to be kissed?)

Patrick likes to kiss you on your cheek or ear when just out of sight in public. Kisses on the lips are usually fairly chaste, getting heated very rarely- and these were always in private, and always would be unless you get married. He likes to be kissed on the jaw and the crook of his neck- though you found this out through trial and error, rather than him telling you.

L - Little Ones (How are they around kids?)

Patrick is actually pretty good around kids- he is often a good influence for them. Sometimes he can get a little too preachy, but you usually let him know of that and he’ll eventually reel himself back in a little bit.

M - Morning (What are mornings like with them?)

Oftentimes McKenna is long gone by the time you wake up- though occasionally he’ll wake you to give you a forehead kiss before he leaves. 

N - Nights (How are nights spent with them?)

There’s a routine for the evenings with Patrick- Grace and dinner, reading/watching a film, evening prayer, bed. There’s not overly much wiggle room in that, he likes routines. 

O - Open (When do they open up about themselves?)

If you’re having a quiet conversation during a film, he’ll occasionally slip in a piece of information about him, but you already know a lot from what he told you when he first met you- besides his extreme beliefs, he doesn’t keep many secrets. 

P - Patience (How easily angered are they?)

He is incredibly patient. Almost eerily so at times. It takes a lot, and I mean a lot, to get him visibly angered. Such as a lot of pressure over time, or a heavy interrogation.

Q - Quizzes (How much do they remember about you?)

A  lot. Occasionally he’ll forget something though- in which case he’ll profusely apologise and promise to remember it again in future. 

R - Remember (Favorite memory with you?)

There’s no one particular memory. There’s many- going to cafes together, walking along the canals hand in hand, hell even showing you around the Vatican. Anything that makes you smile, really. 

S - Security (How protective are they?)

Quite protective, even if he doesn’t often outwardly show it. The Roman Catholic church is a big organisation, one full of corruption even if they deny it. He knows that if any of them knew of your relationship, it could put you in danger, so he makes sure to inform you of how to keep safe, no matter the situation. 

T - Try (How much effort do they put in?)

He puts about as much effort in as any normal man does. He tries, but it’s not always particularly special. 

U - Ugly (What are their bad habits?)

He preaches a lot. This man has to quote something from scripture every day, for whatever reason. It can get rather frustrating at times. 

V - Vanity (How concerned are they with their looks?)

He has to look presentable, but since vanity goes against the virtues he’s been raised to follow, he does his best not to be as vain as some people can be. 

W - Whole (Would they feel incomplete without you?)

He would miss you a lot- you’ve become so ingrained into his daily life that it’s hard to imagine a day without you now.

X - Xtra (Random HC)

He’ll sometimes read you a bible story or two to get you to sleep if you’ve had a bad day- he has a very smooth and calming reading voice.

Y - Yuck (Things they don’t like either in general or a partner?)

He doesn’t like it when people try to disprove his beliefs, or argue against them. It gets him very agitated, and will deter him from said person. 

Z - Zzz (Sleep habits)

Literally just a normal sleep pattern, there’s nothing else or unusual to say about it. 

[annab-nana]

Is There Something There - Tom Holland

During an interview that you were doing with Tom for Endgame press, some of the questions catch you both off guard and one leads to you two talking about something you’ve both been feeling about each other.

A/N: I’m going to be honest. I don’t really like this one because I already feel like I use a lot of dialogue as a writer and this is an interview so there is a lot of dialogue, but I also like the story here so that why I decided to post it. Also, it’s my first Tom fic so I hope you all enjoy and feedback is greatly appreciated!

Warnings: some curse words

Word Count: 4.1k+  

--------------------------------------------------

“I can’t believe you didn’t know who Obadiah Stane was,” you giggled with Tom as you two left the room you had just been in doing an interview to head to another one in a few minutes.

“He asked what an Obadiah Stane was, so I thought it was a thing, not a person,” he defended, his smile stretching as his words brought you more laughter.

“I’m sure Robert would love to know that his little buddy didn’t even know the name of the villain in the first Iron Man movie,” you teased Tom while he chuckled along with you. “But I will give you the infinity stones question. All I could remember was the reality stone and the time stone, but you rattled off the first five in a matter of seconds and then the last one came to your mind shortly after. It was impressive.”

“Thank you, thank you,” he stated sarcastically with a bow and a tip of his head. “You know what was funny? When you said Sebastian would be a bad baby name. That was hilarious,” he brought up before dying of laughter again at the joke you made earlier in the interview.

“Yeah, and I can guarantee you that he said my name too when they asked him which MCU name would be the worst as well,” you told him while laughing along with him.

“This is it I think,” the man who had been leading you to your next interview announced to you both before opening the door.

“Ladies first,” Tom said to you while holding a hand out to show you the way. You playfully rolled your eyes at the dork you had been paired with for the day as you walked into the room.

It was no secret that Tom Holland could not keep his mouth shut when he needed to. He just gets too excited and has to tell someone. He along with Ruffalo were terrible secret keepers and when it came to interviews, they had to do them with someone who could pay attention to them and catch them before they slip up. Benedict got paired with Mark and you obviously were with Tom.

“Good morning you two! I imagine you both have been very busy today,” the woman who would be conducting the interview asked when you and Tom walked over to her and got settled in your spots on the couch after you each shook her hand.

“Yes ma’am, we have been busy, but it has been loads of fun I would say,” Tom responded first while he got comfortable on the couch and stretched his arm to lay against the back of it before you nodded your head in agreement at his previous statement.

“Super fun especially since we get to do it together,” you spoke to the lady before meeting the dashing brown eyes of your partner for the day.

“She’s just saying that because she has to be with me. She actually hates me,” Tom teased while you rolled your eyes at him.

“I do not hate him. Does he get a little aggravating from time to time? Yeah, but I don’t hate him,” you played along with the boy’s joke as he chuckled lightly at you.

“Wait, y/n has to be with you, Tom?” the interviewer inquired, her eyebrows drawing together in confusion as to why you were forced to be with him. She probably thought it was a little weird that you, the actress who plays Guardian of the Galaxy Willa Adler, and Tom, the actor of Peter Parker who was also known as Spider-Man, were doing press for Endgame together. If she saw Infinity War, she knew you were both onscreen together a good bit in that movie, but still she most likely was wondering why you were not doing interviews with Chris Pratt like you normally were since he played your older brother figure in the past few Marvel films you have done.

“Well, yeah, someone has to be with me because I can’t keep my mouth shut and y/n is good at telling when I’m about to say something I shouldn’t, so she is here to help me not spill the beans on anything,” Tom laughed while a slight blush of embarrassment dusted across his cheeks.

“Yeah, I have been told I’m good at reading people and we’ve become really good friends lately, so I guess I better at reading him than some of the others. I don’t know. I think it’s funny that he has to be with someone, or he’ll spill all the information on everything,” you giggled as you responded to the question too.

“Oh well, I guess it’s good you two have been paired together and later on I’ll have some questions specifically for the both of you. Anyway, I spoke with Anthony Mackie and Sebastian Stan and that pair,” she paused for a chuckle, “They like to tease you two, don’t they?” As soon as she mentioned their names, you both knew where the question was headed and you and Tom both nodded towards the woman.

“Yeah, we have quite the rivalry with those two, don’t we?” Tom led the answer for you to continue.

“Yes, but it’s all out of love,” you reassured the interviewer while you all shared a laugh.

“It’s all love, for sure. I think it’s because we are the youngest and easiest to pick on because we take the jokes well and we’ll shoot them right back. I find it funny how it's them against us. We will tease them and they’ll tease us, but at the same time, we split it up and it’ll be me and Mackie going at each other, and y/n and Stan will pick on each other quite a bit. It’s like the big brothers teasing their younger siblings and they each have their favorite one to pick on. I love it. I find it so hilarious,” Tom told the woman, a chuckle falling past his lips.

“Especially the juice box joke,” you laughed. “That one is my favorite.”

“Juice box joke?” she asked, her emerald eyes dancing between you and Tom while you both wore huge smiles on your faces from all the laughing you both had been doing.

“Yeah, Mackie likes to joke and say that ‘I need my juice boxes or I’ll go crazy without them’ that I need the sugar or something,” Tom expressed using air quotes with his fingers to show Anthony’s words. “They say I need juice boxes and y/n needs water bottles.”

“Why’s that?” the lady quizzed at the second part of his sentence as a light laugh escaped her mouth. You audibly groaned, knowing which story was about to come up next.

“She forgets to drink water sometimes and then she’ll get dehydrated and when we’re shooting harder scenes or if there’s a lot of light on her and it gets hot, then it doesn’t end well,” Tom told the interviewer honestly before she looked to you to continue or confirm his statements.

“It was one time and I just forget to drink water sometimes. I’m okay,” you reassured before taking a sip of water from the glass next to you.

“One time?” the blonde woman inquired further. You loved doing these interviews, but at times the people conducting them tended to be a little pushy and don’t pick up on the hint that you don’t want to share this story. You knew she wasn’t going to give so you spoke.  

“Tell the story, Tom,” you instructed with a sigh before turning in your chair to face him better. His hand still rested on the back of the couch behind you and he brought it down slightly to rub at the top of your back and play with your hair a little, a friendly and comforting gesture that you were very thankful for at the moment as he was about to share one of your more embarrassing experiences.

“Okay, so you know that scene in Infinity War where the Guardians, Strange, Tony, and I are in that spaceship and the Guardians are coming at us because they think we’re with Thanos?” When she nods her head, Tom continues with the story.

“Well, that particular day, y/n forgot to drink basically anything and in the makeup and suits and stuff, it gets really hot. It’s the scene where Willa has Peter Parker in a chokehold and Peter Quill has a gun to my head. So, when we were shooting that, y/n has her arms around my neck, not tightly obviously. She’s not actually trying to choke me, but you can feel it, you know. So, as I said, she wasn’t holding me tightly, but I felt her arms loosen from around me before she was supposed to, and she leaned against me a little.” The interviewer let out a slight gasp before looking at you and you nodded towards her, letting her know his words were true.

“I turned my head and asked her if she was okay, but she just nodded her head. She didn’t say anything, just nodded her head, and right then I knew something was wrong just by looking at her. I turned around and grabbed her before she fell and sat down with her. Chris came as well and was checking on her while Benedict and Robert went to get help and some water. But we got her some water, and she was good to go shortly after.”

“That must’ve been scary for the both of you,” she commented while her widened eyes jumped from yours to the set of honey brown ones to your left.

“It was honestly one of the scariest days on set for me,” Tom added before looking to you, his fingers still switching from rubbing small circles into your neck and twirling your hair between them.

“I was in and out of it, so I don’t remember much. All I remember is leaning against him and him helping me down. It was more embarrassing to me and I hate thinking about it, but now I will never get to forget about it because Anthony and Seb won’t ever let me live it down,” you told the woman with a small laugh which she joined in on along with Tom.

“Your characters both have this relationship with someone older than you that you look up to, Peter Parker with Tony Stark and Willa Adler with Peter Quill. How was it for you both to do your death scene in Infinity War with those people?” she asked you and Tom. Tom looked to you for you to start off the question so you do.

“Both Willa and Peter have had it rough as far as a mentor or someone who can really help guide them in life because they keep losing them. Peter lost his parents when he was younger, then his uncle, and then he disintegrates in Tony’s arms. Willa lost a lot of people in a short amount of time. Quill and Willa were both taken by Yondu at different times for their own good to save them from their terrible fathers, so she didn’t have anyone to look up to on Earth. Then she lost Yondu and feared she lost Quill when things with Ego went down. Then in Infinity War when they are all trying to take the gauntlet off Thanos, she finds out that she lost Gamora, the only girl Willa has ever had by her side, so that breaks her even further. Then after the snap, she watches all of her found family turn to dust around her. She watches Quill turn to ashes right before she can get to him and then she tries to run to Nebula who is the only person she has left before she goes with the rest of them. Right after that, we watch Peter and Tony hold each other and Peter goes so the scene overall is a terribly sad one. It took a lot of emotion for both of us I think.”

“Yeah, like she said, both of them have experienced great loss. Peter is a little more used to it while Willa loses someone before she’s done grieving the last person she lost. She definitely had to put a lot more emotion into it, but Willa is also the kind of person who holds her emotions in. You can see in that scene she was talking about, Willa tried to hold it in when she found out about Gamora but started to break down as she saw everyone she loved dissipate into nothing. Peter was emotional of course and he didn’t want to go like he just saw everyone around him do but at least he went out in the arms of someone he loves and looks up to a lot,” Tom added to your explanation with his own.

“I would say that scene after the snap with you two is the saddest in my opinion. So, to lighten the mood a little, there is a lot of talk about the family feel that the cast has, and the people wanted to know if that is true?” she asked as she flipped through her cards.

“Yes!” you immediately agreed.

“Of course, we all get along and it is super fun especially in films like these where we get to be together. Peter got to be with Iron Man, Doctor Strange, and the Guardians of the Galaxy and it was amazing filming with everybody. I loved it, didn’t you?” Tom pushed the question over to you.

“Yeah, it was super fun. I always get to film with a large group of people, but I got to film with Chris Hemsworth and then later on with RDJ and Benedict and Tom. It was great to work with so many amazing people,” you commented while you shifted in your seat a little, trying to get comfortable again.

“Mackie and Stan are like our annoying older brothers as I said earlier,” Tom mentioned with a light chuckle.

“Yeah,” you giggled before continuing with his analogy. “RDJ, Evans, and Hemsworth are like the fathers, the founding fathers really since they’ve been there since the beginning. Umm, Pratt and Rudd are the funny uncles. Elizabeth, Zoe, Karen, Scarlett, and Danai are the cool aunts. And then you’ve got people like Benedict, Chadwick, Pom, Letitia, and Tom who are absolute sweethearts. Everyone is just super cool and fun and sweet, and we couldn’t ask for a better group of people to work with.” The lady awed at your words while Tom’s eyes softened at them.

“That was really sweet, y/n, and you are amazing to work with as well,” he grinned as he spoke which you returned him on as well while you nodded at him. His hand shifted down to your shoulder and he kept it there, something you didn’t mind at all. “Everything she said was spot on and everyone we get the opportunity to work with is awesome and they’re great people. I couldn’t have said it better myself.”

“Do you think your characters will appear onscreen together in the future?” the interviewer questioned before she looked up from her card to the both of you.

“Um, I’ll take this one,” you said to both of them, but mainly to Tom so he knew he wouldn’t have to add anything or spoil anything without knowing it. “So, Peter normally protects Queens, and Willa’s territory is all of outer space. In Infinity War, you saw that Peter’s experience in space wasn’t the best and Willa had a terrible life on Earth though she didn’t know it at the time because she was so young when Yondu took her. I don’t see them crossing paths again in the future if everything gets ‘fixed’ like everyone is hoping for, but if another space titan comes to destroy half of all living things or something big like that, then yeah maybe you’d see Willa and Peter onscreen again, but I don’t think it is likely,” you told the woman as she nodded her head.

“Marvel is full of surprises though, so you never know what is going to happen,” Tom added, earning a laugh from you since you knew firsthand how true the statement was.

“The fans love seeing you two together and you both clearly have good chemistry so what is it like working with one another?” the blonde asked before pushing some fallen hair behind her ear.

“I’ll go first,” Tom stated as he turned a bit in his seat and smiled your way. You playfully rolled your eyes, getting ready for him to completely roast your ass.

“She’s mean, a total diva, a drama queen,” he started listing off several false claims before busting out laughing at your pouting face. “I’m kidding,” he chuckled while he leaned over to grab your chin, forcing you to look at him.

“No, go on. I’m thinking about teaming up with Mackie and Seb and all three of us can rip you to shreds,” you sarcastically smiled at him before you dropped the grin and shot him a death glare.

“Okay maybe I wasn’t lying about the mean part,” he joked causing you to smile again. His brown eyes lit up at the sight and he finally continued with answering the question.

“No, but for real, she is amazing, as a person and as an actress. Every time I watch her, I am reminded of how phenomenal of an actress she is. You all have seen the gag reels of me and how I can’t keep a straight face if my life depended on it, but I watched her and the person she was filming with slipped up. She kept a straight face until they started laughing so she started laughing too. If that was me, I would’ve started laughing before anyone even messed up. And even when she’s feeling poorly, she performs so well. Y/n is so incredible to watch and work with. She is truly a great person and an even better friend. I’m glad we have each other to lean on when we get teased for being the youngest out of everyone,” he chuckled after literally just melting your heart. You leaned over to wrap your arms around his torso, his arm going around your back to rest his hand on your side.

“That was really sweet, Tom,” you whispered while giving him a little squeeze before pulling away from him. He did not remove his arm from around you though, so you scooted closer to make it more comfortable for you both.

“He may say my acting is good, but I’ve got to brag on his as well. He is so good at improvising and going with the flow of things. I am a very ‘follow the lines and stick to the script’ kind of person, but his improv makes his scenes and character so much better. That may be because he is basically Peter Parker in real life so when the cameras are rolling, it is truly interesting to see. He lights up any room he walks into and makes every day easier when we are working. He is a delight to work with and just generally be around and I’m glad we’re friends.”

“Thanks y/n,” he grinned down at you and you smiled right back.

“How is he like Peter Parker in real life?” the woman further inquired as she adjusted herself in her seat to sit more comfortably.

“For one, he is a major dork,” you started before snickering at Tom’s furrowed brows and stuck out lip.

“You just said all that nice stuff and then called me a dork,” he huffed and turned his head from you. He dramatically removed his arm from around and placed his hand in his lap.

“Oh, come on. You know it’s true,” you told him to which he sighed.

“Yeah, it’s true,” he gave in before nodding at the interviewer.

“So, there’s that,” you continued to answer the question. “He’s a little awkward, but in a charming and lovable way. He cannot keep a secret at all. There’s probably more, but that’s all I can think of right now. Everybody loves Peter Parker and everyone loves Tom Holland. I mean it when I say they are the same person.”

“So, there is a good bit of speculation of a budding romance between the both of you and the people want to know if there is something there,” she stated before playing with the rings on her fingers.

Before you could open your mouth to deny the suspicion, Tom grabbed your hand in his, interlacing his fingers with yours. A blush crept up on your cheeks when he placed his lips against the back of your hand.

“Do you want to tell her, babe?” he asked as he shot you a wink, the small act telling you it was a joke. The growing grin on his face told you his actions were false as well, but you couldn’t help how your heart fell that it was all a lie. You once again rolled your eyes at the boy who held your hand.

“You can tell her, sweetheart,” you giggled while Tom held your hand in both of his and you leaned your head on his shoulder.

“Y/n and I have been in a relationship for a little while now and that relationship has been completely platonic and we are just friends,” he laughed as he placed your hand back in your own lap. You would be lying to yourself if you said you didn’t miss the feeling of his hand in yours, but now was not the time to think about that.

“Yeah guys, we’re only friends,” you chuckled, making eye contact with the camera that was filming the whole thing while you lifted your head from its previous resting place on his shoulder. “Nothing more.”

Later after the interview, you and Tom are walking to the car that was going to take you both back to your hotel and the events of earlier kept circling through your mind. The way it felt to have his arm around you and you leaning into his side. You craved that feeling. His hand in yours and his lips pressed to the back of it. You wanted more of that. Just being with him, you strived to have more moments with him, but you always thought that it was because you were really good friends and you liked having his presence near. However, you feared that you were into something more that he was not going to be interested in.

“You did good with the whole dating joke. That was funny,” you giggled lightly as you bumped his shoulder while walking by his side.

“Hopefully, you didn’t think it was too funny,” he mumbled, his own eyes widening at his slight confession. Your eyebrows drew together in confusion and your feet stopped moving forward.

“What?” you spoke the only word that was running through your mind at the moment. Tom stopped walking as well and turned to face you.

“I kinda liked holding your hand and I kinda like you,” he stated sheepishly, his gorgeous brown eyes looking everywhere but at you.

“What are you saying, Tom?” you asked, knowing exactly what he was saying but you wanted to be sure. He stepped forward a bit and took your hand in his, interlocking your fingers just as he did before.

“I’m saying that I like you, y/n, and I want to be with you. We can just try it out for a little bit?” he asked more than stated.

“You mean we can try out being together?”

“Yeah, we can keep it quiet until we’re sure and then if you want, we can go public with it. I was not lying when I said I love working with you. It wasn’t because you’re great to work with because you are. It was because you are great to be with. So maybe we try this out and see how things work with us while we do press and see how things work after this when we are separate and doing our own thing. We can go from there and see if this is something we want to continue or announce?” he questioned nervously while his eyes finally locked with yours. The corners of your mouth turned upwards in a huge grin, happy to be hearing what you had wished to hear for a while now.

“I’d love to be with you, Tom,” you gushed, grinning ear to ear.

“Well, that’s great, babe,” he chuckled after using the nickname he called you earlier. His other hand slid around your waist, pulling you closer to him. You felt his breath fan over your lips before he closed the space between you two.

“But you know that Mackie and Seb are going to pick on us about this too right?” you reminded him when you pulled away slightly and he giggled.

“Yeah, we’re never going to hear the end of it.”

--------------------------------------------------

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[eunoiastarz]

more adhd balthazar propaganda requested by my beloved @sunriseat9am <3

adhd symptoms I noticed throughout his scenes:

rejection sensitive dysphoria:

I’m going to use 6x21 as my crutch for this because look at him

also in 6x03 when cas chooses the winchesters over him

hyper sensitivity:

almost every scene we’re faced with balthazars walls of an ‘I don’t care’ attitude which I think is just masking for his hyper sensitivity. I mean the 6x21 forest scene says it all, for a minute or two he stops masking and elevates his voice while using rapid hand gestures to vent his frustrations. I can also use 6x03 again as an example with how he begins pacing during the rougher parts of the conversation in order to hide his face from cas. and again, the way he blankly stands there while cas raises his voice, his own tone getting much softer.

mood swings:

balthazar to change frequently through emotions. he goes quickly from anger in the 6x03 holy fire scene to being utterly defeated within a few words. the 6x21 forest scene where he goes from frustrated to calm in a matter of seconds, and the 6x21 confrontation scene with sam and dean he goes from annoyed to panicked before composing his false attitude enough to fly off. just watch and you’ll see how he never keeps a consistent emotion during scene.

hyper activity/ excessive activity/ fidgeting:

balthazar is never not moving and when he isn’t it’s only ever for a few seconds. we also know he goes out to parties a lot and constantly surrounds himself with any chaotic activity he can find. this isn’t even mentioning the 6x15 scene where he’s talking to himself while rushing around bobby’s house, completely ignoring anyone else.

irritability/ low frustration tolerance:

truly this could just be because he finds sam and dean extensively annoying as he should, but I’m clocking him. he just hates them so much without a concrete reason. he doesn’t hate cas for trapping him in holy fire, but then again sam and dean have ruined a lot for him.

impulsivity/ lack of self restraint:

he doesn’t example many impulsive decisions, the only instance I can find is him impulse to save cas in 6x03 despite what it will cost him, but I think he’s impulsive in the way he speaks. he says a lot of out of pocket things depending on how who he’s talking to is making him feeling in the moment. adding on ‘honey’ after challenging raphael just because he knows cas will save him and telling dean he considered ‘ripping out his sticky bits’ just because they were annoying him was out of impulsive in my opinion.

dismissive behaviors:

watching through his scenes I noticed how dismissive he is of his own feelings and situations he doesn’t want to be happening. he fidgets more in these scenes and puts up and entirely different personality while either laughing it off or trying to change the topic. when he starts getting dismissive it’s also when his mood does a whole 180 within seconds. the entirety of his opening 6x03 scene is what I’m using as proof.

always relating things back to his interests:

I think his interest in movies is pretty obvious (titanic, the godfather, etc) so when he explained the current situation to sam and dean in 6x15 by using the movie the godfather, unsinking the titanic after watching the movie was his plan he was finding ways to relate through what he knew.

poor planning:

to me balthazar never really fully thought through everything he did, kind of like I said early he acts on impulse at times; in 6x03 when he damaged raphaels vessel to save cas, betraying cas and working with the winchesters, telling sam to kill bobby. when castiel even comments that he came back in 6x03 looking for an explanation of why, balthazar gives some off handed comment on the spot of how he’ll have more time to flee. I don’t think he ever saw through to what would happen as a result of these things all he thought in the moment was what he really cared about.

stimming:

stimming isn’t something he does much in canon, but I’m counting the times when he gets frustrated and starts pacing/ talking with his hands as him stimming.

persistent repetition of words or actions:

once again this isn’t something he does much but I noticed how he always holds his glasses the same exact way and drinks them whenever gauging what exactly he wants to say next. he also repeats words directly or summarizing things over and over to get his point across.

Now for the fun hc stuff!!:

(some or these are repeated from my hcs post and some are from my girlfriend who has never watched the show at all but is the resident adhd haver of our household so <3)

when he was younger sitting around in intelligence was very boring so he learned how to do tricks with his blade. it became a way of stimming to him so he could focus on whatever he was being taught. no one in intelligence appreciated it though. cas actually gets his spinny blade thing from him.

his character description in script says that he’s slightly manic (an attractive charmer who appears slightly manic on the surface but carries a great sadness) so I think that when he finally left heaven it was on impulse during a manic episode. he knew he had to leave, but I don’t think without that adrenaline he could ever bring himself to leave his garrison.

most definitely canon and confirmed that he has sensory issues and the reason he wears a v-neck all the time is because if he wears a collar any higher he feels like he’s being chocked.

old love songs are always playing throughout his house because it’s subconsciously helps him focus and he finds the quiet off putting.

his jacket? There is the part of the end of the sleeve thats really smooth because of how often he rubs it when he is panicked or just unsure of himself (a personal favorite from gf <3)

whenever him and cas are talking he’ll stim by messing with the belt of his trenchcoat.

whenever he can’t remember something he looks around the room and snaps his fingers while mumbling under his breath trying to figure out what he’s supposed to remember.

flashback to my post that said quote “adhd balthazar propaganda flappy hands” because so true past me

he wears a lot of jewlery so I like to think he stim with it <3 he messes up and fixes his watch over and over again. during long conversations he’s tugging his rings on and off to make sure he focuses on what’s being said.

going back to the sensory issues he can pet a cat normally but never backwards because he hates how it feels yes I’m right.

he sways all he time without noticing, especially when sitting. he sits cross legged only. (this one from my gf <3)

he’s overexcitable!! he’s loud and has no volume control!!! he just wants to have fun with things!!

he hyperfixated in cas for a bit and would tell him everything. (from my gf and no I don’t know how he never watched the show yet was on the nose with this one. they’re just a genius i guess)

I’ve noted before that I think he only likes wine so I think he stims sometimes by twirling his wine glass.

his first ever hyperfixation was frogs <3

he’s bored very easily with people and places hence why he flys all over the world.

he repeats his own stories a lot with the same amount of excitement which always bothered other angels outside of his garrison. it’s one of the reasons he learned to mask better.

despite being perfectly fine in loud crowded areas he gets easily overstimulated in high stress (mental) situations.

he hyperfixated on movies after being exposed to them on earth. it’s how he learned about modern human culture and finds it the easiest way to relate/ communicate with them.

he’s the most sociable out of the garrison but somehow had the least friends.

he doesn’t understand other people’s emotions at all. he can’t tell how people feel about him in anyway. sam and dean hate him but they still call him for help. he thinks he’s cas’ best friend but cas has never chose him once. he tries to act like it doesn’t bother him and pretends to be self centered to avoid having to ask the question. anna used to be the one to help him with things like this since she always had a good grasp on communication, but obviously she isn’t around anymore.

he’s a perfectionist, to him all things are about presentation. I’m using his introduction and the raphael confrontation scene as my proof.

balthazars always either humming or singing under his breath which everyone but his garrison finds annoying. they used to, but they’ve just become well adapted to his quirks.

he’s repressed his personality a lot. being loud and excitable in heaven was highly frowned upon, so in order to survive he tries to mask as much as possible

[thejakeformerlyknownasprince]

Why does Cassie get so much hate? I never really got it as she, Marco, and Jake were my favorites.

My two cents: Laying the dislike for Cassie entirely at the feet of misogynoir would be oversimplifying the issue.  However, ignoring the role of misogynoir in the sheer depth of hatred Cassie gets would also be oversimplifying the issue.

Comments such as “Cassie should be lined up against a wall and shot”; “if Jake had any sense he would’ve forced her off the team”; “I fucking hate her... she’s such a Mary Sue... she should’ve been put in a refrigerator instead of that other character I won’t spoil...” are all over Reddit and Facebook [all actual quotes from Animorphs fan pages; not linking to them] to this day.  And yeah, I have a sneaking suspicion that she gets not just dislike or indifference but virulent hatred from a subset of fans at least partially because of her role as a Black girl.  A fat Black girl.  A Black girl who is not traditionally feminine.  A Black girl who consistently chooses to avoid violence, even when being violent would solve the plot faster than having compassion.  There is a part of me that strongly suspects she would still be criticized by a subset of fans, but would not receive nearly the same depths of hatred, if she was instead written as a thin blond boy like Tobias.

What fans are responding to: Cassie makes a handful of decisions over the course of the series that have negative consequences, or the potential for negative consequences, for one or more of her friends.  She trusts Aftran, when doing so has the potential to get all of her friends killed or infested (#19).  She trusts Aftran again, even though she puts Ax’s life at risk to do so (#29).  She lets Tom’s yeerk take the morphing cube with the goal of sowing chaos in the Yeerk Empire, even though that also temporarily grants the yeerks a huge military advantage (#50).

That said, it’s not as though any of these decisions goes unremarked-upon.  All of Cassie’s friends express anger and hurt after she lets the yeerks take the morphing cube, and it permanently ends her relationship with Jake (#51 - #54).  Marco makes several mean comments to Cassie during and after the Aftran incident (#19 - #20), and Cassie herself mentions that she still doesn’t know if she made the right choice years later (#44) in spite of it mostly having worked out in the end.

That said that said, Cassie occasionally verges on having too much plot savvy.  I’d like #50 to do more to set up her decision to let the yeerks have the morphing cube, because it coming as a twist also means we don’t get to see her reasoning in advance and don’t ever really know why she’s able to figure out that it’ll help bring the Yeerk Empire down.  I think #19 gets a similar response because of people’s perception that it worked out fairly well for Cassie, but it could have gone so badly if trusting Aftran hadn’t been a good idea.  There’s also a not-entirely-wrong perception that Cassie’s teammates are more likely to pay the price for Cassie’s questionable decisions, whereas Tobias’s questionable decisions are more likely to land badly on him (staying too long in morph) or on people to whom we are not personally attached (killing the mercora and nesk).  If people dearly love and wish to protect Marco, then some of Cassie’s decisions can feel like personal threats to a beloved fictional character.

That said that said that said, other characters make mistakes and make too-informed decisions.  To keep rolling with Tobias (who happens to be the fan favorite and therefore the easiest point of contrast), we get far greater willingness to forgive his “betraying” the team through supporting the hork-bajir over the Animorphs than we do Cassie’s “betraying” the team through not killing yeerks.  Tobias risks getting his entire team killed when he sabotages that bomb in MM2, and (like Cassie) he’s mostly protected by Plot Armor even though (like Cassie) his team has every right to be pissed at him.  Tobias accumulates “overly special” traits at an even faster rate than Cassie — she’s temporally grounded, he’s the hork-bajir messiah, she’s an estreen, he’s the only morph-capable nothlit in existence, she’s a yeerk ambassador, he’s the only andalite-human hybrid, she’s... good with animals, he’s a living time paradox who helped bring this world into existence, so on and so forth.  Cassie gets hate for being the only one able to control termite morph; Tobias gets admiration for being the only one able to control taxxon morph.  Yadda yadda.

So there’s criticizing characters, there’s My Fave Is Problematic, and then there’s “[this character] should be lined up against a wall and shot.”  And I think Cassie being a fat Black anti-racist feminist girl who breaks a lot of molds about how a sci-fi protagonist is “supposed” to act probably plays a role in the criticism so often going too far.

[just-the-hiddles]

Writer’s Spotlight | Nildespirandum

This week I am spotlighting one of my favorite writers, @nildespirandum​!  She is the Adam writer that made me both scared and brave enough to write Adam myself.  She is the weaver of worlds, the creator of characters so real you think they are sitting next to you.  Smart, funny, and an amazing writer!

Catch all of Nildespirandum’s stories here.

What other names do you want people to call you?

I use Misreall on AO3.

How long have you been writing fic?

I am on this current round for about four years, but I did write before though that was a decade ago.

What fandoms and/or ships do you write?

Tom Hiddleston characters, though not RPF.  Primarily Loki, but I have written for Thomas Sharpe, Adam from Only Lovers Left Alive, and Conrad from Kong: Skull Island.  For all of them I have written OFCs.

How did you get started writing fic?

I had ideas for a fics for a while, but it wasn't until I started commenting and then talking to @caffiend-queen that I decided it was time to do something about it.

Story Recommendations

Which of your stories are your favorite?

I hate this question, but if I had to pick it would be the cycle of stories called Loki and Nora's Infinity Stone Playlist, both because it is my first, and because I think the relationship between the characters - not just Loki and Nora, but the cast that has build up around them - allows me to tell so many tales.

Which story are you most proud of?

Either Perfection - my Crimson Peak AU, or Reigning in Hel - A JotunLoki series.

Which of your stories do you think is the most underrated?

Probably At Hel's Edge, which is a historical mash-up of MCU Loki, with MythLoki.  The people who read it loved, it but it never found much of an audience.  Possibly because of the style I wrote it in, or maybe because the MCULoki character was a bit abstract from his origin.  But I am very, very lucky that it is getting a second life as a Webtoon drawn by @rauko-art, who is incredibly gifted and has worked so hard to make something really beautiful.

Someone is new to reading your stories, which story/stories should they read first?

For Loki, the Infinity Stone Playlist.  Otherwise, maybe Perfection.

Which story did you do the most research for?

Perfection.  I can tell you how much a yard of silk cost in 1910, both in England and the US.  

Which story was the easiest to write?

Probably my Incubus Loki first series.  It was so over the top and goofy that it was effortless.  Rapacity - my vampire Loki story - is also quite easy.  There may be a trend here.

The Writing Process

What is your favorite part of writing?

To quote Dorothy Parker, "I hate writing, but I love having written."  With that said, I love the moment when I am lost in the process, and the characters are narrating and I am taking dictation.  

What is your least favorite part?

Editing, which is probably why I hardly ever do it.  That said, I am fine editing other people's work.  

Describe your style in 1 to 2 sentences.

Breezily conversational when it isn't breaking your heart.

Who are some of your writing idols and/or influences?

I don't have time, and you certainly wouldn't have the patience, for my full list but a few key choices are Jane Austen, Anthony Bourdain, Ian Shoales, Alexander Dumas, the Brothers Grimm, Neil Gaiman, Louisa May Alcott, Balzac, Mary Roach, Bebe Moore Campbell, Douglas Adams.  But all of that said it was probably Howard Pyle, the D'aulaires, Zilpha Keatley Snyder, Winifred Madison, and Ruth Chew whose books I read over and over to the point of them falling apart are probably the writers who made me, not only on the page, but in life.

What programs do you use to write and/or edit?

I do all of my writing and editing in Google docs.   I'm a Luddite at heart.

Are you a plotter or a pantser?

A pantser.  I might have some of a story in mind when I start, but usually I start with an image and let fly.  The entirety of my Bottom of the Hourglass story came from my seeing a folded bookcase leaning against a basement door.

Do you write RPF or not?

Years ago I wrote an RPF as a gift for a friend. For the future, I never say never.

Who is your favorite character to write and why?

Loki.  Loki is the gift that keeps on giving.  While I could flippantly say that all of that emotional and mental trauma is fic writer catnip - and I wouldn't be lying - there is so much more.  He is a character of such wit and imagination, powerful, funny, wise, and a complete idiot.  The Trickster is such brilliant architype, playing both sides of the fence, fooling and being fooled, capable of great good and true evil.  He is vastly entertaining, and achingly sympathetic.  I can go on, but I will spare you.

What do you think are your writing strengths?

Dialogue, for one.  I am proud that if you read the dialogue alone from my stories you can tell who each character is, that they all have a distinct voice.

What do you struggle with?

Plot.  I get so very bored with plot.  

Favorite Trope?

That's like being asked to pick a favorite anything, I can't do it.  Ok, fine, enemies to lovers.

Favorite word to use?

Delightful.  Or Really.

What is the best piece of writing advice you have heard?

Make time for your writing.  Even when you think you can't.

What would you say to a new fanfic writer starting out?

Don't be afraid, don't shrink and hide and diminish yourself, you have to be your own first, best audience.  Also, always remember, art doesn't apologize and neither should you, as long as you feel you have given the best you can at any given time - which will not always be the same, EVERYONE has off days - then be proud of having written, of having added to the world.

What is a random bit of research you have not managed to work into a fic yet?

I did so much research on boats and ship to ship combat for my pirate story that I will never use all of it.  Generally I am pretty efficient with my research, mostly because I already have a brainful of useless knowledge that I am still trying to make pay off.

What is your favorite random detail from one of your stories?

I love that in the later Infinity Stone Playlist stories Loki's various lounging robes have magical pockets that always produce cookies.  

Any goals or WIPs you want to share?

I am determined to finish both The Frost Queen and The Tales of the Golden Horn this spring, and I have decided I am going to commit to the sequel to Perfection about Thomas and Alice's grandson that I have had in mind since I finished their story.

This or That

Fluff AND Angst

Smut AND Fluff

Reader or OC

One shot or Series

Canon Divergent AND AU

Coffee or Tea

Sweet or Savory

Anything else you want to say or share? 

There is a tendency in fandom these days to see things that do not have a moral dimension as being good or bad, to only look at the most extreme edges of things and pass judgement on the whole.  Life is hard enough, let people enjoy things.  

Until next week!

[g1r1t1n4]

korekiiyo shiingujii ana1ysiis

spoii1ers for ndrv3!

iit’s quiite hard to wriite 1iike thiis wiith autocorrect on, so from the 1iine break be1ow ii wii11 not be usiing my typiing quiirk Σ(･口･)

word count (exc1udiing author’s notes): 1,611 words

tota1: 1,717 words

for siimp1iiciity's sake, ii've done thiis on computer so that there's not a wa11 of text

~*~

"You wonder, "Who is this?" Yes... I shall make that clear first. My name is Korekiyo Shinguji... I am called the Ultimate Anthropologist."

~*~

Hello everyone, my name is Milo, and today I’ll be doing my best to cover one of my favorite characters in the Danganronpa universe, Korekiyo Shinguji. He is originally from the 3rd mainline game, New Danganronpa v3: Killing Harmony. Since I don’t physically own the game, I’m basing most of this essay entirely on the Danganronpa Wiki page for Shinguji. Please read that if you desire a more lengthy look at his actions from an unbiased perspective since this one leans more towards empathy than hatred. Whoops!

We first properly meet him after talking to everyone else inside of Hope’s Peak. He’s in the main hall and standing away from the doors leading out to the courtyard. When he introduces himself, Shinguji goes on to talk about anthropology and the beauty of humanity. This proceeds to creep Akamatsu out.

Alongside that, in Chapter 3, we are unfortunately forced to see his relationship with his sister. It’s weird and only gets weirder if you spend two of your Free Time events talking to him when you first play as Akamatsu. He’s evaluated that all girls present at the academy would be great “friends” for his sister, barring Iruma and Harukawa. This is because Shinguji believes that Harukawa doesn’t believe in the power of love, and Iruma is just… well, she’s Iruma. Hardly the girl you would want to send home to your parents.

This weird incest plotline is unfortunately present in most Danganronpa games, such as Leon and his cousin (though one-sided on his cousin’s behalf; he didn’t like her), Tsumugi in the Love Hotel (if you consider that canon), and Monotaro & Monophanie (which is then implemented into Gokuharu’s execution, killing them both).

His sister’s name is never disclosed in-game or in any other Danganronpa media, so the fandom dubbed her “Miyadera/Miyatera,” which is an alternate way of reading Shinguji’s last name. The miya character - represented as 宮 - and tera character - 寺 - are both present in Shinguji, 真宮寺. For the rest of this essay/paper, I’ll be referring to his sister as Miyadera, and himself as Shinguji.

I’ll be getting deeper into his mischaracterization later on, but I want to talk about his appearance for now. Mainly, his hair, his mask, and the lipstick he wears. From what we see of Miyadera in Shinguji’s execution, if that is Miyadera at all, we can see that she had long hair, and when Shinguji was turned into a ghost, it was the exact shade of Shinguji’s hair. From here, we can assume that Miyadera looks exactly, if not similar, to Shinguji.

His lipstick and mask are results of representations of his tulpa, Miyadera. Tulpa is defined as “a concept in mysticism and the paranormal of a being or object which is created through spiritual or mental powers.” In much simpler terms, it is an object or living thing that was created/imagined through spiritual/mental abilities. Shinguji gained a tulpa by being beaten half to death by villagers shortly after arriving there. When he was in a state between life and death, he saw his sister, who joined his subconscious and took control of his body whenever his mask was off. It’s why we only see him take off his make once Saihara dubs him the culprit of Chapter 3, and why his voice suddenly took a more feminine tone. A quote from Miyadera, which can be found in the game, is, "Sweet Korekiyo, calm yourself... Their words are all hollow. There is no meaning to any of them... You must teach these ignorant children a lesson."

That statement can be interpreted two ways, one; that she’s trying to calm him down and two; she’s repeating whatever she said to him during childhood. It’s implied that Miyadera passed away from disease sometime before Killing Harmony takes place, which is both a good and bad thing. It’s great because then we have some time frame of how she was and how she acted when Shinguji knew her best.

Whenever I read the quote above, or any of her quotes, to be honest, I am filled with a sense of dread, or even, despair. The following quote especially makes me feel terrible; "Calm yourself, Korekiyo. You mustn't raise your voice. You mustn't stutter. You mustn't lose composure. You mustn't become flustered. You mustn't waver. Look at their horrid faces. This sorry lot is not worth agonizing over."

Have you noticed how she’s setting guidelines on how to defend himself? She’s turning Shinguji’s attention away from Saihara and the trial and to her because she knows that Shinguji trusts her even after all these years.

You might be wondering, “Milo, what the hell does that all have to do with Shinguji?” And I’ll tell you plain and simple: he was abused by Miyadera. Shocking, I know. Having Shinguji rave and rant about being in love with her, only to be a victim? Sadly, it’s very true indeed. Shinguji was most likely groomed and gaslighted into thinking that Miyadera loved him when that was not the case.

Gaslighting is defined as, “[to] manipulate (someone) by psychological means into questioning their own sanity.” From the two quotes I provided, it doesn’t seem to make sense. Miyadera only sounds like a kind, worrisome older sister. Incorrect, I say. She’s emotionally gaslighting him, trying to make him believe that the trial makes no sense and he shouldn’t worry about any of them. I can also bet she used this tactic to control him as a younger person as well.

It’s a well-known fact that children are both impressionable and gullible. If an older sister figure came up to you as a child and told you to do unmentionable things, unfortunately, you might follow her directions. Shinguji states that his sister was a sickly girl who often stayed in the hospital. When she would come home, he’d be at his easiest to manipulate. Why would his dear, sweet, sickly, older sister ever lie to him?

Next, I’m going to be covering his relationships with other students, namely Shuichi Saihara and Rantaro Amami. These will delve further into spoiler territory, so if you didn’t already read the warnings I put in place, here is your extra warning for spoilers for Chapter 3 of Killing Harmony.

To start with, I’ll be exploring his poorer relationships first. Most of the girls fit into this category, namely Iruma, Harukawa, Chabashira, and Yonaga - that means he has a terrible standing with four of the eight girls present at the beginning of Killing Harmony, five if you count Yumeno’s way of dealing with Chabashira’s murder. Shinguji even taunts her once they solve that mystery, stating, “Let me guess, you’ll never forgive me. Himiko, you must hate me so very much right now. Maybe you’d feel better if I was executed by Monokuma…”

Shinguji has a poor relationship with Iruma and Harukawa due to seeing them as “unfit” to be “friends” with Miyadera. He has a poor relationship with Chabashira because he’s a degenerate male, but he still thinks she made a good friend for his sister. His poor relationship with Yonaga is shown in Chapter 3 when Yonaga forms the student council. Once again, I’m making amends to some parts of the characters. I’ll be referring to Yonaga’s god as God, simply because Atua is an actual Polynesian god in real life. Shinguji doesn’t worship any god, and so wants to study Yonaga’s God purely for anthropologic purposes. This displeases Yonaga, who then states that God's business hours are closed for the day. In Chapter 3 when Yumeno brings up Yonaga’s God, he simply asks whether or not they’re done talking about it, cementing his distrust in faith.

Next, I’ll cover his better relationships. Akamatsu isn’t too terribly creeped out by him and instead sees Shinguji as a kind guy who cares about his sister. Akamatsu even apologizes for saying that Shinguji would be into inc*st, this event either taking place in his first or second Free Time event. I’m saving his and Saihara’s relationship for last since I’ll have the most to write about then. Instead, please enjoy the news that in the events of Ultimate Talent Development Plan (UTDP for typing purposes), Shinguji and Amami are actually great friends. In Amami’s first free time event, he tells Akamatsu that Korekiyo has a strong personality, but she’ll be able to understand him plenty if she takes time to. It’s also stated that Amami emphasizes that Shinguji is also the calm and clever type.

Lastly, I’ll be exploring his relationship with Saihara. It’s slightly rocky, if only because Shinguji hasn’t let go of his sister yet, but it’s miles better than his relationship with Chabashira. Slight side note before we begin, I’ll be discounting the Love Hotel scene mostly because I’m a minor and I don’t feel completely comfortable having to watch that simply because I’m writing an analysis. As the game progresses to Chapter 3, Shinguji and Saihara have built trust between themselves. While Saihara still found Shinguji creepy, he [Saihara] never discounted him simply for existing. There was even a point where Shinguji offered to help Saihara communicate with Akamatsu from beyond the grave, though he was turned down.

Korekiyo Shinguji is a misunderstood and somewhat tragic character who usually gets disregarded and uncredited all because people do not like him. However he’s not an “uwu soft twamatized bean <3” either. He’s a strong character who has questionable morals at best and a terrible representation of an abused character at worst.

~*~

thank you for readiing!! p1ease make sure to get a hea1thy amount of s1eep and that you do have a cup of water and some food, you deserve iit!!

sources:

- https://danganronpa.fandom.com/wiki/Korekiyo_Shinguji

- https://www.quotev.com/story/7873923/Danganronpa-Class-Trials/73 (siide note: how fucked up iis iit that ii was on1y ab1e to fiind a transcriiptiion of the triia1 on quotev)

[tsuisou-no-despair]

Higurashi When They Cry: Gou -My “Final” Thoughts

Since we’re getting a second season - and it’s so obvious that Gou was written as the first half of the story - I find it hard to rate Gou at this point in time. Do you remember how when Avengers: Infinity War came out and a lot of critics were like “well, we need to see Endgame before we can really make our judgements”? Yeah, it’s like that - hence why “final” is in quotes.

Even so, I still have some thoughts about Gou, Higurashi as a whole, and my experiences with getting in on something’s fandom. I’ll make a post for what I want out of Sotsu later - right now, here’s what I have for Gou.

What I Liked About Gou

Most of it, honestly! I enjoyed Gou greatly and I’m glad I sat down and gave it a watch. (This may be heresy, but I honestly found it better as an experience than the last airing-weekly anime thing I sat down and watched - that being Mob Psycho 100 Season 2) But as for the stuff unique to Gou thatI particularly liked:

First off, having a new Higurashi anime that’s actually good. We needed something like this after Outbreak, Kira and (to a much lesser extent) the non-Saikoroshi parts of Rei pushed the series deeper and deeper into a trash can.

I love the new art style and the new designs for the characters. There’s a lot of good in DEEN’s adaptation, but a lot of the time the art left something to be desired. Passione’s take on Hinamizawa gave us a cast that can be cute and beautiful and terrifying all while looking good.

There’s also a lot of really good cinematography - the shot used in the GIF above left me going ‘holy shit”.

The new themes are a triple threat of bangers. In particular I loved that they brought in Ayane to really give it a deeper tie to Higurashi as a greater franchise. (The best of these, of course, is Irregular Entropy)

Episode 4′s twist. Just... *chef’s kiss*. I know that people poked it apart and called it ridiculous after the fact but I don’t know if the feeling of dread when Rena’s eyes were hidden by shadow, and I realized that this wasn’t going to end well, is something I could ever really recapture.

Speaking of violence, the ending of Episode 13. The dull red light... the ringing bell... good stuff.

In retrospect, creating Tataridamashi by bringing in Minagoroshi was smart, specifically from a character-introduction standpoint. They needed to establish the existence of Kimiyoshi, Oryou and Akane for later parts of the story and dipping into Minagoroshi’s involvement of them is probably the easiest way to do it.

In general, Gou’s really smart about its character introductions. I didn’t think they’d bring in Akasaka but I’m honestly really pleased with how they did it.

SatoRika was confirmed! And was really cute... until it extremely wasn’t! (But in a good way!)

The fact that Satoko and Rika’s conflict at St. Lucia was so nuanced, with neither of them really being 100% right or 100% wrong. (Of course, this doesn’t last)

I might be slightly conflicted about Satokowashi as an arc, but none of those conflicts are with Eua. (The “FUCK YEAH FEATHERINE TIME” from Twitter was particularly tasty)

The dub! I know a lot of people are ambivalent towards the Gou dub but I for one am happy that we’ve got some great performances, as well as a Higurashi dub that’s actually good. Maybe not great, but far better than what DEEN got in the end.

This Shion face

This is the face of someone that’s going to wreck her sister’s chances with her new boyfriend for fun.

What I Didn’t Like About Gou

Watadamashi in general. This is easily the weakest arc by a long shot, which sucks because I like Watanagashi-hen quite a bit. A lot of the time, it just felt like the animators had chose it as the place to cut costs. As good as the Takano scene in the Saiguiden is, it’s one of the things that makes the least sense in retrospect given the changes to Takano that have been established in Gou. And Episode 8 was rough both from a pacing and a what-happened standpoint. While Watadamashi had some great moments (the above Shion face as well as Rika dressing down Keiichi), overall it was clearly the weakest arc, particularly after Shion left the picture.

The pacing of Gou in general left something to be desired at times - they really should’ve shifted the extra episode in the first cour from Tataridamashi to Watadamashi, and Satokowashi could’ve probably condensed some of its episodes down and gave more room to other things, like...

Satoshi. He really shouldn’t have been as absent from the series as he was - hell, until Ep. 9 I legitimately thought that he might’ve been cut from the story altogether (and honestly, if they did that maybe the story would have been better!)

On that note, Episode 22 just kinda sucked in general.

While I’m not on the “where’s Shion” train as heavily as some meme artists are, I do think that the fact that she had to be written out of the second cour entirely to make it work is one of Gou’s story’s objective faults.

There’s a lot of little details added or addressed in Satokowashi-hen that I feel are either less than good, or are just restrictive. The big two of these is Satoko watching all of the fragments (either Eua should’ve just given her a sample platter, or we should’ve seen more of Satoko’s thoughts and reactions) and the fact that the memories returning means that eventually Hinamizawa would end up “solved” without Satoko’s intervention.

Honestly, Gou’s finale needed a bit more punch - it wasn’t bad but honestly even for a halfway point it could have ended with a bit more of a bang.

The Fandom Side Of Things

First off, I want to preface this by saying thanks for following me, taking my theories into account (it always feels cool whenever I see something I threw into the aether in one of my Theory Times getting adopted and spread by someone else as an interesting idea!) and sticking with me through Gou and hopefully through Sotsu. You are all amazing and I love you all.

After Watadamashi concluded, I decided that my Higurashi bullshit needed its own sideblog, because I recognized that nobody in my other circles was even remotely into Higurashi and I didn’t want to shout into the void. So, I made myself a sideblog, named it after one of my favorite Higurashi console openings, and started posting my thoughts. Quickly I discovered a whole world of theories (”Satoko’s suspicious? I never would have thought of that!” - me, a young and naive fool), hot takes, and a surprising number of Rena kin. (Who are all delightful, I assure you!)

One of the things that stuck out to me was the different schools of opinion that formed. While I ended up as a relatively quiet analyst who overall liked Gou despite its flaws (a camp shared by two of my favorite blogs - @tarhalindur and @thewhitefluffyhat - that you need to follow if you don’t already), there were many others who had much stronger thoughts. Some of them were loudly cheering the story’s turns, while others seemed to decide that Gou could do no right and acted accordingly. Joining a Discord run by one of the larger Higurashi blogs on Tumblr gave me a live view of the process in Satokowashi’s later half, and it made me really realize what shaped people’s views on Gou. Some particular factors that caught my eye:

Whether or not they liked Umineko over Higurashi (mostly a Twitter element - the Umineko fans really enjoyed Eua making her appearance and overall reacted really positively to Gou)

Where they hailed from - honestly I think that Tumblr overall was one of the more positive fanbases for Gou (at least of the big concrete places like it and Reddit), given how the various camps thought of Gou’s eventual villain.

How they felt about Episode 16 - there were a lot of people that seriously felt that Rika learning the “lesson” of “maybe leaving the hometown where bad things happened isn’t the right call” was far, far more abhorrent and objectionable than the part where she got her entrails ripped out!

How they feel about Satoko, naturally - particularly, how much they sympatized with her and how much they didn’t want to see her go down the path she did. Tumblr in particular had a lot of people that related with her and her life situation, and it was never not interesting to see how the sympathy and occasional projection shaped someone’s particular thoughts. (There were some strong reactions to Gou showing an abuse victim becoming an even worse abuser, let me tell you.)

I think I’ll conclude these final thoughts by quoting my IRL best friend’s tags regarding the fandom of her choice:

It really is. And I’m glad I got on this ride and saw it through with all of you.

See you in July.

[itswildwinters]

Ask for writers

Thank you @theisolatedlily and @soldouthaz for tagging me, I really appreciate it! This lovely tag was created by @soldouthaz, which I think is brilliant to get to know other writers!! I love it, so thank you Sarah!

This is quite long, but I still hope it’s entertaining!

1. describe how you first started writing and when you first posted: I’ve always wanted to write. I know that I only began publishing this year (January 2020) but years back, I always would open up a blank document and just... write. Lack of confidence and language barriers (I wanted to write in English, but it isn’t my first language and I only became fluent three years ago) have made it so that I would never finish a story. I think we all had our wattpad moment but even on there I would never really publish because the platform just wasn’t right. But then I discovered ao3, where I’d read fics and also improve my English. Then I found out about fests, and I decided to participate in one last year (2019 BLFF) and my first fic then came out! 

And ever since, I’ve been able to write and finish what I start. It’s as if the lock that had been put to block my creativity had been destroyed; posting my first completed fic has acted as a turning point. I was extremely nervous when I first posted, still am, but now I have this need to write and I love sharing what I write and ever since I became a writer, my life’s been a lot better!

2. which of your characters do you typically resonate most closely with? do you base any characters off of yourself?: I switch between Louis’ POV, or Harry’s POV depending on the story; I tend to sprinkle a bit of myself in the characters I write, but then again they’re also completely different from me! I’ve never based a character completely on myself, which I find quite boring (haha); sometime unconsciously, I’d write a character based on someone I knew. I think some examples on how my characters can look a bit like me, is Hamlet in a sea of mist which has gotten his clear-headedness from me; or in my Murder Mystery fic, the way I describe Louis’ fear is heavily based on how I feel whenever I’m faced with something that makes me uncomfortable.

3. where do you often find inspiration?: art (paintings, music), books, quotes, poems and movies!

4. has quarantine helped or hindered your writing process?: having so much free time on my hands has definitely helped; I would seek refuge within my stories, to spice up quarantine!

5. do you listen to music/noise while you write or do you prefer silence? I love love love playing classical music (Chopin, Saint-Saens, Debussy, Yiruma, Einaudi, Faulkner, Schumann, Tchaikovsky, Mozart to name a few) while writing. I can’t write when it’s anything else. But I can also write when there’s nothing; hearing the rhythmic clicking sound of the keyboard as I press over its keys can be relaxing to me.

6. what is your biggest writing pet peeve in your writing or in general?: hm in my writing I guess I tend to write very long sentences, and also I still do grammar mistakes. I hope to work on those points. I also find the way I space my fics very annoying (which is why I’ve begun making outlines!).

7. describe your ideal writing setup: in a couch or a bed with several pillows piled up behind my back, classical music in my ears and a steaming cup of tea next to me.

8. favorite time of day to write?: I love writing when it’s very early, usually after I’ve woken up and freshened up. I don’t like writing when it’s too late because I’m not a night owl; rather an early bird. I especially love when I write and it’s still dark outside, then slowly dawn breaks in and the sky becomes tainted in warm hues of orange, yellow and sometimes even purple and pink.

9. favorite genre to write + one you’d like to try writing in the future?: I love writing fantasy, horror, suspense, action, thrillers. Especially angst and hurt/comfort, as well as slow burn. I’d like in the future to explore sci-fi and magical realism!

10. do you struggle with writer’s block? how do you typically overcome it? I haven’t suffered from writer block so far, which I’m glad!!

11. what is the easiest part of your writing process and the most difficult? writing is the easiest, but outlining (as in, coming up with plot ideas) is quite difficult for me. Also dialogues can be a bit of a problem to me.

12. how do you come up with original characters? (if applicable): I just make them up in my mind, and create them when they’re necessary to the story, giving them personality traits that will help the story develop.

13. what is your favorite and least favorite word? it’s hard to choose cause I have several but favourite: petrichor and least favourite: big

14. what is one thing about your writing that you’re really proud of and one thing you hope to continue working at?: I am proud of the way I describe, which allows me to really settle the story in its verse. I love describing, giving importance to the ordinary. Also feelings; I love describing them and exploring how I can translate them into words, so that the reader can feel them. But I have to work on my dialogues methinks.

15. what work of yours has your favorite ‘verse/world building? how did you come up with it?: those who from the Pit of Hell, roam to seek their prey on earth. I’ve always wanted to begin writing thrillers/Murder mystery fics and with that one I think I managed to? I had read an article on forensic medicine back in the 19th century and it sparked this fic’s plot!

16. what font and size do you write in? single spaced or double?: Arial, 11pt, single spaced

17. what is a typo(s) you find yourself making consistently?: I don’t know if this can be considered as a typo but I tend to repeat, within a paragraph, A LOT my character’s name instead of using pronouns. This is because I’m afraid of confusion when another character arrives in the scene.

18. (if applicable) do you separate fic writing from fandom?: I don’t know if I understood the question properly, but yes? When I use Louis or Harry in my fics, they’re completely different from real-Louis or real-Harry; they’re my characters, they only have the same names, but their personality reflects in nothing real-life Harry and Louis. 

I think to answer this better: I do separate fic writing from fandom, but I still think that fanfics are important to a fandom; I haven’t heard of a fandom without fanfics! Fanfics spice up fandoms, I reckon, they’re important to bring people together.

19. what emotion is your favorite to write? which is the most difficult?: Angst is my favourite thing to write, as well as fear. And I struggle with writing humour, I’m not a funny person to be honest

20. what is one thing you hope readers always take away from your works?: I always hope they like my writing and the plot, also the way I portray my characters. I want my readers to feel the writing, and the story in general. I just want my readers to truly enjoy what they read from me <3

21. what is the best and worst writing advice you’ve ever received?: I was told to always write very specifically and to fit my writing into a mould — don’t write ‘he’s’ but ‘he is’, or write shorter sentences, or stop describing so much. But in the end, there isn’t one way of writing — write the way you want.

22. which one of your works would you most want to see turned into a film/television show?: only one? ahhh this is hard! But I’d love to see those who from the Pit of Hell, roam to seek their prey on earth be turned into a movie. There are also a couple of wips that I could see on-screen but I’ll stick to that!

23. do you write scenes chronologically or out of order?: chronologically. Haven’t explored anachronies (analepsis/prolepsis) at all, but I might soon!

24. how do you handle criticism?: really well!! As long as they’re constructive and not mean, I love hearing what people think. Criticism is the best way for me, a person whose first person is not English, to improve!

25. what is the advice you would give to someone who is looking to start writing?: DO IT!! Honestly, don’t tell yourself, ‘I’m not good enough’. Just do it. Open a blank document and write your heart away, even if it’s not a story; just begin it. Explore your writing style, then maybe try to mould it into a plot. Writing is not limited to a certain category of people; it’s not just for those who can write. Writing is for everyone, and like most things, one must begin before improving (practice makes perfect!!) <3

26. what kind of feedback on your work always makes your day?: anything!!! Just the fact someone clicked on my story, read it, and took time to leave a comment — just that is enough to make my heart bursts with joy. I am so so grateful to every single person who’s ever read something from me.

27. which fic ‘verse of your own would you most like to exist in? which fic’s characters would you most like to befriend?: The verse I’m talking about is still a wip, but the siren/mermaid one that I’m currently building! I’d love to live in it.

28. what do you always enjoy getting asks about/wish people would ask about more?: Anything, really, my inbox is open to anyone and for everything! I love discussing books, movies and poetry as well as quotes, and maybe I wish people would come forth to ask me more about my fics or my wips, if they have any inquiries! Or I’d love to write drabbles! 

29. what has writing added to your life? how has it changed you?: It has made my life so, so much better. Writing has stitched up a gaping hole in my chest. It’s permitted me to improve in English, has made me more confident and has allowed my creativity to flow. I just... I love writing so much. It has also allowed me to meet some incredible people on tumblr, which I’m very grateful for!!

30. why do you write?: for many reasons; to spice up my life, to help me develop my creativity, and because I love it. I’ve always wanted to be a writer.

boost yourself + tags!

1a. share the last sentence you wrote:

The words echo around his head and collide with his temples like truncheon blows.

2a. describe the wip you’re most excited about:

I’m excited for all of them, but I’ll go with my third BLFF fic. It’s very angsty, post-war, ABO, exes to lovers. It tackles heavy topics, it’s such an emotional fic. I’m so so excited for her (she comes out in January).

3a. share the piece of dialogue from one of your works you’re most proud of: 

This is hard. But I’ll go with one from in a sea of mist cause the way Louis answers Harry... I love it:

“I feel like you want to kill me,” he pants out, using his right arm to hold himself up while his other hand comes up to rub at his burning cheek and nose, where Louis had hit him with the sole of his shoe.

“Before our date? No, never,” Louis blinks sweetly, chuckling and climbing up as Harry smiles to himself.

4a. share the best first and last lines from your work(s): I will do only those that are already published:

best first lines are from the hope that warbles in my fluttering breast: There, against the window, was stuck millions of snowflakes, their see-through quality no more as they huddled together, pushed against hard surfaces by the merciless wind. 

best last lines are from in a sea of mist: It takes a while for Harry to go to sleep, elation pumping through his veins so fast that the previous tiredness he felt has flown out of the window. But when he finally focuses on Louis’ heavened out breathing, and when he breathes in Louis’ natural perfume that always acts as an ambrosia over him, he manages to close his eyes, and for the first time in a while, he dreams of a future that’s devoid of any darkness.

5a. link the last fic you read: currently reading sweet like honey by @falsegoodnight and Spoonful of Sugar by @zanniscaramouche and they’re absolutely amazing!

6a. link the last work you published: in a sea of mist

7a. link to your ao3 (if applicable): tomlinvelvet

8a. someone that inspires you: Louis <3 his music and just his personality overall leaves so much scope for the imagination. There are also so many writers (both non-fanfic writers and fanfic writers) that inspire me daily.

9a. a comfort fic/work that you’ve been grateful for this year: even the best laid plans and just a flicker in the dark both by @falsegoodnight as well as eyes off you by @soldouthaz ... these fics are just so amazing, everything about them is top tier

10a. other writers that you’d like to tag! @falsegoodnight @scrunchyharry @hadestyles @mercurial-madhouse @youreyesonlarry @raspberryoatss @jacaranda-bloom @soldouthaz @behisoneandonly @vintageumbroshirt @so-why-let-your-voice-be-tamed @lougendarey @quelquesetoiles <3 no pressure ofc!