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maya-matlin · 7 months

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I’ve been watching Degrassi for the first time and love Maya as much as you do so far! I loved her with Cam and can’t really fully embrace her and Zig, but maybe that will change! Don’t worry, I’m not one of those people who thinks Zig is at fault for Cam’s suicide – I think maybe Zig just isn’t my type?! Cam is the sensitive awkward troubled but sweet sort of guy I seem destined to love. I would love to hear how you think Maya and Zig are different and how you think they’re similar. And I saw someone saying that Zig and Maya would be an even more popular ship than it is if the writers had kept zig more of a goofball screwup than rewriting him as a drug dealing gang member criminal and wondered if you agree? This is actually the first ask I’m sending to anyone so I can’t wait to read your reply!

I think that's a pretty common reaction to their season 12 story line. Maya's relationship with Cam was so short lived and mostly untainted by anything "bad" or "toxic" due to Cam dying so young. So as a result, he's technically Maya's boyfriend that made the least relationship mistakes. I should make it clear that my interpretation of their relationship and Cam in general is kind of marred by the fact that the fandom has consistently misunderstood the suicide arc and Zig's alleged culpability in it for years on top of unfairly villainizing Maya for choosing to move forward in her life while having negative emotions surrounding Cam. But needless to say, Cam was fine? It's funny you think he was sweet, because I never saw it that way. He wasn't mean, but like.. he was more neutral? I think he was polite and very unsure of how to approach Maya and others, but I don't feel like his personality was on display enough for me to say any differently. I do believe he genuinely cared for Maya and was aiming to be a good boyfriend, though. Especially after getting back together with her.

I answered an ask very similar to this one not too long ago re: the similarities and differences between Zig and Maya, so I'm just going to copy and paste that.

Honestly, I’m not sure Zig and Maya are all that similar. The main similarities that jump out to me is that both seem to value a relationship based on an emotional connection and friendship rather than a mostly physical one. Both are extremely loyal people and will do whatever they can for their friends and loved ones as well as each other. Neither is afraid to get involved, often being the one to step in to defend someone else.

As for their differences, Maya’s more ambitious than Zig. By the time we meet Maya, her heart is already set on having a future in music. While her passion eventually shifted from being a cellist to wanting to be something akin to Taylor Swift, Maya always tried to put her dreams first. It’s not that Zig is lacking in passion, but he doesn’t have the confidence in himself to be successful. There are hints that he’d make a good chef and it’s implied Zig continued to cook off screen during Next Class, but we never see any story line or moment that suggests he’s all that passionate about cooking. It’s just something he does and seems to enjoy, but it’s never presented as his “thing” the way Maya has her music, Tiny has marine biology or Grace has technology (?). What’s funny is that compared to a lot of characters, Zig has a decent variety of talents. It’s just that they were eventually dropped or in the case of music, Zig was retconned into being a bad guitar player to make him look like an obsessive, pathetic boyfriend for wanting to join his girlfriend’s band when he’d literally been the lead singer/bassist of Maya’s last band. Zig is much more open about his feelings than Maya. Throughout their relationship (even before they were officially dating), Zig was the one voicing his wants while Maya was more hesitant and introspective. Maya had a tendency to go into denial if it meant her feelings would cause friction within her friend group. So in that way, you could say Maya is more selfless while Zig is a bit more self involved? He’s more impulsive than Maya, not always seeing the bigger picture, while she seems to consider everything first. When Maya is hurt and upset, she shuts down, removing herself from the situation and refusing to engage unless provoked. Zig feels the need to overcompensate, sometimes acting like an asshole to convince the person hurting him that he doesn’t care. In spite of all this, I actually think Zig is the more sensitive of the two and the more observant one. Maya’s also sensitive and pays attention, but she sometimes misses the mark.

I'm sorry, but I kind of hate that? Zig didn't choose to be a gang member. He was forced into that situation due to his upbringing and where he lived. I don't think it makes him lesser or defines his worth as a person or a love interest. It reeks of classism to me. I'm sure that wasn't your intent, but I've seen many comments that severely misunderstand Zig and what he was going through. The entire point of his gang arc during seasons 13 and 14 is that he too didn't want to be forced to sell drugs and do other gang affiliated activities that the writers couldn't be assed to expand on. It's easy to say people like Cam and Miles were "better" or "safer" than Zig because they came from very different worlds than he did. Like, once Zig and Maya started dating in season 14, Zig made it clear he wouldn't have blamed Maya for dumping him and felt like shit over the circumstances of them sleeping together for the first time. If anything, I actually think this era of Zig's life made him a stronger, richer character. In the long run, it was also one year of Zig being gang affiliated vs three where he wasn't? I can't change anyone's opinion, but this is mine and I can't fathom Zaya being "ruined" over that when season 14 was arguably their best season. In spite of the circumstances Zig found himself in, he was consistently a great, supportive friend to Maya even before they became a couple. Regardless of what anyone thinks of Zig personally or how they might judge him for circumstances mostly out of his control, Maya still felt safe with him. I think that's pretty telling and says a lot about the depth of their connection. And, honestly Zig as a person. My main take is that Zig was the same guy from season 12 during seasons 13-Next Class. This was even pointed out by Maya herself when telling Zig she initially thought he'd changed when they met up again in the rubber room. He hadn't. He'd literally just cut the sleeves off his shirts and adopted a new persona. He didn't become a worse person because he was pulled into a gang.

#Anonymous #Long post #Also I know you said this is your first time messaging me but just in case it isn't it's nice to hear from you again

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thestalwartheart · 2 years

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Mac, What a LoVeLy time you + the FanFam had yesterday/last night conversing back + forth on 00Q / Bond meta! LOVED reading through them this morning. It might take a second reading to fully synthesise what was shared, but let's take a moment to savour how you created a space for opinions + ideas + reflections to be shared. Brava! Here's my unpopular opinion: JAMAICA. I think James' time was a rich, full time in his life and, if I may be so bold, a meaningful beginning of his retirement. You + I have talked about this a bit in DMs; I'm going public w/it here to see what your thoughts are on this point now, as well as see what others think.

... We saw in NTTD Nomi disparaging his life there + this often gets picked up in fic. My question is WHY? Why is the default interpretation that James had nothing to live for in his, as she calls it, bubble? ...

My possibly unpopular opinion (we'll see from responses to this post if that's in fact accurate) is that a legendary agent who left public service, first with a woman he thought he loved + imagined he could make a life with and then, later without her, crafted a chapter of that life for himself on the shores of Cocoa Walk Bay close enough to San Antonio, Jamaica.

I posit he went to Jamaica not to lick any wounds, not to hide away, but to do what he just.could.not.do while he was an MI6 employee: invest time to heal, recover, even --honestly-- restore his soul. To have made it out of field service aLiVe + with all his limbs + mind + spirit (mostly?) intact is a HUGE accomplishment. Why not find or build himself a beautiful residence that matches his practical sensibilities? A place where he can tie up his sailboat right out front of his living quarters and sail it whenever he desired.

I mean: LOOK AT THIS PLACE!

Isn't it possible that the Daniel Craig!James Bond we got to know over four previous movies would have the capacity to take some extended time to unwind + unravel his experience of life so far in order to figure out how he might like to continue into the future? My imagination can picture it + I'm grateful for several fic authors who have taken this idea + run with it.

Include me in the column labeled James Bond Goes To Jamaica to Heal + Then Discern His Life's Next Steps.

Love,

One of your fans

P.S. It's funny, I started to type that I'd like to think I base this opinion on what we see in NTTD. But this is MetaLand, so I can choose any justification I want for this pov. In my case it's projection. Because even though I never was a Double 00 agent or anything REMOTELY SIMILAR, when I got to similar age I did something like this. After doing a lot of therapy + StuFF to be able to dive into raising two interdependent human beings, on top of spending decades doing interesting work in a variety of fields, I was f*%!ing mentally + physically exhausted. So I took myself out of society to do what I imagine Bond did in Jamaica: heal, recover, etc and it mostly worked.(Jury's still out on the next chapter)

Damn, though. I didn't have a shower like this one.

Perhaps it's not too late to cobble one together in my urban garden? 😂

Hey FSC!

This is such a good unpopular opinion because I think it goes against the fandom hive mind, and anything that does that is so worth hearing about.

But a note before this - you mentioned wanting to see if this was accurate. I would gently suggest that this whole exercise in airing unpopular opinions/headcanons/meta isn't to see who's right. It's to expose all the different ways we see the same characters, and maybe learn from each others' perppectives.

Okay, Jamaica.

Personally, I have mixed feelings on his time there, and my headcanons are full of contradictions. I wrote a chapter in the fly in the amber where I tried to make sense of it all, but I'm not sure it was the most convincing take in the world, so I'll try and do better here.

Firstly, I do believe it was probably healing, or at the very least, cathartic. That house is beautiful, the surroundings even moreso, and it's well-known throughout the wider canon that Bond's spiritual home is in Jamaica. He feels at peace there, and I can certainly see why he'd be drawn back to somewhere he used to spend a lot of time when life was a bit simpler. I think that's something a lot of us have felt before - the urge to return to a place where you really became yourself or realised who you were.

I like what you said about it being a meaningful beginning of his retirement. Why should it have been the be all and end all? It didn't have to be. Another one of the reasons I detest the end of NTTD is because it gave us no chance to see what might have been beyond it all for him. There were hints (at least to me) in his NTTD character of him being a lot more well-adjusted in some ways, which I would put down to taking some time out of "life" and heading to Jamaica.

I think he probably spent a lot of time revisiting his past, writing journals, and having some really hard conversations with himself. Spending time with own mind is the hardest, most painful thing you can do sometimes (even without having Bond's past!), and I'm sure Bond felt every minute of it for all the good and bad it did him. If you'll allow me an indulgent tangent, there is a wonderful Australian mini-documentary series called The Beach where an indigenous filmmaker took himself off to an extremely remote shack to detox/get away from it all/connect to country again for six weeks. Watching it was simultaneously the most joyful and harrowing thing I've ever witnessed. Not to ascribe an indigenous man's experience to a fictional white man, but I've always imagined Bond's time in Jamaica was probably similarly painful and peaceful in tandem for very different reasons.

At least Jamaica was certainly no Turkey (where he did run and hide, to his own and others' detriment). Having a place to tie up his boat, do some fishing, shower naked amongst a lush canopy of trees…I mean, at least part of the intent there is to heal, I think. And there's no doubt James sees beautiful places as a way to help him see the good in the world again. We saw that in his desire to travel with both Madeleine and Vesper.

But - and maybe I'm the one projecting now because of what pandemic life has been like for me - for all of that, I can never get past the fact he was alone. For five years. You and I have spoken about taking time out for various reasons, but I've certainly never done it without some kind of support network readily available. Bond doesn't have that, or if he does, he's ignoring it because he's been functionally alone since he was eleven and his parents died. There was the brief stint with the Oberhausers, of course, but after that, he shuts everyone out. And it can't be good for him. Because, at least to me, it really seemed like when he returned to London, he hadn't moved on at all from where he was in Matera.

I think his relationship with Madeleine is an indicator of that. Undoubtedly, this is partly the writers trying to make us care about that relationship in the limited stretch of time cinema gives us, but let's forget that for a moment. He meets Madeleine again and falls right back into that love, as if it were yesterday that he saw her and not five fucking years. To me, that's a sign of someone that hasn't had very much to focus on beyond what happened in the past.

The difference between you and Bond is that you had therapy and took the time to heal. Bond slept with a therapist, it all fell apart, and he took himself away to deal with it on his own. Different strokes for different folks, but I don't see one working as well as the other.

Of course, that's just my personal opinion. And I loved reading about yours. Thank you so much for the ask ❤️

Chime in in the replies or reblogs!

#ask box #unpopular opinions #james bond

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codywanbingo · 2 years

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This particular event is focused on Commander Cody & Obi-Wan Kenobi and we’re running it as an open-ended event. What that means is that it doesn’t really have an end point. Instead, we will have three themes every few months and rotate the themes to keep things new and interesting.

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spaceorphan18 · 3 years

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have you ever read a detailed post about the glee cast’s singing voices? like all about their technique and stuff? reading your reaction to the ‘vocal coach reacts to glee’ video makes me want to know more!

Hmmmm, not really! Not from a professional vocalist POV, I don’t think. (That I’m aware of. This does remind me there was one vocal coach in fandom, and she hated Blaine, and I wasn’t too fond of her, or her analysis, so I won’t point you in that direction.)

My background is in music, but not in vocal performance. But I can give you a quick rundown of cast’s musical abilities if you like, though they won’t be huge on the technical side of it.

ETA: I started this a while ago before I started doing the music retrospective - I’ll probably try to explore a little more as I do those. If you guys want more conversation about one person in particular, let me know!

But for now...

Matthew Morrison: Is a classically trained musician with a very good voice. It’s a shame Will was such a tool, because Matthew Morrison was very talented, had the ability to do a lot of great things with his voice. People joke about his rapping -- but I think this stemmed from the issue that his background is in musical theater -- which teaches you a cleaner and more traditional way of singing -- opposed to a pop or rap style. He doesn’t have the grit that rap often has, which makes it a little too much like a Kid’s Bop version of something. When singing musical theater, though, he really shined.

A number that showcases ability: Make ‘Um Laugh

A number that isn’t so great: Ice Ice Baby

Lea Michele: Lea does have a very good and solid voice. She’s also been classically trained. The one drawback is that it hinders her a bit on pop music, she lacks some of the grittiness often needed on a lot of the pop songs. She also starts to lose some of her classic training as the show goes on (which I think is a shame) so that she can get some of the shine off her voice to make a transition to pop music.

She has one vocal tick that drives me crazy, though -- she has a tendency to slide into her notes instead of hitting them dead on, which gets worse as the show goes on, and it makes her sound a little screech-y at times. But for the most part -- she is really good.

A number that showcases ability: Don’t Rain on My Parade

A number that isn’t so great: Ooops...I Did It Again

Amber Riley: The cool thing about Amber is that you get to hear her grow as a musician as the show goes on. She had already started to get vocal lessons before the show started, but at the beginning, she was still a bit raw and unrefined in her technique. But you can tell she did practice, and her voice is developed beautifully as the show goes on. She was one of the best, well rounded vocalists on the show. She had a good handle on pop and R&B music, but she could sing musical theater rather clearly, too. She has great breath support - and can belt numbers out while still retaining the quality. Can’t say enough good thing about Amber’s voice.

A number that showcases ability: Someday We’ll Be Together

A number that isn’t so great: Sweet Transvestite (It’s not bad - but it’s my least favorite Mercedes solo.)

Cory Monteith: Cory wasn’t a vocalist. And, to be completely honest, I thought it was some kind of joke when they introduced him as some kind of hidden musical gem when Will hears him singing the showers. He did really well with classic rock that’s allows not only for a weaker voice - but is often not as technically hard. And I have to wonder if Cory got lessons, because he did get a lot better as the show went on, and I think his season 4 work is great!

I will say that sometimes they pushed his voice a little too far. A lot of times songs were either too high for his range and he often sounded like he was straining. (The most notable of which is A House is Not a Home - which is far too high for him.) That said - I think he did reasonably well along side Lea - mostly because often sang pop duets.

A number that showcases ability: I’ve Gotta Be Me

A number that isn’t so great: Can’t Fight This Feeling Anymore

Chris Colfer: Chris is such an interesting study due to the uniqueness of his voice. He’s got a huge range both in terms of genre and literal range of voice. He can sing quite a few octaves. He’s got a great, clear sound, too, which is why he’s great with theater numbers. Interestingly, Chris’s voice did drop over the years, and while I know people love his higher range, he has a gorgeous lower range that wasn’t used as often (and is often my favorite.)

The one (nitpicky) issue was that Chris’s voice ended up getting pigeon-holed. I know singing Diva-Broadway songs was his schtick - but it would have been nice to hear him sing a bigger variety of songs. He wasn’t the strongest on non-ballad pop music, but they also didn’t give him that very often.

There’s also the fascinating unusualness in that, Chris could really sing duets very well with people -- but in group numbers, his voice sticks out like a sore thumb, and he was often left out of some of the more general songs because of it. His voice just doesn’t texture very well - which is why I get why they did what they did.

A number that showcases ability: Being Alive

A number that isn’t so great: I’ll Remember

Kevin McHale: I feel like people are often surprised when they sit down and think about it, but Kevin has a great voice. He has a solid range, and he’s able to do pop music very well (I believe it helps that he was in a professional boy band for years.) Not sure if people noticed - but he’s often the lead on group numbers that don’t need to be related to specific story or character points. Which is a bummer for Artie’s story - but if you’re a fan of Kevin’s voice, you get a lot to choose from.

Kevin was also able to handle a lot of the musical demands that I think some of the other males weren’t? He’s a much better singer than Cory - and could handle leading a full number. His voice isn’t as unique as Chris’s and can texture really well. In addition he was fairly versatile. He might have been the best rapper the show had, lol.

A number that showcases ability: For Once In My Life

A number that isn’t so great: Addicted to Love (personal taste choice - I just don’t like the song.)

Jenna Ushkowitz: Jenna is another one who is classically trained. She has a strong, solid voice, which was unfortunately not showcased all that well on the show, and because of that, I’m not sure how she does on a wide variety of music. I do think she sounds a little generic - but not helping is lack of being featured.

A number that showcases ability: I Don’t Know How To Love Him

A number that isn’t so great: Gangum Style (She does fine - but the fact that they made her do it in the first place...)

Dianna Agron: The interesting thing about Dianna is that she has a really nice low female voice. The fact that they never gave her any punk or harder rock was really a shame, because I think she would have done really well with that. The funny thing is that, more so in the beginning, they show tried to make her sing songs that fit her character - but weren’t necessarily great for her voice. I feel like it wasn’t until late season 2 did they start really using her voice for the better.

A number that showcases ability: Never Can Say Goodbye

A number that isn’t so great: It’s A Man’s, Man’s, Man’s World

Mark Salling: Mark had a really solid voice - that often lent itself well to folk and acoustic really well. He was good with softer pop and classic rock, and the show showcased that pretty well. I think, in general, Mark was a much better vocalist than actor, and the show often picked good music for him to sing - which helped with his character. I don’t have a whole lot to say, only that I think he was underrated as a vocalist, but I get it - with all the other baggage that comes with talking about Mark.

A number that showcases ability: No Surrender

A number that isn’t so great: Fight For Your Right (to Party) (I don’t think it’s bad - I just hate this song.)

Naya Rivera: Naya is a little tricky. I think she has a good, smoky sound to her voice that makes her excellent at things like pop and R and B. (Shame she didn’t have a good jazz number to do on the show - she would have been great at that.) I think she was really versatile, though, and handled her Broadway numbers really well. I do think she was somewhat pinched and nasal at times - and while I do think this was a stylistic choice, to me it’s not my favorite type of vocal sound. But I do think she was really good at the numbers she was given, and was one of the most talented female vocalists on the show.

A number that showcases ability: Back to Black

A number that isn’t so great: Alfie (I think I may dislike the song more than her singing on it.)

Heather Morris: Heather wasn’t a singer, and I do think it showed at times. She often had to have her voice autotuned more than anyone else on the show. That said - she did do Britney Spears really well, and I think she deserves credit for that.

A number that showcases ability: I’m a Slave 4 U

A number that isn’t so great: Dinosaur

Chord Overstreet: Chord’s background is in country - and that shows a bit through his singing - he’s got a bit of twang in his voice, but it’s not necessarily a bad thing. He’s a fun singer. I don’t think the show knew exactly what to do with him (voice or character) but there’s a lightness to his singing that makes him easily adaptable to pretty much anything you throw at him.

A number that showcases ability: Red Solo Cup (You think I’m joking - but I think this is the most fun Chord has singing a song.)

A number that isn’t so great: Girls on Film (I think just by default of me liking everything else better.)

Darren Criss: Ah, Darren, where to even start. The thing about Darren is that he may not be the strongest singer, his voice is a little wobbly at times, and his range is somewhat limited, but his showmanship is just completely beyond nearly everyone else. Darren has the unique ability to draw you in with his singing and hold you captive. There are technically better singers on the show - but Darren just has this amazing ability to really sell a performance. And I do love his voice, even if there are some limitations to it. I really could gush about Darren’s performance abilities, but I’ll refrain...

A number that showcases ability: Teenage Dream (Both Versions)

A number that isn’t so great: Piano Man (Which isn’t bad - I just think the show had done it better, and it’s a rare time that felt like Darren was kind of phoning it in.)

A quick run down of others, but first a quick aside - as they started adding people in, vocal ability starts being a factor. I think a lot of the newer characters could sing better than they could act, which was both helpful and a hinderance. I think we began to get more solid musical numbers as the show went on, but sometimes acting wasn’t always top notch - and across the board, old and new, hitting a combo of acting and singing ability didn’t always happen.

Harry Shum Jr.: Not really a singer - but the show often played to his strengths, and his few songs played off the fact that he wasn’t a great singer to great aplomb.

Jane Lynch: Can hold a tune, even if her voice isn’t the best - is really great at musical comedy.

Jayma Mays: She has more singing ability than the show allowed to showcase, however, she’s another one whose voice was really unique, and doesn’t texture very well.

Damien McGinty: Is actually a very good singer. However, he’s very generic, too - which makes him a little on the bland side.

Sam Larsen: I think he was fine - I don’t think he sang enough on the show for me to make much of an impression one way or the other.

Alex Newel: Fucking Fantastic! Alex might be one of the strongest vocalists on the show - has great range, energy, and vocal control.

Melissa Benoist: Her voice tends to lean on the pop-ier side, but it’s a solid voice, and her work on the show was pretty good.

Jacob Artist: Has a strong voice, and could sing genres that weren’t often featured on the show (like hip-hop and R&B).

Blake Jenner: His voice is fine, but like Damien McGinty, it’s generic and a little bland.

Becca Tobin: She has a very quirky voice that brings in a different and unique sound. They didn’t use her much, though, so it’s hard to comment.

Noah Guthrie: An amazing singer, has a really unique sound, but is able to do blend in well with others.

Samantha Ware: Another amazing singer. She’s in full control and can do really great things with it.

Billy Lewis Jr: Has a good, solid voice. Not as strong as Guthrie, or some of the other guys, but he’s a lot of fun to watch.

Laura Dreyfuss: Like Becca Tobin - has a uniqueness to her vocal quality that makes it stand out a little, but she’s still a solid singer.

Marshall Williams: His vocal ability is okay. It’s better than his acting ability. I’m slightly confused how this dude got cast, tbh.

#Anonymous #if you guys want to me to elaborate on someone - please let me know!#it's hard to do everyone since there are so many #this post took forever to write up #that's how s.o. sees it

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obiquinbingo · 2 years

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Bingo FAQs

What is a fandom bingo?

This particular event is focused on Quinlan Vos & Obi-Wan Kenobi and we’re running it as an open-ended event. What that means is that it doesn’t really have an end point. Instead, we will have three themes every few months and rotate the themes to keep things new and interesting.

This is a sample bingo card:

How do I request a card?

Can I request multiple bingo cards?

As this is an on-going event, you can absolutely request a second, third, fifth, or tenth card once you finish your previous card.

Clarification: You can only request ONE bingo card per Round until you get a bingo, not one bingo card per theme.

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sineala · 3 years

Text

A Few Thoughts About Hurt/Comfort

I have been asked this month to make a post about hurt/comfort in Avengers comics. And I love h/c -- I actually have a massive number of WIPs right now that are h/c -- so I am very happy to talk about it! Anyway, this is not really all that planned out and this mostly turned into an excursus on Tony Stark's pain. I'm sure you're all surprised.

Like pretty much everyone else, I'm sure, I have found that everything lately has been... pretty tough. And the coping mechanism that really got me through last year and this year was reading and writing a lot of h/c, on the theory that, however lousy a day I'm having, I can absolutely make sure that Tony Stark has a worse one. And then I can make sure he gets hugs. Wish fulfillment? Why, yes. (Once at Hallmark I was trying to find a "get well soon" card, forgot what it was called, and described it to my wife as "a hurt/comfort card.") I think Marvel Comics -- the Avengers side, in particular -- is an interesting canon for h/c for a lot of reasons. Though, honestly, if you asked me to recommend you, a hurt/comfort fan, a new fandom, I would probably just hand you some Starsky & Hutch DVDs. Go watch "The Fix" and get back to me later. If you like that, there's way more where that came from. But there's still lots to love in Marvel! Superhero comics are really a goldmine as far as the hurt side of h/c. Because superheroes, and you probably have noticed this, get hurt a lot. They get hurt repeatedly, in fantastical ways that are probably impossible in real life both physically and emotionally (at least, I don't think anyone's invented mind control yet), and even the heroes without superhuman healing powers tend to get physically hurt a whole lot worse than actual people can take. Currently in Iron Man comics, Tony has a broken back and is dealing with this by locking himself into the armor as a backboard and injecting himself with massive doses of painkillers. He's busy! He's got stuff to do! He doesn't have time to lie around and heal! So, basically, if you name a kind of pain that you would like to see happen to a character, it's probably happened to superheroes. Multiple times. The downside, though, is that comics do not really deliver that well when it comes to the comfort part of h/c. They could. It's not inherent to the medium that they don't. But because of the serial nature of comics and also the fact the primary audience is dudes who want to read about people in spandex punching each other, a lot of the time they don't really feel the need to provide closure and write about people dealing with any of the hurt. (Raise your hand if you're still annoyed with the end of Hickman's Avengers run.) But at the same time, I think that's a quality that makes Avengers ripe for h/c fanfic. Because, generally speaking, fandom likes to provide the things that canon doesn't, and fandom is more than happy to provide the comfort. If you enjoy canonical h/c in comics, I think you really can't go wrong with Iron Man. One of the big innovations of modern Marvel Comics was the concept that heroes would also suffer from relatable human problems, and in practice what this means is that a lot of heroes start with a fully-loaded angst-ridden backstory and origin story, ripe for h/c. So Tony starts out by incurring a heart injury that he fully expects is going to kill him, which he responds to by vowing he won't get close to anyone so they won't be sad when he dies, and throughout the early Silver Age is constantly on the brink of death as his heart nearly gives out on him practically every issue. And then even after his heart gets (mostly) better, there are various plots involving his armor being detrimental to his health and him choosing to fight on anyway. It's hard for me to think of another superhero hitting that particular variety of h/c in exactly the same way. Sure, superheroes risk their lives constantly, because this is how superhero comics work, but Tony is the only one I can think of who is this constantly this badly off, physically. Like, think of all the other heroes who have had a continual solo presence as fan favorites across Marvel history -- Captain America, Thor, Spider-Man, Wolverine, maybe even Deadpool. You know what those guys all have? Healing factors! For the most part, they are not running around continually on the verge of death, and while there are certainly memorable arcs involving several of them being severely injured and/or dead, you really have to work at it. It's not their constant state of affairs, whereas Tony is the kind of superhero who shows up to a fight already bleeding out under his armor. Yeah, I know Extremis gave him a healing factor. But he didn't have it very long, and also he did some extremely dangerous things while he did have it; I'm pretty sure I've never seen Wolverine saying that he'll just solve a problem by cutting off his own foot. So, anyway, yeah, there are a bunch of good arcs involving h/c for Tony. If you're looking for physical injury, he has a whole bunch of heart problems over the years, gets several new hearts, then ruins his brain, et cetera. That level of hurt is basically the background pain of Tony's life; every so often, his heart will get damaged or he'll have to live in the armor or the armor will be killing him, et cetera. If you're looking for more unusual trauma, I am, as always, going to rec Manhunt, a relatively obscure arc in late v3 (IM v3 #65-69) in which Tony has an extremely bad week. His tech is stolen and used to bomb a building. Then he gets shot in the chest. Then while he's at the hospital a nurse tries and fails to poison him, and she then tries to beat him to death. Then he checks himself out of the hospital and a helicopter shoots missiles at him. Then he becomes a fugitive from justice. And then, oh, yeah, he has to fight the Mandarin. It is... a lot. (Volume 3 of Iron Man is pretty good as far as h/c possibilities. You've got a lot of physical pain, Carol's drinking arc, the Sentient Armor, both DreamVision arcs, and Manhunt. Manhunt is finally supposed to be out in trade this month, by the way.) There are of course the drinking arcs, which probably count as their own type of hurt. But if you haven't read the second drinking arc (IM #160-200), please do. Marvel likes to up the stakes on events (Fear Itself, Secret Empire) by making Tony drink, and it does work, I think. I feel like I've spoken at length about Tony's drinking elsewhere so I don't really want to rehash it all here. And then there's the emotional pain. Angst and drama is something that happens to a whole bunch of characters, yes, especially in comics, but somehow Tony seems to end up with possibly more than his fair share of it. Fandom likes to make a lot of Howard Stark's A+ Parenting, so much so that you might think, if you didn't know canon, that this was just fandom running with a throwaway mention of Tony's terrible childhood and making it worse. But, no, canon really does go there with a reasonable amount of frequency. Howard's actual first appearance is in a flashback where he's ordering teenage Tony to break up with his girlfriend because she's the daughter of one of Howard's business rivals. And then we get into the verbal abuse, and the physical abuse, and the time Howard made Tony take his first drink, and the part where Howard was a demon in hell who Tony fought while he insulted him. And more! Currently, in canon, Howard is alive again and is in league with Mephisto for the express purpose of ruining Tony's life. Also when Tony was a baby, Howard tried to trade him to Dracula. I think you can make an argument that fandom is actually showing restraint when compared to canon. Tony also has a whole lot of Terrible Exes whose presence and/or former presence in Tony's life can be used for a lot of hurt. If you've read any amount of fanfic, you probably know that the exes who get the most play in fandom are Sunset Bain and Tiberius Stone -- not that Tony and Ty were ever canonically a couple, of course, but fandom is definitely enamored of this idea. Ty and Sunset both have relatively similar interactions with Tony in canon, in that they are both liars and emotional abusers, heavy on the gaslighting, with the purpose of becoming more successful than Tony. They both also attempt to murder Tony, although this is after he figures out they're evil, at least. (Yes, I know, this is not how either of them usually appear in AUs.) Tony also has a bunch of exes who also have just straight-up tried to murder or otherwise hurt him, sometimes while they are dating, and sometimes before Tony dates them: Whitney Frost, Indries Moomji, Kathy Dare, and Maya Hansen come to mind. There are probably more I'm not thinking of! But, yes, if you want to write about a guy in a series of terrible relationships, please consider Iron Man comics. If mind control is one of your favorite flavors of hurt, Tony's pretty good for that too. We all know about The Crossing. I suppose when I say "mind control" I mostly mean "armor control" because there are an awful lot of plots where someone else makes Tony's armor do whatever they want it to do and Tony is along for the ride -- Demon in a Bottle, Sentient Armor, and Execute Program are the first things that come to mind. There is also a fairly obscure What If that is What If Iron Man Lost The Armor Wars in which Justin Hammer apparently really wants Tony in a mind control collar to take off all his clothes and lounge around in his underwear. No, really. I think a lot of pain for Tony often revolves around his issues with control, generally -- his alcoholism comes into play here again. The entire aftermath of Civil War is also notable for its propensity to hurt Tony over and over and over. Is he stoically soldiering on through his grief after Steve dies? Hell, no! He cries, like, six separate times. He 100% blames himself for Steve's death. It's great. Everybody loves The Confession and the funeral in Fallen Son, but one of my personal favorites is Avengers/Invaders, in which Tony is confronted with a time-traveling Steve from WWII and in order not to screw up the timeline, he can't tell Steve he knows him. He is clearly not coping well. He shuts himself in a room with a giant wall of pictures of Steve! Also there's a part where he has to try to convince Steve he can trust him and he ends up having to tie Steve to a chair to talk to him, and Steve looks at him and asks, "Who did you kill to get where you are?" and I feel like that is probably one of the worst moments in Tony's life. No wonder he gave himself amnesia. So now we might want to ask, okay, but why is hurting Tony in fanfiction so much fun? I mean, I can tell you why I think it's fun. I can't speak for anyone else. One reason is that he is very emotional and very affected by everything he does. Sometimes you will see people complaining that the heroes of m/m fanfic cry too much and this is not realistic. This is not a problem if you're writing Tony! He can cry as much as you want and it's perfectly in character. I don't think it would be as fun to hurt him if he didn't express so much of his pain. But he does. He also feels guilty, and for me that's a very satisfying character element. If he were well-adjusted and didn't blame himself for so many things, it wouldn't be nearly as fun as watching him blame himself for everyone whose death he thinks he is responsible for, whether or not he is. And then he just keeps going, and it's, y'know, nice to watch him be resilient, too. So, I guess, I think hurting him is interesting because it's easy to hurt him, his weak points are pretty obvious, and he reacts a lot. Steve doesn't hurt quite as much as Tony does, in canon. It's certainly possible to hurt him -- I mean, they did actually kill him after Civil War, after all -- but I don't think the canonical patterns of hurting him are as numerous. Obviously deseruming Steve is a fairly popular go-to in terms of physical hurt; he's been deserumed at least three times that I know of. I think's easy to see the appeal there of taking a character who is fairly physically resilient and making him... much less so. Certainly Marvel seems to see the appeal. But other than that I don't think he has any other really common way to get physically injured. Unlike Tony, whose origin story is basically "oh no, I've acquired a disability," Steve's origin story is "I drank a serum that cured all my disabilities." Which, I mean, great wish fulfillment but there's not really as much there to poke at. Pretty much all of Steve's pain is emotional, but, unlike Tony, his pain isn't often specifically in response to someone directly, purposefully hurting him. Hickman's Avengers run is a big exception, yes. His pain seems to come up most often as a kind of situational angst. He feels like a man out of time. He feels out of touch with the modern era, with people his own age. He feels guilt because he feels responsible for Bucky's death. He feels like he can't trust the government and therefore he can't be Captain America. He worries that he doesn't know how to have a normal life. And, yes, these are deep and important worries but it's different than, like, Indries Moomji dumping Tony with the intent to make him sad enough to start drinking. Very few of Steve's villains want to personally ruin Steve's entire life the way Tony's villains do; mostly they just want to do things like bring back the Nazis. In terms of Steve's potential for h/c, I think Steve is harder to hurt than Tony is. Physically, he is definitely harder to hurt. You can deserum him, sure, but unless you want everything you write to be a deseruming fic you're probably not going to want to do that more than a couple of times. And if you want to hurt him physically while he has the serum, you have to hurt him hard. Usually past the point where a regular human would ever survive it. He's also harder to break, emotionally, than Tony is -- which means it's very satisfying when you can get him to break, but this is a guy who's only cried twice (that I remember) in canon. So if you want to get him to cry, you really, really have to wreck him, and he doesn't have as many obvious weak spots. He also doesn't generally sit around blaming himself for things that aren't his fault, and the whole "stewing in guilt" genre of plots for him basically came down to "he was sad that he thought Bucky's death was his fault," and that's really the biggest regret he seems to have, and also Bucky's not dead anymore. The Steve/Tony relationship itself, I would think, is also appealing to h/c fans because canon provides a lot of ways for them to hurt each other. Some people only ship pairings who would never, y'know, take turns beating each other half to death in major event comics. (And for a lot of Marvel Comics history, that was also Steve & Tony, so if you want them to be BFFs who have never fought, you can just set your fic earlier.) They have definitely hurt each other both physically and emotionally, so if you're looking for something easy and satisfying as a h/c fan, you can just read or write something where they... make up. What about Marvel characters other than Steve and Tony? Surely some of them are angsty, yes? Well, yes, but also it depends on the particular flavor of angst that you like. If you like the way Tony hurts, you may very well enjoy Doctor Strange comics, because they have a very similar attitude towards life -- they are both former alcoholics whose origin stories involve physical disabilities, who routinely make tactical decisions that negatively affect their continued existence and/or happiness a whole lot. It's very much an "I must suffer alone in the dark and no one will ever know what I am doing to save the world but it's the right thing to do" sort of vibe. Like, you can read comics where Strange is lying in hell with two broken legs, hallucinating that Clea has finally come to save him. Strange's biggest fear, akin to Tony's control issues, is basically that one day he's going to be an asshole again, so he's out there trying as hard as he can to do good. Also, if you like tentacles, he has all of them. I mean that. Carol also occasionally hits similar angst spots, and her drinking arc is great. A lot of people like Natasha, too; I have read zero Black Widow comics but I get the impression many people enjoy her brand of angst. The mutant metaphor is a little different in terms of overall vibe, but some people really like it as a source of angst -- the whole "protecting a world who hates and fears them" thing. It may not work for you, but if you like your hurt to include things like systemic oppression, go pick up some X-Men comics. Start with something like God Loves Man Kills. I feel like I liked this sort of thing a lot more as a teenager but that I kind of aged out of liking the mutants quite so much. It's also worth mentioning that not everything that hits the spot in one universe will be the same in the others, and I'm mentioning this because I feel like I have to say something about MCU Bucky. MCU fandom seems to get a lot of mileage out of Bucky's guilt about being the Winter Soldier, everything he was forced to do, et cetera. I have definitely read my share of those fics, and FATWS sure went right for that angst too. But as far as I can tell, he doesn't hit the same way at all in 616. And I like him a lot in 616; I'm always pleased when he shows up on a team. (He was so good in Strikeforce. Everyone was so good in Strikeforce.) But the thing is, 616 Bucky is, basically, phenomenally well-adjusted, given everything he's gone through, and I'm including the time he wrestled a bear in a gulag. He gets over having been the Winter Soldier, and now he's just, y'know, a guy with a cool arm who likes to bring guns to every fight to horrify his teammates, and he snarks at Clint. If you're looking for that angst, that is really not him these days. He's all better. So pretty much all that is canon. So what do we do in fandom for h/c? Well, as far as I can tell, a decent amount of it is canon-based or very canon-close -- there are a whole lot of stories exploring the angst of Civil War or Hickman's Avengers run. Tony's drinking comes up a fair amount, and if one of Tony's Evil Exes comes back to haunt him, it's pretty much only Tiberius Stone. I don't think I've read a lot of fic with Steve getting deserumed; it doesn't seem as popular in fandom as in canon. When Steve gets hurt, he tends to just get physically whumped pretty hard, and there's a fair amount of that for Tony too, but of course Steve can take more. There's also a thriving, uh, subgenre of pain involving Hydra Steve doing terrible things to Tony, presumably the terrible things he would have wanted to do to Tony in canon if Tony had had a flesh body. There's the usual kinds of h/c setups that appear in basically every fandom as well -- sickfic, whump, dub-con/non-con. You get the idea. But since fandom in general likes to take specific inspiration from canon, there's a lot of fic where the hurt tends to resemble things that happen more in canon. Like, I feel like comics fic probably has more tentacle fic and more mind control than canons that don't come pre-stocked with those. Probably everybody has a whole lot of "tied up by bad guys," though. And then, of course, fandom brings the comfort that canon does not. This is true in pretty much every fandom -- I mean, you aren't going to find a lot of actual canons where Character A saves Character B from mortal peril and then there's gay sex -- but, like I was saying, comics don't provide a lot of closure before it's onto the next thing. Usually with a different creative team, who has no interest in wrapping up anything from the last team. Steve and Tony talked about the incursions exactly once after Secret Wars and nobody mentioned the part where Steve spent several months trying to hunt Tony down and kill him. Tony is never going to remember the events of Civil War. Hydra Steve died ignominiously in a fire and no one has ever talked about him again. Honestly, if you're looking for a way to get some comfort in your fanfic, picking an event, any event, and just having the characters talk about it will be way more than any of them get in canon. I feel like honestly that can often be a pretty satisfying to read. And even though comics canon physically hurts characters pretty often and pretty badly, they also often skip right past the recovery. Maybe you'll get one page of a character in a hospital bed at the end of the story arc. Maybe you won't. Demon in a Bottle has one splash page of Tony going through alcohol withdrawal and then he's all better. I think Manhunt skips to Tony getting out of the hospital at the end. That's just not a story that they want to tell very often. The second drinking arc is notable in that it devotes almost as many issues to Tony's recovery as it does to getting him to rock-bottom. Similarly, Steve is done with his Nomad angst way way faster than you probably think he is (though The Captain does go in for a fair number of issues). So one of the things we often want to do in fandom is focus on all the bits that canon skips over, both in the "why did no one ever mention this story arc ever again" way and the "wow, so how long are they in the hospital after that" way. That's really all I can think of about h/c! I'm off to write some more of it!

#posts i actually wrote

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egg-emperor · 3 years

Note

Redeeming villains only works for those that like… actually show some want/need for it? Like Zuko from avatar is the most common example, peak redemption material, some 16 year old kid reaching for approval is a completely different world away from eggman who regularly kills/tortures people and literally does everything in his power to reinforce how bad of a guy he is and totally owns it! Dude doesn’t want to get better and that will always override anyone’s ability to change him

You're absolutely right! Not every villain deserves redemption or seeks to change for the better and I wish it wasn't forced onto every single one in fandoms. Some are perfectly set up for it in the canon material, while others are truly irredeemable and incapable of change. It all depends on why they're evil and their true intentions. And that's a good thing because there should be variety, otherwise every villain would be boring copies of each other.

Nothing implies that Eggman is evil due to anyone's influence, he doesn't have a backstory that points to wanting to do good and caring for others, and he shows no remorse or the desire to change. He could stop or change but chooses not to and clearly enjoys the chaos and destruction he causes to accomplish his goals. He doesn't want to change, even after all he's done and how many times people try to stop him.

He has done and continues to do terrible things that result in the suffering and deaths of many without an ounce of guilt. I'm not sure how people excuse it or believe he can suddenly start caring or wanting to do things differently. He never has and never will, no matter what. Some people are like that in real life too, impossible to change and forgive. Fans wouldn't forgive him or think he deserves a chance to redeem/better himself if he was a real person!

There's also the fact that he wouldn't allow anyone to change him or tell him what he should and shouldn't do. It confuses me when people think someone could come along and fix him/help him change for the better, as if he wouldn't immediately discard of them if they dared to challenge his ways because it's his way or else. He's a stubborn narcissist that's so deep in his beliefs and confident in his decisions that there's no getting through to him.

He always seeks to destroy those that get in his way, no matter their intentions. If they do, they become an enemy. He won't tolerate that criticism, whether it's just to stop him or even to reason that it's better for him. He won't understand because he's the best and he knows he's right, everyone else is beneath him and nobody can tell him what to do. He'd have to value them and their opinion first, which he doesn't. He'll put them in their place or destroy them.

He won't care if someone tries to criticize his actions or beg him to do good and consider others. He won't choose to by himself either because he doesn't have the capacity to care when he's so full of himself. There's no possiblity of him making the decision on his own, otherwise he would have done so long ago. But it's far too late, his actions can't be undone and he doesn't regret a thing anyway, despite acknowledging all the damage he's done.

He doesn't want to change or be saved and after all the years of his life he's spent only caring for himself and being determined to accomplish his goals, there isn't a single person that can convince him. If Sonic can't, nobody can. No type of relationship, friendship, romance, or otherwise could lead to redemption/him changing for the better. Some people are just genuinely terrible evil people that can't be changed and Eggman is one of them.

It doesn't matter how much someone tries to make him see how evil and fucked up he is. He knows what he does is evil, he uses the word to describe himself and his actions in the games. He doesn't care about doing good and being a better person because he knows what he wants and how to get it and he isn't going to let anyone stop him! He's never going to give up on his dreams, he's a very determined and egotistical character at his core.

The first important step in a villain wanting to be redeemed/change for the better is genuinely having the desire to. If they have to be forced into it or it can only happen under certain circumstances/thanks to someone else trying to 'fix' them, then it's not genuine and they aren't deserving of it. Eggman is one of those villains that doesn't care to change and is too selfish, arrogant, and stubborn for anyone else to have the ability to make him sway.

He's so sure of himself and who he is, he knows exactly what he wants and his passion, and determination to see his dreams come true will never die. A villain doesn't have to be redeemed or become nicer in any way for them to be a lovable one and it's also not the only way for them to be interesting, entertaining, and have any form of development. There's so much more fun to be had with writing them than trying to make all of them into better people.

That's why I love Eggman exactly as he appears in the game canon! He's beautiful, intelligent, funny, and delightfully evil. I've never wished for him to be redeemed or be less of a bad guy and I like the way he doesn't want to be, he's happy being who he is and he's fully confident in himself and his decisions. He also has a lot of fun being a villain, as he should because it's epic and exciting! He's a bad man but a perfect one and I love everything about him 🥰💜💕💘💖

#asks #dr eggman #eggman #dr robotnik #dr. eggman #analysis #my post

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bearlytolerant · 3 years

Text

Fandom: The Wayhaven Chronicles

Pairing: pre-relationship

Rating: G

Word Count: 1175

(Special thanks to @ellstersmash for asking me to write this delightful idea)

just a plant

It is not what he wants to do. But it’s the principle of it. The undeniable prodding of his conscience. He should do it. After all, he is a man–no–vampire of propriety. Though the remnants of the last five broken objects would find the latter statement objectionable.

He meanders up and down the aisles at Greene’s Garden Center, the local greenhouse in Wayhaven. For the life of him, he can’t remember what the plant even looked like. It was certainly green and it didn’t have any speckles like the one currently in his hands. Pretty sure it didn’t have vines either. But maybe it did.

“Need some help?”

He nearly breaks the pot in his hands. How could he have let his guard down?

“Um,” he tries to placate a friendly smile but it certainly feels like a cringe as he places the fragile pot where he found it.

The brows of the sales associate only affirms his suspicions as one flicks up in question.

“I’m looking for a plant.” Instantaneous regret coupled with the lack of desire for human social conversation leaves Adam more exposed than he’d like.

But she is the kind and gracious host, patiently waiting for him to say his next line. (Though he wouldn’t be surprised if he made it on her list of annoying customers for the day). When she realizes he’s not going to expand on his thoughts regarding plants, she prompts him.

“Okay. Any specific type?”

He pauses, considers. Should he retell his mishap from this morning? To this woman who is only trying her best to perform her job’s required tasks?

No. Certainly not. The story would add nothing to his search. It would be useless information.

“No,” he says.

She’s standing there waiting for him to give her a little bit more. Her toes are tapping as her hand settles onto the curve of her popped right hip.

“It needs to be green.”

She lets out a rather loud sigh. Unnecessary in his opinion. “Is there anything that might help me narrow down your search?” She gestures to literally everything in their immediate vicinity. “As you can see, most every plant here is green.”

His eyes survey them all again. Had he known there was so much variety amongst indoor foliage, he would’ve opted to hand the detective the cash to pick out her own replacement plant.

“I will keep browsing,” he finally says.

“Okay. Just let me know if you need me.”

He lets out a grunt of acknowledgement as the associate disappears into another area of the store. Adam side steps over to the next set of potted plants. Dark greens, light greens, greens with flowers–they’re all different and yet look exactly the same. He cups his hand under a wide textured white pot that looks more like a giant soup bowl. This one definitely isn’t right. It’s full of spiky looking miniature plants. His gaze falls on the next set. One has some pink tinges on the edges of its leaves. Dinah would certainly like the pink. Maybe she’d be okay with a new replacement that isn’t a replica?

No.

Maybe.

No.

He pulls out his phone. Dials. Grasps the shallow pot with the pink tinged plant in his other hand.

“Nate?”

“Yeah?”

“Where are you?”

“The warehouse. Why?”

“I need your help.”

“Location.”

Adam grits his teeth together and mutters, “the plant store.”

“Where?”

“The garden center. Not far from you.”

“Oh. Greene’s?”

“Yes.”

“Be right there.”

He slips the phone back into his pocket. While continuing to cradle the plant. He eyes it studiously. Deliberating. But he sets it back just as Nate joins his side.

“Hey.”

“I need help picking a plant. I know nothing about plants. Do you remember what plant was in the detective's office?”

“Oh, the one that you broke?”

“Yes. The one that I broke.”

“No.”

Adam pinches the bridge of his nose while Nate glows with a smile next to him. Then the associate comes back.

“You still doing good over here?”

Adam ignores Nate’s questioning glance. “Yes…”

“We’re looking to replace a plant my friend here broke.”

The associate eyes Adam with a bit of disdain but puts all her charm onto Nate. Because of course she does.

“I see. Was there a specific type of plant you had in mind?”

“The plant was situated on the corner of her desk. It tends to get plenty of light when she leaves the blinds open.”

“Do you know which direction her desk faces?”

Nate pauses, uncertain.

“South wall,” Adam states.

“Okay. And do you know if the detective waters her plants regularly?”

“That is a good question.” Nate tugs at his chin. “What would you choose based solely off the information we’ve given?”

“It sounds like the plant could have a lot of sun so I’d pick something like cactuses, succulents or aloe if the detective doesn’t like to water often. If they prefer more leafy plants then I’d suggest a palm, a dwarf fruit tree or even an everblooming gardenia if a floral is preferable.”

“You have given us many useful options. Thank you for your input. And your time,” Nate says.

“You’re very welcome,” the associate returns Nate’s enthusiastic smile, “just holler if you need anything else.”

“Will do,” Nate replies.

Adam tucks his hands into his pockets. “That wasn’t helpful at all.”

“Yes it was. It narrows down our options.”

“Aren’t all plants leafy? What did she mean by leafy plants like a palm?”

“Come here,” Nate gestures for him to follow.

So he does. They wander over to a section full of tall tree looking plants and some bushy looking things.

“These are leafy.”

“Okay. So not these.”

Nate shrugs.

“Can you just pick one?”

“I’m not the one who destroyed the plant. You did. Was there one that caught your eye?”

“It’s not for me.”

“So there is one that caught your eye. Come on, let’s get it.”

Adam groans but he acquiesces and brings Nate back to the plant with pink tinged leaves.

“I should’ve just let the Agency replace it.”

“And miss the opportunity to connect with the detective? No. This is a far superior choice.”

Gesturing to the plant Adam says, “this is it.”

“A succulent. What’s it called?”

Adam lifts the pot. “I don’t know.”

Nate’s fingers pluck a small tag from its soil. “Kalanchoe ‘Pink Butterflies’”. Oh this says Dinah all over it.”

“So I should get it?”

“Yes. Absolutely.” Nate gives him an encouraging squeeze on his shoulder. “I’m going to head back. You’ll have to let me know if she likes it.”

Nate doesn’t see Adam’s self satisfied smirk as he makes his way to the checkout. He doesn’t plan on being there when the detective finds it. He purchases the plant and carefully carries it back to the police station. Adam sets it on her desk, finds her notepad and writes an apology, leaving it tucked under the base of the pot.

Finally, his conscience will leave him the hell alone. And all thoughts of Dinah will disperse.

Or so he hopes.

#twc #twc fanfic #the wayhaven chronicles #adam du mortain #nate sewell #plant shopping #bear writes #Adam: just replacing a plant for Dinah-I mean the DETECTIVE

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raulfernandez · 3 years

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Can you tell me about the stray kids members? :-]

Yes definitley can 😌😌😌

Okay first up we have Aussie Bang Chan. The most amazing leader you'll ever find. He writes and produces most of their songs, together with Changbin and Han as 3Racha but also Vocalist/Dancer/Rapper. Chan is born in 1997 and the oldest of them, trained for about 8 years and has a really cute habit of calling his members "the kids". He is really sweet and always tries to be there for his members, cause he said "they saved him" and does weekly live streams which lead to some people calling him stays therapist. Also he is friends with like the whole kpop industry lol and his rolemodel is Christiano Ronaldo for some reason...

Then we got Lee Know, born in 1998, dad of 3 cats, might be in love with Han, who knows, listed as dancer but also rapper/vocalist. 4th gen fish boy who doesn't know how to swim, but somehow the most normal member, or atleast the one with the most normal past lol apart from the fact that he was once on some National Geographics TV thing where he said that he wants to be a dance and the commentator went "Everyone of these hopefulls could be the next big thing in kpop", which is iconic to this day. He may seem cold and ignorant but his heart is freaking soft, he donates to many organisations to save kids and also animals.

Then we got my boy Changbin. Rapper, Vocalist and Producer. He is the fastest rapper in the industry and everybody who tells you different is straight up lying cause it's literally statistically proven. I'd say he's the best rapper cause he got good flow, his voice is steady and sounds amazing but some people might say otherwise so mhmm... One of his iconic lines "I love dark", and he always tries to seem like the dark rapper but can't sleep without his plushie. He's the smallest member with 167cm. He was also on 'King of masked Singer' (THAT PERFORMANCE!!!)

Then Hyunjin, the one who got called 'Prince' by his classmates, because it's literally true, just look at him, this man is the most talented person ever. Born in 2000, he is their Dancer, Rapper, Vocalist and Visual, he's also really good at writing lyrics and likes to draw, he designed the cover art for their latest single. We like to count him as part of Aussie line because he's english is adorable and he has a big Australian accent. The only tall member with 179cm. At one point he almost joined a religious cult on accident. After over 4 months he finally came back last week with his cover dance of 'Play With Fire' which he choreographed himself.

Now we got Maknae line, starting with Han Jisung, born on September 14th 2000, he likes to use that on Felix, who is a day younger than him, even if they still haven't figured out which one is actually older if you consider time zones. Rapper, Vocalist and Producer, the third part of 3Racha, who likes to doodle, 4th gen ace. He's born in Korea but somehow his members still think his Hometown is Malaysia because he lived and studied there. He was also on 'King of masked Singer' and his Nickname by his members is 'Squirrel' because he likes to stuff his cheeks with food when he eats. Predebut he had an accident with an alligator where he nearly died lol.

Then Felix, aka Sunshine, the other part of original aussie line, born on September 15th, a day younger than Han. Dancer, Rapper, Vocalist, can play the piano, Voice goes from deep af to high pitched, can also make mosquito sounds, that's what I call variety. Felix knows Taekwondo and his face doesn't really fit the super deep voice lol (Funfact, Felix shares his birthday with Day6 Jae.) He also donates to "Save the Children" monthly and since he was young.

The third part of "born in September 2000 line", Seungmin, their Vocalist. He is one of the best English speakers in the group, even tho he only learned it when he lived in LA for 3 months in 4th grade but we consider him part of Aussie line now. He went to the same high school as Chan, but I don't think they knew eachother then. His role models are Day6, he is their biggest fan and they acknowledged him as official president of their Fandom. He really likes photography and is a big fan of animals. When he was younger a helicopter crashed into his apartment building while he was brushing his teeth and he only realised it after he left the bathroom.

And last but not least, Maknae on Top I.N. Vocalist, born in 2001. He can play the piano and his special ability is singing trot. He was a child model when he was 7, his favorite color is hot pink and his role model Bruno Mars. He likes kids so if he wasn't in Stray Kids he'd be a elementary school teacher. His MBTI type results keep changing. He almost joined the religious cult together with Hyunjin.

Stray Kids are a fully self produced group, Chan choose the members himself and made it work, he helped all of them improve and he said it once in an interview, it was fate. They were meant to be. They produce their own songs, write the lyrics, even do some of the choreographies themselves and by now even their cover art. Even if they are under one of the big 3 companies, JYP (fuck jyp), their fandom promotes them better than JYP does, and some of them (especially Chan and Felix) are on social media platforms, constantly stalking their fandom and we still get scared everytime one of them knows about something that happened on like twitter or tiktok. Their fandom is one of the gayest you'll ever find in Kpop and recently we got called furries because Skz's song "Wolfgang" has a part where they fucking bark (but the song is really good!!)

Our fandom name is 'Stay' and the like slogan is "Stray Kids everywhere all around the world, you make Stray Kids Stay"

Anyways, that's Stray Kids from my perspective :D

#tw: long post #anon's

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lilydalexf · 4 years

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Old School X is a project interviewing X-Files fanfic authors who were posting fic during the original run of the show. New interviews are posted every Tuesday.

Interview with Piper Sargasso

Piper Sargasso has 25 stories at Gossamer, but don’t miss her website where the fics each have cover collage art. If you are a fan of Mulder/Scully romance, there are a lot of MSR fics to read that are set in different seasons of the show. But like the show that never stuck to one type of story, Piper’s stories have variety, so you can also find AUs and /Other. Big thanks to Piper for doing this interview.

Does it surprise you that people are still interested in reading your X-Files fanfics and others that were posted during the original run of the show (1993-2002)?

It does, but I love that people are still into it! Writers back in the day put so much work and love into their writing, and it's nice to know that the stories are still being appreciated to this day. As for my own stories, it puts a huge smile on my face to know there are still people out there checking them out and hopefully enjoying them.

What do you think of when you think about your X-Files fandom experience? What did you take away from it?

It was such a positive period of my life. I made some amazing friends who became something like older sisters (and some brothers) to me, even though I was a little ridiculous when I was in my early to mid-twenties. It was also a much-needed confidence booster. I was a pretty shy person and loved writing, but never had the nerve to show anything to anyone. My first fanfic was completely horrible, but because of it I made my first XF friend and super beta, Mimic117. Between her guidance and the encouraging words from my Yahoo group I was able to do something I really loved and felt great about myself and my abilities for the first time. That will stay with me forever. That first story was truly atrocious, but it was a catalyst for great things in my life when I needed them the most.

Social media didn't really exist during the show's original run. How were you most involved with the X-Files online (atxc, message board, email mailing list, etc.)?

I remember trying this cool new thing called an AOL chat room, but they were more interested in perving on each other than talking about the show. Once I knew about fanfiction I kept seeing that some of my favorite authors kept mentioning IWTBXF in their notes, a Yahoo group named I Want to Believe. I looked it up, joined, and with great trepidation made my introductory post. Everyone was so warm and welcoming, and talking to my favorite authors in the group was a little like meeting a celebrity and finding out that they're awesome in real life. After IWTBXF fell apart, an off-shoot called Beyond the Sea was created with almost all of the original group transferring over. I stuck to my little family there and didn't branch out into much else, other than the rare dip into Haven. Ephemeral and Gossamer, of course.

What did you take away from your experience with X-Files fic or with the fandom in general?

Mostly the overwhelming feeling of acceptance and confidence to write, something I was sorely lacking before in my life. I fell in with the best group, that's for sure! They made me feel like being a professional writer could be an achievable goal.

What was it that got you hooked on the X-Files as a show?

The commercial advertising. The pilot spoke to my supernatural-loving, angsty 15 year-old soul. I watched it religiously every week. There was nothing like it. It was off-beat, but serious (most of the time) and fulfilled my insatiable craving for the paranormal and weird. You just couldn't get that from Melrose Place and Beavis and Butthead, you know? It definitely helped that David Duchovny was adorable and the character of Scully was the strong and intelligent icon we needed in the 90's and beyond.

What got you involved with X-Files fanfic?

In high school I had a friend who was as obsessed with the show as I was. Maybe more, since she once had a slumber party that was exclusively to binge watch her taped episodes (the other girls who wanted to mess around with spells and the Ouija board weren't thrilled that she couldn't be swayed away from it) and she often drove me from play rehearsals in her convertible with the top down and the theme song blasting to the heavens, much to my delight and mortification. A couple years after we graduated she told me about the piece of fanfic she wrote. Insert a record screech here. What?! You mean there are thousands of stories dedicated to my favorite show? And hundreds more get added every month?! I was obsessed. If I could've stopped working and slept at my computer desk I would have.

What is your relationship like now to X-Files fandom?

Sadly it's nonexistent these days. I have great memories and it holds a big piece of my heart, but I haven't been active in a long time. I would love to see a huge revival, and would definitely want to be involved in that in some way, were it to happen.

Were you involved with any fandoms after the X-Files? If so, what was it like compared to X-Files?

I read a lot of Harry Potter fanfiction for a while, but I never could expend the kind of energy and time I did for the X-Files fandom. It came at a perfect time in my life, and so far nothing else has measured up to it.

Who are some of your favorite fictional characters? Why?

Besides XF characters? Off the top of my head I really love Hermione Granger, Buffy Summers, Elizabeth Bennet, and Claire Fraser for their sass and strength of character, Severus Snape for his complexity, and Christina Ricci's version of Wednesday Addams for her pure awesomeness. She's pretty much my spirit animal.

Do you ever still watch The X-Files or think about Mulder and Scully?

I do occasionally. I watched the series from season 1-7 so many times that I started to burn out, but I get on my X-Files kicks sometimes and binge it again.

Do you ever still read X-Files fic? Fic in another fandom?

Like with the show, I'll get nostalgic and need to consume all the fanfics my greedy little eyes can behold until I move on to something else. It can feel a little lonely though, if you'll excuse the drama. We're not in the heyday anymore, so it feels a little like walking through a ghost town. Many of the stories out there are suspended in time because the show ended, or people stopped writing.

Do you have any favorite X-Files fanfic stories or authors?

I know I have dozens, but I'm drawing a blank. My ultimate favorite is any well-written MSR casefile with UST finally resulting in RST. Those are my unicorns!

What is your favorite of your own fics, X-Files and/or otherwise?

I have a silly one called Baby, It's Cold Outside that I sometimes read around Christmastime. It was a fluffy song-fic, but I can see the scene so clearly in my mind when I read it and it's just pure fun. I also like my Donnie Pfaster series. I can see the potential in my writing with those, which makes me feel I could really write something special someday. Plus, he's such an interesting little slimeball to write and read about. Bless his heart.

Do you think you'll ever write another X-Files story? Or dust off and post an oldie that for whatever reason never made it online?

I still think about the two WIPs I haven't finished. I wrote myself into a corner with This Mortal Coil, and honestly I think it needs a total overhaul. I think Dana Scully's Diary would be a fun one to finish. I hate that I never finished them.

Do you still write fic now? Or other creative work?

I think about writing fanfic now and then and I've had a couple original novels sketched out, but there are so many other demands on my time that I haven't gotten very far. I still plan to see the novels through, even if no one but interested friends and family read them.

Where do you get ideas for stories?

I used to watch an episode and really study the actors' expressions and actions, always trying to find new angles to the stories we all know. A lot of times things would just come to me and I'd get so excited I couldn't sleep until I wrote a good chunk of it down.

What's the story behind your pen name?

The friend who introduced me to fanfic told me the best way to choose a pen name was to make sure it derives from the show. For a couple days I looked at the titles and summaries of episodes and agonized over just the right name. Finally Piper Maru and the summary from Triangle, which mentions the Sargasso sea, stood out and just clicked.

Do your friends and family know about your fic and, if so, what have been their reactions?

My now husband always knew, and he thought it was cool that I had a hobby that made me so happy, but he was never a reader. My parents found out when I was about 24 and my step-dad would tell EVERYONE about it, much to my horror. Most reactions were of the bland, "Oh yeah? That's nice." variety but I definitely got some weird looks from others. The worst was when I found out how much of my racier MSR stories my parents read. My step-dad thought it was hilarious and teased me a little. My usually open-minded mom was uncomfortable, but tried to be supportive. It's all fun and games until your daughter starts writing psuedo-erotica for anyone to see!

Is there a place online (tumblr, twitter, AO3, etc.) where people can find you and/or your stories now?

Circe Invidiosa very generously hosts a page for me at http://pipers.invidiosa.com.

(Posted by Lilydale on January 26, 2021)

#new post #old school x #xfiles fanfic #xf fanfic #xf fanfic author interviews #piper sargasso

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thoughtsofanexcitedspacechild · 4 years

Text

benders from atla in real life

So you watched atla and Korra and now you’re obsessed. Like really obsessed. You’ve tried bending the elements in real life but to no avail, and you’d still like to figure out what kind of bender you are. Below, I’ve listed a guide as to what I’ve determined are characteristics and mannerisms of all the bending types based on characters from the show and also real people I’ve met that share the characteristics of benders. (PSA: This is just for fun! pls don’t take any of this too seriously, bc it’s mostly just my thinking.)

Waterbenders: Waterbenders are smart, creative, and practical. They’re extremely organized and efficient and are so versatile, mainly because they’re often prepared for all outcomes. They are efficient and good at planning.

personality: most water benders can be laid back and serene, but at the same time can be as raging and strong as a storm as shown by Katara. They’re very driven, and rarely change their course, being suprisingly determined and stubborn to reach their goals. They’re also very warm and friendly towards those they love and care about, and often are a good shoulder to cry on. They tend to excel in fields working with their hands as well as medical and healing professions. Their creativity and ability to understand people also make them great teachers. They’re also very family and goal oriented and strive to find a proper balance between both. They are often ambiverted, and like to spend time with people, but also need time alone to recharge. Water zodiac signs tend to be water benders as well as those who identify as Ravenclaws.

Mannerisms:

moving in a graceful and almost water like fashion

their presence and posture is softened but firm

definitely coffee people, but prefer it iced no matter the season and with lots of cream

love the snow in winter and the beach in summer. (obviously feel very drawn to bodies of water)

don’t mind and actually enjoy boat rides/don’t get seasick

usually lean but not too thin. appear toned and exercise well

soft skin that’s always moisturized

aren’t picky eaters and can pretty much eat whatever

are voracious readers

exceptionally good kissers

core aesthetics:

beach core (obviously)

minimalism

light and dark academia (sometimes. it depends on the person)

Earthbenders: Earthbenders are stubborn, driven, and cunning, although earth benders can span a large variety of people.

Personality: Earthbenders are unique in that they usually don’t have a few set personalities that they identify with, however most of them share a lot of the same traits. They’re often realists, and see situations for what they are. They’re extremely tactical, and have firm, set ways of doing things. They like routine, and like water benders, always have a plan. They’re even more driven though, and often push themselves and others to succeed and fulfill their plans. They’re precise and intentional, and often don’t do things just for the sake of doing/trying them. They prefer to stick to what they know works best. They can be introverted, extroverted, or ambiverted, (like I said, a very diverse group of people). Although they are very grounded and emotionally stable people, this makes them reliable and a good confidant. They’re decisive and strong in their beliefs. They tend to excel in craft work that’s repetitive, like ceramics, fiber arts, and sculpture, self made business, and analytical fields that involve planning and linear progression of hierarchy. Law is also a common career path seeing as they have a tendency to be unbiased and able to make decisions. They are most common amongst earth zodiac signs and Slytherins are the most common, although some may feel they identify more with one of the other houses since earth benders in an of themselves are a diverse group of individuals

mannerisms/characteristics:

surefooted and agile. rarely trip or stumble

enjoy workouts with weights/lifting

strong/stocky build. muscular

don’t like tall buildings, airplanes, or heights in general

large appetite. Like, they eat a lot

like going barefoot (@ toph)

late nights up studying

don’t willingly accept help a lot

strong arms and hugs/cuddles

square hands with short fingers

actually keeping a planner

loving spring and summer

love wearing all sorts of rings and bracelets

core aesthetics:

forrest core (think northwest of the us and dense forested regions)

sage green (that’s literally it)

punk/hard rock

organized clutter core (having things be cluttered, but knowing exactly where everything is)

Firebenders: Firebenders are natural born leaders. They’re always leading, and are excellent at commanding as well as instructing.

Personality: These individuals unlike earth benders, are fueled by their emotions and passion. They’re also quite driven, but instead of being driven by logic, they’re often driven to do things based on their emotions. This can be a weakness, but it also makes them stronger. Once fire bending is mastered the correct way, fire benders are often very skilled at channeling and controlling these emotions. They are also brave and courageous and have a strong heart. They in the end always strive to do best and once their moral compass is pointed in a certain direction, they’ll follow it to the ends of the earth. They’re also extremely loyal, making them wonderful friends and confidants. Most of the people in this group tend to associate with fire zodiac signs, and the Gryffindor house although there’s also a large group that tends to identify as Slytherins as well. They excel obviously in leadership positions, but also specifically in law and criminal justice as their strong sense of right and wrong leads them to make the right decision most of the time. Like their opposite element benders, they share a distinct ability to teach just like water benders. They're often introverted and need time to recharge their social battery.

mannerisms/characteristics:

hating getting wet

always warm

love cardio and workouts that make you sweat a lot

strong looking (honestly most fire benders seem to have an ideal body type)

drink their coffee black un ironically without trying to be unique

can’t keep a plant alive to save their life

love summer

need good lighting to survive

surprisingly decent at cooking

don’t often procrastinate

loves cinnamon in cookies and cayenne in savory dishes

can be susceptible to fits of emotions

good in bed. (in general ;))

have obscure interests and hobbies (tea making, calligraphy, candle making, the list goes on)

Core aesthetics:

DARK ACADEMIA QUEENS/KINGS

city core

royalty core

Airbenders: Airbenders are warm, compassionate and loving. Their strong sense of detachment from life on earth make these people very different, but interesting to be around.

Personality: Airbenders come from the versatile element of air making them very versatile people themselves. They’re adaptable to change like water benders, but often these changes rely solely on creativity and not planning. Their commitment to live free of earthly detachment also makes these people very religious and spiritual people. Unlike earth benders, this detachment can often lead to indecisiveness and unsureness. Airbenders can often see pros and cons to both sides of a debate and it can be hard for them to make concrete decisions. Airbenders also don’t like confrontation or commitment, and will often choose to evade threats and sometimes even responsibility unless it’s absolutely necessary that it be dealt with. Nevertheless, this isn't necessarily a bad thing, and often times, air benders are able to deal with things in a non violent and peaceful way. They often are in a daydream, and most have big, bright ideas solely based on how much these people think. They often are kind towards everyone, and will make a point to be respectful, especially to nature and animals. They have a strong sense of who they are, and are often intuitive. They’re unique ability to create makes them gifted artists and performers, as well as spiritual and religious leaders. They can also be gifted writers and mentors to young children and students. Most are introverted, and prefer to spend time with themselves, as often times it’s the most rewarding. Most people in this category find themselves under air zodiac signs, (especially Libras) as well as the Hufflepuff house. (Although some may identify more with Ravenclaw, like Yangchen)

Mannerisms/Characteristics:

you’d expect them to be graceful, but these people are clumsy as fuck. all. the. time.

despite being clumsy, they are great dancers, and often enjoy forms of dance as exercise as well as yoga

meditate/pray a lot

certified day dreamers

immerse themselves in fantasy worlds and fandoms in general

love sweets (especially any type of sweet filling in a pie crust)

use a lot of blankets

talk really fast when excited

good with animals

love a good scented candle/incense

tea all the way

could spend HOURS cooped up in their room doing absolutely nothing

feel best during the fall season

could pack everything they need into a suitcase and leave within half an hour and not come back for months

cry at movies

will memorize and recite poetry because they want to

awkward but will honestly treat u right

good cuddlers

Core Aesthetics:

cottage core

art kid core

soft girl/boy

angel core

#avatar the last airbender #atla #legend of korra #lok

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barisifictionarchive · 4 years

Text

Author: FreckledSkittles

Preferred Name: Chey

Have any events in your personal life ever influenced the things that you've written?

Oh, definitely! Sometimes when I have high anxiety, I write oneshot fics to get it all out. But generally, I use personal experiences for certain details like pet names or locations. I can name on both hands fics I’ve written like that.

Do you have a favorite movie?

“Jurassic Park” is a cinematic masterpiece and I will not be taking criticism at this time. Also “Ratatouille” aka the best Pixar film. (Sorry for cheating and putting two, I just really love movies and wanna be a filmmaker one day)

Who is your favorite author?

Oof, I don’t have just one because it’s so hard to choose and I read such a wide variety. I’ve always appreciated Rick Riordan for his world building and characters, which I think has really influenced my writing. And not just because I’m developing a Greek mythology au lmaooo.

How did you start getting involved in fanfiction?

Uhhhh the less embarrassing version is that I started writing on fanfiction(.)net when I was in middle school for a fandom that I am not going to post publicly because I am too embarrassed. I’ve always loved writing though and used to put outlines for different story ideas on my wall. No matter what’s going on in my life, no matter how I’m feeling, my writing is always gonna be there.

How did you get involved with Barisi?

I had watched SVU on and off for a few years but my college roommate got into it but I hadn’t watched the most recent seasons which is where she was starting so I got to watch new episodes and ones I hadn’t. (Funnily enough, when I heard Raúl was leaving, I got uninterested in anything without him, because he’s just so amazing like, how could I?) I ended up finding Barisi on accident because I have tornado anxiety (I’m from the north which hardly ever gets tornadoes) and wanted to look at Barba content and I looked for ships and found an article discussing Barisi and queerbaiting, and lo and behold. I started writing my first fic after that and posted it a month later.

What inspires you to write?

Literally anything. A video game I’m playing like “Breath of the Wild” or “Stardew Valley”? Canon scenario that should happen but won’t because the showrunners and writers are cowards? Saw a dog? Can’t stop thinking of a song? Watched a Youtube video and heard a quote that won’t get out of my head? I will find something. I’m surprised with what I haven’t found inspiration in, tbh. (Just now, I thought of an idea, my brain does not turn off Barisi)

What is your favorite fic that you have written?

My favorite fic changes every now and then but I think right now, it’s “Running the Bases.” It’s a baseball au with Sonny as a pitcher and Rafael as a ghostwriter hired to write his memoir, and they are ridiculously into each other. I love baseball and it really helped ease the pain of not really having a baseball season in 2020. I faced a challenge in it around the type of conflict it was and the sort of story I wanted to tell with it, especially between Rafael and Sonny, and the end product is something I could not be prouder of. I genuinely think it’s one of the best things I’ve written and will ever write.

What is your favorite quote from a fic of yours?

Like my favorite fic, this changes a lot too; right now, it’s from another fic I’m proud of: “A Learning Experience” which is a merman!Sonny fic and also slow burn (look i like angst and drama in fics okay)

“I’m sorry we aren’t the same.”

Rafael frowns and reaches a hand down. Sonny grabs it like a lifeline. “Why do you say that?”

“Because we can’t be together like we want. Or like I want. I don’t,” Sonny huffs at how frantic he sounds, his thoughts rushing together and making him trip over his words. It could be another tick against him to prevent him and Rafael from enjoying each other’s company. “I want to kiss you. And hold you. And I don’t know what to do about it.”

“Wait for me.” Rafael’s grip becomes desperate as his other hand flies forward to hold his hand between his. “I know it’s a lot to ask of you, but I’m not going to avoid you again. I’m coming back to you.”

Sonny tries to steal one more kiss, just one more, but falls short of making the distance and sinks back down. At least it made Rafael smile, as much as the sadness was pulling at the edges. “I’d look for you otherwise. Even if I have to walk to you, I want to be with you.”

Rafael stretches out so he can press a kiss to his forehead. Sonny’s tail stutters underneath him—the kiss had been warmth and soft, such a nice comparison to the brash and hard exterior Rafael supports, harder than the scales on Sonny’s tail—but he stays afloat. “And even if I have to swim to you, I’ll come back to you.”

I,..,.,.,didn’t mean for this to be so long, it’s Barisi’s fault (not really it’s mine skgakjhsadjdhjlag). I just writing lines where Barisi is completely and utterly and ridiculously in love and no matter where they are they’re gonna try and find one another and wax poetry at one another because they’re what? Weenies In Love

What is your personal favorite fanfic? (Can be any fandom)

Oooooo okay so I’m gonna do a fic from the Attack on Titan/Shingeki no Kyojin fandom. (That’s right, I like anime, that’s where the FreckledSkittles name comes from.) If I don’t read this fic every year, I think about it and just get so many emotions for it. That’s my favorite type of fic: there are so many emotions conveyed into a piece that are organized and concise and so beautifully done. The fic is “Say You Will (or That You Wish You Could)” by Friedcheesemogu. Believe it or not, it’s a fic with a “grumpy one and the sunshine one” pairing; it’s a bookstore au; and it’s a slow burn. I’m not saying I’m predictable but I’m definitely predictable.

Anything else you would like to add?

I’ve been in a few fandoms over the years and I’ve had friends in all of them but the Barisi nation folks are the first ones I’ve met that feel like lifelong friends. If it weren’t for the support I got after posting my first fic, I would not be so vigorously writing Barisi or any SVU pairing at all. So thank you for taking me in and being nice to me and reading/commenting on my fics. When I say it makes my day, I mean it from the very bottom of my heart.

A question you’d like to ask another author?

First off, hi, it’s an honor to talk to you, love your writing, mwah. Second, what do you do with ideas that you write out or outline but you don’t end up turning them into fics? I like to keep them even though they won’t turn into anything but they still bring me a little bit of happiness for what could have been.

#barisi #Author of the month #Author recommendation #freckledskittles

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senlinyu · 4 years

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Hi! I'm aro ace, and so find it very difficult to write romance and sex since I just don't understand what makes them so appealing. I've tried to rectify that by reading romance and smut but I still can't write them myself in a satisfactory matter. I found your stories during my hunt for well written romance and smut, and they've totally sucked me in. I haven't read many things that well written, so extra kudos to you and your beta! That being said, do you have any advice for me? Thank you!

Thank you so much. I'm glad you’ve enjoyed my stories: I'm actually somewhere in the greysexual/aromantic realm myself, and my beta is aromantic demisexual, so maybe that’s part of why my writing connected with you?

As far as writing a compelling romance... you need to have a reason why you characters don't just get together, and it needs to be a good reason. A compelling romance is based in character motivation. They need to have a reason for what they want, and there needs to be conflict or tension. "I want you physically but you're an absolute bastard" or "I love you, but my family..."

Your romance is the process of your characters overcoming those hurdles.

For me, and perhaps this is related to being aro, is that one of my first considerations in romance is deciding why each character begins to fall in love with the other person. There needs to be a moment for each of them when something begins to change. It can be very small initially, but there needs to be something that shifts them in the other person’s estimation and gets things started. I don’t tend the think of romantic love as being a standalone feeling/emotion, mainly because it’s not something I naturally tend to experience. So I break it down into components: devotion, possessiveness, protectiveness, desire, etc. and then I tinker with the balance until it’s something that feels as vivid as being alive.

As for smut, figuring out how to write semi-decent smut has been quite a journey for me. 😂 When I first started, I was writing pretty blind, mostly looking at smut scenes I liked in other fics and trying to figure out why somethings worked and others didn't and just improvising from there. So... when I wrote an explicit sex scene for the first time, I got a number of comments telling me that it wasn't very good and did not “transport” the reader. Which was fair... it wasn’t very good. 🤦🏻‍♀️

Therefore, I set myself to trying to figure out how to actually write good smut, and I’m happy to run down the things that work for me and what I tend to think about when writing smut and romance. 😁 I’ve written a couple posts about writing a smut a few other times, you can find those posts here and here.

However, smut is very much a matter of taste. Some people prefer very vague and borderline opaque language and euphemisms, other people just want you to write cock. It’s impossible to please everyone, so decide what kind of language you prefer. The tone of a sex scene is very dependent upon the language that an author chooses to depict it. Go with what you’re comfortable with, but also know that it just feels awkward for a while (I legitimately nearly DIED of embarrassment when I sent my smut to be beta’d for the first time, but eventually my sense of shame dies. It took about twenty chapters of writing All You Want to get there.)

I initially tended to get too caught up in the mechanics of sex, and honestly, I’ve found that mechanics don’t actually matter that much. Obviously you do need to communicate that sex is indeed occurring, (I’ve read some fic that have sex that’s so ephemeral that it could just as easily be a heavily metaphorical description of an ocean storm as a sex scene), and it’s important to make sure body parts are in the proper and physically achievable places, but the basic mechanics can be left to reader imagination.

Just like with romance, good smut needs to have a reason behind it. I find that I really need to have a good sense of character motivation before I can write smut, because that tends to determine the details that I focus on and I base the terminology and language that I use on those motives. Is this person desperate? Covetous or possessive? Is this escapism? Are they catching feelings and fighting them?

For example, I elected to write more ephemeral poetic sex scenes in my story Manacled specifically because Hermione was a healer, and she’s incredibly clinical and precise about most things in her life. So to illustrate the profound significance and emotional impact of her relationship with Draco, I decided to depict their sexual relationship as one that was beyond her precise terminology and needed her to use metaphor to describe.

Or in my story Do Not Go Gentle, Hermione started her relationship with Severus as a form of escapism, and I wrote Severus as a very greedy/covetous character who tended to put the few people he cared about onto pedestals. So they had these clashing motivations in their sexual relationship, where Hermione was desperate for a sense of mutual connection and a feeling that she still had something to give; while Severus had this very greedy type of worshipfulness and an idealization about the kind of generous lover he’d be, so he wasn’t looking to be connected with because he was too self-loathing to consider it. Those things weren’t explicitly explained within the story, but as the author, that dynamic determined my word choices and which details I chose to describe in each sex scene.

Sex of course doesn’t need to be romantic. Obviously it depends what genre you're writing--one of the things that I think is fascinating l about fandom is that they're prepared to write sex that's occurring for a lot of reasons--it doesn't need to be true love. It could be hate. It could be physical desire. It could be sorrow or depression. But you need to have that emotion there: without emotion, without what makes us human, smut, even the kinky varieties, is fairly boring mechanics.

Experiment. Start with the emotional motivation, work out words and phrases that reinforce that, then work out actions that demonstrate it.

Good luck! ☺️

#senlinyuspeaks #asks #on writing #story craft #writing manacled

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spring-emerald · 4 years

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Haikyuu!! Idol!AU Girl Group Edition

So, it’s finally here.

DISCLAIMER: References are more K-pop than J-pop and concepts and songs are from groups I am familiar with.

The Group at a Glance

Dubbed as the Nation’s Girl Group. A permanent group formed from a reality competition/survival show (very much like Produce 101/Produce 48), and they were the final members chosen by the viewers.

Though in their case, they wouldn’t just promote as a whole group, but they would also promote at least two different sub-units (very much like LOONA), then there’s also a group with chosen members to represent the whole group based on the concept given (kind of like NCT with NCT U).

They’re a diverse group, and can pretty much sell different concepts earning them a reputation of being like a ‘chameleon’ group because they can adapt rather quickly.

Full of good looking members, all visual material, but don’t be fooled because these girls are dorks and most of the members are very competitive and that makes for a good variety show content.

Has a group Youtube channel where they showcase song and dance covers and also features member of the day vlogs.

Concepts/Songs:

Overall concept or a whole group concept that best represents them would be WSJN’s Secret. Or I.O.I’s Crush. Though there’s also Twice’s Fancy and Feel Special, but I guess that’s later in their career as a group.

There’s also IZ*ONE’s La Vie en Rose, gugudan’s A Girl Like Me and The Boots, SNSD’s Mr. Mr. and Lion Heart, and Twice’s TT.

Sub-unit songs leaning towards girl crush concepts: gugudan’s Not That Type, Pristin V’s Get It, Red Velvet’s Bad Boy and Psycho, Everglow’s Bon Bon Chocolat and ITZY’s Dalla Dalla to name a few.

Sub-unit songs leaning towards cute, innocent concepts: Apink’s I don’t know, GFRIEND’s Glass Bead and Navillera. There’s also SNSD��s Oh, I.O.I’s Very Very Very, Twice’s Signal and Cheer Up, Red Velvet’s Dumb Dumb and Red Flavor, Twice’s What is Love? for starters.

Other songs: Red Velvet’s One of These Nights, I.O.I’s Downpour, gugudan’s Diary, 2NE1’s It Hurts and Lonely.

More songs that units can do: TaeTiSeo’s Twinkle, Red Velvet’s Be Natural, Sonamoo’s I Think I Love You, Twice’s OOH AHH, KARA’s Step, and T-ARA’s Lovey Dovey. I don’t know. These songs sound fun for them to do.

Girl groups have a wide range of concepts so they pretty much touched most of them. They also have their fair share of covering boy group songs and dances so there’s also that.

The Members (in order of age)

Haiba Alisa – Alisa is the oldest member of the group and serves as sub-vocal, and visual. She’s also the actress idol among the group, and prior to joining the show, she’d been training as a model and actress. The darling onee-san, known for her delicate mannerisms and remarkable sense of style. She’s always doting on her members especially the younger ones.

My reference for idol Alisa is SNSD’s Sooyoung.

Misaki Hana – Hana is the second oldest and serves as vocal and dancer of the whole group. She’s the sub-leader of the whole group and is the leader of one of the sub-units. She’s quiet but a versatile member, and is considered an all-rounder because give her anything, she can handle it. Was already known in some form prior to joining the show because during her trainee days, she was featured in one of her agency’s boy group MV as the leading lady.

gugudan’s Hana is my reference for idol Hana.

Michimiya Yui – Yui is the leader of the whole group, as well as the other sub-unit, serves as lead vocalist and dancer. She’s known within the fandom as the crybaby leader, flustered leader, because much as she tries to keep it in, she’s really emotional and she cares a lot about the members of the group. She’s chosen as the leader even though she’s not the oldest because time and again, during the show’s course, she’s always shown helping contestants, whether they’re in the same group or not, improve and this endeared her to the viewers.

Twice’s Jihyo is my reference for idol Yui.

Suzumeda Kaori – Kaori is the main rapper and lead dancer of the group. She’s one of the girls from her agency to be included in the final line-up. Basically has reverse charm because she’s quiet and sweet when in front of the camera, but when performing, she shifts into a lethal rapper and dancing machine. She’s also a good producer and has had a hand on some of the group’s releases.

Pristin’s Nayoung is my idol reference for Kaori.

Yamaka Mika - Mika is the group’s main vocal. A skilled songwriter as well, something she got from her father who’s a composer. Came from one of the big talent agencies so there was quite a lot of pressure on her to do well, which she did because she has the voice to prove it. The only member revealed to be in a relationship (much to the fanboy’s dismay), but they still support her, since her boyfriend seems to be really sweet and good to her (base from her Insta stories).

I.O.I and WSJN’s Yeonjung is my reference for Mika.

Shimizu Kiyoko – Kiyoko serves as the groups vocal and another visual. The ice queen-slash-winter goddess, as the fandom dubs her. She’s quiet and generally a poker-faced beauty but has some sort of 4d personality, especially when she’s ‘playing’ around with the younger members. The group’s representative to anything athletic, as she used to be part of the track team during her middle school years. The group’s dark horse when it comes to variety shows, because of her witty one liners. Has the most fanboys out of the members.

Red Velvet’s Irene is Shimizu’s idol reference.

Nametsu Mai – Mai is the main dancer of the group, and also serves as sub-rapper. The ‘dance cover diva’ as she’s known, she’s already a bit famous prior to joining the competition show because of her cover channel that has at least a million views on average and had been an instructor in one of the elite dance studios in the country.

SNSD’s Hyoyeon is Mai’s idol reference.

Shirofuku Yukie – Hails from the same agency as Kaori, and serves as the group’s other lead dancer and sub-vocal. The mukbang queen who is always seen eating in the background whether in behind the scenes videos or official videos, but she’s also the group’s chef and seems to be really knowledgeable about nutritional values of food and such.

Yukie’s idol reference is Twice’s Momo.

Amanai Kanoka – Kanoka is the group’s other rapper and dancer, is in charge of the height of the group as she’s the tallest member, with Alisa coming in second. Another representative for anything athletic as she used to play volleyball before she joined and trained to be an idol. Has a cute and undeniable crush on a famous rapper Ryuu, which she cites as her major inspiration (actually his song is what she used for her audition).

Sonamoo’s NewSun is my idol reference for Kanoka.

Yachi Hitoka – Yachi is the group’s maknae and is a dependable all-rounder despite being the youngest, although she’s mostly vocals and sometimes, sub-rapper. She’s the only daughter of a famous designer so she’s somehow known in that particular circle but she wanted to make a name of her own, so she decided to train as an idol. Has a good eye for design and has had a hand in designing the group’s official logo and some of their album covers.

Since I can’t choose, I have two idol references for Yachi: IZ*ONE’s Yena and Twice’s Dahyun.

BONUS:

Tanaka Saeko – I really wanted to include Saeko in the group, but she’s a league of her own and can’t be tamed so I just made her a rapper/soloist that has a girl crush, hip-hop concept/genre from the same agency that manages the activities of the group which basically means collaboration can happen. Elder sister of the rapper Ryuu, and they started out as a duo especially during their Youtuber days, but they both wanted to be able to stand on their own, so they signed independently from each other. Produces and writes most of her songs, and is also a skilled instrumentalist, particularly drums, and is adept with playing taiko.

Think of 2NE1’s CL, as she’s my reference for idol Saeko.

(Saeko-neesan be like: naega jeil jal naga~)

I’d really want their collab song to be 2NE1’s I Love You. I think that would be so rad.

Anyway, that’s it! There are more idol au HC’s here.

#haikyuu!!#haikyuu girls #headcanon #idol au

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