#if i make a whole month (or 2) of no harry potter fan fiction then ill take it down

[sunnydaleherald]

The Sunnydale Herald Newsletter, Sunday, December 11

Buffy: What are you doing here? Willow: What are you doing here? Buffy: Well, I'm patrolling! Willow: Buffy, you're sick. Buffy: No, I feel fine. I mean, I'm... the world's spinning a little bit, but I like it, it's kinda like a ride. Cordelia: Half the school's out with this flu. It's a serious deal, Buffy. We're all concerned about how gross you look. Buffy: I'm touched. Really. But I have work to do. Willow: Buffy, come on, one night of rest is not gonna kill you. Buffy: No, but it might kill somebody else.

~~Killed by Death~~

The Sunnydale Herald is looking for at least one new editor. Contributing to the Herald is a great way to get your Buffy on! Find out more here.

[Drabbles & Short Fiction]

Proč by měla? (Czech langauge, NR) by Twinny

A Friendly Visit (Willow/Tara, G) by Bl4ckHunter

The Powers Convene (Faith, G) by dwtlc

Fringe (Buffy/Faith, E) by watcherless

You Make It Feel Like Christmas (Buffy/Spike, PG-13) by mcgnagallsarmy

All I Want For Christmas (Buffy/Spike, G) by PaganRose

Lovers Wish (Buffy/Spike, R) by honeygirl51885

And You Don't Even Need to Wrap It. (Buffy/Spike, PG-13) by Slaymesoftly

Ties to the World (Buffy/Spike, NC-17) by honeygirl51885

Christmas Through the Seasons (Buffy/Spike, PG) by Slaymesoftly

[Chaptered Fiction]

Faith Joan Winchester, Chapter 2 (Crossover with Supernatural, M) by dwtlc

50 Years Later, Chapter 2 (Crossover with Twilight, M) by dwtlc

Hell Is Just the Beginning, Chapter 6 (Crossover with Twilight, T) by dwtlc

Perchance to Dream a Memory, Chapter 2 (Crossover with Harry Potter, T) by dwtlc

Sleigh Fest 06, Chapter 1 (Buffy/Faith, T) by QuillBard

Untitled Alt Universe Spuffy Fic, Chapter 2 (Buffy/Spike, E) by isthisdystopia88

First Six Months of Love, Chapter 5 (Giles/Jenny, G) by calendiles

He Slays Monsters, Chapter 1 (Buffy/Faith, E) by BeatriceEveryTuesday

Keeping Up With the Scoobies, Chapter 18 (Buffy/Spike, T) by Takara Phoenix

Seph, Chapter 7 (Buffy/Spike, R) by sweetprincipale

Damage Case, Chapter 24 (Buffy/Spike, NC-17) by Axell

It's Easy Time, Until It's Not, Chapter 9 (Buffy/Spike, AO) by hulettwyo

She came back wrong, Chapter 3 (Buffy/Spike, PG-13) by Desicat

Shaping Trust, Chapter 2 (Buffy/Spike, PG) by Desicat

Hold My Hand Even Though I'm a Sinner!, Chapter 8 (Buffy/Spike, NC-17) by CheekyKitten

Not Back to the Future Rules, Chapter 7 (Buffy/Spike, NC-17) by Lady Emma

Buffy Gets Shanshu-ed, Chapter 1 (Buffy/Spike, PG-13) by Desicat

The Squib, Chapter 3 (Crossover with Harry Potter, FR7) by Sharie

Echoes of Beljoxa, Chapter 21 (Spike/Buffy, 18+) by myrabeth

[Images, Audio & Video]

Fanvid: D̶a̶r̶k̶ Willow - Such Small Hands (A fanvideo exploring Willow downward spiral, and then healing following Tara's death) by sapphic-sunshine

Artwork:[season 1 poster] by Intelligeou

Fanvid: Spike - My Favourite Game by Double_Dutchess

Artwork:Buffy x Clary (Small package, whole lotta punch!) by lariablog

Meme: Buffy the Vampire Slayer as tumblr text posts 23/? by layer-of-slayers

Gifset:Buffy the Vampire Slayer | 6x03 - “After Life” by slayerdaily

Gifset:Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1997-2003) by bangelgifs

Gifset:As daft a notion as “Soulful Spike the Killer” is... by spikedaily

Video: [Longplay] - Buffy The Vampire Slayer - Game Boy Color by phoenix1291

Video: Buffy The Vampire Slayer Metal Cover 2022 by ProductionRJAllmusicsoundyoutube

Video: Lego Buffy - You Are The Chosen One - Blender Animation by Trevor Carlee

Video: Faith Lehane - High Infidelity (BtVS) by ERS Fan Videos

Video:Oh no - Buffy Summers by Luna05

Video:Angel, Wesley, & Cordelia - See You Again by SlayerVid

Video:We were lied to [Chaos Bleeds Let's Play] by Game Grumps

[Reviews & Recaps]

Slayer Sunday-Fear Itself by Jane Talks Reel

BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER S3 EP14 (REACTION) - PREPARATION PREPARATION PREPARATION by CLC Reacts

Buffy The Vampire Slayer REACTION | Season 3, Episode 16: Doppelgangland by JayPeaKay

Buffy the Vampire Slayer Talk || s5e19 "Tough Love" by alley box.

GILESSSSS - Buffy the Vampire Slayer Reaction - 6x04 - Flooded by ThatLexiCrowd

[Fandom Discussions]

[thoughts on 7x01] by wikiangela

[types of love] by gh-0-stcup

[gender in Life Serial] by summrsbuffy

[btvs headcanons] by enbiosaur and patchouli-dreams-forever

[Ethan Rayne in Band Candy] by neurodivergentdisaster

[Jenny Calendar ask] by we-pay-for-everything

BB's Top 50 Most Memorable Scenes in The Buffyverse - Redux (Week 11) by multiple authors

I've Got A Theory: The third prequel book'll be about Giles by JamesTheIceQueen

Top 10 episodes? by multiple authors

How did The Beast die exactly and was there a point to killing Lilah? by multiple authors

Jasmine's earth form by multiple authors

Seeing Connor and Kate differently on rewatches by multiple authors

Let’s be fair-s4/s5/s7 slight spoilers by multiple authors

Is this a plot hole? by multiple authors

Scenes you wished you'd seen? (See what I did there?) by multiple authors

Do you think Willow genuinely believed they saved Buffy from a hell dimension? by multiple authors

POLL: You either hate or love the musical episode which one are you by multiple authors

Just finished watching BtVS/AtS and have a few important questions by multiple authors

[Articles, Interviews, and Other News]

PUBLICATION: Blake Harrison: ‘Buffy is the best show ever made’ via The Times

Submit a link to be included in the newsletter!

[prettyboythings-blog]

I know some people have no harry Potter fans dni and I completely understand!

I just want to explain why you can say I'm a fan even though the author is bad

I seperate the art and the artist. But not only that but I already own her movies (because I already had them when I was way younger) and some books. So when i consume her media I'm not giving her money.

I haven't bought or watched any of Jkr works. So any merch I do get it would be because of family/friends.

I'm only connected to harry Potter from fan fiction. Which most definitely don't give her money and definitely go against her.

So yes I'm a harry Potter fan. But only because of life. I'm trying to get out of the fandom but it's hard because it was the only that brings me comfort as a kid.

So for now I'm going to continue saying I'm a harry Potter fan until I'm completely out.

Because I don't want to feel like I'm lying if I go back to it.

Right now my main interest is Spider Man and I truly hope that sticks.

(Haha.. An accidental pun)

Also I know Disney is also bad. But one thing at a time.

There's only so much I can consume and like (hinting at fan fiction) from the fandom. And I hope it would be enough to get me out of harry Potter fandom.

Then I can find a better interest that's not harmful.

(Spiderman will always be my favorite superhero tho)

I'm also really getting into video games, specifically Stanley Parable.

And I'm deeply getting into Stranger Things.

Hopefully I can get out of the harry Potter fandom soon.

[jamespotterthefirst]

Lovely Bree, how are you doing? Firstly thank you so much for the amazing questions that you sent me for E & P. I loved answering them❤ Sending you a few questions about Ethan and Lilac which you have to answer as them💕

For Both:

1. Imagine you both are rival Detectives assigned to a common case. Who will be the one to solve it first? Or will you both join hands and solve it together?

2. What is the funniest thing your partner has done when they were drunk?

3. Favourite ice cream flavor of your partner?

4. What is a funny habit of your partner that you secretly like?

5. Have you ever done something only and only to annoy your partner?

6. How does your partner react when they are jealous?

For Lilac:

1. If you had to say I love you to Ethan without actually saying the words, how would you do it?

2. What is something that would make Ethan blush immediately?

3. If you were given an option to choose between writing a letter to Ethan once every month or writing him small notes everyday, which one would you choose?

4. What is the sweetest gift he has ever given you?

5. If you had to assign your relationship a fanfiction trope, which one would you choose?

For Ethan:

1. What is something that you started doing after getting into a relationship with Lilac?

2. If you could pick any three places to take her on a date, which ones would you choose? (They can anywhere around the world)

3. You have been asked to put together a care package for Lilac. What things do you put in it?

4. Which hobbies/interests of Lilac do you find weird?

5. If you had to put together a bouquet for Lilac usig any two flowers, which ones would you choose?

Thank you so much for these! I am so happy you liked the Ethan x Pooja ones. And it means so much that you UNO reverse card-ed me! LOVE YOU!

For Both:

1. Imagine you both are rival Detectives assigned to a common case. Who will be the one to solve it first? Or will you both join hands and solve it together?

Lilac: *giddy with excitement*

Ethan: Here we go...

Lilac: First, rival detectives? That would be so hot. Ethan would secretly be in love with me, no doubt about it. He'd walk around his precinct, in a foul mood after a run-in with that insolent Detective Allende. He'd go on rants through gritted teeth about how she thinks she's above procedure and how she fancies herself a rebel--

Ethan: You're having way too much fun with this.

Lilac: --but really he'd be frustrated that he couldn't press me against a wall and kiss me senseless.

Ethan: *doesn't deny it* You're forgetting the original question, love.

Lilac: I'm setting the stage, babe. You being madly in love with me is important to the plot. Okay, so regarding the case... Even though we would each make impressive headway by ourselves, we are each missing a piece the other has. For example, I'd be pretty good about examining the timeline and interviewing suspects and any person of interest.

Ethan: Then, with the information she secures, I would be relentless about acquiring hard evidence that could really lead to a conviction. We would make a stellar team.

Lilac: Once you focused on the case and not on my lips.

Ethan: *with a ghost of a smile* An impossible feat but one I have years of experience trying to achieve.

2. What is the funniest thing your partner has done when they were drunk?

Ethan: My alcohol tolerance is excellent. I don't get drunk.

Lilac: Yes, he does. He might not be a loud, emotional drunk like I am, but his cheeks get flushed the cutest shade of red and his eyes sparkle in the sexiest way. He gets into this highly intellectual and argumentative state of mind, challenging anyone who is nearby to a philosophical debate. The funniest thing he's done while drunk is lecture my friends and I about why do we, as humans, strive for perfection if it is not attainable. It was hot.

Ethan: It was necessary.

Lilac: None of my friends were up for the challenge. It’s difficult to initiate an intellectual debate with Cardi B playing in the background and with tequila shots flowing freely amongst the group.

Ethan: Speaking of non-stop tequila shots, the funniest thing Lilac has done while intoxicated is text me incessantly, telling me how much she missed me and how badly she wished I was next to her.

Lilac: That’s more sweet than it is funny, babe.

Ethan: I was right next to you. I was the one holding you up for balance. 

3. Favourite ice cream flavor of your partner?

Lilac: My husband doesn’t care much for your run-of-the-mill ice cream pint. His favorite flavor is mascarpone with wild berries gelato. He also loves Affogato. Naturally. 

Ethan: Lilac loves most flavors, especially anything with dark chocolate. But even more than ice cream, she loves--

Lilac: Fro-yo

Ethan: -- frozen yogurt. Plain tart with strawberries, blueberries, and granola. 

4. What is a funny habit of your partner that you secretly like?

Ethan: I love the scented candles she’s so fond of having around the house. 

Lilac: I knew it!  My favorite funny habit of his is when he tucks Jenner in at night. He pretends that dog isn’t our fur baby, but Ethan plays the perfect father every day.

Ethan: He’s a pet, Lilac, not a child.

Lilac: He’s a baby and the being you professed to love most in the world.

Ethan: *holding her gaze* Not anymore.

5. Have you ever done something only and only to annoy your partner?

Lilac: Yes! I asked him to take me to Rome for our honeymoon only so I could order an Espresso Romano. 

Ethan: Exactly what I asked you not to do. 

Lilac: You mean what you were rambling about during our first date? Because I’m counting that.

Ethan: Fine. I was far too distracted by the beautiful doctor in front of me. It just slipped out. I never imagined I’d be marrying you one day and taking you on a honeymoon to Rome.

Lilac: But I bet if you knew that much then, you wouldn’t have minded.

Ethan: No, I wouldn’t have. 

6. How does your partner react when they are jealous?

Lilac: He clenches that magnificent jaw of his and speaks in growls. 

Ethan: *shaking his head* She stays really quiet and I can practically see the gears turning in her head. Then, minutes later, she’ll start asking me “causal” questions about the person she’s jealous of. 

Lilac: I have to gather as much intel as possible about this rival of mine.

Ethan: *lifting her hand to kiss her knuckles* There’s no such rivalry, love. No one will ever capture my attention like you have. 

For Lilac:

1. If you had to say I love you to Ethan without actually saying the words, how would you do it?

Lilac: I would hold his gaze as I press my body close to his, raising myself on my tip toes to press a single kiss on his cheek. I’d trace the pad of my thumb along his cheekbone, my other hand at his chest. I do it everyday... Everyday since the attack, when we couldn’t touch each other without plastic in the way. It’s my quiet way of telling him how much I love him and how I’m not going anywhere. 

2. What is something that would make Ethan blush immediately?

Lilac: *laughs* It’s so easy to make him blush for someone so stoic. A sure way is to lean in and whisper anything romantic in his ear. It can be anything really and he’ll turn beet red. It’s so endearing. He will get this little surprised look on his face, as though he can’t believe what’s happening.

Ethan: That’s because I can’t. I am unable to believe my luck that the most beautiful woman on Earth loves me as much as I love her.

*Lilac blushes. Ethan looks satisfied and completely in awe of her.*

3. If you were given an option to choose between writing a letter to Ethan once every month or writing him small notes everyday, which one would you choose?

Lilac: The notes, for sure! In fact, I already write him those almost every morning and ever evening. He even bought a magnetic whiteboard for the refrigerator for me to write those. He insists on taking a picture of them before we erase them. 

4. What is the sweetest gift he has ever given you?

Lilac: He flew my whole family from LA, including my grandma, to celebrate my last birthday in Cape Cod. It was the sweetest thing anyone’s ever done for me. 

5. If you had to assign your relationship a fanfiction trope, which one would you choose?

Ethan: What the hell is fanfiction?

Lilac: It’s exactly what it sounds like, babe. It’s pieces of fiction written about fans of a work. For example, people who love Harry Potter will then go and write their own works with these characters. 

Ethan: People do that?

Lilac: Hey, don’t knock it! Some people are so talented and put out excellent works. I used to read HP fanfiction when I was in high school and undergrad.

Ethan: I’m not judging at all. On the contrary, I’m surprised people do this for free. I admire the dedication.

Lilac: Our trope would absolutely be slow burn.

Ethan: ...?

Lilac: It means it took us entirely too long to end up together.

Ethan: Ah. In that case, I agree. 

For Ethan:

1. What is something that you started doing after getting into a relationship with Lilac?

Ethan: Homemade salsa. My wife is very particular about it and will eat most meals with it. She will not accept anything less than homemade and I love her for it. 

2. If you could pick any three places to take her on a date, which ones would you choose? (They can anywhere around the world)

Ethan: She doesn’t know this but, I am taking her to France for the final part of our honeymoon. Our schedules didn’t allow for the extended honeymoon we both wanted, so we split it up into parts. She still thinks it was only two parts, Rome and the Mayan Riviera, but I’m taking her to France next month. She’s always wanted to go to Paris, the countryside, and the French Riviera. 

3. You have been asked to put together a care package for Lilac. What things do you put in it?

Ethan: She told me about the candy her grandmother used to bring her from Mexico. Those would go in there. I’d add essential oils, since she’s fond of those. I’d add her favorite scented lotions and those fuzzy socks she collects. 

4. Which hobbies/interests of Lilac do you find weird?

Ethan: I don’t understand her complicated orders for iced coffee when we go to a coffeeshop. She will give the poor barista a long list of flavors she wants, describe in number of “pumps”. It’s iced coffee! There’s no amount of flavoring that could salvage that atrocity.  

5. If you had to put together a bouquet for Lilac using any two flowers, which ones would you choose?

Ethan: *smiles briefly* I would consider lilacs to tease her. She pretends to hate them because they’re her namesake and people have always assumed she likes them solely for that reason. Now, she likes them because she knows I am fond of them. They remind me of her for obvious reasons but also because they are the earliest flowers to bloom in Spring. They represent renewal, hope for something better to come, and first love. I found all of those things in Lilac. 

But since this bouquet is for her, I would use peonies and sunflowers since they are her favorites. Maybe jasmines since it’s her favorite scent. 

[thetypedwriter]

All the Young Dudes Fanfiction Review

All the Young Dudes Fanfiction Review by MsKingBean89

So. 

This is a first. 

If you’ve been following this blog for some time, then you know I generally read young adult books and write far too lengthy reviews on them with the occasional outlier of adult fiction, mystery, sci-fi, etc. 

At any given time, I usually have both a physical book that I’ve bought from somewhere that I’m working on (right now it’s Firekeeper's Daughter by Angeline Boulley) as well as a fanfiction that I reserve until before I go to bed (my treat for a day well lived). 

Fanfiction is something that I’ve mentioned copious amounts of times on this blog in varying degrees, but this is the first time I’ll be writing an actual review for one of them on this platform. 

The reason for this is myriad. 

One, this fanfiction called All the Young Dudes is a far-cry from your normal standardized fanfiction of 5-50,000 words-something I can easily consume in a few minutes to a few hours. 

Nope, this behemoth ends on a staggering 526,969 words and 188 chapters, not including bonus chapters and extra in-universe canonical content the author has also written and published. Roughly speaking, if this was actually published onto paper it would be well over 2,000 pages. 

2,000 pages. 

Yeah. And I enjoyed every single moment of it. 

Two, while I read a lot of fanfiction I generally don’t put any of it on this blog because while I’ve dedicated it to published novels, I also usually have very simple feelings about fanfiction. My thoughts run the gambit of: It was good, it was fluffy, it was a train-wreck, so on and so forth. 

Normally my reviews are so long and wordy because I have too many thoughts about the published books that I read and I need an outlet to let them loose. 

Whether because of its longevity or because of its content, All the Young Dudes is a story I find myself having a profusion of thoughts for. Hence, the birth of this review. 

If fanfiction isn’t your thing, feel free to skip this particular review of mine (although fanfiction is a gift to this world and you should really rethink your stance on it if you don’t like it, just saying). 

Third, All the Young Dudes is well written and rivals any actual published content. 

Fourth, because of how extensive this fanfiction is, it took me over a month to read it-time I generally would have been reading something else. Instead of leaving you all hanging for a few more weeks until I finish Firekeeper's Daughter (don’t hold your breath-the book is sort of a slog for me personally right now), I decided to just take the jump and write my first-ever typedwriter review for a fanfiction. 

Fanfiction has been a part of my life for the better part of almost two decades now. It was truly something I found by accident and in retrospect, it’s insane to me that it’s still something that brings me continuous joy and happiness. 

I discovered fanfiction when I was 11-years-old and deeply obsessed with the Harry Potter fandom. 

Now, as an overall disclaimer I completely disagree with J.K. Rowling’s stances of gender and biology and differ wholeheartedly with her views of trans and non-binary individuals. With that said, I still love Harry Potter as a story and while I no longer buy anything that profits J.K. Rowling directly, I still love the fandom and the people in it, including fanworks like All the Young Dudes. 

When I was 11, the seventh Harry Potter book had yet to come out and like many other people in this time period of agony while waiting for 2007 to roll around so that I could find out what happened, I discovered fanfiction as a way to fill in that ache I was so keenly feeling. 

I found myself suddenly immersed in this world of online fiction-both good and bad-but completely entrancing all the same. 

I never left. 

That is to say, I did eventually move onto other fandoms with their own fanfiction cultures, but Harry Potter was still my first in terms of fanfiction and introducing me to the concept as a whole. 

Specifically and maybe oddly, I never found myself curious for actual fanfiction about Harry or Hermione or Ron. In my mind, I already knew what had happened to them and reading about them in fanfiction was redundant. 

In addition, the first fanfiction I just happened to come across was a Lily/James marauder era fanfiction on mugglenet.com

This idea immediately intrigued me as fans as a whole knew next to nothing about the infamous Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs and while I knew everything I needed to about Harry Potter it was intoxicating to think that I could learn about a time before the series had existed and about characters who were important, but off screen. 

I was hooked and devoured as much as I could for most of middle school about the marauders and Lily and James’ romance in particular (I even wrote and published some of my own that will go unmentioned as they are truly really terrible). 

That being said, I haven’t read a Harry Potter fanfiction in years. I grew up and out of the fandom eventually thanks to Twilight and from there I’ve bounced from fandom to fandom as I’ve aged and consumed different things and fallen in love with different characters and different worlds. 

That isn’t to say I’ve forgotten though. 

I still remember my favorite marauder stories, my favorite Sirius Black/OFC (original female character), and my favorite baby Harry drabbles. They made such a huge impression on me and even though it’s been sixteen years, I still recall those stories with fond nostalgia and jubilation. 

Which is why it’s almost ironic that I would return to this particular time period of the marauders with All the Young Dudes. 

In a fashion that’s almost scarily full circle, I happened to be on Youtube one day and saw a recommendation video about this girl reviewing a fanfiction called All the Young Dudes. Now, youtube book reviews aren’t uncommon, but a thirty minute video for a fanfiction? Not your typical sighting. 

So out of pure curiosity, I searched All the Young Dudes fanfiction on Google and low and behold the overwhelming and top results were all for a marauder-era fanfiction by MsKingBean89. Piqued, I clicked on the link in ao3 and thought why not? 

While I’ve mainly been reading in other fandoms recently (BTS, some anime and manga, All for the Game) I had been in a little bit of a slump for finding a really good, really alluring story for some time and really didn’t think I had anything to lose by reading All the Young Dudes, especially as the more research I did, the more I found how popular it was-a plethora of videos on youtube, tiktok compilations, and dozens of fanart posts. 

Plus, it had been so long since I had read anything from my progenitor fandom and the thought of going back was strangely comforting.

Hence the journey of reading All the Young Dudes began and oh what a journey it was. 

Now, that this review is already five pages in, I should probably tell you what on earth All the Young Dudes is actually about. 

The whole story is a marauder-era fanfiction told from Remus Lupin’s POV from the summer of 1971 when Remus is 11-years-old to the summer of 1995 when he is 35-five-years-old. It is an in-depth portrayal of Remus’ time at Hogwarts from year one to year seven and then going all the way up to the start of the second wizarding world, ending around the time Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix begins. 

While already the scope makes this a massive undertaking, the author also includes all canonical content from the original series involving Remus, the Marauders, and the time period and incorporates it into her fanfiction-making it canon compliant from start to finish. 

While a very large portion of this story is not romantic, there is eventual WolfStar (Remus Lupin/Sirius Black) and if you have read the original Harry Potter series...well. You know things don't end up super dandy for these two characters in particular so you know how the story will end before it begins. 

This fanfiction left me speechless for so many reasons. 

The scope and length is frankly unbelievable. This fanfiction was published on March 2, 2017 and it was completed on November 12, 2018.

….how?

How did she manage that? I frankly have no idea, but I am in complete and utter awe at her ability to write content with such a magnitude and actually complete it. She gets an award just for that honestly. 

Not only that, but the fanfiction is actually superbly well-written. I won’t lie and say it’s the most poignant and beautiful piece of literature I’ve ever consumed, but it was consistent in its pacing, characterization, themes, motifs, and structure, which, for 2,000 pages, is an incredible achievement when you think about it. 

Speaking of characterization, everyone was So. Well. Done. 

Remus was such an interesting POV to read from and while he was compliant in every sense of the word-werewolf, prefect, bookish-MsKingBean89 added so much more to his character and fleshed him out so incredibly that it’s truly tragic that he’s not a real person. 

And to that extent, she does this with all of the characters. You see James’ optimism and leadership, Sirius’ arrogance and loyalty, Peter’s jealousy and chess skills. 

Every character was so well-rounded and real. She did an incredible job of taking the bits and pieces from the canon series and using that to build up her own flesh and blood people with motivations, likes, dislikes, dreams, and desires. 

That being said, she also had 2,000 pages to do it sooooooo it would be bad if the characters weren’t fleshed out by the end honestly. 

In addition, I really appreciated that she didn’t just focus on Remus, Sirius, James and Peter. Lily Evans played a critical role in Remus’ school life and after and so did the other Gryffindor girls like Marlene and Mary. 

Too often, the focus is on the boys and their close friendship and while that was a huge focus, we also get to see Remus develop friendships with the girls in his own right and other friends as well that were often OC’s of the author’s. 

Now. OC’s are generally something I dislike. I’m reading fanfiction to read about particular characters that I’ve sought after, not to read about some imaginary cast. However, just like any of the canon characters, all of the OC characters were well-developed and played crucial roles in Remus’ development-while either at Hogwarts or after-and I found myself not minding them in the least. In a few cases (Grant) I actually really loved them. 

The biggest draw for this fanfiction for me was Remus’ time at Hogwarts. It was so well-written and incredibly descriptive and I found myself thrust back into the world of magic so suddenly and seamlessly that it was like I never left. 

MsKingBean89 includes so many intricate details and builds up the world so beautifully that I’d recommend any Harry Potter fan to consume it, just to get some good Hogwarts material out of it. 

Another thing I greatly appreciate about this fanfiction was the slow burn. I’ve read slow burn before (All for the Game trilogy anybody?), but this truly took the cake. Sirius and Remus don’t properly get together until the end of year six going into year seven. That’s over 100 chapters in. 

100 chapters out of 188. 

Meaning that over half of this beast doesn’t have the main pairing even together. For some people, this could be a drawback. You might think to yourself: It takes how long for them to confess their feelings and stop being prats?

A very, very long time. 

However...it didn’t bug me. I like slow burn to begin with, but being along for the ride as Remus goes from being a child to an adolescent with unrequited feelings to being in a relationship with someone he loves is so rewarding and fulfilling that the 100 previous chapters are completely and utterly worth it. 

MsKingBean89 develops them so well and so carefully that the payoff is so sweet and satisfactory that it's enough to bring the tears right then and there. 

The last huge feat of this fanfiction for me was the author’s dedication to canon not just confined to Hogwarts and the Harry Potter books, but also to the time period. Either she lived through the 70’s and 80’s herself or she had done her due diligence when it comes to research because anything from London anti-gay laws to British slang was commonplace in her fic. 

I found it completely amazing how she was able to tie in real-time historical and cultural moments like famous singers and movies playing at the time alongside convoluted muggle politics warring with the wizarding ones. 

I was so blown away by the accuracy and genuine love behind this fic that it often brought me out of my own mind to simply ponder once again how much work this was and how well she was delivering it. 

Even unpleasant things, like homophobia and bigotry, are dealt with in a very carefully constructed way that is aligned with the time period in which the story takes place. 

Unfortunately, everything beautiful is not without flaws and All the Young Dudes is not the exception, although it’s flaws are nary compared to its achievements. 

The few complaints I have with this fic are honestly quite negligible. 

First, there are a few grammatical and punctuation errors. Very few, but I did notice some. 

Next, and again, this complaint is really just me whining, but...the end of the fic was really fucking sad. The end of this whole story took me so much time to complete simply because I didn’t want to read it. 

I know what happened during the first wizarding war and I also know what ended it (James and Lily Potter dying, Harry being shipped off to the Dursley’s, Sirius imprisoned for a murder he didn’t commit, Peter presumed dead) and in one fell swoop Remus lost everything and everyone he ever loved. 

After spending over 1,500 pages of Remus growing to love these people it is absolutely devastating and heart-breaking to see him lose it all. 

The last handful of chapters are just really, really sad and it makes me wonder why MsKingBean89 decided to write it in the first place. Frankly, I don't know why she didn't write about Remus’ time at Hogwarts and stop after graduation because we all know what happens after that and none of it is good. 

Looking back, I wish I could time travel and tell myself to stop at chapter 150. I truly didn’t need to read about the tragedies that happened after that and the hell that all of the characters go through. 

And while it does end on a….sort of kind of maybe positive (?) note with Sirius and Remus reuniting briefly once the events of Harry Potter and Prisoner of Azkaban take place, it was really tainted and bittersweet for me knowing that in a year Sirius would die and Remus would marry his fucking cousin and have a child. 

Urgh. 

I just can’t. 

That being said, I understand it’s not the author’s fault and I’m not saying it is. She wrote a canon compliant fic to the end and it was my choice to continue reading. That being said, she said she ended it before the events of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix because Sirius and Remus are happy and back together and she didn’t want to write what was coming next if she continued. 

I truly, truly get that. 

But in the same vein, why even write the events of the first wizarding world to begin with then? I’m confused with that response as it doesn’t make much sense to me. I felt like ending it right then and there was not a happy ending. They’re together, yes, but at this point they are both shells of who they used to be. Both have severe trauma and PTSD and frankly I don’t even know if I agree with them being together just because they’ve put each other through so much. 

It’s just an interesting choice at the end of the day in terms of the author. 

Once again, however, I truly understand that she can do whatever she wants and that she doesn’t owe anyone anything, especially as she’s writing this for free and just because. So please keep in mind that although I’m complaining, I truly understand how fortunate we are to even have this fic in the first place. 

Okay. 

Secondly, my only other huge complaint is that MsKingBean89 made Remus gay. Not bi, not pan. Gay. 

You could argue that Remus just calls himself gay in the fanficiton as he didn’t know about other kinds of sexuality. You could argue that Remus’ sexuality changes and develops as he ages and experiences trials and tribulations. You could argue that it was a sign of times like so much else in this fic. 

I frankly just found it to be a frustrating choice as the fic is canon compliant and even though it ends before the events of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows we know that Remus eventually marries Tonks and has a baby son named Teddy Lupin. 

How does that make sense?

I tried very, very hard to come up with some sort of feasible explanation for how a gay man would have ended up with the love of his life’s female cousin and truly could not think of one that was not fucked up to some degree. 

Again. I know I’m being nit-picky, but it irked me that she made this choice regarding Remus’ sexuality and essentially ended her fic with Remus stuck in a corner regarding how the series actually ends. 

At the end of the day, all of the negatives are truly, truly not important. I’m just whinging to whine and to express my thoughts, but I do once again understand that MsKingBean89 isn’t profiting from this fic and that she can do what she wants as is her prerogative. 

I hope I was able to express that while I understand that, I can still be frustrated with some of the choices she made. 

To wrap this all up, All the Young Dudes is a masterpiece and is a must-read for anyone who loves Harry Potter, the Marauders, or Wolfstar. I was blown away by the sheer magnitude, the love and care she put into her craft, the slow and deliberate development of all the characters, the beautifully constructed love between Sirius and Remus, and the intricate world-both muggle and magic-that surrounded the story like a cocoon. 

I am so happy I found this fic and I truthfully am floundering at what to do with myself next. If you have any more current Marauder era fics that I’ve missed out in the past eleven years, please don’t hesitate to let me know. 

Recommendation: Go read All the Young Dudes. For weeks, you will cry, you will laugh, you will despair, and you will smile. This fanfiction will make you wish this was canon and in my mind, it now is. 

Score: 8/10

Links:

1. All the Young Dudes on ao3 

2. The Youtube Video about All the Young Dudes that made me aware of its existence 

[dramione-tea]

recommendations & little snippets of myself

by Cassiopeia Candles ( Instagram: @casseopya.candles )

note: click the title in order to be directed to the desired fan fiction.

- for the dramione shippers, I wish you luck! 

Unrequited Love  [ casspiane ]

“Darling, I wished you knew,” 

Draco Malfoy x Original Characters (OC)

1. Love Never Dies. [ rosebuds_ ]

Rachel Farrell, pure blood witch, family of Gryffindors. First year is not the best for Rachel. She struggles trying to fit in and be accepted by those around her. Falling for Draco Malfoy, Rachel has to overcome a wave of obstacles. She finds it difficult to be accepted by her family and turns to the Malfoys... Which was undoubtedly one of the biggest mistakes she made. Find out what happens to Rachel and what truly changes her life.

- Literally binge read the whole book during my 6th grade examination. ( I know it was bad for me ) But hey I didn’t fail.  

P.S. Don’t be like me. 

2. midnight of the masquerade [ seraphilims ]

a story in which two people realize masks only hide the appearance - not the heart. 

- Love the story plot.  I’ve read this thrice in different years. 

3. Imperio [ pansyparks ]

The younger sister of Cedric Diggory, Arden, is a Slytherin who doesn't fit in. Draco Malfoy, a wealthy Slytherin bully. The two come together, and Arden realises that being a Slytherin isn't so bad after all; but with a few bumps in the road for Draco, can they stay together?

4. Dear Draco [ malfoyuh ]

❛stay a little longer❜

- 15 year old me were in tears, so was my heart.  Rate it as 5/5.

5. Let’s Kill Tonight  [ Bambey ]

Rebecca Rosewood's life is dramatically changed when she becomes a Death Eater. With blood on her hands, she is summoned by Voldemort to go to Hogwarts and extract information from the famous Harry Potter, finding herself hopelessly attracted to Draco Malfoy at the same time. But it all gets a little too much when her past finally catches up with her...

- One of the first fan-fictions I’ve read about Draco.

6. if looks could kill [ WhenInDoubtSleep ]

In times like this, the truth can rewrite the past and alter the future. In an attempt to find herself amidst the deceptive lies and horrible truths, she finds Draco Malfoy instead. She honestly just wants to make it out of the year alive...and maybe with a few less kisses from the blond git. Love story set during the sixth year at Hogwarts.

7. Always Had A Thing For Bad Boys [ oxNeverShoutNeverxo ]

8. Who Are You?  [ TheBlondeAdventurer ]

Draco Malfoy. One of the most arrogant teenage boys in Slytherin's house. He struts through the school and doesn't miss an opportunity to cut someone down, just as he has been by his father his entire life. Now enter Elena Crowe. A quiet girl who tries her hardest to stay out of trouble, and one of Ravenclaw's best students. She always has the best answers and never fails to help someone in need, even if they may not deserve it. In their sixth year at Hogwarts, Draco finally runs into Elena, whom he has never seemed to notice before. Elena does her absolute best to stay away from him, because all he can be is trouble, but Draco finds amusement by forcing himself into her life. For what reason, he doesn't know; but what he does know is that he enjoys bantering with this quiet girl, because even she can get riled up and fight back. But Draco will see that Elena is a lot more than what she may seem. Soon he will be battling morales, his past, his family, and both of them may end up facing off in the final battle not with Lord Voldemort, but each other.

- To be completely honest, read this one more than 3 times. 

9. Unwanted Legacy [ writtenbyciara ]

" admit it, you care about me. "

- Recently read this months ago and found it quite interesting. The author’s writing style is different from the rest as her words make you visualize more on what is happening. 

- Book 1 & 2 is complete, while book 3 is still on its way. 

Draco Malfoy x Hermione Granger (Dramione)

1. We Learned The Sea [ floorcoaster ]

Draco Malfoy turns himself in after a very successful career as a Death Eater, then enlists Harry and Hermione to help him in a scheme to bring down the Dark Lord.

- This gave me the feels.  Draco’s personality in this is far most different from the books and other fan fictions.

2. The Bachelor  [ Fluff ]

Hermione's mother is pressuring her into finding a boyfriend. On a whim, she applies and is accepted into the wizard version of The Bachelor. But what happens when The Bachelor is none other than Draco Malfoy himself?

3. Defending The Dark  [ Cece Louise ]

Almost three years after Voldemort's defeat, Hermione Granger is a Ministry-appointed Defense Inquisitor. Her next assignment: defend Draco Malfoy. She's sure there must be some mistake. Confronted with mysterious memories, candid conversations, and confusing feelings, she is plagued with uncertainty. Just who is Draco Malfoy? And does he deserve a second chance?

4. Graveyard Valentine  [ Bex-chan ]

Hermione thought she was the only person in the world who would spend Valentine's Day in a Graveyard, but she was wrong. He's there. Every single year, with his gloves, roses, and answers. Dramione Valentine's Day one-shot. Post-Hogwarts. 

- All time favorite.

5. Eighteen Months  [ Istalindar ]

When Hermione is diagnosed with a magic allergy and kidney failure during the summer, everything changes for her, friends, enemies..life.

6. Love Me Twice [ Bex-chan ]

'"They tore her apart and then wiped me out of her mind to send me a message. To mess up my life. To break..." he trailed off. Blaise nodded his head with understanding. "To break your heart," he finished for him.' Dramione. One-shot.

7. The Wrong Strain [ Colubrina ]

Everyone knew what veela were. Veela were magical creatures, breathtakingly beautiful, who captivated men with a single look. It would have been nice to have been that strain. Instead, Hermione Granger was infected by another. Instead of captivating all men, she was captivated by one. She'd die without him. She was already in almost constant pain. 

8. Entwined In Time  [ TheSummerNightingale ]

When Hermione and Draco get put into detention together, a potion mishaps throws them back in time: into the Marauders' era. As they begin to adjust to life twenty years into the past, the two become drawn together, sharing the bond of the future as they are forced to work together to return to their own time.

9. Destiny [ Annie Lockwood ]

Hermione's wedding night is everything but perfect for the young witch. Her new husband and long-time friend, Ronald, is passed out drunk and she thinks upon her life leading up to that night. Hermione falls asleep, despondent and alone. When she wakes up the following morning, she is still in bed with her husband. But it isn't Ronald Weasley.

10. Silencio [ AkashatheKitty ] 

One late night, hate turns to lust.

11. Clean [ Olivie Blake ]

Malfoy's handsome face was contoured into a condescending smirk. "No faith in that giant brain of yours, Granger?" She looked up at him defiantly. "Maybe I don't have faith in you!" she said, raising her voice. Malfoy only looked at her. "You'll find I'm very surprising."

12. Marked  [ Olivie Blake ]

Two dead. Three missing. The Order is down a leader and another innocent takes the Mark. Where is the Chosen One, and who killed Draco Malfoy?

13. The Fallout [ everythursday ] 

Hermione learns about growing up through the redemption of Draco Malfoy.

14. Every Day, a Little Death [ LovesBitca8 ]

It has become common knowledge that Hermione Granger cannot have an orgasm. Many have tried, none have succeeded. Can Draco Malfoy offer his assistance?

15. familiar faces, worn out places [ LovesBitca8 ]

“You are at St. Mungo’s. You were in a coma.” He looks me over again, taking a pause. “I am a Healer here now,” he says, like it explains something. My fingers stretch, drifting across his sleeve. He looks down, like I’ve thrown mud at him.

Forcing my vocal chords together for the first time, I whisper, “What’s your name?”

16. Kiss Me, Haunt Me, Kill Me [ LovesBitca8 ]

"So," she said, and her voice was just as he'd remembered it, "you've chosen to haunt the castle as well?" She lifted her brows. "I'm dead. What's your excuse?" ~*~ Draco Malfoy returns to Hogwarts as Potions Master to find the ghost of Hermione Granger floating through the halls.

17. Ribbons Down Her Back [ LovesBitca8 ]

The unintentional annual seduction of Draco Malfoy through a series of ribbons and bows - or - Christmas Fluff with a dash of Secret Santa.

18. Manacled  [ SenLinYu ] 

Harry Potter is dead. In the aftermath of the war, in order to strengthen the might of the magical world, Voldemort enacts a repopulation effort. Hermione Granger has an Order secret, lost but hidden in her mind, so she is sent as an enslaved surrogate to the High Reeve until her mind can be cracked.

19. The Library of Alexandria  [ SenLinYu ] 

 The Library of Alexandria is not for just any witch or wizard. Many bookworms may try but few are permitted to pass through its doors. The books residing there are ancient and powerful and, if one happens to make a mistake, the consequences can be rather—novel.

20. A Slow Cruel Descent + A Fragile Ascent  [ SenLinYu ]

A Slow Cruel Descent

The war grinds on and Hermione Granger, the lead intelligence for the Order of the Pheonix, is captured. Unable to crack her through interrogation without risking her mind, Voldemort conceives a cruel method of breaking her that involves a reluctant Draco Malfoy.“He stared at her in disgust.She looked—broken.The fire she’d still had when she was dragged in was now extinguished. Her eyes were locked on his face like she were memorizing him.“Stop staring at me.” He snarled. “You stupid bint. You’re supposed to be so clever. They can’t break you with torture but a fucking potion reduces you to a sniveling traitor.”

A Fragile Ascent

The War is over. Voldemort is dead. And Hermione Granger is broken.

21. Sweetly Broken [ LadyKenz347 ] 

As the dust settles following the Battle of Hogwarts, Draco’s confidence, belief system, and world are shattered.In an attempt to mend his broken pieces, he turns to vials that take the pain away. But once the high’s are no longer so high and the lows get so much lower, Draco has to start a journey of healing and redemption that often hurts more than it helps.

22. Truth, Lies, and Storytelling  [ BreathOfThePhoenix ]

“Hermione,” Harry took a deep breath and flipped the book over to see the back cover, “why is my name on this?”“Like I said, someone is writing about us. The film we just saw was based on that book,” Hermione tapped the cover of the book on the top of the stack, “and it was incredibly accurate.”Harry passed the stack of books over to Ginny, holding on to the first one. He turned the title of the book over in his head, mumbling the words quietly to himself.“Harry Potter… me… Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone. Philosopher’s stone. Hermione, this feels weird. Am I the narrator?”When Hermione and Draco uncover a familiar new film called “Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone” they learn that the wizarding world may not be as well hidden as they thought.

23. DIVINATION FOR SKEPTICS  [ OLIVIEBLAKE ]

The latest in magical advancements is an enchantment that reveals the bearer’s romantic compatibility with another person. Effectively eliminating uncertainty from dating, the charm can tell you whether or not you’ve found The One with a precise, Hermione Granger-approved calculation of traits and preferences. It’s a foolproof method of predicting relationship happiness. It’s also, for Hermione, positively dreadful news.

24. Isolation [ Bex-chan ]

He can't leave the room. Her room. And it's all the Order's fault. Confined to a small space with only the Mudblood for company, something's going to give. Maybe his sanity. Maybe not. "There," she spat. "Now your Blood's filthy too!"

25. Hunted [ Bex-chan ]

Forced to work together when their old schoolmates start dying, Hermione & Draco must overcome their differences to solve the mysterious deaths. The tension in the office is getting rather...heated.

If you reached to this part. 

HEY THERE! 

Feel free to message me on instagram if you ever feel the need to fan girl, I do too most of the time. 

[snowwhitelass]

Why A Discovery of Witches star Steven Cree asked Outlander costar Sam Heughan for advice

By Maureen Lee Lenker

January 08, 2021

When it comes to bringing a beloved book series to life on television, Steven Cree knows a thing or two.

The actor, who is about to embody fan-favorite character Gallowglass on the second season of A Discovery of Witches, has spent the last several years playing the lovable Ian Murray, Sr. on Starz's Outlander. And this time, he was prepared for all that bringing to life a popular series of novels entails.

"When I got Ian Murray in Outlander, I wasn't on social media at that point," he tells EW. "Even though I was aware of Outlander being a hugely successful book series, I didn't know anything about the huge fan base. It wasn't actually until I was on Outlander that I realized how big the whole thing was, whereas with this, it was an entirely different scenario from the start. When I had the audition and I googled to find out a little bit about the TV show, whenever you google Gallowglass and A Discovery of Witches, it became very quickly apparent that Gallowglass is indeed an extremely beloved character."

"Ian is nice and warm and fuzzy; Gallowglass is a lot more dynamic than that," he adds. "He's a bachelor as well. He's a bit of a rock-and-roll vampire for his time so he's an entirely different proposition from Ian. I did read the book, and I absolutely loved the character of Gallowglass every bit as much as the fans. Whilst I know that there may well be some people out there who will never agree with my casting of Gallowglass, I hope the majority of people are happy with how he's portrayed and what I bring to him."

There is one man who would know what Cree is going through, embarking on playing this beloved fictional character who many fans have declared their literary crush. That would be his Outlander costar Sam Heughan. Cree didn't ask Heughan for any advice about the perceived pressure that comes with stepping into a role of this nature, but he did ask him for help with something a bit more weighty.

"Gallowglass is described as being a particularly physical, and muscular character, so I've been spending a lot of time in the gym over the last 18 months," he explains. "So, I was asking Sam Heughan some fitness tips."

As a lover of fantasy novels for most of his life, Cree was enthusiastic about diving into the world of A Discovery of Witches and his character in particular. "He's a very complex character, and there's a lot about Gallowglass that's unknown," he reflects. "He has a slightly mysterious quality to him; he's been alive for already a few 100 years by the point we meet him. Even though he's described as a soldier of fortune, you don't exactly know his history or his past. When it comes to the crunch, he's a really fearsome warrior that the Claremont family calls upon. He's almost a slightly bombastic character, full of one-liners and quick to make a joke. [But] there's a slight sadness around him as well."

How does an actor tap into such a mysterious figure with a shadowy backstory? Well, it helps when the author who created him is also an executive producer. Deborah Harkness, who wrote the A Discovery of Witches series, was often on-hand to give Cree advice. In a move reminiscent of Alan Rickman's experiences playing Professor Snape in the Harry Potter franchise, Harkness even provided Cree with secret details.

"She gave me a very long and very detailed backstory of Gallowglass' life," he notes. "Which you wouldn't necessarily see any of that on the screen, but from an acting point of view, the more you can learn about a character, the easier it is for me to bring that palette to the character. Debs told me some things in absolute confidence, which I haven't shared with anyone else at all. It's good to have some secrets about your character, to create that inner life."

Harkness also helped Cree feel a certain level of confidence in the role. In the novel, Gallowglass is described as a former Viking, and his warrior spirit had led fans to dream-cast the likes of Charlie Hunnam and Heughan himself in the role. But Cree never got anything but absolute support from the character's creator.

"I was hugely encouraged by how positive Debs was in my casting of Gallowglass because I had come across a lot of suggestions on the internet," he muses. "When the person who's actually created that character has been so vocal about how much she thinks I am her version of Gallowglass, it gave me almost unspoken permission [and] made me feel really good about filling his boots, literally and figuratively."

Cree was immediately enchanted by the sexy, romantic implications of playing a vampire, noting he's a longtime fan of things like Interview With a Vampire and the Twilight series. He reveled in getting to bring that ancient mystery and superhuman strength to life (though he shares a mournful regret with his costar James Purefoy that he didn't get to bite anyone). But to him, the key to Gallowglass was that view of him as a rock-and-roll vampire.

That translated into his prep in his trailer before shooting scenes. "The one thing that I did use quite often when I was in my trailer, and I was putting on my costume and I wanted to get into the headspace for Gallowglass, I would very often play 'Nothing Else Matters' by Metallica," he quips. "I could imagine Gallowglass being really into Metallica."

A bit different from the music of the 1590s...

A Discovery of Witches season 2 premieres on Sundance Now, Shudder, and AMC+ on Jan 9.

[nordic-language-love]

Language Learning Log 2021 - Week 19 (03.05 - 09.05)

Norwegian

Read 2x news articles

Read 25 pages of Harry Potter og Føniksordenen

Watched 2x Kveldsnytt broadcasts

Watched 1x Mummidalen episode

Wrote 7x journal entries

Wrote 1834 words of fiction

Listened to Ekko spørretime, 2x Siri og de gode hjelperne and 2x Uillustrert vitenskap podcasts

Listened to the radio

Mysteriet om Nils ch 42 grammar + exercises

60m online lesson

Japanese

Wrote 5x typed journal entries

Duolingo: Clothes 1 skill + repaired various skills

JFZ ch 12 exercises

Listened to the radio (passive listening)

Norwegian

With my dishwasher being broken I’ve been listening to more podcasts than I normally would while I wash up, which is just as well given listening practice was my goal for this month! I actually surpassed my podcast listening goal for the whole month in just this week alone. But that doesn’t mean I’m gonna start slacking off and not listen to any more podcasts - I’d actually quite like to build more of a habit of listening to them. Although I now have a new dishwasher (which presumably works), so I’ll have to find other opportunities to listen to them.

I’ve also been writing a daily journal on my laptop. I’m trying to actively use phrases and words I’ve recently learned and making notes of words I had to look up at the end of each entry (which isn’t a lot really). It’s not necessarily an effective way to learn, but it’s a kinda fun and easy way to practise the language. I’ve also been writing Harry Potter fan fiction (seeing as I’ve been reading it hehe).

I had a 60-minute lesson this week, which actually ended up being a 75-minute conversation because we had so much to talk about (mostly cats and training, but also philosophy and travel and languages), and we only really stopped because my laptop was running out of battery. I think I might have actually made a friend here!

Last week’s goals

Listen to an hour’s worth of podcasts ✅

Watch 5x TV shows or news broadcasts [3/5] ❌

Mysteriet om Nils ch 42 grammar ✅

Read 100 pages of Harry Potter og Føniksordenen [103/100] ✅

This week’s goals

Mysteriet om Nils ch 43 culture sections

Watch 5x TV shows or news broadcasts

Read 100 pages of Harry Potter og Føniksordenen

Listen to an hour’s worth of podcasts

Japanese

I started keeping both a typed Norwegian and Japanese journal on my laptop. The difference in my writing is... amazing lol, my Norwegian is long flowing paragraphs that logically follow on from each other, whereas my Japanese is just 4-5 random sentences lmao. But 4-5 random sentences is more than I could write a few months ago! I do repeat myself a lot though because I just don’t know what to say. But it’s motivation to learn more so that I’ll be able to write about more!

Last week’s goals

Duolingo: Clothes 1 [7/7] ✅

JFZ ch 12 exercises ✅

Write at least 1 journal entry [5/1] ✅

Listen to 3x Nihongo con Teppei episodes [0/3] ❌

This week’s goals

Start reading a short story

Duolingo: increase Clothes 1 skill to level 2

Duolingo: start Hobbies 2 skill

JFZ ch 13 grammar videos

Write at least 1 handwritten journal entry

Other

I had a bit of a disastrous week involving a broken boiler, a broken dishwasher, a poorly cat, an intense therapy session and a massive overestimation of my ability to plan aerial hoop choreography/courses. So I didn’t get as much done as I’d hoped to do in the training department. But I got through the next few units of my strength & conditioning course, and I’ve made good progress with my learning tasks for my aerial hoop instructor course. I’m not sure I’ll finish the choreography section this week, but I think I can finish the other sections.

The relationship line is pretty empty just because my boyfriend has been working a lot this week. It’s been a crazy week and his manager’s been away so he’s been leading the team and I’m really proud of him for doing that! So this week’s relationship “activities” have mostly been me taking him tea. But hopefully this coming week we’ll have more time for each other.

Last week’s goals

Strength & conditioning course units 4-6 [3/3] ✅

Complete all 4 learning tasks for aerial hoop instructor course [0/4] ❌

Stretch on at least 3 days [1/3] ❌

Train pole/aerial hoop on at least 2 days [2/2] ✅

This week’s goals

Strength & conditioning course unit 7 part 1

Submit at least 2 learning tasks for my aerial hoop instructor course

Stretch on at least 3 days

Train pole/aerial hoop on at least 2 days

[sugaftrm]

INTERVIEW TAG!

tagged by: @sooplover hi helena! thanks for tagging me :) I enjoyed learning about you from your post -- i’ll try my best to answer these questions!

rules: answer questions and tag 20 blogs you are contractually obligated to know better!

name/nickname:  (staying lowkey on tumblr, so I go by “t” on here)

pronouns:  she/her

star sign:  🌞 pisces, 🌚 pisces, ⬆️ virgo

height: 5′2 

time currently: 7:59pm ET

when is your birthday: March 12th, 1994 🐠

favourite band/groups: BTS! Anberlin! I didn’t really “fangirl” over anyone else except for 1D back in the day bc I was living vicariously through my sister who was the original true fan

favourite solo artist: Lizzo

song stuck in your head: nothing right now? I’m currently listening to a song called “Bewafa” by Imran Khan (hello desi mutuals 👋🏽)

last movie you watched: LOL I think it was The Croods.....

last show you binged:  currently watching - Run On, True Beauty, Lovestruck in the City. last thing I finished was Start Up!

when you created your (main) blog: this is my main blog, I created it on 12/10/2020 at 10:11 PM (thanks tumblr memories) but I’ve had tumblr before and made my first blog back in 2011!

last thing you googled: “family dynamic synonym” lol this is boring work-related google :( I’m starting a new job as a therapist and had to write up a bio but didn’t want to use the same words I saw other people using.... but ended up using that^ anyway!

other blogs: none!

why i chose my url: i started as namjooniex3 perhaps bc I’m stuck in the old internet era where people used x3 for hearts lmao, now i’m namjoons bengali gf because i believe in manifestation 😛

how many people are you following: 62

how many followers do you have: 36

average hours of sleep: ummm varies by the day, but 6-8

lucky number: i think 12, I’ve had a lot of lucky things happen either on the 12th of a certain month or in the year 2012 but I don’t really rely on lucky numbers as much as I would like to lol

instruments: the only thing I play is myself 😪 in middle school I was in the school band and I played clarinet but I have since forgotten!

what i’m currently wearing: striped white cotton tee, striped pink/grey pajama pants

dream job: i know i want to be a therapist in a group practice with a bunch of radical folks making enough money to not just survive but enjoy life.... I’m glad I’ve made strides towards that with my mental health non-profit and new part-time job at a mental health clinic, but it’ll be a few years before I find the right space for me 😌

dream trip: is it lame if I say i just wanna travel to wherever I can see BTS perform? as a new stan, it’s an experience I fear I’ll never have (thanks for nothing pandemic).... other than that, I want to travel with my sister to Hawaii or any warm place where we can see clear water and enjoy good food & sunshine ☀️

favourite food: i have too many cuisines i like, but my favorite dish is bangladeshi roast pulao (chicken, roasted with aromatic spices served with basmati rice)

nationality: unfortunately, american (echoing helena’s sentiment here)

favourite song: Stranger Ways - Anberlin // BTS: Black Swan orchestral!

top three fictional universes you’d like to live in: I honestly don’t know, sometimes I feel like this universe is trippy as is so I don’t know if I’d wanna live somewhere else where there could potentially be more uncertainty? Also the only other universes I know are Harry Potter’s and Marvel’s cus I’m boring af lmao 🐥

this was also my first time! 

I will not be expecting anyone to do this challenge so ignore the whole contractually obligated part up there; tagging some mutuals who I wish to learn more about and have been lovely to me on here for the past 2 months! please feel free to ignore if you’re not interested!

@yourgaymajesty @dalbichigom @unfukwitable @monionmymind @zmalik @kooseokss @joonsrack @artsyjoons @blueandtaes

[isidar-mithrim]

Tag game

Thank you for the tag @fightfortherightsofhouseelves and @clarensjoy!! 

Also, I’ll take this opportunity to apologize for all the tag-chain/game I ignored lately! I’m quite busy this period and while I do still check tumblr almost daily – especially now that I can’t wait for new @giblimort‘s amazing portraits *_* – it’s more like a few-minute scroll in the homepage and maybe read the occasional ficlet so I might miss the tags or more probably I might be lazy about answering them ^^’ But it always makes me smile that someone thought of me, so be aware that it’s appreciated and it makes my day lighter <3 @narukoibito @sybill-the-seer @ballerinaroy and I’m surely forgetting someone ^^’

Fandoms: Harry Potter, the one and only ;)

Where you post: Tumblr and Ao3, but I also have an account on the italian fan fiction page EFP (but my last stories are missing and most of the old ones that I’ve translated needs to be changed/edited, so I would kinda beg any passing italians to read them in English or ask me what version I would suggest XD). And one on Wattpad that I haven’t updated in a long while...

Most popular one-shot: Well I’m not sure what defines “popular” here, so I’ll kinda cheat and check the Ao3 stats I think for the first time ever and give you:

one for “most hits”: Fantasies [NSFW and basically Hinny PWP, so maybe I shouldn’t be surprised it’s the one with most hits XD]

one for “most kudos”: Standing on tiptoe [whoa, hadn’t seen it coming!]

one for “most bookmarks”: Letters for beyond (featuring the Potters)

one for “most comment threads”: so there are 4 with the same number, two of them are the two above, and between the remaining two I’ll pick A new beginning, a post-war chat between Harry and Neville ^^

Most popular multi-chapter: among my only two proper multi chapters, of which one is incomplete so far and with just 2 chapter and the other is complete with just 3 short chapter (what an achievement XD), Better than fireworks  is the one among all of my stories, including one shots, with “most bookmark”, “most subscriptions” (by far) and also “most comments threads”: [all this support is absolutely amazing, but I admit also kinda make me feel guilty because it’s almost been a year since I posted it and promised to finish it, ups ^^’ And the ironic thing is that I still plan too. One day. Maybe XD]

But I’ll also cheat a little bit again, naming a4 one-shots series, “Have a biscuit”. If you like Neville and McGonagall, I’ll be honored if you’d give it a try ^^

Favourite story written so far: Ahhh that’s a tough one, I tend to be quite fond of my stories (yay for the modesty, lol – I swear that when I’m not that thrilled I always admit it, though XD)... Let’s say “As though by a mother” but I might give a different answer in a week XD

Fic you were nervous to post: I’m not sure I’m never actually “nervous” before posting (more like, afraid that the story won’t appreciated as a I hope/that it won’t interest people), but I guess I must have been a bit nervous before posting my first ever pic translated in English, which also happens to have a not-so-usual writing style: And yet it tastes good

How you choose your titles: Ahhhh, good question. I guess it depends. Tbh I’m not that good at titles, or sometime I have a (supposedly) great one in Italian that doesn’t really translate (or isn’t that good) in English or viceversa. [Example: the “Have a biscuit” serie has English titles that I like way better than the italians, but a story like “Souls of Ink”, while having a good ring in English, to me it’s way more powerful and poetic in Italian, “Anime d’inchiostro”].

Sometimes I don’t have a title until the end and I kinda throw something there, sometimes I have the title from the very beginning and it could be a big part in inspiring the story. I tend to use title that are neither too short nor too long, and I don’t usually use songs quotes or the like. Plus, I’m very happy if the words/phrasing of the title recur literally or metaphorically in the story! I also try to match the “feeling” of the title (and the summary) with the “feeling” of the story. Like, I’d go for a more poetic/dramatic one for an angst story, and for a more comedic-like one for something more fluffy or silly.

Complete: Well, that’s easy, since I mostly stay away from multi-chapters XD (and for good reasons – see above XD) All my one shots, and most of my “closed” series, as in, series that I imagined with a beginning and an end or something like that (so, series like “Next Generation” don’t really have a complete/incomplete status) 

In progress: Again “Better than Fireworks”, and I’ve also just realised that I’ve yet to finish translating (despite being at a decent point) the second and last chapter of “Of Matilda, war and Peace” [speaking about being bad a title, lol XD] Ups ^^’

Coming soon/Not yet started: ahhh coming soon probably nothing, ehm, but I’ve at least 4 one shots in the making and that I want to finish one day (most of them started months if not a years ago... I’ll list them below), plus the draft for the rest of Better than Fireworks, plus several random missing-moments or AUs ideas and a long Hinny post-war story started few years ago in Italian (roughly 100.000 written) that needs to be heavily rewritten, translated and possibly finished ^^ Same for a shorter bit of a Jily seventh-year story, if we have to say it all...

“Ghost of the past”, a Hinny one shot from Ginny’s pov with a difficult conversation – I’m very fond of this one, but I have to work on the second part/end. The first/main part is finished and even betaed by the amazing @narukoibito! <3

“Of those who stayed”, a silver trio one shot – again from Ginny’s pov – during DH, when they try to steal the sword. I’ve the first (long) chapter done and again, even betaed by the wonderful @floreatcastellumposts but knowing myself I want to finish it first. I might decide that it’s okay like this (in Italian I’ve already posted it a one shot), but since I had a sort of sequel in mind for now it’ll stay in my drafts ;)

“The man who lived” – This one is all in just Italian so far (I’m rewriting an old piece – I’d probably restart it directly in English now); again Ginny’s pov (wow, hadn’t realised it!), again DH, this time since she (in my head canon) realise Harry might have gone to Voldemort during the battle, until the end of the battle

A one shot that’s it’s a series of Hinny snippets about James Sirius Potter coming to life (from the very start). Old one written in Italian and never posted, that a again needs to be finished. Same for a collection of snippets around Hinny’s wedding (but this is “draftier”)

A one shot of Harry and the Potters waling Teddy at King Cross; I’ve just a very little bit of it written + most of the draft, and it would be the sequel of the one shot “What parents would want”

The random Missing Moments that I’ve have in mind are: a conversation between Bill and Ginny in the hospital wing in HBP, plus maybe a bit more from Ginny’s pov in that period (like going back home from Hogwarts); a conversation between Bill and Ron in DH, not sure if during Ron’s first or second stay and Shell Cottage; Hermione finding out about Arthur’s attack; Dumbledore taking Slughorn’s memory (when it happened, how he found out... I’ve several head canon about it!)

The random AUs moments (and I say moments just because I wouldn’t really be interested in writing a whole story, I only imagine few moments of it): Hermione brining Harry at the Burrow at Christmas after Godric’s Hollow, with is locket attached to his chest (I think I stole the idea from Flo’s!); the trio finding Ginny in the cell in Malfoy Manor as well; and some dumb “Lily and James are resurrected post DH” trash XD Oh, also a real muggle AU with Harry as a self-defence coach and Ginny as trainee!

Do you accept prompts? As you can imagine especially in this period I’m not very good at commitment ^^’, but if you have a specific idea and want to give it a try (maybe during the winter holidays?) I’d be honored, if not able to make any promises!

Upcoming works you’re most excited about: definitely “Ghost of the past”!

I’m tagging @ballerinaroy again, @remedial-potions, @thedistantdusk, @thebiwholived and whoever wants to join ^^

EDIT: Ehm I got caught up with the stats when I wrote this and without realizing it I put a multi chapter in the “Most popular one shot” section, lol XD Problem fixed ;)

[basmathgirl]

Tag Meme

I was tagged by the wonderful @raywritesthings, Thank you! :D

RULES: Answer 20 questions, then tag 20 bloggers you want to get to know better.

1. NAME: I hate giving my name in everyday life, let alone in these things so I’m going to put Basmathgirl

2. NICKNAMES: BMG, Bas, Fan (Fanny Fanackapan is the longer version), and short!Mummy

3. ZODIAC SIGN: Virgo

4. HEIGHT: it was 5’ 4” (1.62m) but I think I’ve shrunk

5. LANGUAGES: English and a vague smattering of French

6. NATIONALITY: British

7. FAVOURITE SEASON: Autumn, although I quite like Spring

8. FAVOURITE FLOWER: If you ever buy me flowers DON’T make it lilies – I can’t stand the smell; otherwise I tend to like white or blueish flowers

9. FAVOURITE SCENT: I like vanilla smells

10. FAVOURITE COLOUR: I like blue – it used to be yellow but a wasp attack put paid to that idea

11. FAVOURITE ANIMAL: Probably dogs

12. FAVOURITE FICTIONAL CHARACTER(s): Donna Noble, Harry Potter, Elinor Dashwood, Anne Elliot, Captain Frederick Wentworth, Fitzwilliam Darcy (yes, I like Jane Austen, and Colin Firth’s photo was on my wall), Roderick Peterson, Peter Vincent, the Doctor, Sherlock Holmes, John Watson, Miss Marple, Father Brown, Shakespeare & Hathaway (yes, I like cheesy BBC detective stories), Inspector Morse,  DI Alec Hardy, DI Alex Drake, DCI Gene Hunt, Malcolm Tucker, Professor Vivian Bearing (have you seen “Wit”?  Of my goodness, I sobbed and sobbed),…. and I’d better stop there, or this would become an essay.

13. COFFEE, TEA, OR HOT CHOCOLATE:  Generally speaking, I’d always go for a tea (I try to keep chai or Earl Grey as a special treat) but in fast food places I’d opt for a hot chocolate as the safest option.

14. AVERAGE SLEEP HOURS: I’m at that age where a bathroom break in the middle of the night is essential, so getting a full 8 hours is a rarity.

15. DOG OR CAT PERSON: I’ve had limited dealings with cats so I’m more of a dog person. My favourite jokey quote is: “People look at me and think ‘dog’.”

16. NUMBER OF BLANKETS YOU SLEEP WITH: I don’t sleep with a blanket; at all. We use duvets.

17. DREAM TRIP: At the moment I am desperate to go back to Scotland – we tried watching the whole Mallaig steam trip on TV (the Jacobite Line) but it ain’t the same as actually being there.

18. BLOG ESTABLISHED: June 2013

19. FOLLOWERS: 1567.  I suspect a high percentage of this figure is pornbots, so I’ll miss them when they eventually unfollow me….

20. RANDOM FACT: Seeing a clip from the recently ‘free to watch’ “Jesus Christ Superstar” reminded me that I’d seen it on the second night it originally opened in London. The ticket was acquired because, for a few months, I shared the same agent as Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice.

I’m tagging: @bedeliadumaurierblog, @badxwolfxrising, @blueyedthiefling, @drtonks @myrklin, @useless-fangirl-does-fan-art, @horseonthespaceship,  @24601error-prisonernotfound, @faceball-95, @mindibindi, @let-your-chaos-explode, @melmey-fanfics, @shego1142, @captainjackspoilers, @joi-in-the-tardis, @cookie-moi, @antiantemeridian, @danasnobledonna, @thewirealbatross, @storamogul, 

[tillidontneedfantasy]

‘WHEN WE ALL FALL ASLEEP, WHERE DO WE GO?’ - Billie Eilish REVIEW: Making ‘Em Bow One By One

WHEN WE ALL FALL ASLEEP, WHERE DO WE GO?

An interesting question you pose there, Billie. When I fall asleep, I usually dream about being a part of the Harry Potter universe and trying to defeat Voldemort with the golden trio. But unfortunately, I don’t go there every night. I mean, believe me, fighting off The Dark Lord can be scary sometimes. But sometimes I go to even darker places, and it always takes a few moments when waking up to believe I’m really in my bed. Much of Billie Eilish’s debut album invites you into the dark parts of her subconscious, and sometimes her extreme consciousness, to which she goes. Of course, “asleep” could also be interpreted as, well, dead. Which is a nice way to phrase it. Ideal, really. How wonderful would it be if death was just an eternal nap? No one would ever be afraid to die.

Maybe that’s what Billie believes it is, and why she seems so desperate to go there on WHEN WE ALL FALL ASLEEP, WHERE DO WE GO? (WWAFA,WDWG?) For a then-16-year-old girl, I wish she wasn’t so tired. “ilomilo,” “bury a friend” and most concerning, “listen before I go,” explore her friends who have been taken from her, and her desire to join them. I’m glad she hasn’t.

So is she. In a now traditional Vanity Fair video, Billie answers the same interview questions three years in a row, exactly a year apart. Expect The Fourth Year one October 18th, 2020. It is one of the most fascinating videos I have ever watched. Though the same at the core, there is a different version of Billie in each year. Which is to be expected, as she is a teenager in the limelight. But the video of year 2, which was around 5 months prior to WWAFA,WDWG?’s release, Billie openly admits to being in a very dark place, discussing how her friend had died. Her posture and affect are noticeably different in years 1 and 3. In the third and latest installment, Billie is an upgraded, happier and more comfortable version of the previous two. You can hear the change in her voice, see it in her face. In response to the question, “What’s most important to you right now?” her answer is, “Maintaining my happiness, which I have been experiencing for the first time in many years….I wanna stay happy. That’s a big goal for me.”

Billie Eilish is one of the biggest breakout stars of the past few years. Her following is enormous, and though fans vary in age, many of them fall in her cohort. Generation Z is special in many ways: morbidly funny, proudly outspoken, self-aware, and unafraid to be different. Billie Eilish is all of these things incarnate, the perfect spearhead for this generation and what they represent. She dresses how she wants to dress and makes the kind of music that she wants to make, refusing to follow the molded expectations of young up and coming female stars before her. In that music, she also does what very few artists, young or old, have ever done: candidly explores mental illness and suicidal ideation.

These issues have become more and more prevalent in today’s society, yet they are still extremely stigmatized. Like many teenagers, I experienced the sadness and darkness Billie is singing about. I’m almost 25 now, but I can imagine how 15-year-old Cass would feel hearing this album and seeing Billie as she is in the third year of that Vanity Fair interview. Understood. Not alone. And hopeful, hopeful that things get better. At that age you feel like everything is the end of the world, because it is developmentally and socially some of the most difficult years in the human experience. And to hear someone you look up to say, “I feel this way, too,” and then see them continue fighting, and happy that they did...that can change someone’s life.

Thankfully, Billie still injects some levity into the album. The musical hook in “bad guy” feels like a defining moment for Gen Z the way the musical hook in “Toxic” was for us Millennials. “all the good girls go to hell” unflinchingly decrees that God Is A Woman™, and “my strange addiction” has cuts from The Office, Eilish’s favorite show, interspersed throughout the song. Gen Z is taking over, and Billie’s one hell of a ringleader.

STRONGEST TRACK(S): “i love you,” “xanny”

The phrase “I love you” has never felt so intimate as it does coming from Billie’s mouth in the penultimate track on WWAFA,WDWG? Sandwiched between two tracks where all together they form a sentence (listen before I go, I love you, goodbye) "i love you" is the most mesmerizing and most vulnerable, not just of the three but of the whole album. As a listener, you are dying to know what's hidden between the lines. Why doesn't she want to love this person even though she clearly does? What did she do to make him cry? Why are you, the listener, crying right now? With the smallest breath, the quietest whisper, the emotion Eilish emits is enormous. Every once in a while you hear a song that you feel will never leave you, and “i love you” has all the makings to be everlasting.

As does the message in “xanny,” a dynamic song that mostly sounds like an old-time jazz track, although infuses a blaring noise over the chorus, as if you are standing right next to the booming stereo at the party setting in which she speaks. The layering of hums in the background and at the end of the song provides a necessary subtle softness, making it all the more beautiful. The track is a statement from Eilish that she has no interest in the lifestyle that so many kids her age- famous or not- lead, partly because she does not understand the appeal of its effects, and partly because she does not want to invest herself in someone willingly bringing harm upon themself, as she previously has. “I can’t afford to love someone who isn’t dying by mistake,” she asserts. Of course, most things in moderation are good and fine, but there is an ever-persistent pressure for young people to use substances, for easier social interactions or easier claim to desirable social status. There is a plethora of music out there promoting the party lifestyle, but very few saying, “hey, it’s okay if you’re not about this, you’re still cool,” and so a celebrity as big as Billie abstaining from it, and providing a reasonable explanation, gives a figure of understanding and solidarity to all the outliers.

WEAKEST TRACK: “8”

Not a bad song by any means, “8” is just the least memorable on an album filled with extremely intriguing and standout tracks. There is an interesting choice of vocal styles that alternate throughout, one of which it sounds as if Eilish is emulating the voice of a little girl. She is asking the subject to just give her some common courtesy and hear her out. "Who am I to be in love / when your love never is for me?" she asks, in the most compelling moment of the song. It is a difficult line to walk, knowing someone doesn't owe you anything but wanting them to anyway. Although the song is effective, its replay value doesn't quite match with the other contenders.

THE IN-BETWEENS

Although Eilish is authentic in her own right, you can see the draw of inspiration from unique artists before her. Lorde's imprint is all over "you should see me in a crown," a catchy song about ruling the world and making everyone bow down to her with the sound of a knife sharpening at the top, and “listen before i go” is reminiscent of Lana Del Rey’s morose romances. “when the party’s over,” written solely by Billie’s brother, collaborator, and best friend, Finneas O’Connell, is a beautifully quiet moment in the middle of the album, with absolutely gorgeous high notes from Billie. The song is succinct and poignant, noting the inner conflict between wanting a friend to be more than just that and yet feeling the need to keep up boundaries to protect your heart; but when has that done anyone any good?

BEST PROSPECTIVE SINGLE: “my strange addiction”

In the age of Netflix, The Office continues to grow in popularity with younger viewers who missed it on air. Who better to bolster the movement than Verified The Office super fan, Billie Eilish? In “my strange addiction,” Eilish and O’Connell draw inspiration from the classic episode, “Threat Level Midnight,” where Michael Scott (Steve Carrell) has finally finished his movie and is ready to premiere it to the office. In his movie, Scott’s character, Michael Scarn, teaches the entire bar how to do his signature dance, “The Scarn.” “No, Billie, I haven’t done that dance since my wife died!” the song begins, which is a real line from the episode. “my strange addiction” borrows from the track for “The Scarn,” which is simply genius. Everyone is doing “The Scarn,” fictional or nonfictional, even NFL player Trey Quinn, who did the famed routine for his touchdown dance. Not only will “my strange addiction” convert The Office fans to Billie Eilish fans, but just imagine the amount of TikToks there could be of people doing “The Scarn” to this song…think about the meme potential, Billie! *Ed Helms voice* There’s a whole crowd of people out there who need to learn how to do the “my strange addiction.”

                                                                   *****

Billie Eilish, and her debut album, WWAFA,WDWG? is impressive in a multitude of ways: she is raw, candid, silly, wildly intelligent, and most importantly, full of a lot of love, no matter how much she claims she does not want to be. Perhaps most impressive is that the only writers and producers credited on this album are Eilish and O’Connell, ages 18 and 22, respectively, at the time of this review, yet 17 and 21 at the time of its release, which means they were 16 and 20 at the time of writing and production. For two young people to create such an impactful album on such a massive scale on their own is a rarity, and has not been seen since the beginning of Taylor Swift’s career, and look at where she is now. Billie’s music might be different, but her trajectory seems quite similar. At Billboard’s Women in Music ceremony in December of 2019, Swift was honored with Woman of the Decade while Eilish was honored with Woman of the Year. Both artists paid homage to the other in their speeches, harkening back to Swift’s 2014 Woman of the Year speech where she alludes to a future Woman of the Year recipient learning piano and singing in choir; Swift had said back then that we need to take care of her, and Eilish tearfully thanked the room for doing just that. As Swift continues to fight against the system to pave the way for female artists, the clearing is all Billie’s. If Billie continues to maintain ownership of her voice, as I’m sure she will, it looks like the woman of the next decade is a lock. The crown looks great on Billie, and I cannot wait to see where she takes us while we’re all awake. Grade: 4.5/5

DISCLAIMER – REVIEWER’S BIAS: The first time I listened to WWAFA,WDWG? the only tracks that really captured my attention were “bad guy” and “my strange addiction.” I wanted to like it so bad, but I felt like I was missing something. Maybe that’s because I listened to the album at work and did not take it in properly. But I also felt like she was whispering too much, which made it difficult for me to stay interested. So I did not revisit it. However, over this past year, despite not listening to her music, I started to form a big-sister-type love for Billie, feeling as if I must protect her at all costs (any man over the age of like, 20, reading this: stay the fuck away from her you sickos!!!). I loved how she embraced her individuality and did whatever she wanted. I watched many interviews of her on YouTube (one being the Vanity Fair one, where she talks about how the criticism that she whispers a lot is hurtful yet true- Billie, I’m sorry!!) and found her to be so intelligent. To me, her and Taylor Swift (my number one love) are two sides of the same coin, or two paths to the same destination. What I mean by that is that as a lover of music and as a girl going through a difficult time, sometimes you need positivity to counteract the negative feelings, other times you need to lean into the sadness to release it all; though they both possess a bit of both, Taylor is more of the positive route, Billie more of the sad route. The thing is, you need both options. Billie reminds me of Taylor so much; she writes all of her own music (with her brother as her only co-writer), she has blown up at such a young and vulnerable age (if WWAFA,WDWG? wins AOTY at the Grammys, Billie will be the youngest ever recipient since Taylor won for Fearless at the age of 20), and she is committed to saying and doing what she wants to do the way she wants to do it. After listening to the album a few more times leading up to the Grammys to write this review, I get it. I truly get it. I’m sorry it took so long. And although her super soft vocals are definitely effective, I still want her to project more. The girl has a gorgeous voice; she should use it! But also she doesn’t need my advice, she’s doing fine. Keep whispering, baby girl. I feel very nervous for Billie, because when a woman reaches the top this quickly, everyone gets ready to push her off just as fast, and the fall can be fatal. But I believe in her ability to stand her ground. Please protect Billie at all costs!!!!

[writeangstime]

Problem of fanfiction writers – aka the whole bucket of reasons why writing for fans is not always easy

So idea to write this was in my head for almost a week and latest post on my dash only encouraged me to sit down to it and write everything. It is quite important because people don’t speak about it and I think it is important thing to do. If any of you would like to reblog it because you agree with it, feel free. If you disagree and want to add something, please, made it cultural in discussion. So without further delay, let me start.  

PART 1 – THE GENERAL PROBLEM

So the general thesis I feel we need to tell is this: Fanart is more ahead than fanfiction in view of fans.

I don’t want to point “artists have better than writers” thesis to start some great war in fandoms, but I think this is very often the case. We want it or not, we live in world that is demanding things to be aesthetically pleasing in our eyes – starting from everyday clothes and ending on the design of websites. So we quickly can decide what we like, what is funny, what is sad, what is pretty. Fanart is easier in terms of deciding if we like it or not. Not only that, many websites also like to promote themselves using specific fanarts, either by promoting them in things like “fanart of the day/week/month” or organizing contests for drawing something in the theme. This websites usually use a huge fanbase that can be drawn by this – after all, one would feel nothing but pride when the website posts their favourite Harry Potter art that they drew for hours.

The other issue is that the most famous applications and websites are either more established for visual media (Instagram, Twitter, etc.) or, if they feature general art, they usually focus on something that isn’t written (Deviantart and their Daily deviations). If writers use any websites, they are either of mixed purpose – Tumblr for example – or some that aren’t used by general public that is not connected to any fandom (AO3). That makes it more difficult to “normalize” writing fiction.

PART 2 – THE SPECIFIC PROBLEMS OF FANFIC

Of course it is not like everything is “blame” of that gap between the fanbase, because fanfiction writers also come up with some issues that are specific for just writing itself. Those I will list below could be probably expanded, but I think those are the most important when we first thing about writing.

1.      There is no money from writing

This probably could be told about pretty much anyone who will made something for fandom, but it needs to be said at every opportunity – majority of the fanfiction writers never had occupation connected to writing. Still they have to earn their livings and that means less time for getting down to write, which in turn means less time to develop your skills. There is also a problem with commissions – barley any writer puts them up and if they do, the prices are extremely low, too low to make any decent money. This also makes problem with setting any kind of Ko-Fi, Patreon or basically anything that would be a side-profit. Devoting time fully to run the pages and write stories is simply not adding up in the moment where you could just push yourself to do something else.

2.      Writing in foreign language

As it might came to you, there are many people in fandom that basically aren’t English native. It might not seem a problem – after all almost everyone now speaks this language – but if you want to have a broader fanbase, you have to write in completely different language than you were taught. So there are always harsh beginnings where you struggle with gramma and even then, when you are fluent enough to live without any problem in another country, you still will get some struggles. People are not the best to understand that – I saw mean comments that were established on fact how said person can’t use the language well. This can be huge strike for someone that tries and struggles to get through the things that could be problematic and just can turn you away from even trying to get better.

3.      Bad fame

In the current fandom fanfictions are very often viewed and portrayed as the fantasy of teenagers that find in that substitute for relationship or for fantasy made true. It is definitely not helpful that the fiction that was turned into books and movies is completely unhealthy in any terms – the stalking issues, the control issues, all the relationship being promoted there are really unhealthy and it is hard to see it as positive at all. No wonder that fanfiction is still viewed as low-quality literature, therefore is not taken much seriously and there is probably hard time getting “profession” by writing fiction like that. Also even the word “fanfic” carries a bit of the negative meaning in some groups.

PART 3 – HOW CAN I HELP?

1.      Reblog/comment as much as you can

Any kind of reaction is pure and warms the heart of writer, but also what we lack is the feedback. Without that we can’t really get the story going better, because we don’t know what part you liked or not. Of course it is nothing obligatory and no one is forcing you to do so, but you know that even writing simple and cheesy “I like it” in tags can make a whole day better.  

2.      If you have some funds you are willing to spend on the writer – do so

Now I don’t say that you need to pour all your money on those fanfiction people out there, but if you ever want to order some story from person that you kind of admire, just ask them – the worst answer would be refusal, in the best you would get a good story. Some of the writers would be even kind enough to write it for you without publishing it, so no one beside you would read that.

[justhereforseverus]

A Rose by any Other Name Would Smell as Sweet

Miserable_toad

Summary:

After meeting Dumbledore at a party with Slughorn, he employs you as a teacher at Hogwarts for the new subject of theatre/literature of the Wizard World. One of the first tasks to do is to form a theatre group and organise a performance at the end of the school year. Yet, this subject is rare at Wizard schools and you are met with quiet a lot of suspicion from your students and colleagues. This causes more than one sleepless night and after Dumbledore can’t take your exhausted face every morning at the teacher’s meeting, he sends you to Severus Snape to get a potion that’ll help you sleep. Reluctantly you go to the teacher you’ve been most afraid of but with every visit your feelings for him change for the better. The menacing potion master seems to feel the same..

Notes:

This is my first fic and English is not my first language, so excuse any mistakes. I hope you enjoy it as it has been in my head for aaaages. This plays in a non-canon time where business is as usual at Hogwarts but Remus Lupin is Defence against the Dark Arts teacher and his condition is accepted by everyone (because I love him as equally as our dear but difficult Snape AND HE DESERVED A BETTER ENDING). Slow start because I suck.

Following chapter will come very soon!!!!

This is a work of fan fiction using characters from the Harry Potter world, which is trademarked by J. K. Rowling. I do not profit financially from the creation and publication of this story.

Chapter Management

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Chapter 1

: Methought I heard a voice cry ‘Sleep no more!Chapter Text

My first day at Hogwarts. I still can’t believe it. I’ve never thought that I’d get a job here with my.. profession. Three weeks ago, Slughorn invited me to one of his parties. He’s seen one of my plays in the small London Wizard Theatre and was entirely enchanted by it. Though it was his first play to watch, so I’m not sure how to take this compliment. Nevertheless, as theatre and literature are still something not entirely accepted as important or anything of high value, I nevertheless felt honoured. During the chill get-together, he introduced me to Albus Dumbledore. After some drinks, we chatted about fiction, theatre and the arts (muggle-and wizard ones) and his regret that these things are quite non-existent in the wizardy school world. A couple of days later, I got an owl with an invitation to teach all these things to his students. And naturally, I accepted as kinda broken actor and literature scholar.

Now, I’m here. I had some days to get familiar to the school, my room and offices as well as most of the teachers here. Minerva and Sprout welcomed me with open arms and immediately talked to me about their favourites works of fiction. Remus has visited me several times in my quarters and showed me books from the muggle-world he loved. But of course, there were some.. other reactions, too. Especially, Severus Snape, the potion master has looked at me with suspicion and rather ignored me during all meetings. I don’t think he likes me very much. Yet, his whole attire fascinates me. His tendency to dramatically walk away with his Dracula-like coat would make him a perfect actor on stage. I’ve seen types like him in many of my companies. Yet, I think he’d not be fond of this idea.

Dumbledore announced me in the great hall on the first day of term. It was interesting to see the reactions of the students. While many on the Slytherin table rolled their eyes and whispered how useless the arts are in their careers, many on the Gryffindor and especially Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw table clapped and looked at me with joy. But after the feast students from every house came to me and proclaimed, they will not only join my literature and arts classes but also join my theatre group. The first day couldn’t have been any better in that regard.

Yet, the whispers behind my back and the snarky looks caused me to be very unsure of myself. I reworked my first lesson schedules over and over again for hours and rearranged the material for the theatre group for way too many times. At about 3am I gave up on perfecting every little worksheet and took a walk because I knew sleep wouldn’t come that night. It’s typical for me really. MY ability to sleep vanished every time I was nervous or scared. It was especially bad when I had fears about the future, financial troubles, or when I was love-sick.. ok so maybe just every time everything wasn’t happy and well and I have to deal with things every adult has to deal with. My body cut on sleep every time I felt any kind of trouble apparently. Thanks for nothing. This status continued with the added stress of daily teachings and the difficult task of putting together the theatre group. The only time I don’t feel nervous at all is when I’m on stage or in front of a class. It feels like home, a parallel world and paradoxically…. it’s soothing and makes me feel at ease. The preparation for it however.. is a different story.

My first session of the drama group was compiled of about 25 students, which is way more than I expected. But after the introductions, I realized that apart from the half-born ones, most experience with theatre came from scandal-driven made-up stories from the papers, which dramatized the whole business too much. Only three had acting experience and the choice of the right play lied entirely in my hands as no one could recommend one that was realistic to perform with a cast made up of beginners. However, I was thrilled to have the curiosity and interest of the students and decided we’ll perform Hamlet because who doesn’t love Shakespeare! This should even impress the theatre-haters with the elements of blood, betrayals, and tragedy.

Unfortunately, the preparations left me rather sleepless Dumbledore noticed this after a month of short naps and 2-3 hours of sleep. One morning of me looking miserably at the way too early teacher’s meeting, he took me aside. “I know you’re under a lot of stress and uncertainty, but you got to sleep and this can’t continue. I suggest you visit Severus and he’ll help you with a calming potion.” However, that wasn’t something I was very keen on doing… I replied: “But…. I don’t think he likes me much. I’m not sure he’ll be pleased with me putting extra work upon him with my anxiety.” Dumbledore insisted though and told me to stop putting more pressure on myself on talking me down. He said: “Severus might be… difficult. But I can assure you, he is fonder of your profession than he might admit voluntarily. Tell him, I send you. It’ll be fine. Otherwise...” and here he winked at me with a smile.” I have to seriously think about employing a teacher that suffers that much under her work here. ”That was something like a jokingly thread but nevertheless it convinced me. I don’t want to screw this up. Well then, up to the dungeon….

Ok, not directly to the dungeon. I taught my lessons and procrastinated with absolutely everything to do before deciding on a time in the evening. I knocked after standing 5 minutes in nervousness before his office door. I heard a “come in” and stepped into the cold cellar of the potion realm.

[boundinshallows]

The ever wonderful @mintjamsblog asked for some of my favorite books, so in no particular order: 

1. Passing - Nella Larsen 

You know, it’s been years since I’ve read this novel/la, but it’s one that’s left an impression. Passing encapsulates the complexities of early 20th century race relations in America through Clare’s racial (and sexual?) passing. There’s a lot happening in such a short book. 

“Money's awfully nice to have. In fact, all things considered, I think, 'Rene, that it's even worth the price.” 

2. Call Me By Your Name - Andre Aciman 

I first read this back in 2011/2012, and I didn’t think it could ever be adequately adapted into a film. (I was wrong). Aciman has this incredible ability to articulate the most difficult to express emotions/yearnings, particularly those associated with young love. I also love the impossibility of it all (which the film as conveyed). Happy endings are great and all, but give me realism almost any day of the week tbh. I have fan fiction for the curtain fic. 

“Did I want him to act? Or would I prefer a lifetime of longing provided we both kept this little Ping-Pong game going: not knowing, not-not-knowing, not-not-not-knowing? Just be quiet, say nothing, and if you can't say "yes," don't say "no," say "later." Is this why people say "maybe" when they mean "yes," but hope you'll think it's "no" when all they really mean is, Please, just ask me once more, and once more after that?”

3. The Winternight Trilogy - Katherine Arden 

Technically three books, I suppose. Winternight is a great series for people who are uncertain about fantasy, but who are fans of historical fiction. The series features a lot of magic on the periphery of the real world, which is a trope I LOVE. And the magic isn’t high fantasy magic, but comes in the form of Russian folklore. The heroine is lovely and the romantic subplot satisfying. 

“All my life,” she said, “I have been told ‘go’ and ‘come.’ I am told how I will live, and I am told how I must die. I must be a man’s servant and a mare for his pleasure, or I must hide myself behind walls and surrender my flesh to a cold, silent god. I would walk into the jaws of hell itself, if it were a path of my own choosing. I would rather die tomorrow in the forest than live a hundred years of the life appointed me.”

4. The Book of the Ancestor Trilogy - Mark Lawrence 

Oof, THIS SERIES. This series is in the same vein as Harry Potter in terms of premise in some sense. However, instead of a wizarding school, our heroine goes to a nunnery where they train assassin nuns. Magical assassin nuns. LOOK, it’s just good, okay? The first two books were perfect. The final book could have been another 100 pages or so, but still felt like a solid conclusion. Also, girls in love. 

“IT IS IMPORTANT, when killing a nun, to ensure that you bring an army of sufficient size. For Sister Thorn of the Sweet Mercy Convent Lano Tacsis brought two hundred men.”

5. Mysterious Skin - Scott Heim 

This book is a trigger-palooza, so be warned. I mentioned this book at some point last year. It’s been a few months, but whenever it pops into my mind, I automatically think “fuck”. The thing that Heim pulls off masterfully in this novel is the reader is more knowledgeable than one of the main characters in the WORST way possible. As Brian slowly starts remembering bits of his abuse and thinks it’s alien abduction (but you KNOW it’s not it at all and can piece what really happened in this alien abduction scenarios...fuck), there’s this overwhelming sense of dread. I need Heim to write a sequel to this book where Brian and Neil get loads of therapy. Like, so much therapy. 

“It was a light that shone over our faces, our wounds and scars. It was a light so brilliant and white it could have been beamed from heaven, and Brian and I could have been angels, basking in it. But it wasn’t, and we weren’t.” 

6. The Masquerade - Seth Dickinson 

This is an in-progress series, so I’m not sure what the final book count will be. It’s non-magical fantasy that digs deep into issues of colonialism and sexuality. There’s a war going on, and we see that war happen through the eyes of the most unlikely of all fantasy POV characters: an accountant. Yes, a whole epic series about war told from an accountant in service of the empire who settled her island home. The narrative is so complex that sometimes it makes ASOIAF feel as straightforward as Dr. Seuss. I struggled to keep up at times. It’s one of those books that you just have to let happen and try to hang on for the ride. I promise twists and turns like none other. 

“Honor,” Apparitor murmured, “is just a credit rating for violence.” 

7. American Gods - Neil Gaiman 

Much like Winternight, what I love best about American Gods is the folklore and magic-at-the-periphery. As the title suggests, this feels like a uniquely American story to tell where Gaiman asks the question: what happens to the gods/beliefs of all those who immigrated to America? What happens when we no longer believe in those gods? (The STARZ adaptation does some stuff I really like, but drops the ball in other areas). 

“Back in my day, we had it all set up. You lined up when you died, and you'd answer for your evil deeds and your good deeds, and if your evil deeds outweighed a feather, we'd feed your soul and your heart to Ammet, the Eater of Souls"

"He must have eaten a lot of people."

"Not as many as you'd think. It was a really heavy feather. We had it made special. You had better be pretty damn evil to tip the scales on that baby...” 

8. Angels in America - Tony Kushner

So this is a play, not a book. However, I think it’s one of the most important pieces of fiction of the 20th century. Angels follows the story of Prior Walter, a gay man newly diagnosed with AIDS. I can’t quite explain exactly why I love it or why it’s so important really. I think it combines the uniquely American story (that I’ve mentioned in American Gods and even Passing) with complex storytelling and emotions (a la Call Me). 

Harper: In your experience of the world. How do people change? Mormon Mother: Well it has something to do with God so it's not very nice. God splits the skin with a jagged thumbnail from throat to belly and then plunges a huge filthy hand in, he grabs hold of your bloody tubes and they slip to evade his grasp but he squeezes hard, he insists, he pulls and pulls till all your innards are yanked out and the pain! We can't even talk about that. And then he stuffs them back, dirty, tangled and torn. It's up to you to do the stitching. Harper: And then up you get. And walk around. Mormon Mother: Just mangled guts pretending. Harper: That's how people change.

[darklingichor]

Carry On by Rainbow Rowell *Major Spoilers*

I wrote a little about this book last month, but I want to write more. This is one of those books that has been lingering in my brain so what follows will be long and rambling.

Now, I haven't read Fangirl I've been pulled more toward action adventure and humor in my fiction, for a while now. Hmm, I wonder what could have happened a few years back  that would cause a Pacific Northwest liberal to feel the need for escape? Just one of those things, I suppose.

I need to read it, if only because I wrote Harry Potter fanfic for years and sort of lost myself in it right after high school.

Anyway.

I've heard people calling Carry On an HP knock off. I don't get this. Simon Snow is obviously Fangirl's Harry Potter. That makes Carry On more of a tongue in cheek homage to HP and stories like it as well as something of a love letter to fanfic writers.

A lot of the main characters start out as your standard for this type of story. "The Hero", "The Mentor", "The Damsel", "The Enemy", "The Unspeakable Evil."

Through the book it becomes clear that our hero is well meaning but ill-suited for the role that his mentor thinks he place him in. The mentor is shown to be unhinged. The damsel is sick of screaming and doesn't want to be in the story at all. The enemy is love sick for the hero and dealing with the puberty from hell. The unspeakable evil, isn't. Its just an unforeseen byproduct of the mentor's plan, in which, the hero, is a pawn.

The book plays with archetypes and I read some of them as being fairly meta about their expected place in the story.

Agetha, especially, seems to know her role and resent it. She's who is saved by the hero, whether she likes it or not.

Baz is so certain of his role as "The Enemy" that until his role flips, he's sure his destiny is to be killed by the person he's in love with.

Simon knows his role so well, he's on auto pilot as a defence mechanism. He's either going to die, or he'll get a stock Happily Ever After. He doesn't even allow himself to think too much about what really matters to him, because he knows his life isn't really his.

I would have loved this book because of everything I wrote above, but add to it the nods to fan contribution? It was enough to make me remember my old ff.n login!

I don't know if Rainbow Rowell researched fan fiction but I figure she must have.

I mean, the things I saw played with and reshaped in Carry On, are fanfic tropes. Rowell took things that grew out of fans having fun with their favorite characters and made them canon.

Main character going out with an exchange student, pop culture references, evil good guy, and:

Four words: Draco is a vampire.

Sure, not every fic that used these were the best, but so what? Many were sincere.

What better way to go to Hogwarts as a person raised outside the UK than to live though an OC in an exchange program?

It was weird that no one in the wizard world listened to muggle music, watched movies or TV. Even the muggleborns? I'm sorry, but I was in the same age range as the characters. In fact, if Harry were real, he would be three years older than me. You can't convince me that there were not at least a couple of muggleborns who were  sending an owl a week to remind their parents to tape Friends or My So-Called Life.

There were a fair few stories where Dumbledore or even Harry turned out to be evil. Even before we found out Dumbledore wasn't a saint. It can be fun to play with expectations and Dumbledore was too perfect for too long.

The vampire thing? I mean, why not? Either Draco or Snape. It fits enough for a fic, and you can get some fun stuff out of it. Besides Hogwarts allowed a warewolf, why not a vampire?

The point is, this book reminds me of some goofy fics I read but also reminds me of some that I sometimes have to remind myself aren't canon, because fan fiction can be amazing.

Example: It has been years but I still remember a great fic that someone wrote about Uric The Oddball's years at Hogwarts. I don't remember much about it off hand but I do know that if I re-read HP, when Uric is mentioned, I think of this story like it is something that is actually in the history of the series. (Dude, I googled "Uric the Oddball fan fiction" on a whim. Popped right up: Uric the Oddball and the Wild Hunt by Ariana Deralte. Guess I shouldn't be surprised! Maybe I should read it again to see if it's still as good as I remember).

So yeah, Carry On is so not an HP knock off and has a number of things that I think make me like it more.

The first one is diversity. It is very nice to have it explicitly said in the text that characters are of different ethnicities, sexualities, and abilities. Watford is a far better representation of a population than Hogwarts is, outside of fanfic (It wasn't there, people wrote it in).

Then there is magic itself, it comes from somewhere it's in the environment, it has to do with celestial alignment, people give words power to channel that energy.

That brings me to something that made me adore the world building here.

The actuality of Simon Snow's universe is that Mages cannot exist independently without the Normals. Without the Normals giving weight and meaning to turns of phrase, rhyme and songs, the Mages couldn't do what they do. Add to that, this means that magic is ever evolving and the Mages must learn about and be a part of, to some extent, the Normal world. This makes Mages who look down on Normals seem even more ridiculous.

I also think this book handled romance better than Harry Potter. I don't know what it was but the relationships seemed awkward and strained in HP. Maybe it was because most of it was shoved into one book, like Hogwarts's water supply was spiked with hormones? I don't know.

What I do know is that even though Simon and Agetha are going through the motions of being together in this book, they still feel like two people who have been dating for a long time.

We don't get a lot about Penny and her boyfriend, but the way she is described talking about him reminds me of how my best friend would talk about her boyfriends when she was visiting me. The way she would go on, you'd think that he was on the moon instead of 90 miles away. I bought that Penny and her boyfriend enjoy each other's company.

And the biggie. Simon and Baz

I almost didn't read this book for two reasons. First: Vampire main character. I love vampires, but I lived through the deluge of Twilight, True Blood, and Vampire Diaries, not to mention that every other book seemed to be about vampires. Even though I didn't watch or read all of them, I just got vampired out.

Second: I have never been one for the whole "enemies to love interest" thing. The Harry/Draco pairing never spoke to me.  Not that I never read fics that managed that ship well, it was just not my favorite, probably because I just never liked Draco.  I tend to prefer romances that are built on friendship (Remus and Sirius dated each other at some point, and nothing can convince me otherwise).

All that being said, I like the Simon/Baz pairing.

I like that Baz freely admits to the reader that a lot of his tormenting of Simon is pigtail pulling.

I like that Simon is more or less: "I like a guy? A guy who was my nemisis? That's new, let's go for it."

There's none of that "Hate turns to love" shit that I personally can't stand.  None of the "I am evil, yet his light draws me" or "His darkness is so seductive"

Baz isn't a villain needing to rethink his position. He's a slightly snobby guy with a lot of family pressure, who is in love with a dude who has been set up as opposition, by the adults in his life.

Simon isn't a good guy wanting to be bad. He's a guy who is following the path set out for him without giving context to his feelings with thought, because he doesn't think. So, when Baz doesn't show up at the first of the year, Simon knows 3 things for sure:

Baz is his enemy

His enemy is not there

He feels very uneasy about it.

Why?

See numbers 1 & 2

This equals out to "plotting" in Simon's mind because that's what enemies do.

It doesn't dawn on him that he was actually missing Baz and that he has romantic feelings for him until later

I also like the interaction between them. Again, I buy that they like each other. The simpler moments, like sharing food, or being flirty. It also makes sense that Baz is so nervous and guarded about the relationship. It fits that they would bicker and argue while trying to figure every thing out.

The relationships feel authentic.

In fact all of the relationships between  the characters feel authentic.  The sibling relationships between Ebb and Nicky, I know siblings that close. The interaction between Baz and his little sister, I know people like them too. The Friendships; in my opinion, too few friends in fiction are depicted messing with each other or being lovingly annoyed by each other.

I've known my two best friends most of my life. Not a day goes by where one of us doesn't say something that if it was said by anyone else, it would lead to a fight. Said by us, it's funny, or at least something we can't argue with.

So I related when Baz's friend complained that he had wasted his childhood hating Simon now that Simon and Baz were no longer enemies and Baz said: "What else were you going to do with your childhood?"

I spent my 20's with my friends seemingly taking turns crashing at my apartment. I spent most of my time ossulating between wishing they would go home and being glad they were there.

So at the beginning of the book, when Penny won't leave Simon's room? I saw myself in the way Simon felt about it.

That authentic and relatable quality was what I really liked about the quiet - if not Happily Ever After - then the Attempting Normal For Now ending each character got.

Well, as normal as you can get with a story involving  mages, vampires and powerful Elton John songs.

I am a dodecahedron of geekdom, btw and the classic rock side jumped up and down clapping hands at all of the music references (and giggled when Carry On was fallowed by Wayward Son which will be followed by Anyway The Wind Blows). 

And now we come to the reason I have not read the sequel even though it is sitting in a bag with the rest of this year's Powell's haul.

From what I have read, Wayward Son is, at least in part, about what happens after Happily Ever After and ends on a cliffhanger. 

After Happily Ever After with a cliffhanger and no release date... Yeah, that will drive me crazy. I haven't even read the second book and I'm already thinking about the third. Aw man! Who dies? Who breaks up? Who becomes evil?

So, even though road trip stories are right up there with time travel stories as one of my favorites, even though I love the idea of showing a character battling depression, even though I love these characters, period; Wayward Son will stay unread until I run out of new books to read, or the next book's release date is close. Whichever comes first, because I want to think of the characters in their quiet ending ending for a little while.

[tender-history]

Fic Plotting 101: How I Start from an Idea.

Hullo, hi, welcome! It’s Plotting 101 with Dee: Part One!

 Before we get started, here’s why I made this post:

 1) I get a lot of CCs asking how to approach plotting, pacing and especially story flow, and I wanted to link them all to something useful,

2) I see a lot of people wanting to write plot but unsure how to approach it because it can be overwhelming,

3) Google Searching ‘how to plot’ can be EXTREMELY scary.

 Let’s take Number 3 first. If you’re going to Google ‘how to plot’, you’re going to end up with advice on everything ranging from ‘don’t plot’ to six sheet spreadsheets with fifty columns each that wants you to put down everything from your character’s eye color to what exactly they think of instant noodles. You’ll end up with diagrams, beat sheets, templates, storyboards, and find guides that range from six-step plotting techniques to fifty-steps. And I’m not saying you shouldn’t follow that method - sometimes, if you’re a person who likes character design and questionnaires a lot, you’ll love that method. But I’m not like that, and a lot of writers I know aren’t like that either. There’s nothing I hate more than some spreadsheet asking me my character’s weight and height. And if you go down that road, chances are that you’ll just go down the rabbit hole of intricately designing your characters and settings for AGES instead of actually writing anything at all.

 So - if not through spreadsheets or beat-sheets, how DO you plot?

 If you ask me, the best plotting method is to do WHAT WORKS FOR YOU.

 How do you find what works for you? You try things. I tried many different ways of plotting before I decided what worked for me. So this is going to be less a guide on how to plot and more an explanation of the ways I plot, with the hope that maybe you can find something in here to help you.

 > For me, step ONE is the IDEA.

 This is your big shiny nugget. Your driving force. This is EXTREMELY important, because no one idea is equal to another.  Some ideas are better, because they can help you do something unique, something only you can do, which makes you stand out. For the sake of demonstrating this whole thing, let’s take The Tender History of Tides. Tender History lived on my Ideas folder in my Notes app for months before I began writing it. This was my one-line quick jot-down: ‘what if I wrote non-royalty historical fantasy set in Joseon Korea?’

 Done before? Yeah. Can be done in a unique way? Heck yeah.

 Your idea is very very important because it’s the axis on which you’ll pivot your entire plot. It’ll grow and develop and change if you just give it some thought.

 So, plotting suggestion #1 right here: Keep an Ideas folder. You WILL forget your idea, however shiny it is. Keeping it all in one place helps in more than one way: 1) You know it won’t disappear from your mind, 2) Sometimes ideas can overlap, come together, and turn into a whole new story.

 For Tender History, the historical fantasy set in Joseon Korea idea very, very quickly merged with another idea I’d had: taegi dark-fic with sea-monster Tae and monster-hunter Yoongi. They were disparate thoughts, things I thought of at different times, things I then put together to create something more unique than what they would have been individually.

 I often generate ideas this way. I’ll consult my Ideas folder for thoughts I’ve had in the past, then see if they can be combined with something else to make a better shiny.

 Few examples:

 1) vhope magic shop au + but what if the whole thing is set in a game arcade?

2) taegi vampire au + but what if this was set in the fashion world?

3) vmin library au + but what if they went to a magical school?

 Combination is one way of idea generation. Other ways of idea generation that I sometimes use:

 > Use images. Go on Pinterest, check out some aesthetics, let your imagination run wild.

> Use online prompters. There are so many prompt generators floating around! For Fantasy, I use Seventh Sanctum sometimes (they have hundreds of different sort of prompt generators, and some are really good if you’re stuck on banal things like naming, or a quick character design). For fan fiction, there are prompt bots on Twitter. You can even google writing prompts, there are several websites that offer one per day, which you can then use to kick start your imagination.

 > Now you have your idea. Step TWO, for me, is developing the idea.

 This is the step where you can really stand out in the crowd when it comes to plotting. It’s great having a unique idea, but this is the part where you flesh it out.

 Here’s how I do that:

> Scribble down a skeleton of what you think the story will be: In my case, for this Taegi fic, the skeleton looked something like this:

taegi, yoongi is a detective, tae is a supernatural being of some sort, setting is joseon korea, time period is (???), wintry, monsters and murders, dark, atmospheric, there’s a romance and it’s both soft and dangerous, side: noble seokjin, scholar namjoon, doctor jimin (?). they’re in a village and there are these murders and everyone is keeping secrets. 

This, as you see, is a ramble. It’s just whatever’s in my head, being committed to paper. Now, plotting is WORK. Putting what’s up there - that ramble, that mess of ideas - into a functioning, well-paced, structured, organized plot requires you to put work into it. It’s not easy. But it’s a lot of fun. And when it starts coming together, you really feel very good about your writing and your story!

So, moving on to the actual work now:

> Write a 250 word pitch of the story. Organize your ramble into something coherent, meaningful and easy to absorb. Imagine that this is exactly like the back blurb on a book. The back blurb on a book is meant to entice you to read it. IF it’s enticing enough for you to read, then you can imagine that it might be enticing to a reader. But first - you have to make it enticing for YOU. As the writer, YOU have to feel like, ok, this is gonna be a killer story if I tackle it.

 The objective of this pitch is two-fold:

1) You have to be able to tell three things from it: the idea, the characters, and the main conflict.

2) A complete STRANGER - i.e., someone who has no idea about your story - should be able to look at this pitch and tell what exactly the story is about.

 I can’t stress the importance of this step. Often times, it’s not until you force yourself to explain your plot in 250 words that you find possible issues with it.

 Here’s how I explained Tender History in 250 words or less:

 “In late 1700s Joseon Korea, a string of strange murders sends Inspector Kim Seokjin to a frozen northern province. Accompanying him is Min Yoongi, once a scholar of the supernatural, now an indentured laborer until a debt for his crimes against the palace can be paid. Quickly taking on eccentric artist Kim Taehyung as his assistant, Yoongi sets out to find the monster that’s terrorizing the land. But there’s more to both the icy lakes and the people here. More to Taehyung and his unflinching ease at drawing scenes of death. Yoongi just needs to figure out what.”

 Note a couple of things here.

A) You as the writer knows who the important characters are, because they are named.

B) You know the setting: 1700s, Joseon Korea, icy, winter.

C) You know the characterization and how they play into this world: inspector Seokjin, indentured worker Yoongi, artist Taehyung.

D) You know the conflict: murders, monsters, secrets.

E) You ALSO, if you look deeply enough, know the inner character conflict - Yoongi has debts, he has no free will until he pays them.

 If I show this to you, a stranger, you should ALSO be able to glean these basic details from this 250 word pitch.

 It’s not easy. It just looks easy. I spent hours putting this down in a way that was completely right: precise, simple, yet very explanatory. This pitch will force you to confront what is the story, its actual plot and actual characters, and what is only set dressing. You can’t ramble about it anymore for hours. You can’t have a bunch of disconnected ideas anymore. You HAVE to fit it into something concise, something easily absorbed - not just by you, but by a reader who can’t see into your mind. 

You will also know, by putting this down, if the characters aren’t developed enough inside your head. Because why would anyone go to a wintry frozen land to catch a monster? You can’t answer that unless you know, by forcing your thoughts into coherency, that oh, Yoongi has no real free-will here.

 > Step THREE, marry external and internal conflict.

 Or this is step 1.5, actually. You cannot plot a story without both external and internal conflict. Or, you can, but then you won’t touch your readers as much as you would want to.

 What do I mean by this?

 Your external conflict is something that exists outside of your characters - your regular villain, say. This is your Darth Vader, your Voldemort, your Capitol.

 Your internal conflict is what your character feels. This is HARDER. In Hunger Games, Katniss ponders and combats her own ruthlessness. In Harry Potter, Harry’s desire to fit into the world and live a normal life continuously contrasts with his own fame and the symbol of hope he becomes.

 In Tender History, my external conflict is very fancy: murder, monsters, scary villages, etc. Internal conflict is a lot less so: Yoongi in this fic continuously has to wrestle with feelings of guilt and unfairness, with wanting to do good but feeling too burned by the system. If you’ve read Murmuration, the external conflict is the Scarab, but the internal conflict is their own ambition, their guilt over what they had to do to survive, their (terrifying) loyalty to each other.

 Internal conflict is where you find your character voice. If I’d set Tender History Yoongi in a celebrated position at his job, he’d be a much different character. His voice would be much different. He has power! He has resources! Versus this Yoongi, who has nothing, and hence has to trust the people he’s allowed to work with to tell him the truth.

 Think of it like peeling the layers:

 1) The Idea,

2) Develop the Idea,

3) Fill in the External Conflict,

4) Fill in the Internal Conflict.

 I have a few major rules I follow at this point of plotting. They’re like this:

 1) Are these the right characters for my story? - This means I do a round of thinking about whether these people are the perfect vehicle to tell this story I want to tell. Great, I want to tell a story about wintry Joseon Korea, and monster-fighting. But. Is indentured-worker Yoongi the best person to carry this? What if I make him a village leader instead? What if he’s a runaway prince? What if he’s the monster? Depending on what you want your story to be, you have to think of your character to fit the telling. In Romance of Old Clothes, I chose Tae POV for the whole thing because I wanted to illustrate his reading of people vs. other people’s reading of him. Taehyung’s internal conflict in that fic was that he lies to himself extensively. He’s got this idea of who he is, which is untrue, which is then broken down in a climactic moment. He’s my perfect character to tell that story, because of his obliviousness. Similarly, in Tender History, Yoongi’s the perfect character to tell this story, because of who he is in society, his internal troubles, and his monster-hunting experience.

 2)What are some details I would add to this world? - I have a basic idea of the conflict, the world, and the characters now. This is where I take out a chart or a notebook and get to work. I do this like a mindmap: I jot down anything I can think of - say, okay, Joseon Korea: food, art, paintings, caste system, civil examinations, scholars, winter, roads, Confucianism, shrines, religion, music, monsters, gender roles. Then I begin detailing it. ‘Food’ for example: royals eat different food from commoners eat different food from untouchable castes or peasants. Summer food is different from spring food is different from winter food. When I read about food for this fic, I read about the ‘barley gap’ or the gap between barley and rice cultivation during winter. People historically starved during this time. If my story is set in winter, this is an important detail.

 Let’s take something more contemporary. I’m writing about a vintage clothes store. Details I would need - clothes, brands, size of the shop, layout of the shop, how do they procure clothes, how do they test authenticity, what are their customers like, who do they interact with, where is their shop in the city, what does being in that locality mean, what seasons are busy for them.

 A mindmap is just a page full of words, questions, things you know, things you don’t know. Filling it up is the next major step.

 3) What is character development going to be? - This is very important. Okay, you have an external and internal conflict. Now, start of the story being point A, and end being point B, what exactly is A and B for my character? What do I want them to become? In Romance of Old Clothes, Taehyung at Point A is lying to himself about his own nature. By Point B, he’s able to identify that he needs to let people in, open up more. In Wonder Woman, Diana at the beginning of the story is rather naive, believing that if only she could destroy the God of War, the whole war will end. By the end, she understands and admits that things are not that black and white - that people sometimes fight wars because they want to, not due to some external influence.

 You have to know this to continue.

 Step 4, in how I plot, is to put down a starting scene, a few story beats, and the rough idea of an ending.

  But I’ll get into that - and more, including pacing - in Series 2 of this series of posts! Please let me know here or on twitter if these are helpful, or if I’m just rambling too much.

Since I am now struggling a lot to balance writing with work, and if you want to help me keep on writing posts like this, please consider donating to my ko-fi.

I also made a post on how I world-build, the tools and templates I use for the same: it’s over here!

 https://tender-history.tumblr.com/post/185910085044/on-research-worldbuilding-and-culture