#but honestly this pertains to a lot of instances in my life

[ghostoffuturespast]

There is nothing quite like the silence of a crowd. The innumerable eyes that watch but never see, The ears that hear but do not listen, The hands that touch but do not hold.

It shouldn't feel this way.

I shouldn't be robbed of joy, because no one bothers with a second glance, Nobody rips their heart out and lays it my feet, But I am. And it stings. A wretched thing that worms into a mind, Into a heart, Into a soul. Sours it, Makes it rot.

Even knowing it's all by design, I can't quit. It festers.

Because that need to belong, To connect, Is far too strong.

It is a feeling that is in constant need of being fed. Tended. So, when no one sees, Or listens, Or cares to hold you dear. When everyone else crowds you out, Smothers you.

Why share your joy when you'll never belong? When your love is met with silence, And when the crowd you yearn to be a part of, Never lets you in.

Rant below:

So, I've been in a real weird headspace all fucking week so of course I wrote some crappy poetry about it. I want to participate and be a part of the communities I'm in. I don't think that's unusual. For me or for other people.

And maybe I'm being fucking dumb about this and inordinately petty... but I really want to be a part of the CP2077 fandom. Like, truly. It's the first fandom I've been this involved with. But it's frustrating when others don't register that you exist, especially when you spend time with them in other spaces.

I don't need validation to make things. I'm venting because I'm struggling to feel included in all the spaces and communities I want to be a part of, but am feeling elbowed out of.

I know, I know. It's social media, it's a big space, we're all vying for attention. It's tumblr and discord. I understand people aren't plugged in all the time, people live their own lives, things come up, and not everyone is into the same things I am, and I'm not expecting everyone to be friends with me. I understand all of this in principal.

I know I got to the party late, but it's been a struggle to find a space and people were I genuinely feel welcomed or acknowledged around since I got here. And I'm not the most outgoing person to begin with so talking to people I don't know well is hard. I try to be supportive of other folks I know (or even don't), but it's getting real difficult to keep doing that when those same folks don't reciprocate on any level.

I know in the back of my head, not everyone is gonna like what I make and everyone has their limits on what they're able to do. But...

Is all the stuff I make that boring or bad? Did I do something wrong or piss people off? Does my introvertedness just make me horrendous at making friends? Am I setting my expectations too high?

Or am I blowing this all out of proportion and this is some ships in the night scenario?

Rationally, it's probably that last one.

Irrationally, I don't think the majority of people would even notice or care if I drop everything, walk away, and go back to being a hermit.

Maybe everything I just said is dumb and what I really need is to get over myself.

I will at some point.

It just feels shitty right now. And I can't stop thinking, what's the fucking point? If I wanted to be by myself, it's easy enough for me to go do that.

The point is I don't want to be by myself though. I don't want to be screaming my joy into an empty room. I want to be able to do it with other people and for some reason I'm having a real hard time connecting for whatever reason.

(It's also not helping that a lot of the people I was interacting with regularly have largely dispersed. I'm not mad at them about it. You do what you gotta do. I am frustrated and angry with how negative I've been about all this this past week, and I haven't been able to shake it.)

[coleoffduty]

So about legacies, idk if this is something you've discussed before but can you talk more about lucemond's sexual dynamic? Luke my man is out there just doing anal with 0 prep just horniness & cooking oil (optional) to ease the way then they're straight to a sex marathon (i love these losers). Also you're so good at smut????? The sex in the red keep had me blushing with how aemond's desire to consume lucerys was just simmering and how he seems to want lucerys always, like from the first chapter

Though is Lucerys attracted to roughness in sex because of his first time or does it have root in his childhood and life or is it just plain liking it rough?

His first time with Aemond had me horrified honestly (as sexy as it was) because he came out bleeding and in pain and that part was never acknowledged, like Aemond didn't spare a "sorry" or "oops" even for mistaking him for Alys. I assume he might've been with rhaena at the time so is that another time he cheated (even if unintentionally) or just another instance of something massive happening that he spoke to no one about? Though he gives off the vibe of an artist who puts himself through hell, just anything and everything for the sake of his music, his random bursts of anger (and how they relate to sex) unsettle me, something's off about him. (The custody battle he was caught in alongside a resentful grandmother for a mentor are enough to mess him up though)

Hope I'm not overanalysing things I'm just interested in this part!

oooo this is something i've been dying to talk about,,, thank you for asking hehe <3

everything you said is pretty on the nose. one of the main ideas that began saturating legacies as a concept is the dark side of obsession, how that can mix with pleasure, and especially self-image as they’re all celebrities/musicians.

lucerys is definitely very off as an individual and we can really see that through his and aemond’s hook ups. the very first time they do it, he’s hinted that he’s already prepped himself in the shower during a thunderstorm when he’s absolutely terrified and paranoid. and even in the prequel, there’s a line i threw in where luke has become hyperseuxal and masturbates in his bedroom despite all of the childish mementos such as the teddy bears watching him. he sees it as a coping mechanism and uses it as an emotional crutch at times. and combined with luke’s poor self-image, seeking pain during sex comes from that. aemond is his way of securing those moments, through their first time together and then every time afterward. he’s being absolutely used like a rag doll and that’s the appealing aspect to him. he dissociates and equates himself to an object, like in ‘all apologies’ when he feels like an actual instrument that’s being used and abused for the player’s own gratification. it’s super weird and it does relate to his childhood with rhaenys and always being overwhelmed with being perfect/acutely aware of himself so she doesn’t reprimand him. he’s so used to being in control and with aemond, he gets to let go.

as for his relationship with rhaena, before him and aemond being together, they were just engaged to be engaged. super platonic since luke focused on his music and only saw their circumstances as they were; arranged and a way to secure his spot as corlys’ heir. afterwards though (which i think i might do more touching on within this next chapter but idk bc it’s already so long) it grows into something much more… developed i guess is the word. lucerys threw a remark at aemond about how he and rhaena did it whenever he felt like it, and i feel like that already says a lot about how lucerys was in that dynamic pertaining sex. and again, it all boils down to how luke feels about his sexuality— the men he’s been surrounded by cheating on their spouses and then being forgiven is kind of a reminder to him that he’s just one of the guys. he’s got the velaryon surname while being only half-targaryen which does led to him wanting to compensate and involves his whole bickering match with aemond about how he’s different. how he’ll never be one of them.

but yeah aemond’s characterization in this fic is much more lax compared to his usual portrayals in my other stories. he’s kind of just a failson who doesn’t care about other peoples affairs unless they directly affect him, which shows a lot of the time as he can be really insensitive during serious moments. so when the reveal does come out and the moments do come where luke is hurt, he mostly centers himself in the situations/doesn’t acknowledge it because lucerys doesn’t. saying sorry isn’t something aemond’s used to because if it isn’t hurting him currently, then why should he be apologetic?

omg but tyyy!!! i really don't feel like writing smut is my forte since i have more fun with like dialogue and detail but whoop! i'll take it <333

[astarionbae]

First, your response is immature and ignorant. The fact you have a Gryffindor banner for your header says it all actually

I have huge issues with people disrespecting canon characters canon sexualities. Steve is canonically straight. Will is canonically gay. People shouldn't be altering sexualities to shit themselves. It's akin to whitewashing.

Also I don't see any the problem with an 18 year old dating a fifteen year old. Any younger, huge no. They are both teens. Also stop the purity policing trying to turn this into something else. Fanfic should be labeled correctly in case of triggers but anything basically goes in the world of fanfic. Don't visit Ao3 if you feel squicky as it is worse. But for real, you are just trying to cause trouble. Steve is a school student and so is Will? What's the deal with shipping the OC with Will instead in that instance that you find so wrong?

Hi, welcome to my Tumblr Blog! So glad you found it!

"Your response is immature and ignorant"

You mean kinda like how you pointed out that I have a Gryffindor header which absolutely doesn't pertain to the situation in hand?

"Have a huge issues with people disrespecting canon characters canon sexualities"

Bro?? I get being angry at someone changing a canon gay character straight just for someone to pair their straight oc with them but that's literally the opposite of what's happening here. A lot of people in the fandom headcanon Steve as bisexual in their fics, and that's not a crime. Everyone can have their own opinions as long as it doesn't contradict with what's already known and so far, there's been no confirmation that Steve is straight. There actually has been implications in the show that Steve could be bisexual. Some of my favorites include:

"Anything basically goes in the world in fanfic"

Now you're being a hypocrite! Congratulations! Here's your medal.

"What's the deal with shipping the OC with Will instead in that instance that you find so wrong?"

Hello, Chris Hansen?? Yeah, it's this anon. Right here! Will is a CHILD. Do you understand me? A CHILD. He's still learning, growing up! He's not even mentally mature yet at 15. He's still figuring out his feelings and how life works, how to be comfortable with himself. Ben Hopper, the oc in question, is literally 18; an ADULT. He's more mature mentally and physically. He's literally about to graduate high school just as Will is starting high school! You honestly want to tell me that there's nothing wrong with an 18 year old dating a 15 year old? They're both at two different points in their lives and I just- My god. The utter fact that you find a dynamic like that so much more plausible than making Steve bisexual in fanfiction is so baffling to me.

[servin-up-surveys]

survey #111

(taken february 6th; uploading surveys taken while gone)

If you’ve ever tried drugs or alcohol, what was your reason for first trying it? I tried alcohol the first time because Mom offered me something she correctly assumed I'd like the taste of. I was either a pre-teen or young teenager. I've never tried any other sort of drug.

If you were far from home and needed to sleep for the night, would you choose to rent a crappy motel room for $60 or sleep in your car for free? I'm staying in the car. Probably. I'd be kinda hesitant to if I was all alone.

How long until your next birthday? My birthday was literally yesterday, so a very long time.

When did you last consume something that had peanut butter? A couple days back in a piece of chocolate.

What’s the last song you heard? A slowed/reverbed version of "Teeth" by 5SOS.

When you say you love someone, do you mean it? Fuck yes I do.

Have you held hands with anyone lately? A lot with Girt 'cuz he spent the weekend with me and we hold hands a lot on the couch and even when we sleep.

Are both of your blood parents still in your life? Yes; I don't see my dad a lot, but he's still in my life and reminds me all the time that if I need something, tell him.

Do you have drama in your life? Not really.

Do you actually think it’s gross to talk about body functions? No; they're universally shared experiences and I think it's honestly dangerous to make talking about "gross" stuff seem like, taboo almost. Now yes, there are INSTANCES where it's not appropriate, but is it gross/wrong to do in general? Absolutely not. I probably sound kinda hypocritical cuz I REALLY don't like talking about sex as it pertains to me, but that is JUST for me. It's not because I think it's gross and stuff, it's just private. I couldn't care less if other people talk about their sex lives though.

Would you rather sleep alone or next to your SO? Next to Girt.

Have you ever sent a love letter? Pretty much, yeah.

Have you dated someone of another race? Yes. 100% pro interracial relationships so it was never an issue I held with Juan; it was other, personality-related things that had no correlation to his race that were problematic.

What’s the best compliment you’ve gotten from a boss/teacher? I'm honestly not sure, but in total modesty and honesty I definitely got a lot of very high praises because I was just a good student.

What’s a weird or interesting nickname you gave someone? Uhhhh let's see... I'm actually not sure...? I'm sure there's SOMETHING, especially from childhood, but I'm blanking atm.

Is there a phrase or mantra you repeat when you are frightened? In my head, anyway. Sometimes I will focus very heavily on the ideology - not necessarily quote, it varies - that I can and WILL get through whatever is going on. Back in the day I was an "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me" person (I distinctly remember chanting this once when I had to take a freezing cold shower 😭), but it's since fallen in line with the remix of "I can do all things through me who strengthens me," something I very sincerely believe in and HEAVILY encourage people to remember with themselves, too.

What are you most envious of? Mentally well and rich people. People who are financially set for the rest of their fucking lives by simply existing.

Do you have a friend with a habit that worries you? Girt is very convinced he needs to lose a bit more weight when he ABSOLUTELY does not, and he can get defensive about it if you try to discourage him from this goal. I know he has self-confidence/image issues, and I hate it for him so much.

When you walk into your best friend’s room, what do you smell? I still haven't seen Girt's room. 🙃

Have you ever purposely broken something that belonged to a sibling? I have zero memory of ever doing that and it absolutely does not sound like something I would've even considered doing.

Do you like to visit famous people’s homes? Bitch there ain't no famous people 'round here lmfao

Has anyone ever baked you cookies? I mean, my mother, haha.

What’s the lamest present you’ve ever given? I don't know. I'm told by pretty much anyone I've ever given a gift to that I give super thoughtful gifts and I definitely try to do so. I cannot fucking wait until I have a source of income so I can more regularly give my loved ones gifts...

If your SO agreed, would you want an open relationship? Absolutely not. We're either having a loyal, monogamous relationship or we're not having anything at all.

Have you ever slept with three people in the same bed? When? Why? I can just about promise I have as a kid at sleepovers and stuff.

Who would you like to slow dance with? To what song? Hehe Girt. There's a great array of songs that I would slowdance to with him.

What’s your favorite pet name someone calls you? Girt most regularly calls me "hunny" and I think it's really cute.

If you could talk to one species of animal what would it be? Oh my god, THAT is impossibly hard. I'm sure every animal would value and focus on different things, so I'd really have to think on this, I really would. I will say it'd be VERY cool to see with absolutely certainty JUST how alike we are at heart to apes by conversing with one.

What’s the largest animal you’ve ever seen in person? An orca at SeaWorld (would never go again; I was a young child).

Would you give mouth to mouth to your dog to save its life? I sure would, if I knew how to do it properly.

If you came with a warning label, what would it say? "I'm going to be awkward and uncomfortable and I'm so sorry" or something like that lmfao

Did you ever show up late for an important event? Not to my recollection.

What was the last strong scent you smelled? HA Girt's feet yesterday.

What was the last thing you took a picture of? The flowers Girt got me for my birthday.

How did you discover your favorite band? Ozzy: heard his music growing up thanks to my parents. Rammstein: I knew OF them somehow in high school, I can't remember the precise origin, and then I heard my first song by them via a Guitar Hero game.

Does the weather affect your mood? If so, in what ways? Yes; I am considerably more likely to at least feel EVER so slightly more "down" if it's super cloudy and/or rainy. I used to LIVE for dark and gloomy conditions, including lighting in my own house, but I realized years ago that I very much benefit from being in brighter settings. Hot and/or humid weather also has a notable effect on me, that being that I become fucking miserable and irritable if I have to be in it.

When are you most likely to be bored? Eh, maybe like, late afternoon/early evening. That's not always the case, though.

What was the last big decision you made? This isn't gonna SOUND like a big decision, but it was to me: I finally added Girt's sister on Facebook. He was recently tagged in a picture with me so Ashley saw it and commented, and I felt like now that her Facebook presence was directly in my face (I already knew she had one, but you get it), it'd look rude to NOT reach out. And don't get me wrong, I've wanted to, I LOVE Ashley a whole lot, I've just been nervous from the start that she and ESPECIALLY their mother would come to hate me via Facebook because I am very open about what I believe in and support, and like her mother, Ashley is religious (though not to the extreme extent of Shelia, it looks like), and I just don't want to start shit when I inevitably share some anti-religion meme or something. I really, really want his family to continue loving me, but I'm also not about to pretend I'm someone I'm not on my own goddamn social media account. Guess we'll just see how everything goes.

Where was the last place you traveled to, and what did you do while there? Uh I guess Lake Gaston in Virginia; I want to say the last time Mom and I drove up there it was either for Aubree's birthday party, or... something else? I don't remember. Maybe Nick and Ashley's anniversary (they got married there).

What is one of your wildest dreams or ambitions? To be a very successful nature/wildlife/landscape photographer, maybe have something published in National Geographic.

What was the subject of your last phone conversation? Dad called on my birthday just checking up on things.

Name five things you can grab from where you’re sitting. A cup, my phone, my planner, the squishmallow Christmas fox Girt randomly got me, and my purse.

So, are you looking forward to being out on your own? (And if you’re already out on your own, how do you like it?) I never want to live purely on my own, but I honestly am very ready for Girt and I to have a place together. I'm gonna be VERY nervous to leave Mom, but I have to one of these days, and when Mom was in Tennessee and it WAS just us two, I fucking loved it. I went full stereotypical wife mode and actually felt useful. I know I was more productive and just acting more like an adult, at least slightly.

Would you ever go to a sperm bank to get pregnant? If I wanted a child, no. I have absolutely nothing against it for other people, but for myself? I just couldn't, I would feel WAY too weird growing the child of someone I didn't really know, when a massive part of the appeal of raising a kid *for me* is creating a little life between you and the person you're in love with.

When you like someone, and they don’t know about it, are you the type who wants to tell them, or them to make a move first? I may WANT to tell them, but I'm definitely the type that *prefers* them to make the first move.

Name a new friend you’ve made this year. Shelby. (: Well, I think we actually started talking in December, but close enough.

Have you ever known anyone that’s gone missing? Ummm I don't think so.

What game is in your game system right now? The PS2 has Silent Hill 2 in it, and the PS4 has Spyro the Dragon: Reignited Trilogy in it because Girt and I played it today!! :') I was losing my FUCKING mind, I love it so much.

Do you live near a pet store? Yes, a PetSmart. The mall that is also right by our house might still have a Petco, but I feel like it closed...

Who was the last person other than family to tell you that they love you? My boyfren. :') Well or maybe someone on Facebook in birthday message, I just don't feel like checking.

Have you ever been told that you resemble an animal or insect? No, that'd be offensive lmao

How many people have you kissed in the last month? Just Girt romantically.

What was the last picture you uploaded? Uhhhh I think it was a picture I took with my sisters that I posted in an Instagram story.

Is your about me long and detailed, or short and to the point? God I used to be SO bad about long intros haha, now I try to keep 'em pretty short wherever I have them.

What is your favorite type of cola? Just regular Coke.

Who did you spend your last birthday with? My birthday itself, just Mom, Girt, and Tobey for a lil while, however the family celebration was the day before, which I spent with Mom, Girt, my two sisters, my younger sister's boyfriend, Girt's mom, as well as Girt's nephew. His sister was also going to come, but she injured her foot and wanted to stay off of it.

Do you like apple soda? I've tried apple-flavored carbonated water and it was disgusting, honestly. Surprised me, because I usually LOVE apple-flavored anything.

What was the last thing that shocked you? Something Girt told me today that I just wasn't expecting, but it's private so I'ma just leave it at that. It was a good surprise though, haha.

How lonely are you right now? Not at all right now, actually! I had a good, busy weekend and am perfectly content having some me time.

What accent do you find most difficult to understand? Extremely heavy southern ones. Even when I live in an area where that's not at all rare, I still struggle understanding a lot of people around here.

Has your music taste changed over the years? From childhood, yes, but not very much since middle school-ish. Once I got into hard rock and metal, that's been my thing since. As a kid though, I liked your average pop hits as well as country music. I know, astonishing.

Have you ever practiced kissing on a stuffed animal? Nah.

Do you think the end of the world is near? Who knows. A gamma ray burst could melt us tomorrow. Or one may not hit the planet for a million years. It's not something I worry about nowadays.

Who makes you feel like you’re worth something? More than absolutely anyone, Mom and Girt do very regularly. But I'm lucky there are a number of people who do that.

How many pets is too many? This strictly depends on how many you are capable of properly, adequately providing for. There is no strict number. Different kinds of pets require different amounts of materials, care, etc., and the amount of time available to be invested in the care of these pets ALSO varies with every single person. As soon as you cannot manage to give your pet the care it absolutely needs (I'm not talking about all the rare luxuries), you have too many.

Do you know who your bridesmaid/best man will be? It's going to be my mom. I have no questions about this.

What is the best song by your favorite artist/band? I've answered with my *favorite* songs in the past, so for this, I'ma go for strictly what I think is the artist's best piece of musical art, like the ones that leave the strongest mark. For Rammstein's, it's absolutely "Stein um Stein (Stone by Stone)" imo, it's a FUCKING masterpiece. I think Ozzy's iiiiis... most likely "See You On the Other Side," but I also am VERY fond of "Ordinary Man" because that song is just him, it just tells his story and who he is beautifully. MAN I wanna list more of his, I just think he's a stupendous songwriter and has written such incredible pieces of music. In recent news I am so sad (but completely understand why) he's officially quit touring because of his health, I'm just waiting in absolute dread for the news to hit that he's passed away alskdjfalkwjekljraoiwejroieroeiraoisdjfalksdf I am going to shatter

How many times did your phone ring today? Three times; first Tobey called for Mom (her phone is being a total shit), then Dad called while she was talking to Tobey so I called him back and he didn't answer, THEN he called me back.

What theme do you want for your wedding? I want it to be gothic-y, very likely with a black and gold color scheme.

Do you have any of your future children’s names picked out? The Onion semi-recently posted one of their satire stories about a woman not wanting kids but having the overwhelming urge to still name humans and I was like............ same, bc I know EXACTLY what I want to name all potential children even though I very much doubt they'll ever exist lmfao

Would you ever date someone over the internet? I don't THINK I would again, but I wouldn't say absolutely not.

[ltleflrt]

Hey Carrie! You talked a little the other day about writers' tendency to start a fic too early in the story, and how you see a lot of first scenes that could have been scrapped to improve the story. My question is if you have some tips to recognize while writing that first scene that you are starting too early in the story?

Hello friend!

That's a really good question, and I'll see if I can give an answer that makes sense. I am not a professional, and I'm not educated or trained in this stuff, it's just something that I recognize from years and years and years of voracious reading. And as with all writing advice, I encourage you to take what I'm going to say with a grain of salt and remember that no writing rule is a hard rule, only a guideline.

Also, my advice is going to be pertaining fanfiction, and specifically to AUs. Obviously a published book has an editor with a razor blade going through a manuscript for you, and the problems that bother me in fanfiction crop up in AUs more than Canonverse.

Oh, and every instance of "you" is general, not specific 😜

So I think the main problem that I see is that people are starting with an Info Dump. An Info Dump is not always a bad thing, sometimes it's completely necessary, but it is NOT where you want to start your story. If it absolutely has to be done, it's better to be somewhere in the middle or near the end. When it's something that your characters need to know.

That's an important bit: Do your characters need to know this?

And related to that: Does your audience need to know this for the story to make sense?

And very important follow up: If the answers to the above questions are yes, does the character/audience need to know this RIGHT NOW?

There's a lot of information about your story that YOU need to know. Heck, my notes files are full of sooooooo much stuff that I know about the characters and plot that never reaches the final product.

So when you're reading your first chapter (I say reading, not writing, because sometimes info dumping for your own benefit is good, and then you fix it before you share the story lol), ask yourself those two questions.

So for example:

In an AU where Dean is a tattoo artist, and it's his POV. The story starts with Dean driving to work, and when he gets there he's going to find out that the empty shop next door has been purchased and is going to be a yoga studio. He meets Castiel out front, up on a ladder trying to hang a hand painted sign, and some teens go running buy and knock into the ladder and Dean has to catch Castiel from falling. (Anyone who wants to adopt this idea is welcome to it btw, I would love to read this lol)

The mistake I often see in a first chapter like this is that as Dean is walking to work, there's a whole Info Dump about why he's a tattoo artist instead of a hunter. He'll be ambling along, thinking about his nice little business, and there's info about how his mom died in a fire, and his dad was a jerk, and Dean didn't go to college because he saved his money for Sammy's college fund, and Dean's only passion was art, and Bobby Singer introduced him to a tattoo shop owner who took Dean under his wing, etc.

Question 1, does your character need to know this?: Why is Dean reflecting on his past? Does Castiel need to know this information in order to build a romance with Dean?

Question 2, does your audience need to know this?: Why does this information matter? If Dean's only reflecting on this because you want to make sure your audience knows where the timeline changed and this became an AU, then you're starting too early in your story. Dean doesn't need to know this, and honestly in a lot of cases the reader doesn't need to know this. This is information that should have been left in your notes file.

Question 3, does the character/audience need to know this NOW?: If this information is pertinent to the plot, like maybe there's some trauma there that Castiel might need to know about to develop their relationship, then you don't want to put it HERE, you want to put it in a conversation with Castiel LATER.

If I was writing this AU, I would just start with Dean sipping his coffee, he's kinda tired because reasons, he looks up to see an unusual commotion, and has to drop his coffee and sprint forward to catch Cas. If he's reflecting on anything in this scene, it's going to be whatever made him tired, or how good/bad the coffee is this morning. Since Cas is a new business owner, they can talk about the origins of Dean's business on their first date, because it'll be a relevant response to Castiel talking about the origins of his yoga studio.

And just in general, if Dean's origin story includes a lot of canon elements, like mom dying in a fire, dad being a deadbeat, Sammy being the adorable overachieving Stanford student.... try to hide that info for as long as you can so that the audience is actually curious about it by the time the info might pop up. It's the wild divergences that are more interesting earlier on.

Okay, and then I want to talk about my giant pet peeve for a starting chapter. It's a specific kind of info dump, that often includes the stuff from above, but then goes a step further.

My nemesis, The Daily Grind.

I haven't asked the authors, so I could be wrong about this, but I feel like most of the time when this type of chapter is included in a story it is because the author wants to show the reader that the character's life is boring and meaningless before the plot's inciting incident. I can absolutely see why that might be considered an important detail about the character, but keep in mind if it's boring and meaningless to the character, it's boring and meaningless to your audience.

You know how I said earlier that writing tips should never be hard and fast rules? Well this is in regards to that Show Don't Tell rule, and it's an example of TOO MUCH showing lol

It is possible to do a daily grind in an interesting way, but only if you include a Shake Up right away. And you have to look at the 3 questions a little bit differently.

So for example:

Castiel POV, and he works in an office. His daily routine is to always get up at the same time every day, he goes for his run, he grooms himself, he has his breakfast, he goes to work and talks to Kelly about how Jack's doing in kindergarten for a few minutes before going into his office. Adler comes in to be a prick, Castiel hates him for it, and then he does his reports, has lunch hiding in a corner of the lunch room so that his co-workers will leave him alone, he does more reporting, leaves an hour after his shift technically ends, goes home to a lonely apartment that maybe includes a pet who is the only being that shows him affection, has an unsatisfying dinner of leftover takeout while watching a mindless reality tv show, then he goes to bed.

Ugh.

BORING.

Which, yeah I get it, the point is that his life is boring. But now the story is too, and I've clicked the back button before I can see how exciting it's capable of getting.

Question 1, does your character need to know this?: No. He knows. Poor thing definitely already knows.

Question 2, does your audience need to know this?: Yes, but...

Question 3, does the character/audience need to know this NOW?: Yes, but new question for ya:

Optional Question 4, why does this need to be separate from your plot's inciting incident? The answer to this 4th question is usually that it doesn't.

Chapter 2 of this type of beginning usually shows the shake up of Castiel's day. My advice is to start with the shakeup, and sprinkle in the details of what you would have put into chapter 1 to show the contrast. It's far more interesting to learn how boring Castiel's day is by starting with the shake up.

So, same scenario:

Castiel's alarm doesn't go off for some reason, OH NO HIS ROUTINE IS SHAKEN UP! You're explaining his routine while also stressing him the fuck out because he has to rush, or skip something that he normally needs to do. Action! Interesting! He gets to work late, and has to miss his conversation with Kelly about Jack because she's telling him that Adler's already in his office being a prick because Castiel isn't there waiting for him like he always is. Oh shit, he's pissing off his asshole boss! Conflict! He's so flustered by the shakeups that he misses something on his report, and he gets a call from that new marketing guy Dean Winchester who asks if they can have a meeting about it when Castiel normally takes his lunch. BAM! MEET CUTE OPPORTUNITY! While Castiel is getting all flustered by how pretty Dean is while they talk about TPS reports, he can reflect on how this is both better and worse than hiding from his co-workers in the corner of the lunch room. The rest of the day after that meeting he's thinking about how weird this day is, he still goes home an hour late, he talks to his pet about his weird day when he gets home, and maybe he still eats leftover takeout, but he's not paying attention to the reality tv show because holy shit he wants to count Dean's freckles.

In this example, you're Telling the audience about Castiel's normal routine instead of Showing them. But since it's during a plot heavy chapter, it works!

Lemme see if I can TL:DR this...

As you're reading, ask yourself who needs to know this information, why do they need to know this information, and why is it important for this information to be included early instead of later?

If the answer to any of those questions boils down to "this is backstory" instead of "this kicks off the plot", then you've started too early.

I hope this helps? I'm always nervous about giving writing advice because so much of the time I have no idea what I'm doing, and I'm just feeling around in the dark. And I definitely do not ever want to hurt an author's feelings, because this hobby is so fucking hard, and we're all fragile. Even authors who welcome con-crit with open arms will have a weak point that they're unaware of that might get poked wrong and cause a crack, ya know?

I hope anyone who gets this far who might see their own works reflected in my examples understands that I have a lot of respect for their ability to put their work out into the world, and I want them to keep doing it. We're here to have fun, okay? Okay. I love y'all 💜

[coldmorte]

Hey! I really really like your blog and all the Dutch content, and I read your posts on Molly and Dutch and I just felt like sharing my thoughts :) If you don’t feel like it, just ignore this

I like Molly, even though I agree that she’s very much a snob and very paranoid at times.

It’s always felt very clear to me that Molly really, truly loves Dutch. And love makes you do stupid, desperate things (just look at Arthur).

Molly’s interaction with Abigail is about Dutch’s love for Molly, not the other way around. It’s Abigail saying that Dutch doesn’t love her and Molly lashing out (probably to protect herself from the truth).

This is brought up again in An Honest Mistake, when she talks to Arthur about Dutch, questioning how Dutch seems to him. When Molly says, “I really love him, you know,” Arthur averts his eyes and doesn’t look at her. I’ve always seen this as Arthur knowing Dutch doesn’t love her in the way Molly wants him to, if he loves her at all.

I’ve always seen Dutch as being kind of ahead of his time when it comes to certain progressive ideas (especially as it pertains to race), but when it comes to women, he’s very much a product of his his time. The way he talks about them and to/at them, whether it’s Molly or Abigail or Mary-Beth or Sadie, is often either dismissive or condescending.

While he doesn’t outright say it, the way he acts around the women at camp has always left me feeling like he prefers women (at least the ones he takes an actual interest in) to fit into the roles society has carved out for them; they have to be beautiful and docile and romantic-minded for him to take an interest.

You’ve said yourself, that Dutch deals with a lot of self doubt and that stems from wanting to be seen as a great and powerful man, who the people in camp can look up to, and women (especially young women) were (and to some degree stil is) seen as symbols of status. Molly is a beautiful woman from a wealthy family; she could have anyone she wanted, and she chose Dutch and ran away with him, leaving her old life behind – that’s the ultimate powermove on Dutch’s part.

I’ve always thought of Dutch as a romantic, the way he talks about love and how it’s the one thing worth living for, and I believe that he may have at some point actually loved Molly or at least convinced himself that he did, but the second he grows tired of her and realises that he doesn’t actually love her, he’s moving on to another, younger woman.

His inner romantic and his ego and need to be perceived as powerful are at odds with each other, and as the game progresses we see how his romantic and kind side wilt under the weight and pressure of his responsibilities as a leader and his need to be perceived as powerful and a great leader.

Those are my thoughts at least :)

Hello!

Thank you for the ask and the kind words! That really does mean a lot!! 💜💜💜

I am very grateful for your message, and no!!!! I don’t want to ignore it!! That wouldn’t be very fair of me, as I feel like you bring up some good points to discuss. Also, I appreciate the respect in your message and for taking the time to write so much out! I’d be happy to give you some of my time in return 🥰

(Warning: SPOILERS below)

I’m going to take your points one at a time here. So, starting with liking Molly, it’s totally fine! I don’t want to be too negative on my blog, and I don’t want people to feel like they have to think the same way I do. That wouldn’t be any fun, so it does make me happy that you can enjoy her character. I don’t want to take that away from you!! By all means, love her to your heart's content!!! ❤️

Furthermore, though I don’t personally like Molly, I don’t think she was a truly bad person. Just like every other character in the game, she had flaws and made mistakes. I primarily wish I could have gotten to know her better because she was presented during a very dark time in her life. I feel like this affected my perception of her, and I might have seen her differently, if I had gotten the chance to interact more with her character (especially outside of the RDR2 timeframe). Everybody deserves not only to love somebody, but everybody also deserves to have faith that the person they love can truthfully say the same back to them. I felt bad that Molly died such an unhappy, loveless death.

About the love Molly had for Dutch, I agree that she loved him. My point in bringing up infatuation was to primarily highlight the reason and the degree to which she honestly loved him. Did Molly love Dutch for the man he was, or for the idea of the man he was? Maybe, it was a mix? I am not sure there is enough information to give a conclusive answer to this (as I somewhat mentioned before).

To be fair, the same thing could (and should) be asked of Dutch. Did he truly love her, or did he just love the idea of having her at his side? Again, it would be fascinating to see the early part of their relationship. It would answer a LOT of questions. You mention that Dutch arguably saw Molly as a symbol of status, and I agree that it was very plausible. I think, to some degree, both Molly and Dutch saw each other as being favorable for what they represented, unfortunately.

In regard to the interaction between Molly and Abigail, I realize my response was unclear about this (that’s my bad). I'll try to write it better here, but this is really complicated to put into words! I'll do my best!!

What I said was that Molly got angry at people she “perceived” as challenging her love (this was subjective to her POV and not necessarily reflective of true reality). My original answer was not objective (nor was it meant to be - I was trying to write this part from her POV), and there are a few layers I want to analyze here. First of all, from an objective perspective, you are correct. The conversation between them was ultimately about Dutch not loving Molly the way she wanted to be loved. However, the first thing Molly did was state to Abigail that she loved Dutch. If she didn’t see this point as being in question, why did she feel the need to immediately justify it before saying anything else? To me, it seemed like she needed to actively prove that she loved him to others.

This was also seen with Karen and Arthur. The conversations with Karen were confusing because they didn’t have much context, but perhaps, that was the point - to show the extent of Molly’s paranoia (in other words, that there was no context and that she was imagining Karen to be against her out of insecurity). Molly continually complained that Karen said bad things about her, and she insisted that she not only loved Dutch, but that he loved her as well. Then, as you mention, Molly emphasized to Arthur that SHE loved Dutch (it was not directly about his love for her). Again, by constantly having to profess her feelings, it was as if she thought people were doubting her on some level.

But here is where the contradiction comes in - I believe that Molly was smart enough to know that this doubting wasn't entirely genuine. She knew it was never really her love that she should have been concerned about. Although, by focusing on herself, it was a way to deflect from her insecurity regarding Dutch and the fact that she knew, deep down, he didn’t truly love her (at least, not anymore). That’s why she got so upset when Abigail, for instance, brought this point up. As soon as the conversation shifted from Molly’s love to Dutch’s love, she lashed out and stormed away.

So, to try to summarize this all up, what I am trying to say is that Molly “perceived” challenges to her own state of emotions as a means of shifting away from her concerns about Dutch’s feelings. She knew her "perceptions" were really more like lies to herself. Molly wanted the conversation with Abigail to seem like it was about her because she felt she was more in control of that and could handle it better. From a neutral perspective, the conversation was definitely not about Molly - it was entirely about Dutch, which Molly knew (she just didn’t like Abigail directly pointing it). I hope my response makes more sense? Sorry, if I am still being confusing!

Now, as for Dutch and his progressive ideas, I think a lot of them were formed in his youth. Little information was given about his childhood, but he did seem pretty sensitive about the fact that he grew up fatherless. His dad died in the Civil War (a conflict primarily centered around the issue of slavery and states’ attitudes towards it), while fighting on the side of the Union. One reason Dutch was probably so progressive in regard to race was because of his anger over losing a parent to racially-motivated violence. Racism seemed like a waste of time and life, so he was bitter towards people who still harbored racist sentiments. He knew firsthand how destructive they could be.

Minimal insight was provided into Dutch’s relationship with his mother, other than the fact that it was quite strained and unhappy. He left home at a young age and essentially disowned her. He obviously didn’t keep in touch with her, judging that he didn’t even know she died until years after the fact. Could this have affected his attitude later in life (towards women)?

I suppose it’s possible. Maybe, Dutch would have looked better on women, had he been closer with his mother. I consider his attitude towards women as pretty average for the era. It’s not entirely fair to compare him to Arthur, who was very progressive for the time and definitely above normal standards. As you say, I think Dutch was a product of his time. In RDR2, he didn’t come across as physically abusive, nor did he overtly sexualize women. However, he did seem to expect women to act in a subordinate manner. It's not great (and I certainly do not agree with his attitude), but again, the contemporary standards in regard to gender roles did not exist in 1899.

Lastly, I COMPLETELY agree about Dutch being VERY romantic, sentimental, and idealistic. This wasn’t just limited to interpersonal relationships either - it also fit his entire perspective of America and the values he held dear. Just take a look at some of his quotes:

“The promise of this great nation - men created equal, liberal and justice for all - that might be nonsense, but it’s worth trying for. It’s worth believing in.”

And:

“If we keep on seeking, we will find freedom.”

In the beginning, he had such high hopes and strong faith that he could find a way to live free from social and legislative demands. Compare that to the end, where he started to say things like:

“You can’t fight nature. You can’t fight change.”

And:

“There ain’t no freedom for no one in this country no more.”

Dutch wanted to believe that there was a chance to live free from the threat of control, but as he started to lose people he loved and got closer to losing his own battle, he started to take on a much more cynical tone. He began to realize that his romantic notions and idealistic visions of life were not always obtainable - no matter how hard he tried to reach them - and it broke him. This change in his life outlook was kind of similar to his interpersonal relationships. When he realized they were a lot of work and not always happy/perfect, he seemed to grow frustrated. Love requires a lot of patience and energy. Despite full effort, love still does not always succeed.

Also, I just want to add that I think Dutch knew he had a problem with his pride, but he tried his best to maintain his tough, confident persona because he didn’t want to be perceived as weak. He definitely realized he messed up in putting his pride first in the end, but at that point, it was too late. Whatever was left of his idealistic aspirations in life died with Arthur up on that cliff.

Anyhow, I’ve said more than enough. I’d like to once again thank you for the ask!! I hope my response was worth the time to read and that it makes sense. Feel free to share any more thoughts you may have!!!

~ Faith 💜

[ckneal]

how have you retained so many extremely specific details about the show? do you rewatch a lot? do you take notes? do you own supernatural books? please share with the class

I have no books—and honestly have a bit of a thing against fandom books from experiences in past fandoms. Other shows I’ve loved have had books published as blatant cash grabs, and seemed to have been written by people who maybe didn’t watch the actual shows they were about, and may have just looked at a few scripts or outlines, and disregarded the fun details that staff writers might have thrown in that weren’t part of the show’s original concept. . . Which I don’t know, the Supernatural books MIGHT not hit that same nerve, but if they DID, I don’t need that irritation in my life. I’m still bitter about losing in an official Supernatural trivia game one time, when the question asked was “How many angels have seen God?” And their “correct” answer was “Four.” Which was certainly true in the original five season run of the show, but in the later seasons, Metatron makes five, he literally talks about being in God’s presence before he left Heaven, to God’s face, and how dare they, and I am so sorry, I’m getting off topic.

I honestly just remember these things. I will rewatch episodes when they pertain to a concept I’m writing about, and I’ll take notes in those instances, because I want to make sure that I have the details right (unlike when I decided that Adam, Sam, and Dean were closer in age than they canonically are) but for the most part. . .it’s just sort if there, in my head. I just like stories so much, fitting stray details together so that they make sense or suggest whole other things? It’s my happy place.

[rpbetter]

Hey there, check out this pinned post first!

Thanks for visiting Roleplay Better, where I believe that you can fucking do better! That kind of language, however, is why it is important for you to read this post before proceeding.

This blog and its posts are meant for an adult RPing audience; be over legal, adult age in the USA, 18+. Do not interact by submitting, asking, reblogging, commenting, or liking unless you are over eighteen years of age. By interacting with RPB or me, Vespertine, you are assumed to be following this rule. If you are breaking this rule, you will be blocked.

I have that rule because this blog can/will/does address topics inappropriate for a younger audience. Those can include, but are not limited to:

not safe for work - violence, injury, sexual language, smut, substance use

“dark topics” and themes like violence, unhealthy relationships, mental illness, trauma, graphic injury, dubious consent, substance use, and so forth addressed realistically

foul, sexual, and otherwise “Adult” language

 unpopular opinions and approaches about writing, RP, fandoms

“negativity” since literally anything can be, and my whole point here isn’t about holding back; it is likely that, at some point, in some post or another, a shoe will fit you-you need to be mature enough to handle that without taking it as a personal attack on you

images and links that may contain things inappropriate for a younger audience

this blog is founded upon the idea that fiction has reflections in reality, but that fiction does not utterly equate to reality. You should write with realism, your characters should be people in their own right, and you should absolutely be addressing many popular topics responsibly, which is to say realistically. I do not support or otherwise condone purity culture, so while realism is a big deal here, fiction = reality arguments are a no

seriously, you have no idea how fucking salty I am! I try to be fair, reasonable, and mellow with everyone, but it can and does come out.

This blog tags for common, major triggers, but it is not for those easily triggered or particularly sensitive. By proceeding, you take responsibility for yourself...like a mature adult. I expect you to utilize blacklist, unfollow, and block. Tag format is simple, it is literally just the word in most cases, with “cw” and “tw” added to particularly common things. Example, a post containing a breakdown of forms of dubcon will be tagged #dubcon #dubious consent. If that was specifically of a sexual nature, since tumblr is unfriendly to using Not Safe For Work now, I will be using #notsafe for sexual topics. In the event that this needs to change, it will be posted about, the previous tag left intact, so that you may update your blacklist.

You are always welcome to send me an ask or private message requesting a particular trigger be tagged for you. I try to check blogs I see following, especially if I follow back, so that I can tag what you require. However, I’m a person, I’m an ND, ill, busy person though, I do make mistakes!

If you find yourself desirous of telling me to tag in a hateful way, don’t. You will not be responded to with an apology and kindness. Do not be rude, it’s uncalled for when informing someone of a problem or making a request.

I will run the blog largely on a queue, and will not be following many people back. This is not personal! I just like to try to provide content at many different times, have a life elsewhere, and I am so happy that you love your fandom, but it might not be something I’ve enough interest in to have on my dash.

Don’t tumblr message me. Use the inbox or submit.

Due to recent events, I am changing this rule. It’s hard for me to receive messages unexpectedly, and I hate to imply that I’ll be able to get to these quicker because it isn’t the truth. Quicker, better responses come from the inbox. However, there have been too many incidents lately in which people needed to speak privately and had to make that a request. If you’re having a problem and need to vent, request sensitive advice, etc.? It’s alright, go ahead and drop me a PM, y’all. I’ll get back to you as soon as I am able. Please, do not be angry with me if I respond to inbox things or my queue is running! You’re important to me, I just might not have the requisite social cognition and energy you deserve at that time.

Aggressive inbox messages will be responded to in kind. I don’t care if you are on anon or not, if you haven’t an ounce of polite communication skills, I won’t have them either. This is not a “we don’t publish anon hate” blog.

I highly encourage asks and submissions on any and all RP topics, and it’s perfectly alright to be salty as fuck in them, you can totally vent here, but don’t take out your frustration on me or be demanding of me. I am always happy to help with information, advice, or just a response to your venting-it’s important to know someone is listening. However, it may take me a few days to a week to get to you, be patient. 

If you are going to vent, leave out usernames. This isn’t a callout or burnbook blog. It’s fine to state characters and fandoms, but if this becomes a problem, it’ll have to change. I don’t want this becoming a salt blog for one or two fandoms I very likely can’t even stand. Practice the fine art of alluding to things, its good experience for your writing! Besides, RPC problems are RPC problems, I promise. It might feel like it’s just your fandom, but there is something relatable in all corners.

I will not overly police comments. Keep the slurs and shit out of it, though. If there is an issue going on pertaining to a serious instance of hate speech, or behavior I, personally, deem as too inappropriate and/or immature to be taking place on my post, I will step in. Otherwise, I expect everyone to be adults in the comments and reblogs too. If you want to argue with each other, that’s your business. If you want to argue with me, I’m not sorry in advance.

Addition to the above: this is not a blog in which it will be tolerated that commentators or those submitting with the URLS are targeted for callouts, shaming, or other instances of bullying. No, I cannot make those people stop bothering you by blocking them, but the least I can do is address that by shutting down their access to this blog and it’s posts by blocking on the URLs I have for them. And I will. Fuck that “we can’t be responsible for” shit. It’s my blog, it’s my content I’m putting out there, I’m not going to just ignore shit like what went down over on COAR, thanks. Not. Cool.

This is definitely not a place for:

people who think giving muses labels, including top/bottom “dynamics,” is a good substitute for character traits, personality, and development

those with no reading comprehension skills

folks dependent upon aesthetics and aesthetics-based purple prose as filler for actual writing

anti-original character/just wants to fuck a FC or canon character club, get the fuck out immediately

y’all who see writing as an obstacle to getting down to action, be that smut, drama, or fight scenes...it’s literally a writing hobby

politics, any manner of phobe or ism, violent/non-inclusive feminists, purity/rpc/fandom/content police of any manner, and exactly any manner of racism, sexism, or religious intolerance - I give not a shit if it’s popular to hate the straights, for example, I neither believe in nor tolerate reactionary classifying of any group as blanket-statement evil

people who are going to tack onto my posts shit like, “it’s okay, OP, you can say x character.” Trust me, if I were talking about one character, I fucking would name drop them, don’t bring me into your fandom drama, I doubt I know or want to know who that anime guy is who looks like 12 other anime guys to me.

About Vespertine

You can call me that, Vespertine. I’d rather you didn’t go with Vesper, but as it is unfortunately so likely to happen, I won’t feed you to the dogs over it either. RPB Mun is also acceptable.

I’m alright with either she/her or he/him, they/them is also fine. Apparently, that was big enough clue-in for the poor reading comp crowd, so while I feel it is not of importance, I’m nonbinary, yes.

Late 30′s, chronically ill but still working adult with neurodivergence. I’m both busy and Busy, and always sick. This limits my brain power and ability to be here. I have an active RP blog that I won’t be sharing to keep responsible distance. That is always going to be my priority, it is my primary hobby.

Please, don’t tumblr message me totally random things if we don’t have that kind of relationship! I’m too ill and busy, and it really fucks my nerves to have a bunch of messages/have to suddenly interact socially with people. Don’t do it. Use my inbox, use the submit, comment on posts. I cannot do random messages of “hey” and so forth.

I only do written RP, don’t expect me to understand much of anything from tabletop. I’ve RPed for the last 23 years consistently, on every platform from AOL chats to forums to messengers and here. I also don’t do RP in discord, so I’m sorry, but I can’t advise you much on anything with a word count, except to stop it for serious RP. Other than that, I promise you that I’ve seen the trends, the drama, the fandoms. I can give a lot of advice and perspective on a wide range of topics, situations, and characters! When I don’t have a clue at all, I’ll try to do enough research to give you an answer.

Do I come off as a horrible, strict asshole? I do! I’m not going to say that I am just a shy bean who is more scared of you than you are me. I’m not. I’m honestly feral, but have common decency, compassion, and sense. All of which are lacking in the general RPC. So, if you can inbox/common/otherwise interact with anyone else on this site, you can totally handle me!

Honesty and openness are policies.

And in the spirit of that, I repeat; you can fucking do better, tumblr RPC!

[nabrizoya]

Guess it’s time for a little celebration.

Last night I realized I have 100 lovely people following my (trash of a) blog and I honestly couldn’t have been more overwhelmed. I am really glad most of think following me is worth the effort and you find the things I post/reblog worthy of your time. that means!!! a!!! lot!!!

Haven’t done this one before but it won’t harm to do it now. As a part of this tag thingy, I can ask you to send a number from one of these below and tell me something about yourself in my ask box. (if you’re not anonymous, it will be even better bc i’d like to know you but i understand if you don’t). For instance, “3, 5 + I once ate sand and I pooped a sandcastle.”

sorry.

Send 1 if you’d like to know what happened to me while I was reading TSC. (if I got spoiled, what my reactions were cause boy oh boy have i documented them in chats and i’ll share the ss if i find them, if I remember anything weird happening around as I read blah blah, you get the point).

Send 2 if you’d like for me to tell you what I admire/despise/morally question by a bit about any certain character. Or any scene/event that happened from the books that I love the most.

Send a 3 if you want to hear something interesting from the subjects I’m studying for my degree. I’ll just pick something random from the syllabus or research something on my own pertaining to the topic and give you a watered down version of it. also i have my exams soon and i’m wasting and whiling my days away like the scoundrel i am so this is a sorry excuse of mine to study so send smth pls.

Send a 4 if you want me to look up an interesting quote for you. I have a commonplace book that I maintain where I collect quotes/ newspaper clippings/ other random things which I don’t keep track of.

Send a 5 and a question (like the ones you get in ask lists) about me that you want me to answer. Some good ol’ chit-chat where we’re two old people catching up on life personally with a cup of tea or coffee or just milk which I may or may not have confused about whether I put salt or sugar in it or I’ll tell you something random.

Or, send a 6 if you want me specify a headcanon I have about any of the characters.

Also, if you have any complaints about me or my blog, do feel free to tell me those.

[fapangel]

WELCOME, NEW GUN OWNERS!

A Brief Intro To The Whole ‘Gun’ Thing Business Stuff

By Planefag

1. So You Bought A Coronavirus Gun and you’re honestly a bit scared of it. What now?

You already know the four rules of gun safety because 1. the guy at the store told you, 2. it was in the users manual, which you read, and above all 3. you’ve not a redneck going “yee-haw BANG-GATTY!” you’re a goddamn sane human being. In point of fact, this new gun kind of scares you a bit and you sometimes have second thoughts.

Congratulations! You’re already becoming a Responsible Gun Owner.

Y’see, what us gun nerds don’t tell you is that we practice gun safety to the point of obsessive paranoia. Guns don’t shoot people, people shoot people – including by accident. The gun doesn’t do jack diddly shit – YOU do. All that responsibility is on YOU. And if you’re sitting there eyeballing the damn thing like it’s a live snake, it means you respect and fear the power, which is the first step in fully accepting the responsibility of gun ownership. You didn’t buy that damn thing as a dick replacement or to kill tin cans in the backyard, you bought it to protect yourself and your family should the worst happen – i.e. you’re already taking responsibility for your and/or your family’s own safety.

Being a grown-ass responsible adult is what qualifies you to own a gun. That’s it. Everything else is just knowledge, and none if it means diddly squat without the attitude, and as a (likely) reluctant owner, you already have that.

Never forget this.

2. What Nobody Will Tell You About The Safety Culture Of Firearms

You are absolutely going to fuck up gun safety a lot and the entire system and culture of firearm safety is designed to deal with this.

It starts with the Four Rules themselves:

All guns are loaded at all times.

Never point the gun at anything you don’t want to destroy.

Keep your finger off the trigger unless you intend to fire.

Never shoot an unidentified target and always consider what’s behind it.

These rules are multiply redundant safeties. Just ONE of these rules can and will save your life. You, as an ordinary mortal human, cannot possibly be perfect all the time, even with well-ingrained safety habits, but with multiple safety habits, you don’t NEED to be. Once Upon A Time a friend brought over her husband’s new gun for us to see, and my whole family handled it and tried it out. I asked to try the trigger pull, and before I touched the trigger, I decided to check the chamber – and a live round popped out.

That’s when I realized that, despite all of us having failed to check the chamber, we had all: 

1. Never touched the trigger 2. Never walked in front of the muzzle 3. Never pointed it in an unsafe direction - only at the floor.

My whole family, my friend, and I all fucked up, and nobody was hurt because while you will occasionally forget one or even two rules of gun safety, it’s effectively impossible to forget all four.

This “multiple redundancy” extends to other gun owners, and it’s why gun nerds seem to be such tiresome pedantic pricks about precise terminology – it all starts with “trigger discipline;” i.e. pointing out when someone else has their finger on the trigger when they’re not about to shoot; in a movie, in pictures, in real life, in a TikTok video etc. Muzzle discipline (don’t point it at things you want to destroy) is a close second. This is how gun owners work together to reinforce each other’s safety habits until they are second nature. This is the root of much gun culture – for instance, “silencer” is a perfectly valid name for the round make-gun-more-quieter-can, but lots of people get uptight and insist they be called “suppressors” because they don’t actually literally silence a gun, and your hearing can still be damaged if you fire a louder/bigger gun with a “can” on it and omit hearing protection (“earpo.”) Safety is serious business and you can expect other gun owners to coach you in it.

This system is formally enforced at shooting ranges, where someone called the Range Officer walks around for the sole purpose of making sure every rule of gun safety is observed at all times. With so many people in such tight confines, perfect gun safety is required, which is beyond the ability of any mere mortal. The range officer’s job is to be your second brain, helping you observe gun safety. They will often show you tricks to help avoid common mistakes in gun handling – one RO showed me how to stand sideways to my bench, so that when I manipulated my pistol in both hands, I could hold it sideways (as one naturally wants to do, to inspect it,) while still keeping the muzzle downrange. It’s natural to feel embarrassed if an RO corrects your mistake in gun safety, but you shouldn’t be – RO’s see every knuckle-dragging moron on Earth and can easily tell someone who is trying to be safe from a simple moron who doesn’t give a damn. RO’s treasure earnest newbies, because its easy to teach knowledge and habit, but difficult if not impossible to instill responsibility.

A final note on safety involves storage. To be of any damn use, your gun must be loaded and ready in your home, but many people also need to secure it against children, dumb-ass visiting friends or in some neighborhoods, possible burglary. What you need is a quick-access safe, like this one linked here. Note how the keypad has grooves so your fingers can find it in the dark, and only has four buttons. These tools are expressly designed to keep your firearm readily accessible and also safe and secure. Avail yourself of these.

3. You Don’t Know Jack Shit About Guns And That Doesn’t Matter.

Everything you think you know about guns is probably complete fucking bullshit – but if you know how to point YOUR gun’s loud end at the bad guy and pull the trigger, that’ll do.

Many in my own tribe will rip me a new asshole for saying this, but its true nonetheless. A TON of what you think you know about guns is total bullshit propagated by Hollywood, and some of it’s dangerous because it could get you killed – for instance, if you think your new shotgun doesn’t need to be aimed because it’ll light up half the living room from five feet away like in video games.

But you don’t own every gun from movies or games, do you? You only own YOUR gun. That’s the only one you need to worry about learning right now. You’re probably stuck “sheltering in place” and all the shooting ranges are closed, but that means you have plenty of time to watch youtube videos, and damn are there a lot of good, informative youtube videos on firearm topics. Paul Harrell alone has tons of excellent, down to Earth videos on every topic you can imagine, and he often caters to fresh-faced newbies, such as this introduction to shotguns and what they do. Full30.com is “gun youtube” and has nothing but informative gun videos.

Watching these videos you’ll soon realize that what sounds like basic newbie information to you is being delivered in videos aimed at experienced gun owners – because we gun owners often don’t know shit, either. Even among gun owners ourselves, a great many myths and legends persist; the classic example being old-timers who think the springs in magazines will wear out if you keep them loaded too long (they don’t, any more than the suspension springs on your car do from just sitting in the garage.) These rumors persist because while their recommended techniques don’t help, they almost never hurt, either. Gun owners pursue these almost mythical rituals for the exact same reason they have such strong opinions (and sometimes bitter arguments) over trivial differences in firearm performance or utility – even though the differences are very minor, when you are fighting for your own priceless life, even slim advantages are worth having. Even though most gun owners keep a simple shotgun for home defense and spend most of their money on Fun Shooty Guns for the range and/or competitions, the entire community is, ultimately, rooted in traditions and lessons pertaining to actual practical use of firearms for community, family and self-defense.

Thus: when fellow gun-owners, in person or online, give your selection of firearm shit and recommended ten billion other accessories or methods to buy or use, do not be fooled into thinking your gun is useless or seriously sub-par; almost anything that you can put lead downrange with, where you want it, will do the job. At the same time, understand that this community has such strong opinions on often trivial differences because you’re preparing to defend your and your families lives, and with infinitely high stakes, no advantage is too trivial to consider.

Sights and slings and magazines and such are all well and good to have, but if you need to make a choice, remember that having the gun, and the skill and familiarity to use it is already 90% of the equation. Paul Harrell demonstrates this very very well in his video on using double-barreled shotguns for home defense, which he opens with the line “not everyone can afford thousand-dollar guns,” and “you don’t need the latest, greatest thing to get the job done.” Clint of Thunder Ranch – a man who has in fact shot people and been shot at – is also on-record as warning people that you can absolutely be killed by the oldest, silliest damn Oregon-Trail looking goddamn Elmer Fudd popgun if the wielder knows how to run it well. Look no further than the return of lever-action Old West guns for home defense.

4. The Right Of The People To Keep And Bear Arms Shall Not Be Infringed AND YOU ARE PEOPLE

YES, YOU, YOU LEFT-WING BERNIEBRO TRIPLE-COMMUNIST FROM SOVIET MORDOR. AND YOU, TRANS-QUEER-POC-NONBINARY OTHERKIN. YOU ARE PEOPLE.

IF YOU ARE PEOPLE, THIS IS YOUR CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHT. IT IS NOT CONTINGENT ON YOUR POLITICS, YOUR RELIGION, YOUR SEX, GENDER, OR PREFERENCE OF GAMING CONSOLE. YOU BOUGHT A GUN, NOT A POLITICAL PARADIGM SHIFT. IT CAME WITH A TRIGGER LOCK, NOT A PACKET OF KOOL-AID.

WE GUN OWNERS HAVE FOUGHT TIRELESSLY FOR GENERATIONS TO DEFEND THE RIGHT OF THE PEOPLE PRECISELY BECAUSE WE KNEW TIMES LIKE THESE WOULD INEVITABLY COME. AND NOW THAT THEY’RE HERE, BEING VINDICATED IS ABSO-FUCKING-LUTELY NO FUN AT ALL, BECAUSE WE’RE ALL IN THIS SHITSTORM TOGETHER.

5. Come Talk To Us – We Don’t Bite

Most gun owners collect guns because we can’t afford to collect cars or old tractors or whatever, and worse, we can’t race them against each other nearly as easily as we can go to an IDPA competition and blap steel pop-up targets. Firearms are exquisite works of engineering, and marksmanship is a science, an Olympic sport, and a true art that was respected as the domain of the experienced and wise even in Antiquity. Most of us were taught gun safety as a case-study in the responsibilities of adulthood, at our parents and grandparents knee, and we find real joy in introducing new people to the joy of firearms ownership and shooting sports.

Gun owners have been subject to non-stop, wall-to-wall abuse for decades due to our views on firearm rights – quite often to our faces, from family members. It makes us scornful and defensive – but it also primes us to welcome fellow supporters of self-defense rights with open arms as long-lost brothers. Hit us up on Twitter or BookFarce or whatever the hell you use. Ask your questions – yes, even the dumb ones. We asked the exact same ones ourselves when we were starting out. We’ll deny it till the sun burns out, but we did, and our guilty memories mock us still.

It often feels like the divides in America are too deep to ever be healed, and even in the midst of this crisis, where there should only be two sides – humanity vs. virus – the bitter recriminations continue. But it’s still the best chance we’ve had to see eye-to-eye with each other, and that new gun of yours, lying in its factory grease still in its factory hardcase, is proof positive of that.

You’re disgusted by this reality, aren’t you? That such ugly measures are necessary? That things have gotten this bad?

Good. So are we. Which is why we need you; you people who wish for a world where guns aren’t needed and people sleep with their doors unlocked at night. People who push forward, finding a way to advance. And this current disaster is why you need us; people who know how bad it can get, how easily the center can fold, who prepare for the worst.

We will need you again in the future. And that is why we are here for you now.

[sokkathebluewolf]

I'm very curious about the Fire Nation Military Academy. Could you maybe explain that a little bit further? Is there just one? Can everyone just go there? How got our guards there? How's the training? With which age do you go to the FNMA? Do you really need to cut all ties to your past? How are you getting to the job of a Imperial Guard? I have many more questions but these are the only ones that came to my mind rn. Maybe you can explain a little bit more? That would be cool.

Well, for starters, the current branches of the Fire Nation Army, in Gladiator, are as follows:

Army: land troops deployed outside the Fire Nation’s mainland.

Navy: obviously, water-based troops, warships and the like.

Domestic Forces: troops stationed within the Fire Nation’s mainland.

Guards: special division of the Domestic Forces, tasked with the protection of the Fire Nation’s Palace directly, and the Fire Nation’s Royal Family.

Air Force: the second-newest branch, operating with airships and hot-air balloons.

Enforcers: the newest branch, tasked specifically to deal with all that pertains the enforcement of the new Slavery Laws.

The first five branches are all trained in Military Academies throughout the Fire Nation (they have more than one academy, the others are located in the bigger cities), the last branch is trained specifically at the Enforcers’ Headquarters (currently, only in the mainland).

There’s more than one Academy, like I said, and most anyone is encouraged to join it. While the Fire Nation is quite classist in many regards, and they tend to look down on anyone whose heritage isn’t perfectly Fire Nation, Fire Lord Ozai has been struggling for years with how thinly spread his army is. Hence, while enrolling in the Fire Nation Academy when you’re an Honorary Citizen is prooobably not the wisest thing since it means 1. you’ll be fighting against your people 2. you’ll have to endure a lot of Fire Nation snobbishness... they’re encouraged to join in anyhow. Therefore, social classes are overlooked in the Fire Nation military, but not out of any noble intentions: it’s merely for the Fire Lord’s convenience.

The training in the Academy starts the same for everyone, basic classes all across for all recruits. Within a matter of 2 months, all soldiers should have the grasp of basic combat training techniques (firebending training for firebenders, weapons training for non-benders, and the occasional earthbenders have their own bending training too). 

After a period of refining their skills for about a year, the students at the Academy are either selected by their instructors to serve as Guards (only the students with top marks are eligible for this specialization, whether benders or firebenders), or they can choose their own future career path (Domestic Forces, Army, Navy and, nowadays, the Air Force too). Naturally, the duty of the Guards isn’t exactly easy but it’s a lot less taxing than that of a soldier in the frontlines... so being selected for the Guards is not only considered an honor, but a highly coveted one too: EVERYONE wants to be a Guard :’D still, not a lot of people can pull off top-marks, so you have to break your back in your first year if you really want to be a Guard.

Now, once the first year is done and all new recruits have “joined” a military branch, the students spend their next three years perfecting the skills required to perform their future duties. Back in the war’s heyday, often these three years of finalizing their studies were spent out in the field, outright assisting the troops since, like I said, the army was spread so thin that they needed quick soldier deployment ASAP. Nowadays, as the Earth Kingdom continent has been conquered successfully, the Academies are back to a slightly less hectic rhythm and can work with their students without sending them out to fight when they’re not finished with their education yet.

The Enforcers, new as they are, have a slightly different training regime that’s actually a tad bit more imposing than the one in the Military Academies, since they’re being trained and recruited ASAP. As shown in the story, they’re trained in non-bending combat even if they’re benders, so all of them are equipped with swords of their own. They still attend classes after their first raids begin, and they’re still recruiting, so their growth is ongoing... but as the laws needed to be enforced right away, the Enforcers have had to be prepared for their duties even more rashly than the recruits of the army I described up there. It’s going to get a little easier for Enforcers that get recruited later in the future, they might even get a few years of proper preparation for their roles... but they really can’t afford that for the time being.

Anyways! The training is divided, like I said, depending on the kind of duties each branch handles. Domestic Forces recruits, for instance, have to fully learn city layouts, prison guard protocols, learn about Fire Nation laws and infractions, since that’s the stuff they usually have to deal with. Navy officers are taught water-based strategic fighting, how to man catapults, everything to do with how to navigate... and the army learns strategies for land-based combat, how to mount the animals the army uses in battle, as well as geography of the general world, since they’ll likely need a better understanding of how to traverse diverse lands than any of the other branches will. All branches have further combat training (whether bending or weapons-based) throughout the next three years of specialized training, to hone their fighting skills further.

Now then, the Guards! These guys are the trickiest ones and probably the ones I should have explained further in-story, since their role is by far the most important one out of the six branches, but I never really had a chance.

There’s regular Guards in the Palace: these guys can be benders (exclusively fire, though) or non-benders, and they’re tasked with guarding the Palace walls and its infrastructure, above all else. On their final year of the Academy, the best firebenders within this group are marked as potential future Imperial or Royal Guards: they can undergo some slightly more challenging tests than the rest of the Guards and, if their results impress the Fire Lord enough, they may become Imperial Guards right away. If there’s a member of the Royal Family who is assembling their personal Royal Guards at the moment, they can choose their preferred Guards amongst that year’s graduating class + the top-level firebending regular Guards who haven’t been promoted into the Imperial Guards yet.

The General of the Guards is the absolute leader of the Guards and thus, he’s in charge of this entire branch of the armed forces. The person to occupy this role is typically chosen by a recently-crowned Fire Lord: Shaofeng wasn’t the General of the Guards until Ozai took the throne. Therefore, upon permanently ascending the throne, our potential Fire Lord Azula can easily dismiss Shaofeng and promote someone else in his place :’) this, as well, is one important reason why a royal who’s vying for a throne tries to see at least a few of their Royal Guards promoted to Imperial Guards before their time to serve as Fire Lord arrives. Makes the power switch much smoother :’D

And now I more or less gave you a large number of clues as to why General Shaofeng has been such a pissbaby since the festivals arc, woops... :’D

I think the Academy doesn’t have a set age of entrance, you can find people of different ages learning in it (because of the reasons above, the army is spread too thin to reject anyone just because they didn’t start at the right age). Still, people are expected to only join it only after their regular, basic school education is finished. So the youngest age to start would be 12, but older recruits can join too (I’d say the upper limit is probably around 30, despite a 30yo recruit isn’t very likely to spend a long time serving in the field, but the armed forces are in no position to reject anyone who enrolls, tbh).

The subject of cutting ties with everything else in your life is honestly very specific to Royal and Imperial Guards. Like it’s been portrayed in the story, it’s discouraged, rather than forbidden, to have family or romantic ties when you’re a Royal Guard. Rui Shi hasn’t really gotten in trouble for having a relationship with Song, but if any situation arose where he failed to protect the Royal Family because he was protecting Song instead...? Weeeell, he’d likely get executed, outright, for failing to uphold his vows as Royal and Imperial Guard, as he has to be ready to sacrifice anything and everything for the royals he serves.

It’s more implicit in the rest of the armed forces that they serve the Fire Lord above all else, it’s mainly the Royal and Imperial Guards who are told they shouldn’t have any important ties outside their charges. Everyone else can have families, get married, raise kids, without too much trouble. Rui Shi’s father was a military man just like Rui Shi, but he was in another branch (I think in the Domestic Forces, seeing as he lived with Rui Shi and his mother), Rui Shi was an overachiever and became eligible for Royal Guard status... and then Azula selected him as her captain! :D

So, as far as guards are concerned, the path to becoming an Imperial Guard is...:

Firebending Recruit (get top grades) ===>  Guard Prospect (get top grades again) ===> Take an extra test before graduation to become eligible for Imperial Guard ===> Imperial Guard (if successful at impressing the Fire Lord)

OOOOOR...

Firebending Recruit (get top grades) ===>  Guard Prospect (get top grades again) ===> Graduate with top marks and become a regular Guard ===> Be promoted into Royal Guard status by a member of the royal family ===> Be recommended for a promotion into Imperial Guard status by said member of the royal family ===> Imperial Guard (if successful at impressing the Fire Lord)

I hope things are a little bit clearer now xD most of this is stuff I had in my head but, like I’ve said, I really didn’t have much room to explore it. A full-blown spinoff of the school days of Rui Shi and his fellow Royal/Imperial Guards would be ripe territory in which I could explore all these details x’D it’d be a rather strange slice-of-life story, but it’d probably be the only way to address all these questions narratively.

Anyways, if you have any further questions about this, let me know! :D

[jess-rewatches-prodigalson]

Episode 5: The Trip

This episode is one of my favourites simply because we get high!Malcolm.

Here are my thoughts.

SPOILERS AHEAD

1:15 - Malcolm’s hair is attractive like this. 

2:29 - Poor Malcolm is deteriorating fast. At least he knows he needs sleep? I guess that’s good?

3:00 - Malcolm’s startled self-deprecation here is upsetting. Does he really think that when it comes to relationships/non-murder related things he’s incapable of being right?

3:26 - When Malcolm isn’t doing well, but he’s actively trying to convince others that he’s fine, he ends up looking very manic.

4:20 - “Where are they going?” That look? That is desperation. The look in Gil’s eyes? That is pain. That is concern. I am living for it. 

4:45 - The look Gil give Bright here breaks my heart. You can tell that Gil wants nothing more than to wrap Bright in a blanket and haul him off to some sort of safe place until Bright feels better.

5:00 - Confirmation that even if Malcolm’s dad wasn’t a serial killer he wouldn’t be a stereotypical sports loving guy. 

5:50 - It’s upsetting that Malcolm looks happiest at crime scenes. 

6:25 - “He’s literally covered in drugs.”  hahaha JT is the best. 

7:10 - Aww Malcolm, reign it in buddy. Dani seemed annoyed before you started profiling her. 

7:34 - Gil’s face here is perfect. It’s a face that says “I work with children. I regret the life decisions that led me into this room.”

8:07 - Why doesn’t Malcolm know about this? It happened after the 90s. He met Gil in ‘98. Gil took him on stakeouts. Did Gil never tell him work stories!? Nah. I don’t buy it. This explanation was for the audience. Malcolm already knew. 

8:08 - ...So the woman in the pew that we just saw. Is she really present for the whole drug/police convo that’s about to happen? Does it get her killed? Seems like a church should be evacuated before police and drug dealers discuss dangerous information in it. Maybe that’s just me?

8:10 - Gil blesses himself. Gil is catholic? Do you think he ever took Malcolm to church? Does he regularly attend church or is this a childhood habit that Gil has? Was Gil raised catholic but moved away from the church as an adult? I’m fascinated by this. I want information.

9:10 - Is Dani ok? I mean I know why she’s acting the way she is (because rewatch) but she seems really upset this whole episode. Is there something else going on with her?

9:50 - *sigh* He’s having hallucinations now too?! This is not good. Our boy needs help. ALSO - The looks that Malcolm get from JT and Gil are everything. They look so concerned. My heart is full. 

11:09 - Last episode Malcolm had a desk. Now he’s working (with a pencil cup) in the case board room? Is this by choice? Because he wants to be able to look at the board or did he somehow lose desk privileges? Does he share the desk with someone else? I have questions. 

11:40 - There’s something really beautiful about the way Dani and Malcolm interact. It’s when we see Malcolm at his most calm and rational. It’s when we see Dani at her most vulnerable. Dani is such a badass but when she interacts with Malcolm there’s a beautiful softness about her. There’s a vulnerability to both of them that’s too precious for this world. You can see how much they care about each other (as friends or more, I’m not getting into the Brightwell debate).

12:20 - You ever wonder if Malcolm experimented with street drugs as a teenager/college student? I do. I wonder if he was so desperate to numb his pain that he tried street drugs in addition to his prescriptions. Maybe when he was at Harvard? 

12:40 - Malcolm looks to Gil for permission. Another instance where we see that Malcolm has a big heart. Yes Malcolm is manic and weird but he also cares about others. He has tact. It’s just that sometimes he chooses to be blunt, or to be insensitive when he’s desperate for information pertaining to a case/his past. 

13:03 - Holy crap. That look on Malcolm’s face. He’s scared. For Dani. Well. My heart has melted. 

13:40 - How many staff members does Jessica have? She lives alone. In a townhouse. She has no yard to maintain. So far there’s been Louisa, Aldolpho, and now Kimberly....Rich people live a weird life. 

14:10 - How did Eve find out that Jessica was looking to donate money if she wasn’t invited to this luncheon? Who told Eve about it? Or was Eve spying on the Whitly family? 

14:35 - I’ll be honest: I immediately didn’t/don’t like Eve. It seemed weird that she showed up uninvited to the Jessica’s place. Eve’s confidence is mixed with a sort of ambition that just rubs me the wrong way. Basically, she reminds me too much of someone I didn’t like in high school. 

15:30 - Malcolm really doesn’t do undercover well does he? I mean he’s sooo overdressed. Couldn’t he have at least taken off his tie before going to this club? He sticks out like a sore thumb. Did Malcolm come to the club to talk to Estime or because he profiled that Dani would come to the club and he was worried about her? 

16:18 - “That’s a bad guy window.” This line is cute. What’s cuter is how relaxed Malcolm is in this scene. It’s the most calm we’ve seen him all episode. 

17:20 - Did Dani and Estime have a romantic relationship in the past? The way they’re interacting seems to imply it. 

17:53 - And we’re right back to manic Malcolm. Look at his eyes. Yikes. This dude really obsesses over mysteries. 

18:50 - Why did the gun wielding dude suddenly go away? Did he assume he made the kill he came there for? Did he know the cops were coming? 

18:52 - Here comes angry Dad. 

19:21 - and here is Concerned Dad. 

19:32 - Ok. So Malcolm is high here (which is hilarious) but that little speech he gives to Gil is really touching and honestly completely on the mark. Do you think Gil and Malcolm ever discussed it when Malcolm was sober? Do you think Malcolm ever told that to Gil before this moment? I honestly think Gil needed to hear that. Even if it was from high!Bright. He looked really close to snapping at one (or both) of his children. He needed to remember why he loves them. Why they love him.

20:00 - Seriously. Gil is just the team Dad. I want to see a team dinner at Gil’s place. Where Gil asks everyone about their day and acts like a total Dad. 

20:36 - How did Malcolm get into his weapon collecting hobby?

21:07 - It’s heartbreaking that Malcolm is the happiest we’ve ever seen him when he’s high as a kite. 

21:38 - That’s unfiltered. That’s a man who lost all his friends when he was ten years old and was never able to make new ones. That is a man who desperately wants a friend. That is a woman who is terrified to trust. That is a woman who wants a friend. A woman who needs a friend.

22:21 - Why is it that Malcolm conveniently has food in his fridge right now? In subsequent episodes his fridge is bare. He’s admitted that most food makes him sick. Why does he have ingredients for grilled cheese tonight of all nights? I mean I know why (because the writers deemed it so) but it seems out of character?

22:40 - Dude. Malcolm has so much product in his shower. What are all of those bottles?!? And what are they for?! 

23:11 - Malcolm’s pill bottles are on the counter. Dani can see them. Does she read the labels? Does she ask him about them later? ALSO WHY ARE THERE 3 HALF FULL WATTER GLASSES ON THE COUNTER?!? He lives alone. Is one of them Dani’s? Is that a boy thing? My 20 year old brother regularly has 2-3 half full glasses of water/juice in the kitchen. It drives me crazy.

23:18 - Anyone else desperate to know what’s at the top of the stairs in Malcolm’s loft? Where do those stairs GO?

23:28 - Props to Tom Payne. This is such a believable panic attack. It’s heart breaking but honest. 

24:40 - This is it. Malcolm’s deepest fear. That he is just like his father. That he is capable of murder. That he would enjoy it. That he already has murdered someone as a child.

26:20 - Why didn’t Dani sleep on the couch? Did she leave Malcolm to sleep in the shower? Did she somehow move him to the bed? Apparently Dani did dishes though (or Malcolm when Dani was sleeping) because there is only 1 half empty glass on the counter now. 

26:21 - Anyone want to talk about how attractive Tom Payne looks in this scene? Just me? Ok. 

26:47 - I love this. The vulnerability. They trust each other enough to open up to each other. They need each other. They’re both in more pain than they pretend to be in. 

27:34 - What was Dani’s drug of choice? ALSO I want a fic of Papa!Gil taking care of a detoxing Dani. 

28:12 - Gil’s smile. His conversation with Dani. Dani’s apology. UgH. It’s perfect. He’s such a dad. He’s already forgiven her before she even tries to apologize. He’s happy to see her and he’s happy that Malcolm’s ok. 

28:23 - You know. We give Malcolm a lot of shit in this fandom for not being able to take care of himself (and rightfully so). BUT. Can we for one minute appreciate how Dani, Gil, Malcolm, and JT are all really mature, good adults? Seriously. They take responsibility for their mistakes. They apologize when necessary. They have manners. They talk to each other when something is bothering them and the time is right (well, Malcolm’s not great at this but he’s doing it better than most adults I know). 

28:48 - Ugh. Eve is back. She’s mining for information from Jessica. I can’t stand this. 

30:00 - Does this mean that Malcolm’s childhood bedroom is still intact?!? I want to see it. I want the team to see it. I want that scene and I want it now. 

30:40 - Ok. SO Eve and Malcolm have been making eyes at each other throughout this whole scene. BUT I have to wonder (April 11/2020) - was Eve ever really interested in Malcolm? I mean he just admitted to having drugs explode in his face. He walked into the room talking about barbiturates and he looks manic af right now. Even if she thought he was cute (which he is) the red flags from this conversation should have been enough for her to stay away from him.  And yet - she pursues him. Makes me question how authentically she actually cares about him. 

32:19 - Where did JT go?!? He’s been gone for the past like 20 minutes of this episode. Did he get sick? Is he on another case? I need answers.

33:19 - Ok. So JT’s pulling a warrant with Gil. 

33:25 - That right there is an authentic smile. You can see how much Malcolm loves Gil here.

35:28 - I’ll be honest the “murder of the week” in this episode is boring to me. 

40:05 - This little scene between Malcolm and Dani over tea is super sweet. 

41:54 - You’re telling me that overbearing, intense Jessica didn’t look in that box before she sent it over to Malcolm. Nah. I’m not buying it. That woman has no boundaries when it comes to her children. 

Well. Thanks for hanging out. I’ll be back soon. 

[ltleflrt]

I would love some more mean advice, I'm taking notes because this is a goldmine

lol honestly, the advice about not starting a fic with Life Story Infodump or Daily Grind Infodump is the most important thing I can think of. Since nearly all of the times I back out of a fic, it’s because of one of those two things.  Just about everything else I can think of is pretty minor and won’t make me quit reading.  But here’s a few things I think might be helpful just for giving a story some extra shine.

1. Minute detail of a process is rarely necessary.  Gloss over how something works unless the details have something to do with plot. For instance, if Dean is making tacos for dinner, just say Dean gets to work preparing tacos. Don’t talk about warming up the shells, or browning the meat, or slicing the veggies.  Unless it’s plot related. If Dean makes checklists and crosses things off to soothe anxiety, then those details are important, but make it clear that he’s self-soothing.  Or if Cas is allergic to onions, bring up that Dean sauteed them and added them to the meat, because Dean LOVES onions, and it didn’t occur to him to check if Cas has allergies before he started cooking, and they can’t be picked out, and oops the date ends with Dean rushing Cas to the ER, etc.  Otherwise, just say Dean had an hour left till Cas showed up for dinner, so he hurried to prepare all the taco fixings, and it took too little time so now he had to figure out how to occupy himself till the doorbell rang.

(btw, I would LOVE more first date ending up in the ER stories, everyone who reads this is free to adopt that idea lol)

2. Please don’t write an entire story in 1-2 sentence paragraphs.  This is rare, but it’s an almost instant nope out for me.  There’s this one story that I reeeeeally want to read, because it’s right up my alley, and other than the short paragraph issue, it’s well written so I keep trying but getting stuck.  I’m gonna have to copy it into a doc and edit the paragraphs and squish some stuff together to make it legible to my brain.  Like there’s a long stretch in the first chapter where every sentence is its own paragraph, and just.... why.  When you’re putting a paragraph break, there’s a mental pause happening in the reader’s mind.  And too many short paragraphs in a row makes it more like a really long poem rather than a typical story you’d read in a book.  A lot of advice says to not attack your readers with a wall of text (WALL OF TEXT CRITS YOU FOR OVER 9000!!!) and to break things up, but the opposite is also true.  Too many super short paragraphs is like Damage Over Time (THROW MORE DOTS, MORE DOTS!) and either one of those will defeat your reader’s interest.  Short paragraphs are a very useful tool, I use them myself for emphasis, but it can’t be your whole story.  Try to limit it to no more than 3 in a row.  If you’re going past that, take a minute to read those sentences and see if they’re related to each other.  Squish them into a single paragraph if they are.  Varying your paragraph length IS an art form.  Like writing music.  Paragraphs build a cadence, and staccato cannot sustain a whole song.  This can be mitigated by creating long compound sentences though, so keep in mind that the length of the sentence, which should vary, can make a paragraph feel longer, even if it is only 1 or 2 sentences.

(haha she gives advice on how to break up paragraphs while critting you with a wall of text!  good job, Carebear.)

3. The art of breaking up dialogue is just as delicate as the art of paragraph construction.  Too much back and forth without breaking it up with an action or an internal thought can make it confusing who is talking.  The rule of 3 comes in handy here too.  After 3 back and forths, put in something non-dialogue.  So it would go Character A says thing, Character B says Thing, Character A says thing, add some action/internal thoughts.  And just a he/she/they said tag isn’t enough.  IT IS BETTER THAN NOTHING, and depending on the cadence of the conversation it’s the right tool.  But adding some physical movement or a stray thought would be better.  That being said, don’t put too much action/thought between sections of dialogue.  If you put too much info in there, it can make your reader forget that there’s even a conversation going on, and they’ll get to the next piece of dialogue and be like wtf is this pertaining to again? and they’ll have to scroll back to the last line of dialogue to remember what was last said.  Remember, thoughts fly at the speed of light, so if you’re pausing the dialogue for some internal character thought, it’s happening in a matter of seconds, but your reader needs minutes to read and parse what’s going on.  Again, rule of 3, try not to do more than 3 paragraphs between dialogues.  And if you’re still not sure, or you feel like you need more so you keep going, read out loud from the last dialogue through the next dialogue and it’ll give you an idea of just how much time is physically passing for your readers, and you’ll start to feel the true size of things.

(WRITE ALL THAT STUFF DOWN THO.  If you need to get it out, then by all means, get it out.  It’s your first draft, and it’s important for YOU, even if a lot of it isn’t important for the reader.  Trim it in the edit. FOR THE LOVE OF THE GODS, TRIM IT IN THE EDIT.)

(And the rule of 3 is a guideline, not a rule.  It’s just a good measuring tool that you can use until you’re comfortable enough to eyeball things on your own.)

Anyway, those are the only things that come to mind while I’m calm and not in a frothing rage over writing errors that are not mine to correct.  I feel like a huge asshole for vague-bitching about other people’s writing, and I profusely apologize for anyone’s hurt feelings if they read this advice and realize this might apply to something they’ve done.  PLEASE KEEP WRITING, DON’T LET MY WHINGING DISCOURAGE YOU, I LOVE YOU.

[rogueofsoup]

Hiveswap and Homestuck Theory Thing. Spoiler warning for Homestuck just in case, I guess.

Ok, so I decided to try a hand at this stuff. It's gonna be about Marvus (eventually) (yeah, I know, so original).

Ok, so, I've seen a lot of stuff pertaining to this, so I've compiled what I found all over the internet and put together my theories on it, mostly relying on weapon types. (I'm sorry, I don't remember where I found the original material for the time players)

Time players use weapons that are both obviously weapons and practical for the players to use. For example, Dave uses big swords he can adjust the weight of by making it broken in half or full, Aradia originally had a whip, which are very quick and lightweight and surprisingly practical weapons (as surprisingly accurately shown by Indiana Jones), and Caliborn had a straight up semiautomatic rifle that he makes sure everyone knows he has. They also all pertain to the weapons we see heros holding (knight in shining armor wielding a sword, Indiana Jones and his whip, any action movie hero and his gun).

Breath players, as I can guess, use weapons that used to be conventional in medieval entertainment (large hammers for sparring and lances for jousting) that are no longer seen as practical and/or conventional, and generally require a large amount of strength and skill to properly use without an exterior force or an actual technique giving aid, such as John swinging his giant hammer without having to swing it over his head first to build up momentum, and Tavros being able to use the momentum from his running to be able to use his lance without having to be on a horse. From what I can presume, they mostly use medieval style weapons adjusted to whatever they think makes them better.

There isn't really much of a case for doom players since there's only really the one I can draw conclusions from, but I assume that based solely on Sollux, doom players rely more on weapons or abilities they have confidence in, regardless of reliability. Sollux has had multiple instances in which his psionics have resulted in problems, such as whenever he consumes mind honey he shoots powerful lasers from his eyes that he can't control, and he has accidentally destroyed one of his specibus cards and his bee hives when he overshot shuriken while trying to re-capchalogue them using his psionics. I only have one example person to draw from, so this may not be quite accurate.

Blood players have the same problem with there only being the one person of said aspect as I had with doom, but I'm still going to pull what I can assume. I believe blood players attempt to use weapons they are confident in, though end up also accidentally weaponizing their environment through lack of skill and/or forethought. For example, Karkat's old capchalogue modus was large, heavy, impractical, and almost crushed his lusus, and he had run Sollux's virus program on his computer that resulted in a huge explosion that killed his lusus. I only have one example person to draw from, so this may not be quite accurate.

Heart players, from what I can guess, use weapons that are more favored or have sentimental value, and hardly (if ever) improve or replace them. Even if they do get better versions of the weapon, they'll stick with the original since it holds more sentimental value than the replacement. Plus, it may also have something to do with the quickness of the weapon, such as it being thin and lightweight as well as very sharp For example, Dirk sticks with his katana even as an adult, especially since he finds it quick and reliable to use, and Nepeta sticks with her original claw gloves through the entire game, likely for both ease and sentimental value.

Space players, I believe, have weapons that are surprising. For example, Jade is a witch who you expect to use magic to defend herself and she just. Pulls out a gun. And Kanaya is EXTREMELY surprising, since her tube of lipstick turns into a CHAINSAW, the latter of which completely clashes with her main aesthetic and is completely unexpected. Now, you may think Calliope is the outlier. But wouldn't you be surprised to see her go "oh shoot my wand is out of ammo" and then turn her wand into a gun, load it, then turn it back into a wand and shoot magic at you? Trick question the answer is yes.

Mind is another with only one possible area I could draw from. Based on only Terezi, I assume mind players are more likely to use hidden weapons you wouldn't think to worry about until they're actually attacking you. I say this because no matter what Terezi turns her cane into, she always makes sure it can still be functional (and hidden) as a walking cane. You wouldn't expect the cane to be able to turn into nunchucks, or swords, you'd at most expect her to beat you over the head with it. I only have one example person to draw from, so this may not be quite accurate.

Light players, I believe, use weaponized versions of important aspects to their preferred interests. For example, Vriska uses what are basically FLARPing dice to get weapons or power ups of some kind, and Rose uses knitting needles turned into a pair of magic wands.

Void players improvise in the moment, usually using their own natural (or unnatural) abilities if their own weapons are unusable in their traditional sense. For example, Roxy chucking literally anything at things to kill enemies, and Equius beating enemies with the two halves of his bow or just punching them into oblivion.

Rage is another problematic single-source one, but I'll still try. From what I can assume, rage players use whatever's closest to them that could be used as a weapon. Gamzee's juggling clubs were right there for him to juggle at the beginning, so of course just shrugging and picking those up to bludgeon things to death would make sense in this case. This also explains why he eventually got a strife specibus that allowed him to use any weapon, allowing him to just pick up whatever and use it for killing. Equius had left a lot of his bows around, both broken and unbroken, so it would still make sense for Gamzee to just pick up the nearest one and use that. And when fighting Terezi, he pulled the nearest weapons (Terezi's staff swords) away from her and used them to fight. He probably would have picked up a rock if there weren't any weapons in his reach. I only have one example person to draw from, so this may not be quite accurate.

For hope, I only have one thing to say: coolness factor. Eridan had a gun that straight-up shot LASERS, which he only gave up in favor of a REAL-ASS WAND, which he still claimed to basically be a science stick. Even if it was less effective than the gun, he still traded it in for coolness factor. Now, Jake was obviously a fan of movies, which meant that he would have a lot of experience with action movie heros, in which the coolest thing you could do is do cool stunts while firing a matching pair of pistols. And what does he do? Cool stunts while firing a matching pair of pistols. I rest my case.

Life may have a bit of a bias, since Feferi and Meenah had tridents because of their royal status and Jane had a trident because the post-scratch version of Meenah affected Jane's main weapon to be, well, a trident. We don't really have any other ideas of what different kinds of weapons they could use, so let's just say they use tridents and call it a day.

Now, to the point you've all been waiting for: Marvus.

Marvus Xoloto's revealed purple sign has the aspect of time, which honestly doesn't match up with his weapon choice.

His weapon, a sword, is hidden in his cane. You know what other aspect has had someone who uses a weapon hidden in plain sight? Mind. Xoloto shares a lot of similarities with the word axolotl, and there is one lime sign that is the shape of an axolotl's head.

And it's mind. And to be constrained means to be limited or restricted. And Marvus has a camera crew following him everywhere, making it impossible for him to really speak his mind.

My conclusion?

The theory everybody knows by now of Marvus being a lime blood in disguise.

Added bonus: despite him getting injured in one of the bad endings, we never actually get a confirmation of his blood color. He hides it way too well. Me still thinks he bleed the green stuff.

I know I'm super late to the game on this, but I still wanted to add my theories for the funsies.

[muffin-n-waffle]

Coming from a casual fan that tends to only watch the movies (The Mandalorian now as well!) and reblog fanart, I have to say, there really were no favors given to any of the characters, but Kylo Ren/Ben Solo specifically. I love the worlds that Star Wars sets up, and the adventures that you feel like you go on when you watch these films and shows, but really, it’s the characters that truly bring this universe, with its great battles of good versus evil and space magic, to life. 

After TFA came out, a lot of my sherlollian friends started shipping reylo, and honestly, I could definitely see why. These two characters were rife with potential enemies to lovers energy, and hey, they’re hot, so that always helps too. Being more of a casual fan in the world of Star Wars, I never got into the shipping or fanfic scene, but all the art being created for reylo was super hot and I would reblog it from time to time, as well as send as much positive energy to my reylo friends as I could considering they were really getting shit on by some awful people, and it was really hard to see honestly, especially since I’d experienced ship hate myself. 

I’m going off on a tangent here, but the point I’m trying to make is, had it not been for these reylo friends that I followed, well I never would have been exposed to some of their great meta, or even a slew of other things. For instance, I never read any of the Star Wars books or comics, but apparently, and this is specifically pertaining to Kylo/Ben, there’s tons of information about him detailing how and why he chose the path that he did. Once you learn these things, you see his story in a much more tragic light, but the movies do him such a disservice, either not showcasing any of this information at all, or simply glossing over it because they’re pushed for time due to all the other topics and story-lines that need to be covered 

For some, it may look as if I’m excusing the terrible deeds of mind r*ping neo nazi, but even before I knew these things about Ben’s past, I never really saw him in that light. (I feel like Vader was probably much more terrible than he is, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone up in arms about him sort of getting his own little redemption in the end.) Did he do terrible things? Of course. He has things he needed to atone for, and in this last film, he was definitely starting on that path. I only wish we could have gone on a much longer path with him, because honestly I think that would have been so interesting. I won’t lie, I think a part of my was hoping for the intricacies of the Zuko redemption arc that we got in ATLA to be played out in a similar fashion here, but unfortunately now that will never see the light of day. Well, unless it’s in fanfiction of course, and I’m sure it’s done a whole hell of a lot better in that medium anyway. 

There’s a lot more that could be said, I know, and really I’m not the most eloquent person when it comes to getting my thoughts down like this, but hell it’s even worse if I try to use my voice, so just be glad you’re getting this typed out version.I think, all in all, every last character deserved more, and now, I might have to go read some fanfiction. 

[livedforwards]

👫

oh look it’s the flipside of what saga wrote that i wrote at work today for an anon send without realizing saga had sent me one themself. please note: my R key is broken. i try to catch it, but it’s likely not going to get caught for every word. 

matt & emily, a character exploration of headcanons, as pertains to saga’s matt.  

i was writing a reply to saga recently, and the phase “history doesn’t repeat itself, but it often rhymes” came up. which i only realized after has been used before, by emily, in reference to her own personal history in a fourteenth season episode. so.  for the most basic of explanations, this is true for matt and emily, at least in the way that she views him. it’s important to note that emily not only sees him as someone who reminds her of herself, and who she admires and values, but she also very much views him as a role model. matt has a family, and a happy one at that. not only is it something she took heavily into consideration when hiring him, but she also envies it. it’s something that, in canon, she has not achieved for herself, and something that in my canon here (until bea’s adoption) she does not achieve for herself either. his happiness and family life is something she wants but quite honestly has not thought possible for herself. 

emily deeply respects, trusts, and sees matt as a competent worker and colleague. he is the oly person outside the bau she entrusted with information about mr. scratch. this trust was built in part through emily knowing clara closely, but it was VERY much built on the work that matt did to get eid out of prison. when she was looking to fill a new spot, his name was at the top of the list, but the IRT was still in operation at the time. she knew if a spot opened again, he was very much on the shortlist - and when it did open, after the work he did in saving her, he was the list. 

something important: for many reasons, mily makes certain to mention matt first when inviting or talking to the group for his first year of employment. intrinsic to understanding emily’s way of behaving as a unit chief is knowing that she came in as a replacement for elle, originally. she spent that first year trying to prove herself as one of the team. emily doesn’t want  him to question whether he belongs there, especially because his appointment to the bau followed a vey sudden and violent death. 

something saga and i have talked about a lot: that scene in wheels up where matt finds her first. he does not let go of her until spencer is touching her. though he’s not as familiar with him as she is with the rest of the bau, emily clearly trusts him. also: in the recent matt and luke episode, emily repeats that behavior with luke. she holds onto him until someone else (rossi, in this case) grabs him. 

she knows that matt is cut from the same cloth as her in a lot of ways, but to bring up several instances: he has often gone without backup ( emily going into the home after she quit the bau, without backup, in front of strauss versus matt jumping into the lake ), and he’d rather put himself in danger than ask his teammates ( matt bringing up the mole among the gang, lying and potentially putting himself in harms way instead of luke, versus emily in the compound/minimal loss, saying that she was the spy to take a beating in place of reid. thanks to saga and alexys for that comparison.) 

look. she sees the similarities. and more than that, she brought him onto this team. that’s a connection she doesn’t have with any (living) member of the bau. 

other headcanon specific things worth mentioning: she and matt absolutely have sexuality talks and they also compare notes on places they’ve been around the world, as they’re both pretty well traveled.