#but i kinda love this and it's all we've got atm lol

[hawkinslibrary]

more shotlisting from ross duffer's instagram story november 2nd, 2023

[babacontainsmultitudes]

Normal, Sparrow, and something about heroes

EDIT: Raised the "read more" cause tumblr wants to make self-rbs a nightmare smh smh

Y'all it's so difficult to write ANYTHING lol fuck... But yeah yeah definitely got some post ep. 30 thoughts. Do need to start with some explanations/clarifications on my general stance regarding Normal which is mostly for the mutuals LOL and they know that so if things appear to lack a bit of context on that front well that's why.

There are some things regarding Norm where I lowkey almost don't want to say anything because I'm sooooo wishy washy myself ahahaha and I feel like I'm definitely gonna end up writing some stuff here and be like "ehhhhhh" later on but what can you do what can you do.

I guess I can at least start by saying that when I say that like, Norm can be self-centered, or prideful, or something to that effect, I am *definitely* not trying to say like "this negates Norm's compassion" or that like, Norm needs to be made to feel bad about that? I hope I'll be able to explain what I mean properly here but, a lot of my feelings regarding Norm's more negative traits do genuinely come from a place of concern for him??

Yes I think Norm can be self-centered, yes I think it comes from a place of loneliness and insecurity, yes I think it bleeds into his actions in a way that can negatively impact both himself and those around him, and yes I think that all of these things make him very very VERY similar to Scary... Is my general stance atm but let me, let me *try* to explain what all that means for me LOL.

I think Norm is a good person. I don't think he's *the most* empathetic or selfless or kind character we've seen in the show, but I also don't think he needs to be, or ever will need to be. He has a good heart (all the teens do, yes that includes Scary, fight me), he *does* care about other people very much, and like the other teens his frustrations are valid and generally pretty justified!

But I think Norm is someone who, perhaps pretty fundamentally, requires a pretty high level of external validation and social acceptance to feel loved, has generally gone most of his life not having that need met outside of his immediate family, and is pretty all-or-nothing and rejection-sensitive when it comes to this validation. I don't think Norm is a bad person for any of these traits (at all), even if it can impact his interactions with others negatively at times. No, above all else, these traits lead me to feel quite concerned and altogether just kinda sad for Norm.

And that's where things get a bit messy. On the one hand, Norm *is* a kind person, with good intentions, and even when I feel most frustrated with his actions, I don't take them as coming from a place of malice or ill-intent. But Norm wants to feel loved so bad, and his conditions for feeling loved (as aforementioned) are very difficult to meet, so, yes, (I do personally feel that) Norm often does, largely without knowing, prioritize this endless search for validation over other things, and having this at the forefront of his mind so frequently does inhibit his ability to truly connect with the people around him and (in many cases) actually *empathize* with them.

The difference- the difference for me between Normal and Linc with regards to Scary isn't whether or not they *care* about Scary. Even if it's a bit old now, I didn't write a whole thing on Normal/Scary and Sparrow/Lark parallels because I don't think Norm cares about Scary. Normal has *absolutely* put a tremendous amount of effort into trying to keep Scary around, to disappointing results that are justifiably frustrating for him. Normal and Linc both care about Scary, the difference for me, and what I just find so spectacular about Linc compared to all the other teens here, is that Linc goes *beyond* himself when he breaks the pic. He's not the first person to care about or try to help Scary, he's just the first person to do so in the way that she actually needs- because his general selflessness allows him to be the first person to actually *understand* Scary. He's not the first person to feel *for* her, he's the first person to feel *with* her. That is... Well I guess that is also to say that when I use the word "empathy" I mean it fairly precisely.

Which also isn't... I'm not trying to knock Normal (or Taylor) in saying this btw. The teens ALL have their strengths and weaknesses, and this was simply a moment that brought out one for Linc and another for Norm (vice versa can has and will be true at other points in time). Normal not being able to do what Linc did here is not something I'm trying to hold against him. With regards to their argument, I genuinely think that they both have plenty of reason to be upset, and ultimately it's all just one big misunderstanding. Still, I do personally think that much of why Norm is so upset with Linc in this scene has not so much to do with Scary nor with the Doodler- but is in fact at least in part Norm feeling rejected by Linc (invalidated, unloved, etc.), and acting out accordingly. Additionally, I think these feelings get in the way of Norm actually being able to understand and appreciate why Linc did what he did. They were both hurt, they both lashed out. I'm not trying to gloss over Linc's part in this either, I'm not saying one of them was right and the other was wrong or that one was mean and the other wasn't, but from what I've seen at least it seems people are almost unanimously siding with Norm on this one without much consideration for the points Linc actually makes here, choosing instead to focus solely on what *Linc's* hurt caused him to say (without acknowledging of course that in Linc's case too it comes from a place of hurt), and that much is a bit frustrating for me admittedly.

I wouldn't have expected or wanted Norm to behave any differently in this scene than he did. I think everything about Norm's behavior makes perfect sense for where he's at, and "where he's at", for me, isn't "selfish kid who doesn't care about other people" it's "scared kid who feels rejected and alone". That said, I think if Norm wants to get any better he, like all the teens, needs to start introspecting a bit more and work on himself.

And when I say that, I'm not saying "Norm is prideful and needs to be more humble" I'm saying, Norm needs to get to a place where he can feel loved, and allow himself to be loved, without it being so all or nothing.

Enter Hero!!! The chosen one! I kinda don't get why some people are just seeing this as Anthony trying to bully Norm rather than a very important opportunity for growth!!!

This feels like a point that could be easily misconstrued, so I'll try to be careful? When I say that Hero being the chosen one is an opportunity for Norm to grow as a person, I am NOT saying in becoming more humble or something like that?? Normal's pride isn't his fatal flaw, it's an afterthought of it, a manifestation of it, a defense mechanism vis a vis his fundamental insecurities, if you will.

Normal, as I see him, is convinced that he will only ever be loved, that he will only ever have "solved" love, when he is validated in absolutes. When he is the most popular boy in school who is friends with everybody. When he's the hero of the story. When he's the chosen one. If part of him sees himself as being without flaw (or the best part of teen high or whatever), it's not because he's some arrogant little brat, it's because he can't imagine himself as being lovable unless he is perfect. He isn't selfish for feeling this way, but from an outside view I think it's fairly easy to say that if Normal continues down that path, he's never going to get where he needs to go.

Hero being the chosen one, not Normal, gives Normal an opportunity to learn (or at least start to learn) that his perceived prerequisites for love (of himself) are false. Normal doesn't have to be the hero of the story. He doesn't have to be a hero. He doesn't have to be Hero, it's enough to just be Normal.

Sooooo... I think it's pretty ironic that... Upon learning that Hero is the chosen one.... So many people have jumped the gun and assumed that this means... Sparrow doesn't love Normal.

HAHA THAT'S RIGHT THIS WAS ABOUT SPARROW ALL ALONG YOU THOUGHT I WAS DONE TALKING ABOUT THIS MAN NEVER NEVER NEVER NEVER NEVER NEVER

But seriously, wow, it pains me sometimes how little faith people have in Sparrow. Hero is "the chosen one"... So every single time Sparrow has relayed how much he loves Norm goes down the drain?? At a most basic level folks, your child can be unplanned and still be loved, actually. Some might even say that that's... normal.

But do you get what I'm trying to say here? The assumptions much of the fandom has made about Sparrow and his love exactly reflect the toxic trains of thought that will probably be plaguing Normal's mind and feeding into his insecurities as the whole Hero thing develops?? And these insecurities (and again false prerequisites for love) are exactly what Normal needs help working through???

But let's move away from the Norm side of things a little bit, cause the assumptions being made about Sparrow currently are much more vast than this.

Let's make something clear. We don't know Sparrow's side of the story. We don't know Lark's side of the story. And of course, we don't know Rebecca's side either. We don't know if Rebecca did or didn't know about the prophecy. It seems that at this point in time, the spouses have had their memories erased. *Not necessarily* the case, but I genuinely can't fathom a scenario in which Cassandra somehow doesn't notice that the father of her child is always kind of a little bit on fire- and conspiracy theorist Rebecca to me also might hint at the fact that at some earlier point in time she would have known more about what's going on? But that's purely speculation, obviously.

So why are we suddenly so sure of Sparrow's intentions, feelings, and *role* in bringing Hero into the world?

I... Well I've been reluctant to bring this up even though the notion has been an itch in my mind since yesterday, but eventually you see enough upsetting Sparrow posts that someone needs to step up and offer something new I guess.

So... Allow me to suggest that, Sparrow being against the idea of having a child purely to fulfill a prophecy, and refusing to partake, actually makes *more* sense.

Most especially, if Sparrow was adamantly against going through with such a plan, we now have the most sound and in-character reason so far to explain... Why Lark slept with Rebecca.

(*gasp*)

As I see it anyways! Because, yeah, it's always felt like a weird elephant in the room, and I don't really feel satisfied with the existing theories at all! Someone with as strong as a resolve as Lark sleeps with the wife of the person who means more to him than anyone cause... He was horny? Or maybe as part of some strange convoluted ploy to push Sparrow away? I'm not saying these aren't still valid possibilities, and I'm not saying that this theory I'm proposing is what happened, really it's an assumption based on an assumption, but nevertheless I think it would make a lot of sense honestly.

(More specifically, what I'm suggesting is Sparrow not wanting to go through with the plan, Lark seeing it as a necessary evil to deal with the Doodler- and we know how hellbent Lark is on dealing with the Doodler, and accordingly "doing what needed to be done", as he is one to do, of course at Sparrow and at least in theory Hero's expense.)

This would also make sense of a lot of Sparrow's more extreme behaviors towards Normal, particularly the question of his name. Through this lens, it was perhaps an affront towards Lark (and possibly Rebecca??), an assertion to the effect of "no, you will not do this again, this child will not be doomed to be a hero". This, or something less aggressive but in a similar vein.

Of course this puts Normal and Sparrow at fundamental odds with one another! Er, despite being so very very similar which isn't what this post is about but still... Anyhoo, yes, there is an important conflict at play here, wherein Normal, as we discussed earlier, sees being the hero (the chosen one, what have you) as the only way to solve love, to be loved- and Sparrow who, more than anything else, doesn't want anymore heroes in the family, because he loves his family, and what happened with Henry... Can't happen again.

[kozykricket]

Wind Charge Thoughts

Now that we've got wind charges in todays snapshot, I've already formulated some opinions on it, alongside some other peeps ;) I've gotta say, first of all, that I love that its just like... straight up a really fun item. in concept and in practice, its just... the purest essence of fun in games is funny and or cool movement, i feel like a lot of people can agree on that, yeah? feels very ... right to be in minecraft. i absolutely will be stocking up on tons of wind charges to have goofs with friends and do some sick parkour jumps - heck, even in an ideal world this could replace firework boosting... its a really, really great and widely acceptable-as-amazing feature

but thats where we get into the imperfections. the idea of rocketjumping is perfect, and while at first i was very happy about how it has a skill ceiling (its hard to get the maximum height out of a wind charge jump) it has dawned upon me that the skill-to-benefit scale is kinda... not the best ATM. I think what you ideally want to do for something like this is... be able to hook in even players who suck at precisely timing things, because hey, they might even try and hone their skills more. and of course there is benefit to having it be weak if you're not skilled, because then you wouldnt have a goal of improvement of skill to look towards but like, it feels as though right now, its VERY precise to get a good leap out of a wind charge, and if you dont? you get like, the tiniest little hop out of it. low skill should yield decent results, average skill should yield perhaps more predictable or consistent results, and high skill can be for walljumping level shenanigans and chaining them together as it stands, low skill wind charge play is a bit too dull. doesnt really feel like theres a great consistent middle ground, either. i either nail it and fly like 10 blocks in the air, or it just... kinda acts like a very literal double jump, barely bringing me above 5 blocks in the air but also, it is a very fun item! and it is early on! i really cant wait to see the shenanigans people get up to with the movement. going fast is very fun... and its like, not some absurdly endgame thing either!!! and .. jumping high in minecraft by blasting yourself IS cool. in ANY game its pretty cool, honestly. and it makes SENSE but yeah, the effort-to-reward is a bit outta wack right now. im not saying i want it to be BETTER per se, or to be incredibly easy to use, but just to give a better taste for if you dont do super great at using it. feels frame perfect honestly lol

[skepsiss]

20 Questions for Fic Writers

I was tagged by @strangersteddierthings, I've never even thought about half of these questions, so.... we're gunna go on a journey together. I MISSED SEVERAL QUESTIONS LMAO. LEMME UPDATE.

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

18 (I only post like 1/3 of my fics on AO3)

2. What’s your total AO3 word count?

66,922. I pay such little attention to this kinda stuff xD

3. What fandoms do you write for?

A lot... and a lot more than what is listed on my AO3. If we're friends I'll literally just message you a 2k+ fic in a DM for funsies.

Stranger Things (TV 2016) (8)

Overwatch (Video Game) (5)

Teen Wolf (TV) (1)

Castlevania (Cartoon 2017-2021) (1)

Critical Role (Web Series) (1)

Promare (2019) (1)

She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018) (1)

DC Comics / Batman (Tim Drake / Kon-El)

Orphan Black

Marvel (Steve/Tony)

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

Basket Ball Shorts

Roadrat: The Fire that Covered the World

The Comfort of Warmth (Lio/Galo)

Fifty-fifty (Roadhog / Junkrat)

Perspective (Caleb / Essek)

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

Yes. As soon as I see them I will reply with a thank you or to engage with someone's question/musings/etc.

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

Probably a Roadrat one. It's been a while since I've read my work, but The Things They Lost is a Roadrat fic where I explored a bunch of like... when Junkrat lost his arm and stuff like that. Brutal, tbh. Next closest is my Alucard (OT3) Castlevania fic where he is BIG SAD about Trevor and Sypha not being there. Nights Spent Alone.

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

UUuhhhuhuhuh..... I mostly write sad shit LOL. Milkshakes has a happy ending. It's a 2 part modern-day Steddie fic about the boys asking each other out on a date over Instagram.

8. Do you get hate on fics?

I've never seen any hate on my fics before.

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

Uhh, yeah. I do. PWP or With Plot. I like full stories that have smut that BELONGS there, but then we've got just straight-up PWP. That is what Basketball short is tbh.

10. Do you write crossovers? What’s the craziest one you’ve written?

No, never written a crossover. I've written lots of AUs though.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

No. Dunno how I'd figure that out.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

No.

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

Nope. Dunno what that would look like tbh.

14. What’s your all time favorite ship?

Steddie; for right now. My other top 3 are Harley/Ivy, Tim/Kon-El, and Lan Wangji/Wei Wuxian

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

NO IDEA. Lol, all my unfinished WIPs are either ones I have no interest in finishing (Roadrat), or ones I can complete faith in being able to finish (Steddie)

16. What are your writing strengths?

Speed. I can compose a story very quickly and put it together.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

I never promote myself/share. I'm really bad at sharing my works. Additionally, I'm bad at finishing things before I lose interest.... eep.

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

Uuhh maybe. I def have some Ancient Greek and Latin in my up-coming Robin (Stobin platonic) fic.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

I'm not sure... maybe Batman (Tim/Jason or Tim/Kon). I RP'd A LOT from ages 13-18 and had like 5-8 rps going at once for a whole bunch of fandoms. (Naruto, OCs in the Star Wars universe, Tim/Kon, and more I can't remember atm).

20. Favorite fic you’ve written?

Ooohhh, I dunno. I'm bad at picking favourites. Right now I'm pretty proud of my Because I Want You Steddie fic. It's Steve and Eddie as 30-year-olds with kids. They broke up in their 20s and are trying to get back together in their 30s. Eddie has a complete breakdown in it, but Steve is there to tell him that he loves him.

I don't think about this stuff at all xDDD Fic writing is just a pass time for me. This will be the first time EVER in over 18 years of writing fic that I've EVER participated in an exchange/Big Bang. I'll tag @medusapelagia @oh-stars @br0ck-eddie @kallisto-k

[literaphobe]

no😭😭😭 im sorrrrryyyyyyyy atm im not That into the miraculous fandom i just vibe and enjoy everyone being nuts about them and im also more of a teen&up/ mature reader for that fandom specifically? im sure ur writing is wonderful, the snippets i've scrolled through are really cool! (also i read sadf and i know this is a totally different story but the point is ur writing is really enjoyable :)) idk i think part of the reason i got turned off w the fic here is i like searching on ao3 specifically bu it's hard to find fic that i like for this fandom if im searching on ao3 bc 1) we've gone through so much through so many seasons and 2) a lot of the well-known ones have this weird undertone of Straightness that i really dislike so i mainly look around on tumblr when i'm interested lol (also What is with the dcu crossovers. and class bashing lmfao)

ive been here since the dnf times actually! through the mcc rants and sadf and the dream love and then the dream indifference and quackity love and quackity indifference and u playing twenty and some adhd rants and babbling about singapore's education system and tutoring etc and you've just been on my dash ever since, i got into miraculous apparently at the start of 2022? when you started reblogging stuff about it i got excited ngl but i was also kinda terrified bc a lot of people hatewatch the show or find it cringey and i was worried one of the blogs i liked would end up thinking the same but you ended up adoring it too! another fun anecdote that you might not remember - i also sent you an ask very early on about how i liked the french dub better lol

wishing you the best! hoping you get SO MANY comments and hits and kudos! 🧡🧡🧡🧡🧡

omg anon NOOOO don’t feel sorry!! it doesn’t matter at all i was just curious :D also yeah in a really big fandom it’s hard to find what appeals specifically to you… if u ever get a bit more into mlb again i hope u find content that suits u!! tysm for following all these years ^_^ here’s to many more

[danieljradcliffe]

bestie bestie ive got to know what is happening with ls atm i keep seeing posts about it but ive only see 911 and im v curious

omg where to begin???

essentially in the s4 premiere, one half of the canon gay couple told his fiancé that he is currently married to a woman (his bff from highschool). and he stayed married to her all these years so she would be covered by his health insurance as she has schizophrenia.

which fine whatever ok (i've read this is super common in the US).

but the reason most people are upset is because the writers are trying to get us to believe that he kept this huge, massive, secret from the love of his life for like 3 years. and never said a word. and it's just so very OOC for this character. and does a lot of damage to the relationship we've seen grow and develop for 3 seasons. and kinda tarnishes a lot of moments we've seen between them ya know?

one of the reasons that I am very annoyed is that the writers did not give space for his fiancé to be upset or express emotion about the fact his partner, soulmate, etc.. is married to someone else. and they just made him barely have a reaction which again... OOC. the character who is married also never apologized to his fiancé, didn’t voice how much this will affect their relationship, and just talked about being a bad friend to his wife because he has ghosted her for 3 years.

now this character has to get a divorce before the two of them can get married.

the writers are also trying to gaslight the fans into believing that they have had this planned from the beginning of the series. which we know they haven't because this woman he is married to was "missing" for the entirety of s1 and he was involved in looking for her and it was literally never even mentioned or hinted at or touched upon that they were anything more than acquaintances.

it's a classic case of the fans know these characters sooo much better than the show writers and the writers literally just make up bad plot lines for shock value. so fanfic codas have been getting me through this week lol.

[jisungshotfirst]

Levanter anon: sounds like SM Entertainment is having a chaotic time once again.

On a more lighthearted note, if you look at the graph of SM stock prices going down, it looks like a cat now. 'Tis the EXO-dus cat!

But jokes aside: what will happen to EXO now? How many group members would be left in the company (assuming the don't also leave after the first group of members)? Where will the leaving members go?

Also, will this affect other SM groups? I am not the most familiar with them, but I hear SM groups are very interconnected, with NCT and Superm and everything. So will other groups have members leaving?

Hello!! they sure are hahahhaha

omg we love<3 jfjfdj exo's legacy :')

So there currently Chanyeol, Sehun, Kai, Kyungsoo, Suho and Lay are still contracted with SM. Chen, Baekhyun, and Minseok are still in exo of the moment - they've left the company not the group and so unless there's official word after all the legal stuff that they've left the group - they are still in the group! the contracts will be them individually contracted as SM artists, not as members of EXO so they don't lose that when the contracts gone until SM declare it. Sehun... is unpredicatable so i can't say anything for sure 😭 but he is basically sitting back atm with popcorn watching it go down so i imagine that whatever the outcome he will step up and try something himself hahah the others i truly don't know! Kai fucked off to the military right as the drama's happening so we won't get his news for a while 😭 the contracts are kinda frozen/extended over military enlistment periods i've noticed so he won't be doing anything until it's over. The leaving members are very likely going to go get signed to other labels/ set up their own ! i can imagine they have a plan, and considering they're suing together at once i can imagine they have a plan together! it would be great for us fans to have them sign to the same company but you gotta remember this is their first free decision about their career they've prob ever gotten so they should go with what they want individually and find companies that will suit them and work well with them<3

oki so I think there's a lot that could happen if u compare it to other groups! they could definitely do a got7 where they are in different companies focusing on solo stuff but manage to do a full-member comeback by organising it themselves between all their companies (if only once or twice </3). Or you could look at snsd. snsd came back through SM but 3 (?) of the members aren't under SM anymore - it was just something arranged between all companies involved and i can imagine that the non-SM girls got well compensated 😭 but yeah - something like that could happen if there's some relationship between the members and SM... which doesn't seem particularly likely considering the lawsuits but anyways it's a possibility hahaha!

about other SM groups! it will be affecting poor taeyong trying to promote his solo atm thru all this drama 😭 and as you said about the stock prices - that does inhibit the other groups. However, if they win the lawsuit, one can only hope that would encourage better artist treatment and fairer payout around the whole company!! and if SM don't do it themselves, the other artists would have tonnes of info on how to beat SM in a lawsuit 😭 so we can hope they use it well<3 but yeah - the icky thing about companies is that although they are all artists with similar contracts, the treatment and payout could be extremely different between all the groups :(( and within the same group (read: luhan and tao lol). and good old misogyny when it comes to rv<3 so each SM artist could have a different experience and some could have it much worse than others.

okay so i just read some articles and it's so funny djfgjjdfgj what i'm understanding is.. cbx were like 'yo can u provide us with the info on how we've been paid for 12-13 years' and sm are like 'no. i don't want to.' and sm are CONVINCED that some other evil company leaders have been talking to exo and getting them to sign with them and illegally go against their SM contracts. which very much could be true but it's not illegal to have discussions with other employers jgjdfg and SM are still like 'we have your best interests at heart, not those evil outsiders!'. ... they r so funny fkgkd. also their contracts were literally 12-13 years long... not the usual 7 recommended by the government.... and the contracts they r terminating were written in nov/dec 2022 and were extending them another 5/6 years...and SM's current defence is "no ur lawyer doesn't know the law properly we aren't in the wrong".. so .... unless some miracle is pulled I don't see SM coming out of this well since they're not rly cooperating at all.

but yeah.. i don't see a swarm of artists leaving SM happening, mostly because a lot of them won't have the luxury as EXO have to do that. And especially if they're also stuck in 13 year contracts... which is ridiculous. so yeah :(( but we can hope they get better treament!! and soz to any superm fans if there are any of you 😭 superm is a done thing i'm afraid</3 lucas flopped, baekhyun's suing and then it'd just be taemin in an Nct unit KJFGKFJGK. so yeah no more superm. but nct will prob truck on - they are SM's priority there's no denying it so they'll prob be fine. tho they are tragically suffering with the loss of sungtaro so like... </3 rip to them but infinite Nct flopped to me the second sungtaro left, like no one else matters</3

[elegyofthemoon]

🪞🗝️ 🔪 🧷 🎠🐠!!

hi friend !!

emoji ask

🪞 -- What sort of appearance do you feel would reflect your true self?

Lame answer but I kinda just think my appearance as it is works just fine as a reflection of my true self. I feel that the only difference is I have the inherited resting bitch face that the rest of my family does but I guess that'd be fitting for days when I'm just Tired lol

TBH though actually if I had like eyes that changed color by mood I think I'd be fine LOL love that :)

🗝️ -- How do you personally try to get to know people?

Keeping tabs of what people like/dislike. Asking more about it. Checking in on how they're doing and following up if we've previously discussed something going on atm. I also seem to be in a habit of just trying to help whenever I can :'D

🔪 -- What song plays in the videogame cutscene where you (the boss), appear before the protagonist for the first time?

OOO wait so during a video game cutscene prior to the fight, so not necessarily the battle theme but just the introduction music...

I figured it might be something that swells into the fight scene itself, so something that would start with maybe like 1-3 instruments before it slowly crescendos into an orchestrated piece

If I had to pick something similar to that, I'd probably start with something like:

🧷 -- What items do you own that you associate with your favorite characters?

my brain is blanking on this one oopsies I wanted to think of something beyond "merch" but that's all I can say T - T like the Oz plush I got a few months back or insane amount of Leo zines I have sitting on my shelf LKASJDFHLAKH but yeah that's really all I can think of atm TT

🎠 -- Where do you most like to go for fun outside the house?

; - ; tbh with the nonstop studying for the last 4 months I feel like I've completely forgotten what it felt like to go outside and have fun (has hermited the entire way through dedicated studies)

The one time I did go out during and have fun, it was exploring some area in the city we hadn't gone to in a long while. I wanted to go to the museum too but ; - ; we didn't have the time,,

So short answer: just going into the city and exploring. Maybe a museum and learning a little more about the area lol

🐠 -- What color combination do you feel best suits your personality?

uHHHH probably yellow/blue tbh I would've said something more warm of a color like red but then I think red is such a strong color and I don't have that strong of a personality lol

[anarmorofwords]

I'm obviously not the previous anon, but your answer got me thinking. Firstly, I'll say that I do like what cc's doing with tlh, so this isn't hate per se? But I think her biggest mistake tlh-wise is how much of her original writing process she's shared with us.

That's what's prompted most of the 'show and not tell', in my opinion. Look at the characters's wiki pages. There's lots of trivia we've never been shown. Thomas's songwriting? Never even mentioned. James's passion for poem-making? Never heard of her. The Carstairs were going to be white (possibly half-french) ffs.

I'm an amateur writer; I'll by no means try to compare myself with a woman that has been an author for almost two decades, but I do know that characters change. Heck, my main characters changed a fuck ton in the few months it took me to come up with a plot; imagine how much cc's characters changed since 2013.

The thing is, cc overshared a lot of stuff about these foetus characters that she --ultimately-- must have realised had no true purpose to the story she was creating. That's completely normal, but nevertheless, it's information that should absolutely not have been shared with her big-ass following; who in turn came to expect something (or is currently expecting something) that simply won't happen for logistic --thus valid-- reasons.

Leaving original expectations aside and focusing on canon, I do think what she says is shown; but not to the necessary degree. This, however, is for obvious reasons concerning the plot.

Take TMT. We've seen they care for each other --we've seen them together as a friend group arguably quite often-- but:

1) James's drama with the gracelet, which we've seen greatly dampens his emotions (one of the first things he does after getting the damn thing off is try to go to Matthew to explain himself and basically tell him he loves him and say sorry)

2) Matthew's alcoholism and the secretiveness that came after his sibling's death

3) Thomas's massive crush on Alastair, who has bad blood with Matthew and James (I could talk more about this situation, because I have FEELINGS)

4) Christopher's probable fixation on Grace (there was actually no problem with him pre-coi, but oh boy will we have drama because of Gracetopher)

Are factors that greatly damage the confidentiality of a group, no matter how close they are. If we took them away, we'd see how J+M+C protested against T going on patrol alone, how TMT had a hiding out of sorts, how J trusted in them his marriage arrangement with Cordelia, how M+C+T are among the few J tells about his shit with Belial and accepts help from, or simply their interactions. We'd see all those things, and (possibly) think they are --indeed-- close.

I'd like to take a vote of faith, and say cc will resolve these issues satisfyingly in chot, but only time will tell.

(Concerning Matthew and Anna, I do have something to say, but I'm afraid this ask is getting too annoyingly long for you, lol)

(And this is clearly just my humble opinion)

hii!!! I'm probably repetitive, but, uhm, sorry for taking forever to answer!!

While I have issues with TLH (especially CHOI) that go far beyond the inconsistency between showing and telling, I do think you have a point and that might be part of the problem.

What makes this worse, however, is that for all her interacting with fans,CC never disproved any of that. It would make things so much easier.

And you know, she does rely on information included outside of books. She expects fans to know the short stories, she sends out Musicale and other bonus content, so it's not that we're being unreasonable trying to catch up with her additional content/info.

She doesn't, however, care enough to tell us which of those are still relevant and what changed, so it's all a little bit like wandering in a mist.

Concerning TMT, I kinda agree, and I personally don't hate their friendship, the dynamic between them, or think they can't be friends. Maybe it's because of my own experiences or the ones I heard about, but I don't think friends (just as other relationships) can't have problems without immediately being written off, especially when we consider how many truly intense things they're struggling with atm. I don't doubt that they love each other and have the potential to be amazing friends again, it's just that currently their dynamic is really lacking, and while some of that is understandable considering ~the plot~, some of it seems unnecessary to me?

The four months between ChoH and ChoI were apparently rather uneventful plot-wise, and while that didn't change gracelet, or erase Matthew's alcoholism, we could have been shown some of their interactions then?

The thing about writing is, I get that there needs to be conflict and issues and all that. But you need to also get it across that this wasn't always the case, you need to show that default state (aka them being good friends) as something believable, not just say it was the case. It's a challenge, but CC is an experienced author, she should be able to pull it off.

I hope I'm making sense - to provide another example, I read a book this year where MC's loved ones were murdered at the beginning. And I get it, in that case you can't see them interacting in the plot, but you still need to show how important they were to her, sell it to the reader. That's kinda the whole deal with writing.

Well, we certainly agree here, I also hope she can still resolve all that in ChoT. Hope dies last or sth.

If you feel like it, go ahead and share what you have to say about Matthew and Anna!

Oh totally! As you can see, I don't necessarily agree, but I get that we can see those things differently, that's absolutely fine.

Have a nice day/evening/night! <3