#WHEW long answer srry

[skellymom]

hello, i noticed you have "elder goth" written in your bio and im like. an infant bat. do you have any tips on anything (music, makeup, clothing, ect?

(srry if this sounds awkward, im just a very nervous person)

Whew! I DIDN'T FORGET YOU!!! It was an INSANE weekend at work...and I'm burnt. Plus, I like to write my fics and answer asks at my desktop computer and not my phone (fat fingers are clumsy).

Ahem...ok for the Goth Thing:

It's really just about the music. That's it. I mean SO MUCH has evolved and developed since the first wave of that "genre" music appeared on the scene back in the 1970's (Post Punk) underground. Even some bands labeled as Goth now didn't see themselves as such back in the day.

This next list has a lot of good Goth music, with some songs not necessarily in that genre, but close enough that MANY in the community love them. And, some of them showed up before the movement even started (a few after to help with it's evolution), but definitely helped to establish the genre later on (ahem...David Bowie). Btw Marilyn Manson is NOT Goth. However, a LOT of us still love his music as it fits with our dark aesthetic...and remember when I mentioned David Bowie? Well, I am quite sure he helped inspired Marilyn Manson. His Mechanical Animals album certainly looks as it was influenced by Bowie. But, I digress, again... This is just a start on your musical journey...a stepping stone.

People will tell you that if you don't dress or present physically a certain way that you aren't Goth. NOPE. You can dress dark and spooky and edgy but not be Goth. You can dress like a pink princess or "normie" and be Goth at heart. When us older Children of the Night were coming up we did a LOT of DIY (do it yourself) and wore a lot of things you might not consider even Goth. There wasn't the depth, breadth, and easy access of things available on the market like today. We were poor, felt different, non conformist, and just looking for community. That's another hallmark of being a Goth: community. Because back in the day someone might do a violence on you for looking weird (Wearing all black back in the day was seen as extremely socially deviant. ESPECIALLY in small town US or conservative UK/England. People literally were afraid of or hated us. Our brethren: The Punks, Rastafarians, Metal Heads, Rappers, New Wavers (prejudice was doubled if you were a person of color, a different sexuality/gender, poor, etc.) experienced the same thing in society. Then came along The Satanic Panic and OH SHIT what a pain in the ass that was! And The "Moral" Majority crap...) I digress: we were looking for people like us, BUT THEY DIDN'T HAVE TO LOOK EXACTLY LIKE US. Just a bunch of nice, supportive people who got together to listen to music, dance, support the local bands/talent, and try to make it another day. You will find this in the FANDOM, LGBTQ+, and Communities of Color as well...and they overlap.

The presentation is secondary and up to you on how you want to look. You can do it up the max or just be simple in black. My favorite person from back in the day, who really doesn't specifically identify as Goth, but hung heavily in the scene back in the day: Neil Gaiman. The guy who gave us the character of Death from The Sandman Series, published as I was coming into my own Baby Bat phase (based on a real person named "Cinnamon"). Yeah...the character everyone aspires to look like (next to Siouxsie Sioux). He wears just plain black clothes and a long black coat. (Pic of him as a youngin')

Me, I go for "Lazy Goth". Everything black (even at work-black scrubs) with occasionally printed tee or a dark jewel toned piece of clothing. Usually I also mix in the Punk aesthetic too (I love the music and put patches on every damned thing). Punk is scruffy and imperfect, not fussy. I like comfort and ease of dressing. Especially in hot weather. And, I don't do a lot of face makeup, especially being older. Plus, I rather like my olive toned skin. Not every Goth needs to be pale. Google Goth People of Color. Beautiful and amazing looks.

Beware of Gatekeepers. Gothier Than Thou's. Don't let them crush your spirit. There is room in this subculture for everyone. If a particular club, group, or individual sets that tone, just move on. That shit ain't worth it.

Dropping a quote from my (sort of) GothFather creative Neil Gaiman:

"Go and make interesting mistakes, make amazing mistakes, make glorious and fantastic mistakes. Break rules. Leave the world more interesting for your being here. Make. Good. Art."

This can also be read as the journey to "create" yourself. You are on a journey, my sweet Child of the Night. It will take a while to find your stride, whatever that is, and that's totally ok. Spread your bat wings and FLY!

Leaving you with one of my favorite songs:

[lowkeyorloki]

OH HELL YEAH BESTIE PLS DROP THE LINK TO YOUR BOBA FETT FIC WHENEVER U POST IT bc tbh I have never read any boba fett fics just bc I don’t usually see his character that way cuz he is older but I have 100% read your mandalorian fic (and he’s older too so no excuse tbh but oh I LOVE Din) and have read all of your Loki fics on ao3 so yeah I definitely wanna read the BF fic I loveeeeee everything I’ve read by you!! Actually tbh this is really funny bc I found u through the archetype I’m relatively new to your writing (I think I found you in like March or april of 2021 so holy shit happy 1 year anniversary of me loving your fics) but anyway I fell in love with that fic and then LOVED ssh but I didn’t read asis for the LONGEST time bc the age gap threw me off I thought it would make me uncomfy but I eventually started reading and I binged all of the asis chapters that were out at the time in like one night and now here I am and asis is like one of my all time favorite fics ever so YEAH IM EXCITED FOR A BOBA FETT FIC obviously take your time and rest n recuperate after asis ends but whenever that fic goes up let me know :) -BC Anon

YESSSS I can't imagine it will be out before October 2022 because as much as I adore asis and Loki and writing I'm experiencing burnout in all aspects of my life and I need to take a sizeable break from having a writing schedule or else I will lose my fucking mind yikes

ANYWAY if it helps Boba will be anywhere from 46-48 (he isn't entirely sure) in the fic, only a few years older than Loki in asis!! Still an age gap but he won't be a senior citizen lmao. The chapters will also be SUPER long and detailed, it'll only update once or twice month. The writing is kinda crazy and it's absolutely going to be my best work - the scenes I have written are already polished and the best writing I'm capable of producing. And AUGH I'm so glad you read my Mando fic?? Fun fact I wrote that before I had even seen the show. I had just looked at gif sets and was waiting on a friend to give me their disney+ login.

Also... the way I feel when I hear that people read The Archetype is indescribable. It didn't pick up the way She Shall Have (which I try very hard not to think about lol) did, but I LOVE The Archetype. Like I've said, not many people read it so it feels like those who did are all in a cute lil bookclub with me and we all just chill and hang out in the abandoned corner of the local library it's great it's rad even.

I also totally get being thrown by the professor AU that asis is. Remember how Emma Watson talked about figuring out from a feminist perspective if she was comfortable starring in Beauty and the Beast? I feel similarly about asis. I actually had a bit of crisis this week because I realized it doesn't pass the Bechdel test lol. But it's not for everyone and it is intimidating. I feel like the only reason it's not uncomfortable is because the fact their relationship has the potential to be unbalanced is acknowledged - which I don't think many other professor AUs do. Which is totally fair btw, it's a fantasy so it makes sense. My goal with asis was to explore grey areas and this is a great trope to do that through. I also wanted dilf! Loki. I'm glad you ended up liking asis though and I have so much fun going over theories + talking to you!!

Anyway you have me hyped now and also we are buddies so the opening scene of my Boba Fett fic is under the cut ;) lmk what you think, I hope you like it!

Boba Fett could care less about being dangerous.

There were lots of dangerous people he had faced in his life. Jabba the Hutt. Moff Gideon. He could even tack the Sarlacc onto that list, having earned the title as the only being in the galaxy to face off with such a creature and live to tell the tale. Boba Fett fought and he fought, and even now, he just kept winning.

Heads turned when he entered bars, paths cleared wherever he walked. Other bounty hunters backed off when they heard the legendary Boba Fett was hunting the same target as them. When it came to Boba Fett, those around him knew their place.

That was what he enjoyed. Respect. He demanded it, in fact, and wasn’t afraid to take it when it was not given.

Of course, it had been awhile since anyone had stood up to Boba, denied him the respect he so obviously deserved.

That is, until you came around.

Yeah the premise is that y/n accidentally helps one of Boba's bounties escape him. When Boba tells the reader about the horrible crimes the bounty is wanted for, she teams up with him to travel the galaxy and capture the criminal - even though it's her first time being off planet.

[lorspolairepeluche]

10, 20, 30, and 40 for duke and the mass effect ask meme?

10. What kind of friend is Shepard?

Duke’s kind, but also kind of pushy. Will alternately tease mercilessly and care selflessly. Very cuddly and affectionate.

(combined au bonus: Lives to call Cade Shepard out @commandcrshepard)

20. What are [Shepard’s and their LIs’] common interests or hobbies?

Well, Duke and Jack align very nicely in their preferred mode of combat. Armax Arsenal Arena will never know what hit it. James gets in on that too; it’s one of their favorite bonding activities with all three of them.

Aside from combat, James and Duke are both dog people, and Jack grudgingly falls in love with the three fluffy dogs they adopt once they settle on Elysium: Whiskey the St. Bernard, Bullet the Leonberger, and Kitten the Samoyed.

Plus the three of them get tattoos together sometimes. Duke doesn’t ever catch up to Jack in that regard, but they certainly get their share of tats post-war.

30. When did they realize they fell in love?

Here’s that answer for Jack, but I’ll talk about James here (with some details specific to their Shepard canon, with combined au details in parentheses).

Duke and James first met when Duke was put under what was politely called “house arrest” after Arrival. A few weeks in, James caught Duke lamenting that their undercut was getting too shaggy, and he offered to do their shave with his clippers. It became a sort of monthly ritual, them doing each other’s shaves. Duke was delighted that James kept the mohawk they gave him.

After the Reaper attack, after they ended up on the Normandy together, it got a little...awkward. They weren’t sure where they stood, now that Duke was suddenly his commanding officer rather than his charge. (While Duke wasn’t technically Alliance anymore (they’d been stripped of their rank and thrown in house arrest for desertion and working with Cerberus), their last rank before they resigned their commission and disappeared had been higher than James’s, and Duke was joined at the goddamn hip with the Commander.)

Duke realized that they had feelings for James relatively early on, but they did their best to repress it out of loyalty to Jack--until they finally broke under the stress and cried to Jack over vidcomm about many things, including the buff lieutenant who could cheer them up any day and actually, genuinely cared. Jack matter-of-factly asked, “Is he hot?” Duke showed her a picture, and Jack instructed, “Bang him,” which is the Jack equivalent of giving her blessing.

Duke approached James with their proposition, and he asked to think it over. A few days later, he came to the captain’s cabin (port observation, which Duke had essentially claimed as their quarters) to accept, and they spent their first night together.

Duke didn’t acknowledge to themself that it was love for a long while--not until the night before the attack on the Cerberus base, when James came up to their cabin (to port observation) and asked quietly if Duke was all right. They admitted that, no, they absolutely were not, and James made sure to hold them all night.

They couldn’t admit it to him in the lull before the final push in London, even as they laughed, “I love you too” to Jack’s “you better survive, because I’m getting laid after this.” They didn’t tell him, couldn’t find the courage or the words, until James was being hauled back up the ramp to the Normandy, fighting to get back to them, even as injured as he was. Duke put a hand on James’s face and told him, “Go. I won’t lose you here. I have to know that you survived. I love you, James.”

They turned and ran before his reply could weaken their resolve.

But once they’d been extracted, once they were back on the Normandy with Chakwas working frantically to keep them alive, James squeezed Duke’s hand and whispered, “I love you too, Lobo.”

(WHEW that got long srry!!)

40. Is there someone in the squad of ME/ME2/ME3 Shepard dislikes? Why?

Not after getting to know each of them.

Duke and Miranda were at odds as Duke’s trust in the Illusive Man began to wane; they felt that Miranda was the leash that Duke was tugging at, and the Illusive Man held the other end. But after the Collector ship, they realize that TIM is using Miranda just as much as he’s using Duke, and they enter a truce that eventually becomes a friendship.

They didn’t dislike Kaidan, but they were certainly wary of him after Duke got out of BAaT with their mother’s intervention and Kaidan was demonized for killing Vyrnnus. Once they talk, though, they realize that their old friendship from Jump Zero is still there, and that neither blames the other for what happened.

Other than that, Duke’s pretty chill with their whole team.

GOSH that got long!! am srry it took this long to answer