#i'm always on the look for great prose and this is what i send people

[rotzaprachim]

absurdly good fic i read this year (which is somehow both completely unrelated and yet of a similar vibe)

1) it doesn’t mean you can explain the ocean - 14k, rageprufrock. gen

this is some background season 1 gen sam and dean road tripping america fic that works as an incredibly well-realised and dense entry into the whole magical realist on-the-road americana genre. spn fic in general tends to cluster post the season 4 introduction of the angels and castiel and so this fic is fantastic as something that marks the deeply, unnervingly isolated tone that early season spn had and then later forgot about when it really was just Two Guys going town to town. it functions briliantly both as fanfiction for the CW’s supernatural and an incredibly sharply realised depiction of small-town, middle-of-nowhere america that manages to be eviscerating (as the show never was) and deeply empathetic (in a way that i think is oddly key to the cocktail of early season supernatural, when it was good.) read it! 

There are noises in the cosmic grapevine about three women in Savannah, about prophesy and oracle and older gods than even they know the words for, and Dean hears about it from a waitress at the counter of a diner off the side of a North Carolina freeway. It's muggy outside: like collards and carrot tops and green gumbo, stewed until it's mostly brown, like mudslides and the thick scum left on everything after a storm.

Sue, whose brother is a sergeant serving in Afghanistan still, wears a yellow ribbon on the breast pocket of her server's uniform and snaps her gum as she tops off Dean's coffee. She talks about how she misses her baby brother and how she's real proud of him for standin' up for his country and fighting for the sake of freedom in the US of A; she tells Dean her momma's the best damn quilter on this side of the Carolinas and that she'd be happy to take Dean around this sleepy, southeastern town if he's gonna be round these parts for a few more days.

Sam drinks sweet tea and listens to her chatter at his brother, stacks Land O'Lakes non-dairy creamers into a pyramid and listens to newspapers rustle, the metallic slick and slide of spatulas and things on the hot griddle, the shouting of the Mexican short order cook. The diner smells like the meatloaf blue plate special and frying sausage and bacon, smells like the steak and eggs Dean ordered with black coffee. Sam looks at the counter's ugly, specked blue linoleum and the pleather covers of the diner stools, split open, with the fluff inside spilling out.

"Now what's this about oracles," Dean says and he drags out all the syllables in 'oracle' until Sue laughs, eyes bright, and winks.

2) i’ve lived since then - scioscribe, 11k, jyn erso/cassian andor, explicit 

there’s rumours round these parts (based on interviews) that tony gilroy read fanfic before fleshing out andor and well. if he did. let’s just say this one would probably be on this list. like yes, yes i DO know this is a jyn/cassian arranged fanfiction from 2017 and it’s 11k words and a good portion of those words are straight up porn. but ALSO, this fic manages to capture beautifully, woundrously, fascinatingly well the tone of andor and many of its canonical preoccupations, and yet feel fully contiguous with the characterisations of rogue one- which is something that andor itself is still fiddling with the hems of i just live for this particular fic’s depictions of jyn and cassian, who remain sharp and spikey and brutal and yet have this place in a story that neither removes them of their sharp edges nor sands them down to booktok romance leads but still suffises them with an odd, off kilter humanity and warmth. the subtle slice-of-life lived-in worldbuilding is great too. i have a particular fondness for the star-warsy birth control moment, which is so deeply scientifically bizarre and ridiculous it rests in my mind that if sw characters ever were to fuck on screen, that would be exactly what the birth control would be like. 

Cassian adjusted his jacket, which had been tailored for another man. The Alliance’s funding ran to fighters, bribes, and base installations, not to salaries, and so when someone fell, their possessions went into an informal commissary, to be bought, begged, bartered for, or stolen at will or convenience. Never entirely without sentiment, though. They all had sewing skills rudimentary enough at least to stitch the necessary black X, the acknowledgement of whoever had come before them. Maybe it was bad luck, getting married in a dead man’s clothes.

3) i won’t be going gentle - cyanocorax, 1.2k words, gen modern day odyssey trucker au 

it’s hard to choose a single quote from this, because the entire thing is dense (while maintaining a sharpness and paucity that keeps it feeling pure midcentury this-feels- like-an-Intro-To-The-American-Short-Story material. in the best way possible. this fic comes in the long and great media tradition of The Odyssey but it’s [blank]- in this case, odyseus as a long-haul trucker across middle america. like a great odyssey au it asks real questions about the odyssey itself. i’ve been thinking lately about the odyseus frame story being used by both the more recent Greek and other diasporas- russian jewish (joseph brodsky), vietnamese (ocean vuong), - in order to explore more recent experiences of war and displacement, and what ithaka can mean to so many different people across time. this fic goes in a different direction, instead twisting the stories of odysseus’s decades of wandering into the story of a working man’s struggle with daily life and to earn a living. one of the most haunting aspects that comes of this interpretation is of the mundanities of life itself as what separates him and penelope, given they are more physically united than in the myth. anyway! just really, really good writing and storytelling 

All his journeys tend to start off just the same, as is their way: in the dawn-dark, a thermos of Pen’s best (or worst, depending on who you ask) coffee burning a ring into the cup-holder beside him, the windows rolled down just enough for the breeze to turn his nose tip red. The radio, on, but silent, until he hits the interstate and can see nothing in his rearview mirror save the bleak, unyielding line of the horizon.

There’s a photograph taped to his dashboard, now ten years old, of his wife standing next to the lip of Meteor Crater with their boy in her arms, all the round, living warmth of her distilled into a single fleck of color that the passing gas station, motel lights will illuminate, briefly, briefly.

[racfoam]

A Killer’s Poem (WIP)

Summary: Harry met her husband in the library when she was twenty. He was an elderly gentleman named Tom, a retired university professor. Harry doesn't know her husband is a serial killer - the same one who carved the scar on her forehead and orphaned her - and when the police arrests him she says that must be wrong but all the evidence points otherwise...

These are only some scenes I wrote for the fic. Thanks to @loneamaryllis for providing some great lines! 💕💕❤️

Harry couldn't believe she was at the police station with Mr Lestrange, the lawyer whose number she found in the phonebook Tom gave her for emergencies. Having policemen drag her husband and cuff him while asking Harry if she was hurt — No, she was not, why were they cuffing Tom — and a detective calling Tom a “sick bastard” after he recognised Harry as the almost-victim of Lord Voldemort (a serial killer who was never caught). He’d pulled Harry away from Tom like Tom would hurt her, and told Tom, “You’re under arrest, Lord Voldemort.”

Harry thought the policemen had gone off the rails. Her husband was a man of poetry and prose, not of a dagger and a gun. He held books, not guns or knives. He was seventy-four, for God’s sake!

Harry insisted going with the policemen to the police station.

***

The police officers showed her the pictures of all the victims. They were all similar, young women with dark hair and lovely faces.

In the files of their eye colour, all of their eyes were green.

Harry tried not to tremble.

“It wasn't Tom.” she repeats, feeling like a broken record. Tom, who was seventy-four, grey-haired and grumpy in the mornings before his tea — or sex. Tom, who quoted all sorts of poems and literature to her. Tom, who took her to theatre and suffered through Titanic with her every time on the sofa, soothing her as she sobbed over Jack’s sad fate.

“I'm surprised he used his former name with you.” said the police officer, and Harry wanted to grab him and shake him, shout that Tom isn’t Voldemort, that Voldemort isn’t Tom. “But then again, you knew him by his alias, Voldemort.”

“It isn't Tom,” Harry spat.

The detective sighed. He walked back to the doors and whispered to one of his people, “Bring her to the screening room.”

The agent looked surprised. He glanced to Harry with worry.

“Sir, are you sure we should —”

“She deserves to see the real him. Now move it, Diggory.”

Liar. thought Harry acidly, glaring at the detective. Liar. Liar. Liar. Liar.

***

Tom is on the other side of the glass. The detective is showing him the same photographs of the dead bodies — Voldemort’s victims.

“This isn’t being recorded.”

“I’m aware.” replied Tom coolly.

“You can be honest here. Why did you kill them?”

His smile was dark and menacing, sending terror down Harry’s spine.

In the light, his brown eyes turned red.

Red...

Harry remembered the red eyes vaguely, always waking up in a cold sweat, remembering the crimson red, their flames threatening to engulf her, destroy her...

“Because they weren’t her.”

“It means something different, that sentence, with you, doesn't it?” asked Detective Shacklebolt.

Tom smiled again — that terrifying smile.

Who is this? This can’t be Tom. This isn’t Tom.

“Yes, indeed,” murmured Tom silkily. “If I killed Harry, I would never feel that rush of victory again. It would be completely over. I killed them because they weren't her. They weren't her, so I could kill them, imagine it was Harry, for those precious moments... Without ever truly hurting Harry.”

Tom smiled gleefully, grinning wide.

“Wonderful, isn’t it?” he crowed.

***

“We’ve lost the evidence.”

“Lost?” asked Harry, cringing at the hoarseness of her voice. “What do you mean, lost?”

“We’re releasing your husband from custody at 9 am when the paperwork is done.” said Detective Kingsley; he sounded defeated. “Mr Lestrange is already here, filling out the paperwork. Your husband’s suing us, including for emotional abuse inflicted on you.”

Harry gulped. “I... I don’t want to sue —”

“Your husband’s suing, either way.” said Kingsley with a tired sigh. Harry could imagine him pinching the bridge of his nose. “I’m sorry, Harry. But at least you know now.”

What was that worth now?

“He's sending Lestrange's brother to pick you up. He... how did he become so attached to you? He didn’t stop asking about you.”

Harry didn’t know.

***

“Does your stomach still hurt?” he asked. His old, slender, large, thin hand reached out to touch her.

Harry scooted away from its reach, like it was a spider about to gorge itself on her flesh.

Voldemort’s grey eyebrows furrowed. He brought his hand back to his side, but his eyes were dark, and his gaunt jaw tense, showing clear displeasure.

“I’ll go make you some tea.” he said. Before Harry could scoot away, he leant down — she flinched, closing her eyes, hoping the killing blow would be quick — and kissed her sweaty forehead.

He stood up from the edge of the bed and left, closing the doors behind himself.

Before Harry could stop them, she burst into tears, the salty trail rushing down her cheeks.

Nausea hit Harry again. Clenching her teeth, she moved her legs to the side, setting them on the floor.

Another bout of nausea hit Harry as she stood on uneasy legs. Feeling the bile rise up, gagging midway through the bathroom door, Harry collapsed against the bowl of the toilet and threw up.

Panting and shaking, Harry couldn’t help as another gag assaulted her, and she vomited into the toilet again.

Harry heard footsteps rushing up the stairs. She tried to get up, but only ended up on the bathroom rug again.

Her muscles felt weak, all her energy suddenly stolen from her by the bout of nausea.

Voldemort rushed into the room, nearly knocking the doors down from the force he opened them with. When he entered the bathroom, he looked insane.

Harry’s eyes fluttered close and opened again. The face of a murderer was replaced by an expression of concern.

By the time Harry realised he was touching her, it was too late to tell him to stop.

“It’s all right.” he said.

No it isn’t. thought Harry, but she didn't say anything, too busy catching her breath, too busy leaning back into his warmth on instinct, on habit.

Voldemort whispered comforts in her ear, and when Harry gagged again and threw up, he held her hair back. And when she collapsed back, all saliva and sobs and tears into his chest, he wrapped his arms around her and held her tight, as well.

It felt like nothing changed. If she closed her eyes, she could call him Tom in her head again, and he’d be her wonderful, attentive husband.

Harry heard the water flush, and she felt dizzy, just like the spinning water. She felt hands cradle the back of her head and her knees, before she was being lifted up. She kept her eyes closed, focusing on the soothing smell of her husband’s cologne.

The plush, soft mattress was like paradise, and her head was placed on an upholstered pillow.

“Did those fools give you expired food?” hissed Voldemort. The sound of his cold, menacing voice broke the illusion.

Harry shook her head twice. “Didn’t eat anything...”

A hand pressed to her forehead. Grey eyebrows furrowed.

“No fever.” he said. “When did your stomachache start?”

“I dunno...” she slurred tiredly. She just wanted to sleep... “Two hours after I got to the police station. I threw up the first time there, too, but that was...”

After it sunk in you are my would-be-killer.

The silence stretching along made her more nauseous.

“I’ll call our doctor.” he said, bending down and kissing her on the forehead; his lips were warm, and she melted into the pillow. “Stay in bed. I’ll bring you a bowl if you need to throw up again.”

Harry found herself dozing off, aware yet not, finding a bowl cradled in her hands the next time of awareness, then their doctor’s voice murmuring as her temperature was taken, then the pulse, Voldemort’s fingers holding her hand...

A hand was caressing down her hair. Recognising it, Harry instinctually leaned into it. Tom was whispering her name, his silken voice bewitching her deeper into sleep.

“Wake up...”

Harry didn't want to. She felt nice and warm here, on the bed with Tom whispering gently to her...

“Harry.”

Harry opened her eyes. Tom was looking at her, his face stern.

“You need to go to the bathroom, darling.”

Blinking, sleep still weightening her eyes, Harry stared at her husband, wondering why he was telling her she needs to go to the bathroom.

“You need to take a pregnancy test.”

That woke Harry up. Her eyes shot open, stretching wide.

“Very funny.” said Harry, not finding it funny at all. “Taking the piss out of me after everything you did. Let me sleep.”

Harry turned away from him.

“I’m not joking.” said Voldemort behind her as Harry closed her eyes to go to sleep. “Everything is normal. It’s better to do it and remove the possibility of your nausea being caused by pregnancy. That way, we’ll know if it’s a stomach flu —”

“Leave me alone.” said Harry.

Harry could feel Voldemort's eyes boring into her skull. With a yawn, she said, “I’ll do it tomorrow. I’m tired.”

Harry felt Voldemort leave the bed, his weight disappearing from her side, taking his warmth with him. Harry’s eyes fluttered shut, and she fell back to sleep. Harry woke with another sense of nausea.

By the clock on the dresser, it was 7am. Voldemort’s side of the bed was used, but he was nowhere around.

Probably in the kitchen making breakfast.

Harry took a bit to wake up fully. When she did, she had to pee very badly, and decided to get it over with. She took the pregnancy test on the night table and went to the bathroom.

Twenty seconds later, she laid back on the bed and yawned, placing the pregnancy test stick on the night table.

When she next opened her eyes, two pink lines on the pregnancy stick were staring back at her.

A surge of panic hit her, and she shot up from the bed, grabbing the stick, then her glasses, because surely she was seeing double...

She wasn't. Two pink lines stared back at her, no matter how long she stared at them.

Harry felt a mad laugh of despair bubble up in her throat, but she forced it down. How was this her life?

In that moment, the doors opened.

Fuck. No time to hide it. No time to fake it.

Voldemort, carrying a tray with toast and strawberry jam, entered the room.

His eyes settled on the stick.

“What does it —”

Before he could finish, Harry launched the damned fucking stick at him — he could read it for himself, the damned bastard — and rushed to the bathroom, locking the doors.

[goodluckclove]

ok ok ok Clove i need to know: who are some of the best writers here in your opinion ? who do i need to follow if i want to follow the next generation of great writers ? i need new blogs to follow

oh shit let's party.

first off i can't say that i know all the best writers here. i'm still learning! also, maybe i like things you don't. the usual disclaimer. but i'll still take the chance to rave about some of the immense brilliance of some of my colleagues on here!

first of is @ivaspinoza, who is the first person to send me her writing the very first time i asked. she writes the most beautiful, almost prophetic word pieces. not quiet prose, not entirely poetry. it's language you can really seep yourself in like a heated milk bath. she's working on a longform vampire novel in the same style which i have seen snippets of and it is truly incredible. love her dearly.

i'm actually in the middle of Song of the Heartless by @rkmoon, because he was hesitating to post it and i harassed him into sending it to me. and oh man, it's great. really solid premise and a world that feels vibrant and expansive and also shit because it's kind of dystopian and the vibes are not great. obviously as another aspec writer i love the representation. it's great to read yourself on the page and still see your struggles draped in thematic excitement. i can't say any more without spoiling it but i really want to. this could easily be a fucking great movie adaptation.

i feel insane pointing you towards @godsmostfuckedupgoblin because he doesn't really post his writing as far as i know but he's got some of the best mastery of dialogue i've seen in non-published writing and his excerpts are always so exciting and fun to read. maybe if enough people him to share more he will but until then his memes are lit as a child has once said before.

@stajorathefallen is working on a longform Lord of the Rings fic that is truly beautiful. I would rather read this finished product than the actual Lord of the Rings. I don't know if she'll find that a compliment or a war crime, but it's just nicer. It feels warm and cozy to read. I actually don't even know if it's referenced the original canon at all since I saw the movies but didn't pay attention. I was not qualified to look at this fic but I got to anyway and it's great.

@cssnder is someone else who doesn't post enough writing, but my hope is with enough confidence she'll branch more into sharing. Literally every time she drops a line everyone's like huh?? wow!! and then she whispers a thanks and disappears back into the catacombs. if you like dark academia based on tiktok you should follow her to see what those tiktoks wish they could capture.

this is obviously not everyone. these are not even all the people that sent me writing to look at. i have two separate emails that i still need to marry, some people are still in the egg-cracking stage of being a writer, and my adderal can only do so much. if you aren't one of these people just know that you are amazing and you need to post more of your work so i can point people to your page please thank you i love you.

[lucyandthepen]

before checking my masterlist, perusing my works, or sending in a message, please read this!

— my name is lucy, 25+, and i'm currently studying for my second master's degree in creative writing.

— i mostly write for nct (specifically dream, but 127 too!), but i will soon expand my masterlist for txt and other groups.

— my nct biases are mark and jaemin! other groups i like but do not write for are red velvet, exo, itzy, sf9, newjeans, seventeen, and stray kids.

— i've recently been getting into anime shows and trying to read more manhwas! if you like either or both of these things, please send some recommendations my way!

— post divider is by @cafekitsune!

— as far as rules go, please adhere by the following:

if you are a minor, do not interact with explicit content. they are marked on my masterlist as *, and i can't track who looks at what or how old anyone is. i trust that those who are younger than 18 (international age) will be responsible for themselves and avoid content unsuitable for them.

before sending in a request, please be sure to check if i am open or not! i often don't take requests because i usually write slowly and take ages to get through my queue, but i occasionally will open requests for practice.

if you plan on sending in an anonymous message, please follow the basic rules of human respect. i never reply rudely to people who talk nicely, so i ask that you uphold the inherent agreement of any conversation and be courteous. otherwise, i will also not hold my words. if you are overtly demanding with your requests (asking about updates is fine as long as the message isn't instructing me to update faster!) or seek to attack my person or my writing, i will not hold back. i don't like negativity on my blog; i started it and only keep it going because writing fills my time, so i won't mince my words if someone decides to disrupt my peace.

my writing is for my own sake; while i love talking about it with other people, and i am so appreciative of those that take the time out to send kind messages or even just reblog and like, i don't write simply to please others. if you don't like what i like or how i write, please take note: i don't care. this is my blog, and i'll do what i want on it. i don't care if you don't like reader fanfiction (why are you here) or if you don't like my prose (again, why are you here). i'm aware that my writing here is self-indulgent, and that's how it always is going to be, because frankly, it makes me happy to write something that isn't poetic or that undergoes 100 drafts for the sake of perfection. i'll write as trashily or as messily as i want, and that's what this blog is for. but i actually don't have to explain that to anyone with anything negative to say. simply, i don't care about your destructive opinion.

please do not plagiarize, remix, or translate my work. i will go to great lengths to take down any copies of my work i didn't authorize, so let's save each other the headache and respect these boundaries!

thanks for reading this far! i hope you enjoy my work as much as i enjoyed writing them. :)

[darkdoverpseeker]

character offered: Rogue

fandom: X-Men: original trilogy movieverse

rp you're offering for / rp type you'd wanna play in: Long-term PSL/1-on-1, though I'm always up for throwing in other characters as NPCs. And, for Marvel, I've got a good number of them.

I’m looking something either post-X3 or post-X2 (but still a bit into the future just eliminating the events of X3 -- let's be honest, no one liked that movie).

I'd be looking for a Pyro from this time period (probably putting them somewhere between the ages or 21-26). Preferably one that's been hardened by time with the Brotherhood, hates the hell out of humans, and who isn't afraid to commit to a ton of snark and antagonization between the two (along with the awful awkwardness that goes with them being on two completely opposite sides). I'd love for this to go into love/hate shipping territory. What their relationship actually was in previous movies (because X2 is vague on it) pre-X2 is up for discussion and brainstorming.

Generally, lots of clandestine meetings (being able to utilize the idea of emails and texts in RP is also a bonus) between the two, with a wide range of types of scenes. I'd love scenes with them arguing about morals and ideals as much as I would love more action-packed scenes. So, really, everything from fluff to angst to drama to slice-of-life to action to smut to… well, you get it. The potential for Rogue to switch sides and actually go to the Brotherhood is on the table, but that would be the result of character development and something that could played around with.

The current state of the world around them is completely open for brainstorming as well (DOFP-ish, various states of the Brotherhood’s influence on the world, various states of the X-Men’s influence on the world, how anti-mutant things are, etc.)

I have ideas for pretty much all of this that I'm happy to share, I'm just trying to avoid the dreaded wall of text (I've already failed at that). I'd love to hear from both seasoned-players of this character and people going "huh, I've never written this character but this sounds like something I might want to try". If you're in the latter category and you want a sounding board as you establish the character's voice, I'm more than happy to chat or do test scenes all you want.

preferences: 21+ writers only (I’d like this to go into NSFW territory so this is non-negotiable). I prefer third-person writing and past tense, but let me know if you prefer something else because I can adapt for a great line.

Tag length is really dependent on what needs to be gotten across in the tag. I generally like there to be a good mix of prose, actions, and thoughts so we both have something substantial to reply to. Plus, if I'm looking to write with a specific character, it's because I enjoy the character and want to know what's going on in their head. Basically, if you need five long paragraphs to get across what you need to in a tag, that's fine. If you need one paragraph that's fine. As long as it's not a series of one-liners.

If any of this sparks some other idea you want to pitch, contact me about that too. I’m easily enabled.

If you want more on the preferences/permissions front, I have a post https://gloves.dreamwidth.org/3728.html

I also have a shipping/kink/smut preferences post https://gloves.dreamwidth.org/28913.html

Please feel free to send a message if you’re interested:)

dm if interested!

[pompompurin1028]

oh my goodness. you mentioned Wilde in the tags in the thing you reposted about people with niche information and i went this is my time to shine.

Oscar Wilde by Katherine Worth and A preface to Oscar Wilde by Anne Varty are both great overviews that also go into quite a bit of detail about his specific works.

also, Wilde's non fiction works and essays are also really great reads to get more understanding of his fiction, i've read Soul of Man Under Socialism and De Profundis; this is a link to a website with a lot of his works including these: https://www.wilde-online.info/essays-and-lectures.htm

(btw, if you ever have a feeling Wilde was influenced by someone but you're not quite sure, look for their name in either of those texts - they all namedrop about fifty people. i don't know if you need to write about Wilde but i've found those super useful for evidencing links and showing influence of other authors on his ideas)

speaking of De Profundis, this blog post is a really interesting one looking at Wilde's love of and use of mythology in his works.

there's also a novel called Green Carnations by Robert Hichens which I've heard is a really great fictional/satirical story inspired by Wilde's life and relationship with Lord Alfred Douglas.

and finally, here are some JSTOR articles i have saved which you may found interesting

https://doi.org/10.2307/372764 - Richard Foster, goes into a lot of the nuances of Importance of Being Earnest, specifically how Wilde uses and changes literary conventions in his comedies (i found this super useful bc with his comedies, you can always kind of tell that he's playing around with ideas but i find it really easy to oversimplify things so i liked the detail in this analysis)

https://www.jstor.org/stable/45269274 - Nils Clausson, looks at the symbolism in his poem The Sphinx which is just generally one of my favourites

https://www.jstor.org/stable/40754628 - John Allen Quintus, looks more broadly at Wilde's place in the aestheticism movement and ideas of morals in his works

(btw i do believe you need a jstor subscription to access these - let me know if you can't access them and i can send you them another way)

anyway, apologies for the long ask, i'm way too excited to talk about Wilde at a moment's notice, but i hope those are helpful and interesting!!

Oh my goodness thank you so so much for the detailed answer this made me so happy😭❤️

I took a course on Oscar Wilde (this summer) and kind of fell in love (not that I didn't after reading Dorian Gray but still). I also sort of knew he wrote a lot and honestly two months is hardly enough :')

I really adore his prose and essays <3 (I've read Dorian Gray, De Profundis, "The Picture of Mr. W.H" and "The Decay of Lying"). I was rather sad he didn't write as much prose in fiction, but I'll definitely have to check out Soul of Man under Socialism! I've heard of it but I hadn’t had the time (or at times energy) to check it out yet. And of course all those other essays too, I rather like approaching his works through a theoretical/philosophical angle

And thank you for the blog on De Profundis, and the jstor articles, I will dig into them when I can :3. And yess, it's so easy to simplify works like The Importance of Being Earnest, and honestly I felt that I did so too on first reading. But my professor approached the work through an angle of his characters rejecting skepticism regarding the question of personal identity, which was a concern through many of his works (especially quite a few plays I have read) and instead looking for what they personally felt to be truth and such (I argued and felt in my paper for the course lol) allowed a comic and complete ending for all the characters :)

And I do have a jstor account! If I can't access them, I'll just try through my uni library agsjsk.

And please no worries! I love talking about these things ❤️❤️ I'm so happy to be recommended some papers to read because honestly I have no idea where to even begin in that sector haha

[c4rdsharp]

WHAT DO I LOVE ABOUT MEMECHI'S WRITING ? for some reason , the first thought was that in a sense it mimics the simplistic style of fitzgerald , especially reminding me of the style in gatsby SDCFVGHJKJNHBGVFD I KNOW THAT SOUNDS FUNNY BUT it's simple understanding tones sets the mood well & makes for an enjoyable , easy read. there's no need for flowery prose or liquid golden words , you make a read enjoyable with a simple splay to it , cozy as if you'd settled down with a cup of coffee , a sweet & are about to crack open an old classic & dive in. honestly , compared to the flowery sense of words like poetry , i much prefer the simplistic easily read & capturing sense of word & detail you use. you bring your characters out wonderfully & although i'm luck bias , i really do adore the way you write him. you do bring the whole. what's the word i'm looking for , early 1900s vibe , like i'm watching old mafia movies in a sense , the old classics mixed with like a detective vibe that i couldn't explain why i feel that way when i read your writing if i tried. you have a way of describing facial expressions & painting out the scene. you don't need poetry to make your writing beautiful , it's enjoyable without the flowery context & sparkly words. it makes it's own character & leaves a great impression on you when you read it. i just really love your writing GIMME BOOK TO READ WITH MY COFFEE MEMECHI

     meechi. OH WOW THIS IS REALLY HIGH PRAISE. I'M HONESTLY A LITTLE OVERWHELMED. first of all, this means so much to hear, so thank you for your time in writing this all up and sending it to me! second of all, aaaaaah, i'm so happy to know a lot of my intended vibes for Luck are really coming across to people. In the canon novels, I've always found Luck to have this very noir - esque dialogue. Narita ( the author ) wrote the Gandor - centric novel with much more intent of having it BE like an old mafia story, rather than the crime / urban fantasy mix of the first three novels ( all of Baccano! is inspired by old mafia films, but D&TD took the most inspiration, arguably ). The fact someone who isn't overly familiar with the series manages to catch that from my writing is really wondrous to hear ( it means i'm catching the spirit of Luck's character correctly! ). The 'detective' vibe is really just my own interpretation of his character ; i've always thought he was secretly a noir protagonist trapped as a mafioso. He's definitely got the tortured melancholia for it.      As for it reading like the classics, i've GOT to say, it's been awhile since i've reread any of Fitzgerald's works, but the fact he's still influencing my writing shows just how much of a hold he's got over me. I really can never escape my past as a BSD Fitzgerald apologist, huh? But, tbh, it makes me really happy to hear because the Great Gatsby is still one of my favorite novels, so for me, this is one of the highest goals i could achieve.

what's good about my writing? / @itorisen

[samuel-de-champagne-problems]

It's Delicate: Part II

Summary: Spencer Reid finds himself at a gas station at 2:00 am, thinking he’s only leaving with a cup of crappy coffee. But something taped to the door catches his eye. Spencer leaves the gas station with more than he intended: the chance at a friend, and maybe something more along the way.

Word Count: 3.6 k

Author’s Note: Here's the second part in It's Delicate, my first chapter fic. I've planned out kind of where I see this eventually going! Thank you to anyone who reads, likes, comments, and reblogs. It really means the world to me.

Content Warnings: Expletive language (3 uses), mentions of drug use, sexual innuendo

READ PART I

It's Delicate Masterlist

It's Delicate

Sitting on the plane, Spencer looks out from the little window. For hours, there’s been nothing but corn fields and clouds. It’s eerily peaceful, being there high above the clouds. His whole life Spencer has felt this distance between him and everyone else, but nothing makes that feeling more prominent than being strapped in a glorified metal box 35,000 feet off the Earth’s surface. But the thing is, Spencer does need to be flying above the trees to feel lonely. He can do that with two feet on the ground.

Luke sits across Spencer, the table between them and a deck of playing cards are spread out across its surface. He has to nudge Spencer’s leg from under the table, trying to bring him back to reality as he stares out the window.

“Whatcha thinking,” Luke asks, Spencer has been noticing more and more that Luke is one of the few people that actually listens to him.

Spencer, whose mind is racing too fast to even formulate an articulate thought, attempts to dodge Luke’s question with a noncommittal shrug.

“Reid, these cases are hard for all of us, you gotta know that man,” Luke says, laying down a four of a kind.

Spencer narrows his eyes, shocked that it hasn’t clicked yet for the rest of the team. He cracks his neck, preparing to answer Luke.

“We almost locked up an innocent man, Alvez. I almost sent another man to the same fate as myself. What kind of fucked up message is that?” Spencer says, throwing down the cards on the table. He doesn’t wait for Luke to respond.

“I fold,”

Spencer walks off into the small kitchenette to make a cup of coffee. He doesn’t want to think about his increased reliance on coffee, because he knows it’s a hot cup of coffee or a cold needle of Dilaudid in his veins. Spencer checks his watch, it’s 10:17 pm, maybe too late to find a meeting at a church or rec center somewhere.

He sneaks a peak at his phone, which was still unfortunately on Airplane Mode, he hasn’t even gotten a chance to see if Y/N has responded. He doesn’t know much about her, just as much as she knows about him.

It’s a brave new world for Spencer and he’s knee deep into the unknown.

Spencer can feel Luke’s eyes on him. He just knows that the minute he gets home, a certain tech expert will be ringing him. He knows that it’s Luke’s way of caring, but for someone who’s been alone for so long, having people that actually care is almost drowning.

Walking back to his seat, Spencer hands Luke a coffee. He smiles slightly; it’s the awkward smile that he used to make when intimating police chiefs and idiot cops would look him up and down like he’s a TA. It’s a peace offering for Luke, who despite his tough looking exterior, is one of the kindest people Spencer knows.

“Look, Reid. I’m sorry that we didn’t put it together. It’s just that man that we caught, he’s not like you. He’s not innocent of crimes, he’s just innocent of this crime,” Luke says in an attempt to make Spencer feel a little bit better.

“The thing is Luke, I’m exactly like that man,”

Spencer returns to staring out the window. The cards and the coffee on the table are long ignored for the silence that is found when you’re high above the clouds.

--

Spencer hears Tara and Emily murmur quietly about going out for a round of drinks. Luke accepts, while JJ and Matt decline, eager to get home to their families. Emily looks over at Spencer, her eyes silently scanning him, his body language. Spencer knows that there’s nothing he can hide from Emily, so there’s no use in trying to pretend he’s alright when she can take one look at him and know that nothing is right.

“You guys have fun, I’m going to head home and get some sleep. I plan on visiting my mom tomorrow and mornings are usually better for her,” Spencer says, slinging his go bag around his shoulders and making the trek back to the security to check out.

He walks slowly, enjoying the sound of the crickets chirping as he trudges along. Spencer tries not to think about the man, Richard, who was almost locked up for a crime that he didn’t commit. Spencer is pretty sure that being the person to throw an innocent man in jail is worse than being the innocent man in jail.

Spencer’s phone buzzes loudly, disturbing the silence of his walk. He looks at the phone to see a couple of messages from Y/N. Spencer slides open the lock to his phone and hits the button to read her messages.

Y/N: Spencer...that has a nice ring to it. So tell me a little bit about yourself. Your big three, but as books. Go! 🌞🌙⬆️

Furrowing his brow, Spencer reads the message over again. He does not have a clue what “big three” means, but it seems like some sort of pop culture thing that he’s not skilled in. He wants to text Garcia for a translation, but he’s also not too keen on telling her how he came across Y/N’s number.

Y/N: I assume you’re working, but I'm kind of impatient so I’ll give you mine 🙃 I’m a Little Women sun, an Emma moon, and an In Cold Blood rising.

Y/N: Oh no….I hope my astrology didn’t turn you off

Y/N: Not that I was trying to turn you on

Y/N: omg Y/N please shut the fuck up

Astrology? Spencer isn’t one to judge, but he’s a scientist first and foremost. The idea that there is something written about him in the stars seems like ludicrous. He decided to ignore the other messages, particularly the ones with a little more than slight innuendo.

Spencer: Y/N- I’m sorry I just got out of work. As for my big three, I’m not sure about astrology. I don’t particularly believe in pseudoscience. But those are good choices. In Cold Blood is an excellent choice. Capote spent years researching the case. In fact his prose and technique inspired the entire “Nonfiction novel” genre. The world of journalism and true crime would not be where it is without Capote’s work.

Y/N: Oh my god. You are a total nerd. 🙀

That stops Spencer right in his tracks. He’s only a couple of yards away from the Volvo at this point, but somehow it feels a million miles away. You are a total nerd. The words replay in his mind as the small gray bubbles pop up again. Spencer can feel his heart constrict at Y/N’s words. It’s ridiculous, he’s nearly 34 and is getting upset that a stranger called him a nerd. Spencer unlocks his car and tosses his go bag, phone included onto the passenger seat.

After a couple of minutes his phone buzzes again. He’s half tempted to answer it, but the way his heart seems to beat faster tells him to ignore it.

Y/N: I fucking love it and I think you’ll love this too

Spencer’s entire demeanor changes as he reads the message. He’s always had difficulties reading emotion in writing, especially when he can’t analyze the handwriting. Sometimes, it’s even harder to judge inflection during conversations. Maybe that is why Spencer has spent all this time studying people, studying the way that their minds work. Before he can get too lost in his thoughts, another message pops up.

Y/N: Meet Capote and Second Cat

Y/N: They are the loves of my life

Spencer: They are very...distinguished looking. Capote is an excellent name choice then. Second Cat is also quite catchy.

Spencer hesitates before sending the message, he notices that Y/N uses what Garcia calls “emojis” quite frequently. He assumes that it’s some sort of “texting lingo” that expresses emotion in small graphics. Great, he thinks. He already has a difficult time deciphering Y/N’s cryptic wording and now he’s got to analyze these emojis.

Maybe he should profile her. He re-reads the message and settles on a “😄” because he figures that he can’t go wrong with offering Y/N a smile.

Spencer: I don’t have a cat, but when I was a kid I always wanted one, they’re quite good companions for those that live several different kinds of lifestyles. From active to sedentary, they are adaptable and independent. Honestly they are the perfect pet.

Y/N: Is this your way of telling you’re a crazy cat man? 😜 🙀

Spencer, still sitting in his car that’s parked in the parking lot, chuckles at Y/N’s response to his message. Maybe it’s just easier to ignore his rambling when it’s done through 1s and 0s and there isn’t a face to the words.

Spencer: I’m actually more of a fish guy

Y/N: Like a “I-like-to-go-fishing-and-post-picture-of-myself-kissing-my-catch-on-Tinder” kind of fish guy or...I can’t think of any other kind of fish men

Spencer, not totally understanding the obvious joke that Y/N is trying to make, settles on something that he hasn’t really ever tried: being himself.

Spencer: Not quite sure what a Tinder is, but I think fishing is terrifying and kissing a fish is something out of nightmares. But his name is Leo

Y/N: DiCaprio?

Spencer: Uhh, Tolstoy

Y/N: Good😉 ⚔️🕊️ 🇷🇺

Spencer glances at his clock on the control panel, it tells him that he’s been messaging with Y/N back and forth for nearly 22 minutes. He nearly forgot how tired he was.

Spencer: Y/N- I’m so sorry but, I just got to my car to drive home from work. I’ll text you tomorrow morning about the book club, maybe we can figure out some things.

Y/N: OMG Spencer!! you should have told me. I’ve been talking ur ear off. sleep well and yes please tomorrow we can talk about the book club

Y/N: Good night, Book Buddy 😴

Spencer wants to respond to Y/N, but he doesn’t know what to say. She seems to text so easily, and judging by that, she must be around Spencer’s age or a little bit younger. Besides JJ and Penelope, Spencer has never had a friend close to his age. It’s a strange new territory for him and he’s walking in head first into No Man’s Land.

He starts his Volvo, the check engine still lights but, reminding him once again to go get it fixed. Driving away from the parking lot, Spencer hands over his ID to Gina, the security guard. She checks his ID and gives him a tired smile. Spencer, as he drives home to his apartment, thinking about what books he and Y/N will read together. He wonders what kind of books are her favorite, if they have any authors that they can obsess over together, or if what she thinks a poet’s prose is.

The summer air rushing in through the window is nowhere as warm and as comforting as thought of Spencer finally having a friend that isn’t able to read the scars of his past in the text bubbles that pop up on her screen.

--

When Spencer opens his eyes for the first time that morning, he isn’t sure where he is. Sometimes, before he can stop his thoughts from travelling there, Spencer thinks he’s still in jail. He hates the feeling of terror that rushes over him but he hates the idea of being vulnerable a little bit more. But the softness of his pillows and the coolness of his cotton sheets remind him that he’s not sleeping on a hard cot with only a layer of fabric over his body. The light streams in through the half closed blinds, and Spencer judges by how brightly the sun shines in, it must be around 9:45 am.

He supposes that he prefers the way the sun’s rays paint horizontal bars across his face more than the vertical bars that cast gray shadows over his cell at Milburn Penitentiary.

It’s a day off from work, so Spencer didn’t set an alarm, instead allowing his mind and his body to catch up on some much needed rest. The nightmares have been getting better, but his dreams are still haunted by the way that he hardly recognizes himself anymore. Deciding that it will be a day spent in pajamas, Spencer goes to his bookshelf in his bedroom to pick out a couple of novels to read while he drinks his morning coffee and defrosts some of Luke’s strawberry pastries.

Before heading out of his room, Spencer stops himself in the doorway. He replays the events of last night. He declined to go out with the rest of the team, while he walked to his car he thought about the crickets telling the temperature, and he read over Y/N’s messages.

Y/N.

He promised he’d text her back in the morning about their book club. Last night, she didn’t seem to mind Spencer’s long messages and awkward phrasing. He still doesn’t really know how this Book Buddy thing would work, but since he found Y/N’s number on the flyer, he can only assume that she knows what to do. He leaps on his bed, landing with thud on his belly, to grab his phone that charges on his nightstand.

Spencer settles at his kitchen table, a cup of steaming hot Dark Roast coffee in a Captain Spock mug in one hand and, surprisingly, his phone in the other. He scrolls through the messages from last night, Y/N’s cat and emojis tempt a smile to Spencer’s face.

Not entirely sure how to start the conversation again, Spencer looks around for inspiration until his eyes land on a certain fish tank in the corner of his apartment. He snaps a quick picture of Leo and attaches it to the message.

Spencer: Good Morning from Leo & Spencer

Spencer sets down his phone after a moment when he realizes that Y/N is probably not going to answer him back in a couple of seconds. He takes out a strawberry pastry from his freezer and puts it into the toaster oven on a non-stick baking sheet. His thumbs run across the texture of the book he started on the plane ride after his and Luke’s ill fated poker game. It's a thin book of collected essays on the meaning of life. Camus, to Spencer, is a little pessimistic with his droning on about the meaninglessness of life. Though Spence has seen the absolute worst that humanity has to offer, he still has to believe that there’s a deeper meaning behind it all.

His toaster oven rings, altering him so that his toasted strawberry pastry is cooked. He plates his breakfast and pours himself another cup of coffee- he’ll need it to get through Camus’s section on Absurdism this early in the morning. But the flash of Spencer’s phone screen sends him reaching for his phone. Y/N replied to his message.

Y/N: hi leo!!!

Y/N: and you too Spencer :) Did you get a good night’s sleep. You got back late it seems.

Spencer, taking a bite of the strawberry pastry, ignores the burning sensation in his mouth. He types out a response to Y/N as he washes down the bite with a swing of coffee.

Spencer: I did, thank you. Can you tell me a little bit more about this book buddy thing. From what I gathered from the flyer it’s like a little book club of our own and we meet at the bookstore?

It doesn’t take long for Y/N to respond. The little gray dots pop up almost immediately after Spencer’s message is delivered.

Y/N: That’s about right! Is it okay if I call you? Kinda easier to talk that way 🤷‍♀️

Spencer reads over the message a couple of times. He doesn’t really like to talk on the phone and only does it out of necessity. He’s pretty sure that his voice is grating and his vocal fry is quite irritating. Yet, he finds himself replying “yes” to Y/N. Soon enough, his phone buzzes in his hand and Spencer has to remind himself how to pick up a call.

“Spencer? Um, this is Spencer Reid, right?” the voice says. It’s a woman’s voice and he can only assume that it’s Y/N, considering it is her phone number calling him.

“Y/N, uh hi. This is Dr. Spencer- I mean this is Spencer,” he says, nearly forgetting that Y/N doesn’t know him as Dr. Reid, but as just Spencer. It’s been a long time since someone has known him as Spencer.

“Oh great! It’s wonderful to finally have a voice to your name. So about these buddy reads. You seem to have a good grasp of what they are,” Y/N’s voice trails off a little bit at the end and Spencer finds it natural to fill in the silence.

“Yes, the flyer was quite informative. But I was wondering, do we read the same books or do we read different books?” Spencer asks, trying to restrain himself from scaring Y/N off. But something about her made him think that she didn’t scare easily.

Y/N chuckles lightly in the speaker of her phone, “that’s a good question, uh, I was actually going to ask you what you would rather. We can read the same books, or if it’s okay with you we can choose what the other would read for that week,”

“Oh really?” Spencer says, very much aware how his voice rises a couple of octaves. He can’t trust himself to hold back on rambling over the phone Y/N, so he resorts to using his strained, brittle voice that’s full of hesitation and restraint.

“That’s the plan, so whatcha thinking, Spencer,” Y/N says playfully, like she can sense that phone conversations maybe not make him feel at ease. There’s something so natural and silvery about her voice; it reminds Spencer of an audiobook reader. While he’s not too keen on audiobooks, he’s sure that he’d listen to anything she reads or has to say.

“Um, I think it sounds interesting to pick out books for each other. I tend to gravitate towards more technical books or even books that aren’t in English so, uh, I think it would be interesting to get out of my comfort zone,” Spencer says, cringing internally at using the word “interesting” twice in a couple of sentences.

“Well, as long as you don’t pick out something in physics or anything by Ayn Rand then I’d say we’re good,” Y/N says. Spencer thinks it’s a joke, but he’s not too sure how to respond.

“Will you still be my Book Buddy if I read 1 out of 2 of those?” Spencer asks, hoping she’d get that he is trying to continue the joke.

“Oh no Spencer please don’t tell me you’re an Ayn Rand fanboy,” she says, and by the airy way she laughs, Spencer ventures to guess his joke landed successfully.

“So,” Spencer starts, he never has made plans with people outside of his team, and on top of that, there’s something about Y/N’s quickness that makes him a little nervous to meet her.

“I’m talking your ear off, aren’t I? Please Spencer, if you’re going to be my Book Buddy, you’re going to have to get used to me talking a lot, especially you pick out good books, which, I already have a feeling you’re going to be favorite Book Buddy,”

For once in his life, Spencer doesn’t really know how to respond. He lets out something in between a strangled laughter and a noncommittal chuckle.

“So,” Y/N says, mirroring Spencer’s earlier words, “so are you free tonight, I can meet you at the bookstore..”

Y/N’s voice trails off and Spencer leaps to finish her sentences. It doesn’t feel like his interjecting or interrupting, but like he’s snapping a puzzle piece together.

“Does 7 work?” “7 is great, Spencer. It’s a date,”

Those three little words send Spencer’s eyes flying wide open. He scrambles to come up with answer to louden the silence that falls, but he swears he can hear a string of quiet curses before Y/N manages to squeak out a small “goodbye,”

Y/N’s last words play back in Spencer’s ears. He scolds himself for being so weird and awkward that the very idea of going on a date with him would send Y/N in a tizzy. It’s not a date, because Spencer can’t think about it being a date. It’s not a date because of the looming photo above his mantle that freezes his future in the past. It’s not a date because of the nightmare of vertical bars that haunt his dreams

It’s not a date. It’s so not a date because Spencer would call Luke to come over to help him if it was.

“Hey Luke,” Spencer says, trying to control the nervous waves in his voice, “no man, I’m fine, it’s uh, easier if you just come over. I’m fine, really,”

Y/N: I really hope you're not an Ayn Rand fanboy 😉

It’s so not a date.

--THANK YOU FOR READING--

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[julies-butterflies]

Honestly, your writing reminds me a lot of the buffyverse. Just the perfect balance of humor and sadness and romance and heart that just feels like a vivid window into the world you've created.

God the Body...the best forty minutes of television I may never watch again. I've rewatched Willow and Tara's kiss (because I'll adore them forever), but just...the weight of it. It took me a full month to work up the nerve to watch the episode, to be ready to cry that much.

What you said about not wanting people to suffer, because of your work...It's never once felt like that for me. And I've cried a LOT while reading your work. I'll try to explain it the best I can

Grief can be so isolating, and disorienting. Your world goes topsey-turvey, supports you took for granted go flying into the abyss and suddenly it's a minefield of those glass shards. And no one's grief is identical. No two circumstances are the same. It's not possible for anyone else to know exactly how you feel, because no two hearts break alike.

Sometimes, it's because people just don't understand. Sometime's it's because they no longer want to. But some days, that feeling of aloneness can be crushing.

Then one night, I stumbled upon Let These Shadows Fall Away Like Dust. That one hit me way harder than I was ever expecting. The question of how to grieve the living, the dilemma on when forgiveness is deserved...Alex's anger, his devestation, the rawness of it all....That's my broken glass. Those are concepts I've been struggling for over a year. I'm still picking up pieces every day.

I sobbed, because it was such a relief. To see the feelings that had been scrambled up in my mind just reflected there, on my screen. The reminder I had desperately needed, that I was not alone. That even though my circumstances were different, I was not the only one trying to unravel those messy emotions.

Then again, I also read your deathfic for fun, so maybe I'm not the best judge of this. I tend to like angst. I tend to get a lot of "WHY WOULD YOU MAKE IT THAT SAD" in group chats :D

Please don't feel any pressure to respond to me quickly or anything. I never mind the wait. I'm so sorry for the rough times. Wishing that you and your family gets whatever you need to help ease your storm. Sending love and support as well.

(sorry for all the metaphors. I'm super sleepy and apparently, I resort to purple prose when tired lol)

I know exactly what you mean about Emily. I understand why people don't like her, but I just love to see her written as such a grey character. It's just so much more powerful when the love is so clearly there.

I mean, that's what a tragedy is, really. Love cut short. Grieving a future that could have been everything, if fate had not been cruel. I don't know if you know musical theater, but I like to think about the Barber and His Wife, from Sweeney Todd: the whole tragedy of that show, is that they were happy all together, and then permanently broken. How their paths keep crossing, but they never connect to heal. Never lost, but never found.

And that's the tragedy of Luke and Emily: too stubborn and too late. You find that grey area, the messiness so well, and just bring it all out so wonderfully. You do the same with Bobby/Trevor, ESPECIALLY in the horror and the wild. God, that absolutely devestated me. I'm not a big fan of horror in general, and I haven't explored the genre that much but...if all horror is like yours then DAMN, I might just have to become a fan.

This got super long (lol) so I'll wrap it up now but! THE SIC FIC QUEENS TOGETHER???? When I tell you I lost it.... all too well Bobby and what you've lost reggie in the same story are killing me. I am hooked and incredibly hyped. Loved both updates so far, and cannot wait to see where the story goes!

Oh yeah and I forget: I have to ask, do you have a fan cast of the one, the only, the incredible Keith Richards? (and that goblin is so cute!!! I really want to pet the blood thirsty monster. So badly)

Love, your totally-not-undead-pen-pal, :D

-Vampire Anon

Know musicals? Vampire Anon my beloved, I am a musical theatre bitch. Take a look at my high school graduation cap! (Anastasia is my favorite musical... something about the themes of home, love, and family, the idea of always finding a place in the world even after enduring incredible hardship, that anything is survivable with faith and love in your heart... I'm also a Romanov history bitch, and Christy Altomare is such an incredible talent and human being.) Literally, talk to me about musicals anytime!

And yeah, I definitely see your metaphor... the tragedy of The Barber and his Wife was how close they came to each other throughout the whole show, existing within reach the entire time, after being separated for so long. But it wasn't the same; it never could be. Time and trauma had changed them both into something unrecognizeable, and when they came face-to-face, they could only hurt each other. At a certain point, the ghosts of your past are meant to stay ghosts. Sure, you might want them back more than anything --- but what would it mean? What would you truly be getting back?

Luke's "back", of course, and he comes home to visit his parents multiple times... but they're not the same people he left. They're older, greyer, changed by grief... while he's just the same. A snapshot forever frozen in time, a memory crystalized in amber. You can't hold memories in your hands. You can't pull them close and refuse to let them go. Eventually, they'll slip away... and to Mitch and Emily, a memory is all their son is, now. That's what's so heartrending about the situation we see in the show, especially --- so much love still exists between all of them, but it has no place to go.

Okay, sorry, it's 3am here and I'm rambling too, haha --- mentioning musical theatre was a mistake.

I'm so glad my stories have been able to connect with you, especially 'shadows' --- that one resonated with a lot of people, more than I ever realized it would. It's not the most personal story to me... but definitely one that needed to be told, and the emotion in it... hits home for a lot of people. It means so much to me knowing that story, and Alex's internal struggle, has made people feel less alone.

I think I'm going to have a hard time looking back on that one, though. We were staying at my aunt's house for the weekend where I wrote most of it; I read a few excerpts to her, and she said she liked it. She was always interested in my writing... I kind of wish I'd gotten the chance to share more of it with her.

Like you said. Grief's a funny thing. Disorienting, relentless, and crushing.

Please just remember, though --- whatever you're dealing with, you're not alone. You don't have to cut yourself on those broken pieces... one day, you'll wake up, and realize you feel whole again. It will never feel the same, and the pain will always be there... but healing around it is what makes us stronger. You don't owe anyone your forgiveness; it's okay to grieve when you've lost something, regardless of whether death has taken them from you. Grief doesn't have to be earned, it simply has to be felt.

You'll be stronger for it, in the end. I'm sorry you've been hurting so much.

Anyways! Oh gosh! On to lighter, happier topics! Please tell me...

What are your favorite fics? (Like, my fics, obviously, which fics of mine do you just go gaga over? Please praise me or else my ego will shrivel like a worm on hot pavement.) No, okay, I'm kidding --- what are your top fics for this fandom? Like, what are the ones that really resonate with you, that you could read over and over? The JATP fandom has so many greats, but I'm always drawn back to Some Killer Queen You Are by pearlcaddy (buffyverse meets jatp!! iconic!!), Lantern's Light by thefairhero (literally the SOFTEST reggie), the sky's not empty tonight by firefall (just... devastating and beautiful in a dozen ways), and literally anything by foundfamilyvevo.

How long have you been in the JATP fandom? Who are your favorite characters? What's your favorite JATP song?

And finally, most importantly... what are your favorite musicals?

(also... since u asked... behold keith richards and tremble)

[hisakata-resutomoshibi]

Hey there. I'm a little-big fan of yours and your AUs/fics. You have an amazing writing and I wanted to ask you if you've ever hated it when you first started to write. Have you ever thought that it wasn't good enough? If yes, how did you get over that fear? I've been trying to write a fanfic for months but I keep writing, deleting and re-writing it because it seems to me that my writing is not good enough. Thank you and keep up the good work! 🤍

Hey there! First off, thanks so much for the lovely compliments! It's always so nice to hear that people enjoy my writing ♡

I've really thought about this and I guess my answer is that your writing is never going to be perfect. It will always improve and change as you grow and practice, just like any other artistic pursuit! Mine is quite a bit different from when I first started really writing (in 2010, yikes) and that's ok! If I'm being honest, most of the time when I look back on what I've written, even recently, I'm not completely happy with it and I always find things I would change or could have done better. It can be a little embarrassing but that's just part of getting better at something.

As for advice, I say just do your best and then post it! Writing, and fanfiction especially, is for enjoyment, yours and the fandoms; it doesn't have to be Nobel prize worthy and it most certainly doesn't need to be perfect. I promise that people will love it for the feelings and effort you put in, not your immaculate Vladimir Nabokov-like prose. So go for it!

Also, try finding a beta. They're so enthusiastic and helpful and a set of fresh eyes are great for spotting mistakes with spelling or plot. It can be hard but it's worth the effort to find someone who's passionate about your work and eager to help you with it!

Good luck, anon! You'll do great♡ And send me a link when you post it!

[ngame989]

I'm new to writing fanfic, and always work solo, so when I saw you have a whole team at your disposal, it blew my mind. I've got a list of questions about that: 1. How did you guys find each other and get started? 2. How does your work flow look for a story vs. a page/chapter of the comic? 3. How much do you love having an editor? 4. How does your work change from draft to final? 5. The quality of your prose is very consistent, is that just you as a writer, or is it your team keeping you good?

1. Seddm, EA, and Dino were all good friends of mine from the fandom from before or during Season 3 (I started watching the show between 2B and BFM). Toxic started watching the show sometime in late 2018 and messaged me on Tumblr for some sort of formatting help, or tips and tricks for getting posts more noticed in the fandom or something? I don’t remember and Tumblr DMs are awful to navigate, but we quickly bonded over what really matters most.

Lawchan had been a longtime follower of the show and fanfic author who inspired me to get into it back after 3A and we started talking and became friends at some point in the last year or so. BMC popped into my askbox when I opened it up to headcanon suggestions and ended up sending me over 100 in a span of 3 days that were all wonderful and creative so we started talking more. This really is a “team” in a loose sense, I just have a ton of awesome and creative and supportive friends willing to help out with this.

Oddly enough, this project started less than a day after (and was inspired by) Lake House Fever. I had already been thinking about getting back into fanfiction writing after S4 ended and we were pissed and salty and just needed good Starco thoughts so I hit him up and we started chatting and thought “huh wait a Star and Marco section of a family photo album would be a cool concept for some sort of series” and it evolved from there. We’d planned out a lot of the basics for the comic before the show ended and were waiting on the canon resolution before going any further, and Cleaved shook a lot up for what the postcanon status quo would be, so my whole aforementioned group all sat in a Discord channel on and off for literally 8+ hours the day after Cleaved and roundtable’d the entire backbone of the Earthni timeline for almost every major character (so if there’s people in the credits for TGG that haven’t shown up directly in any works yet, that’s where they contributed).

2.  Overall I’m the project lead and head writer so the majority of specific ideas, what should this page have or where is the story going, etc, come from me although anything we do gets signed off on by at LEAST me, Toxic, and Seddm first.  For comics, I usually plan the concept (Star goes here, these people are talking to each other, happy or sad, etc) and then let Toxic do his thing - he’s great already but is SUUUUUUUUPER amazingly wonderful at reading my mind and making visuals that represent my thoughts even better than the visuals in my head for them. He’ll do a rough page layout and sketch, we workshop that, then he does line-art, we look for any issues or revisions there, then he colors as I make the dialogue.  Usually takes a few days of back and forth.

Honestly my workflow for writing fics is absolute ass and you should not learn from us (ESPECIALLY me) if you’re getting into the game, hahahaha. Every day that I say I’m gonna write something, I usually end up dicking around at my computer until 1 AM and THEN decide to write a little bit and lose sleep over it. A lot of Glow was written between 2 and 6 AM on a Saturday night. I’m ridiculously nitpicky of my own work and half the time before I even finish typing a sentence I’m already erasing it because I decided it was dumb or did something wrong, which makes drafts take F O R E V E R, but the silver lining is that my first draft is already very polished by the time it’s done.

Overall, we play to our strengths - Seddm and I are general idea guys, “wouldn’t it be funny/cool if X” or “we should tell a story about Y” etc, and Toxic is especially wonderful at coming up with fantastic visual designs or gags or whatever else. So there’s plenty of times where I’ll give him the rough outline for a comic page and he’ll slip in some goofy background thing that makes it so much better, or I’ll give him a joke idea and it’ll work amazingly. I also like to call Seddm my “internal debate moderator”. When I’m struggling to figure out what to do for something, I’m often torn between a few ideas. Getting outside advice on it can obviously be really helpful, but there are times that it leaves me even more confused about what to do. But because my and Seddm’s understandings of the characters and senses of design and humor are so damn similar, he can basically serve as both a neutral voice and still part of my own thought process at the same time, which really helps me get my own personal ideas in order before running them by others.

3. Editors are great and wonderful and perfect and I love my friends to death for graciously helping week in and week out with this when I ping them with “hey guys shat this out, sun has been up for an hour so im gonna go fucking die now bye”. As stated earlier, perhaps my need for one isn’t AS high because I self-edit so compulsively as I go, but it’s soooooooo easy to get caught up in your own head and intentions and not spot obvious issues with your own writing that outside voices help a ton.

4. Whoops I guess I answered already. Very little.

5. Given that edits don’t change much about the structure of my writing, I guess it’s me - thanks! But my team is great about keeping me in line with my own vision in editing and hitting any lines that just seem out of place. There was one particular cut line in Glow that I won’t post here that was easily a full standard deviation of naughty greater than the rest of the fic’s tone (unintentional, it was very late -_-) and that got caught and shot down real quick lmfao.

[jawnkeets]

hello sorry to disturb you lovely person but i was wondering if you had some advices to have a better literary analysis, or a better culture well, i mean how can i improve my literary intelligence basically ? ( it may not be really clear but i hope you'll understand because i feel like i'm lost... )

hello anon! no need to be sorry, ur not disturbing me at all :+) feel free 2 send an ask at any time ✨✨✨

i’ll attempt to answer this by splitting ur ask into 2 parts. first i’ll try to give some tips on literary analysis, and then i’ll try to talk about the sort of wider awareness of lit (or the culture as you call it).

a little disclaimer: pls bear in mind that i am by no means qualified to speak about this in any way (i still very much consider myself a learner). i’ve generally been left alone throughout my education to do my own thing, which is a good thing in some respects and a bad thing in others; i don’t have the solid foundations that most ppl do, never following things like paragraph structures throughout lower school, and i didn’t know a thing about metre until the start of this month. however, because of my education i think i’ve managed to avoid a few conventional pitfalls. so, in short, you can take as much or as little of this advice as you like!

PART 1: literary analysis

• an excellent way to boost your analysis straight away, dull as it is, is to learn some literary devices beyond, say, alliteration and personification. being able to spot things like chiasmus and epiphora not only wows an examiner, but also enables you to talk about more things within a poem/ book/ play and thus broadens your literary scope in close reading.• remember that for each literary device you mention you should say what it REVEALS (DO NOT just list!!!). the best essays move from a literary device to an explanation of why this device is used - what does it reveal about a character, the speaker, or even the society that the poet or author was writing in?• rhythm and meter in a poem tick boxes in an exam, but can also lead to insightful analysis. how do the rhythm and meter add to the overall message of the poem? does, for example, the metre give a regularity to the poem? why might this be? is it broken at any point? how is this significant?• the above can be applied to rhyme scheme, too. look out for rhyming couplets at the end of a poem, which may give a sense of finality to the poem (or may seem to give a sense of finality when in actuality the speaker of the poem is far from decisive…).• it is important to remember that a particular rhyme scheme (or metre) doesn’t ALWAYS mean anything; it can mean different things in different poems, so instead of applying a ready-made formula, try to go into the exam knowing how to identify these aspects of a poem and then try to work out why you think the poet has used them in that particular poem. flexibility is key, which can be daunting but also somewhat liberating.• i personally find a ‘scribble method’ quite useful. this is where, when first approaching a piece of writing, you write down everything that comes into your head, regardless of how messy, or how basic. you then sort through your ideas, expanding upon what you think is worthwhile and discarding what you think is not. this method is generally more handy when not under time pressure, though, as it can get you into a muddle in the exam.• start simple and build up. it can be tempting to jump straight in but sometimes when you start simply new things can reveal themselves as you work your way up into more complex ideas! • perspective is extremely useful to consider. who is speaking and why? are they biased or objective? who are they speaking to and why?

unseen exam tips

• in an exam, i would approach a poetry or prose extract first by simply reading it, and trying to find out what it is about. then i would go through and highlight words/ phrases of interest, and label literary devices. finally, i would go through it again and build the main analysis. a brief paragraph plan can be useful before writing the essay.• acronyms can help sometimes as a go-to in an exam when you don’t have much time. for example, i use CFTTSOL - content (basic story, characters, who is speaking and why etc) form (poetry, prose, drama etc), tense (past/ present etc), tone (happy, sad, why? is the tone at odds with the subject matter? in emily dickinson’s ‘because i could not stop for death’, for example, the poem is about something dark but it is very jolly), structure/ syntax (rhyme, caesura, enjambment, any disrupted syntax, etc) other (anything not mentioned in the rest of the categories) and language (similes, metaphors, assonance, etc). i would recommend finding one that works for YOU and makes sense for YOU, because creating your own can really help to ease you into analysis.

PART 2: literary awareness

• read, read, read! i cannot stress the importance of wider reading enough, and also the importance of thinking whilst you read (making notes/ annotating books whilst you read is advisable). i am speaking from experience here - i didn’t read outside of the curriculum at all until the end of last year, and since i have started my literary analysis has increased tenfold. this is partly because practice is vital, but also because wider reading gave me an awareness that i could never have expected to gain. it enabled me to start making links between texts, genres, periods, etc – i began to see patterns and conventions in literature. for instance, a poem that breaks convention is easier to spot and talk about – to use a very basic example, a sonnet (usually a form of love poetry) about brutality/ violence toys with genre. if you had read some of shakespeare’s sonnets, you could then compare the violent poem with sonnet 18, to elucidate your point. this isn’t to say that you didn’t already know that sonnets were love poems, or that you wouldn’t have picked up on this without wider reading. but having read sonnets outside of class means that you can talk about this with greater clarity, authority and confidence.• i would also advise you to push yourself with the literary material you explore. it is difficult, but try to find nothing intimidating - read thick victorian novels, read modernist authors, read kant if you want, and even if the prospect of reading ‘harder’ texts doesn’t thrill you then try them anyway - you may be pleasantly surprised! part of the difficulty of studying this subject is that preconceived ideas can erect barriers and put you off. it is important to totally bulldoze these barriers and remind yourself that nothing is above you, and that you are capable. that’s not at all to say that you can’t read ‘simpler’ texts, and of course it is probably wise to admit to yourself when you perhaps need a greater literary background before you tackle a text (for example, i tried joyce’s ulysses, a modernist text full of allusion, when i have a barely working knowledge of greek mythology, and i admitted to myself that though it would not be impossible for me to read it, i would like to read more widely and then return to it in the future).• w i k i p e d i a. it’s often sniffed at but honestly don’t be afraid of using it! it’s an excellent way to absorb info fast. also don’t be ashamed of using websites like sparknotes if you don’t understand a poem to begin with! u shouldn’t rely on them for the crux of your analysis but they can be helpful to get started!• it’s perhaps obvious, but it helps to remind yourself that literature isn’t just fiction - try to read some critical essays if you can, and look at philosophy, history, psychology etc and how they relate to literature as studied in school. this is actually wayyyy more fun than it sounds (!) and will improve your general literary knowledge.• tumblr, whilst being a killer procrastination station, can also really help to broaden your knowledge. reblogged quotes from famous writers often stick around in your memory, and period moodboards can help you get a sense of different ages and help you to visualise what you’re studying. it’s also great to be in a community of passionate people - the passion of others on this site has definitely rubbed off on me!• make it relevant!! all of these texts and literary movements have shaped our society profoundly. as overdramatic as it sounds, look for the romanticism in a house party, or existentialism in internet memes, or hamlet in yourself. legacies are all around us, and seeing the world in this way can really bring literature to life.

literature is a subject where you get out what you put in. it’s relatively straightforward, if you work hard, to get very good grades in lit; if this is what you want, then having a solid knowledge of metre and literary terms, being able to spot them in texts, and then being able to describe what this reveals can get you top marks. but, in my opinion, to develop true literary intelligence you really have to let the subject permeate every aspect of your life. this is a subject where you really can take risks, be original and unique, and explore a huge amount of periods and ideas. if you see it reflected in the world around you, and think deeply and thoughtfully about everything you are reading, then the classwork honestly sorts itself out.

i hope this has been useful in some way and that it answers ur ask adequately!! if u have any further questions or require clarification please do not hesitate to let me know. i hope u have a wonderful day 💘

[news-mashable-yahoopartner-blog]

A beginner's guide to sexting as enthusiastic consent

Sexting gets a bad rep. But we shouldn't confuse the sins of an unsolicited dick pic with the gift of an enthusiastically consensual dick pic.

Getting horny with your partner over text isn't just great foreplay. For many it can also act as an ideal space for establishing enthusiastic consent, exploring each other's sexual fantasies, kinks, boundaries, and limitations.

In the age of #MeToo, we're finally talking about how to change our sexual culture to ensure everyone's having a great time during a sexual encounter. But often, dissenters frame consent like it's a contract you have to sign before touching each other. (Those people clearly haven't seen Fifty Shades of Grey, where the BDSM contract is hotter than the actual sex scenes.)

Far from a binding contract, enthusiastic consent is by definition exciting, sexy, flexible, and an act of discovery. But sometimes — especially in monogamous heteronormative relationships — it's hard to know what it looks like IRL, or how to avoid the awkwardness of having those conversations in the heat of the moment.

SEE ALSO: A survival guide to dick pics (both solicited and unsolicited)

"Sexting can be great for negotiation because you can talk about all of it without looking directly into their eyes. And for many people, that lessens the fear of rejection or feelings of shame," said psychologist, author, teacher, and sex coach Liz Powell.

Swiping right, but in a sexual way.

Image: vicky leta / mashable 

Aside from being a great avenue for enthusiastic consent, SMS thirstiness is already redefining the way we have sexual and intimate relationships. And studies have shown that it can be an essential part to a healthy relationship, including potentially increasing sexual satisfaction.

"Sexting is becoming normative," said Jeff R. Temple, a behavioral researcher from University of Texas who studies the impact of things like sexting. According to his findings, "over half of emerging adults report sexting, and with the ubiquity of smartphones, that number is only going to increase."

Whether or not we like it, sexting is here to stay. And like IRL sex, we need to start talking about ways to do it right, ensuring that we engage in this newer form of intimacy safely, consensually, and positively. Which is to say: Let's make sure sexting stays sexy, not creepy.

So here's your guide to having a healthy sexting relationship with your partner(s), as a form of sexual communication that's still hot and heavy, but also chill and on your own time.

1. Establish rules of engagement

First to state the obvious: Absolutely never assume someone wants a sext from you, even if you've had sex before. And even if you've talked about sexting before, you need to lay down some ground rules for how you each like to sext. And this guide assumes the reader is of age, since there's all sorts of legal and safety issues that come into play if you're a minor.

Before diving head first into a full on sexting relationship, have an explicit and straightforward conversation.

"A lot of the time we wander into the first time we sext our partners .... One of you says, something like, 'Oh I'm thinking about you' or, 'Remember how hot that kiss we had was?'" said Powell. "I suggest checking back in after that first time and saying, 'What was great for you about that? What are things I can do more, or less next time?' But also practical things like, "Hey in the future do we need to get explicit consent before? Can I send you sexts any time? Do you want pics?'" 

For example, some people like a surprise sext while others feel it's a total violation. Being considerate is the most important part of this early negotiation process. 

"At the beginning, start by initiating late at night or at a time when you know the other person has some privacy," Vanessa Marin, a psychotherapist who specializes in sex therapy, said.

If you're worried about being caught while your screen sharing during a meeting, make sure you both turn off "Preview Messages" mode on your phone setting. 

No one wants to see their partner's genitals at the dinner table.

Image: vicky leta / mashable art team

Or try designating Snapchat or another app like Signal as your sexting platform, keeping things separate and so you know what the fuck is up without needing to open anything. It's important to note that Snapchat does not guarantee your privacy, since pictures you send are stored by the company and are also vulnerable to workarounds so users can save your pictures. Signal has end-to-end encryption and disappearing messages, but someone can always take a screenshot or picture of your sext using another camera. 

Both Powell and Marin suggest pacing yourself at the start of any sexting relationship, regardless of how long you've been together or how far you've gone sexually IRL.

"You don't want to get carried away because it's easy to put the other person in an uncomfortable situation before you know how they like it," said Marin.

That's not to mention that ramping things up slowly is a totally great tease. If you go too fast, like jumping from super explicit texts right into nudes, you don't leave enough room for anticipation.

Give each other time to develop a natural sexting cadence. This is about enjoying the (at times agonizingly teasing) journey, rather than racing to the finish line.

2. Initiate by first calling back to a moment of real-life intimacy

There's one pretty sure-fire way to test the waters with a potential sexting partner.

"If you and your partner have already been intimate in real life, ease in by talking about what a great time you had or why you can't stop thinking about it," said Marin. "You're introducing the topic without being too explicit. It gives your partner the opportunity to respond in a way where you can gauge whether they want to go into more detail or not."

Also, Marin pointed out, "because you're referencing something you already know the person was into, there's a higher chance they won't be uncomfortable by reliving it through sexting."

3. Learn more about your own sexuality, body, and desires first

Maybe all this still sounds too fast for you, especially if you've never sexted before. That's why an essential part to developing your sexting skills is understanding your own sexuality on a solo basis.

Checking in with yourself is in important step.

Image: Vicky Leta / Mashable

In Powell's experience, that's especially the case for people who were socialized as women, or who are trans, queer, or non-binary.

"Cis-gendered men get a lot of encouragement to explore their own bodies, sexualities, a variety of different types of porn," she said. Even then, though, they're still taught to not explore the less traditionally masculine forms of pleasure, like anal or pegging.

"But people who are socialized as women don't get any of those lessons. We are the sexual objects, not the sexual subjects ... You're given the message that your partner will explore sex for you, so you don't need to take the time to explore your own pleasure," she said.

"For people who are trans or nonbinary or when you're in a body that doesn't always necessarily match your understanding of your own gender, it can be really complicated to know what embodied pleasure looks like for you."

That's why both Powell and Marin believe that everyone — regardless of gender — can up their sexting game by venturing into new forms of self love before bringing a partner into the mix.

"Finding ways to tap into what turns you on when you're alone is essential to connecting with other people," said Powell.

4. Develop your own sexual vocabulary (together)

The most common fears Powell and Marin hear about sexting is how people don't know what to say. They both have handouts for clients with common phrases, words, verbs, and strategies.

"We don't have a lot of rich sexual language modeled for us in our culture. So having a bank of words that you can pull from so that it's more like mad libs and less like creative prose can be a lot easier, especially if you're starting out," said Powell.

But ideally, you'd find your own sexting voice. Which is where those lessons in self-exploration come in. Read erotica to see what resonates with you and put those sentiments into your own words to develop your own "cheat sheet," Powell said. You may want to start with Literotica, a free online anthology of textual porn, Marin suggested. Or if you want to peruse more curated and better-written examples, Refinery29 does a weekly erotica roundup.

"Practice your own erotic writing without sending it to your partner so you can figure out what turns you on, what doesn't," Marin added.

This practice goes hand-in-hand with the next step, which is creating a sexicon (a lexicon of your own vocabulary, phrases, nicknames, situations, etc.) with your partner. Talk about what kind of nicknames they like (if any) and how you both like to refer to your body parts.

You also need to make peace with the idea that not everything will click. You might say some awkward things that won't land. That's all a normal part of sex, and can be a fun bonding experience for figuring out your sexy repertoire.

"Sexting and dirty talk is the most awkward when we're in a really anxious mental space or trying to phrase it perfectly. We become disconnected from the actual sexual experience we're trying to communicate," said Powell.

5. Practicing on your own makes perfect

But what about pictures and videos? That's a whole other frontier that you can also ease into without your partner at first.

"Taking pictures of yourself can feel really empowering," said Marin. Getting to know what angles work best for you, what assets you want to emphasize, or how much you're comfortable showing takes practice. And it's all about enjoying and discovering what you love about your body.

"So feel free to do that whether or not you plan on sending it to someone else."

The group chat gets it

Image: vicky leta / mashable

Powell suggests you take a whole bunch of pictures too since, "You're gonna hate three-quarters of the ones you take at first .... Learn to be OK with a bunch of terrible pictures of yourself too." 

Practice is not only part of the process, but can also be part of the fun. Powell has even seen a recent trend of friends getting involved in helping to up each other's nude game.

"Set up a supportive sexy selfies group with your friends to talk about how hot each of you is, how you love that angle, or that color on them. Whatever it is, find ways to build each other up," she said. "It's a great way to get started that's low pressure."

6. Let's get personal

Bringing it back to your partner, sexting gets really hot when you personally tailor it to that specific lover.

"So many of us have an idea of what sexy is supposed to look like and how we're supposed to behave to be sexy. But it's way more about your own unique, individual personality," said Marin.

Who you are is a huge part of what makes your partner want you. So play into that, not only through the sexual vocabulary you develop with each other but also in your pictures, videos, or even voice memos.

Don't try to emulate glossy pin up shots from the early days of adult magazines because, honestly, that's not what our culture even finds sexy anymore. When Playboy relaunched its first non-nude magazine issue in 2016, there's a reason why the cover invoked the casual sext aesthetic of Snapchat. Your partner wants to see you as you are, not as an impossible ideal.

"If you're someone who's kind of dorky, for example, that's also going to be sexy as long as you embrace it and embody it," said Powell.

Aside from bringing your own personality, it's incredibly sexy to tailor your sexts to the specific person your texting.

"Make it super personal to every lover. What are the aspects of their particular body that you love? Is there a specific birth mark, or dimple, or way that they laugh? What are the things that are really unique about that person?" said Powell.

In the case of a sexy Snapchat, don't forget that you can combine visuals and text. And there is something indescribably hot about a nude alongside a message naming your partner and what you want them to do with it. Marin suggested sending videos or pictures where you're even wearing an outfit or piece of underwear you know the other person likes.

#Throwback the first non Nude Playboy Model 👼 @Playboy #thanks #proud pic.twitter.com/cZ043HkvRC

— Sarah McDaniel ( Krotchy ) (@SarahMcDaniel_) August 5, 2016

People love to be seen, and sexting can be a great way of helping someone else see their own sexiness through your eyes.

"In particular it's great to highlight aspects of that person that you love that they may feel uncomfortable about," Powell said, pointing to common insecurities like belly fat, stretch marks, or scars. Describing how their perceived flaws are sexy to you will make anyone get hot and bothered. 

7. Negotiating boundaries can be hot as hell

So far we've been assuming that you and your sexting partner are on the same page. But that's definitely not always the case. But far from being a problem, those instances can become opportunities to get to know each other's sexuality better.

This is especially true when you're using sexting to explore new territory, like kinks or desires you haven't tried before — even when it's something the other partner doesn't initially find appealing.

"When someone brings up something you think isn't your thing, the first question that can be useful to ask is, 'Tell me what's hot about that for you,'" said Powell. 

That question should open up an honest, judgement-free dialogue for you both about the larger source, sensation, or sexual fantasy that the kink or sexual act represents. Because, "the specific act is never the full story behind what they're actually into. Figuring out what's driving that desire helps you renegotiate."

You might even find that, after hearing your partner describe what's hot to them about it, their sheer excitement or desire stirs some of your own. But if you're still not into doing that specific act or kink, you can find other acts you are comfortable that fulfill their larger desire.

"It's about treating it like a collaborative activity. Think about it like improv, where it's always 'Yes, and.' That doesn't mean you always have to say yes to things, but the idea should be understanding where that person is coming from, and meeting them where you can," said Powell.

But, Powell clarified: "Being able to give your lover an empowered 'no' in a way that doesn't make them feel rejected is a super essential skill."

And having that negotiation conversation, even if it goes nowhere, allows you both to exercise that skill.

What's important for both parties, Marin said, is to remember, "You're allowed to have your own boundaries, you're allowed to have your own reactions, and share that feedback with your partner."

8. Safety, trust, and privacy are part of what makes sexting sexy

Even though sexting has become a ubiquitous and often positive experience for many, there's no denying the inherent risk.

Marin, Powell, and Temple emphasized that unfortunately, there is absolutely no way to ensure your sexts won't be made public or used in ways you didn't consent to. But there are helpful ways to frame that problem.

You can't guarantee a consensual sext will remain consensual.

Image: vicky leta / mashable 

"Because it's the internet and because it's the age that we live in, don't ever send pics or videos that you would not be OK with ending up on the internet," said Powell.

That's not because it will or you can't trust anyone. It's more about considering whether or not that potential outcome would ruin your particular career, like for people who work with kids, for example.

"If you're going to be sexting someone, just ask yourself, 'What is the worst that can happen here,' and set your engagement based on your risk profile. How much risk are you willing to assume?"

Some people avoid this in pictures by never showing their faces in a nude, making it harder to prove it's you. But again, that's still fallible. As mentioned, no app guarantees privacy. We wrote previously about some apps that can help protect your nudes, and would also recommend turning off automatic cloud back up.

But also, taking the leap of faith with your partner adds to what can make sexting feel special. It's something you do with a person you trust, and trust is sexy.

"Sending a naked picture of yourself is scary and makes you vulnerable to the receiver," said Temple, the behavioral researcher. "You’re trusting the other person to not violate that trust."

9. Watch out for these bad, or even abusive behaviors

Sexting can be a huge rush of excitement, and it's easy to get caught up and do something thoughtless. Everyone makes mistakes, especially if they haven't had a lot of experience.

But there are a few behavioral patterns you can remain vigilant of, either to avoid doing any of them yourself or to not let them unwittingly happen to you.

Marin and Powell raised the issue of an uneven conversation, where one partner is always initiating and volunteering all the ideas during a sexting session. This can not only breed resentment on the part of the initiator, but also is an indication that the receiver might be uncomfortable. 

"Text is harder because you can't see the other person's facial expression, hear their tone, or read their body language. You don't get any of that information," said Marin. "If the person is not responding or fully engaged and you keep insisting, then something is wrong."

Even if that person seems to be agreeing to your advances, not supplying their own sexting fodder should make you immediately stop and check in.

In his research, Temple found that the most common forms of straight up abusive sexting behavior includes sending explicit visuals and texts without asking first, or any form of pressure when sexts are sent — even with phrases they might've intended as an innocent tease like, "Now it's your turn."

Of course, forwarding or showing others an explicit picture you receive without the senders permission is absolutely unacceptable. And people should also be aware of sextortion, where a partner demands more pictures by using the previous ones as blackmail.

To avoid any inadvertent pressuring, Powell advocates for going a step above even the "Golden Rule." It isn't just doing unto others as you would have done unto you. With sexting, "it's about the platinum rule, which is to do unto others as they would have you do unto them."

10. Remember that digital consent and IRL consent still differ

This goes hand in hand with the idea that consenting to stuff during sexting absolutely does not translate to consenting to do it in real life. Part of the fun is creating a fantasy together, and people often don't want to have what they fantasize about to happen to them IRL. 

"Sexting can sometimes trigger unwanted advances from the receiver. A sext might indicate that the person is ready to take it to the next level, but we shouldn't ever assume," said Temple. "Even if they sent you 500 pictures of their naked body they still might not want to have anything physical with you. The same courtship and consent rules still apply."

Any form of IRL sexual exploration still requires an explicit, verbal, enthusiastic "yes" in order for consent to be established.

But sexting makes getting to a point where you're both ready to give each other that enthusiastic "yes" a whole lot less intimating.

WATCH: After CES rejected a female sex tech company the CEO calls for change

[not-poignant]

Can I ask for 8 (again - though I also really love the section you chose!), 15, 21, 27, and 40(again)? Sorry if it's too many, you can just pick a couple instead of you need to! (I'm just endlessly curious!)

I’m skipping the dialogue one (Q8) (though I have answered it) not because I don’t want to but because this post just got really really really long and I’m already embarrassed. e.e

Have answered 15 here!

21. How many times do you usually revise your fic/chapter before posting?

It really depends on what it is.

Random fic oneshot? Probably not that many times. Once?

Something in the Fae Tales verse? That usually goes through more rigorous editing. Sometimes around 2-5 pass-throughs from me, depending on how smooth I think the chapter was. (I have been told by a head editor of a publishing company that I write very ‘clean’). But I have a habit of writing clunky or clumsy sentences, and sometimes editing pass-throughs are less about typos and more about sort of smoothing out the reading experience so it’s more pleasurable and less ‘well that was a weird fucking sentence.’

Fanfiction really depends on my mood. Sometimes I’m super thorough, and sometimes I don’t care that the word ‘enough’ has been used three times in the same paragraph. I also don’t care about passive tense as much as some people, because I really like passive tense. I’ll still always edit though. I’ve never written something and put it up straight away.

Original novels get edited per chapter, and then get about three really thorough edits from me at the end. That will be a grammar/typo/sentence structure edit, a continuity/substantive edit (including adding/subtracting scenes) and the a final formatting/copy edit.

Just about everything I write goes to a beta, and original novels/short stories go to a couple of betas and then an editor. After the final editor pass-over, I make those changes, send it back to the editor, and after that I proof-read, which is my least favourite part and I have been lazy enough on this before that a typo I missed and the editor missed made it through to print, so…eep.

Read mores hide my shame at how long this response is (and you don’t have to see how much I hate AO3 story collaborations as a rule):

27. How do you feel about collaborations? 

In terms of more than one person working on the same story: I don’t like them. I’m a very control-hungry author and I enjoy worldbuilding and character building from the ground up, and even the fic authors I love the most I’ve never ever thought ‘I should do some kind of collaboration with them.’ I don’t want to pollute their style with my own, I love what they do because of what they do, so collaborations really aren’t my thing. I don’t write to ‘socialise’ or to have a really close bond with someone, which isn’t to say that I don’t make friends through writing, or that I don’t have writer friends, but specifically, I don’t want to write in a social way. I’m too introverted, too reclusive, and honestly, too controlling over the stories I want to write. I suspect I’d be an asshole to collaborate with.

It’s no coincidence that I was always that person at university who ended up doing everyone’s work in the ‘group work’ assignments, and eventually preferred it that way.

I do roleplay with a friend though. I’m not open for roleplaying with anyone else, but we’ve easily gotten down over a million words over the past few years. I have tentatively thought about adapting that into an original story, or stories? So that would then count as collaboration? But that’s a lot of work, and honestly I just enjoy that as something that only the two of us currently get to look at.

I’m also really wary of reading AO3 collaborations with two or more authors. Generally speaking, it usually means the story has been roleplayed beforehand, and you either get two perspectives in the same chapter with no breaks between those (which I personally hate, it’s cool if that’s your thing), clumsy transitions between voice, a lack of consistency in style of prose, or get clunky transitions on theme. There’s always exceptions to the rule and I’ve bookmarked a few collaborations, but about 8 out of 10 ‘multi author’ stories I read on AO3 really show (at least on my end, as a reader) the cons of writing with a partner or friends, than they show the pros. :/ I imagine the pros for the author/s though, is that they actually got a story written that might not have been written otherwise.

Even Glen and I have talked about collaborating, and we eventually decided against it, and we live together, and share everything together, lol. And he’s a writer! A very very good one!!

Exceptions to this are: I have and will collaborate in a writer’s room for scriptwriting. Idk why, it just feels different. And I would absolutely collaborate with an artist on a graphic novel. In fact I would love to do that. Also I have illustrated tarot cards for other writers in the past. And have done art collaborations such as the Red Circle series where I painted the sculptures, and Le Animale made the sculptures, and then I did accompanying art and totem meanings. So I guess I’m just also quite fussy about writing quality, and I know how collaborations often fuck the shit out of that in a bad way.

(I have participated in a fic round robin once though but hush let’s never talk about that, it wasn’t a terrible experience I just didn’t really enjoy it either).

40. Write an alternative ending to [insert fic title] (or just the summary of one).

Okay.

Okay like imagine like, imagine Snowball Earth.

Like we’re in the next ice age.

And imagine all the humans are gone right? They’re just…gone. Maybe there’s like a few pockets left here and there, but otherwise gone.

And now imagine Pitch and Jack and the rest of the Guardians standing on this icy white plain looking out into this vista of endless cold and then Bunnymund just exclaims:

‘Fucking great, Jack, now you’ve gone and done it, haven’t you?’

And then he pops into a tiny little bunny, because there aren’t really many people left to worship any of them anymore.

And Pitch places his hand around Jack’s shoulders and says quietly, with a smile:

‘I’m so proud of you.’

*

From this meme.

[fountainpenguin]

Have you ever found poems that speak to you and seen perfect for your favourite shows? Do you ever read a poem and think it really fits a character, either yours or Butch Hartman's? I have, plenty of times - "The Stolen Child" makes me think of Cosmo and Wanda adopting Timmy, "The Erl-King" makes me think of Vlad trying to take Danny away from Jack, and "The Phantom-Wooer" makes me think of Danny seducing Paulina. But I wonder if others do this or if I'm just weird.

I… hate poetry.

I just.

Uggggghghghghghghghg poetry makes me cry.

Like, it’s FINE, and I’ve written plenty of poems myself, and songs are okay, but just…… dfgjdligjidlkgjdjsldf I don’t wanna think about poems nope nope.

Tfw you take creative writing classes but they only give you writing prompts and deadlines and don’t tell you anything about grammar or structure or finding an agent or self-publishing or ANYTHING, you just write poems all the time, and the class is peer-graded and your peers give you an F at the end of the quarter because they “couldn’t understand the characters’ accents”, so you have to go in and talk to your teacher about why she accepted this as your actual grade without bothering to check when she KNOWS you can do better than that. Fortunately she DID change my grade. Jerks.

Shel Silverstein is my only poet, and if a certain Follower of mine makes a wisecrack about his death then I’m done with everything.

Really, it just boils down to people’s tastes. Some people pick songs to match different characters. Some might pick written poems. There’s certainly nothing wrong with that. It’s just not a thing I myself do. “Ozymandias” is a good poem, which I’m probably biased towards because of “Children of the Lamp”. But I like Silverstein, and Jack Prelutsky, and don’t really care for anyone else.

For anyone curious, I’ve included the prose piece (from 2014) they graded me an F on here, because I’m still MAJORLY salty about this. Fun Fact: some elements of Jake were eventually recycled into Anti-Sanderson.

Be They Mouse or Squirrel or Chipmunk:

Baylor hissed whenhe saw the wall. He gave a yank on Prince’s reins, and the iguana lumbered to ahalt and sat down.

“Curse thesecloudy skies: We’ve been going in circles.”

A second mouserode to join Baylor on the sand dune, his mouth set in a hard thin line. Hebobbed his head several times as he counted each hut in the human villagebelow.

“’S definitely thesame one we left this morning,” he reported to Baylor, and then for goodmeasure added, “We’s gotten lost.”

Again, Baylor gavea hiss through his teeth. He removed his hat and used it to fan his face whilehe scoured the sky. The sunset painted the sand in a bloody red circle and casta soft glow on the surrounding clouds. Through the wisps of petal pink, Baylorcould only make out a single star in the sky.

 The mouse replaced his hat and turned in hissaddle to look at the half dozen in his shabby party. He didn’t see Jake andfor a split second wondered if the chipmunk had made a dash for it across thedesert without the rest of them noticing. But then a big black and white mousemoved her iguana forward, revealing Jake stumbling along behind. His wrists werestill bound, but the ropes were notched and fraying, and wet with saliva.

“The owls will beout soon,” Baylor called, flicking his tail to the left. “We’ll make campbehind that north hill. Simon, I want you and Weston to gather tumbleweed forfire. No,” he corrected himself, frowning at the brown scales on Prince’s back.Baylor shook his head. “We’re much too close to the humans for that. We’ll gowithout tonight.”

The othersgrumbled, but Harold, who was still perched on his steed on Baylor’s right, soonput an end to that. He rode his iguana forward and set about scolding theoffenders.

Baylor turned tolook again at the sunset. It was fading fast, and already the cold night windshad begun to stir. Grit blew into his fur and stung his eyes. From somewhere inthe distance came the howl of a coyote.

“Oh Rita,” hemurmured, “What are we going to do?”

Smoke rose fromthe huts below. A mother called out to her dark-skinned children who had beenplaying in the dusty road. Even from up on hill, Baylor could smell the stew,still hot.

Over the next dunehe dismounted and tied Prince to a cactus beside the other steeds. Jake sat afew paces away working at his wrists, stopping only when Simon yanked hard onhis ear. Baylor had him moved across the camp, as far as possible from theiguanas. Bound wrists or not, the last thing they needed was for the chipmunkto set them all free during the night. Or worse, make a getaway on themhimself.

They had no fire,but when the moon rose in the sky it was round and bright, and they had a nicemeal of tortillas and beans. The food was cold, but Baylor refused and pleas byWeston to warm them with fire.

“We’re too closeto the human settlement. We lost a lot of time today going in circles. Tomorrowthe sky will be clearer, and we’ll be able to follow the sun.”

The black and whitemouse - Baylor realized he still didn’t know her name - grumbled something, andElliot joined in, but Henry shushed them both with a hiss. Baylor couldn’tblame them for their complaints. They were three days behind schedule as itwas.

Henry offered totake first watch, but Baylor refused. As the others began to settle down, hejoined Jake in the far corner of the camp. Obviously the prisoner had nointention of sleeping either. He had given up on untying his wrists, or so itseemed, but he leaned against a dark red boulder with one leg crossed over theother and his bound forepaws tucked behind his head.

“Can’t sleep?”Baylor asked him. He’d taken care to step quietly and the wind was blowingtowards him, but Jake didn’t twitch when the mouse’s voice suddenly broke thequiet.

“No sir, not awink, sir.”

Baylor noddedslowly. He took a sip from his canteen without looking away. Jake’s casual grinstarted to slip. His nose twitched and one eye darted over and then away.

“Thirsty?”

“Yes sir, butseein’ as I plan to be long gone in the morning I’d advise ya not to waste anya’ tha’ precious water on li’l ol’ me.”  

Baylor wrinkledhis nose. “I see two long days of walking hasn’t cured you of your sharptongue.”

The chipmunk ducked his head, but Baylor couldsee him grinning. “Beggin’ your pardon, sir, but it takes a bi’ more’n sorefeet an’ a few cloudy days to cure ol’ Jake of his only skill worth ‘aving.”

“So I see.” Baylor folded his arms and put onefoot up against the rock. Together he and Jake gazed into the sky. The cloudshad shifted over the past two hours, and more and more stars were blinking intoexistence with every heartbeat. Jake raised his bound forepaws.

“Right there,” he said, “tha’s Terrin thefarmer. He’s got his hoe wit’ him, see? Legends say tha’ when he was defendin’his family he used it a’ take out thirty-five trained soldiers ‘fore one of ‘emfinally got close enough ta send him to the stars. Backstabbin’ rat got ‘imright in th’ back, he did.”

Baylor squinted his eyes. He could make out theconstellation only vaguely, but Jake plowed onward before he had the chance tosay anything.

“An’ over that way, just above that big sanddune, tha’s the river brot’er, Shrio. He’s the one tha’ near flooded my villagewit’ one of his temper tantrums. Oh, he ain’t all bad, though: He brings th’rains down from the moun’ains too.”

“Oh, does he?”

Jake nodded enthusiastically. He gnawed on hisropes for a second or two, then gestured to a third constellation with hisnose.

“She’s my favorite,tha’ one.” His tone turned reverent. “Mother of all the stars, Rita.”

“You chipmunksbelieve in Mother Rita?” Baylor’s ears pricked forward. His foot slid acrossthe red rock and thumped awkwardly in the sand. Jake turned to stare at him,brow wrinkled and whiskers twitching.

“An’ wha’ssamatter wit’ it? You believe in her too, sir. The whole lot a’ you do. I’veheard ya talkin’.”

“Of course we do,”fumbled Baylor, furious that he felt the need to explain himself to a prisoner,“but that’s different. She’s a kangaroo rat. Key word, rat. She’s one of ours.”

Jake cocked his head. “E’ery one of us rodentsbelieves in Mother Rita, be ‘em mouse or squirrel or chipmunk. You peoplewho’re always goin’ an’ raidin’ peaceful farmin’ towns like mine ought a’ know that more’n anyone.”

Baylor refused to rise to the bait. Instead hetook a great gulp of water from his canteen and scrubbed a defiant paw acrosshis face when he was done.

“I don’t believe you. If Mother Rita were yourgoddess too then she wouldn’t pick favorites between you and me and all therest. She’d send her blessings to her own kind, and that’s what she’s done.That’s us.”

Jake flicked his eyes up and down. His whiskerswere trembling more than ever now, and his beady black eyes had squinted intoslits. With some effort he licked a paw, drew it back over his ear, and thenflopped against the rock with his back to Baylor.

“Beggin’ your pardon, sir, but a mouse ain’t arat either.”

The chipmunk was gone by morning light, alongwith a roll of tortillas, a packet of matches, and Baylor’s favorite hat.

(One of the critiques I got on this piece is that my peers couldn’t tell Jake was a prisoner until they read “the prisoner”. Actually, they thought Baylor sat by Jake AND a prisoner. What is wrong with these people?)