#i would love to hear other peoples opinions on this

[14carrotghoul]

WIP Wednesday

It's been a long time but I'm finally done with travel for a bit AND I have finally brainstormed an ending for my cheating fic sequel!!!!

Thanks a million to @suseagull04 @cha-melodius @cricketnationrise @alasse9 @welcometololaland @firenati0n and whoever else has tagged me recently but have gotten buried in my notes over the last couple weeks 😭😭

Here is a meaty lil excerpt from an interview between June and Henry! I'm running out of sections that don't give away plot but I'm free to do a lot more writing now!!! So fingers crossed I finally post in July!!!

Q: You once said that the characters that are fan favorites happened to be the ones you infused with your traits. How have you found the experience of writing yourself and what response are you anticipating considering fan reactions in the past?

A: Oh, it was horrible writing myself. I'm glad I did it, but it was extraordinarily difficult for me.

I didn't mean for or expect readers to latch onto those specific characters. In early drafts, they felt flat and I thought giving them my flaws would round them out in a way that served the story: James’ self-destruction and self-hatred; Ollie's sensitive and vulnerable nature; Adam’s tendency to put up emotional walls. Ollie, in particular, was such a gentle and important character, and as a writer, I understood that his greatest flaw was also his greatest strength; I just couldn't accept the same about myself.

Writing my own character and confronting my importance felt like walking naked into a town square. I couldn't hide any part of myself without feeling like I was betraying all of the hard work it took to get to this point, but I so desperately wanted to cover up the parts that brought me most shame.

In fact, I'd love nothing more than to edit out this question, but my loved ones would be proud to hear me say this.

I began rooting for me once my voice was put on paper. When I externalized everything and saw Henry as a character in a story, I wanted better for him, same as I would for any character enduring difficult circumstances. I hadn't realized how unfair I was being to myself, and I don't want to treat myself that way anymore.

Anyway, I'm cautiously optimistic about the readers’ opinions. I also think I'm better equipped than I've ever been to handle criticism. We'll see in March, I suppose.

Tagging @read-and-write- @happiness-of-the-pursuit @sherryvalli @inexplicablymine @caterpills @dumbpeachjuice @firenati0n @heysweetheart-writes @myheartalivewrites @xthelastknownsurvivorx and any other lovely people that I'm forgetting! I have like one brain cell rn thanks to sleep deprivation 🤪

[marylily-my-beloved]

LILY EVANS = SKINNY BY BILLIE EILISH

HEAR ME OUT. OK. HEAR ME TF OUT.

Fell in love for the first time. With a friend that’s a good sign.

The first time she ever fell in love was with Snape. She had just gotten her Hogwarts letter and went there, and she’s just happy that she fell in love with someone who might like her back.

21 took a lifetime

She died when she was 21, but also she had lived so much in those years, she had gone through so much. She had fought Voldemort, she had lost friends, made friends. Fallen in love twice.

People say I look happy, just because I got skinny

When she had gotten skinnier during the war due to stress and not eating enough, people complimented her on losing weight (obviously not her friends but people in the Order.) People saw her as happier and healthier when she lost weight when really she was so unhealthy and felt depressed.

But the old me is still me, and maybe the real me, and I think she’s pretty.

Lily didn’t want to be skinny, she knew it was because of the war and it hurt her that she wasn’t really healthy but everybody thought she was. She knew she was prettier before. James had married her while she wasn’t skinny, and she loved her body before.

I still cry

During the war she had tried so hard to keep positive but it was so hard, she had cried so much, she had lost so much. She had lost too much, her friends, her family.

Am I acting my age now?

Dumbledore had told her that the way she was acting would get her killed in a war, because she was passionate about keeping all her friends. When she died she had thought if this was what he had meant, to act her age was to die apparently.

And you said I was your secret, and you didn’t get to keep it

When Lily and Snape went to Hogwarts, Snape wanted Lily to just be friends with him. He didn’t want her to make other friends and have her own opinions. When they stopped being friends Snape told Lily nobody would want to be hers anyways. It stuck with Lily for a bit.

When I step off the stage I’m a bird in a cage, I’m a dog in a dog pound.

Lily’s life after the war was just trying so hard to stay positive, I was like a mask. And Dumbledore could control so much of her life after they had Harry, and she just had to be a part of it.

I never did you wrong

This is not only for her and Snape, but just in general. She did nothing to provoke people except be herself, muggleborn, redhaired, fat. She was just herself and people hated her for that.

[pianoandcookiedoughlover]

marauders as songs without words (mendelssohn) pieces: regulus black

okay, i've been thinking about this for the past few days so i finally had to type it out. i've been doing some practice sightreading out of this book featuring all of mendelssohn's songs without words and after playing through one that really reminded me of regulus i wanted to do all of the marauders!! but for now, i will stick with regulus, who inspired this all.

i honestly have two options for him. first, op. 30 no. 6 in f sharp minor. i linked here a barenboim recording (barenboim is just such an excellent pianist i love his interpretations)

this is the one that really caught my attention. from that e sharp in the third measure, i felt regulus's blunt nature. we have this repeating figure in measures five and six that appear throughout the piece, which makes me think of his family's constant presence in his life. i see the trills as him sort of floundering under the pressure from his family while also wanting to be his own individual, but he eventually succumbs to his family's wishes with the following falling line.

towards the end of the piece, there is this pattern of playing a broken f sharp octave in the left hand followed by a block chord in the right hand that to me is reminiscent of his struggles with where he was in the later part of his life, constantly fighting between who he is and who he wishes he could've been, if he could go back and rewind these past years. the last two trills feel like a vulnerable representation of him before he fades away into the last few measures.

overall, it has that drama that a black brother needs and this sort of haunting sound that i think regulus might appreciate.

the other option was op. 67 no. 5 in b minor which i found after when i was fully fleshing out this idea but arguably prefer (again, the barenboim recording).

again, this piece has that slightly bitter sound that i think works well for regulus. also that chord on the second beat of measure 9 (about 0:26 in that recording linked above) is just so devastating, i love it. then by measure 14 (0:44 ish) the piece takes a distinct turn to a major sound. it feels innocent and nostalgic, like thinking of a happy memory with a rosy background. this could be representative of regulus's happy moments at hogwarts, with his friends and perhaps romantic interests (regardless of who you ship him with).

but soon enough, it takes a tragic minor turn, so suddenly and smoothly. he has returned home, reminded of his life as his family's heir and what they expect of him. we then return to the main theme with slight adjustments to the harmony. after his time at hogwarts, he has a new perspective of his family and their involvement with voldemort. he is disillusioned with it all, angry for what they have made him become, yet hopeful that there is some way he can fix it.

measure 28 (1:28) marks a choice. i think it perhaps up to interpretation how you see the ending...

anyway, so that was me totally geeking out over these pieces and my newfound interesting in the marauders. i apologize, i'm still quite new to this fandom so i don't know if i've captured regulus's character perfectly. i would absolutely love to hear any music recs for him or other marauders characters or your opinions on these two!

i also apologize for my musical analysis, i have been a bit out of the game for the past couple of years (college has been a lot lol) so i also love to hear other interpretations as well! i might type up some other characters' pieces out of my own interest (particularly i have one for lily i adore) but hopefully it brings enjoyment to other people too :)

thank you so much for reading to my silly rant! <3

[foxesandrabbits]

Not only Kevin's entire future with Exy, his one purpose, was crushed alongside his hand, but also, for a moment, his life was on the line too. And he was so scared, he spoke and plead in every language he knew, in hopes anyone would help him, and how soul crashing it must’ve been to know that no one would.

He asked Jean for help, not really understanding that he was damning them both by speaking french in front of Riko because that moment was it- he was going to die. But they both had their hands tied, not having full freedom to actually act the way they wanted. And how devastating is that? Asking for help, and not receiving it. Watching the person you love the most hurt, and not being able to help them. Both their lives at stake, both unable to do something about it.

At that moment, I think, was when Kevin fully recognized that no matter how Jean felt about him (even when Kevin made him break the rules, like teaching him french), there was always going to be a wall between them in the form of a raven. How he truly learned that Jean wouldn’t go with him that night even if he asked, why he used him, because he knew Jean couldn't allow himself to do it willingly, knowing he was betraying the Moriyamas, their cuts ran too deep for that to happen.

And oh, to see Jean for the first time since Renee rescued him must’ve been so excruciating, “bottomless guilt”, how easy was to be back in the nest tending each other's wounds, and how much he didn't want that to happen ever again.

Once Kevin learned how to trust himself, how to be a little less afraid, how to convince himself that there was more to life that what he had been taught, he truly saw Jean, this person that would have done anything for him, at one point.

Kevin couldn’t rescue Jean once, but he wasn’t going to let that happen again, so he made sure to give Jean the best chance he could find so he could have the same hope the foxes had given him. Even if it was without him.

[doctorwhoisadhd]

love songs are truly the easiest thing in the world to write. Which is remarkable considering im

AROMANTIC

[northern-passage]

genuine question for my fellow trans people:

when you talk about or refer to your younger self, how do you do it? i’m transmasc and personally i kinda alternate between calling my younger self a girl or a kid.

this is for something i’m writing, and i’m really curious to hear some other opinions/perspectives.

[lannisterdaddyissues]

ok not to beat a hornet’s nest with a baseball bat but i keep seeing people on here who say they want to see an icemav pride & prejudice au but they’re always saying ice would be elizabeth and mav would be mr darcy and i just… don’t get that at all. narratively and thematically it makes no sense to me.

first of all, ice is the one who’s coming from a place of privilege in the movie. he went to the academy, he’s the top dog at top gun, he’s a genuinely good guy but mav thinks he’s a dickhead for, well, being a dickhead. second of all, he’s the one who keeps trying to help mav in his own backwards way, not unlike darcy trying to flirt with elizabeth, who sees each of his attempts to woo her as him instigating an argument. thirdly, he tries to help mav in his time of crisis after goose dies, similar to the scene where elizabeth finds out that wickham absconded with lydia.

on mav’s side, he shares elizabeth’s prejudice against rich, snobby men, but instead his prejudice is directed at ice and naval academy-bred pilots in general. he’s also an outsider amongst the other naval pilots because he never attended the academy and because of his father’s reputation, which matches elizabeth’s lower social status and her ostracization by the bingley sisters. i can’t really say how the wickham plotline would factor into the narrative because there is no such character in top gun, but maverick has been shown to be easily taken in by a pretty face (see charlie).

lastly, the way both characters’ opinions of each other change by the end of the movie are a perfect thematic match. ice has decided that while mav is still dangerous, he now sees this as mav’s strength instead of a fatal flaw. meanwhile mav has come to the conclusion that ice is not the asshole he thought he was, and that he can trust ice to have his back in the air from now on. similarly, darcy was able to rise above his previous reservations about marrying elizabeth due to recognizing that his estimation of her was in fact incorrect and that he needed to reevaluate his beliefs, while elizabeth came to realize that darcy was a better man than she had thought.

is there anything that i missed? i promise this was by no means a callout post, i’d love to hear what other people’s thoughts are because i’ve seen the opposite take in several posts but i simply can’t see it myself. if anyone wants to weigh in with their perspective please do!

[obey-me-disaster]

Belphegor's relationship with MC before lesson 16

!! THIS WILL CONTAIN SPOILERS FROM SEASON 1 AND THE FOLLOWING DEVILGRAMS: "Hatred", "Hide and Seek" and "Say his name". !!

This is just a rant about how I see their relationship developed. This is only about what the story shows.

After MC's first meeting with Belphie all the way in lesson 4-12, the game doesn't make it too clear how often they meet or if they even talk about something other than freeing him through the main story, up until lesson 12-19 where he shows up. And even then, they are too busy with arguing and then getting Belphie out of trouble until lesson 16 where he finally kills MC.

The only times they do meet in the main story/hard mode story are in lessons 4-12, where Belphegor lies about who he is, 5-7 where MC confronts him about lying and 5-10 where MC agrees to help him.

This leads to the questions:

1) "Why did MC help him? What did they have to gain from this?"

2) "How come Belphegor warm up to them so fast? Did he see them just as Lilith? Where does his sudden attachement come from."

For the question on nr 1) it can be argued that MC does either for Beel's or Lucifer's sake just from observing the main story.

The only places we clearly see they comunicate outside of planning how to set him free is through the SSR 'Hatred' and the UR 'Hide and Seek' from chapter A.

At the begging of the "Hatred" SSR we can clearly see that MC is telling him about their day at school and how Belphegor laments about the fact the he almost wishes he could go to school, but can't due to being locked in the attic. The Devilgram then goes to show more about how he used to love Lucifer in the past but now can't help but hate him.

While the devilgram doesn't go more into depth about Belphie and MC's meeting, the fact that they meet up whenever MC can sneak into the attic to keep Belphie up with whatever is happening outside goes to show that they did form some sort of relationship.

While this can be easily taken a Belphegor just manipulating MC in order to trust him more, it goes to show that MC did grow some kind of attachement to him, taking time out of their day and risking getting caught by Lucifer just to check on him. This adds to their motivation on freeing the seventh born because they care about him.

Now you may wonder "Ok, so MC has some motive to set Belphegor free related to their relationship with him. But what about his relationship with them? Did he see them just as a tool the whole time?"

That's where the URs "Hide and Seek" and "Say his name" come into play, both being also from chapter A.

In the "Hide and Seek" devilgram Belphegor is having a nightmare about how Lilith is dead and he starts crying because of it when MC finds him.

At first he tries to deny it but he is too emotionally vulnerable/weak to keep up appearances, let alone manipulate MC in this scenario and asks them to stay with him.

He seeks some sort of comfort from MC in his vulnerable moments, which shows that he did warm up to them just a little bit.

Of course there may still be some doubts about "Is that enough to really make him fall for them? He still sees them just as a way to get out and get his revenge." While it's true that his goal didn't simply change just becase of a moment of weakness, it goes to show that he did ended up seeing them as someone that can give him comfort.

And why is that so important? Because it was something only Beelzebub, one of the persons he cares about the most, used to do.

In the "Say his name" devilgram, it's heavily implied that Belphegor trapped both MC and Beelzebub in a nightmare just to check if Beel still remembers him, if his brothers hasn't left him behind.

This can easily go into his fear of being left alone, shown in season 3 and in how frustrated he was when he thought everyone was forgetting about Lilith due to agreeing with the exchange program.

During that story, Beelzebub drops this piece of information about Belphegor:

There was NO ONE but MC to visit him and to keep him company.(Lucifer doesn't count for obvious reasons).

MC is there to keep him company and to be there for him when he is scared and the fact that he lets them when he could easily tell them to leave shows that he grew some attachement to them, even tho it was overshadowed by his want for revenge.

"Ok, so he grew attached to MC for good reasons, why did he have a 180° when he found out that they are Lilith's descendent?" I will admit that the game was rushed at the end and when it came to his redemption arc, but it still made sure to show that Belphegor didn't see MC as Lilith 2.0

1) He tells MC that he loves them for who they are, their connection to Lilith not being taken into account.

2) When the reveal was made, not only did he found out that his reasons for hating humans were not valid, but he also saw MC as proof that Lilith lived a happy life.

This human, who not only freed him and reunited him with his family but was also there for him in some really vulnerable moments, was the proof that his sister lived a happy life as a human. At that point he had no reasons to hate humans any longer.

The game was too rushed when it came to his redemption arc, but his feelings for MC were not out of nowhere. Unfortunately this info is hidden in devilgrams and not the main story/hard mode story. At least, all of these devilgrama are from chapter A and not some time limited event.

Credit to Nee-san on youtube for the 'Hide and Seek' screenshots....I still don't have that card :')

[worldlydesiretemple]

a little upset with the chiyo change tbh. i didn't realize or know chiyo was going to undergo a COMPLETE remodel/rework but seeing erissa is just ... man. i understand where people were coming from with their criticisms on chiyo's design but it feels even more backhanded that they just straight up made her (afaik) white.

erissa doesn't have much ... personality? to her design? it's an alright design by her lonesome, but it doesn't signify chaos to any degree. this is just a tiktok influencer to me. and she doesn't seem like an actual child anymore. chiyo was fun in the regards that she's clearly meant to be a rambunctious tweenager and could be seen as such, but now this is just. Ambiguous Older Teen/Young Adult to me.

i don't agree with their solution to chiyo criticism being "oh let's just not make her japanese!" because her being japanese wasn't . the problem? so.

i showed my friends the new design and we all came to the collective agreement she doesn't look like a dark rider or chaotic at all this is a quirky tiktok fashion influencer

[harleyification]

So, I've been making my own Batkids age reversal AU, because of my incredible amounts of brainrot! However, something that's boggling me is what happens to a certain Robin. Like, in the major timelines that I know of, something happens to a Robin that affects Bruce's time as Batman. On Prime Earth, it's Jason dying. In Batman Beyond, it's Tim becoming Joker Junior. There isn't much evidence to dictate is these events are due to, "Something bad always happens to Jason", Something bad always happens to a Robin (no matter who)", or "Something bad always happens to the 2nd Robin". So, now, with batkid age reversals having over 800+ fics on AO3, I wanna see what people prefer happens to Tim Drake in these AU's!

[dolorianwolf]

A tear in the membrane, allows the voices in

[yowzeight]

ok i need to know something,,, i know both ramin and hadley have played judas in jcs but if they were ever cast opposite each other who would play who

[bumblingbabooshka]

-Remembers how T’Pring looked as she watched Spock & Chapel vanish into the bathroom together after seeing them kiss on the bridge (which she knew was for a mission and didn’t hold against them but perhaps she could sense something there since they do have feelings for one another), maybe attempting to calm herself and her suspicions as she’s left alone again (and later finds she’s been left out entirely this whole time) and how she doesn’t know that Spock almost told Chapel he loved her then and there, with T’Pring in the other room waiting, and how Amanda and Sevet both think she could have more confidence in herself and how T’Pring thought that she and Spock were in this together (her holding his hand, subtly letting him know to pour slower so the tea flowers would bloom correctly, a whispered ‘well done’, the ritual is over mother) and how mere hours after she expresses to Spock how she feels: Like he doesn’t trust her, like he doesn’t care to include her in his life, how she’s trying her best to show him that she will accept him wholly, how she wants to be his partner instead of an adversary or an obstacle, after all this he’s found Chapel within the hour and is kissing her.-

[transboykirito]

gonna ATTEMPT to word this properly please bare with me

obviously slutty bisexuals and pervy lesbians are a bad stereotype. i am very aware of that. i would love some rep that isn’t… those. however, counterpoint: at the end of the day pito and clarence are still sword art online characters. sword art online, the series that brought you heterosexual people and vaguely homosexual people doing uncomfortable things to one another for *checks calendar* 20 slutty, slutty years.

kirito held asuna in place until she stopped struggling for their first kiss. lis is the centre of multiple gags in extra edition where the punchline is just “haha she’s flirting/touching/being horny for a girl” - most infamously, the boob-grab with sugu. strea is the same, so many of the gameverse jokes and events fall back on strea being perverted towards men and women alike. quinella exists, and all the uncomfortable things she did were still bad and manipulative, even if we’re told they “wanted it.” it sucks. it really fucking sucks. but it’s also something that happens and we deal with it.

if these gags were only ever used for wlw characters (or queer characters in general), then i would have a bigger issue with it. but it happens with het characters all the time in the main series, and it happens with het characters in ggo alternative too. i hate that it happens at all, but it’s not specific to queer characters, and those moments aren’t really specific to their sexualities anyway.

like i said, my opinion is that i’d rather have flawed rep than not having any rep at all. a mainstream series like sao having explicitly queer characters was cool, and it made me feel so emotional and feel so seen watching it. even if it wasn’t perfect, it made people feel a little more represented.