#also neil gaiman makes me wanna stay here even more

[alienpines]

gonna try to be more active here on tumblr 'cause the social media app next door is starting to really stress the shit out of me

[nebulousfishgills]

get to know you asks!

If you could visit anywhere in the world, where would it be?

If you could live anywhere in the world, where would it be?

What's your favorite color in general? To wear? To use in artwork?

How did you get into writing?

Do you have a favorite book? Favorite author?

If you could take one trait from any animal (tapetum to see in the dark, prehensile tail, claws, etc.) what would it be and why?

What's your favorite type of cuisine?

Do you have a favorite superhero character? Not necessarily the hero themself, anyone from that universe (so you could say Spider-Man or Aunt May, that's what I'm saying)

Do you have a favorite time of day? Why?

Have you ever had pets? What pets would you want in the future?

Thanks for the ask!

1) If you could visit anywhere in the world, where would it be?

I have a laundry list since I've never left the country. But to name a few... London, England; Scandinavia as a whole; Rome, Georgia to see the Creel House if it ever becomes an AirBNB so I can stay in it for a night; Montepulciano, Italy; and some tropical island, idk which one.

2) If you could live anywhere in the world, where would it be?

I'm lucky I live in a state that's very... we'll say progressive and it's well known for being so, and I feel very comfortable here. However I've lived here for basically my whole life (wasn't born here, unfortunately) and I keep saying I wanna live somewhere else for a while. Boston's very high on my list since I love the culture and history. But I feel like living in England or even a small Italian town would also be fun.

3) What's your favorite color in general? To wear? To use in artwork?

In General - Sea Foam Green (the color of my walls; I provided the exact paint color name)

To Wear - My favorite clothes are in a Grey-scale

For Artwork - I love shades of blue, but in particular dark blue

4) How did you get into writing?

I've always been fascinated by coming up with alternate endings, but my hobby really took off when my middle school best friend and I wrote some... really god awful Star Wars fanfics lmao. We spent soooo long on those, meeting up via Google Docs to write them after school for months. I cherish the memories, not the fics.

I got further into it when I started writing Avengers fics which then just evolved from there... and now I unironically write Twilight fanfiction so you make the call on how this went for me lol.

5) Do you have a favorite book? Favorite author?

I have so many of both.

Authors is a shorter list:

Christopher Paolini

Neil Gaiman

George R.R. Martin (we're waiting, mister)

Rick Riordan

The icons Shakespeare and Marlowe

Mary Shelley

Basically all my Tumblr author friends because you're awesome.

I wish I had more female authors, but unfortunately most of the ones who I've liked reading are ✨️problematic.✨️

Books is a longer list, I'm sorry:

"Wonder" by R.J. Palacio is one of my all time favorites and I recommend everyone to read it who hasn't. Beautiful story and I share a name and a hobby with one of the characters!

"The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" by Robert Louis Stevenson. Musical is absolutely fire, too.

My favorite of Martin's "A Song of Ice and Fire" series is "A Storm of Swords," the third one

Neil Gaiman's works are amazing, but one of his littler known books is "Odd and the Frost Giants" and it's a very funny story. (I have bought a copy of "Good Omens" to read, don't worry, it's just with most of my other books in a box for the summer for apartment move-in. "American Gods" is also on the list after my dad read it.)

I'd be dishonest if I didn't include "Doctor Faustus" by Christopher Marlowe because it's such a goofy little play. I'm glad my poor life choices led me to it 👍

I should also mention that my favorite Shakespeare play is "The Scottish Play"

Claudia Gray's Star Wars tie-in, "Bloodline" is a fascinating read as well, about Leia in the New Republic era navigating her political career and personal adventures while trying to hide that she's Darth Vader's daughter.

Similarly, as a kid I was obsessed with the series of short novels, the "Strange Case of Origami Yoda" book series by Tom Angleberger. Just middle school kids balancing their personal weirdness and hard-ass school policies with Star Wars through origami.

Jennette McCurdy's "I'm Glad My Mom Died" was also a really good read.

Another autobiography I'd recommend is Carrie Fisher's "The Princess Diarist." I miss that woman very much.

...Alright I'm just gonna come out and say it, for all its faults, I like "Breaking Dawn" and I'm actually hunting for a thrift store copy as we speak. Garrett's speech is actually pretty dope and, after noticing the frequency that it happened, I tallied how often Aro had to tell someone to chill the fuck out, put it into a pie chart, and you'll never guess who had to be told to shut the fuck up the most...

Which is hilarious

6) If you could take any trait from any animal, what would it be and why?

I'm basic, I want wings. Bat wings (like Emily tbh) cause bug wings are too fragile and I don't wanna deal with feathers like on bird wings. Why? Cause even if I'd be a flightless creature, it'd look awesome, that's why.

7) What's your favorite type of cuisine?

I'm a whore for noodles. So Italian and Chinese. We've gone to this one family-owned Chinese place for so long and so often the owners know us by name, they have conversations with us when we eat there, and are always commenting on my brother's height since they remember us from when we were tiny little ones (he's over six feet tall now)... and to the point, their chicken lo mein is to DIE for.

8) Do you have a favorite superhero character?

I have a couple, but in particular I like Loki, the Osborns, Wanda Maximov/ff, and, obscure character alert, Verity Willis from the Agent of Asgard comics because one, sans tattoos, she's very cosmetically similar to me with the glasses, dyed purple/red hair, etc. two, she's snarky and just kind of a badass, and three, she's Loki's best friend and how many people can say that they made friends with a guy like that?

(I don't wanna say her tattoos inspired Emily's, but I feel like they'd get along swimmingly)

9) Do you have a favorite time of day? Why?

I've always liked it when the sun's gone down but the sky's still blue, especially in the summer when here it cools down to perfection... oh dammit, that's technically twilight, isn't it?

10) Have you ever had pets? What pets would you want in the future?

We used to have two kitties a looong time ago, but now we have these two buffons:

At some point I'd like a turtle or a lizard though... maybe a cat of my own further down the line.

[akajustmerry]

when i was a child i was always reading; book after book, i loved it, i was even my history and lit favorite student. but i lost it, you know? somewhere down the line i lost it. And i want to get it back. can i ask if you got any advice? (sorry if this is too dumb)

not at all dumb ❤️ here's my tips for reading more

listen to audio books - there's loads of free ones on YouTube, Scribd is also relatively inexpensive and many libraries loan them free too. Audiobooks are great because you can listen to them when ur doing other stuff so it actually makes boring tasks more enjoyable AND you're reading, yay!

read a book with a friend/loved one - something I started back in lockdown was reading books out loud over zoom/phonecalls to stay connected with folks. Even when I didn't particularly enjoy the book, it's fun to read it aloud and discuss it.

download ebooks on your phone to read and do that instead of scrolling - if you're bored waiting in line or whatever, consciously replace mindless scrolling with reading. Bringing an actual physical book with you is really good for this because you'll consciously wanna make carrying it around worth your while.

honestly, read what you want!!! - don't worry about reading ✨ literature✨ to start off with. get yourself back in the habit of reading with what u know will keep you coming back. read what excites you whether it's bodice rippers, trashy crime, romance, action, books that inspired movies u like - it doesn't matter! just get yourself back in the habit of reading by actually reading something that makes you excited

It's okay if you don't read a lot- people read at different paces and lord knows life is busy as u get older so don't feel bad if u don't read as fast or as much as others! It's more important that you're reading at all, forget the quantity.

Rereading is still reading - if the only book u feel like reading is one u read when you were younger or something than read it! Again, you want to rejuvenate your reading habit, it's okay to revisit your faves. Whenever I'm in a reading rut I read the ocean at the end of the lane by Neil Gaiman because it's my fave book and it always reminds me why I enjoy reading

Hope this helps x

[sankt-brekker-the-demjin]

You Know, For Research Purposes - Tom Holland x Reader College!AU

Summary: Working on their research project, group mates Miles, Ned, Haz, Betty, Tom and Y/N grew closer together over the course of a few months. Also, how does Cheetos and ice cream taste together? ;)))

Word Count: 2,433

A/N: (gif not mine.) lolz hi! Look what boredom did to me.. I made a fanfic... [first time doing this idk what to do so there's that moving on. Hope u like it! Geronimo.]

Tom ran his fingers through his hair, tugging at the strands with force. He banged his head lightly on the table. He looked back at his Lit folder and saw he still had half of it to finish. He closed it and decided he would do it later. Managing the research project and studying for exams were taking a toll on his body and his sanity. He got up and went to the get some water.

It was halfway through midnight. His parents and brothers were asleep on their rooms. Miles, Haz, Y/N, Betty and Ned - his Qualitative Research applied subject classmates were sprawled all over the living room, laptops shoved to their faces, bond papers in hand. It was a typical students' night. The group had gotten together at Tom's house, and planned to stay overnight.

Miles and Y/N have History 1 together, while Betty and Haz had Calculus. But other than that, this was the only classes they all had together. Being in college is no easy feat, proper time management was necessary. 

Ned had assigned each member to a specific part of the paper, and they've been at it since 8 pm. They all have to multitask and manage their time. Tom had almost finished his part of the paper, so he tried to do his Lit homework now.

Tom heard footsteps stomping on the floors. He turned and saw Y/N marching up to him with an annoyed look on her face and was about to speak but he cut her off.

"If you complain about the heat one more time, I'm give you a real reason to sweat," Tom set the cup of water with a smug look on his face.

She halted on her tracks and smacked the paper she brought on his arms. Tom chuckled, but didn't move.

"No, you idiot," Y/N rolled her eyes. "You might wanna fix that paper before you go off scaring people to death with that annoying face of yours."

His mouth twitched in amusement and took the stapled papers from her hands. "So you admit you've been looking at my face."

"You're so full of it," Y/N stepped around him and grabbed another glass, getting water from the tap.

Tom looked at the incorrect charts and tables he had made on the paper. He cursed under his breath. He had been working on it in the wee hours of last night. Spontaneous typing, no pit stops on spelling errors and everything else, just got it done.

"The original file is on my computer upstairs," he groaned. "I'll have to re-do this again."

"You do that," she clicked her tongue. "And I'll just chill here by your fridge for a moment."

Y/N opened the fridge and took the remaining slice of cake laid on a plate.

"That's mine -" Tom protested.

"Not anymore." Y/N ate the cake.

He scowled and moved to close the door of the fridge. Y/N leaned her back on the door. There they were, a few inches away from each other. Tom stood seething; Y/N chewed the cake with an amused expression. She wiped the frosting on her lower lip with her tongue reflexively. Before he realized it his eyes wandered to her lips.

Tom inched his face closer, eyes darting over to her eyes and lips. "If you don't stop biting your lips ..."

"What are you gonna do?"

Tom remained quiet but clenched his jaw.

Y/N chuckled, "You're all talk and no action."

Heavy footsteps echoed on the hallway to the kitchen, gaining both their attention away from each other. Tom whipped his head to the of the voice and shot him a look.

"I told you 7000 times, a chicken is a bird -" Haz bursted into the room with a phone clutched to his ears, pausing when he caught sight of Tom and Y/N. "D'you have a charger I could borrow?" Haz covered his phone with his hands.

"I have one in my backpack." Y/N said.

Haz nodded, talking again to his sister on the phone about chickens. He walked back to the living room, waiting for Y/N to follow him.

Y/N stopped by the table where Tom had been working on, and pointed at his paper. "I can't finish my part if you can't finish yours." Seeing as his paper's original file was on his computer upstairs, she grabbed his laptop without waiting for him to reply. "Imma borrow this ... Thanks."

She went back to the living room, laptop on hand.

"And don't look at my browser history!" She heard Tom call back from the kitchen.

"Wouldn't dare," she countered in a mocking tone.

As the weeks passed, they started collecting data on the field. They went through one institution to another, gathering reports and statistics, and validating it with professionals. Then after that it was all a blur. They submitted the paper to Mrs. Luxley and was graded, only given back to them for minor revisions.

The gang decided to spend that same night they passed the assignment on Tom's house again, just like they did when they were still making the paper. Tom's parents had gotten used to them staying over, and Sam always tried to flirt with Betty when he was around. 

Ned and Haz raced to Tom's bedroom. Ned threw himself on the bed first. "God, I've never felt the bed being this good," he sighed and melted with pleasure. All those sleepless nights they've had finally paid off.

Haz hit him with a pillow. "Move over!"

Y/N laid on the couch, feet perched on top of Tom's lap, getting comfortable. Betty and Miles slept on the carpets of Tom's living room. They just sort of crawled to the floor in delight and just stayed there, too tired to move anywhere else. Haz came back to the living room, holding a bottle of champagne on his hands from the Hollands' cupboards.

He cheered. "Let's celebrate!"

But they celebrated the victory by sleeping out for an entire day spread all over the Hollands' house.

Even though their project was finished, the lot still remained close with each other. They spent times at Miles' favourite diner by the corner of the campus during their collective free time.

And last week, Haz's sister gave birth to a pretty baby girl. Haz invited them over and they all came to join the little house party his sister threw. The group counted on this as the official celebration of their hard work.

It was a Thursday afternoon. Family and friends chatted and caught up with each other in the Osterfield's backyard. Dream by Fleetwood Mac could be heard playing on the living room speakers.

Tom was talking with his dad. Betty and Ned sat at the garden chairs talking to one of Haz's brothers. Those two really were people persons. Miles and Y/N laughed at a hilarious history joke their professor rambled about. Tom tried to pay them no mind, though his glance drifted to them every now and then. His dad eventually noticed the shift in his mood, but decided to ignore it because his mum came to them, carrying Haz's niece. Tom accepted the baby to his arms while his mum and dad went to the kitchen.

Lily, the smol bean's eyes crinkled with joy and giggled. Her chubby little hands reached out to him. Tom stuck his tongue out affectionately her. He turned his head to the low whistle he heard.

"Wow... Daddy," Y/N smirked.

That day was all fun and games, but by the end it they still had school stuff to catch up on. A few weeks later, they decided to cram in the library.

Nothing feels better than suffering with acads together friends.

The group sat in a table by the corner, immersed in their own world. Tom went to the bookshelves to look for an autobiography book his proffesor suggested. Ned was compiling essays on his laptop. Miles was reading a book by Neil Gaiman. Haz and Betty were doing their Calculus homework.

Y/N's chin rested on her hands, staring blankly at her laptop screen. A straight line blinked repeatedly on the ends of the only sentence she typed.

What the fuck |

She just needed a head start on this critique paper. Nothing too heavy, just one paragraph to kick it all into place. That's where it's always hard. The first line. So now she's stuck with cursing. Before Y/N realize it, she's slumped her face down to the wooden table with a light bang. The group lifted their eyes to her, asking if she was alright. She shoved her thumbs up above her head, and they went back to what they what they were doing.

Haz who sat on her right, patted her back. "Same here, sis," he fought back a yawn.

Her eyes felt heavy. Then she groggily looked up to the little 'thunk' dropped on the table.

"Oh, great you're alive," she muttered before setting her face back on the table again.

Tom pulled his chair beside her. "Miss me already? I was barely gone for a few minutes."

"I'm so blessed to be with your presence," she stated in a monotonous voice.

Tom snorted. "Your professor is really gonna give you an A+ with those colorful words. 'What the fuck,' short but sweet."

She looked up and stuck her tongue out. Seeing his face has started to get old ... she tried convincing herself that, though.

They did their business. Ever so often, Y/N and Tom's elbows would brush against each other. Y/N had her earphones on, listening to her shuffled playlist on Spotify. Tom heard muffled tunes, and turned his head closer.

"What are you listening to?" He whispered; his breath fanned the side of her neck that sent chills up her spine.

She didn't look at him and instead continued to write key points to make on her essay. She spoke, her voice low. "This one's called Uncomfortable by Wallows."

He grinned and leaned even closer. "Can I listen?"

From across the table, Ned took 10 bucks from his wallet and shoved it on Betty’s hand. She pumped her fist in a silent triumph.

Y/N shifted her head to look at him, only to find his cute, devilishly handsome face inches away from hers. If she would tilt her head a little... their lips would touch. They locked eyes for a second, before she plucked one earphone and gave it to him.

He cocked his head, liking the song. Minutes passed. The only noises were from turning book pages, soft patter of keys on the laptops, and bits of hushed voices encompassed the area.

An hour later, Y/N felt herself getting hungry and went out to buy food, Betty tagging along. They ate outside since the library was strict on the 'NO eating policy.' Not even other drinks are allowed, only water. The others stayed behind. Then Betty came back to her seat.

"Where's Y/N?"

Betty sat on her chair, "She's outside, still eating."

Tom nodded and felt himself getting hungry, too. He opened his backpack and took a bag of Cheetos he stashed. He stood and said to them he was gonna eat outside. He went out, and spotted her leaning on a pillar, scooping ice cream out of a cup.

"I'm starving," he stood beside her.

"We've been there for ages," she scooped another spoonful of mint chocolate ice cream she got from the shop across the street.

Tom munched on his Cheetos. He turned to look at her happily savoring her ice cream. He moved for Y/N's ice cream cup but she swerved it out of his reach.

"Get your own," she swatted his arms away.

A thought crossed his mind. It reminded him of the last time they did this at his kitchen, over a slice of cake. And how they've been so close...

For the past few months, he's gotten a strange feeling whenever Y/N was around. Like there's an electric buzz in him, his heart would warm up at the sight of her. He couldn't stay away from her, and he wants to know her better, and feel her and just be there right beside her. He couldn't explain it.

Tom grinned at the memory, chucking a piece of Cheetos on his mouth. He stepped forward. "D'you wanna know how Cheetos and mint chocolate chip ice cream tastes like together?" he leaned closer to her face; his breath hot against her skin. His gaze shifted down to her parted lips. "You know, for research purposes..."

"Hmm?" She held her eyes up on his own gleaming brown ones. "Probably good. Anything's good with mint chocolate ice cream."

"Yeah?" His hands reached out to move the strands of her hair away from her face. "Wanna test it out?"

She shrugged.

Tom found his hand on the back of her neck and slammed his lips to hers. Y/N's eyes fluttered shut. He tasted full of that cheesy goodness. And her, a heavenly taste of vanilla and the aroma of mint. Her arm stretched out to keep the ice cream cup away. She parted from his lips to set the cup down onto the pillar. He wrapped his arms to her waist, pulling her flush against him. With her now empty hands, she ran her fingers on his soft brown curls. She tugged at the strands, eliciting a low guttural sound from him muffled by her mouth on his.

He broke the kiss and leaned his forehead on hers, breathless. "We should get back inside to do ... stuff."

"No no. Don't care." She pulled the back of his neck and closed their distance again. He chuckled.

Y/N loved the way their mouths danced to a rhythm, flavors mixing together from the forgotten taste-testing session, now a different kind of session.

A hand still on her waist, the other cupped her cheeks and tilted her chin to give him more access. She wrapped both her arms around his neck, welcoming warm the feelings burning inside her.

They parted, but still inches away from each other. Y/N bit his lower lip. Tom hissed in surprise but she kissed it better.

"So ... what do you think?" He murmured in a low voice.

"Mmm, I like it." Cheetos and ice cream forgotten.

"Yeah?" He grinned at her. "Me too."

Seconds lapsed. Neither of them moved, still stuck in a more romantic version of a staring contest.

"I like you." Tom's heartbeat raced.

She grinned back at him. "I like you, too. Like 3000. I like you that much."

-

Roll the end credits.

[thesophiewhit]

On Writing My First Audio-Drama Podcast

A daring solo adventure with a big love for audio-drama (Welcome to NightVale. What’s the Frequency. The Enoch Saga. Raising the Dead (Again), The Byron Chronicles. Harlem Queen and more!) and absolutely zero idea how to work a proper editing program except for iMovie.

A recipe for disaster, you say? Or is it a daring adventure? 

I decided it was a little bit of both, mixed with a chaotic storm of utter, well, chaos. But, I went with it anyway. 

And what did I learn from producing? (Producing solo. Yes, that includes but is not limited to: writing the 200 pages for a first season, recording different voices like I’m Gollum, finding copyright free music, producing an original song cover even if I’ve never sang before, editing recaps, theme songs, setting up Twitter accounts, Instagram, YouTube channels. Email addresses. Websites. Blog tours.)

And on top of that, still waiting on getting approved by podcasting hosts? (Cries in impatience).

I have a little screensaver on my phone that says: write, finish things, keep writing from fave emo author Neil Gaiman. @neil-gaiman​ (the inside home screen says something about managing anxiety and is super sweet.)

So, I listened to virtual motivator Neil Gaiman and got to writing the audio drama. 

I am an indie producer who’s really new at this, so take my word with a whole lot of NaCl grains, but here goes...

AUDIO-DRAMA PODCAST TIPS FROM SOMEONE WHO’S STILL LEARNING THE ROPES

1. It is a non-universally acknowledged fact that a podcast episode goes for 20 minutes- 1 hour. My episodes hit the 20 minute mark. 9 Episodes = approximately 180+ minutes of footage. 

2. In script speak, a single page of a script runs for approximately 2 minutes of edited dialogue (leaving room for adding SFX and music). One episode for me (20 minutes), meant writing 10 pages of a very non-formatted script. (But it worked for me. What works for me might not work for you, vice-versa)

3. Music makes a podcast sound professional. I used FreeMusicArchive for a lot of my music. When I needed to produce an OG song for my season finale, I went with “House of New Orleans” and made it sound, you know, ghostly. It’s a horror podcast, it fit my theme

3.5. SFX also make your podcast sound so good. Yes, laugh at my for iMovie editing, but the SFX are free for use (iMovie encourages this). Aside from good dialogue, sound design really helps you build your world. (Outside of music, of course). Think of it like watching a movie. That sound of someone creeping along wooden floors in a horror movie, the background noise of traffic on a busy NYC street, even knocking on a door. These elements bring your audio-drama to life. I favored SoundBible and FreeSounds.

4. Speaking of themes! Pick a genre for your audio-drama. You can mix genres too, within general reason (this is for marketing purposes, you understand. And social media loves to limit how many characters you get to type. Twitter, I’m looking atcha). Comedic drama. Horror mystery. Romantic necromancy, whatever. Just find a branding theme and stay there. This will help you build a podcasting family! For example, I have a horror/paranormal podcast family. We’re tight knit. Lots of goth clothing.

5. Reach out to other podcasting peoples. You’re family, not dueling rivals. When I was starting out (heck, I’m still a pod-baby), I asked so many questions. I tweeted out into the void with my #PodernFamily #AudioDrama hashtags and asked about marketing yourself, sound design, podcast hosting etc.

6. Speaking of which, you’re going to need a HOST before you get your Podcast released onto iTunes, Google Play etc. I used Anchor, but I know others who used SoundCloud etc etc.

7. The host might automatically publish your show onto podcast providers (iTunes/Google Play etc), or you might need to manually submit your RSS feed. You can find it from your podcast host (Anchor you access settings, I believe), but this RSS is your ticket to distributing said podcast TO THE WORLD.

8. Set up a Ko-Fi or Patreon so you can have a lil nudge into buying equipment/funding your art. (Mine is https://www.ko-fi.com/sophiefae , what’s up? *winks*)

9. Make things. You’re the number one marketer on your team. Make trailers. Make graphics. Make a kickass cover for your audio-drama so people want to click on that badass-looking icon. I find this fun, some people might find this irritating. I’m just living my best life with PhotoShop even if I have no idea what I’m doing. What’s up?) 

10. Learn how to do sound design. Okay, I’ll admit, I’ve been using iMovie up until now because I’m a coward. But a very lovely podcasting community helped me learn how to use Audacity. We’re getting there, fellow new-programs-are-scary-and-have-demons learners. We’re getting there.

Edit together bloopers/ a highlight reel/ a behind-the-scenes interview, or a little season trailer to play before your episodes so people can just dive right into your drama of the audio.

My trailer for Grimm and Glitter, by the way: (sup *winks*)

Have any other tips for budding podcasters or audio drama makers? Leave them below! 

Social media for Grimm and Glitter Podcast if anybody’s curious...

Twitter: @GrimmGlitter @Fae_Sophie (like cheeky horror movie GIFs, me too)

Instagram @FirstAmongFae (fun if you’re into goth cosplay)

YouTube: Sophie Fae (trailers and episodes)

Website if you wanna listen to an audio-drama about goth and prep girlfriends battling demons together in a small beach town: 

https://firstamongfae.wixsite.com/grimm/grimm-glitter

Meet Grimm & Glitter- two superpowered teens who fight evil in an isolated beach town. Just don't look behind the red door...

In the middle of butt-nowhere called “Calamity Beach”, 16-year old Grim and 17-year old Glitter find a hole in the abandoned amusement park just outside the town. The tunnel leads to a locked red door that not even light can get through.  Things would all be fine and dandy (no questions asked) except for the strange noises seeping out of it.

That, and ever since going down there, Grim and Glitter suddenly gain mysterious powers. Grim can’t stop hearing people’s thoughts, and Glitter can see the ghosts of the dead.  

Can these two teenagers discover the secrets lying beneath Calamity Beach? Or will time run out before the summer ends?

[f-117-nighthawk]

More playlist meta bc I don’t wanna do homework and Jimmy kicked me out of the TA room saying I’d been in there for far too long for a Friday (it was four hours! Interspaced between classes! Workshop kit inventory is just an excuse to blast Gloryhammer to me, it’s fun)

Since I was talking about Ten Thousand Against One earlier, I’ve been thinking about the timeline and which event the songs are connected to. Long post under the cut

Turn the Lights Out is... sort of an odd case. It’s not like Remnants of Stars, which is about Galran and my philosophy about how we were created, what happens to us when we die, and the cycles that power the universe. Of course, Remnants of Stars is a little more than just philosophy. It actually describes (in a rather metaphorical way) the actual process of the marthinazik filtering quintesence into new stars, planets, beings, anything you can think of. It also has a very important lyric for much much later like, post Sticky Notes later. Now that I think about it, it actually defines a good chunk of that maybe-sequel-maybe-idea era in conjunction with Soul Extract’s Filaments. 

Anyway, back to Turn the Lights Out. It’s an odd case because it’s sort of like Remnants of Stars in that it’s more about the philosophy, but it’s before Remnants of Stars because it’s also kind of an event. If you read interviews with Delain about Moonbathers, Charlotte states that Turn the Lights Out is about Neil Gaiman's Sandman comics, specifically the character of Death. I confess I haven’t read those comics, but my interpretation fits her rather well I think. To me, Turn the Lights Out is about a gentle god who accepts they will not always be seen as who they are but will give their everything to protect those within their universe. Now, who does that sound like? Which characters have been around since the birth of the universe, under various names, whether they be Ibeshganszá, ‘kibrraldíl, Marduzbazí, or Vôltrôn? 

You can make an argument for Your World Will Fail to be directly after Turn the Lights Out, but I rather like it after Remnants of Stars too. Turn the Lights Out is the beginning of the universe, so naturally, it goes first. Sentient life needs to evolve for Remnants of Stars to truly fit, and even though Your Would Will Fail technically can happen at any point between the first Plank time and the next, it also happens when the comet that becomes Voltron crashes into Daibazaal. The Your World Will Fail/Dark Matter/Eater of Worlds trio is both a general, entire timeline-spanning idea, and a specific event. 

(Your world will fail my love/It's far beyond repair/Your world will fail my love/It is already there)

(Bring me your soul/Bring me your hate/In my name you will create/Bring me your fear/Bring me your pain/You will destroy in my name)

(Can't imagine the violence/The rage and the love in my madness/I am the eater of worlds and I'm looking for someone to feed me)

And then, right after that event, or even during, you have Apocalypse 1992. The death of the dream, the final madness before the triumph of chaos. 

You Keep What You Kill is very much the odd one out out of everything. Helion Prime based it off a book I forget the name of, but here it’s purely about Zarkon’s empire. The “Holy Half-Dead” have lost so much of their culture, of the family bonds that kept them together even when their mistakes threatened the destruction of all, but they still remember the songs of glory. And they do keep what they kill. 

And then there’s a rather large time jump of about five thousand Earth years to The Seven Sisters. This song is pretty well encapsulated in Child From the Stars (Lost in the Dark) (which is a lyric from Closure, but Closure is later for Reasons), but the other half of it is connected to Memories of a Girl I Haven’t Met.

Who Will Save You Now has gone through so many iterations of what it’s connected to I honestly don’t remember what it actually is anymore. Given its placement between The Seven Sisters and Nobody Gets Left Behind, I think it’s related to the SFSS Genesis’s disappearance. But it could also be placed in conjunction with A Simple Plan and be about something slightly different...hm, I’ll think on that. This song has such a Dark Matter vibe to me, but it hasn’t found a home that sticks in my brain yet. 

Nobody Gets Left Behind is really there bc it’s a fun song and when I found 1551 I immediately had to put something in. BUT it is a good song about family dynamics and, well, that’s Voltron in a nutshell right? (and then you get, right there in the first verse, “Don't even try to pretend/That you're rough and just as tough/As when you're missing a friend/Attack and take him back/Cause when the team isn't whole/You've got a hole in your soul/So step up to your fucking role/We might get hurt/We might be taking some hits/But when you're taking our friend/Then that's some personal shit” and you cannot tell me that’s not everybody’s mood post Battle in the Sarnan Nebula) 

A Simple Plan is a new addition in the past few weeks. I rediscovered The Spiritual Machines a few weeks ago and the lyric “How long can we hold off ending/How long can we pretend we're ok” hit me right in the Keith feels. So this one is in conjunction with the first verse of Nobody Gets Left Behind. The entire song actually reminds me of Dark Matter with how it’s centralized at one event but contains hints of other things (The truth arrived too slow).

Memories of a Girl I Haven't Met is maybe one standard year (so six earth months-ish?) after A Simple Plan. 

String Theory is... weird. It’s mostly there for the title, but the lyrics do contain themes found in other parts of the playlist that fit really well but don’t map to the event I associate the song with. It’s honestly about Shiro missing Adam and the rest of the people on Earth. Which, granted, given the point in the timeline the title is associated with makes a certain amount of sense but...idk. And the bit that begins with “You don’t believe in space” is about something entirely different. It’s confusing, but all inexplicably related to the title event.

Interesting fact: My Dark Matter drafts/ideas folder is actually split int pre- and post- String Theory folders. It was originally because String Theory is such a pivotal moment in the Coalition’s efforts, but it also ended up vaguely the middle of the timeline. It’s the point where things absolutely, truly, have no relation to what happens in canon. The butterfly effect stemming from the events of Shatterpoint (and an implied secondary shatterpoint in another fic) have changed things enough that apart from one general event, nothing happens the same way (and that event is for drastically different reasons). All in all, it fits the weird vibe of the song rather well.

Next is Belgrade, the Ultimate Klance Song, about three months later. Fun Shenanigans happen in conjunction with this absolute bop.

Here’s the surprisingly big gap of just over a standard Earth year, in which several important events happen that don’t have songs attached to them (Roentgen, maybe)

Then we get Birthright/Firewall, a set of songs about reclaiming yourself from the depths of hell with just a liiiiiitle bit of help from your family.

(It's time to take ahold of what belongs to me/It's time to walk away with no apologies/Voices in the mirror start quietly/And now they're screaming back at me!)

(This force knows what you can do/And what you can make/With your tattered shell)

Here Comes the Reign technically starts during Birthright/Firewall, but doesn’t come into full effect until a month later, and then even fuller around five months after that. Meanwhile, we have The Day the Earth Collapsed, which is rather self-explanatory.

A few months later there is Darker Matter. The fic connected to this is real weird, but also real important. Suffice to say it’s gonna be confusing, and a universe doesn’t like the Paladins for a while.

And then we have Closure. Child From the Stars (Lost in the Dark) is actually the first of four fics inspired by Closure’s chorus. (I also drew a picture for each fic. They’re combined into my desktop background, and the first one is still my phone background and my pfp) “I am the child from the stars/That got lost in the dark/Between heaven and hell/I am forced to live on/I am the cause when you sin/I am the demon you skin/But there is no more tears to beautify/This is my last goodbye”

Closure is a rather sad song actually, but the way I’ve interpreted it ends on a bright spot of hope. The first related fic I’ve already posted/talked about, the second would be around the time of A Simple Plan. The third is somewhere in the gap between Belgrade and Birthright/Firewall. I’ve placed Closure at the approximate time of the fourth fic. I actually just moved it while writing this, because I realized this makes more sense after Darker Matter and with the Fall of [Redacted]. I’ve chosen to interpret the last line as finally deciding to stay instead of the (probably more likely given the rest of the album) darker interpretations.

After Closure is Ember, which is actually super connected to Darker Matter which is why I originally had them next to each other. The thing is, all three of these songs are connected to very specific events, the latter two of which are in direct response to the first even if there is a month or two between them. Ember is on the playlist for two reasons: the first is the line “dark matter falling from the sky” that basically required me to put it somewhere; the second is the fact that I keep mishearing the lyrics. “chthonic” is not “cuthonic” (which is not a word, but I interpreted as meaning Cthulu-like) and it’s “riches to embers” not “witches to embers.” Make of that what you will.

And finally, after almost seven Earth years, we get to The Reckoning/This is a Call/World on Fire/Louder Than Words. The Reckoning sort-of picks up where The Day the Earth Collapsed left off, spanning at least a year before going full force into the frantic five days of the other three songs.

(In blood and tears/A thousand times/We rise against/We'll always hold the line/Of reckoning)

(This is a call to action/This is a call to arms/All lives for one, together/There are no false alarms)

(World on fire with a smoking sun/Stops everything and everyone/Brace yourself for all will pay/Help is on the way)

(We have the force to fight/We have the blinding light/A war is more than heard/Coming in louder than words)

[sabbathism]

People don’t like season 2, and here’s what they have to say :

tl;dr: I answer the web’s most vehement complaints about season 2 of American Gods. If you happen to recognize yourself in one of those, then I suggest thinking about it really really hard and, perhaps, giving the show another chance. If you recognize yourself in several of those, please drop the show. It’s not worth wasting your time and especially not ours. (I put a list of helpful cast and production related facts at the end.)

Hi, Nelle here, I’m but a humble fan who wishes to have fun seeing gods bicker and argue among mortals, complete with the craziest of situations, stellar cast and great visuals. And yet I can’t help but hear things when I start browsing this hellsite in quest of juicy fanworks.

Although I’m no Joan Of Arc, I hear voices from above and here’s what I have to shout back (lest I get burned at the stake)  :

“The pacing is all over the place ! It’s too slow !”

Is it tho ? Pacing has been “all over the place” (really meaning: different from what we avid show-viewers are accustomed to) since season 1, we’ve never gotten straight answers out of anything unless we started listening and paying attention to details. 

The book (you know, the source material) has four parts, the fourth serving as an epilogue to the whole story, season 2 is most definitely meant to close part 1 which, allegedly, had the slowest of pace to begin with. And it doesn’t even have half the new narratives the show has been creating. So no, it’s not slow. I promise you things are happening.

“It needs to follow the actual book more !!”

What’s a good adaptation ? Is it something that is 100% truthful to the source, down to every word ? Is it something that should offer something for people who don’t know the source ? Or, on the contrary, be something inseparable from it ?

American Gods as a TV show offers new things for people who have read the book and for those who haven’t, while keeping the beloved moments and aspects from the original material.

Why add or change stuff ? Well because, if you’re a book reader, you get welcomed into the state of existential dread that comes with not knowing what happen next, I promise it’s part of the fun. But also because author Neil Gaiman believes that he can do more, do better, with something that was written 20 years ago and needed the changes in a lot of places. He’s aware that he has, in fact, a show to make, and not a carbon copy of the book, as well as a fanbase that deserves to be challenged and entertained.

“Why taking the focus off Shadow ? He’s barely the protagonist anymore !”

Because there are..... characters ? who are also part of the story ? Like, actual stories need characters ? But alright, I know it can get confusing when you have a lot of those, here’s how you can still tell Shadow is the protagonist : months of advertising and the entirety of season 1 which was spent following Shadow with only minor breaks allowing other characters to breathe. Trust me they need the development too, or then we’ll really have reasons to complain.

You want a narrative focusing solely on staying in Shadow’s head ? Alright. Try the book. But here’s my take on its narrating choice, as a graduate in english literature : it’s boring. To the point where Neil Gaiman himself got sad that he couldn’t follow other characters.

“They’re not giving the POCs enough space ! Where are the coming to america segments ? At least they gave actual insights.”

Out of every piece of fiction, I truly don’t think you want to get angry at American Gods for how much room it’s giving POCs... (a 20% white cast ensemble, POCs and especially WOCs writers and directors on production, ethnically accurate casting and writing, diversity positive messages, etc) Really I’m sure there are many other places in the fictional industry were the question of diversity is more than legitimate. American Gods has yet to be one of them, by far.

As for the Coming To America stuff, well, there’s not that many in the book to begin with. There are a whole bunch for sure, but we’ve got over quite a few of them in season 1. If there’s more believers you want, we’re served with the latest episode 4, with humans worshiping both Old and New, and interacting with gods. I’m sure we can review that point again once the season is over.

“Those white directors don’t even know how to read or write POC characters !”

*cough*

here’s a list of the POC directors and writers on episodes 2 to 5 of season 2 only :

Deborah Chow (director)

Aditi Kapil (writer)

Salli Richardson (director)

Rodney Barnes (writer)

Orlando Jones (writer)

That’s half the entire director-writer team for these episodes, with Neil Gaiman being involved. You’ll have to point out to me exactly what you mean by “not writing right”.

“New Media ? 1. she’s a bitch, 2. her actress is just plain bad, 3. she’s a hurtful stereotype.” 

And here comes perhaps the trickiest one of all... I’m gonna have to bear with you, as much as you’re gonna have to bear with me :

1. Yes. 2. No. 3. Yes, and it’s a problem, but not for the reasons you think.

First of all, and let’s get it out of the way : actor =/= character nor writing. You think the writing is bad and/or that the character is annoying ? Well, it’s certainly not on the actor. You wanna know the actual level of Kahyun Kim’s acting ? Starring in an Alan Cummings play alongside him. We’ve got a lot to discuss but please keep her out of this.

Second, New Media is an absolute bitch of a character. She’s mocking, manipulative, and too ambitious for anyone’s good. A lot of people seem to love her tho and to that I say good ??? I mean, great if you like her, because she’s got as much potential as the rest of these crazy characters, I’m not here to tell you who you should hate and who you should love.

But there’s a problem you shouldn’t ignore, and that its so far she’s not well written. It’s a terrible thing to say in such a show but she’s really not : because we barely see her talking, because we barely got any scene with her (remember what I said about letting character breathe ?), and because what we’ve seen of her so far is the stereotype of the hypersexualized naive asian girl. Complete with tentacle porn scene. (Whether you felt weirded out, amused or utterly disgusted by this is your own valid opinion.)

The character has been officially described as “the goddess of global content”, “a cyberspace chameleon” and “a master of manipulation.” In recent addition to that, actor Bruce Langley (Technical Boy) has said : “New Media’s willing to be perceived as naive because if she’s being underestimated, when she does make her move, you’d never see it coming, but she knows way more than she lets on.” He then goes on to compare her to Gillian Anderson’s Media.

This proves that the way New Media comes off isn’t a problem of intent (the naive part is calculated and they want the character to be duplicitous, falsely seductive), but of handling, and it’s just as bad. Sure, Gillian’s Media also knew more than she let on for about as much screen time -I’m sure New Media will get to her four scenes in one season-, but she had been grounded in the narrative as her own character, she’s had her exposition speech and time. (See her meeting with Shadow in S01E02) We’ve yet to see that much of Kahyun’s New Media.

Because they do not give her what she needs to be more than a two dimensional character, we find ourselves with a shallow character who doesn’t give too many signs of the thought process everyone seemed to have put into crafting her beforehand, including Kahyun’s acting. This is a serious issue that needs to be handled before the season ends, or she will just stand out like a nasty spot in an overall incredible piece of fiction. Hell even Laura (another very unlikable character) manages to be a great addition to the narrative. Come on people.

You can of course argue that they could have gone for another type or personality for her, other than naive and sex-oriented, for a korean actress to play. You’re right, there’s a lot of aspect of social media that could have been put to work, but not only are we gonna need more than two scenes (at least the tentacles aren’t a regular occurrence so far), but it’s just like they could have not made the Technical Boy hang Shadow. 

The New Gods appear as the ‘general bad idea’ we promote through and associate with their element. Mr. World is gonna be the creepy looking government dude, Tech is gonna be the lanky rude geek, they’re gonna be cold, insensitive and selfish. They’re gonna be the things we don’t like. Throughout season 1, Tech Boy was in the same place we find ourselves in with New Media : he was the loud white racist teenager hating on anon on the net, he was unlikable from start to finish, and it’s only once we got inputs from his actor, the writers, and then now that they’re showing more of his story and personality well after season 1 that we see him as the fully complex and interesting character he is.

Let’s all keep our wits about us, not engulf ourselves in blind hate or love, and encourage the writers to prove us all that this character is worth the while like her actress says.

(I still won’t forgive the bitch, but at least she won’t stick out like a sore thumb.)

(if you want Kahyun’s input on her character and experience, here’s a lengthy interview)

"They don't even know how to write their own character, period !"

By all means, tell me your basis of characterization to declare that characters who didn’t even have enough screentime to have much substance in season 1 (except Shadow, but strangely no one complains about him) aren’t written right when their creator is literally hovering over the writers and actors shoulders, because he wants them to be developed and written right.

It’s not Harry Potter, Neil isn’t making up facts about them to make himself look better, maybe accept that the vision you had in your mind wasn’t entirely accurate to the truth of the characters and that’s okay ? You can still write them yourself however you want, tell the stories you want to tell, Neil has made it very clear that he doesn’t consider fan ideas less valuable than his.

“Bryan has such as specific, unique vision ! They’re just trying to copy it and they’re failing.”

Definitely. No really, you’re right, I’m a big fan of Bryan’s work, I lost my mind like everyone else when he said he wasn’t giving up on Hannibal season 4.

But you know who else has a unique vision ? The seven directors who took over (four of those are women) and the show-runner who had already worked with him beforehand. They’re not trying to copy his style, they’re trying to make a smooth transition so fans like you don’t have a hard time mourning the terrible loss of Bryan and Michael. And for every person who noticed the changes, there were just as many who haven’t even paid attention to it.

Concept : some people may watch shows/movies for the story and the characters, not just for who’s behind the camera. (As far as I’m concerned, I actually like the image better. Everything was killer in season 1, and I think it’s even nicer in season 2.)

“Bryan gave us Salim and the Jinn, and now they’re just gonna be cast aside because those directors lack the LGBT+ sensibility Bryan has !”

Alright, yup, sure. As a member of the community myself, I totally recognize that someone who’s also part of it will know firsthand of the subtleties and details to give the best representation possible on screen. The example of Salim and the Jinn is perfectly fine, since the entire segment was indeed beautifully made. But if we cannot allow people from outside to ponder and think about our lives through writing (which is probably the best way for them to start understanding and broadening their mindset), how can we expect wide representation to improve in any meaningful way ? Especially considering that the show has been casting LGBT+ actors, in an environment where the cast is listened to and solicited on their opinions. 

And especially when Bryan was not the one who gave you Salim and the Jinn. (Because I’ve seen people genuinely believe it.) Neil Gaiman did. He wrote a gay muslim couple in his book 20 years ago, way before it was considered a political statement. He’s also the one who gave strict and specific directions as to how these very characters should be handled. Because if he expanded Salim and his fire boyfriend Jinn’s story from a one-shot to a full story integrated into his entire narration, then it’s certainly not to pull a “bury your gays” or make them miserable. No need to be LGBT+ to be a decent writer and human being.

“Production was a mess anyway, I knew it’d turn out like this. It sucks without Bryan.” 

Define “mess”. Because all the incendiary reports we got throughout early production had been utter bullshit.

Showrunners being “fired” ? Bullshit. “Disastrous” organization ? Bullshit. “Screaming matches” between directors and actors ? Bullshit. Actors “refusing” to come back ? Bullshit.

Every report that wasn’t made through direct input of the cast or production team was not only wildly exaggerated, but also fake ? But please, hear it from Neil himself :

It was weirder for me to read some of the stuff online that said, “Oh, my god, American Gods, behind the scenes, is all falling apart.” I was going, “But they just shot four episodes, and everything is fine. They’re doing some re-shoots, but they’re doing less re-shoots than they did in Season 1.” [...]

I was reading Steven Bochco’s biography on the tube, going into work on Good Omens, every morning, and learning about what went down on Hill Street Blues, and then on NYPD Blue. That was worse, by a factor of thousands, than anything that happened on American Gods. A showrunner came, and a showrunner left. That’s not even an unusual thing. [...] The weirdest thing for me was putting out a thing on Twitter on Season 2, and having a bunch of people go, “We thought this was canceled.” No, it’s not canceled. In its own mad way, it’s on schedule.  

(Source)

The show was never in any danger, much less in jeopardy. It's overreactions to false rumors and dramatic assumptions that can kill a show faster than a showrunner leaving. You want to be critical of a production ? Go ahead, and check your sources and facts. Please. I promise most of the time it’s not worth the worry, much less losing all hope.

“Bryan cared, they’re just ruining what he’s built.”

I dare you to watch any cast interview and tell me these people don’t care about the show, and that they do not value the work everyone else (from hair department to makeup artists, producers, writers, directors and costume team) puts into it as well.

I’ve watched my fair share of shows, I’m curious about production and behind-the-scenes material in general, and I’ve never seen a group of people being so genuinely happy and passionate about what they do and create together.

Neil took time out of preparing Good Omens (which he was showrunning himself) to be more active because he knew things would be different between season 1 and 2. Ricky Whittle (Shadow) had his contract reviewed to better accommodate shooting and planning. Orlando Jones (Nancy) contributed to writing episodes (especially regarding Black history and representation) and brought inputs on characterization. Ian Mcshane (Mr. Wednesday) participated in directing when he explicitly said during season 1 that he wasn’t interested in working as a director on this kind of show.

And that’s for the well-known names only. Go on the American Gods hashtag on instagram, you’ll find all the various artists who participated in crafting all the details found in new episodes. They’re out there talking about how excited they were to work on it all, how they did it, the love they have for the show and crew. They’re active and positive in every way you can be, please tell me how much they don’t care.

Production made the choice of taking its time making this season rather than rushing it when it’s been very clear that delaying can cause massive loss of viewers, because they care more about how the show comes out than what people actually think. They took in stride whatever problem a show of this magnitude could naturally encounter (again guys, no disaster happened) and worked to solve it the best way they could because they were perfectly aware that we fans care. And somehow that’s what made some of yall disappointed ??

If you seriously think Bryan (and Michael, some people forget about him smh) cared more about American Gods than these people -when he, in fact, cared just as much-, then by all means, leave right with him.

(Also uhm, idk if you noticed, but they’re both still credited in the fucking opening. Because, you know, they’re going by the bases they’ve settled.)

Some (hopefully) helpful facts :

+ Bryan and Michael weren’t fired, they walked out of the show after mutual understanding with the rest of the production that they weren’t agreeing on budget and realization. They concluded that pushing it would just be harmful to the show.

+ Likewise, Jesse Alexander (second showrunner) wasn’t evicted but stepped out once disagreements rose as to how to handle the end of the season. Again, they found a solution fairly quickly.

+ Gillian Anderson had only signed for season 1. Whether her character will ever be seen again (probably in flashbacks) is entirely up in the air. No promises, no impossibilities.

+ Both Kristin Chenoweth (Ostara) and Chris Obi (Anubis) have not been able to contribute to season 2 due to conflicts in their schedules.

+ Neil Gaiman has been much more involved in the production of season 2 as he had finished shooting Good Omens, something which took up most of his time when season 1 was produced.

+ Taking time producing a show =/= production being a disaster.

+ Always go for the reports/articles involving interviews and/or inputs of the persons actually working on the project (cast members, producers, writers, directors). Those are the most reliable sources you can fight. (Just remember that there’s always a possibility for fake news/drama online !)

[wickerjulias]

11 questions game

i was tagged by @jasonvtodd. thanks a lot em ❤

Rules: Answer the 11 questions you’ve been asked, nominate 11 other bloggers, ask your nominees 11 questions, let them know you’ve nominated them!

1. 24hrs till the end of the world… you can get to any place, to any person in an instant though.. where do you go, who do you see.. and why? phew we’re starting w a tough one i see akdfshkjsad i guess i would visit my internet friends first, esp bc i haven’t met a lot of them in person. then i’d grab my clostest friends, my sister and my cousin (w plus ones) and visit an adventure park. or a concert of our fav bands. or both. whatever makes them smile.

2. zombie apocalypse, who do you have on your team (rl buddies or fictional, your choice mates) teresa and jenny from work, my sister, my friends. between the bunch of us i think we’d come up w some pretty amazing ideas. plus, we have like 4 trained chefs in the team and someone who studied biology. (my fictional pick would be john wick and the gang from the magicians - a lot of chaos, but we’d have a solid chance)

3. five must read before you die books (or comics if you want) - runemarks by joanne harris - six of crows by leigh bardugo - the song of achilles by madaline miller - american gods by neil gaiman - the thief lord + inkheart by cornelia funke (couldn’t decide, sorry)

4. if you had the power to time travel to any point in history, where would you go and why? aaaaaah don’t ask me that, i’m historian. i’d split my body in so many pieces akjdfhskja my first instinct was to answer this question w the roman antiquity tho. i’d love to have a look around and see what the forum romanum (and other historic cities/buildings/sites etc.) used to look like. also to ancient mesopotamia bc heck yes!! 

5. one thing you’ve done this year that you’re proud of? i mean, i didn’t directly do it, but i got promoted to deputy manager of the cinema i work at. which is like!! wow my boss rlly trusts me that much, huh? (or the 8 exams i wrote at the beginning of this year. i didn’t ace all of them, but i passed all of them and that’s what counts)

6. what’s something everyone loves, but you think is very overrated? that’s tough to answer. mostly it’s v popular artists on here. but that’s probably bc the music i listen to differs that much from the one everyone on tumblr seems to love. (i’m not gonna dive into which characters are overrated em, i wanna live - if you wanna know tho hmu and i’m gonna hit you w the salt)

7. going to get real controversial here (how you answer this, will possibly end our mutual engagement…) … pineapple on pizza… should it be on there? ... people who enjoy eating pinapple on pizza eat children (kidding, but that’s what my sis and i tell her bf when he mentions pinapple on pizza). i don’t really like ham on pizza to beginn with, and the combination with pineapple makes me go :/ so it’s a no from me

8. whats an album that is your ride or die? (or artist/band) i’m gonna name 3 bc that’s how indecisive i am. so here goes: - true view by stick to your guns - this album is an experience through and through and their texts are always amazing. you’re basically discovering yourself. plus, the reach for me: forgiveness of self is the most healing song ever - billy talent iii by billy talent - this is the album that made me fall in love with them and with going on concerts. i remember rusted from the rain playing on mtv and me saying: “i like this song.” my papa was kinda shocked, bc: “you listen to that kind of music?!” (right up to this moment i only ever listened to the jonas brothers, ashley tisdale etc.) - the sufferer and the witness by rise against - while it doesn’t include the first song of theirs i ever listened to, it features ready to fall and prayer of the refugee. two songs i love so much, i don’t even have words for it. they were my first open air concert ever and the first time i came close to a mosh pit lmao

9. apple or android? why. android. i only ever had android phones. i feel like the interface is more userfriendly and android phones don’t tend to break when you look at them the wrong way. but i’m not a fan of samsung either. very happy w my huawei lmao 

10. advice you’d give to your past self at a time when you were struggling? take a deep breath and stay calm. look up to the stars at night and let them root you. the universe is listening and everything will work out the way it should. don’t try to do everything at once. small steps lead to your goal as well. (i still don’t have a solid advice for middle school when i was bullied but: you won’t be in this situation forever, you’ll meet so many great people who love you for the person you are. be yourself, even if it’s hard. you’re more than their cruel jokes. so much more.)

11. something you’re looking forward to? the impericon festival on april 19. i’m gonna see stick to your guns again, plus so many other great bands are gonna be there!! and i’m really looking forward to my trip to prague w my sister and two friends. it’s gonna be super amazing!!

nominating: @rizanmed, @vvondervvomaan, @edenforest, @austens, @feedingmyinsomnia, @zacksnyder, @benjiduun, @takingoffmyshoes, @canardroublard​, @deducitetemporacarmen and @stvrklight

MY QUESTIONS

1. if you could have any pet (exotic or not), which one would you pick and why? 2. you’ve won a trip to a country of your chosing. where do you go to and what do you want to do there? 3. which skill(s) would you love to have? 4. if you chould choose any fictional character to be your mentor, who would you pick and why? 5. you get recruited to a ragtag team of heroes (any setting - fantasy, sci fi etc.). what’s the skill that gets shown in your introduction (video)? 6. what is your favourite folktale from the country you live/were born in? 7. which fantasy creature or cryptid would you love to watch or study? 8. which song(s) would be in a movie about your life? 9. top five ways to insult someone in your native language? 10. which movie would you love to watch at the cinema (again)? 11. what is the most relaxing sound you can think of?

[niniadepapa]

Nini! Since we seem to have the same tastes in tv shows, i was wondering what are your favorite books???

uoHHHHHH BOIIIIII where do i even start?!?!?!?! take a seat my friend because this is gonna be a LONG ride…

the classics i’ve loved since forever:

the famous five series by enid blyton - i read them ALL and reread them dozens of times

the little prince by antoine de saint-exupéry. nothing else to say,

literary any play by federico garcía lorca, but ‘la casa de bernarda alba’ still makes me !!!!!! it’s so good jfc 

ella enchanted by gail carson levine like i’m sorry i know the movie has anne hathaway and hugh dancy but still i feel robbed of the wonderful perfect book i’ve reread 937562937456923 bazillion times. i deserve a proper ella enchanted movie/show, yall. 

 the last cato by matilde asensi. i legit made all my friends AND their moms read it when we were 17.

the perks of being a wallflower by stephen chobsky. it pretty much changed my life.

atonement by ian mcewan. wow. just wow. 

gone girl, by gillian flynn because we all need to read amy dunne’s cool girl speech 

it’s difficult to even type never let me go by kazuo ishiguro without shedding tears.

the perfume by patrick suskind traumatized me but also enchanted me?? idek man, it’s a very special book.

i read the entire the physician series by noah gordon when i was a teenager and i still love it sooooo much!!!!!!

peter pan by j.m. barrie bcs lbr everybody should learn that peter was a fucking asshole

the harry potter series by jk rowling. that abomination of a fanfic slash play that came out last summer obviously isn’t included here. 

the percy jackson and the heroes of the olympus series by rick riordan - my savage demigod son, i’ll always heart u

don’t judge me but the mortal instruments, the dark artifices, the infernal devices - all of the motherfucking shadowhunter books to ever be, i’ll read, no matter how much i hate cc. i hate her for the hold she has over me.

i did enjoy the hunger games back in the day lbr

stardust by neil gaiman ksjbdfakdfjalsdfjbaglsjdfblkas literary my most favorite i love it so much it hurts me

and now as of things i’ve read in the past years that i can rec w a hand over my heart staring into your eyes and claiming they’re Good Shit:

across the universe series by beth revis was pretty fun for sci-fi even tho there was a twist that i wasn’t very happy with

under the never sky by veronica rossi was actually very cool i really enjoyed it

i REALLY loved the shatter me series by tahereh mafi like oh my god a heroine that truly learns how to accept and love herself!!!!!! fuckbois get rekt!!!!! incredible character arcs!!!! i’m pumped for the next book tahereh announced lbr

the lynburn legacy series by sarah rees brennan was suuuuper fun because magic?? family drama??? actual woc main character?? bisexuals??? i was living while reading them tbh

vicious by v.e. schwab was really fun because it was nothing like i’d ever read before, i’m really looking forward to reading her other series 

i’ll only rec leigh bardugo’s six of crows duology because i refuse to acknowledge the fucking mess that was the grisha trilogy, jfc. six of crows, excluding some stuff, is super fun, has great characters, good ships, and teenagers that pull cool stunts to get $$$. incredible.

the fixer series by jennifer lynn barnes are !!!!!!!!!!!!! i wish she wrote more of them i would legit beg her and throw money in her face for more. teens swept off by washington/politics drama/conspiracies… my jam ladies and gents

the study series by maria snyder. are. so. good.

i’ve only read two of melina marchetta’s books and both of them broke me. i’m onto her.

big little lies by liane moriarty - if you haven’t watched the show, do it. if you haven’t read the book, do it.

i loooooved the first two books in the falconer series by elizabeth may and still have to read the third but i haven’t seen good reviews about it so i’m kind of… waiting a bit…

i’m not gonna talk much about sarah j maas here because even if there are things in her books that i really enjoy -specially some ships and the worldbuilding- the inherently whiteness, straightness and the unbelievably high number of times she writes the words ‘male’ and ‘female’ makes me want to punch her repeteadly in the face. 

simon vs the homo sapiens agenda by becky albertalli is so funny and heartwarming dkzfjbzdjfkblz

uprooted by naomi novik had lowkey w/w but also an incredible het ship that was dkjfbksdjfs also living evil woods and strange shit that was amazing

what we saw by aaron hartzler is very rough to read, especially considering it’s based on a real life case (Steubenville High School rape case) but holy shit do i think it’s important to read and know. 

in that same line i put one of my favorite books i read last year: the female of the species, by mindy mcginnis. that book broke me on so many levels, every time i think about it i burst into tears. it’s so raw and real and just… ugh. i swear it’s gonna stay with me until my last day, it’s /that/ kind of book.

i still haven’t forgiven my best friend for making me read the mistborn series by brandon sanderson. that’s al i’m gonna say about it.

cruel beauty by rosamund hodge is so unique and i just loooooove the characters so much because they do acknowledge their flaws and that they’re not perfect?? and just??? recognize that in each other??? which is a+++ in my book u do u. also super beautiful writing!

the anna and the french kiss series by stephenie perkins will always have a special place in my heart bcs they’re so fun and light-hearted and witty and i really love them 

AND NOW, TOP FIVE:

the daughter of smoke and bone series by laini taylor IS INCREDIBLE. WHY IS EVERYBODY SLEEPING ON THIS BOOKS. ANGELS AND MONSTERS. ANGELS ARE ACTUALLY BAD, MONSTERS ARE GOOD. ANGST. IT’S SO GOOD.

the raven cycle by maggie stiefvater, even if i still have hashtag problems w things in it (more girls. why aren’t there more girls. NOAH.) i just… i love my stupid kids so much. 

the wrath and the dawn by renee ahdieh is fucking INCREDIBLE it’s so good i get so mad bcs it’s legit unknown pls do urselves a favor and read this masterpiece it’s based on a 1001 nights and the main ship and characters are!!!! just!!!!! a++++!

the song of achilles by madeline miller is probably one of the books that i have most enjoyed and suffered with in my entire life. the true illyad i deserved. the most heartbreaking thing ever.

the winner’s trilogy by marie rutkoski is literary the best series i’ve read these past years and i’ll forever be in cee’s debt for making me read them. the most savage slytherins in love with the angstiest motherfucking relationship ever, a super clever look into colonialism and discrimination, the most beautifully haunting writing, IT’S JUST SO FUCKING GOOD I’LL NEVER READ ANYTHING AS GOOD AS TWT WHY AREN’T THERE 398465923846 FICS ABOUT IT JFC *sobs*

this got LONG lmao i’m sorry i get really excited talking about books in case u were wondering!!!!!!! i’m more than happy to talk about literary any of them, and welcome recs and will pretty much spew shit about anything i know ig u wanna holler @ me. i just really love books and i’ve been in an anxious-reading mode for the past three years so yEAH thanks for the ask anon it made me super happy!!!!!!

[salarta]

I’m going to say some things nobody wants to hear. Good chance that nobody cares about either. Oh well. This is my Tumblr.

Every company and creator telegraphs their intent well in advance of what they do. It’s not just a matter of watching what they’ve said and done, you also have to look at what they don’t say and do. What they don’t say and do is often where the real revealing hints lie.

With X-Men Blue and Polaris, we had two glaringly obvious hints via what wasn’t said. We had an editor who was briefly supportive of Polaris suddenly go silent for months, and we had a writer who couldn’t be bothered to talk about Polaris at all but could muster enough enthusiasm for writing Havok that he giddily teased it weeks in advance.

In poker, these are tells. You can make a very good educated guess from these bits alone.

X-Men Blue #8 came out this past Wednesday and while apparently everyone else loved it, I was absolutely pissed. Everyone else focused on Polaris simply busting down a wall and ignored the much more important tells: dialogue and text box. These two bits of actual writing placed Lorna’s value exclusively on being Magneto’s daughter and Havok’s ex-girlfriend.

They backed up the tells we already had prior to the X-Men Blue #8, particularly Bunn’s much stronger interest in Havok than in Polaris.

Now here’s the part where I explain why that’s a huge problem.

For most of her character history, Polaris having anything to do with Havok has screwed her over. Because Marvel, and more specifically Chris Claremont, decided she needed to exist mainly for Havok’s benefit, every ounce of her potential was stripped away across decades.

She lost her spot as one of the X-Men. She lost her relationships with Jean Grey and Iceman. She lost her tough feminist attitude in favor of a weepy scared girlfriend that needs men like Havok to rescue her, and what toughness she did have was vilified with Malice possessing her to ensure any return of her tough feminist attitude was seen in a negative light. Before Claremont was through with her, he even stripped away her power over magnetism and turned her into a generic bruiser type.

Because of Claremont, Polaris had no origin story until 2012. That’s 44 years without an origin story. She also didn’t get to lead a team of her own until 2014. All of this loss is because of Claremont, and who did Claremont use most often as his instrument of character assassination?

Havok.

Right now, Havok is a symbol of decades of mistreatment and lost potential for the character. Yet, his heavy promotion by Claremont in contrast to tearing Polaris down means a lot of fans who grew up on his work and have a lot of nostalgia for his run believe he treated these two right. They believe Havok is a golden boy who deserves countless opportunities, while Polaris is some loser supporting character for Havok who deserves nothing good for herself.

Note: I am NOT saying all fans of Havok think this way, and I am NOT saying all people who happen to like the Polaris and Havok relationship think this way either. I’m talking about a specific subset of fans who grew up with Claremont and see every single thing he did as the holy grail of all things X-Men.

Right now, how Bunn has talked about Havok, not talked about Polaris, and how he’s written both their introductions in X-Men Blue sends this message: “I agree with Claremont that Havok is better, Polaris is worse, and I believe he treated each the way they should be treated.”

If he didn’t think this way, he would have been at least as eager to talk about Polaris as he has been with Havok. He would have introduced Polaris either before Havok or at about the same time. He definitely would not have given Havok nearly two full issues of development before Polaris, and then made the first words out of her mouth about their relationship, as if that’s the only reason for her to be present.

But he doesn’t want to talk about Polaris. He chose, consciously or subconsciously, to introduce her as a character with no motives or interests outside those of the two big men in her life.

This is where some people might think I’m overreacting. This is where I defend why I’m taking this so goddamn hard.

For years now, I’ve said loudly and repeatedly that Polaris and Havok should remain apart for at least 10 years. This wasn’t an arbitrary number to “punish” Havok or the relationship. I chose this time frame deliberately.

Every single goddamn time they’re put together again, Polaris and every ounce of her potential gets thrown under the bus for Havok’s sake. Every goddamn time. With a lot of thought, I came to the conclusion that it’s not the relationship itself that’s the problem, it’s that Marvel’s never permitted Polaris to have enough development in her own right without Havok around for it to work.

Ten years apart for Polaris and Havok was meant to give them a chance to actually work as a couple some day.

We’ve only had 6 years with them apart, not counting Havok’s appearances on All-New X-Factor, before Bunn said “Fuck that, I wanna write them interacting again.”

Or at least, I gather it’s Bunn’s fault. His excitement to hype up Havok and complete lack of enthusiasm for Polaris tells me this isn’t just editorial forcing something down his throat. He wanted to write this in exactly the way he’s writing it. I’d have given him benefit of doubt if he had shown one iota of interest in Polaris in the months before X-Men Blue #8 hit shelves.

But back to the topic at hand.

Choosing to write Polaris and Havok heavily interacting again, and being so happy about it, comes with only two possible interpretations. Neither are flattering.

One, the nicer one, is that he’s cocky as hell and thinks he can do it right after only 6 years when many other writers before him failed miserably. I can say right now with absolute, you-can-kill-me-if-I’m-wrong certainty: it will not work. In the miraculous fantasy land scenario where Bunn somehow doesn’t fuck it up like anyone would (seriously, I wouldn’t even trust Neil Gaiman on this), someone else after him will. Most likely someone assigned to do it by Tom Brevoort.

Two, the far worse interpretation: Bunn actually wants to ruin Polaris and can’t wait to do it. He might try to make their first encounter look like it’s for Polaris’ benefit, but that would be a cover for future plans to tear her down. Which is the Marvel way. Marvel gave Polaris a good presence during Secret War, then threw her into forced limbo for two years. Same deal. Initial good appearances to undermine calling out future poor treatment.

“Polaris interacting with Havok is bad and they need to stay apart for 10 years first” is not a challenge to prove me wrong. It’s a statement of fact. It will end poorly for Polaris.

Their relationship was 6 years into those 10 years needed apart, if I generously exclude Havok’s appearances on All-New X-Factor and the past 2 years of forced limbo for Polaris.

As soon as X-Men Blue #9 comes out, Bunn will have officially reset that clock. The clock doesn’t start back up until they’re separated again. Then we have to wait 10 more years.

One more note: People at Marvel only pull this “Polaris and Havok need to be around each other” shit when it benefits Havok.

Recently, Havok was a star on Uncanny Avengers. He got to be in Axis. He got to be on one of the covers used to celebrate the X-Men franchise’s anniversary, and it was him as he was introduced in the 60s, alongside four of the original 5 X-Men.

Where was Polaris in all of this? Where the fuck was her chance to appear on Uncanny Avengers, to take part in Axis, to be acknowledged for her long history with the X-Men that predates Havok?

Nowhere. She got none of it. When it was about Havok getting the spotlight, Marvel couldn’t give a single shit about their “great relationship” and what Polaris offers.

But now, when Fox is about to feature Polaris as part of The Gifted? Suddenly Marvel thinks it’s absolutely essential to force the relationship on her. Suddenly, it’s absolutely essential to Marvel to make sure everyone knows Polaris has this long history of being a supporting character for Havok.

Suddenly, when the shoe’s on the other foot, Marvel thinks it’s vital to make sure everyone thinks Havok is the most fucking important thing about Polaris and everything else about her doesn’t even matter next to him. It’s just so crucial in Marvel’s eyes to rob Polaris of any chance to build her own character, all to put this blonde white man on a higher pedestal he doesn’t deserve.

Because ~nostalgia~! Fucking nostalgia.

I don’t trust Bunn with Polaris anymore. It’s as simple as that. He saw the biggest thing that shouldn’t be done right now and did it. He did it without the slightest semblance of care about Polaris herself.

I can’t trust any writer who looks at the damage Havok’s done to Polaris across decades, sees how much development Lorna needs in her own right before having anything to do with him again, and says to himself, “I just gotta put them together again.” Anyone that’s put real thought into what Lorna needs right now would know better than to do this.

I expect Bunn to crash Lorna’s character in a ditch, try to destroy all the progress she’s made, possibly ruin Magneto for her in the same way Claremont ruined Havok, and then proceed to throw Lorna away and focus entirely on Havok. The character he actually cares about.

This is where I usually say I’ll apologize if I’m wrong, but I already know for a fact that I’m not wrong. This is what’s going to happen. Bunn already told me with his tells. At this point, I’m just waiting for him to do the things I already know he’s going to do so I can react to them as I already plan to react to them.

I’m not here for petty beat-Havok-up revenge fantasies in X-Men Blue #9 to cover up future issues royally screwing her over. I’m here for Lorna. If revenge fantasies meant more to me than seeing my favorite character get the respect she deserves, I would’ve looked for an artist that’s cool with drawing Lorna beating the shit out of him a looooong time ago.

Lorna is not merely an extension of the men in her life. Stop treating her like she is and let her be her own character with her own values and interests and motives for fucking once.

[schuylersxster]

Welcome to Heathrow Airport, III

PART ONE | PART TWO | masterlist

summary: You meet Lin at the airport during a painfully long layover in London on the way back to New York. You talk and are nerds together. It’s cute.

words: 1922

author’s note: I did the thing! S/O to @fragmentofmymind for liking my other stuff and making me finally want to finish writing this and put it up.

warnings: There’s cursing because it’s me, but that’s it.

In contrast to your everyday life, you woke up in what most people consider to be the morning hours, 8:30 AM to be precise.

Normally, after a deadline, there was an entire week where you barely woke up before noon every day.

Normally, after a deadline, the pit in your stomach had dissolved, but it was still present when you swiped away alarm after alarm after alarm but continued to lay in bed.

Literally, it’s just coffee. Get out of bed, you freak.

“Great encouragement, there.”

Your first instinct after escaping the bundle of sheets was to go and make a cup of coffee, but you had to stop yourself. Coffee with Lin, right. Breakfast, then?

Grabbing your first post-deadline read from the empty space on your bed, you flip it open to your current location and read it while getting some of the quiche you’d made yesterday out of the fridge. For the next half hour, you’re curled up on the couch with a new fantasy novel that you’re supposed to be reviewing and sending in a blurb for. Well, it was really due a week ago, but the author’s a friend of yours who pushed back the date because he knew you were turning in the last edits of your book.

When it gets to a few minutes past nine and you get to the end of the chapter, you close the book, abandon the plate on your coffee table, and go spend the next thirty minutes trying to look cute but not trying to look like you’re trying to look cute because then Lin would think you’re trying to impress him which you’re totally not doing but it also totally is. The coffee shop is only a couple blocks away, but you leave half an hour early anyway, plugging in your earbuds and turning on the audiobook of Neil Gaiman’s newest release as you lock your apartment door and head out.

You had planned to be the early one. And you were still early, but as you pushed the door to the coffee shop open, you saw Lin leaning on the counter, chatting with the barista.

Double checking your phone, you confirmed that you hadn’t entered a parallel world and you both were 15 minutes early for your date. Not date. Coffee . . . meeting? That’s too formal. Fuck it.

You thought about just slowly backing out of the shop and walking around until it was closer to 10, but a familiar face walked out from the back of the store. “[Y/N]! We thought you’d gone missing. It’s been so long since you’ve stopped in!”

Juliette, the owner, was walking toward you with arms wide. You chuckled as the older woman embraced you. Over her shoulder, you saw Lin had turned towards you.

God, I thought he attractive in an airport. This isn’t fair.

You pulled out of the hug and looked at the woman who had single-handedly supplied you with enough caffeine to get through your second book. “I’ve missed this place, believe me. Editing in an airport lacks both good music and good coffee.”

“Are you still drinking the same thing?” Juliette walked her towards the bar with her hand between your shoulders. You nodded. “I’ll get it started for you. And it’s on the house because I’m happy you’re back.”

“You don’t need to do that, Juliette. I can pay for it, really.” But she wasn’t having it, so you slipped a $10 bill into the tip jar as she turned to start the coffee.

“I do think you failed to mention you were a regular here.”

Oh, right, Lin. “This is where I lived and breathed while I was working on the second Labyrinth book. I came here every single day and sat in that seat by the window with my laptop.” You turned to face him properly since the first time you came into the café. “It’s nice to see you again.”

He glanced at the watch on his wrist. “You’re early.”

“I’m going to pretend not to be offended that you sounded surprised when you said that.” You shook your head and took the coffee from Juliette over the counter. “Thanks, Jules,” you thanked the woman.

Juliette was hardly behind the counter anymore—she was always either at the register or in the office at the back—but she always seemed to be around whenever you stopped in for a drink, and every time, she insisted on making your drink herself. “You sure you don’t want anything, sweetie?” she was looking at Lin expectantly, “it’s on the house if you’re with her.”

Lin ordered and insisted on paying, but Juliette refused because any friend of [Y/N]’s is a friend of mine.

It was no surprise to you that Lin was a busy man. Honestly, that wouldn’t be a surprise to most people who were at least aware that the internet existed that Lin-Manuel Miranda was a busy man. Being as such, he could only stay for a little over an hour in the little coffee shop before needing to leave.

“We should do this again. Soon,” Lin was checking the time one last time before he stood up to leave.

“Definitely.”

“Could you do the same time next week?”

After a second of running your schedule over in your head, you nodded, “For sure, I’ll see you then,” and you stood to hug him goodbye.

And so it went for the next few months. Every Tuesday at 10 AM, you and Lin would meet at the café a few blocks from your apartment. You’d talk about your lives, your terribly embarrassing pasts, and your aspirations. I mean, I literally wear a bracelet that says What Would Neil Gaiman Do? so if I could someone looks at me the way I look at Neil Gaiman, I’d be content. — I just want to keep making a difference. I don’t want to be just “the Hamilton guy” forever. I want to take that and use it for good.

Jen was sure you were meant for each other. “There’s more than one way to have a soulmate, y’know? You can be soulmates with someone without falling in love and having ten kids.”

“There’s no world in which falling in love means having ten kids, Jen.” You were lying on the couch in your apartment while Jen was sitting on the floor with her laptop. The two of you were supposed to be working, but the idea of work had flitted away from the both of you once she asked if she could schedule a meeting for Tuesday morning.

“You know what I mean,” Jen set her laptop on the coffee table with the screen pointed towards you, calendar open, “you two are, like, kindred nerds.”

Barking out a laugh, you turned towards the screen, looking at the tentative schedule for tour dates. “Wow, thanks for that one day off in the middle of this two-week tour.” It was twelve cities in thirteen days, and Jen had one travel day on day seven so that you could get from Texas to Seattle without losing your goddamn mind.

“Do you wanna whine about it or do you wanna sell books?” Jen grabbed the laptop back to lock in the dates with the bookstores. “What would Neil Gaiman do?”

“Sell books,” you mumbled, grabbing your phone and walking into the kitchen. “Do you want tea?”

“Ooo, yes, peppermint please.”

“Herbal tea freak,” you muttered, pulling the singular box of caffeine-free tea that remained in your kitchen for Jen and only Jen as you turned on the kettle. Upon unlocking your phone, you saw a few messages.

There was one from your mom, a few from your longtime best friend who was coming to New York in a few weeks, old messages from Jen that you’d never opened, and about six from Lin. He was a texter because he was busy. You hated texting and had been notoriously bad about not answering messages since you got your first phone in college.

From Lin: 12:27 PM

Can’t do coffee tomorrow, meeting w Lac

From Lin: 12:27 PM

He’s only in NY for a few days and he only had two hours for me in all of it

From Lin: 12:40 PM

You have to get better at responding by the way

From Lin: 1:58 PM

At least tell me you didn’t have a heart attack at hearing we couldn’t have coffee tomorrow

From Lin: 2:02 PM

[Y/N]???

From Lin: 2:24 PM

Could you do dinner this week? I don’t want to go another week without seeing you

To Lin: 2:45 PM

Shit. Sorry. I was in a meeting with Jen about tour-book stuff. Dinner sounds great! I have meetings pretty much every day but my evenings should be free.  

From Lin: 2:47 PM

SHE LIVES! How about Friday? 7?

“Are you dying in there?” Jen called.

You shook your head, pouring the water into two mugs. “Some of us have big girl tea that doesn’t require the water to cool down before actually making the tea. This is your own fault for drinking shitty tea.”

Your phone buzzed on the kitchen counter while you were walking back to Jen, a mug in each hand. “Someone’s popular today. It kept going off during the meeting. How did you not hear it?” You shrugged nonchalantly and went back to grab it.

From Lin: 2:48 PM

Or I could do another day, but Friday’s probably easiest

You smiled before typing in a response.

To Lin: 2:49 PM

Friday works!

“What are you smiling at?” Jen rested her head in her hand and batted her eyelashes at you. “Is it the Music Man?”

“Why does that look automatically accompany a question about Lin?” She just batted her eyelashes in response, a smile now on her lips. “It is, but it’s not whatever you’re thinking.”

“Oh, please, tell me, [Y/N], what am I thinking?”

“I don’t want to know.”

“You’re going on a date with Lin-Manuel Miranda.”

“It’s not a date.”

“It’s dinner, on a Friday night, at seven o’clock. It’s a date.” You shook your head and turned back to your laptop, where you saw the all-knowing face of your longest friend. Morgan, the girl who you’d met in gymnastics class at five, had been by your side for every big event in your life. You’d both grown in the same shitty suburb of Chicago, had gone to school together, gone to college together, and inevitably separated when you went to New York and she stayed in Illinois.

Now, she was living out her domestic dream. She’d always wanted to be a teacher, a wife, a mom. Now she had all of that, and she was so happy. Her husband was being an angel and letting you steal your friend away from her family for a week so that you could spend time with her for the first time in ages.

“Charlie, get out of that!” Morgan was yelling at her son from the computer, who was off-screen being a messy child, you were sure. “Hey, sorry, [Y/N] but I gotta go. Make sure to send me pictures of what you’re wearing though. I require outfit approval.”

“It’s not a-” but the screen cut off with another shout from Morgan, “date.” You shut your laptop and shook the thought from your head as you grabbed the open book from the coffee table and began reading. “It is not a date.”

[dnteverdoubtme]

💗 🐹 🌠 👀 ☀️ 💁 🌟 🐾 🎁 💙 😤 ✈️ ⚡️ 💛 💚 💎 🍀 🍰 🙀 💥 🎤 📚 😔 🐧 💫 👻 🎀 🎬

💗 if you could hug anyone, who would it be?

Dominic Sherwood. Jace needs a hug plus he’s my favorite celebrity atm and looks like he gives good hugs, i’m just saying. 

🐹 what are some of your favourite Pokémon and why?

Eevee, he is adorable on his own plus can turn into several other awesome looking pokemons; Cubone, his story makes me want to cry; Dragonite, for no particular reason, i just like him. Pichu for cuteness reasons and Beedrill cause i had this pokemon card game and Beedrill was my stronger card.  

🌠 if you were in charge of the world, what would the world look like?

a lot prettier since i’m a bit obsessed with symmetry. honestly i don’t think i’m a good person to rule the world, i’d have hard stances on many things, but i guess things would be better when it comes to human rights, there’d be no wars ( since i rule everything ) and a lot of tolerance so people can be who they really are as long as it doesn’t hurts anybody else, i’d legalize drugs, abortion, and shove a bunch of LGBT rights down people’s throats… idk, i want to say it’d be better because the current situation is shit, but i’d probably get a council to help me out cause this feels hard already. i don’t want to rule the world, just have the power to make stupid demands like ‘I request a Unicorn Day!’ and “Bring back Life as We Know It for a season 2!’ 

👀 what was the most recent vivid dream that you had?

i rarely remember my dreams so there aren’t many, but the last i can recall was this weird thing where i was in a house somewhere in Europe and Min showed up and threw me a surprise party, and she spoke Portuguese. a lot of people started showing up, some bands i used to know and people i haven’t talked or though about in years.. i’m pretty sure the party ended up in a fight. 

☀️ what do you like the most about your best friends?

Heelary can always put things into perspective for me, help me stop, analyse a situation and see what i can actually do instead of just freaking out and crying. Fee thinks i’m this incredible person capable of anything and she helps me believe in myself. Ana likes the same things i do, like rping and plotting stories, and she helps me see that i’m not so weird and out there as i sometimes think i am. Daniel is someone i see once a year at times but i’ve known him for over 20 years but whenever we do meet it’s like time hasn’t past at all. Min makes me feel less lonely and helps me when i’m down ( she thinks i’m a far better person than i sometimes feel i am ) and, finally, B is my soulmate when it comes to writing and such a talented person it makes me feel special that i get to be her friend. overall i’m really blessed of having this collection of ridiculously special people in my life and i chose to make this about how them make me feel but they’re all incredible and amazing on their own. 

😘 talk about your crush or partner

i have crushes in half of my friends ( the hazards of bissexuality, lol ), but i live with my boyfriend, have done it for a couple years now… we have a bit of a silly love story where i was going to leave the country and drunkenly proposed he be my fake-boyfriend for a few months before my trip just so we could go on dates and make out, no strings attached… so of course we spend a month seeing each other every single fucking day and fall in love. i never had a relationship that lasted more than a couple months prior to that, and now here i am 3 years and counting. he asked me not to leave and i stayed. so that’s it, that’s my relationship, and this whole rant says nothing about him. he’s a lawyer, a big nerd that plays MMO’s all night, a grumpy fuck and totally silly putty for out cat, Arthur. i love him.  

💁 if someone was rude to you, would you be rude back?

it depends… i usually have a ‘kill them with kindness’ approach to rudeness. being the kid dressed in black with piercings and tattoos when i was younger i was used to having people approach me and my friends with a general bad disposition and i loved being extra nice and cheery just to see their momentary confusion and the damn youths being polite and nice. that is not to say i can’t be a rude bitch, i’m a scorpio after all, but it usually has to be deserved. 

🌟 what do you like about yourself? (must choose at least 3 things!)

i like my eyes a lot, they’re my best feature ( well that and my boobs, but it feels shallow to say boobs in a top 3 ). i like my writing, and i think i do it well enough to consider it a talent ( i don’t have many of those so i’ll take what i can get ) and, lastly, i guess i love my creativity, be it with stories, cooking, crafts or just imagining things, i tend to go hard about it and it’s something i love doing, creating something new.  

🐾 what are you scared of most? how will you overcome it?

the deep sea, crocodiles, hippos, extreme heights, anonymity and failure, i don’t really know how to overcome any of them ( and you can’t pay me enough to get anywhere near a hippo ) but i suppose we live on through the memory of the people we somehow touch in life so i hope i can finish my book one day, and maybe live through my stories and those who read them - so i don’t know if it would work, but this is what i’ve got.

🎁 what never fails to make you happy?

rping. it gets me out of my head and helps me forget my real life troubles, being able to think for someone else, plot things and put them into writing or just express them somehow ( since i love tabletop rps as well ) i just honestly turn to my characters whenever real life gets too much. 

💙 what annoys you about some people?

so many things… mostly i guess hypocrisy and ignorance. it’s no secret this fandom for instance annoys me a lot and  it’s mostly due to the fact that some people think they can tell others what to enjoy and how to think, that they love to judge and condemn things. in the few recent times i’ve been through their arguments and rants i can tell you it’s just ignorance and hatred spun into the vague shape of social justice and righteousness and that annoys me a lot. 

😤 do you get angry easily?

i wouldn’t say angry, but i do get stressed easily and worry about things like there’s no tomorrow. i can rant and complain a lot too, but getting truly angry is something i don’t do so easily. 

✈️ what is your dream city and why?

i can’t think of one specific city, more like a feeling.. i love the idea of a homey suburban place where one can raise a family, with snow during the winter ( so i guess it’d be in North America or Europe and safer than my country is. my dream city is probably in Canada, if i had to guess, but i’ve never been there so i can’t name a specific one.

⚡️ if you had any superpower, what would it be and why?

i’ve answered this before in another meme, but definitely to stop time. it’s the one thing i’m always missing and, as an expert procrastinator with friends in different time-zones i could definitely use it. just imagine being able to sleep as much as you want but you stopped time before doing it so you actually missed nothing out of your day *weeps* now that’s the dream. 

💛 if you could talk to your younger self, what would you say?

not to worry so much about things, that the conflicts we go through when we are young become small in the future. that high-school grades mean nothing and i shouldn’t stress about them. that getting your first kiss is not that important. that the person you are in school is not who you’ll be forever and that i’d make amazing friends, just give it time.  

💚 who are you jealous of and why?

my friends. i’m not a jealous girlfriend, but i have a weird feeling towards my friends, like i’ll try really hard to bring them together and make them friends with each other because that’s always nice but if someone new comes along that i don’t know i’m just like ‘who dis’ and i stress that they might take my place until it’s clear they won’t. i’m also default jealous of all other Alec blogs out there, obliviously. 

💎 which one would you rather have more of: intelligence, beauty, kindness, wealth or bravery? why?

wealth, cause money can’t buy everything but it sure as hell buys a whole lot. it enables you to worry less, to help people and to live adventures, even if you don’t straight out need it in order to do any of those things on principle. 

🍀 if you could be any fictional character’s best friend/lover, which fictional character would you be?

i wanna say i’d be Alec because then i’d get a Jace… but a very single Alec, desperately in love with my best friend - so basically i’d be season 1 Alec, k bye 

🍰 what are some of your favourite sugary foods?

cheesecake, milky chocolate, chocolate cake/cupcakes… I’m very easy with this kind of thing since chocolate is my favorite flavor for sweets, but i also love lemon tarts and things with almonds and nuts like gianduia chocolate and nutella. 

🙀 are you an adrenaline seeker?

nah, i don’t think so. i’ll do some adventurous things, but nothing like bungee jumping and shit, that’s just terrifying. 

💥 what are some unpopular opinions that you have?

oh boy… unpopular opinions, let’s see. jalec > m@lec. Godfrey Gao was my favorite Magnus Bane. Star Wars is not all that. Friends is not so funny, neither is How I Met Your Mother. i don’t like the Beatles. i don’t like cult movies as a whole…

🎤 what’s the last song you hummed or sang by yourself?

Celine Dion’s It’s All Coming Back To Me Now. i saw this video of Jeremy Jordan singing it has been stuck in my head for days.

📚 share 3 books that you love and your favourite quote from them.

Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice: “My good opinion once lost is lost forever.”

Neil Gaiman’s Stardust:“A philosopher once asked, “Are we human because we gaze at the stars, or do we gaze at them because we are human?” Pointless, really…“Do the stars gaze back?” Now, that’s a question.”

Meg Cabot’s The Princess Diaries, I can’t find the quote and I read them in Portuguese ( unlike the other two ), but my favorite quote would be Michael’s ove confession to Mia in book four, if I’m not mistaken, I literally had it photocopied and pasted to the back of my notebook in high-school, sue me. 

😌 what thoughts keep you going when you’re sad?

that however bad i think things are i know that it gets better. that there are people out there that car about me enough to want to help and to want to see me happy. that i’m not alone, even when i think i am. that no matter how ugly the world seems there are wonderful people out there and things worth living for. 

🐧 describe yourself in 3 words

bossy, needy and witty ( that’s according to Ana ) my own reply would vary between ‘totally fucking awesome’ and ‘not very nice’ depending on the day. 

💫 who inspires you?

successful people, i don’t have one in particular but whoever gets to live their dreams is someone i’d aspire to be ( unless you’re like Valentine and your dreams involve mass murder or something ).

👻 do you believe in ghosts and why?

not really? never thought much about them, but in general i don’t assume all the legends are true unless Jace shows up and tells me otherwise. 

🎀 what’s your fashion sense like?

emo circa 2004. skinny jeans, band t-shirts, cropped tops, combat boots, a lot of black and the occasional fitted dress… i love makeup so there’s that, preferably with smoky eyes, bold lips and a lot of highlight. 

🎬 what are some of your favourite films?

Pride and Prejudice, Stardust ( i’m consistent like that ), Les Miserables, Knight’s Tale, Captain América ( all of them, but specially The Winter Soldier ), Dangerous Beauty, A Cinderella Story, What a Girl Wants, She’ll All That, Memoirs of a Gueixa, The Count Of Montecristo, Pacific Rim, Disney’s Hercules, Mulan, The Lady and The Tramp, Anastasia… I like period romances, musicals, Disney movies and romcoms, that’s me.