#leigh writes some shit

[thatweirdoleigh]

love letters

I have wax sealing stuff and need excuses to write letters. therefore love letters!

Rules: One request per person, X reader or Character x Character. Angst? yes Fluff? also yes. Smut? No. Requests go in inbox via asks

Characters:

TVDU: Elijah Mikaelson, Klaus Mikaelson, Kol Mikaelson, Rebekah Mikaelson, Freya Mikaelson, Finn Mikaelson, Hope Mikaelson, Hayley Marshall-Kenner, Marcel Gerard

MCU: Steve Rodgers, Bucky Barnes, Sam Wilson, Natasha Romanoff, Wanda Maximoff, Vison, Bruce Banner, Tony Stark, Virginia (Pepper) Potts, Loki, Holland!Peter Parker, TASM!Peter Parker, Mj Jones, Ned Leeds, Harley Kenner,

S&B/SoC: The Darkling, Alina, Mal, Kaz, Inej, Nina, Matthias, Jesper, Wylan

Taglist incase any of you are interested.

@imgoingtofreakoutnow @elijahs-wife @yn-ymn-yln @dumble-daddy @xxwritemeastoryxx @hellotvshowtrash @dizzydancingdreamer @imaginearyparties

[black-rose-writings]

It's funny but also sad, how Clone Wars, a kids cartoon, managed to be more mature, have more depth of character, more moral depth and understand and show the horrors of war and the crushing pressure of being seen as the salvation of the world(/Galaxy) better than the Grishaverse, a YA series, also starring a teen female protagonist pushed facing a massive war and a chosen one (granted, CW had them as two different characters, but the point still stands).

[me-uglypretty]

the urge to delete and not share long length fics anymore— but to write my own book and explore those characters to my freedom???

[bitchthefuck1]

sorry if you've talked about this before but i really don't like when people are like 'there's no way kaz (or the other crows) is a teenager i had to imagine them as 30yr olds' idk if its because i read the books when i was 15 myself but even now (at 23) i don't really get the argument. i'd love to hear your thoughts on it

I made like a million and one posts about this on my old account back when season 1 came out, but basically yeah. I've always seen them as teenagers, and I think the whole "Leigh only made them teens for it to fit the YA market, they're really in their 20s" is kinda bullshit. Like, so much of where the characters are emotionally is directly tied to their ages and the story and their arcs just wouldn't work the same way of they were older. People will point out ways that they're emotionally immature or inconsistent or arrogant or don't seem to know what they want/how to be in a relationship and it's like. yeah that's cuz they're teenagers. That's not a flaw in the writing that's what being a teenager is like.

It also explains their almost absurd level of "yeah, we can do that" about genuinely impossible-seeming things. That kind of "I'll fight God idgaf" energy is really characteristic of teenagers to me because you're still figuring shit out and therefore don't have a set idea of what things are or are not considered "possible", so you're way more open to big risks and wild ideas.

And I know people always point to their skill levels as what makes this unbelievable, but these are a bunch of people who have been forced to develop a specific skill set at an absurdly young age basically at the expense of anything else. Kids and young people can really master complex things at a level most adults don't have, and are in some ways more suited to it, the problem is that it's almost always at the expense of a lot of other important developmental experiences and needs. We as a society generally agree that putting kids in the position where they specialize really intensely at a young age and neglect everything else is bad, so we don't generally do that, but these are kids who were put in that position on a basically life-or-death level and managed to survive.

That's in part why I'd really like to see soc 3 at some point down the line. Not just because I want more content or whatever, but because once you leave your teens and hit your 20's you're forced to confront all the deficiencies in your childhood and how things that you thought are just in the past are very much lingering and becoming impossible to ignore. It's a really intense place to be in emotionally and it's something I think it would be really fascinating to watch the crows have to navigate, on top of the fact that a lot of them have just achieved lifelong dreams and goals and now have to figure out what they want to do next.

Anyway, that went way longer than I thought it would, so TL;DR the crows are absolutely teenagers and the story is better that way.

[cleolinda]

Weekend links, April 21, 2024

My posts

Initially I wrote, “I ran my mouth about the Watcher streaming/paywall situation because I make bad decisions,” but I think the post has actually gone over well? In short, I want to see them succeed but I am also deeply fuckin’ baffled. I so desperately want the tea about what was really going on behind all this, and how the guys are reacting to it now, and I really hope they can turn this around somehow. 

Side note, Friday was CHAOTIC. 

Reblogs of interest

The Hot Vintage Lady Polls are escalating in round four. We got to a point where I posted propaganda for Ava Gardner AND Dorothy Dandridge in their matchup. Probably the biggest scandal of round three was Vivien Leigh getting knocked out, but she’s now High Chancellor of the Shadow Realm. The most contentious matchup this time seems to be Judy Garland vs Natalie Wood, which is nearly 50/50 as of this writing. But keep your eye on Hedy Lamarr, who may have Mifune Sweep energy. 

(I think I love these brackets for the same reason I love Dracula Daily: it’s delightful that thousands of people on Tumblr actually have deeply-held opinions about things from many decades ago, and if they didn’t before, they do now.)

(“I’m Katharine Hepburn, and this is Jackass!”)

--

Happy Bread Day (Observed)!

Hozier Watch 2024: “Why Would You Be Loved” has arrived on the Wasteland, Baby! special edition. I like this post about how that song is in conversation with “No Plan,” one of my favorites. (I wrote about “Movement” a while ago, but I could have fully inflicted an essay on you about how “No Plan” pulled me out of my six years of hiding from the internet. Anyway, it’s a great album from a few years ago, check it out if you haven’t.) 

Generally I keep my mouth shut about Taylor Swift, but the new songs sure have some lyrics. I love Florence Welch, but I’m scared.

You’ve heard of spoon theory, now check out spell slot theory

“You’re either frolicking in this field with me, or...” is funny, but then you get to the reblog.

What if we lay in this field together and held feet

A deep breach of etiquette with a little dog named Gucio

A story about statue vandalism with a delightful twist

You gotta fight mint with mint (like I can bring in my lemon balm, but at what cost?) 

I saw this post about feeding wild skeletons on Pinterest and I loved it so much that I tracked down the original. 

Once again, Holy Shit, Two Cakes theory

Remember the haunted house I grew up in? Yeah, it had a carpeted bathroom like this.

“gonna start formatting my posts like fics on ff.net circa 2008” will do you exactly the psychic damage you’re imagining 

The Round Table attempts to use Zoom

Video

Lil Nas X covers “Jolene,” Dolly Parton loves it, and @oscar-wet-and-wilde has further Black Country recs

A big loud steppy

“He’s retrieving”

Crispy meows

Watching this angel of a Doberman get a full spa treatment is also self care

AND YOU DARE SAY NO MORE TREATS??!?

The sacred texts

I don’t like thing, now with artist credit 

Personal tags of the week

I love when I can use a really niche, specific tag, and this week, it’s mouth perfect size for meme, with a little shaped on the side.

[straykidsholicleigh]

hi everyone!! just wanted to say that I'll be leaving tumblr soon bcs I tried again for jyp and got accepted! so many of my wips may not be released but I will try my best to write some of the asks that got sent in. I'll miss u all sm 🤧 thank u for being with me on the journey ahead! most probably will delete on the 1st of April but I will be creating a new blog so all my moots I will dm u once that's open. my ☘️, 🪭 & 🌸 anons I am so sorry but u can no longer send me requests 😭 I thank u tho for the amazing ideas!

I will send a goodbye post on the 31st of this month before I delete my acc. so I suggest all the fics u guys like u all better copy paste that shit bcs it'll all be gone lol. just giving u guys a heads up. love ya!

- xoxo, leigh.

[sad-outsider]

Why I didn't like the ending of R&R. Final part

The final part of my analysis and the main reason for my indignation is that the ending of R&R destroyed the entire arc of Alina’s development as a heroine.

Where does the trilogy begin? Alina is powerless, sick, lonely, not finding a place in this world and the only close person is Mal (although this is a controversial statement). Then, according to the classics, she turns out to be the chosen one, she finds allies, enemies and a great goal. In a good story, the main character is faced with difficult choices more than once over the course of the story, and each such choice changes him; each action has consequences and, as a rule, irreparable ones.

What do we see in the ending of TGT? Alina is back where she started, alone and powerless again, while constantly remembering the brightest period of her life, when she was a Grisha, and Mal, whom she sacrificed for the sake of victory, was ✨magically resurrected✨ simply because it was necessary, because Mal her one “true love”, her ray of sunshine and she doesn’t need anyone else, ugh.

What is the message of this story? Never grow up? Live in childhood? Shift responsibility to others, because you don’t want to do something yourself? Maintain the status quo, because you don't care about other people's problems? if you are oppressed, be patient and hope for a miracle? Do not under any circumstances dare to resist oppression, otherwise you are a villain and deserve to die? Excellent moral, Leigh Bardugo… for some immature people.

This ending is tantamount to what if Harry Potter had not destroyed the Horcruxes at the end, become a Muggle, allowing some strangers to kill Voldemort, and then got a job at McDonald's to provide for the Dursleys and returned to live in the closet, nostalgic for Hogwarts, and the author would have said in all seriousness , that everything was originally planned this way and would present it as a happy ending, and not as a tragedy. Do you think many fans of the franchise would be happy with such a “happy ending”? I don't think so.

For those who say that the ending should not always be standard and predictable, I agree, but you just need to be able to write a non-standard ending, otherwise it is better to follow the well-trodden path. After all, the whole point of surprises is that they should please. If someone shits under my door, I will certainly be surprised, but will I be happy?

And for those especially gifted who believe that I have no right to judge the author, because “this is her world, she sees it that way, and if you don’t like it, don’t read it.” I wouldn't say a word if this were fan fiction. But this is a commercial product, I bought these books with money, hoping to read an exciting story with a dark romance (yes, I am one of those people who started reading and finished it mainly because of Darklina), but instead I got wasted potential and disappointment. And people usually get angry when they aren't sold what they want.

[multifandumbmeg]

Internet I need a new hyperfixation please send in your recs for shows with male love interests that are emo asf, preferaby geared toward adults in terms of tone, not necessarily content.

Some examples of My Type™ are:

Stiles from Teen Wolf (also very partial to Derek, obviously)

Leo Fitz from Agents of Shield

Diego Hargreeves from The Umbrella Academy

Anthony Lockwood of Lockwood and Co

Peter Bishop from Fringe

Edmund Pevensie from the Chronicles of Narnia

Prince Zuko from ATLA

Zach Goode from the Gallagher Girls book series

Kaz Brekker and Darlington from Leigh Bardugo's Six of Crows and Ninth House respectively (this woman writes for ME PERSONALLY)

Bucky Barnes and Druig from all of the Marvel shit

Animes also welcome, examples include:

Roy Mustang of FMA

Tomoya from Clannad

Tamaki (and Kyoya? Dont look at me) from Ouran

Yukimaru from Fenna Pirate Princess

You'll notice not all actually "emos" but rather, the ideal man has childhood trauma, daddy issues, so much love in his heart to give, zero ability to communicate his feelings, and is haunted by guilt and/or loss, protective and generally loyal as hell

Honestly, hot goth girls, especially with gentle and affectionate partners also veryy welcomed

Please help a girl out send me your faves so I can collect serotonin

[catastrxblues]

INTRODUCTION !!

currently shadowbanned which means i can't interact in ANY way at all through this blog so sorry if you replied to my posts or mentioned me and i haven't responded 😭

“our sheer capacity for a feeling has got to be so unwieldy that we staggered under it, like atlas with the weight of the world.” — oliver marks, if we were villains.

palestine : masterlist | to help | thepalestineacademy | boycott | free palestine

⛧ okay so hi! i’m nadine. she/her. muslim. student. apparently an isfj. virgo. afternoons enthusiast. #1 full machine by gracie abrams enjoyer. think about everlark a lot.

┏ i like to read, watch, and sometimes write. but nowadays i really just prefer rotting and decaying on my bed because school is absolutely exhausting and i have no better idea than to use all my spare time for simply sleeping.

┏ STEM at heart, but sometimes all i really want to spend the rest of my life doing is reading, pondering over poems, learning to bake, crying over songs, writing in an immense amount and is good at it, working at a bookshop, collecting so many books that i have sagging bookshelves on the walls of my room, watching the moon, examining the stars, and enjoying the afternoon sun in a meadow or hills or somewhere with running creeks and flowers (but that's unrealistic so)

┏ i come on here to reblog, read fanfics, and rant about my obsessions (and also my life so sometimes this actually does feel like my little messy personal diary- that's a warning by the way)

──────────────────────•

-> currently reading : the ballad of songbirds and snakes by suzanne collins, six of crows by leigh bardugo,

-> currently watching : gilmore girls s2, brooklyn nine-nine s1, the summer i turned pretty,

-> some favorites :

(books) the hunger games, percy jackson / riordanverse, a good girl’s guide to murder, hp & the marauders, nevermoor, if we were villains, anne of green gables, djats & tshoeh, keeper of the lost cities

(artists) taylor swift, gracie abrams, phoebe bridgers, lorde, conan gray, sabrina carpenter, olivia rodrigo, maisie peters

(movies) mcu, romcoms, little women, thg adaptations, legally blonde, clueless, bridge to terabithia, lady bird, barbie, heathers, before sunrise

(tv shows) bridgerton, stranger things, heartstopper, jatp, asoue (show), disney channel shit (both), alexa and katie, nhie, lost in space (2017)

*(the italic ones are the ones i currently actively (and sometimes intensely) hyperfixate on on this blog!)

(+) fictional characters

[ i also will like to add that i am a peeta mellark, katniss everdeen, percy jackson, annabeth chase, anne shirley, jo and amy march, pippa fitz-amobi, and ravi singh enthusiast & i will defend them to the end of the earth thank you <3 ]

──────────────────────•

sideblogs & others

┏ i have a writing blog!! (@kitchentablebillsaredue) it’s not exactly a fanfic blog, just a blog to post all of my miscellaneous semi-personal mess <3 (it’s collecting dust right now because i didn’t realize how hard it will be to get myself to post some writings on even a small corner of the internet whoops)

┏ i created another (actual) sideblog because i was bored and i thought why not. it’s @andillwatchh (as in a reference to that famous little women 2019 scene) and it’s for some movies/shows insanity etc.

┏ another one thank you. @iborrowlibrarybooks mostly for bookish things & moodboards.

by no means this is a consistent fandom blog by the way, i'm just really annoying and can't stop talking. but yeah that's it!

[partly-hueman]

Woman of the year!

How weird is it that as we near the years end and awards begin coming out for "such and such" of the year so many :woman of the year" awards are going to men.

Dylan Mulvaney won an award from Attitude Magazine out of the UK as it's "Woman of the year". How low is your opinion of women that you pick a man to be the "Woman of the year"?

Minnesota did it earlier this year when "Leigh" Finke won. This is "Leigh":

That Frankenstein's monster of a man in bad make-up is a better woman than ALL of the women in Minnesota. Take ALL of the mothers, teachers, doctors, lawyers, bus drivers, assembly line workers, single mothers with two jobs, educators, advocates, waitresses, cooks, janitorial staff etc.

Leigh is a better woman than all of you. Leigh hasn't experienced being a young girl, never had a period or any of the bodily and mind changes that young women go thru. He has two kids, that is Trans widow gave birth too, but he has no idea what motherhood is.

He's still a better woman than the 2.811 million women in Minnesota. THAT is how little the Democrats and the morons who voted this creature in as woman of the year think of you.

I'm not here to talk to about Leigh. Fuck that AGP having psychopath. No, I want to write about my buddy. Dylan Mulvaney. The Non-Trans Transgender identifying man who makes waves everywhere he goes. If toxicity and social poison was a person it would look like Dylan.

The social misfit, drama club overly flaming twink who clocked his "days of being a 'girl'" and got himself a carte blanche visit with Grandpa Joe in the White house and a letter of congratulations from Kamala Harris because they obviously have nothing else to focus on than to celebrate the erasure of women as a sex class in society and law.

I digress.

In his interview with Atituide Magazine Dylan is quoted as saying: “And some people don’t see me as a woman at all. No matter how hard I try, or what I wear, or what I say, or what surgeries I get, I will never reach an acceptable version of womanhood by those hateful people’s standards."

At his age I'm lost as to why he doesn't understand that sex isn't an attitude, a feeling, a performance, a costume, or body parts repurposed or purchased à la carte — and that it can't be changed — and my stating so doesn't make me hateful, just sane and tethered to reality. At best, #dylanmulvaney is a vacuous narcissist and a shameless grifter. At worst, he's a bought-and-paid-for Gender Industry shill, knowingly helping to obliterate sex classes and sex-based rights. Either way, he's entirely undeserving of awards or accolades, except maybe the Most Heinous Piece of Shit Award, for which he should receive a statuette of himself sculpted from monkey feces, and a one-way trip to the moon. Just get that piece of garbage off my planet.

Dylan will always talk about the challenge of his being seen as a woman. He'll do it because Dylan is an actor who is getting rich pretending to be a man pretending to be a woman. But that's what he is: A man pretending to be a man pretending to be a woman.

WOMAN OF THE YEAR: DYLAN MULVANEY

I expect to get a lot of push back for my language and the subject matter but once again I want to write. If you get offended or angry I want you to know that with each cell in my body I don't give a baboons red ass what you think. Stop erasing and endangering women and transing kids you fuckin ghouls. Don't lie it? Cope, seethe and dilate.

[oskarwing]

Idk I just rewatched the haunting of Hill House and I enjoyed it a lot more than my first watch through and I kinda maybe wanna write some meta about it but also holy shit I love that way Leigh embraces Steve at the end just holding him and the way Kevin holds Shirley's hands while she confesses. I just think the two oldest Crain siblings chose themselves some really good spouses and I think the beauty in it is that their marriages are so different from their parents'.

[mermaidsirennikita]

I was thinking about what you said irt trad historical romance being in a weird spot and decided to look at Sarah Maclean's website to see when her next book is releasing, only to see her next book is a contemporary! Like talk about on the nose

Lol I will admit, I knew about that when I made the post, but it's not WHY I made the post. And disclaimer: so happy for Sarah, I'm reading that book 100%, love the premise as a Succession fan, and I'm also interested to see what she'll do with a different publisher... which is an interesting part of all this, imo. She's said she'll do historicals forever, I believe her, the Duchess book is out in 2025, I trust Sarah with her love of historicals.

I doooo however see a lot fewer trad pub historicals coming out (and I say this as someone who is on NetGalley a lot--I see the incoming trad pub historicals). And the ones I do see are often from smaller presses, which isn't bad, but--Avon seems to be slowing it down, and they have been one of the big historical romance publishers in the past. I've said this before, but they also lost Carrie Feron, one of their majorly influential editors who worked with a lot of big historical romance authors, last year. I don't think that's a coincidence...

And while Sarah MacLean isn't leaving historicals, a lot of core authors haven't been publishing as much. Lisa Kleypas hasn't published a book since Devil in Disguise in... 2021? Ms. Bev hasn't published a historical, think, since To Catch a Raven in 2022. Elizabeth Hoyt's less book was pre-pandemic, I think.

Joanna Shupe has a historical romance, The Gilded Heiress, out in December year. But it doesn't appear to be a part of a series as of now which is kinda unusual for historicals in this day and age and indicates a shorter deal unless there's more to come, I could've sworn it was due out earlier originally (and that could be her needing more time, but it could also be Avon delaying it, I honestly don't know) and I mean.... Joanna has been publishing indie a lot more in recent years, both historicals under the Joanna name and mafia under the Mila name. I see Minerva Spencer doing more indie stuff with her S.M. LaViolette pen name, too.

Eva Leigh seems to be pivoting to fantasy romance for her next few releases. Tessa Dare has been out of the game for a bit, though I think there are many reasons behind that.

Now, on the bright side, we see authors like Adriana Herrera, Liana de la Rosa, Cat Sebastian, Alexis Hall, Amalie Howard etc doing new and interesting things with the genre. Alexandra Vasti has her full-length trad debut this year. These are good things!

But I do see a lot of authors saying on social media that publishers are not very open to histrom as of late... and as someone who wants to write it, that's discouraging lmao.

Obviously, I wanna say, I support ALL of these authors doing things that aren't histrom (can't wait to see what Eva's books are about omg). BUT.... I do hope that this doesn't submerge out of tradpub for a billion years. And if it does, I know indie is a resource, and I hope that histrom readers pick up the all and support indie historical releases.

The struggle there, imo, is that a lot of histrom readers are a bit less into ebooks (stereotypically) but like--tell your mom who loves historicals to read shit on KU. Tell your buddy in her 20s who thinks it's all stodgy and chaste that there is some WILD SHIT in there. Tell your dark romance reader friends about all the dubcon and kidnappings lol. Spend money on these books when you can, and obtain them from your library, subscription services, etc when you can't. This audience does need to push to support authors who are doing the work.

[messedupfan]

When I Look At You | Chapter 11

Summary: The parenting adventures of Y/n and Leigh.

Special Writing Guest: @abimess

Warnings: Smut (18+), fluff

A/N: Guess who graciously offered their assistance again... Thank you oh so very much, B! Doing gods work for us! I hope you all enjoy!

Masterlist | All Chapters | All Stories Taglist ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Leigh taps on your face to wake you up. You swat her hand away and groan to make her stop until you hear the wailing baby. Shit, you think to yourself. It’s my turn, you roll to get closer to the edge but misjudged how close you already were and fall off of the bed completely. “If I had a dollar every time…” Leigh mutters in remark to you falling out of the bed often. 

You rub your head and with tired, heavy steps, you stumble over to the baby’s room. “Awe, I know, sweetheart.” You lift the baby out of the crib to assess the situation. You have to ask yourself multiple questions. Is her diaper full? Does she need a bottle? Does she have gas? What is it that she needs in order to get back to sleep? Luckily, the problem presents itself pretty fast when you can smell her as soon as she is in your hands. You take her over to the changing table and carefully clean her. You swear that she saves the worst for you. Clearly favoring Leigh over you. Not that you minded, she did spend months creating her and several long painful hours giving birth. 

She stops crying as soon as she doesn’t feel dirty and you are filled with relief. On the day she was born, you could’ve sworn it was the most beautiful sound you had ever heard. Now you do anything and everything to make it stop. As you make sure to check hard to notice areas so she doesn’t get a rash or an infection, you tell her a story about what her older sister was like as a newborn. She looks like she is listening carefully to every word. You like to believe that she is and understands but there’s no way for you to know. 

When she is in a fresh diaper and new pajamas, she wouldn’t allow you to put on the one you took off of her, she stares at you with her green eyes that she inherited from her mother and you smile at her. You use the hand sanitizer close by to disinfect your hands. “Let’s get you back to bed,” you speak softly. Unfortunately, she isn’t ready to return to her crib. She threatens to cry every time you lower her in the crib. Not wanting to hear her cries, knowing there will be plenty of that when you have to do the cry training, you sit on the rocking chair to soothe her back to sleep. You hum a lullaby to her and watch her curious eyes fight sleep for some time. She was only a couple months old, the world was all new to her and she wanted to observe every moment of it. But eventually, she gives in. You don’t move to put her back right away. She was so peaceful and small and fragile and yours. She is yours and she is Leigh’s. She is real. You watch her sleep, completely enamored by her. 

You don’t realize that you had fallen asleep until Leigh is taking the baby out of your arms. She didn’t want to disturb you, but your body had feared that you were dropping her. “Rise and shine, sleepyhead,” she says just above a whisper. “You might want to go back to the bedroom. The chair is comfortable but your neck is not going to be forgiving.” She is right, of course. When you sit up, your neck is stiff and it hurts to move. 

Walking back to the room is tough but you manage to flop back onto your comfortable bed. You’re grateful that Leigh left the heavy curtains closed. With them shut, not a drop of sunlight could make its way through. Leaving it a mystery of what time of day it was. It didn’t matter. You needed to sleep. As you’re falling asleep, Leigh joins you and she slips herself under your arm to snuggle into your side. 

The next time you wake up it’s because Leigh is leaving the bed. It was her turn to tend to the baby. The two of you were exhausted but were finally starting to find a new rhythm with the new family addition. The only one still having a hard time adjusting was Bandit. He was so used to having all of the attention that he wasn’t too happy about sharing it. As of now, he was whining at your feet, requesting that you take him for a walk. Since the baby was born, you’ve been lazy about his needs and have opted to only let him out in the backyard whenever he needed to go. He didn’t like it. He liked his daily walks with you and Leigh. 

He pushes your foot again and this time yelps when you continue to ignore him for the extra seconds of sleep. His bark startles the baby and Leigh hurries to the bedroom. “Y/n, take the poor thing outside. He’s scaring the baby!” She demands. 

You groan as you tiredly stand up, “Come on, buddy.” You mutter as you pat your leg to get him to follow you. Excitedly, he hops off of the bed and wags his tail while he follows you. Then you open the door to the backyard and he sits, refusing to move. “Damnit, Bandit. I’m tired. What do you want?” You ask desperately, you will give him anything in order to crawl back into bed. “Food? Water?” He stays quiet for those words. “Outside,” he yelps and spins around then sits, so you point in the direction of the backyard but he doesn’t run out the door. Instead, he runs to a direction in the house and returns with his harness and leash in his mouth. He sets it down at your feet and gives you puppy dog eyes to convince you to take him for a walk. You frown at the animal but instead of giving him what he wants, you demand that he go to the backyard. 

When he returns inside, you give him a treat before returning to your bed. Leigh was already there, with the baby monitor in her hands. The corner of your mouth lifted slightly as you pried the device out of her hand to look at the image of the sleeping baby. She was so precious. You couldn’t believe that you were part of an experience like this again. When Taylor and Alison had died you were certain that was it for you. Having all of this never even crossed your mind. You are so grateful to have moved past that because you did deserve to have this happiness again. Taylor would have wanted this for you. 

You set the monitor on the bedside table closest to Leigh because you knew she loves it to be on her side, then you admire your sleeping wife for a moment. You thank the universe for putting the two of you in the same neighborhood at the perfect time. You crawl in next to her and whisper to her that you love her as you press your lips to her temple. 

“Wow, you are stunning,” you say as you approach the woman reading a book beside the pool. “Can I buy you a drink, gorgeous?” 

She holds up her hand to show the rings on her finger, “Married, sorry.” 

“Yeah, to me. Here you go,” you hand her the beverage and she shakes her head at you. 

“I thought you left to go see if our room was ready,” she says as she takes a sip. She is impressed and compliments the flavor. 

“I did, and it’s not. So, I got us some drinks while we wait. Oh, you’re right this is good. Can I try yours?” You set your cup on the small table between the pool chairs and reach for hers. 

“Excuse me, I do not share my drinks with strangers,” Leigh says, holding her drink away from you. “You could be sick with something and I am on vacation.” 

You laugh and tell her to forget it as you continue to drink your own. You get a notification on your phone and you hope that it’s from the hotel letting you know that the room is ready, instead it’s a video from Amy showing Avery trying to teach your daughter how to finger paint the way she prefers it. “I don’t know how I am ever going to go on another work trip ever again,” you show Leigh the video and she takes your phone so she can replay it. 

“Damnit, why did you show this to me? Now I want to go home!” She complains before she starts gushing over the footage. Your daughter was getting close to being a year old, she was still too tiny to be dragging her all over the country. Neither of you wanted to leave the baby for this book tour for the second book that you wrote together but it was in the contract that at least one of you went to promote it. Since you and Leigh couldn’t agree on who went, Amy offered to take care of the baby so that both of you did the tour. 

“Oh please, you’ve wanted to go home since we left.” You say as you pick up the book she has abandoned for your phone. “So this is what you picked up at the gift shop?” You read the back of the book and find it oddly familiar. Then you look at the so-called author’s name and shake your head at your wife. “Really? You bought a copy of the enemy’s book?” 

Leigh shrugs, her eyes remain trained on your phone. As if analyzing every single detail of the video. “I wanted to see what has been keeping my spouse up at night, other than our very loud screaming child. Oh my goodness, look at her! I can’t believe she’s ours.” You watch her face light up when she hears her daughter's giggle and sees the toothless smile that you are convinced is all Leigh.  “Also, that is without a doubt your book. Different character names, a few word changes but, it’s your book. They don’t have a case.” 

You set it back down on the small table and decide to put it out of your mind for the time being. Today was a rest day. They are very important, and stress has been affecting you physically lately. You sit back and settle in the seat while you enjoy the hotel's beverage. Eventually, Leigh returns the phone to you and mentions how ready she is for the room to be available. She wanted to be in bed, lying in your arms, not with this much space between you and her. You agree, with plans of being fast asleep without the disruption of children running around the pool keeping you awake. 

“Leigh?” Someone says and you’re surprised to hear her name so you look in the direction with her. Then you look at her and watch as she recognizes the man that has approached her. He looked oddly familiar but you couldn’t quite place where you’d seen him before. 

“Danny, hi,” Leigh politely greets. “It’s um, it’s been a long time.” 

The man puts his hands in the pockets of his shorts. “Yeah, it has. Um, wow, of all of the places I thought I’d run into you, I think this is the last place I expected.” She agrees and asks how he’s doing and what has brought him to this location. “I’ve been really good, actually. Uh, I’m here on my honeymoon.” 

Her eyebrows raise in surprise, “Wow! That’s so great! I would love to meet her! Unless that’s weird. Is that weird?” 

Danny begins to play with his ear as he considers it. “I don’t think so. It doesn’t have to be weird. But she’s at the spa right now. We needed some alone time away from each other.” 

“Maybe we can get together for dinner,” you chime in. Leigh jumps, as if she had forgotten you were there for a moment. Danny looks in your direction, now acknowledging your presence. 

“That sounds like… an idea,” Leigh says, lacking enthusiasm, not really sure if she wanted to have a meal with her ex and her spouse. You still couldn’t place who he was but assumed he must’ve been a friend that she fell out of touch with over the years. “Danny,” Leigh states his name carefully. She wasn’t sure why she felt she needed to tiptoe around his feelings. It could be because of what he said all of those years ago about replacing his brother. It could be because they dated and things ended horribly. It could just be that she was nervous of how he might respond in front of you and she didn’t want anything to distract from the good day the two of you were having. Whatever it was, she felt a little ridiculous. “This is my spouse, Y/n. We’re here for a work thing,” she finally says. 

Danny steps around her lounge chair to shake your hand and the two of you introduce yourselves. “Congratulations, nothing better than being newlyweds,” you kindly say. 

“Thank you, and congrats to the two of you. How uh, how long have you guys been together?” He asks as he joins Leigh on her chair without asking. She has to move her feet to make room for him to have a spot on the end. She was annoyed that he decided to stay for longer than a greeting. 

You look at Leigh as you try to put a number to the timeline since the two of you officially got together. “I want to say four, almost five years?” She nods along trying to figure it out herself. The two of you weren’t really hung up on knowing how much time you’ve spent together. With how life moved along for the two of you, the time didn’t really matter. What mattered was that you were together. 

“Wow,” he whistles. “That’s really great. I’m really happy for you, Leigh. I’m glad that you were able to move on after all.” His words strike you and you realize that he must’ve known her when she was married the first time. 

“Oh, did you know Matt?” You ask cluelessly, still trying to put together the pieces. In response Danny starts laughing. You look to your wife to clear up the confusion and she is giving you a concerned expression. 

“Danny and Matt are brothers,” she clarifies for you and that’s when you are finally caught up. 

“Oh, you’re that Danny. My apologies, when I’m on these tours I see so many people that my mind forgets who everyone is.” You excuse the confusion. “I’m lucky if I remember our daughter’s name!” You joke which steers the conversation away. 

“You have a kid?” Danny asks Leigh. “I thought you didn’t want kids. At least, that’s what Matt always told me.” 

Leigh makes a face. Why would he tell Danny that kind of lie? “That’s not how it was. Matt was the one who didn’t want kids.” 

Danny shakes his head, “No, it was you. I know you pretty well and I knew him better than anyone. Besides, Matt was a teacher, of course he wanted kids. No one teaches kids without wanting some of their own at some point.” The way he’s trying to gaslight your wife makes you dislike him more than you did when you realized he was Leigh’s ex. Not to mention his logic on teachers was off. 

Leigh scoffs, unable to believe what he was saying. Part of her knew he was only being stubborn because he liked to push her buttons. But another was starting to think that maybe Matt did want kids, it just wasn’t with her. No, she wasn’t going to let him warp her image of her dead husband again. He was depressed and afraid of being his dad. He told her himself that he didn’t see kids in their future. She remembers trying to convince herself that she didn’t want them either. That she would be happy with only Matt. Maybe they could get another dog or two. That would be enough for her. “I think I know myself better than you do and–” 

“Excuse me,” one of the hotel staff grabs your attention. “Your room is ready any time you want to head up.” You thank them and look to Leigh to see if she was ready to leave the conversation where it was. Or if she wanted to keep upsetting herself. 

Leigh stands from the seat while she collects her things. “Danny, always a pleasure,” she says, making it clear that she didn’t mean her words. “Let’s go,” she says to you, already halfway to the entrance. You give Danny an awkward tight lipped smile before following your wife. She is quiet the entire way to the room and you don’t know if you should say something or let her live in her head for the time being. 

You choose the former. “So, that was your ex,” you state slowly. “He seems like… a guy you’ve dated before.” She scoffs before groaning. 

“I don’t know why I was about to let him get under my skin again. Gosh, the second he started talking it was like I was thrown back to that year.” She shakes her head as her gaze wanders to the framed art in the room. “After Matt passed, all Danny could do is remind me over and over again that I didn’t know my husband. It was like a competition to him or something. He turned out to be right about some things. But this, this is where Danny is wrong about his brother and I don’t know why I want to prove it to him until I’m blue in the face.”

You put your hand on her back and rub small circles. “Because you always have to be right,” you offer, half jokingly. She gives you an unamused look as she steps away from your touch muttering that it’s not funny. “I’m sorry,” you say sincerely. “It’s probably some unresolved anger towards him that you never really let go of. I know that if certain people came back into my life questioning my growth it’d send me spiraling. Ugh, and for anyone to suggest that I replaced Allison with our daughter. That would make me sick. You might actually have to hold me back for that one.” 

This makes Leigh smile. You weren’t the type to fight, ever. You were such a teddy bear in her eyes. She still didn’t believe you when you said that you pushed the crazy man over when you rescued Bandit. “Oh yeah, you’d be a real problem. Pushing everyone into bags of trash. I might have to get some back up to hold you down.” 

“Hey, that did happen! You can ask Bandit, he’ll back me up.”

“Oh, I’m sure,” she says playfully. “Give that boy a treat or two and he’ll corroborate every story you tell.” The two of you share a laugh and Leigh takes a deep breath of relief. “I love how you do that,” she steps closer to you and locks her arms around your neck. 

You’re confused, “Do what?” 

“Make me happy again,” she kisses your lips. “Alright, time to nap.” She presses her hands on your shoulders. As if to push you away without actually pushing you away.

You hum against her lips as you slip your fingers under her shirt. “I don’t think I want to nap anymore.” 

She smiles, “Oh, I don’t think you’ll mean that later.” 

“It’ll be fine, I’ll be asleep later. After I make you even happier,” you pull her shirt up and she lifts her arms above her head to help make it easier for you to remove it from her. She beams at you as she resumes kissing you. 

“I suppose that will be fine,” she says as you walk her toward the bed. You fall on top of her and the two of you share another laugh. 

Your kisses travel down her body as soon as you're properly on top of her, and Leigh's skin shivers everywhere you touch her, her core already aching. As for you, feeling her skin under your lips is like tasting the most delicious - and addictive - of nectar; each new touch keeps you begging for more, the delighted sighs she lets out, making your body tingle. 

And it's only then the two of you realize how you've barely had this kind of time to yourselves after your little girl was born. There were many exchanges of intimate glances, soft kisses and long embraces. But moments like this, of complete carnal devotion and desire, were extremely rare, always interrupted by incessant crying or incurable fatigue. 

So you make the most of the time you have, and as soon as you wrap your lips around her breast, toying with her nipple on your tongue, Leigh lets out a satisfied moan, arching her back for you to be as close to her as possible. Wanting to give them both your full attention, you take your hand to her other breast, squeezing it in your hands the way you know she likes best. 

It doesn't take long for Leigh to start pushing your shoulders down, and you take no time in obeying, moving your kisses down her stomach as you scratch her skin lightly, making her shiver under your fingertips. You get rid of her pants and underwear at once, and Leigh would've teased you about your desperation if you hadn't sunk into her the next moment, ripping a sharp moan from her. 

"Oh, right there, baby, yes." She whimpers as you suck on her clit, delighted by every reaction you're able to rip from her. No matter how much time goes by or how many new things you experience together, this will always be one of your favorite sights - your wife with her eyes closed and lips ajar, moaning and squirming at your touch. 

It doesn't take long for her to reach her high, hands on your hair and her warm cum on your tongue. You lick her clean unhurriedly, smirking at her sharp sighs and tugging on your hair at the overstimulation. "Baby, please, oh, it's too much." She asks behind a tired voice, and you finally make your way back up, leaving a trail of kisses all the way to her collarbone and neck, sucking her skin on her favorite spots, making sure you don't leave a mark. 

As soon as you're close enough, Leigh pulls you close for a sloppy kiss, sighing at the mixed taste of her juices and your tongue. "What are you doing?" She asks with a smile against your lips as she feels your hand moving up her inner thigh, and you move your kisses back to her neck, taking your fingers to her wet folds, feeling her sigh. "I'm sure you can give me another, can't you, pretty girl?"

"If you take your shirt off I can think about it." She hits back promptly, trying to disguise the effect your touch has on her, but her fingers tight on your hair giving her away. Your chuckle against her skin makes her shiver, but you pull away soon after, getting rid of the piece of clothing in a swift motion. The garment barely hits the floor before Leigh is pulling you down again, kissing you one more time just as eagerly. 

"Oh, fuck-" She chokes on her moan as you thrust to fingers inside her without warning, her wetness helping them slide with ease inside her. As you move your digits inside her throbbing pussy, Leigh gives up kissing you, throwing her head back as her nails sink on your back. The moment as a whole makes your body warm up to the point of boiling, wanting more than anything to rip another orgasm off of her soon. 

Pressing your thumb on her clit, you curl your fingers inside her the way you know it drives you crazy, earning yourself an arch of her back and a loud moan against your ear. It doesn't take long for Leigh to come undone after that, your fingers pumping in and out of her in the perfect rhythm, your wet lips kissing the sweaty skin of her neck. 

When she's sure she can't take it anymore, Leigh moves one trembling hand to your wrist, begging you to stop. Grudgingly, you do as she's requested, pulling your fingers away from her and feeling her walls squeezing your digits one more time as they leave. You try to kiss her again, but she's in too much of a bliss to match it properly, so you go back to attacking her collarbone. 

A few minutes later, however, Leigh's hands find your shoulders, pushing you away to reverse your positions. "It's my turn now." She murmurs against your lips as she sees your confused expression, her mischievous smirk sending a shiver down your spine. So in the next moment she's ridding you of the rest of your clothes, and you're sure as hell not complaining. 

The second the tour is over, you and Leigh are in a rush to get home to the baby. Unfortunately, because of flight delays and traffic, the two of you don’t arrive at Amy’s condo until late at night. Not wanting to disrupt the baby’s sleep and not wanting to return to the house without her, you and Leigh decide to crash on your mother-in-law’s sofa for the night. Bandit, who was also staying there, was so happy to see the both of you that he made it almost impossible for you guys to fall asleep. He tries to wedge himself between you and Leigh and when neither of you let him, he settles for laying on Leigh’s chest. 

In the morning, there’s a ten month old playing with your face. Her little fingers grab at your nose and lips. You open your eyes with a breathy laugh. She smiles as she claps her hands. Successfully waking you up. You beam at her and greet her in a whisper to not disturb Leigh who was lightly snoring in your ear. You look around the room for your mother-in-law but don’t find her or Bandit anywhere. 

“Where’s grandma?” You ask your daughter. Her response is to poke your cheek. You rub Leigh’s side as you try to coax her awake. “Leigh,” you call softly. You nudge your shoulder up and down slightly to wake her up. She is annoyed by your disruption and she pats your face repeatedly. “What are you doing?” You chuckle. 

“Trying to find the snooze. I need ten more minutes,” she mumbles against your chest. 

“Sweetie, poke mommy,” you say to the little girl who is now patting your face as she copies her mom. “Poke your mommy,” you tell her again. 

She doesn’t do as requested which makes Leigh laugh. “That’s my girl.” You close your eyes as you are gently attacked by your family and when Amy returns you dramatically cry out for help. But all she does is let go of Bandit’s leashes. Allowing the dog to join in on the fun as he jumps around Leigh to lick your face while the girls continue to pat your face. “Okay! I’m awake,” Leigh announces as she carefully spins on top of you so that she can face you. She smiles up at you as Bandit makes himself comfortable next to your head and the little girl starts to place stickers on your face. “I bet you’re wishing you stuck to your plan to live alone with a dog now, huh?” 

You shake your head, “Never. That was not the life I was meant to have. This is.” 

Amy makes a noise that lets the two of you know she was crying and Leigh lays on her side as she asks her mom what’s wrong with her. “I just, I didn’t think you would get a second chance at this. I’m so happy for you,” she says as she dabs the tears with some tissues. Leigh gets up from the couch to hug her mom. 

You get up too, scooping up your daughter on the way so that you can make it a family hug. “Thank you, mom,” you say. The four of you embrace for a few seconds longer and you’re the first one to break away because of the uncomfortable feeling in your stomach. “Alright, I’m going to make some breakfast. Here you go,” you hand the girl to Leigh and she happily takes her daughter from you. Amy tries to stop you from making the breakfast that she feels she should make. But you tell her not to worry about it, she’s done enough. 

For the baby’s first birthday, Leigh surprisingly wanted a very small and intimate celebration. When setting it up, you recalled the folders of the baby’s first seven birthday parties that she had planned while she was pregnant and she pretended not to know what you were talking about. They were extravagant ideas, far too much for a baby, but you wanted to tease her about her big ideas. However, when you see her happily decorating the cake the two of you baked together, you let it go. As much fun as it is to get her riled up and annoyed, it was heart stopping to see her happy and content. 

Besides, the two of you had plenty of fun making a mess in the kitchen while baking the cake. Your daughter was giggling the whole time as she watched her parents throw ingredients at each other. It wasn’t the best example for her young impressionable mind, you’re sure that the two of you will pay for it later when she can reach for things and throw them. But you’re hopeful she won’t make a habit of it. As long as you and Leigh learn how to behave yourselves. 

“Why did you want a small party?” You eventually ask after dinner is over and the few guests that were there were all occupied with their own conversations. Drew and Mike, your editor and now Drew’s sort of boyfriend, were spoiling your daughter with attention. Jules was dividing her attention between her daughter and her current girlfriend, who eventually ended up ignoring Jules for each other. You weren’t sure about the girl at first, Jules met her at an AA meeting and was open with you about her problems. She makes your sister-in-law happy, she is really good with Avery, and she seems stable enough so you had hope for them. Then there was Amy and she was having a friendly chat with Leigh’s father, Richard and his current girlfriend. A woman that was significantly younger than him. No one really had much of a thought about her, she was polite and kept to herself most of the time. Leigh didn’t really want her there since she also invited her step-mother Sabrina and her step-sister Evie, but there wasn’t much she could do when he showed up with her and her two rowdy kids anyway. It wasn’t necessarily a small party, but it wasn’t nearly as big as the baby shower. 

“You’ll see,” Leigh says cryptically. Then she checks her smart watch for the hundredth time, “Oh, you should bring the cake out and then we can do the presents!” You nod and while she gathers everyone back to the dining table you grab the cake out of the refrigerator. Your heart tightens at the reminder of who wasn’t there when you see their name on the cake. The last thing you wanted to do was connect your daughter to someone who was no longer around. But long before Stevie had died, you and Leigh already decided on her name. Neither of you could think of a replacement middle name so Leigh convinced you it was the best option. It took some time for you to get comfortable with the idea but as she starts to show more and more of her personality, there probably wasn’t a more fitting name. You often wonder if one day she’ll prefer that name to her first name. You place and light the candle before you carefully walk the cake over to the singing group of people. 

“Happy birthday, Y/d/n! Happy birthday to you!” They finish the song as you place the cake in front of Leigh and Y/d/n. The baby’s eyes widen at the sight of the flame and before they can extend their curious hand, Leigh blows out the candle and everyone cheers. Y/d/n looks around gleefully with bright eyes, loving the attention. One of the many things that reminded you of Stevie. She claps along with them with the giggle that spreads a warmth through your entire chest. 

You and Leigh serve everyone a slice of cake and a couple scoops of ice cream. Once everyone has a plate, she insists that you start opening the presents. You wanted to enjoy the desserts and conversations but she was anxious to get started on the gifts. You suggest that maybe she should open them and she steals your plate from you. The behavior was odd, familiar but still odd. After a few attempts to get your food back and Leigh threatening to toss it out, you sit down and do as she asked so that you could get your cake back. 

“Oh wow!” You react to each toy, onesie, tiny pair of shoes, and little outfit with a false enthusiasm at first until you show them to Y/d/n. She loves every single gift making noises to communicate as much. Her reaction made every gift that much more appealing to you and you weren’t upset about not having cake anymore. The toys were the usual stuffed animals and dolls and things that babies her size won’t choke on. Some of the clothing had cute designs, cartoon characters, and funny phrases then one in particular catches your eye. “Promoted to big sister?” You read the shirt a few times out loud. Everyone goes quiet as you process what that means. They exchange glances with each other and with Leigh. “Who is this from? She’s not close to becoming a big sister quite yet, guys.” You laugh awkwardly while digging in the bag for a card or something that will have more information. A small envelope sits at the bottom of the excessive amount of tissue paper. Inside is a sonogram picture with the word surprise written in Leigh’s handwriting on the back. “Are you serious?” You ask your wife who was grinning. 

“Yes,” she says and you jump from your seat to wrap her in your arms and spin her around. “Okay! Haha I know you’re excited but I will throw up on you!” She says as pats your shoulders to drop her. You set her down and take her face in your hands to give her a big kiss in front of everyone. 

“I can’t help it, I love you so so much,” you say with a bright grin. 

“I love you too,” Leigh pulls you in for one more quick kiss. 

“We’re pregnant!” You announce it officially to everyone. They start to cheer but Leigh stops them.  “Hold on, I’m pregnant,” she corrects, making you laugh. You make the announcement again, clarifying that she is pregnant. They wait for Leigh to say something before they celebrate. “Okay, be happy now!” She says and one by one, the guests collectively give Leigh a hug to congratulate her. Several months later, Leigh is giving birth to twins. A boy and another girl.

Chapter 12

Taglist: @madamevirgo @wqndanat @thisischaismagic @artisannat @olsensnpm @evenbeingcrazy1998 @bentleywolf29 @awkwardmandalorian @agaymilflover @sayah13 @princessprudy  @wandsmxmff @wandavisionmoot @angryraisin @likefirenrain @tearsofglitter @feltlikethat @piningismymiddlename @the-writer-arcane @rightwereyouleftme @diaryoflife @natashasilverfox @karsonromanoff

[peachdues]

Kind of jumping off your other ask about how much grosser you can get, I feel like there’s potential for a lot of horror/terror stories regarding demon slayer and other media, but I feel like a lot of people are afraid to put it out there (myself included). I love writing the most fucked up shit you can imagine, but I get worried about posting it because inevitably some people are gonna hate on it, even if I’m just exploring themes and using personal experiences to fuel those themes.

All that to say, I love fucked up shit and if you ever post some, lmk bc I *will* read it (smut or otherwise).

YES!! Im so glad other writers feel like this. It’s daunting (especially on a place like tumblr where people seem to reeeeaalllly only engage in smut for smut’s sake) but I think writing angst/horror/fucked up mental shit really allows you to explore so many different themes. And you’re so right — so much of it often comes from personal experience, in a way, so it can be cathartic for both writers and the readers.

As for whether I’ll write more of that type of content — The Sweet Far Thing definitely contains psychological and physical horror, given the setting. Some mutuals have read a particular scene that combines smut with psychological torment (though they’ve only read the draft — not the fully fleshed scenes) but I’m already excited by their reactions (thank u Leigh/rhea/ghost!!)

And the same to you bestie — if you write it I will eat that shit up because god do I love torment.

[bigdreamsandwildthings]

Review: Hell Bent (Leigh Bardugo, Ninth House #2)

Rating: ★★★★.5/5

"That was the truth of magic - blood and guts and semen and spit, organs kept in jars, maps for hunting humans, the skulls of unborn infants. The problem wasn't books and fairy tales, just that they told half the story, offering up the illusion of a world where only the villains paid in blood, the ogre stepmothers, the wicked stepsisters, where magic was just and without sacrifice." This was killer. So much more enjoyable than book one for me. Alex Stern will go to hell for the people she cares about - literally, in the case of Daniel Arlington, who has been trapped there for months. Alex is conducting Lethe business and managing her studies, and at the same time, concocting a plan: find a gate, descend into Hell, and rescue her mentor. But nothing comes easy for Alex, and that plan may go disastrously wrong in ways she couldn't have predicted. I found that Ninth House read like a very adult-feeling book, but I think, at the time, that I just wasn't into that tone. This one is written similarly, but I found myself immediately drawn into it without any real effort on my part; it didn't feel so hard to immerse myself in the world. I think this is a me maturing in my reading tastes thing, rather than a Ninth House itself thing. I really liked Alex here, in a way I didn't in book one. She's so fierce and flawed, and I really loved being in her head. The supporting cast is excellent again - I love Mercy and want the best for her always - and I love how we got some backstories woven into the action. And the action itself is pretty non-stop from the start. The pacing here is on point, with things happening left and right but still with time thrown in there for a teeny bit of normalcy for Alex as a college student. A teensy, tiny bit. There are demons and shit which take precedence. But still. There were a few points where the writing lost me a bit, and that's why I take a half star off. But overall, I really, really enjoyed this one, and I'm very happy about it.

[myheadisemptyffonly]

Sometimes it makes me sad when I see people in the fandom rating fanfics. Like, give them a number from 1 to 10.

I mean, definitely everyone has their tastes and preferences and is free to share it with the whole world if they wish, but sometimes they can be a little cruel with the comments they make.

I'm of the idea that if you don't have anything nice to say or any constructive comments to make, sometimes it's good not to say anything at all. Especially when it comes to fan works that are made without any intention of profit and solely for a spirit of I don't know, fun, stress, relief...

People who share content in fandoms are, forgive the redundancy, people. They have feelings and lives of their own, and when I see the horrible things it's say about their works, I can't help but think how bad they must feel.

Fandoms are sometimes small niches, it is very easy for an author to listen to the shit it's say about their work, even more so when it is published on any social network. They are not Stephen King or Leigh Bardugo, whose reader base is very broad and therefore any criticism really has very little chance of reaching them.

Furthermore, even if they will read or hear any criticism of their works, it is totally expected considering that it is a product that people buy and consume, and therefore has the consequence that it is open to criticism, be it good or bad. Fanfic authors aren't like that, they share their work for free, solely for the love of the characters or the writing, and the fact that they get so heavily criticized because their work isn't liked by certain people is downright sad.

That's why so many works end up being abandoned and left incomplete, because even though you may see 10 positive comments, one negative (and rude) one makes a lot of noise.

Content creators don't owe people anything.

With all this I don't mean that you shouldn't be objective or recommend fanfics, fanarts or any fan work. It's just that we could perhaps be more kind when doing it and not demean the work of some in favor of others. It is good that we recommend content, that we dedicate videos or publications about certain works, what at least I do not think is good, is that in the process we have to talk about the work of authors that we do not like only with the intention of insulting it.

And even when we like it, giving it a rating is, I don't know... Rude? Unnecessary?

The constructive opinion is valid, the critical opinion (in a sense of the content or message that the work shares) is valid. What is not valid is being openly dismissive and destructive about it.

Everyone is free to have their opinion but we must not forget that behind the things we criticize there are very real human beings of which we know nothing.