#i can't find her in any of the fictions or the lyrics

[jellysxtarr]

Explaining and (hopefully) proving Melanie Martinez is a bad person in general and shouldn't get supported !!

I want to start off strong and say that no, I don't support Timothy's actions and they shouldn't get justified for the things she has done. Want I do want, is for Timothy and other victims to get justice on their SA case or other. (SA is not a joke, believe the victims!!)

This post has multiple sections and will cover (almost) everything from top to bottom, take some of my words with a grain of salt as they took me months to find and even provide. Of course, if you do have any more information I couldn't find myself, I will look into it once mentioned and update this post eventually.

1. NFT's

This was pretty well known if I remember correctly, Melanie sold NFTs featuring a crying elephant, a duck looking into a mirror, a claustrophobic teddy bear and a flying cow that was..well, lactating. (Oddly it seemed sexual too which is yikes!!)

Those NFT's still exists and can be viewed right here.

The only reason I'm mentioning this is to bring it back up again, even with how minimal is may seem to other allegations, it's best to bring up past behaviors and what not.

NFT's are bad, they're harmful for the environment, buying, creating or even selling NFT's can cause pollution or e-waste, they're unnecessary.

2. CP (Child Porn)

This allegation has recently been outed, Melanie has been doing CP with none other than her own character Crybaby. I have seen that others made fun of it too (which honestly, isn't funny! Don't make jokes about child porn even if it's a fictional character!! Most things that happen in fiction happen often in reality).

Melanie has posted a "work in progress" drawing featuring her character topless, A CHILD, topless. Drawing a child (Crybaby) even if it's a fictional character (albeit, it also did count has Melanie's weird persona) anything of a child drawn sexually can legally count as CP, which is absolutely disgusting.

I would mention the coloring book too, but as I didn't see all the pages I shouldn't comment on it much. But from what I have seen, it's worth to mention it in this section too.

3. Pedophilia

A strong word but it's worth to mention. I'm sure Melanie's theme about "infants, children" and whatnot are obvious. Those childlike songs with a undertone of sexual stuff can be easy to ignore if you don't listen to the lyrics.

Melanie Martinez's whole theme revolves about her character, Crybaby, who goes through stages of life while growing up featured with sexual stuff. I want to still mention that Crybaby is a CHILD. It's unnecessary of Melanie Martinez to make a child appeal sexually even (cough, Pacify Her music video, Training Wheels lyrics and music video).

Another thing I wanna mention is K-12, a movie and album once again revolving about children. The movie was bad (and, if I remember correctly, even she worked with a pedophile on set while aware which is a big yikes!!), as far as I saw, everybody has seen that the "Teacher's Pet" song and scene was unnecessary to add (considering the character was also nude in that scene, it's once again CP).

While the characters don't have a specific age, they're in high school!! HIGH SCHOOL, they're still children for crying out loud.

In short, Melanie has shown pedophilic behavior in albums and songs.

4. Bad Treatment towards friends and Co-workers

While it isn't as, "well known" per say, it has been said by Gina Frey (i deeply apologize for the bad quality in that image! Finding this was very difficult and I can't seem to find one with one that was more readable) who was friends with Melanie back then has said she dealt with Melanie Martinez's awful behavior and treatment towards her, I want to add that Allison Balchi had shortly mentioned she didn't get the best treatment either.

Stella Rose (she will once again be mentioned in a different section) also appears to be on the same boat as Gina Frey And Allison Balchi.

While I am not sure with what exactly has also happened with the artist of the Crybaby coloring book, the artist has mentioned that they don't want to do anything with Melanie anymore and won't return to her either (from my choice, it was best to add it here since the artist not wanting to do anything with Melanie anymore can count here).

5. Rapist Allegations

Before you go and mention "well!! Innocent until proven guilty!!!" This won't work, it's GUILTY until proven innocent. If you were brought to court you would not even be near innocent but counted as guilty.

I think we all know this has resurfaced (and thank God it did! This allegation is not a joke do NOT shove it aside), but it's also obvious which side people are on.

Timothy Heller has returned to the internet to speak about her SA case once again, while negativity has returned, a fair share took Timothy's words seriously and drove away from Melanie. Even with the mention of it being "debunked, Timothy lied Melanie innocent yippie!!" That is false.

Timothy didn't lie, Melanie has out right stated that it did happen, too.

A lack of no doesn't mean yes. And, even with some extra words added, she never said no stands out the most. Melanie made two tweets, one admitting the situation and the other THANKING her fans for bullying Timothy off the internet. How do you people not see anything wrong with that??

"Timothy got the dates mixed up!! Oh and the pictures don't add up either!!" I will be blunt and say victims of SA wouldn't remember the dates, that would be the LAST thing a victim would care about. And about the pictures, Timothy's gallery was bugging out, someone else who had the same type of phone Timothy had said that they had also have something like that happen.

Some screenshots about messages Timothy had sent were fake, edited, made up by Melanie's dickriders to silence Timothy.

Allegedly, when Timothy first said her statement about Melanie back then, one of Melanie's fans hacked her account, changed everything around it and left it with a laugh. Which should also say enough about Melanie's fans.

But Timothy wasn't the only one, Madeleine Carina and Stella Rose have also said something when Timothy spoke up about her situation, which by surprise got ignored as Timothy was at the center of everyone's attention.

I want to say on Madeleine's statement that she was peer pressured into saying yes to sleeping with Melanie, which is once again, NOT consented.

Getting pressured to say yes even if you DON'T want to COUNTS as a form of sexual assault and it flies over everybody's heads. I hope the victims get justice, it's sad to see that millions of people would rather believe a potential rapist (with oh so many allegations on her back already) than a potential victim.

I want to once again say, believe the victims! It's scummy of people to be well aware and still brush it off when it's right in front of their face (and seeing how people on TikTok act with wanting Melanie to rape them instead is fucking repulsing).

Melanie isn't a great person, her silence on the current situation says a lot, even going as far to ignore them. I hope this is her fucking down fall cause she honestly had it coming, she does not deserve her fame.

[kittenintheden]

Writer Interview Game

hee fun, thank you for the tag, @eraserspiral!

When did you start writing?

blah blah blah been writing stories since I was a kid blah but honestly I'd say I legitimately developed an interest in writing fiction when I was around 13. you'll never guess this but I was on the jr high literary magazine and I wrote a sweet lil 13yo romance story where a marine biologist verbally abuses a dude who hits a dolphin with his boat and then he gets them both to the emergency vet and then it turns into a meet-cute. I used the word "dumbass" in the story and my teaching advisor let it slide and it was published with the swear intact. it was a whole thing.

Are there different themes or genres you enjoy reading than what you write?

I read all kinds of things I don't especially want to write. a lot of nonfiction and investigative journalism, memoirs, literary classics a la Virginia Woolf. no interest whatsoever in writing it but it's good reading.

Is there a writer you want to emulate or get compared to often?

there isn't like a specific writer I aspire to write like, but I have historically been compared to Neil Gaiman, which is very flattering. mostly I admire the writing chops of Laini Taylor for her beautiful lyrical imagery and dreamlike framing, Carmen Maria Machado for the way she blends horror elements with life, queerness and emotion, Christopher Moore for his incredible humor writing, and (surprise) Neil Gaiman for his approach to speculative fiction that feels so accessible and tied to the real world. like you could turn over a rock and find an entire magical world you never knew was there.

I don't necessarily want to EMULATE them but I have been influenced by them, for sure.

Can you tell me a bit about your writing space?

I write on a laptop curled up in the corner of my couch with noise-cancelling headphones on and am frequently interrupted by pets, a spouse, or children. which is why I tend to write late at night.

What’s your most effective way to muster up a muse?

sit my ass down and start typing. like I know that is not romantic or fun but part of writing is that I have to get into my flow state, and I can't do that by dicking around doing stuff that isn't writing. it can be really, really hard. sometimes it'll feel like shit. but I do it anyway.

something that helps me a lot is putting on the headphones and listening to mood music or a dialogue video to kind of kickstart my brain into the creative space.

I also do a weed. doing a weed relaxes my inner critic. sometimes.

Are there any recurring themes in your writing? Do they surprise you?

sibling relationships tend to feature prominently. I have several siblings and sibling dynamics are fascinating to me. there also tend to be themes of self-sacrifice, choosing love (romantic or platonic), and messy but ride-or-die style friendships.

What is your reason for writing?

I feel compelled to put the movies playing in my head to the page. it brings me joy to transcribe my weird ideas and give them form.

Is there any specific comment or type of comment you find particularly motivating?

when people tell me they've come back to reread something I wrote because it stuck with them. that's like. wow. what a feeling. what a motivator.

How do you want to be thought about by your readers?

I try not to think about how other people think about me if I can help it, which I often can't, lol. but mostly I hope readers (and people in general) think of me as someone who tells emotionally resonant stories that make them smile or laugh.

What do you feel is your greatest strength as a writer?

dialogue. expressing an emotion succinctly on the page.

How do you feel about your own writing?

I'm in a pretty good place about it these days. I write both professionally and for fun, and what I do in this space is my fun time. I can let go, be experimental and weird, not overanalyze every single word, and make something for/with a community that I really enjoy.

When you write, are you influenced by what others might enjoy reading, or do you write purely for yourself, or a mix of both?

a mix of both, I guess? mostly for myself, honestly. I write the things I would enjoy reading. I write the smut I would find hot. I write the jokes that make me laugh. but I also love giving little winks to readers and letting them know that they're part of the experience, too.

no pressure tags: @shewhowas39 @spacebarbarianweird @ghostfire @brain-rot-central @brabblesblog

[girljeremystrong]

cat!!!! hi!!!! i want to get my non-reader friend into reading. he probs won't read anything over 150-200 pages so i'm trying to find an entertaining short book. all the short books i love are essays or philosophy or things i think he could like in time but would probably find dry at the start (especially cause he hasn't read anything recreationally for years). so im at a loss and wanted to know if u have any recs for short books that are page-turners/easy to read <3 hope ur having a good day beloved xo

hello my love <3

first of all sorry for replying late but i was sleeping and then i had to go to the BANK but anyway i have compiled a little list of books i loved that are under 200 pages. there are lots of classics that are shorter and i've included them even though i think some of those would be stuff that you or him might have already read!

contemporary fiction

open water by caleb azumah nelson: THIS IS SUCH A GREAT ONE that i can't imagine anyone not enjoying. truly. it's a love story between two black young british people but it's far from a tiktok romance novel. it explores themes of race and masculinity and vulnerability and it's soft but also very real and it's wonderful. honestly if i had to only recommend one it would be this!

small things like these by claire keegan: very good and quietly hopeful story of a man in a little irish town at christmas. everybody was talking about this book last year and with good reason, it's great.

whereabouts by jhumpa lahiri: the story of a woman in the town she lives in and how it can change in a year. this is an introspective one but jhumpa lahiri is a genius so it reads very easily and it's so wonderfully written.

interpreter of maladies by jhumpa lahiri: short stories, mainly dealing with indian characters in the US. they feel absolutely universal while teaching something about culture and belonging. won the pulitzer in 1999.

how not to drown in a glass of water by angie cruz: a woman narrates the story of her life to her counselor who's trying to find her a job. it's funny and hopeful and memorable. the author is so great (she wrote another one called dominicana that is a masterpiece although is longer!)

kim jiyoung, born 1982 by cho nam-joo: the story of a new mum living in korea that explores the estrangement of being a woman and having to give up so much. it's definitely more serious but it's written very well and it doesn't feel heavy at all.

swimming in the dark by tomasz jedrowski: this one is incredible. it's the story of a polish university student who falls in love with another man in the 1980s in an obviously very repressive society. so he's in love but he wants protest and he can't ignore the struggles and the disparity around him. it's very political but also lyrical and tender.

someone who will love you in all your damaged glory by raphael bob-waksberg: okay this breaks 200 pages at 256 pages long. but it's so good. everybody would love this. it's by the creator of bojack horseman if that can be an incentive somehow. it's a collection of stories that are so unconventional and bizarre in the most incredible way. they are funny stories and sweet and absurd and sad. i really loved reading this book.

infinite country by patricia engel: the story of a colombian family dealing with deportation. it's from the pov of elena who is the eldest daughter. it's a beautiful book that deals with very real struggles and it does it beautifully.

classics

recitatif by toni morrison: very short story (about 20 pages) but so clever and so well written of course. it's the story of two women who have known each other since they were children. they lose touch and then they reconnect when they're older. one of them is white and one of them is black, but the author never tells you which is which. so it's a great story about race.

the cossacks by leo tolstoy: the story of a man who loses his fortune and retires to a cossack village. it's very russian... but it's very well written and definitely explores some of the themes that tolstoy will then explore in war and peace like the purpose of life and war and his love of nature.

white nights by fyodor dostoevsky: again very russian. but less than 100 pages long! it's the story of a young man living in st petersburg who one day meets a girl and they become fast friends. they both feel like outcasts, so together they feel like they can belong. it is actually great.

giovanni's room by james baldwin: lots of baldwin's books (both his fiction and non-fiction) are short ones actually. this one is the story of a man in paris who, while waiting for his girlfriend to get there, falls in love with a man. it's an incredible story dense with love and passion and shame and it is wonderful.

the old man and the sea by hemingway: old man tries to catch big fish after not being able to catch any fish for a long time. but also so much more than that and nobody made me read this in school so i only read it at 25 and it blew me away. everybody told me it would be so sad but i think it's actually hopeful and a little bit it is a story about community? and it tells you that there's people waiting for you to come back.

of mice and men by steinbeck: again i read it in my mid twenties and loved it. it's a gut punch. it's about two men clinging together as laborers in california. it deals with what it means to feel powerless in a tyrant world.

franny and zooey by salinger: one of the best books ever i think. franny and zooey are brother and sister and they are two young people experiencing existential doubts. it's a book about family and about growing into adults and about the alienation that comes with that. salinger knows how to write young people in a crisis so well and how to make it engaging and entertaining.

having compiled this list i now see that my tastes definitely are oriented in a certain way but i hope at least one of these can work for your friend. i tried to include all the shorter books that i have read and loved and i think that generally anyone could enjoy them, but you never know!

hope you're having a great day too!!! mwah!!

[non-un-topo]

13 Books Tag Game

Was tagged by @disregardandfelicity Thank you! This is really getting me back into the spirit of reading. I needed this <3

1) The last book I read:

Coma by Alex Garland. I love him as a director, and I just recently found out he's also written some books. It was fun and mind-bendy, sort of reminded me of the stuff I try to write. Also really fast. I think I finished it in one or two hours.

2) A book I recommend:

Moving Forward Sideways Like a Crab by Shani Mootoo. I recently formed a little book club around this book because I just think it's so special. And almost no one has heard of it, which is such a shame! Everything this author writes is just stunning. Heartbreaking, guttural, sometimes disturbing, but always always stunning.

3) A book that I couldn’t put down:

Pillars of Light by Jane Johnson. Became one of my all-time favourites almost immediately, and I plowed right through it. I've been itching to read it again, actually. Oh, John the sad gay foundling, I miss reading from your pov...

4) A book I’ve read twice (or more):

For some reason I've read Room by Emma Donoghue twice. I wouldn't be able to stomach it now, but I guess it did something for me at the time. If anything, it's a fast read once you get used to the five year old's voice.

5) A book on my TBR:

So, soooo many... After the book I'm currently reading, I was hoping to pick up White Noise by Don DeLillo or Foe by Iain Reid.

6) A book I’ve put down:

Cloud Atlas, for now. Just sort of fell out of it by accident.

7) A book on my wish list:

And Then She Fell by Alicia Elliott. I've read her other book, A Mind Spread Out on the Ground, and I genuinely think it's one of those must-reads for any Canadian (or non-Canadian) interested in Indigenous lit.

8) A favorite book from childhood:

I was partial to The Spiderwick Chronicles. In earlier childhood, though, it was The BFG by Roald Dahl.

9) A book you would give to a friend:

The Solitude of Prime Numbers by Paolo Giordano. I know what you're thinking --- kind of a depressing book to give to a friend. And yes, it is depressing and very rough. But it opened something in my heart, idk. I felt comforted by it. I would also give a friend The Bonesetter's Daughter by Amy Tan. Basically, books that have made me cry and hug them after I finished them.

10) A book of poetry or lyrics that you own

Can't remember the titles off the top of my head, but I have some Neruda. My partner is the poetry reader.

11) A nonfiction book you own:

Oh, sooooo many. I used to only read non-fiction for the longest time. But I'll go with the one that makes me look the most pretentious: Gender Trouble by Judith Butler. Found in the special little book sale room at the library I work at.

12) What are you currently reading:

The Kite Runner, for the first time. It's as gorgeous and heartbreaking as promised.

13) What are you planning on reading next?

Essex Dogs by Dan Jones. I bought a copy last year, got a few chapters in, then gave it to my dad for Christmas because we're big Dan Jones fans and I couldn't find another copy anywhere. I waited months for my new copy, so I have to read it now!

Hmm, tagging @spacegirlsgang @raedear @captainshakespear @maddielle @polarcell @knoepfchen but no pressure ofc

[mirror-to-the-past]

More (Apparently) KH3:Remind and Melody of Memory Stuff

Spiritually pounding on the windows of the Square Enix building- what do you MEAN I find out via YouTube that there's story cutscenes locked behind those egregious Data fights?? (That I'll personally beat... someday...)

(I also just went ahead and watched all the cutscenes for Melody of Memory, because I didn't want to play through a $60 rhythm game, sorryyy)

But first, Re:Mind and its sneaky, sneaky cutscenes...

Everything with Yozora has me Bonkers. I can't believe they've done this. Echoing Sora's first line in the series "I've been having these weird thoughts lately" through his own side of the story, him saying that he doesn't look like how he appears, the 'why do you know that name,' the "save Sora" while immediately drawing a gun on the man in question?? I'm just... *screaming noises* They're bringing everything together with the fiction versus reality stuff they have going on, and guys, I get SO excited when some games go meta. I'm squealing like a little girl; I'm ecstatic. Despite Sora being in (what I now know as Quadratum) and the background of the Yozora fight reflecting that, I can't help but wonder if it was another internal fight due to the arena switching to Sora's Heart Station for a second, akin to Roxas' fight in KH2.

And the music was so pretty... Yozora has a gorgeous theme. The prettier the battle theme, the more insane the KH fight, I say.

Also Riku was dreaming of Sora for a year. Lmao. He just... didn't say anything about it, while everyone was busting their asses. I'll be honest, literally the only way I could take that is that he dismissed his dreams as irrelevant- ah yes, dreaming of Sora? Nothing crazy to see here. Oh, Riku.

Also more importantly than Riku's angst deal- KAIRI WAS LAUNCHED INTO SPACE WHEN SHE WAS A PRESCHOOLER TO ACT AS A KEYBLADE WIELDER HOMING DEVICE, JESUS CHRIST. Kairi 🤝 Megamind 🤝 potentially Superman (I'm not a comics guy):

Getting launched out of their home planets into space in order to escape the destruction of their worlds, given vague and confusing scenarios and instructions to adapt to once they find a new planet, but they really just wanna chill and be loved and keep people safe.

And she's gonna train with Aqua! :D Another professional at getting launched into other worlds (realms). I hope she bonds with Ventus, as I've recently been made aware of their similarities in disposition, and how they are treated by others (hearts of pure light, designated by their groups as "the one who should stay home/be protected", wavering self confidence in their own abilities and self worth). Additionally, the hilarious potential scenarios of Kairi being like "yeah, and my favorite color's actually-" and Ventus interrupts with "Purple. I know," because the man essentially vicariously lived Sora's childhood. I'm super stoked for future Kairi screentime! Loved when she saw Xehanort in her memories and was like 'I don't care if you're a memory, data, manifestation of my heart or any other thing- I hate you, get out of my life forever. Hugs and kisses, die.' Like, 10/10, girl. Fair. Kairi's a volcano wrapped in a sweet package ready to snap at someone.

Riku's like "Y'know Ansem, I'm gonna miss you... 🥺"

And Sora's like "Xemnas, stooop all the violence. How can you take advantage of people with hearts? You should feel your feelings. You're valid, bestie. ☺️"

Kairi's no bleeding heart for baddies, she just wants everyone to get off her damn case, lol!

Also LOL at the fairy godmother of all people being the one to ship Riku off to Quadratum after Sora. My Cinderiku jokes (as well as my previous KH3 post's blurb about Riku determinedly walking into the ocean to find Sora) may not be completely unwarranted, now. Like, Miss 'specialty in dreams?' Miss "If you'd lost all your faith, I couldn't be here. And here I am." Not even to mention "a dream is a wish your heart makes," a very relevant lyric for this set of circumstances, if I do say so myself. I guess that's just gonna be another song I love and sing to myself that now makes me think of KH. 🤷 There's worse things I suppose, for example, like Buddy Holly being stuck in my head for three days straight and making me feel like I'm trapped listening to my uncle's records (thanks, Good Omens).

I ended up re-watching "Cinderella" for the first time in a while because of that part of Re:Mind and MoM. The KH association of the part with Fairy Godmother's appearance is now semi-heartwrenching, given the context of her appearance in "Cinderella," as well:

You have the vocalizing chorus throughout the opening of the scene acting as a callback to Cinderella's "A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes" song as well as reflecting her inner thoughts, and she has a dialogue with it while she sobs alone in the garden:

Chorus: Whatever you wish for, you keep...

Cinderella: "Oh, no... no, it isn't true."

Chorus: Have faith in your dreams and someday... your rainbow will come smiling through!

Cinderella: "It's just no use. No use at all."

Chorus: No matter how your heart is grieving, if you keep on believing...

Cinderella: "I can't believe! Not anymore..."

Chorus: The dream that you wish... *lyric trails off, unfinished*

Cinderella: "There's nothing left to believe in... nothing..."

[Fairy Godmother materializes next to her]

FG: "Nothing my dear? Oh, now you don't really mean that."

Cinderella: "Oh, but I do-"

FG: "Nonsense, child! If you lost all your faith, I couldn't be here, and here I am!"

[the violin and cello come in to finish the last part of the lyric] "...will come true."

Beautiful scene, really. The chorus assisting the animation is delightful... I watched Bambi and Lady and the Tramp (Bella Notte <3) a lot growing up because I loved that old-timey choral work. So dreamy...

Additional funny/sweet bit: I like how Mickey was freaking out to the point of being pinned down over Riku being unceremoniously dropped into Quadratum via Fairy Godmother's spontaneity and enabling.

'You sent my son to the big city ALONE?! He could get mugged, he could get lost, he could get hate-crimed, he could-'

*jump cut to Riku, and he's trying to gauge the value of Earth Money by spying on hot dog stands. He sheds his first known tear of the series by trying to figure out public transit routes*

Anyway, in the words of Cid:

"But what happens next?!"

[ratstuckinamarble]

@a-dauntless-daffodil thanks for tagging me :)

tagging: it is apparently Tumblr tradition, so give it a shot! @sketch-the-spectre, @lulughoul, @cherry-purple, @just-someone-online, @crystal-clear-crystalline, @bluebelleisabelle, @sparklyaxolotlstudent, @m0nsterartgarage. Dauntless reminded us to stay hydrated so I'm telling you to eat smt. Don't be like me and wonder why things suddenly seem awful only to feel fine after fulfilling your basic needs.

Last song -> 'Raus aus meiner Haut' by OOMPH! It's either about a bi trans woman or a drag queen, the lyrics work with both interpretations and I couldn't figure out which one was intended. I have some notes but it's surprisingly progressive for 2012 Germany. Or 'another life' by mazie. I can't quite remember.

Currently reading -> Entangled life (a wonderful book about mushrooms) and Queer Little Nightmares, an anthology of monstrous fiction & poetry. Yes I bought it because I crave queer monsters in fiction. It's good so far, the first short story was about lesbian werewolves. There was a scene where the love interest left a sapphic book on her bed for the protagonist to find and while reading it she went "is this what's wrong with me?" and I was transported right back to being 14.

Currently watching -> Barbie life in the Dreamhouse, The Midnight Gospel and all the old mh movies (almost done with those now). I also watched Pan's Labyrinth today from a TOTALLY reputable website, yup. I thought it was a horror movie but not really? Still good though. I would have liked to see more of the actual fantasy aspects, especially the faun, but I'm glad I saw it.

Current obsession -> Queer monsters of any type. Gimme. Also Monster High, mushrooms, tiny things, stopmotion, horror.

I can never pick just one thing, can I.

[rustbeltjessie]

7 Snippets 7 People

Thanks to @blind-the-winds for tagging me!

The idea for this is to share seven out-of-context snippets of your own writing, and tag seven other people to do the same. Unfortunately, my brain is fried right now, and I can't even think of seven writer-mutuals (even though I'm positive I have many, many more than seven) to tag. So just know that if you're seeing this, and you're a writer and want to share, please consider yourself tagged; and tag me when you share, because I'd love to read it!

Since I'm not supposed to give context, I won't. All I'll say is there's some poetry and some prose (and some prose poetry!), some fiction and some non.

I ask if I can flip through the 45s and pick the next tune. "Sure," she says, and I do, slow and casual, like I don't know what I'm looking for, until I find it. Tobi Legend—"Time Will Pass You By." I want to tell you everything about this song and where I first heard it. About Wigan Casino in the early '70s, the "3 before 8," those songs they played every morning after we'd danced all night. How it was my inside joke with myself, doing the soul glide—slide one foot, swivel the other, I wish I could show you those moves right now—to those songs about time passing. Tobi's was my favorite. The passion rending her voice. The jumping beat paired with the swell of the strings. The lyrics—those bleary mornings, I always wondered if they meant as much to anyone else in the club as they did to me. But I can't tell you any of that.

—

You are a fried egg sandwich. On a winter day in Philadelphia when I'm down to my last three dollars & I'm hungry & cold. I mean you are, specifically, the sandwich I ate that day, just before Christmas, when I'd been wandering the wet streets of Philadelphia for hours, that day I watched the lights sparkle off tinsel & wrapping in store windows, displays of presents & mistletoe,

—

Lento, I say now. Lento, though the music of those years was fast and harsh. Slow it down. Keep us here, just a while longer.

Here, this pause between everything which came before and everything that would come after. Here, saying our last goodbyes to the star-doomed lovers; here, in a blood-red car, on a Baltimore-bound highway. My rock’n’roll sister and I in that burning room, where we slammed like boys, then batted girl-lashes to tempt the boys into buying us beer. The gold foam of it, the distorted fuzz of amplifiers. The night’s black eye.

—

It was weird, right. The five of us had been friends since we were babies, practically; we were inseparable as sisters and hung around at each other's houses so much you could hardly say who lived where. But I guess even sisters have their quarrels. I guess we've all got some ugly shit in us and we're most likely to take it out on the people we're closest to. And of course, it was summer, and the sticky heat made us mean. It was summer, and we were 12, and we were bored, and there was fuck-all to do in Mound City, Illinois.

—

Q: What do you call it when dead girls fuck? A: Two coffins bangin' together.

—

Blue as the churchbells ringing six times in the blue hour. Blue as an hour’s three twilights: civil, nautical, astronomical. Blue as sex, as sin. Blue, also, as the astronomical heavenblue of the Virgin’s robes. Blue as Mater Dolorosa; her punctured, burning heart, her seven sacred sorrows. Blue as a claddagh ring worn on a right hand with the heart’s point facing out towards the fingertips; blue as a claddagh that will never be turned in. Blue as a pigeon, dead in the gutter. Blue as the gutter we lay in, drunk, and the nightblue heaven of stars we wished on. Blue as a wish that can’t come true.

—

And thank you hum of nighttime, my sleepless lullaby—the air filter in the hallway, the nearby airport's machinations, and the trains (always the trains). And (thank you) the voice of a favorite singer, the whiskeyed gravel, the Midwest desperation, the loneliness, the smoke. And thank you the rain bringing toadstools to my garden, and the autumn.

[yelenasdiary]

Hi! Can you please do one for gip Scarlett.

So reader(fem) and Scar are like newly dating and reader is like a super famous singer song writer and after her first time scar she releases the song Need to Know (by Doja Cat) and maybe put emphasis on the lyrics "I heard from a friend of a friend

That that dick was a ten out of ten

I can't stand it, just one night me

Clink with the drink, gimme a sip

Tell me what's your kink, gimme the dick

Spank me, slap me, choke me, bite me (ew)

Uh, wait, I can take it (ah)" and the whole world is kinda like shock cause readers music is generally family friendly and stuff also she promotes the song on like maybe Instagram live while plays and maybe when part

"I heard from a friend of a friend

That that dick was a ten out of ten" comes she goes and says that Scarlett's (referring to her Dick) definitely didn't disappoint and she just breaks Instagram that it overloads. Also maybe there is like a gathering for the cast of Avengers(any movie) and they like tease her about including scar but they all get stunned when she just shamelessly grabs and rubs Scar's Dick through her outfit and just says it's definitely a ten out of ten and maybe the end smut?

Please make it a long one if it's not a bother♥️

Hey there! 🥰

Thank you for sending this but I only write smut for fictional characters. I find writing smut about a real person uncomfortable haha

I’m sure there is another writer out there that would be comfortable with this x

[camelliagwerm]

tagged by @winedark a while back to do this! thank you, saff. a lot of this is under the cut because i am incapable of not yapping.

tagging: @dragonologist-phd ; @bearvanhelsing ; @waterdeep ; @kirkwall ; @thanekrios and @yennefre since i know all of you read <3

1. the last book I read:

i just finished reading dungeon meshi vol.5 literally last night. i can't say it was my favourite of the volumes so far, but they're easy to read and i definitely appreciate that .

2. a book I recommend:

i am always going to be recommending carmilla by joseph sheridan la fanu, particularly the edition edited by carmen maria machado, and the bloody chamber and other stories by angela carter. both of them are very formative, inspirational works for me as a writer.

3. a book that I couldn’t put down:

mexican gothic by silvia moreno-garcia. i devoured it on release in one sitting and i think of it fondly. another one is annhilation by jeff vandermeer from pure "what the fuck is going on?" energy.

4. a book that I’ve read twice (or more):

this is how you lose the time war by amar el-mohtar and max gladstone. i think this benefits from a reread, to be honest. and i highly, highly recommend the audiobook for as well.

5. a book on my TBR:

i've got so many on my tbr that it's sort of embarrassing, but for now let's go with the vampires of el norte by isabel canas (i adored the hacienda by the same author); chapter house dune by frank herbert (and oh my god, i'm determined to complete the six book series this year); and ring shout by p. djéli clark.

6. a book I’ve put down:

i often put down books with the intent of picking them up later for one reason or another (e.g. the vibes aren't quite right), but i distinctly remember having to put down god-emperor of dune by frank herbert and later restart it because holy hell i was not able to get through it on the first attempt.

7. a book on my wish list:

i have a huge wish list, but i think top of the list is silvia moreno garcia's new book the seventh veil of salome which is out this summer, i think. i love garcia's books - they're usually a tight 300-350 pages, and all standalones. i'm very interested to see what she does with this golden era of hollywood setting.

8. a favourite book from childhood:

i was a massive jacqueline wilson fan as a kid (and i think a lot of british girls around my age in particular really enjoyed her?) and my sister jodie really did hit where it hurts when you're a 10-11 year old. i also have to give a massive shout out to the edge chronicles by paul stewart & chris riddell, especially the quint and twig trilogies, because i read and reread those constantly as a kid; and of course, a series of unfortunate events by lemony snicket, which is about as formative as it got for me.

9. a book you would give to a friend:

hilariously i've sold a friend on dune by saying "i wouldn't recommend this to my enemy, but i'd recommend it to my best friend" and he bought it. but he also loves sci-fi and enjoys warhammer, so it wasn't exactly hard to sell it to him. i've also recommended carmilla, mexican gothic and annihilation a lot.

10. a book of poetry or lyrics you own:

i don't own any poetry beyond a compendium of edna st. vincent millay's poetry from when i did my masters and we looked at her poetry in my american modernism class, and some of edgar allen poe's stuff. i really want to pick up some sappho though - it's just a case of finding a good translation.

11. a nonfiction book you own:

i don't own many non-fiction books, but i have from here to eternity: travelling the world to find the good death by caitlin doughty aka askamortician. ever since i started working in my job, i've found myself curious about other cultures' funerary practices.

12. what are you currently reading:

i'm back to reading heretics of dune by frank herbert (dune #5) after taking a break from it, and i also have an audiobook going for work, which is a full cast production of the war of the worlds by h.g. wells which includes aspects of jeff wayne's iconic songbook too.

13. what are you planning on reading next:

i'm thinking once i'm done with heretics, i'm either gonna go for vol. 6 of dungeon meshi as a palette cleanser or pick up either the bone season by samantha shannon (author's preferred text edition, which came out last year on its 10th aanniversary), hummingbird salamander by jeff vandermeer or letter to the luminous deep by sylvie cathrall (which daisy is telling me to read.) audiobook wise i'll probably go with the heart of the sun warrior by sue lynn tann since i listened to daughter of the moon goddess during april to early may and enjoyed it enough to grab the second book.

[lumine-no-hikari]

Dear Sephiroth: (a letter to a fictional character, because why not) #137

Today was a very mixed bag of things. I made a tea. I fixed a few more of my entries in this space. I took pictures of flowers for you. A melody from my past has been haunting me for the last several weeks, so I recently borrowed a cassette player from the local library to try to find it on some tapes I misplaced. I ran some errands with M. And I watched a movie with M and J. It's a lot of stuff. I'm not sure where to begin; there's so much to explain.

Well. Suppose it's good to start at the beginning. I combined my lychee/rose/vanilla tea with my vanilla/rose tea, and sweetened it with the last of the remaining vanilla ice cream. I think you would have liked it, but I can't share it with you, so I took pictures instead:

After that, I fixed up some of my letters to you in order to make my space a little more readable. Everything up to my 60th letter now has a cut in a place that feels appropriate. But I came across some very good ones:

Do you remember when I made the one-winged snow angel on the ground for you? Just so I could show you that it still belongs quite nicely with the two-winged snow angel?

Do you remember when I talked to you about the Ancient Psychic Tandem War Elephant, how similar he is to you, and how he changed?

…Do you remember the locket of your mother, Lucrecia, that I made for you, because I found out you lost the one you used to carry?

…Do you remember the pumpkin soup I made for you, just because as a boy, you were sad at missing an opportunity to have some?

…Do you remember when I repaired the shattered bowl until it was more beautiful than how it started? And do you remember when I filled it with that very same pumpkin soup for you?

So much has happened. This was only about a month's worth of letters. I've been writing to you every day for a total of four and a half months now, not counting the number of days it took me to write my original letter for you. I intend to keep going for the foreseeable future.

…

…Do you see me…? …Do you hear me…? ...I wonder…

…

M and I ran some errands; we got some things from the grocery and the pharmacy. We got a chocolate donut for J. I wondered what kind of donut you might like, if any at all. When I got home, I took a walk, and I tried to snap a few nice pictures for you:

The lilacs are beginning to bloom at my house. I'll have to ask my friend to let me know when hers are in bloom so I can make syrup this year. Have you ever smelled lilacs? They're my favorite scent. I wonder if you like them:

Here's a different kind of flower:

...And another kind...

...And another...

...Whatever kind this is smelled really nice:

...And I managed to snag a picture of a robin for you, too:

M took a nap shortly after I returned home. I tried to hang with him, but the melody I spoke on before was in my mind, and I was feeling very restless. It's a song from when I was a child - something straight out of the imagination of one of my mother's past partners; you won't find it anywhere on the internet. I can remember the melody as though it was sung to me yesterday, but I can't remember all of the lyrics - only some of them. Years ago, and before I went no-contact with my biological family, my mother had given me some tapes with the song supposedly recorded on it. But they weren't in the place where I thought I had left them, which figures since, for reasons I might get into later, a lot of our things are packed away in boxes and stored in closets, actually.

So I tore through the boxes to look for the tapes. In the process, I found a lot of my writing and doodles from the time I was a child, which I had kept in boxes because a teacher a long time ago said that we should always keep all our school and creative works, and I guess that stuck with me. The first thing I found was one of the very first pictures I ever tried to draw of you. I also found some super depressing poetry that I had written back in those days, and some silly stories that I wrote. I'm not going to share these things, because none of them were very good. Still, what a trip; I've changed so much over the years.

As for the tapes, I eventually found four of them; I had thought there were more, and I wonder if they're in other boxes. I wanted to look some more, but by the time I had found these four, M was awake and playing Sonic the Hedgehog with J. Earlier in the day, M had asked to watch The Emperor's New Groove with me today, so J made some popcorn and we sat down for a while to see the movie. It's one that I've seen so many times that I can repeat every line, in order, verbatim (…I'm autistic; what do you want of me??? 🤣).

...I can't share the popcorn with you, and this continues to be something that is not easy to deal with. But I did take a picture for you. Here:

...I wonder if you like popcorn. Hm.

I was still restless after the movie, so I listened to the four tapes I found. One of them was a mixed tape of already-recorded songs that are well-known - not relevant to my endeavor. The rest were of my mother singing in band practice and playing guitar.

…I have gone no-contact with my biological family for reasons that pertain to my emotional safety and wellbeing. But I do miss her dearly. Though a lot of my memories with her are unpleasant and fraught with mental and emotional abuse, she is still an otherwise wonderful person who is astoundingly intelligent, amazingly creative, and skilled with guitar and singing. It's just… there's a lot standing in the way between her and her ability to love me properly. She expects perfection of me all the time, and she's willing to belittle, guilt trip, or scream at me when I don't deliver. She is also, as compared to how she is with my siblings, not nearly as inclined to offer any kind of emotional support to me if I'm struggling; mostly she just tells me that my troubles are silly and irrelevant and that I should stop feeling badly about them. She expects more of me than she does of my siblings, and gets angry when I can't met those expectations, but in the same breath gets resentful when I can. The reasons for this are complicated and have mainly to do with her own traumas, insecurities, and fears of inadequacy; I don't think it's something I can help her resolve, as much as I want to.

All the same, the way she treats me renders me unstable, and she either unwilling or unable to improve. There are people around me now who are willing to treat me with empathy and respect, and I need to prioritize my ability to be stable for them over my wish to have a relationship with her, especially since a healthy relationship with her is likely never going to happen. It is what it is, and as far as I know, there isn't anything I can do about it; I can speak on the neurobiological mechanics of autism and how they interact with the neurobiological mechanics of trauma all day, but… it just doesn't get through to her.

And what's more, the last time I interacted with my sister, she had said to me that I am and always was "the problem" in our family (which makes no sense to me, because I was obedient to the point that I didn't even HAVE a "teenage rebellion" phase; in those days, my mother was "god" in my eyes - all-knowing and infallible - so I did my best to do what I was told even when it hurt me to do, and I achieved ridiculously high marks in school…), and I know that she wouldn't be able to say that out loud if my mother and my other siblings didn't also think that way, so… even without all the other stuff, I don't want my existence to hurt them. As such, it's best for everyone involved if I just go and don't come back. So that is what I've done.

…Well. All the same, it was wonderful to hear her sing and play guitar again, even if it was a little warped and garbled. The tapes are old, and so is the machine that they're playing on, but it's better than nothing; I cried a lot, and that was probably good.

…I wonder how much of this yearning you can relate to. Your relationship with your mother also doesn't really exist, right? But you know - last I knew, Lucrecia is still chilling out somewhere in a cave behind a waterfall on a mountain with a lake in the middle of it, just southeast of Nibelheim. You might have known this already, though. I think she loves you dearly, but if you go see her, it might be the case that all she'll be able to do is say "I'm sorry" to you over and over again. Still, it might be worthwhile to try, if you want to. Like my mother, she's not a bad person; she just made some really bad choices. Yours might be a bit more willing to change than mine.

…I didn't find the song that I was looking for. I'm not sure I will. I'm going to try to find the other tapes tomorrow, if they even exist. But I'm not confident that I'll find anything at all. I wonder if the thing to do is to try to write down as many of the lyrics as I can remember, and then fill in the holes with whatever my mind comes up with. I don't remember the melody of the guitar in the background, but you know… maybe I can try to fill that in, too, albeit with music box notes…

I thought I had more to say to you. But my mind is clouded and I seem to have forgotten it, if there was anything at all. Sorry about that, and thank you for your patience.

Hey, Sephiroth? Even if your biological family situation is really weird, and even if you yearn for a connection with them and cannot have it, please don't lose sight of the fact that you're loved. We have a phrase in my world, anyway, and it goes like, "The blood of the covenant is thicker than the water of the womb." And it basically means that those bonds forged by mutual choice can often be greater and more fulfilling than those bonds forged by simple biological happenstance. Maybe this is a phrase you can adopt for yourself; family does not have to be blood related.

…And you know? You can have family if you want to. Just pop by my house; you'll fit in here just fine, I promise. I'd do everything in my power to help you adjust. I remember my own adjustment to peace and safety, and it wasn't easy, but I've got a roadmap now, because I did it without the guidance of someone who already did it. You'd have the advantage of being around someone who knows the way, and you're smarter and more mentally flexible than me, too; I'm sure you'd do just fine, given time and patience.

I'm gonna go to bed; I walked and ran a lot today, and then I lifted a whole lot of really heavy boxes repeatedly. With the rib injury limiting what I can do in a given day, I'm not used to this kind of stuff anymore, and I'm really sore, so... I had better get some rest.

Please make sure you rest when you need to as well, okay? And stay safe out there, please. Because I love you, and because I'll write to you again tomorrow; you wouldn't wanna miss it, right?

Your friend, Lumine

[starmora]

I hope it's alright to say my piece on the whole Gamora situation. I know there's obviously nothing to be done now since you nor I are in charge of the films, but I guess other than a handful of people who get how badly she was treated in the overall narrative by the end, it's a little maddening to see soooooo many people just... not be bothered by it? It's obviously not serious being fiction, but I kind of can't get over it and find it somewhat haunting to think so many people, including Gunn, don't find Gamora's situation to be anything less than horrific.

I've struggled to find the words and don't want anyone interpreting me the wrong way, I care about the Guardians as a whole and try to keep from playing favorites because I don't think anyone's single trauma should ever override anyone else's, but it's very obvious that Gunn didn't feel the same when he's continually said he only came back to direct Vol. 3 because of Rocket. I absolutely understand how much he relates to him and his struggles, he's always made that clear, and I don't want to downplay Rocket's need to overcome his problems relating to his past. But I cannot wrap my head around how he could see where Gamora was left post IW/EG and think she didn't deserve so much more attention on the same level as Rocket.

I know there's only so much time in a film and you'll never be able to do or fix everything, but I think it hurts Vol. 3 really badly that from what seems like the beginning Gamora was always included as an afterthought. Why Gunn didn't realize that he could've wrote something including Rocket and Gamora as main characters I'll never understand. I feel the potential for there being something to be said about how they're both different yet so similar to each other is right there, but we don't even get a direct interaction between the two. The weird choice to have IW/EG dictate where the team is emotionally but at the same time refuse to actually expand upon is a poor choice, because we as the audience shouldn't have to fill in every single gap between then and now on how the characters feel, that's just dumb.

I can't help but feel it's almost cartoonishly cruel to just pretend Gamora did but also didn't really matter to everyone outside of Peter in the end, I would think Gunn of all people would realize that when he literally wrote Rocket to knock her out in Vol. 2 because he "couldn't lose another friend" just for him to not have any reaction to her fate post IW. Vol. 3 literally opens with the song Creep that includes the lyrics "I want you to notice when I'm not around" and to have everyone completely ignore OG Gamora's existence immediately after that is genuinely horrible.

Ofc it’s okay, I’m always glad to hear from other ppl regarding this because I know a lot of people will wanna brush us off or just claim that we’re hating on vol 3 for no reason and like for me it really isn’t that because for what it was, vol 3 was great but there’s just this feeling that I can’t get over that Gamora just shouldn’t have been treated like this for the last ten years

I agree with everything you said here, and your last paragraph has been on repeat in my head ever since I read it the first time.

[withlovelunette]

Hey! I hope everything regarding your health works out! I love your blog, you're an angel for imparting all this knowledge for free. I love your posts they're invaluable!!

I wanted to ask your opinion on referencing songs lyrics or modern artists while writing? My ideas are so tied to the songs I listen to, i sometimes really want to incorporate them into what im writing. Especially bc often i feel like my character liking certain songs says a lot about them but I've never actually seen this done well when ive read it in other works. It always comes off awkward and out of place (imo) - do you have any advice? is it better to just leave it out entirely?

Please take the time you need to respond <3 I hope you get well soon! Good luck with everything!

Hello hello! Thank you so much for the good wishes :,D <3 And I'm so relieved this blog has been helpful for you, thank you for the ask!

I'll preface by saying that I don't write in very modern settings anymore, but I do have some experience from some of my older projects, as well as from reading books that include songs, so I'll try my best to help you tackle this issue!

For if you have a specific song in mind!

Firstly, and this one is probably the most obvious one, is to make sure that the song actually suits the setting that you're writing in! This is pretty straightforward when writing in contemporary settings (regardless of whether you're specific about the year your story is set in or if you're keeping it vague). If you have a specific time and place in mind, it's pretty much just a quick google search to see if the song was around back then. If you have a vaguer time and place (say, 1980s), you'll want to make sure that the technology/events/celebrities you're including don't accidentally specify the year, in case it contradicts your song choices. This also applies to mentioning artists!

But if your setting is more fictional (even if it's based on our world), this becomes a lot more subjective, and ultimately comes down to whether or not you feel like it fits into the setting.

Onto the actual "how to incorporate music" bit; one way you can go about it is to primarily refer to the music by name and describe your character's experience listening to that music, and then readers can always just look up the song themselves. I believe Haruki Murakarmi did this in Norwegian Wood! He might've included a few lyrics (it's been a while since I read the book, so I can't say for sure), but for the most part, he only refers to the Beatles song by name and describes the song through the characters experiencing it. This allows you to both describe the general vibe of the song to the audience in case they're unfamiliar, while also conveying the characters' relationship with the song.

Another way you can do it is to include lyrics in your writing, and I imagine this is the one you often find to be awkward and out of place, maybe? (I've definitely found them a bit awkward ^^;) I'll be transparent here and say that I generally don't like to include lyrics in my writing, particularly because it can lead to copyright issues if it's not in the public domain, but also because I find this to bring a lot of show vs tell issues for me (as in, it feels very "on the nose"). The main way I've tried to sidestep this issue is by having characters sing parts of the lyrics themselves, and sort of weave it into the dialogue, but it can definitely still come off as awkward if it's not done well. By having characters sing specific parts out loud, you're kinda highlighting which parts of the lyrics stick out to that particular character; but again, this can definitely be a very on-the-nose solution, so I'd really recommend to use lyrics sparingly!

The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins includes a fair share of lyrics in it (though they're fictional songs), so maybe give that book a read-through and see if you like her format!

For if you don't have a specific song in mind/songs that don't have lyrics!

This section is more so dedicated to situations where you might not have a specific song, or if the song you've picked doesn't have any lyrics (such as classical pieces), since the solution here is more or less the same.

In these situations, I'd recommend to go the "describe the vibe of the song + how the character experiences the song" route! If it's a song that doesn't have lyrics, but has a name, you can also name it, similarly to what Murakami did in Norwegian Wood. You mentioned that songs can say a lot about a character, and you can often achieve similar effects just by describing the songs that they're listening to as well.

A character who listens to intense, grimy metal with a heavy bass and distorted electric guitar is going to give off a very different image than a character who listens to melodic piano pieces with softened, delicate strings harmonising in the background. It often helps to have specific songs as a reference for these descriptions, even if you don't outright name any songs! I also find that using descriptions that don't typically describe sounds can be very fun to experiment with (such as describing as something sounding "sour"). These can get a bit flowery sometimes, but it can still be a lot of fun to write! :,)

– Outro

Hope this helped you out a little bit! Honestly, lyrics can be very tricky to incorporate, so I completely understand the struggle ^^; And as always, if I was unclear/confusing about anything, or if there's anything else, let me know! Thank you for the ask!

[mareenavee]

Similar ask to yours! How does music play into your creative process? Can you share passages written to specific tracks? How do they tie together? And is there a difference between how your write when there are words/lyrics vs instrumental music?

Hello again!!! AHHH I love this. Thank you for returning this question to me. Music and creativity go hand in hand for me, and I definitely have some snippets to share. By virtue of the question, this one is gonna be a LONG post lol

So first, I'll preface this by saying most of the perfect-music-finding happens after writing because I can't always pay attention to the lyrics of what's playing in the background while I'm writing. I use music while writing for the most part to drown out other sounds that are more capable of distracting and/or annoying me. (Usually other people speaking, which might be mean but it's true. That and tv sound effects.)

I'll also just blast music with the intent on singing at the top of my lungs if I'm going through a relatively mindless task for work, and sometimes will need to pause and throw songs on a project's list. I'll get into that below the cut. It's mostly just a way that I can create space for myself to be creative in a normally noisy environment.

ANYWAY. Songs will start to remind me of things I've written and sometimes fit so perfectly, they get thrown on a project's playlist and I'll go back in to read the lyrics later and decide what order they'll go in or if they'll be tossed on another playlist as well. Most of my projects have their own list. I have two general fiction lists -- one contains songs with a sort of different mood than the other -- and another specifically made with my fic in mind. I also have a campaign inspo list for dnd things, and a folder of character-specific lists regarding dnd things, too. In the same way that artists might collect references to inspire them, I save songs that inspire me and remind me of my projects. And sometimes I'll listen to the list I made for a project while working on it, which is just pure happiness lol

So in regards to finding perfect songs for specific chapters or scenes, it's less "perfect" than it is just a close reminder of the mood of said chapter, I think. Sometimes a song is closer to perfect than others. Sometimes a lot of songs fit the mood I'm going for in a chapter.

Here's a small snippet of chapter 8 of The World on Our Shoulders, already published, and one of the songs I paired with the chapter. (I know you guys love Sad!Athis from the last snippet of the chapter, and I do too, and this is one with a particularly good song match. In fact, I used the lyrics as part of the chapter title.)

Tears began to well in his eyes. He missed her badly. Even if she didn’t care that he wasn’t there with her, he cared deeply that she’d been missing from him for so long. He used to have such a full life, always traveling. Always fighting. Maybe he had slacked off with training, but he felt strong, then. At the moment, he felt nothing of the sort. The best memories he had ever had in his life were now tinged with this darkness. With this loss he could barely explain. It had been his fault, he knew. There was blame, and it was his. He could have said anything other than goodbye. He could have begged her to say. He could have gotten off his ass and ran after her. He could have done any number of things, but instead he watched her go. He watched her, and never inserted himself into the adventure. Part of him knew, even then, that she didn’t want him there. She said she wanted him to stay safe. Between the lines, she had really said she’d been disappointed in him. That he had been a distraction, if anything. That, perhaps, hurt worse than the rest of it. That so suddenly, she could decide such things. That she could inflict this kind of pain. That Nyenna, of all people, could be so venomous.

She had been his whole world at the beginning. He had been so taken with her. He had watched her decide to be strong, after he had saved her, that first day. She made the choice every day to do her best. While he had been waiting for her to catch up with him, she had flown by, surpassing his skills in every way. Especially after the first dragon. She…didn’t need to be saved. Didn’t need to be rescued. How long had he held onto the notion that she did? He didn’t know how to be anything else but her rescuer. And she didn’t even see him that way anymore. And he never really clarified what she did see. Never asked her what she wanted. What her goals were. Nobody ever did anymore, not since the Greybeards had called her to her destiny.

Athis was exhausted. The weight of his thoughts, his worries, his sadness had him crumbling. Once, he could have turned to her and she’d take it all away. One kiss, one glance, and he would be okay again. She was his home, his shelter, his safety. He thought he’d given her that, too, but like with everything else, her path had taken this from her as well.

And the song:

This is one that fit particularly well. Like I said, I used some of its lyrics for this chapter's title. I think it embodies the emotion Athis is feeling here, terribly missing the whirlwind closeness he and Nyenna shared before destiny took that away from them both. It has this visceral sort of regret in the lyrics, especially "And then I can tell myself / What the hell I'm supposed to do / And then I can tell myself Not to ride along with you." And it just kind of worked when I heard it again after I'd written this chapter.

For a happier fragment, have something out of the WIP, Chapter 47. Out of context, of course (:

The giant Khajiit came into view. He held Nyenna close to his chest, breathing heavily as if he had been running. Her shirt clung to her, skin slicked with sweat, despite the chill in the air down here. Her hair was damp and loose, and she was paler than death. She lifted her head from Ma’jhad’s chest and inhaled sharply. She tapped his shoulder and he threw her a concerned glance, but stooped to lower her to the stones. He supported her as she tried to stand on unsteady legs. She took a step and her knees collapsed, but the Khajiit warrior held her firmly. She looked at him and nodded, about to try again, but Teldryn sprinted and closed the distance. He lit the torch on the wall and dismissed his spell. Nyenna let out a weak chuckle as he collapsed onto his knees and scooped her into his arms. Ma’jhad stood tall again and leaned against the wall, crossing his arms.

“Are you real?” Nyenna asked softly, placing both of her burning hot hands on either side of his face. “Am I awake?”

“I’m here,” Teldryn said, finding he was weeping. She wiped his tears away as he grabbed onto her wrist with one hand and gently ran his knuckles down her cheek. Tears welled in her eyes. There was so much grief there, but still she smiled. He pushed a sodden curl away from her face.

“I never thought I’d see you again,” she breathed as the tears started to overflow.

“I’m here. I’m alright. I’m so sorry it took me so long to get back to you,” Teldryn whispered. He tried to wipe his eyes on his shoulder but she held onto his face firmly. He just let his tears keep falling. “Can you forgive me, merdekhes?”

She smiled, her own tears still running freely down her face, and ran her hand through his overgrown hair.

“I never blamed you, not for a second,” she whispered. “There’s nothing to forgive. I apologize for putting us in danger to begin with.” Her eyes went dark, and she closed them against the obvious wave of sorrow. She opened them and ran her fingers through his hair once again with another tear-streaked smile.

“Don’t,” Teldryn soothed. “None of this is on you. We’re here together. It’s going to be okay. I’ve got you now.”

He pulled her into a tight embrace which she returned as she shook with sobs that mixed with relieved laughter. What madness it was to be reunited, that all the horrors they both faced could melt away at one touch, to fill the spaces left behind with joy. He could hear the gathering crowd. Niranye gasped as she stopped halfway down her basement stairs. Nyenna pulled away and gently placed her hands on either side of his face again. She lightly traced his tattoos with the tips of her fingers, almost like she thought he would disappear on her in between one blink and the next if she did not check again. When she spoke, her voice sounded like something ethereal, like her words had been granted gravity by Mara Herself.

“I love you, Teldryn. I should have said a thousand, thousand times by now.”

She wiped away more tears from his cheek. For half a second, he thought maybe he was still walking between reality and dreams. But he took both of her hands in his and they were solid, and warm, and he had never been more sure of anything in life before.

And the song:

I just love this song. It's *chef's kiss* anyway for me. But particularly for Teldryn, after everything the two of them had been through, the past didn't matter anymore. They'd been reunited after some difficult events. Distance, maybe, brought clarity. And Teldryn realized fully what the implications of this meant. That he was worthy of being loved. (backstory things here.) That his love mattered to someone. And damn the consequences, right? At this point, anyway. There's more to it, but spoilers and all. (:

And for the last part of the question -- there's no difference for me while writing to music with lyrics or without. It depends on what I feel like hearing at that particular moment. To be fair, sometimes I won't listen to anything at all, especially if I am closely editing something. But as I mentioned above, music is definitely mostly intertwined in being creative. It's a source of inspiration for me, and a reminder to always be thinking about my stories (: Never know when song lyrics might call back to them unexpectedly!

Hope that was comprehensive enough :D

[purgemarchlockdown]

hello i've been reading your blog for a good while and i love it!!

i've been relistening Magic right now and. does the moment when Rioyne appears sounds similar... to a Cat?? it'll more accurate to say that Cat sounds like this one piece of Magic.

and it just. blows my mind.

because firstly - the connect to fakeness.

the falling stage light is out of place , it is fake, and the whole of Cat is being a total BS about marriage. also they got more of... jazz sound? which was considered the "devil's music". the themes of temptation and desire and sin...

secondly - the lyrics at that moment are

"But it's not scary at all, because it's love

I can really think it's great"

oh yes lying to yourself about your actual opinion about the love you've been given in your life and wanting to lie further and further.

and thirdly - it is Riyone who appears. her punishment is the taser. and lyrics are talking about "love" out of all things and acceptance of it. and do we remember the t2 interrogation?

"Did you love the person you killed?"

"I loved them"

and the blank list for Kazui.

if we see similarities of Rioyne and Amane's mother... why don't we take further?

Riyone and Hinako share the same color in retrospective MVs: pink. It represents different meanings however the main one is the same to Amane and Kazui - love. they (not Riypne but Amane's mother) are both are the ones who "loved" those two but ended up "killed" because of that.

in Kazui's case - he lied about being in love with her. Hinako loved him, he her, and she was killed by "doing the right thing".

in Amane's case - she lied about being a good girl. Her mother "loved" her (putting her through trials), she her, and mother was killed by "doing the right thing".

i'm sorry if it doesn't make sense outside of my head but i'm just... woah... connections...

Glad you like the blog! The Kazui-Amane connections are a hell of a lot of fun and it's super cool to find more stuff about it!

First of all: Did not know about the devil's music thing! That's fantastic to learn about, will keep that in mind.

Though I think it's less that part of Magic specifically and Cat that are similar, and more Cat and Magic are similar.

Both Cat and Magic are Shows, where Cat is trying to keep up the Image ideal heterosexual relationship as best as it can even though it's becoming clearer and clearer that he Can't, and Magic is trying to keep up the ideal reality of the happy cheery cult where Amane...still cant be a good girl but is treated with mercy and compassion and the idea of good girl is treated as achievable goal and not a Arbitrary Concept that She Can Never Reach.

Their both very much pretending this is what they want and maybe to some extent they do wish they both could be "normal" and accept this but they can't, they just can't.

(Half and Purge March are also performances in a sense actually, though Purge March kinda bleeds so hard into reality that it becomes hard to distinguish between what is real and what is fiction- its a whole thing.)

I'm never fucking normal about the stagelight because it's such a clever little detail, everyone (including me) thought it was Real since it looked So Real but now with Purge March its becoming more and more likely that the stagelight is Just a metaphor.

Except it was Never Really Lying to you, it wasn't a trick, it was the stagelight. The thing that lit the show, it was always part of the visual identity of Magic. It falling just forces you (and Amane) to remember that this place is a Set.

There's not really any equivalent to the stagelight in Cat, mostly cause Kazui knows he's lying but also cause Kazui realizes Gradually that no, he really can't keep this act up for long.

I dont really know about Hinako and Amane's mother, at least color wise. Mostly cause I always associate Hinako in the purple outfit she's in, though when I was cecking she is depicted with pink in a few shots

(If were assuming pink is Hinako in the first shot)

Though the love thing is a very fun parallel of their crimes though, Kazui telling the truth (doing the right thing) leading to Hinako's death/Amane punishing her mother (doing the right thing) and killing her...fun times there.

(Sorry if this seems Super Messy I am So Very Tired at the moment)

[corrodedseraphine]

tea or coffee: honestly I don't drink both of them too often. I drink tea when I am sick or I need something to warm me up because I hate cold. When it comes to coffee I drink it when I need to. My sleep schedule and insomnia are real bitches sometimes so I have to have something to help me not to fall asleep in the middle of the task or something. But I really like iced coffee, especially in the summer

dogs or cats: both. I love both so much it hurts because I can't have one. I have never had any pet and unfortunately it is not going to change soon and it breaks my heart 💔 But luckily a lot of my friends have pets, so guess where you can find me when we hang out? 😂

can you play an instrument? Yup, I used to play guitar but now my heart is fully devoted to the ukulele, but I would love to learn how to play the piano too

what’s your sign? Libra

favorite lyrics that pop into your head? the song originally is in Polish, but I translated it for better understanding, I hope that's okay

and to be water like this which gently wraps itself around you / warms your body, washes away the remnants of the lousy day / and calms down every nerve / amusingly will wrinkle your hands / and when you fall asleep lasts faithfully at your bed

do you have tattoos? I have four tattoos, the word unbreakable on my forearm and next to it there is a Vex's shadow (Vex is one of my favourite champs in league of legends and the shadow is her companion, so I one day I spontaneously decided I want my own shadow too lmao), above them there is a rose inspired by the one from beauty and the beast, and on the other forearm I have something like a map because I love travelling and only if I could afford it I would do it all the time

favorite place you’ve ever traveled? Malaga in Spain. I spent the best month in my life there, the place is beautiful and my memeories make it even more amazing

what’s the last movie you watched? Strange World on Disney+, I loved it, such an amazing animation 🥹

what languages do you speak? Polish is my native. I can speak English and I am learning Spanish hoping that someday it will be on the same lvl as English now. I was learning French for two years and as much as grammar wasn't hard for me pronunciation killed me and I am not able to say most things in French 😂 In primary school and hight school I was learning German but I forgot it all and best I can do is introducing myself in it lol

do you have any hobbies? music is the biggest one I guess. I love listening to music, playing it, singing, dancing. Music is a huge part of my life. Now I can say that writing too, I am so glad I came back to it after so many years, it helps me so much with some issues, like a some kind of a therapy. And due to covid lock down I was so bored I started crocheting, the beginnings were hard but now I have some projects I am really fucking proud of even if they took months to finish. And I almost forgot playing video and board games!

you can hang out with one fictional character for an hour, who do you choose? So many amazing choices but for now I have to say that Eddie Munson 😂

compliment yourself: shit this one is super hard- uh so maybe I would say that I am kinda proud of myself that I am handling two jobs and not giving up despite it is really hard sometimes. So yeah, congrats for me

@i-me-mine thank you for the tag 🥰🥰

no pressure tags: @bvcksmiller @becca-alexa @pollenallergie @phantypurple @superblysubpar

[c0rrupted-mov]

CHIAKI KOMAEDA . and maybe chihiros if u feel inclined :3

I answered Chiaki's in the previous ask sooo it's Komaeda and Chihiro time!

KOMAEDA

favorite thing about them

Everything. love him a lot. Has been obsessed with him since my first watch of the playthrough almost four years ago. There's nothing you can do about liking him you just have to accept it. But I think I can say that I especially like the way he's written

least favorite thing about them

the way fandom treats him. It's super rare to see someone interpret him normally, without falling into either "uwu soft baby who did nothing wrong" or "insane freak without a sense of morality who loves to commit arson for the fun of it". I think his behavior in the prologue of sdr2 is the most accurate version of him

favorite line

His "huh?" in the 4th trial... I just find it pretty funny. The "Am I allowed to speak now?" also deserves mentioning. All his other memorable lines are SO memed in the fandom that I kinda even find them annoying lol xD

brOTP

I can't decide T^T I love the Soda, Fuyhiko and Nagito friendship but also recently I've been thinking of Sonia, Gundham and Nagito... I just think they have a lot in common,,, Or just Sonia. Also with Ibuki, he deserves some optimism and silliness in his life. I just want him to have friends man T^T

OTP

KOMANAMI but def not in cishet way. There's no way either of them is straight. Ngl, I first started liking them in a little seff shipping way because I relate to Nanami a lot xD I grew to love them outside of that pretty soon tho I just think they have a nice cute dynamic and will be very healthy and helpful to each other :)

nOTP

I'm not sure I have one?.. I used to hate komahina before because of the fandom but now I kinda like them. Maybe I could say komamiki but not in the "I hate it so much don't you dare talk to me about it". I used to ship it but then grew to like their dynamic as haters/very bitter friends at first who might become closer and kinder to each other later

random headcanon

Autistic! Like that makes so much sense for him (komanami autistic4autistic swag). Also he/they pronouns

unpopular opinion

sexuality discourse sucks and also often uses biphobic and/or stupid rhetoric. The fact that he didn't react inappropriately when he fell between Mikan's legs doesn't mean that headcanoning him as mspec isn't allowed! That's just a normal human behavior and you're weird!

song i associate with them

This is super predictable and basic but,,, hope by Jack Stauber. Ik the song is about addiction but it also fits Komaeda's relationship with hope. I mean, it is the thing that "keeps him going everyday" right? Also maaaaybe "pretty cvnt" (hate the name) but only because I feel like the lyrics could kinda be similar to Komaeda's self hatred lol. I would love to say more but I very rarely associate songs with fictional characters,,, maybe with my OCs at best but yeah sorry :(

favorite picture of them

THERE'RE SO MANY IT'S SO DIFFICULT but maybe this I KNOW THAT THIS ARTIST IS FAMOUS FOR SUPER BAD STUFF OKAY but he looks like a smiling samoyed here T^T

CHIHIRO! This one is going to be a bit difficult because honestly, I never really thought much about her T^T I'm sorry I'm that person in the fandom that knows everything about two characters and almost nothing about the rest fglhk

favorite thing about them

I think her talent! I just find it very interesting and it makes me wonder how it would work with other characters and in different fields

least favorite thing about them

Once again, the way fandom treats her. The way how people can't see that the fact that dr is a very problematic franchise that has transphobic writing doesn't mean that it's okay and fine to take all of this at face value and accept it without processing

favorite line

I don't remember any lines from thh lol xD

brOTP

Chiaki and/or Naegi! I like to see Chihiro and Chiaki as siblings but either way they would get a long. I also feel like Naegi would be a good friend to her too

OTP

I don't really ship her with anyone I think? Tho I've seen some cute celeshiro art recently ( tho sadly the artist sees her as cis lol). I feel like they both can relate to the feelings of pretending to be someone you're not, esp if you hc Celestia as trans

nOTP

Don't think I have one?..

random headcanon

Loves hairclips. Has a big collection of very different ones for every occasion

unpopular opinion

Does trans Chihiro count as unpopular? Idk

song i associate with them

Sorry, I don't have one :(

favorite picture of them

I just find it funny xD