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lookingfts · 1 month

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What are your favorite tropes/motifs/themes to write when you write about Kate and Anthony? What are some constants that you think are imperative to stay true to their characters regardless of the AU?

I think your signatures/strengths include intimacy in a variety of forms, including smut in general, but specifically porn with feelings. I truly think authors like you are important in giving respect to the skill it takes to write good sexually explicit material. 99% of readers (at large, not in this community) are so dismissive of this facet of writing, especially in fan fiction, which we all know is massively disrespected by people who don't read it. As is romance writing in general. I'm rambling. Anyway.

Anyway, thanks for all the stories and for fielding so many questions here. I feel like after next week, the anticipated lack of Kate and Anthony screentime (at least during this first half) will see an uptick in interest in new Kanthony stories/headcanons/missing scenes from fans, and of course no writer is obligated to fill that demand, but I hope you and the many other talented writers here find some inspiration in what little of Lord and Lady Bridgerton we will see.

Also, writing grounded, flawed characters that remain likable but eventual find growth, often with the help of professional therapy. I LOVE seeing therapy come up in fictional narratives. We all need it. I wish it were more accessible in real life.

Lavishing Kate with the character building and time and attention her character deserves, the way the show didn't (and will no doubt continue not to).

Um... I have more, but struggling to articulate it at the moment.

Sorry for the rambling. I did intend just to answer those questions up top 🤦🏾‍♀️

(Also, Kate and Anthony being exhibitionists, haha. I love the different ways that pops up in your stories. These two, I swear.)

So many good questions here.

My favorite tropes/themes – that’s a hard one! Exhibitionism, absolutely – I just feel like canonically they’re the kind of people who get a thrill by tempting fate. Just right out on that gazebo where anyone could have caught them. 😂 I absolutely love writing dirty talk, I love an age gap, and I love playing with dom/sub dynamics (it seems fairly universally accepted that Kate and Anthony are both switches, and I find something so swoon-worthy about one of them willingly submitting to the other because they have full trust in them, and they communicate openly). Outside of smut tropes, I’m a sucker for hurt/comfort and bickering as an expression of sexual tension. Also miscommunication because they both have their Jump to Conclusions mats out at all times.

I think in every universe, Anthony is obsessed with Kate and Kate is at least a little reluctant to fall for him for one reason or another (mostly because he’s a sad little rich boi).

Unfortunately, yes, fanfiction does tend to be the butt of jokes. I hate when people use “it’s like fanfiction” to describe a poorly written piece of media – when I think that most people who read fanfiction can name dozens of stories that are better than the media they’re based on. And I think people realize how hard it is to write good smut when they read bad smut. 😂 I’ve seen some truly horrendous phrasing in smut.

Also agreed that professional therapy should be more accessible. I’m glad that the newer generations are speaking so openly about mental health, and the stigma continues to diminish. Therapy is healthcare, like anything else. And I think Anthony and/or Kate working through their issues with the help of therapy a) makes a lot of sense for their characters and their trauma and b) shows that they’re committed to being the healthiest versions of themselves for each other. (I have semi-recently become aware that a lot of people have had bad experiences with therapy, so this is not to diminish that! I personally have had good experiences but I understand that’s not a blanket statement for everyone.)

Fanfiction really gives you a wonderful opportunity to dig into the characters and flesh out lots of details about their backstories, in a way that TV shows aren’t usually able to do. I particularly like writing from Kate’s perspective because I relate to her so much, though it’s also very fun to write Anthony’s unhinged inner monologue!

#asks and answers #writing asks

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a-dinosaur-a-day · 1 year

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what are you into besides dinosaurs/birds? or is it just that?

I recognize how many could come to that conclusion but I promise I'm into other things besides paleontology and ornithology!

I'm really interested in Judaism and almost became a Rabbi. Some of my friends still call me a Dinosaur Rabbi

I'm very musical; I can sing, I can play a few instruments, and I'm always listening to punk & alt music. Favorite band is Rise Against. I also really enjoy Fall Out Boy, the Offspring, Nirvana, Paramore, Silversun Pickups, Jimmy Eat World, Mother Feather, Veruca Salt... plus a lot of Jewish music like Pharaoh's Daughter and Nefesh Mountain

I'm from Chicago and I'm very passionate about my hometown. I'm sad I don't live there now.

I loooooooooove computer games. I play them waaaaay too much.

I'm a writer! Been writing fanfiction and original fiction since... I was 10? That sounds right

I love marine biology! I'm a sucker for cetaceans. Orcas are so beautiful and Vaquitas make me sob like a baby.

Ecology & the Biosphere in general are fascinating to me. I love learning about how life and the planet come together to make the interesting world we live on.

I also love history! Certain periods I find boring but history in general is very fascinating just as prehistory is.

I enjoy books and I have way too many of them. I'm just always reading *something*.

I'm an anarchocommunist and I do have a strong interest in politics and political activism. I blame my communist parents, I never had a chance. I knew who Fred Hampton was before I knew how to do multiplication.

I also just love learning about queer theory and queer history beyond that. I'm intersex, nonbinary, demiromantic, and pansexual. So queer stuff is a big part of my life. Also, disability activism, because I'm hella neurodivergent and I have mobility issues.

I am passionate about my friends and my chosen family (and my mom). I have some really great people in my life - my spouse (whom I have been with for 10 years), my best friend forever (whom i have been friends with since high school), and so many other wonderful friends both "in real life" and on the internet. I also have five parrots, which unfortunately do not count as a separate interest lol

I enjoy a lot of comedy shows because they help me forget my ~traaaaauma~ while I watch. So Parks & Rec (I have been called the Leslie Knope of Paleontology by multiple separate individuals), The Good Place, Abbott Elementary, Community, etc.

I like to bake! I'm pretty good at it. I also enjoy cooking some food, but I'm a really picky eater so it's limited.

and those are the major things! look at that, scientists are people too!

#about the blogger #about me #hobbies and interests

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sibillascribbles08 · 9 months

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I'd love to hear about your hcs for Splinter's dad.

-silverphoenixflame

Aw yay it showed up in my inbox this time !

And okay : )

Going to ramble a bit and preface this with some of my thought process so I'll drop a readmore at some point

So while doing a lot of thinking about Splinter/Lou Jitsu (I'm a sucker for storylines of empty fame) I started wondering why we never hear him mention his father or see him in any of his memories. He's not there when Atsuko (his mother) dies like it's heavily implied he went to live with his grandfather.

Which like, okay, could be a number of reasons his dad isn't around. Divorce, death, went missing, who knows? (I know the writer reason is just "we don't want to design and introduce a character who does nothing and would literally just be there for one episode" but let's work with what we've got.)

Anyway while thinking about it I thought again about the fact that I hc that Atsuko was dead before that conversation with Yoshi (mostly due to how her kimono was worn and how she just disappeared) and the reason she appeared was some Hamato spirit projection shit (like they showed up in Splinter's room why can't they do this to I guess).

And for ages I assumed she died because of SOMETHING to do with the dark armor, which is why Sho is explaining it during that scene (even if it's in a very easy to digest way for a boy who is like, what, six??) which is how I came to the conclusion she died while fighting the Foot Clan to defend part of the armor.

Ah, but then what if it wasn't just that, what if the person who killed her (and she killed in turn) was also Yoshi's father.

Bear with me I promise it makes (some) sense.

Because even if the artists didn't want to design a father figure for a flashback scene it does seem odd not to design one to include when all the ancestors pop up. Like that's the ENTIRE Hamato family right there, including his grandfather, so why doesn't his dad pop up? Probably because he never fully became a Hamato, possibly because his loyalty lied elsewhere.

The way I picture it in my head, a young foot recruit is given the task to find a way to infiltrate the Hamato clan and learn about the locations of all the armor pieces. So he does this the easiest way he knows how, by winning the affection of the somewhat rebellious daughter of Sho. (I have my own hcs that Atsuko was just as adamant about avoiding family responsibility as Yoshi was (he had to get it from somewhere right?? (ignoring the whole trauma part of it I mean))). So they hang out, and date (?), and he makes himself look good to the rest of the clan so the marriage is approved. Get married, and things are going smoothly, but then a kid enters the picture.

And since, you know, HE'S part of the foot clan it's decided that at some point when he's still very young, Yoshi should be brought to the Foot Clan to be raised properly.

But as soon as Yoshi comes around, Atsuko starts noticing something is off. And eventually she catches her husband communicating with the Foot Clan, and hell kinda breaks loose for a bit.

The jig is up, the Hamatos try to kill him outright but he escapes, but vows to one day return for his son. That's when Atsuko gets serious about her family legacy.

They fight more than once, but eventually one of those fights ends with them both being fatally injured, and while Atsuko manages to reach her father she begs him not to let Yoshi see her like this, and not to tell him about his father. Hence the spiritual goodbye later.

She always wanted to tell him the truth herself, but he never really learned how to contact her, and she still hasn't gotten the opportunity.

Anyway yeah, she went from loving this man to never hating anyone more in her life, hence "We do not speak of him."

#scribs speaks #rottmnt #lou comes back wrong #thanks for asking !#I'm also just a sucker for the added layers of tragedy you know?

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roachliquid · 1 year

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I have to snort when people are like "Noooo, you can't put a happy or even bittersweet ending in a Mythos work and still call it 'Lovecraftian', that's defeating the whole point!"

Like. Art is a conversation, ya dweebs. Yes, the running thesis in much of Lovecraft's work is that doom is inevitable and all-encompassing - but there's a lot of room to play with it that hardline traditionalists tend to overlook in their insistence on categorical purity. And one of the ways you can play with it is to disagree outright with his conclusions.

I mean, look. Lovecraft spent most of his life as a privileged dickhead whose trauma over the fate of his parents warred constantly with his view of himself as someone who should be exempt from such horrors. The idea of bad things, even cataclysmically bad, being something that both happened to people on a regular basis and could be lived with didn't come home to roost for him until the Depression. The dude was naive as hell, is what I'm saying - so of course sometimes people are going to look at his Earth-Shattering Tragedies and go "Oh, someone could actually survive that" - without fundamentally disagreeing with the concept that the world is full of terrifying unstoppable forces with the power to make your life worse.

In fact, one of the best Lovecraftian games I've ever seen both plays the doom completely straight, and refuses to submit to Lovecraft's philosophy about it. Sucker for Love: First Date is a fantastically silly dating sim about trying to smooch an Elder God, and while it is partly (and successfully) a horror game about dying because you woke up Femthulhu, it never downplays the significance of the protagonist's comparatively lighthearted quest to smooch that same Elder God. Essentially, the game says, the end might be horrible and inevitable, but you can still have a good time in the interim - and at the end, when everything is falling to pieces, the fact that you spent that time on something happy makes the end sting that much less.

It is a fantastic diversion from Lovecraft's attitude, while still taking his themes head-on. And that, to me, is more valuable than simply parroting everything he put into his work. Yes, there are writers and game developers who don't do this, but I consider that a skill issue rather than a problem of philosophical disagreement - they simply aren't making the effort to bridge the gap between the story they want to tell and the material that they're working with.

There are plenty of ways you can emphasize Lovecraft's themes without directly agreeing with his conclusions. You can rob protagonists of the ability to defend themselves via might - maybe the popular American pastime of "shoot the thing until dead" no longer works, or maybe efforts to call in the military fall on deaf ears. You can emphasize how terrible the cataclysm is by showing how much is still lost even when characters manage to cinch some kind of victory. Hell, you could even depict the inevitability of suffering by showing that after the characters are done dealing with the cosmic threats, the banal evils of everyday life mean the fight will never really be over.

And you can choose not to focus on that, too. You can decide you'd rather show the importance of small victories, managing to survive as everything is falling apart around you. You can send a message that even if you are doomed, survival is still worth fighting for. You can choose, as the creators of a ridiculous dating sim chose, to emphasize that the omnipresence of the end does not negate the possibility of present happiness.

Insisting that Lovecraftian works have to agree 1:1 with his messages effectively gatekeeps the genre from anyone who isn't willing to uncritically parrot his philosophy. And that's incredibly counterproductive to the purpose of making art, which is inherently transformative and communicative.

#horror #lovecraftian horror #lovecraft #h.p. lovecraft #writing

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bookaddict24-7 · 7 months

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REVIEWS OF THE WEEK!

Books I’ve read so far in 2023!

Friend me on Goodreads here to follow my more up to date reading journey for the year!

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221. United as One by Pittacus Lore--⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

UNITED AS ONE was a rough read--not because of the writing, but because of the emotions. The level of grief was so heavy that I wanted to stop listening to the audiobook. I hurt so much for the characters and how self-destructive a certain character was acting because of their grief.

But much like the other books in the series, it was non-stop action and the conclusion was as exciting as the rest of the series, except this time there wasn't a cliffhanger.

I did enjoyment that epilogue and the connections between the characters and how they potentially go beyond the major events leading up to the final events of the book. I had never read this final book and I didn't know what to expect, but I'm glad that I finally have and can finally say that I understand the hype.

Now, I'm going to try to read the sequel series because this series had me in a stranglehold. If you're looking for something like this, I highly recommend the MICHAEL VEY series! This definitely gave me similar vibes!

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222. King of Battle & Blood by Scarlet St. Clair--⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I've been eyeing KING OF BATTLE & BLOOD for years and never took the dive. Having recently read FALL OF WRATH & RUIN by Armentrout, this gave me super similar vibes (but with a lot more sex). If you're looking for a book that focuses heavily on the fantasy element of a story, this ain't it. Instead, this is a spicy enemies to lovers where we get a lot of angry sex, jealousy, and a badass FMC who takes absolute shit from no one and straddles that morally grey line in a way that it's clear why she should be with her new husband.

I did like that twist ending (even though I guessed it from a mile away), but I think I'm going to just stick with this one for right now.

I really enjoyed the sass and how the FMC showed who she was and what would happen if someone disrespected her. I've read better paranormal romances, but this was definitely something that kept me hooked throughout the whole thing (more than I was expecting).

To be honest, I was worried I was going to be bored, but I was so entertained and I think a lot of romance lovers will be too if they don't expect too much from the fantasy side of the story.

I think one of the main themes, too, in this book is the importance of keeping an open mind when one of the characters is constantly being pushed to act against a group of people based on their biases. That was a surprising lesson to see in this book.

Anyway, I enjoyed the heck out of this and I had a bloody good time. It scratched an itch for this kind of romance I didn't know I had.

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223. Wildfire by Hannah Grace--⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Okay, straight up--was this as good as ICEBREAKER (for me)? No. Was it a lot of fun and just cute all around? Absolutely. I devoured this audiobook and giggled and just had such a sweet and fun time.

I WAS worried that it would suffer the sophomore book syndrome, but thankfully it didn't for me. I'm a sucker for books with characters like this and I think they all had a lot of growth in this book. They had their issues and traumas and I appreciated how the two MCs worked through them together. I also loved, as always, the communication that happened. One of the things I loved about ICEBREAKER was the communication and Grace continues this trend in WILDFIRE.

There isn't really a big climactic moment where a huge, third-act-break-up causing issues arises AND I AM OKAY WITH THAT. Sometimes I like my contemporary romances to be chaos-free and super simple. Let me just enjoy the good vibes.

I personally can't wait for the next book, especially because I love this universe and if Grace continues to write books like this and its predecessor, then I'm going to be hella swooning for the next few years!

What I didn't like as much in this one was that the trauma the FMC experienced was very similar to the trauma of the MMC in the first book. And you know, that's fine--but I want characters who bring something newer to the story. I think, also, what I loved a lot more about ICEBREAKER was that it was more of a slow burn. Yes, there was smut very early in the book, but the romance itself took a bit of time to form. This one felt a TINY bit insta-lovey.

All of that being said, I still enjoyed this and I'm looking forward to Henry's book!!!!

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224. Bound to the Battle God by Ruby Dixon--⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Having finished BOUND TO THE BATTLE GOD, I'm just left in complete shock. This is the same author that wrote ICE PLANET BARBARIANS, which is a pretty great book on its own, but this was so much more than I was expecting.

First of all, this is an adventure of a book. It has portal magic, a society that treats women pretty horribly to be honest, an epic road trip full of road traps and character growth, and a very grumpy and arrogant god. But you know what else we also get? Angst. Slow burn. Sexual tension that fills every page.

It was delicious.

We got to see these characters bonding against all odds and it was so addicting. I was attached to my kindle and no one could tear it away from me. One of my favourite things about addicting books is the urge I get to keep reading, real life be damned and I won't lie, sometimes this feels like an impossible ask but oh my gosh, this book.

And when the spice hit? Oooooooooof.

I think what I mainly loved about this was the friendship that built during this fantastical adventure. It felt like such a well-written fantasy book with a dose of tension and budding romance. It was more than its smut and I really have a lot of respect for Dixon for writing a book like that. I will definitely be owning a physical copy and will definitely pick up the second book (which is about another couple).

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225. Their Vicious Games by Joelle Wellington--⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I remember reading a portion of this a few months ago and really enjoying it. The beginning of THEIR VICIOUS GAMES was definitely something alluring. You're brought into this mystery and wealthy world where the elite are allowed to, essentially, do anything the hell they want. Especially with how they treat those they deem "other", like the not-so-wealthy main Black character. Even the half-Black characters are seen as "exotic" in a sexual way. Commentary like this made this book punch the reader to the point where you couldn't help but keep your attention on the story.

I loved the commentary on racism and how even if you have money, you're not absolved from your inability to be born as white. Other than the MC, there is an Asian character who plays a pretty pivotal role in the book. I loved this because it was like the author was saying that not even money can save you from racism; not even being included in one of the most powerful events erases the fact that you don't look like the many white people leering at you. This brought back memories of reading LEGENDBORN by Tracy Deonn, where even the most spiritually and magically powerful woman was mistreated because she was Black. The tokenism, too, of the supposed love interest (add an asterisk to that one) and how he sees the MC as someone "different" and more worthy of his attention because she was, again, "Different". Yes, I'm sure it was her daring character he was alluding to.

I mentioned at the beginning of this review that I read a bit of this a few months ago--I think it says a lot about the power of this book that I remembered so much of it months later. I think this brought a deeper level of nuance to a trope that is quickly becoming really popular in YA, thanks mainly in part to the popularity of THE INHERITANCE GAMES. Because yes, this had a lot of similarities to that series if it all had been one book and if people died in order to attain the fortune.

But while I enjoyed the dialogue on race and even the suspenseful moments when I didn't know who was going to live or die, something about this book felt off by the quick ending. I understand why it happened the way it did and honestly, I applaud the author for taking that route and staying true to the MC's character traits, but I won't lie if I say that I wouldn't mind a sequel. The story just feels like...it was wrapped up too neatly, or quickly? I wouldn't mind seeing more.

The funny thing is that as I write this review, I was going to go a different route. I had originally rated this lower, but as I wrote that first paragraph I changed my rating. This is definitely a fun thriller and a mystery of "who will win and what twist will come next?", but I think the main focus should be both the commentary on race AND the fact that these girls were so willing to do anything to succeed and become the next powerful person, even if it meant being a puppet. For me, it called to this obsession so many people have of getting to the top no matter what and the idea that you're entitled to more than others simply because of the happenstance of your birth and the way you look. And the drive that so many have to succeed, even if you get killed or kill yourself in the process because no success equals failure and no one is allowed to fail.

Anyway, I'm ending my rambling by saying that this was a good book and I think you should check it out, especially if you liked THE INHERITANCE GAMES & LEGENDBORN (although, there are no magic powers in this one).

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226. The Chalice of the Gods by Rick Riordan--⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I was so excited when this book was announced because I loved Percy's misadventures in his dangerous world--especially because a lot of Riordan's original readers are either past this age stage, or are currently experiencing it, making it all the more relatable (save for the Gods, of course).

I'm not giving this a full five star rating because it was such a silly and fun read, but Percy being older reminded me of how old I am now and listen, no thank you LOL. But this had that same sense of adventure that we all grew to love and that made us wish that we had a Camp Halfblood to go to in the summer. I loved seeing Percy and Annabeth starting this new journey in their lives together, and of course, with Grover, too.

What I'm most excited about, though, is that the end of this book signals that there might be at least two more books in the works! I know there's already a next title announced, so I'm excited for those next couple of stories.

I do find it interesting that this is still categorized as a middle grade when this is technically a young adult title now. However, I will say that other than the very pure romance between Percy and Annabeth, this is a clean read for future young readers.

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227. Thornhedge by T. Kingfisher--⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I'm not going to lie: this is the only Kingfisher title I've not only finished, but thoroughly enjoyed. Third time's the charm, right?

THORNHEDGE was a bite-sized and sometimes adorable fable of not judging a person by their outside appearance. It also speaks to the dangers of thinking a pretty face is enough to think a person doesn't have less than ideal morals or ideologies.

This novella also delves into the incredibly fascinating topic of changelings. It was such an interesting take on it, especially on how the human is treated once they're pulled from the crib. I liked seeing the result of the MC's life and how she came to be the person who helps guide the "saviour" that dared to follow the map that the fairy tales he grew up reading made for him.

This story is tagged as horror and while I sort of get it because there's a character who does some pretty fucked up things, but I think this is mainly a fantasy book--especially with the magical look at the life the MC lives.

I loved how these two characters (the MC and the man) worked together and their immediate adorable chemistry. This story just left me feeling so cozy and happy--even with the evil changeling.

Read it, it's memorable, short, and a great read!

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228. The Haunting by Natasha Preston--⭐️⭐️⭐️

THE HAUNTING is a ride of a book that begins with the misleading title (although I can see it as a "haunting" of past and present events, and ends with a cliffhanger ending that had me rewinding the audiobook and asking myself, "Damn, is that it?"

While it was a murderous bit of fun, Preston's newest novel is home to many of the tropes that have become more and more popular in YA slasher horror books. We get a torn and displaced small town, dead bodies turning up, and characters who are dealing with the trauma of having survived a serial killer the year before. I'll be honest: when I first started this, I thought it was a sequel. I genuinely thought that we were getting the aftermath of a past Preston book that featured all of the gruesome details glossed over in this book.

In a way, I'd almost prefer that one over this one.

For what it was, THE HAUNTING was entertaining and a fun and quick read for any spooky season lover. It had the brooding ex-boyfriend, the dangerous midnight outings, and the questionable friends. Someone in the reviews mentioned that this was a book full of SCREAM references and I agree. It felt very much like that, but I loved those creepy af movies, so I actually enjoyed that aspect.

The ending sort of ruined this book for me because I wanted more. I know it could be a way for Preston to have her readers feel some sort of way after reading a creepy book, but it just made me feel disappointed.

Overall, this was fun in its silliness and somewhat predictable reveal. Check it out if you want a slasher book that just has bodies popping up and friends suspecting each other.

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Have you read any of these books? Would you recommend them?

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Happy reading!

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heyyyitsmegia · 10 months

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My Thoughts on Conrad Fisher

Ladies and Gentlemen-men-men. I do believe that it is time for a (*drum roll please*)... A CONRAD POST!!!! Let's go. Let's turn up!

Okay. I am actually so excited for this!

Okay. Conrad FIsher. Con. Connie. Connie Baby. (Multiple nicknames). My husband. My man. (My nicknames for him). *wink wink nudge nudge*.

Let's talk about him. Shall we?

Okay. So. I decided that I would list some pros and cons. And then give a summary/wrapping up what I discussed.

So let's get started! Keep in mind. This is my own opinion. Again no hate toward my Connie baby.

Pros:

Cute as hell.

The Taylor Swift songs (obvi).

He's good at surfing, sailing, volleyball, and guitar.

Great hair.

He can dance/remember all the dances from previous deb ball.

Winter Conrad (1 million points).

Sticks up for Belly and Jere.

Taught Belly how to dance.

Gave up smoking when Belly said she didn't want him to smoke.

Super smart.

Fireplace scene (oh my lawd).

Helped Belly win the volleyball tournament.

Can be caring (when he's not in a mood).

Great jokes/very funny.

Can start a fire.

Loves Belly for infinity (vise versa).

Looks good in plaid.

Gives Belly his jackets/sweatshirts when she's cold.

Tutoring Belly in trig.

Trying to save the summer house.

Not letting Belly swim while drunk.

Happy Conrad.

Remembered that coco was her specialty.

The hug.

They are endgame (end up together).

Cons:

Spends the majority of the season giving parents hell.

Rude and closed off since he quit football and broke up with his girlfriend (Aubrey).

Brought Belly to the boardwalk to see another girl.

Red sox girl (even tho she's super hot).

Selfish.

Telling Belly he "never wanted her" and then taking it back.

Overprotective.

Staying drunk.

Calls Belly a "brat".

Suggests he and the boys crash Belly’s date.

Didn't give Belly the infinity necklace right away.

Pretends they don't almost kiss.

Breaks up with her at prom.

Tells her, "Why don't you go look in the mirror some more".

Makes Belly cry (multiple times).

Kind, sorta... made Belly ride the Tower of Terror.

Could have been there more for Jere and Beck.

His fav insult, "Grow up".

Communication skills.

I'm sorry for saying this because, I know he was doing it for his mom. But. Singing.

Being a coward (waiting to tell/not telling Belly about his feelings).

Running away.

Forgot corsage.

Bringing up how many guys/girls Jere hooked up with.

Asking for Jere's blessing.

In conclusion. Conrad Fisher is a good guy. Yes, he has his problems. But, he also has his good moments. Conrad is one of those characters that everyone feels like is... misunderstood and taken for granted. Like, you just want to give him a hug. This is how he is portrayed in the books and in the show. (In my opinion). I love Conrad. Well, happy Conrad. I get why Belly loves him so much. Because, when he's not solemn or somber or sad or closed off. He's a really nice person and someone that people actually like to be around. Conrad and Belly are obviously endgame. I mean they do get married. And I'm at peace with that. Because, even though I'm team Jeremiah. I can see why other people are team Conrad. I mean he is Belly's first love. But, me. I'm just a sucker for a, best friend to lovers trope. And, that's why I am a jellyfisher. But. Me having watched the show and read the books... I love how they brought Conrad's character to life and just made him, ten times better in the show. Because, in the books I didn't care for him as much as I do in the show. Like, I hated him in the books. But, that's not the point. Conrad is a very sensitive guy and I feel like if he worked on his communication skills, he would be a whole lot better. Because, right now. He's lacking in that department. In the end... Jelly for life. But. Connie Baby definitely has my heart.

#the summer i turned pretty #conrad fisher #connie baby #tsitp conrad #pros and cons #rant post #my thoughts #tsitp #i love conrad fisher

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lenteur · 4 months

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random thoughts about tell me that you love me, episode fifteen

(the rest is under the cut because i'm worried about your eyes having to read ALL OF THAT and this post might contain spoilers)

It's interesting to see the parallel between mo eun and seo kyung during her uni days. Both women feel lonely. It can feel isolating to not be able to do things "normal" couples do. For mo eun, I think she's twice as isolated because it's her first time dating someone deaf, but also she can't help but compare herself to seo kyung. Seo kyung, jin woo's first love. The woman who was able to live mo eun's dream first (hearing jin woo talk). The woman who can communicate almost perfectly with jin woo. Throughout the drama, whenever mo eun was having a difficult time in their relationship, I don't think she has spoken her feelings thoroughly. She always started with a sentence and got cut either by jin woo promising her to do better or by her lack of knowledge in sign language. You could see her give up saying something because she didn't know how to say it in sign language. I know they find other means of communication (mainly the notes app on the phone or writing), but it isn't as fluid as two people speaking the same language. So, in retrospect, I can see why mo eun feels lonely. Even her friends and family won't be able to understand what she's going through because they aren't in a relationship with a disabled person. The only person who can relate to what she's living is ki hyun. However, he's jin woo's best friend, not mo eun's. He's lived with a hard of hearing person (jin woo) most of his life. He's been in a relationship with his wife for so many years. He's had the time to "train" how to communicate. He has the experience. So even if mo eun came up to him and asked him for advice, she still wouldn't help but feel like the odd one out. She's starting from zero and the people around her either have no experience with dating a disabled person, or have an insane amount of experience. There's no in between. And he's a man. They're living similar relationships but from a different point of view.

It's beena while since we last saw mo dam and I was feeling good about it. I'm sorry but he irks me. He's always been judgemental about jin woo. I understand knowing that his sister is sad and being worried about her. Somehow, he does sound fake when worrying about her. It's like he's almost waiting for them to break up and it doesn't sit right with me. From what we've seen in the drama, mo dam hasn't been a great brother to mo eun, always siding with his parents, judging jin woo because of his disability. I'm just not a big fan of him is all.

Mo eun talking about the evolution of their relationship must hit jin woo deeper now that he knows seo kyung broke up with him because she was tired but used his disability against him. That said, it's nice to finally see mo eun express clearly how she feels in the relationship. It might be just me but it felt like she held back for so long. Mo eun and jin woo are facing the biggest obstacle in their relationship so far. It felt like they've been drifting away for a few episodes now. They don't communicate as often and it seems they're both living in different worlds. It's true that in the beginning everything was roses and rainbows, it's the excitement of a new relationship. But now that they know more about each other, it's getting harder and harder to stay together. Like I've mentioned a million times before, mo eun has never been in a relationship with a disabled person so she might have convinced herself she was willing to go past the hurdles that come their way. But time might have proven her wrong because she couldn't predict what the relationship entails. I do hope they end up together but I could also understand if they don't in the end.

Okay so they have reconciled it seems and they're spending time together doing domestic things. I don't want to jump to conclusions but I'm a sucker for romance and happy endings. I'm rooting for them!............... And right when I'm writing that, they distance themselves even more and jin woo breaks up with her </3 Can't we have nice things?

I'm heartbroken. This was one of the most emotional breakups I've seen in kdrama history. It's unfair! I really wanted them to stay in a relationship. I think seo kyung's revelation has triggered jin woo. He's resented himself for years after the fire. He's still resenting himself. He's told seo kyung he'll never be able to love someone as much as her because the jin woo from their uni days loved with no fear, he was carefree. But after what happened, he was traumatised. As a result, he built a wall around him because he knew nobody would love him in his entirety. He knew his disability would have consequences one way or another. That's why when he met mo eun, he was shy. He knew how things would end if he decided to be in a relationship with her. Things turned sour with seo kyung, someone who has had experience with jin woo's disability. So he can only imagine how things might end up with someone who has no experience. He chose to break up because they've slowly drifted apart. The excitement and giddiness from the beginning fizzled out and all that was left was a lot of miscommunication and bottled up feelings. He understood how mo eun felt because that's what he's experienced with seo kyung long ago. Things end up the same so why bother staying in a relationship when he knows the other person is suffering?

I like how he took the time to thank mo eun for her efforts. For showing him how it feels to be loved after all this time resenting himself.

This episode made me sad so 7/10

#i can't believe i'm almost at the end of the drama :(#but at the same time i'm curious to see how it goes #ok brb watching the last episode #random(al) thoughts #kdrama #tell me that you love me

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all-seeing-ifer · 1 year

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top five favorite episodes or moments from lost!

Ok so julian’s dragging me kicking and screaming back into having lost opinions let’s go (I’m going with top five episodes just bc it's a bit less broad and thus a bit easier)

Tricia Tanaka is Dead - the it girl!! I do honestly wish more of the show allowed itself to be as fun and low stakes as this one because the slice-of-lifeiness of it all really works! it's just a fun episode about characters working together to fix a van while hurley works through his issues with his dad and it's funny and it's charming and it's a beautiful microcosm of the show's themes of community and hope. also the music in this one always sticks out to me - I love the slowed down emotional version of shambala that plays at the end of the episode it just sounds gorgeous

Through the Looking Glass - the opposite end of the spectrum to tricia tanaka is dead in terms of plot relevance and stakes. lost has a lot of great season finales but this is always going to be my favourite! I love how many different moving parts come together in this one and obviously the twist at the end is iconic, but honestly charlie's death might be the strongest part to me. and I say this as a huge fan of charlie, he was my favourite character for the first bit of the show, but I love how his death was written I'd honestly call it a contender for best written tv death of all time. The build up to it with desmond's visions of the future is really well done, him sacrificing himself in the hope of getting his loved ones home is a great and powerful conclusion to his arc, and I love all the neat details in the writing like how his musical ability is what helps him to save the day! it's just so well done and emotional and one of the show's most powerful moments!!

The Constant - a modern christmas and/or valentine's day classic! I feel like I don't have too much to say about this one bc the constant being great is a very popular opinion among lost fans but it really does live up to the hype. one of the best time travel love stories ever written methinks

Exposé - EXPOSE IS REALLY GOOD YOU GUYS ARE JUST MEAN. does it contribute to the show's plot? no, but also I don't care about the show's plot so who give a shit. I love that it's a murder mystery, I love that all the characters are absolutely dogshit at solving the murder mystery, I love the silly goofy diamond heist plot, I love the concept of retelling all the show's most major plot beats from the pov of a couple of background characters who were never involved in the important stuff, and most of all I love the fucked up unnecessarily dark ending that never gets addressed again for like three seasons. if old lost fandom were remotely capable of having fun this would have been considered a classic from the start

Numbers - Obviously the first hurley episode deserves to make the top five, but I do also just generally love the mysterious and slightly creepy vibes of this episode (did the numbers mystery get resolved in a satisfying way? that's another story, but the episode that set it up is still pretty damn great). also hurley's backstory of being a lottery winner convinced he's cursed with catastrophic bad luck is definitely one of the most memorable character backstories the show ever came up with

i'm also giving an honourable mention to exodus, live together die alone, and there's no place like home (I didn't want this list to be all season finales but I can't deny the show had a REALLY great run of them up until season 5), flashes before your eyes (didn't want to include it along with the constant bc it is kind of just a dry run for that episode, but i do think it deserves credit and it's a shame it gets overshadowed by the other desmond and penny centric time travel episode), and ji yeon specifically for the twist that the sun and jin off-island scenes are actually taking place in two different times. always a sucker for that one

#thank u for the ask julian sorry it took so long for me to get to it lol #it's been a busy week #anyway a lot more season 3 on this list than i expected! ik that season has a bad reputation and it's very deserved at points but man #when it works it fucking WORKS #ifer rambles #asks and stuff

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slashermary · 3 years

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Community, 1x08 “Home Economics” // Supernatural, Dean + TV

#as always! i am thinking about dean's relationship with media!! truly a safetynet a comfort the consistency he never had in his childhood!!#and yeah maggie and i are rewatching community and that exchange just fucking sucker punched me with the dean of it all and it made me #feel deeply compelled to make this!! anyways i'd love to have more thoughts about this and i DO but #i can't make them coherent without crying SO instead i'm doing this and again drawing the conclusion that dean loves tv so much bc it has #the moral clarity and comforting consistency that he lacked in his childhood due to his shitty absentee father!<3 #mine #dean winchester #spn #communitynatural #like....technically?#abuse tw #1k

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genuineformality · 2 years

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Febuwhump: What I Learned

I've mentioned before that I'm a writer returning to fandom spaces after a long absence. I never stopped writing, exactly, but my creative outlets were very different (I was playing a lot of roleplaying games) so the type of writing I did changed.

Roleplaying writing is an intensely collaborative experience and there are as many ways to do it as there are people who play games. My sweet spot is play by email or chat, with long, intense one-on-one scenes in which each player takes turns steering the scene and the other reacts to their prompts and gambits.

I promise this is relevant. More under the cut.

There is little time to overthink in a roleplaying scene with someone else. Your partner is literally waiting on you to write the next piece of dialogue, the next description, the next thing to force the scene to move forward. You can't really second guess yourself and once you click send, it's gone to your partner to take the scene where they will. Even if you talk to your partner ahead of time and come to some conclusions about how you want the scene to overall go, people are full of surprises and sometimes they go in delightfully unexpected directions. And for those of us with chronically low dopamine, having the near-instantaneous dopamine feedback loop is amazing. Five stars, highly recommend.

I haven't had opportunities for this kind of writing for a long time and I have really missed it. On the occasions when I've had willing partners, I've been a depressed wreck of a human being and unable to create much of anything. When I've been in better positions for it myself, they've been depressed wrecks of human beings. Or the games they're playing aren't games I'm interested in, or, or, or. There have been dozens of reasons and most of them have meant that I just stopped writing creatively.

Enter fanfiction.

I am not a regular in fandom spaces. I tend to consume media and then leave it behind. The fandoms I've actively consumed fan-generated content for are relatively few and rare, but they do exist and I'm glad to find others who write what I want to read and share it with the world. Sometimes I'll get into a fandom briefly, find what I'm looking for, and then leave. Sometimes I'll get into a fandom briefly, discover that the community is not for me, and leave.

This isn't shade; this is just an acknowledgement of what I want out of my fandom spaces and I'm old enough that I no longer have an interest in doing things I don't really want to do. Konmari your brain space as much as your physical space. Don't keep things that do not spark joy, especially in your hobbies.

Netflix Shadow & Bone came out and I saw it at exactly the right moment. I half remember throwing out the first of the Grishaverse books some years ago (and shortly afterward swearing off all YA fiction), but fuck if the Six of Crows cast didn't just suck me right in. I'm a sucker for a disabled protagonist, tons of trauma, and clever crime. I wanted more of that more or less immediately.

If you've been reading my blog, you know the rest.

Long digression aside (I swear it's relevant), I started writing again, but when you haven't been writing for a long time, writing is hard. Moreover, when you don't have an outside person to bounce your ideas off of, how do you even know where a plot is going to go? By the end of January, I'd published ~8K words between two SOC stories, but written almost 20K that I tossed into a scraps file (in case I decide to go back and reuse some of that prose or dialogue).

So I went looking for inspiration in the form of writing prompts and when Febuwhump came along, I thought, "Hey! This could be a good thing to encourage some writing. Write a little bit every day with a daily prompt, indulge my desire to just read about beloved characters having a hard time of it, have a reasonable goal... let's do it!"

Having that just little bit of outside impetus - the prompts - did me a world of good. Doing it in the form of a challenge meant that I had to stop obsessing over each word. The goal is to churn out some amount of word count, it doesn't really matter how much, and make a story each day, even if it's only a few hundred words.

And daily posting gave me that little kick of dopamine every time I got a like on Tumblr or a kudos on AO3.

But here's the thing.

I quickly realized that the first two stories I posted could very well be sequels to each other. And because I didn't just play roleplaying games with my friends, but I played years-long campaigns where narrative arcs are built on crazier, zanier shit than the Febuwhump prompts... writing a cohesive narrative was actually more compelling to me than just an exercise to write 28 disparate stories.

The way I wrote these prompts was often frantic extemporizing the night before I posted in the morning. At that point, the goal was not just to write something kind of whumpy, but to create a story, in the same way I would if I was steering a roleplaying scene and someone said, "wouldn't it be cool if-" and left it up to me to figure out how to get us from point A to point B where we can reasonably do that cool thing they thought of on a whim.

As it turns out, I *love* that.

I won't be doing another prompt challenge soon, because I have finite time for writing and I would very much like to get back to my SOC AU and the Deus Ex character study and the Yentl Fix-it Fic, not to mention the sewing and cross stitch projects that are currently languishing. I would also like to read more fic, which definitely went by the wayside while I was working on this.

But this was fun (and hard and sometimes torturous) in a way writing hasn't been in a few years. If nothing else, this recaptured my desire to just write again. And for that alone, I'm so grateful to have had the experience.

#writing about writing #about the author #febuwhump #fanfic

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ask-odyssiaoctavius · 3 years

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Hello, Odyssia,

Ordinarily I'm wary about reaching out like this, since if the communication's noticed it could compromise the location of my current hideout. But since I'm moving in a few days anyway I figured it wouldn't be too much of a risk to ask for your expertise.

Recently I've been experimenting with trying to replicate the decentralized nervous system of an octopus. My logic is that a drone made entirely of soft robotics could incorporate the concept, both for elegance's sake and so that it could carry on functioning even with the majority of its body destroyed--since you can't armor a soft robot. The trouble I'm coming up against is that most of the resources I've found don't go into sufficient detail about how it works in our namesake.

I'm reluctant to dissect an octopus and learn for myself, for numerous practical reasons and because I think it'd be offensive to you personally. So in lieu, I was wondering if you've done any research on it in the past, and if so you could direct me to said research. I look forward to hearing from you, and hearing how your own work advances.

-Otto Octavius, Earth-61610

Hello, Otto! It’s nice to hear from you!

I understand that concern (as I made sure that I used both mundane and magical methods of encryption here so the PLEAs don’t snag my IP address)!

Now, as I’m sure you already know, you wouldn’t be the first to consider using the octopus as inspiration for soft robotics! It’s a fairly reasonable conclusion to come to, considering the adaptations that octopuses have can be incredibly useful in the field of robotics. Funny enough, a Harvard grad student made ‘octobots’ some time back. But, I know that you could definitely do leaps and bounds better and improve upon the designs of previous attempts (even if this one is criminally adorable), as it seems there’s still a lot of work to be done before this becomes a lot more viable to use practically. So let’s talk about the nervous system.

As I specialize in studying cephalopods in my field, I have done research on how their nervous system works, and will give some of my sources for my work. Firstly, it should be noted that while it is true that coleoid cephalopods such as octopuses do share some equivalences with vertebrae brains in terms of function (sensory-motor systems, locomotor abilities, and behaviors), it should be noted that at the end of the day, anatomically speaking, you need to remember that they are mollusks. Their brains are made up of ganglia-based lobes fused together. I would recommend looking at this review article, if just to sort of hammer home some of the functions of the nervous system into further detail. Just remind yourself every now and then that one of the main reasons why we still don’t know everything about coleoid cephalopods’ nervous systems because fundamentally, they’re still very much alien to us humans, considering that us vertebrates and the octopus are separated by over 500 million years of independent evolution. Additionally, around 2/3 of the nerve cells found in octopuses are located in the arms (about 350-400 million), which are used for both sensory and motor functions. It’s nervous system consists of a prominent axial nerve cord, five intramuscular nerve cords and the ganglia of the suckers. It’s been considered that axons running along the cerebrobrachial tracts within ANC innervate the motor neuron pools along the arm in passing.

Another thing to consider to look into their ability to RNA edit. In coleoid cephalopods (aka octopuses, squids, and cuttlefishes), RNA editing is a frequent phenomenon that allows for recoding the information found in proteins within their genomes, changing their functions without altering the genes themselves. Much of this RNA editing in these cephalopods is primarily adaptive (which the reason why genome evolution is slow in coleoid cephalopods), and often, this is used to recode genes in the nervous system. Another thing to note is that these adaptive changes can be effectively changed quickly depending on the physiological needs on an individual cephalopod, essentially giving themselves an edge in survival that isn’t seen to this extent in any other species. Perhaps this can serve as some inspiration?

Anyways, that was a lot of me going ape on you so I’ll drop it off here. I wish you the best of luck in your endeavors! I may not be super talented at engineering, but regardless I do hope I pointed you in the right direction for further information!

... admittedly after a massive setback, I’m back on my feet. I’m sure that us Ocks aren’t strangers to Spider based setbacks, but I’m currently working on strengthening my creations and perfecting my craft in creating them. I would love to show you them some time!

#odyssia octavius #doc ock #doctor octopus #spiderverse #the others #spider man au #answered #OOC: holy FUCK this took forever to write my brain is melting aaaaaaaaa

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sonnets-and-snowdrops · 6 years

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Ha ha, I love the idea for Shunsui's birthday! So, a more serious question: Do you think, Shunsui is such a womanizer/ chasing after skirts, because he got his heart broken once and since then isn't seeking any serious relationship anymore? And if I'm allowed a 2nd question: Do you think, "The rose-coloured path" could be (semi-)autobiographical? Have fun!

Ahhhh, thank you! It kinda suits him, right? I like to thinkhe’d be proud of me. (Maybe.)

I think Shunsui chases ladies for a few different reasons.For one thing, I read Shunsui as a fairly sexual person. He’s constantly stressed,and secretly Sad™, and he doesn’t particularly like violence, so sex is agood way for a guy like him to blow off steam. I also headcanon Shunsui to bevery, very, very bisexual – and,honestly, calling it a headcanon might even be pushing things a little. Thereare cues all over the place, if you look for them – his character designaggressively incorporates trademark aspects of the conventionally masculine (he’svery tall, he has stubble and visible chest hair, etc.) and the conventionallyfeminine (his choice to wear thekimono and the hair pins rather than commemorate them some other way, hisrandom-ass aqua sash, his interest in – uh, fashion…? – which is a conclusion Idraw based on the presence of his hat, his long hair, etc.). And then, of course,there’s the fact that he wields two swords – there’s a euphemisim in there, bythe way – and there are other tiny, subtle moments in the manga, if you lookfor them. (His fight with Starrk strikes me as particularly coded – there’s amoment where he switches his grip in the midst of his verbal flirtationsnegotiations, for example. Which makes me wonder, actually, whether any of thatshows up in the Lille fight – I mean, probablynot, because the focus of that fight is very much elsewhere, but it’s theonly other time in canon where we get to see Shunsui engage in a seriousshowdown with a male-presenting opponent. I mean – except for his and Juu-chan’sfight with Yama-jii at the end of the Soul Society arc, but like – ugh. I hopeto the gods that Shunsui isn’t somehowcoming onto Old Man Yama there. Ugh. Ughhhhhh.)

…aaaaanyway. I digress. I take it for granted that Shunsuiis interested in men, and women, and everyone in between. Shunsui likes sex,and he’s never felt the need to discriminate, gender-wise. My guess is that hefinds chasing guys less interesting than chasing girls – girls tend to screamand squeal and get grossed out, and that’s more entertaining than coming onto amaybe-not-quite-out-of-the-closet Fourth Seat or whatever who might just blushand get all genuinely embarrassed. Shunsui lives for drama and big gestures,and he really does try to find fun where he can – as difficult as that might befor him. Chasing girls provides him with that fun, and on the rare occasionswhen he’s actually successful, it provides him with sex, too. Win-win for goodol’ Shun, amirite?

To answer your question more directly, though, I think it’spossible that Shun has experienced heartbreak, yes. It’s difficult for me to delveinto specifics there, because ShunUki is my hardcore, ride-or-die OTP, and it’sclear to me that Shunsui and Ukitake are still on excellent terms in canon,whether or not they do, in fact, have a romantic and/or sexual relationship.That said – I suspect that a guy like Shunsui has a hard time settling down andfinding satisfaction anywhere. He’s a big flirt, and he’s restless. Also, helikes games. Skirt-chasing checks a lot of boxes for a guy like that – and thefact that there’s no commitment required probably makes him feel a littlebetter about the whole endeavor, too.

And of course you’reallowed a second question, my friend! You’re allowed as many questions as youwant!

The short answer is: uh, yeah. Yes, I think that is extremely likely.

For those who don’t know, The Rose-Colored Path is a ridiculously unpopular romance novelthat Shunsui has published (in installments?? I assume?? Is this confirmedanywhere??) in the SeireiteiCommunication. (Which – side note – I highkey love that Shunsui tries to write the Great Soul Society RomanceNovel and fails miserably, whereas Ukitake occasionally bangs out chapters of akids’ adventure story when he can, and it alwayssoars to the top of the charts. Like. These two. Are so complementary. Andit makes my heart so happy.) (Also I’m a sucker for dumb pieces of trivia aboutmy faves.)

We don’t actually have many details about what The Rose-Colored Path contains, but, uh –y’know when you filter the tags on AO3 because you’re desperate for literallyanything about a ship you like (note: this especially applies if it’s a rarepairLOLOLOLOLOL I’m not at ALL kidding tho), and you feel a little frisky and eventuallydecide to read only the “E” rated fics, and you open like 42375734 tabs andperuse everything and hope for the gods-damned best, only to find phrases like “quiveringdigit” and “love tunnel” and very poor pronoun distribution if the ship inquestion is yaoi/yuri?

All this to say – to me, TheRose-Colored Path is a like a fic that has the worst hits-to-kudos ratioever. Shunsui might well be drawing on his personal experiences here, but myguess is that it isn’t the content that turns his readership off – it’s theexecution. Because let’s be real, Shunsui thinks he’s hot shit in bed. And ifhe’s hot shit in bed, then surely, surely,he can write a killer romance novel. Right? Right…?

Evidently not. Sorry, Shunsui. But hey, at least you tried…?

Ask me about myShunsui headcanons!

I’m not drunk yet but I will be soon~

#happy birthday shunsui!#kyoraku shunsui #kyouraku shunsui #bleach #del does shunsui's birthday #which is my tag for this now i think #if anyone has better ideas #uh #holla @ yaboi #saysemily

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