#long answers abound haha

[phoenixtakaramono]

hi! any spoilers or sneaky peaks on the untold tale? i've been anxiously waiting for the new chapter 😫 your writing is on another level, i swear. i reread the first five chapters like more than 4 times each. i'm also loving your characterization of binghe!

Hullo, hullo, anon! 💞 It makes me heartened to hear that you like The Untold Tale! And I’m glad you’re liking my characterization of Bingge! I personally like my yanderes in fiction, and it’s always somewhat hilarious how wild and simp-y Luo Binghe’s POV and dialogue/ thoughts can be compared to Shen Yuan who’s just doing his best, haha.

We haven’t reached TUT’s position yet on my WIPs to Update list, so I haven’t been posting much sneak peeks of the upcoming ch6 yet since the majority of it is still in my rough note form (reminders of what I want to happen, dialogue that needs to happen, specific foreshadowing or worldbuilding, etc) and not the pretty final draft form y’all see on AO3. But I am very frank in my replies about what’ll happen in the AO3 Comments section so spoilers are abound there, haha. If y’all want a Spoiler Free experience, do not check out the Comments section. I answer questions and even gift spoilers (even copy and paste certain scenes that haven’t been published yet) to certain readers as thanks for leaving me long essay-long comments or just plain any comments that’ve made me happy.

There’s also a jokey April Fools version of what’ll be in ch6 that I’d tweeted out: TUT ch6 threadfic (April Fools edition). You can read it there if you have a Twitter account but essentially it’s scenes to expect—but butchered with American and British colloquialisms I have a certain writing process where I go all in on the fandom belonging to whichever WIP I’m working on updating, and at that time I wanted to show why it’d be a bad idea if I jumped back into writing TUT under this mindset and how it’d be jarring, haha. TUT has a certain writing style unique to C-novels and light novels in general, so I didn’t want to detract from that experience!

If you want a direct spoiler, this is what to expect from TUT ch6:

Shen Yuan’s shark tank meeting with the Jade Emperor’s Court (and SY finding out who is his celestial family in PIDW)

+

Luo Binghe’s POV, after his meeting with the celestial fortuneteller Shen Yuan (featuring a short cameo from Ning Yingying)

I do, admittedly, miss the SVSSS fandom a lot and really can’t want to return, my lovely dear readers, but I have to be a responsible multi-fandom writer rotating through my list of WIPs in an orderly fashion so it’s fair for everyone and wait for their turn and can only promise the patience will be worth it (to preserve the magic of it all)!! Thank you for your patience! I am heartened to hear there are people still reading and waiting for my return! I’ll share new sneak peeks as I’m live-writing it, once I’m ready to pivot back to TUT. ✌️ There also exist some other spoilery kernels but I’ll leave one more hint:

And after ch6, will be the Airplane Shooting Towards the Sky chapter where y’all will find out whose new poor cannon fodder’s identity he’s transmigrated into almost as a direct consequence of Shen Yuan’s transmigration as a celestial sharing the Protagonist’s Halo with Bingge in this new danmei genre he’s created (laughs). I’m excited because I get to finish up and debut the prettier illustration of ASTtS that’s been gathering dust in my computer files. If you’ve seen the WIP, yes, it’ll be the final version of this concept art I posted before as a sneak peek.

[bbgoffic]

Get to know you tag game:

79's Edition

Shamelessly stolen from the lovely @aynavaano who got it else where who got i-

//Rules// copy this post and answer the questions below + tag people you would like to see at 79's!

What to wear: probably my usual silloette, off the shoulder long sleeve bodcon dress with leggings. Black on black. Slip on wedges (6"+ never less) Black pearl choker with a gold medallion. Make up like this pic, hair like this one.

What to Order: the equivalent to red bull or a hard cider.

What to do: I'd be perched at the bar where the tender can keep an eye on me. If it's not busy we'll probably be chatting if it is I'm likely to pull out a book like I usually do.

Who to Woo: Interesting question, I wouldn't be setting out to woo any one usually just out for the noise and always on the hunt for novel places to take in the scenery.

Fives would probably approach me first, it's always the obnoxious over confident one first. Then poor Wrecker might ask me why I look so down leading to an awkward explanation that... That's just my face.

"But Nix," you say, " Aren't you gaga for Crosshair?"

Based on external knowledge my friends. Also there would be no approaching there. He would be the reason I look up from my book every few minutes sure as hell I'm being watched. Garunteeeed to piss me off should I catch him which... Does get him closer to sleeping with me so kudos.

I tag @here-comes-the-moose, @vimse, @hshfsjzjsgj, @cloneflo99 if you see this, haha guess what loser. (You're coming to the bar with me.) ((Please just do it the tag system is atrocious and I know some new faces be abound))

[witchcraftandburialdirt]

"Vittorio and I have long discussed how to free ourselves from this place; I am sure he would be delighted to begin that research again."

Haruko's words were soft, and his movements measured - deliberate - as he nodded in agreement. He kept his steps cautious to keep himself at a safe distance from the Shroud's thirsty blade; the maiden was aware of its sting, and had no intentions of allowing an opening for such a strike. Suddenly a nymphish snort escaped him, surprising even himself. The sound was not unkind, devoid of any disdain or mockery, and morphed into a joyful giggle that bubbled up from within him. The maiden's eyes sparkled with amusement as he reached out and gently placed a hand over his curled lips, forcing the chuckles down into placid ease. Any hanging tension faded into a sense of ease that permitted Haruko to relax - even if only for a moment.

"I appreciate your reference to Arthurian legend, it is rare that I understand references made by you so far ahead in time. Ha ━ but please be wary of your later use ━ Haha! Excalibur was given to Arthur by the Lady of the Lake! Twas a weapon forged outside of the mortal realm - only to be held by one deemed worthy enough to wield it, and it must return to its own origins once its holder is gone."

Yet still the maiden stood rooted to the spot, his fingers gripping the rough bark of a nearby tree as if it were his lifeline. Despite the merry making and mirth, Haru dare not step closer. The space between them fell silent and his breath lifted out in visible puffs while he kept his dark gaze locked onto the weeping mask. A soft and dead breeze lifted the veil that shrouded Haruko and allowed it to billow and dance through the air ━ the pale lace seafoam caught in a gentle current. He stood like a lone star piercing through the parted clouds on a frigid winter night, casting a faint but steady glow in the darkness. There was no stroke of shadow in him - he had not let it take reign of his mind, and it seemed he never would. How could he ever when his dreams were alight with color and the sweet smells of summer?

He held within his memory a vivid tableau of the world beyond, where life's pleasures abounded and the beauty of nature bloomed in a kaleidoscope of hues. The vibrant colors of the flowers in full bloom danced still in his mind - each petal a delicate dapple of pink, blue, and yellow, painting across the lush green fields of the Italian countryside. As long as he could remember, even just a sliver, of what life had been … he would search for it. Only if his mind was torn asunder would he give into the madness that was accepting this as the only way reality could be for him; he had fought for freedom once more ━ what was one more battle?

"Perhaps Excalibur is our answer, and there is something far beyond our realm that can act as a key to free us from this cage. .... It is obvious that us survivors cannot act within the good graces of those closest to the Entity ━ but you are already in that circle; even if your mistrusting friend does not wish to grant aid ━ I would ask of you to see what other information you can find. " Haru paused, "… Although with that task I bid you luck and any prayer I may offer, and to be careful. Many killers, I am sure, do not wish to leave such a place ━ they've not yet had their fill … Thus I implore you to keep a wary eye on any that call you friend, betrayal never comes from your enemies."

His eyes lifted upward, drawn to the somber expanse of the gray sky stretching endlessly above him. They paused there for a moment only to drift downward and settle on the mask's twisted features.

Haruko wondered how similar it and its wearer were.

"Hold hope yet, Ghostface, I do not believe all to be lost."

[scham-wcan]

KNOWLEDGE GATHERING TIME!

Let's go with....

3(star swoosh), 4, 6,9, 13,14,21 (podcast fic), 23,26

Thanks for the lengthy ask!

3(star swoosh), 4, 6,9, 13,14,21 (podcast fic), 23,26

3. what is your favourite kind of comment or feedback?

I enjoy when people enjoy or have an emotional response the chapter or work honestly, there isn’t much else better than seeing someone have some reaction to something in something you wrote in any regard

4. there a fic that you worked *really fucking hard on* that no one would ever know? maybe a scene/theme you struggled with?

I think the more expected answer is Elemental because that story has been planned and has been developed since volume 6 basically. From that whole story the themes of self acceptance and carving a space for yourself were both really special to me so they became core to that whole story.

6. what makes you want to give up on writing? what makes you keep going?

The thing that makes me not want to write anymore is just not thinking I have any skill, capability, originality and so on and so forth. Too many times have I thought about quitting when I couldn’t write a few thousand words in a day, haha. I think spite it probably the thing that most effectively keeps me going honestly, naturally every supporter around me helps but wanting to shut up that voice in the back or my head is equally helpful in keeping going.

9. give yourself a compliment about your own writing

no

13. what is a fic that got a different response than you were expecting?

My most recent one for Star Rail honestly, no idea why that got so much attention, haha

14. what one fic of yours you think people didn't get?

Stitches and CinWins honestly or Wandering Heat. One for being horribly written, the latter, and the former being that it was more for Rookie and I so some of the larger things and ideas in it didn’t really come across well.

21. what is your post-writing/sharing aftercare? How do you take care of yourself or celebrate yourself when you've finished a fic?

Honestly I don’t really have anything different that denotes celebration, most often I jump into the next thing or sleep or the rest of my day. When Ele finishes I will probably just make a new plan for a multiparter

23. What do YOU get out of writing?

I get to do my drabbles and nonsense in a socially acceptable fully made prose format.

26. how do you think engaging with each other through tumblr, twitter, comments, kudos, creates healthy fandom experiences? How do you deal with that if you're not a social person/ experience social anxiety?

Well I think it is important for creators to stick together and always look to one another to benefit out and one another’s works. If we all stay closed off there is just no way to think about expanding repertoires or anything like that. But it isn’t about comparing 1:1 because its ludicrous to compare your work to someone else’s because that isn’t you and the work they made is from a whole different world than your own.

So I am not typically very anti-social or anything like that, I do have issues of self esteem but that’s something I deal with closetedly. For the most part I participate in spaces where the upward trend is positive and uplifting and stray away from degradation or hitting down on others.

[falloutglow]

🖊 Echooooooo

Fun fact! Echo isn’t the Sole Survivor. I may play Echo in my game, but uh, yea nah she’s not Sole (that be Nora *winks loudly*). She has a different title though :3

It is hinted at in On Top of Sanctuary Hills and Far Away when Mama Murphy has her vision in the first chapter:

“Like clockwork he will run,” Mama Murphy’s words floated over them as she slowly turned towards them, “and denial he will hide.” Her hubflower eyes appeared to cast an ethereal glow, one Echo had seen before when Murphy had warned of the Deathclaw. “The truth is frozen in fear, deep within and locked down tight.” Murphy’s eyes locked onto Echo’s as her lips continued moving like the expert hand of a ventriloquist, “What he has lost, may not be found unless a guardian helps him seek.”

And uh, yep I do have plans for her to be called by her title: “The Lost Guardian”. While I don’t have plans on writing the battle in Concord fight (ie helping the Quincy crew with their raider problem, meeting Preston, and fighting that Deathclaw quest), Mama Murphy will refer to Echo as such. Echo was essentially the “guardian angel” they needed to survive and get out of that mess. There are also...lots of jokes about Echo getting lost very fuckin easily.

In Heart of the City both Nick & Ellie tease Echo about getting lost:

“I take it you got lost again?” Ellie mused as her typewriter dinged.

Echo snorted. “What?” She laid a dramatic hand on her chest, “me? Lost? Psh, as if.”

Dogmeat trotted over to Ellie as Nick stepped inside. “Really? It looked like you were asking a wall for directions.”

She has trouble with knowing where she’s going. If she has a destination in mind, she’s...probably going to get turned around. Again. But still has a knack for stumbling into places where she’s needed. She’ll typically let her travelling partner(s)/companion(s) lead the way if they have a set destination in mind.

Heck, while I haven’t uuuuh written it yet, Echo finds Nick on total accident. She was on her way to Diamond City, accidentally woke Swan (our fav behemoth) and dashed into the substation. Triggermen there figured she was there to bust out “the detective” and welp, one part curiosity, 89% feeling bad for leaving some guy trapped when she could possibly do something and she lived up to her title again. She got lost. found love Nick, and ran out of Vault 114 with him. Didn’t even know he was there, just felt right to help some guy out. It was like he had a guardian angel watching over him or something ;3

[ 🖊 OC time]

[snipsnsnailsnwerewolftales]

Blue Moon - Part 2

A/N: See masterlist for prompts used. (And the list of amazing people who have helped me with this.) I apologize for how angsty this one got. I tried to mix in sass and fluff to lighten the load, but by nature, it’s just kinda heavy/heavier than the other parts. I promise the next parts have fluff abounding, mixed in with angst, of course. If you need to refresh yourself on the warnings for this story, this would be a good chapter to do so. It gets a bit graphic and dramatic, just like the show, haha! But just to be on the safe side, if you want to make sure, head to the masterlist to refresh your memory.

I do not own Teen Wolf or it’s characters. Sadly.

Warnings: See Masterlist

Word count: 2,105

Xxx

When you walked into the loft a few short minutes later, Derek’s alarm that someone was trespassing was blaring. He walked over to it and slammed his fist against it, stopping the blaring alarm and blinking light. His eyes searched the loft in the eerie silence that followed, only for the pack members to emerge from behind various walls with hands over their ears, or from out on the balcony. 

You couldn’t contain your giggle at Stiles’ especially pained expression of both annoyance and also fear that Derek would finally follow through on many years of threats. 

“What’s going on?” Derek boomed, and you snickered as more eye rolls were given than jumps at his loud tone and glowing red eyes.

He turned his gaze on you briefly, but you kept your spine straight. After having to sit through a nauseating phone call between him and Jennifer in the car the whole way over here, he deserved it. 

Taking a few steps further into the loft, you tossed down your duffel bag of clothes, inspecting the alarm box. “Damn, Derek. You almost dented the thing. What did it ever do to you?”

“Is this a bad time?” 

Turning at the voice that had the hairs on the back of your neck standing up, you saw none other than Jennifer. You felt a growl brewing in your gut and you took a threatening step forward, fighting any physical evidence of being a werewolf for the sake of the pack. 

Derek was quick to blink away his red glow, but you noticed he didn’t really care if she saw it, and that pissed you off even more. 

Stiles came up and gently grabbed your elbow, tugging you back with the rest of them, not even flinching when you turned yellow eyes on him. “It’s okay, Y/N.”

Looking back, you met Derek’s gaze, once again red. He spoke slowly, but you lived with him and knew him well enough to hear the menace in his tone. “Back off.”

Taking her into the hallway and closing the front door behind him, Derek tried to talk her into leaving, promising to see her soon, and to add to your nauseating annoyance, they shared a brief kiss. 

Turning to Stiles, you hissed through your teeth. “She’s brainwashed him. I swear. No human sees that for as short a time as she has and doesn’t even flinch when an Alpha glows his eyes at her.”

“Why would she do that?” Stiles scoffed. 

“I don’t know. But she is an English teacher. If anyone can do it, it’s her.”

Stiles snorted a laugh. “Good grammar? That’s your argument? Oh come on, Y/N. Next thing you’ll be accusing her of being in cahoots with the Alpha Pack, or, or! Maybe, she’s the one ritualistically sacrificing people!” He was laughing loudly, bending over at the waist with the effort now.

“Oh, she’s something.” You huffed, looking at the still closed door. “For now, she’s just my least favorite bit-”

The door slid open to an angry looking Derek. He leveled his gaze on you, which you met with your own stare. 

“Is it gone?” you asked quietly, smirking almost imperceptibly. 

The rest of the pack meeting went by in a blur, the only things you gleaned from it was something about a club downtown to try and trap some Omega or something, and that Derek was an ass to you. 

Your friends filed out of the loft as you went to get changed for training, which you weren’t looking forward to. You knew Derek was going to kick your ass on purpose. 

As you made your way over to the mats to stretch briefly, eyeing Derek angrily the whole time, he ignored you. 

Rising to your feet, you shook your limbs to release any final tension you could and asked as calmly as you could, “What should we do as a warm up today?”

Before Derek could answer the alarm was blaring again, and your friends’ faces painted in fear was the next thing you noticed before a long clawed hand smashed the alarm box off the wall. 

Kali. 

Pointing a menacing claw to the balcony and looking at your friends, they all filed silently outside. “I can’t hurt any of you, Deucalion’s orders, so don’t test me.” Looking to Ethan and Aiden, she spoke gruffly. “Make sure they stay out there.” Looking to you with an evil smile, she took a step closer. “I want them to have a good view of what happens in here.”

Starting to circle you, she chuckled a little. “You want a warm up? How about me?” Her eyes glowed red before she launched at you with a snarl. 

You wrapped in her swiping arms, twisting with her until you could spin away and put distance between you again. “Fine by me,” you huffed, taking a deep breath and smirking. 

Circling one another, she sneered. “Little Beta, Derek’s precious little new one, you’re no match for me.”

“We’ll see,” you grinned, running at her and sliding between her legs set in a wide spread stance, kicking behind you to knock her knees out from under her, causing her to drop to them on the hard cement floor. 

Snarling, she pivoted back to you as you still smirked, rolling out of the way when she launched at you again, this time with a growl. 

You let yourself chuckle. “This is fun!” You glanced to Derek, ignoring his obvious want to jump into the fight. Looking back to Kali, you grinned brightly. “What else you got?”

She went to sweep your legs out from under you suddenly, but you easily jumped out of the way, jumping on top of her as her whole body was low to the ground in the attempt. 

Your hips straddled her waist, your knees pushing into her rib cage making it hard for her to breathe, and held her hands beside her head. “I win.” Your grin brightened. “Tag. You’re it.”

You could hear Stiles laugh in triumph outside the window, and you glanced at him. Kali took advantage of your momentary distraction and smashed her head into yours, loosening your grip on her, and getting to her feet as you staggered back, hand cradling your forehead. You felt the blood temporarily running down your face until your nose healed. 

Pulling your hand down to where the blood was and pulling it away to briefly glance at it, you twisted up your features and hissed at a smug Kali, “Bitch!”

Jumping and launching at her, you swiped to fake her out, grabbing her wrist when she blocked you and twisting it behind her as you also went over and behind her, landing with a thud on your feet firmly, and leveraging her with the arm firmly in your grasp over you to the floor behind you. Her hand still in your grip, as she tried to catch her breath, the wind knocked out of her, you grabbed her other hand and rolled her under your grasp just enough to pin her hands under her back, placing your whole weight on top of her now, straddling her thighs, knees digging into her sides and your hands holding her shoulders down, and thus also her arms. 

“Would you look at that?” you said in fake awe. “I did all of that without any claws or fangs.” You leaned in close to her face, letting your yellow eyes glow brightly. “But you didn’t really think I wouldn’t flash these beauties after taking down an Alpha, now, did you?”

The tapping of Deucalion’s cane came to the front door, followed by a droll, “Are you done, Kali?”

The rest went by in a blur. Somehow you ended up under Kali with your head being pinned down to the floor, along with your stomach being pressed to the floor by a heavy foot you soon realized was Ennis once she passed you off to go and do what she came to do to Derek. 

You were forced to watch in horror, the cries of your pack on the balcony drowned out after the first few, nothing but your heartbeat and Derek’s meeting your ears. You tried to calm yours down to help him also remain calm, trying to reduce the pool of blood spreading from the pole Kali had rammed through his chest. 

Your head pinned to the floor, you could only watch or shut your eyes, any struggle proving futile against the large Alpha. You didn’t dare close your eyes, you kept trying to meet Derek’s, but he kept them averted out of what almost looked more like shame than pain. The one time they did fleetingly meet, you forced a smile on your face, trying to coax one out of him, and you could have sworn the slightest twitch of his lips up was the most beautiful thing you had ever seen in that moment.

He closed his eyes briefly at that point, and you kept the smile firmly on your face, though your voice was obviously broken, fighting back tears. 

“Hey, Derek,” you said quietly, not wanting to anger the room full of Alphas. It was already almost overbearing being the only Beta in the room. “Derek?” He opened his eyes and looked at you with a gentle smile and you decided that was even more beautiful than before. “Hey. I’m okay, Derek. I’m fine. So is everybody else.” You glanced at the balcony to show him what you meant before meeting his gaze again, smile still firmly on your face. It was purely to help put him at ease, because all you wanted to do was scream and cry and kick and beat an Alpha’s butt for doing anything to him.

“I’m okay. You’re okay. Well, you will be,” you chuckled, and he also let a small laugh pass his lips before he started coughing up blood, which made your worry rise. You didn’t think it could go any higher.

“Derek! Hey! Derek, it’s okay. We’re all okay. Just listen to him and we’ll figure it out.” He was having trouble breathing. “We always do.”

Tears started streaming down your face despite all your efforts, and you held back the ugly sob you felt brewing in your throat. 

His eyes snapping open after he took a labored breath through his nose, he glanced at you wide eyed, and you realized the pheromones had probably tipped him off. Damn senses. 

They finished their evil speech, pulled the bar from his chest, and released you, leaving you to scramble over to him at neck breaking speeds. 

They took the rod once in his chest and used it to lock the balcony door, keeping the rest of your pack out there, but they were all safe, and they just looked on through the window in silence. 

Cradling Derek’s head in your lap, you ran your fingers through his hair. “Hey, hey, stay with me. You don’t get out of this that easy. Stay awake. You need to stay awake, Derek. Stay with me.”

He reached up, placing a hand on your wrist limply, and you had flashbacks to just hours before in your house before he got the phone call. His smile weak, he gave a just as weak squeeze. “I’m not going anywhere. I’m stubborn, remember? You can’t get rid of me that easy.”

“Damn it,” you mocked, making him chuckle, and a little bit of color returned to his cheeks as he healed. 

His face turned somber. “You know what they’re asking me to do, right?”

You nodded. “I know what they’re telling you to do. And I know we will find a way to fix it. We always do. Plus, if you didn’t see, I’m a badass.” You grinned. 

He grinned as well, a soft chuckle passing his lips. “Yeah you are. That was pretty epic. Who taught you to fight? They must be pretty amazing. Like, almost as good as me.”

You laughed loudly, laying his head down on the floor again, softly, and ignoring his groan. “I’m going to let the others in so they can help me get you off this floor with the least amount of pain for you and clean all this up.” Realizing how much blood was on the floor, you went back to his face, resting a hand on his forehead and raking it back over his hair, resting it on top of his head. “I’m really glad you’re okay, Derek. I don’t know what I would do without you.”

“Both sentiments are mutual,” he huffed, smiling mischievously. 

Xxx

Tags: @mayahart02, @palaiasaurus64, @shydinosaurcandy, @lucyqueenofthestars, @c-breanne1999, @l4life, @ethereallysimple, @teenwolffan-with-nolife, @bellabadacadabra, @lilostif16, @wandas-love, @emily500, @babygirl-angel-love What’s This?

[nomorejust1ce]

I literally have no clue how tarot stuff works sorry about that haha

Uhhh I guess 12 49 8 and 64? My name is Joe, and hmmm advice on romance I mean why not

joe

7/13/22

romance reading

ace of pentacles reversed (12), page of cups (49), five of wands reversed (8), ace of swords reversed (64). + two of swords (card that jumped out of my hand while i was shuffling)

general breakdowns

first and foremost, i want to address that the majority of your cards are reversed. this usually means that your situation is still developing, and unclear. it’s in your control to see where this goes.

ace of pentacles reversed: aces are a lot like… um… “seeds”. they represent the best part of a certain suite- in this case, pentacles. possibilities for growth, trust, and stability are abound! the ace of pentacles nudges you to think practically, and do things you know will produce tangible results. now is also the time to put your faith in others.

because this card is reversed, its energy may be blocked, repressed, or ignored. are you caught up in fantasies? are you overly suspicious of those around you? try to be more down to earth.

page of cups: wonderful card!!! pages indicate an opportunity of some sort, and, when dealing with cups, might have to do with your ~relationships~. the page of cups gives you this sage advice moving forwards: be open and receptive of your feelings, let your intuition lead the way, and, more than anything, proceed with love. if you’re dealing with an obstacle of some kind, see how far a loving, soft approach can get you. also, don’t be afraid to be intimate and open! now’s your chance!!

five of wands reversed: five of wands is not the easiest card to pull. it can indicate being plagued by endless little barriers that are not as difficult as they are tedious. it can also mean- especially when i’m reading for myself…- that you or someone else is picking fights, or nitpicking. all in all, your situation is likely full of a lot of disagreements. if competition is something that is working for you, then hey, by all means, let it flourish- but generally, it’s better to try to resolve these things.

when i get the five of wands in the reversed position, it usually means that it’s inappropriate. i’ve usually been too nitpicky, or quarrelsome, and i need to work more towards cooperation. are you like me? or could some healthy competition improve your situation?

ace of swords reversed: another ace! when ace-ace pairs appear in a reading, it means both the powers of the aces are entering your life. so, not only is there opportunity for security, trust, and growth, but also for justice, mental strength and clarity, and fortitude. (also, double opportunities for trust!) now you have the power to analyze your problems and find the answers you’re looking for. it may not be easy, but don’t give up! pursue justice, and remain honest with those around you.

in the reversed position, this energy is likely blocked or repressed. perhaps you need to be more open? are you thinking about and approaching your problems logically?

two of swords: maybe you’ve been hurt in the past, and it seems impossible to be open with someone else- maybe even yourself. the two of swords implies you’re at a standstill. because of your inability to be honest with your feelings, you cannot move on. this card can also mean that you’re refusing to see the truth. you may feel one way, but act another. allow yourself to feel how you really feel. beneath the veneer, what do you actually think? 

what i think

as implied by the two aces, i think there’s significant opportunities abound! although these cards are reversed, their energies still remain present in your life. open yourself up to trusting others. it may be easier to remain defensive, but opening up again will likely help you in the long run. proceed with love! be kind to others and generous with your feelings and time. remember to reflect that loving energy back at yourself, too, and have faith in your own abilities! you are more than capable of getting everything you want!!!

[popatochisssp]

I need memes for the new boys. Meme me, Poppy. Meme me.

As always, I am ashamed at how well-equipped I am to answer this question...

Meme Fluent: Ash (Undergloom Sans), Ell (Horrorswap Papyrus), Sunny (Gastertale Sans)

Can At Least Ask Where The Bathroom Is In Meme: Brick (Horrorfell Sans), Nemo (Horrorswapfell Papyrus), Aster (Gastertale Papyrus)

Meme-blivious: Yrus (Undergloom Papyrus), King (Horrorfell Papyrus), Merc (Horrorswap Sans), Pitch (Horrorswapfell Sans)

Ash (Undergloom Sans): Very savvy and up on all the most popular memes, scrolling through memes is an activity very low on the ‘activity’ part and great for when he’s feeling a little too tired to do anything else. He’s very into tiktoks, which help him keep up to date on the latest meme songs-- some of which he might try to learn to play on his own. In general, he’s also into memes with funny or weird-looking animals (frogs, possums, axolotls, etc), no specific kind of meme, the presence of a goofy-looking creature in it is usually good enough to get a smile or a chuckle out of him.

Yrus (Undergloom Papyrus): Not all that up to date on the meme scene, he’s usually busy with other things... but! He really loves relatable memes, especially ones about procrastination or not being able to focus on work or having to do chores, everyday mundane irritations that everybody can relate to! He also thinks reading comprehension errors are great harmless fun (i.e., “my bad i thought u said moths”), just silly misunderstandings that make for confusing interactions until someone realizes.

Brick (Horrorfell Sans): Doesn’t always remember every meme, but he gets the gist of most of them. His favorites are the MS Paint memes, usually the more poorly drawn, the better (but a fan of pretty much every catcrumb image he sees, those chaotic little cats are great). He can also be caught laughing himself to wheezing and banging on the table over completely bizarre and out of context interactions--for some reason, they just hit right on the funny bone and he has no defense against them. (The ‘Nyquil Detroit Become Liquid’ post nearly killed him, but he would’ve thanked it.)

King (Horrorfell Papyrus): Not too interested in memes. He’s peripherally aware of them but rarely knows the latest trends or cares to know them. He does have a slight fondness for evil memes--ones about being evil or having an evil lair or just have the word ‘evil’ as an adjective in front of something else seemingly incongruous--he finds them silly and they can usually win at least a smirk out of him when he happens to come across one. If you want a laugh, though, find him some of those screenshots of old newspapers from the 30s-50s, formally written humor that still holds up even now (like The Windsor Star, Ontario, November 1, 1958, The Cincinnati Enquirer, Ohio, February 21, 1947, or Barnard Bulletin, New York, December 20, 1935). Sensible chuckles abound from those!

Merc (Horrorswap Sans): Not too into memery, he’s definitely got a lot of other things going on and isn’t always online. Still, he is a fan of stuff like one-time-i-dreamt and other accounts of peoples’ dreams or thought processes. He thinks it’s interesting, the little peek into the wandering, strange, and sometimes funny subconscious, or how people think about love and tenderness and nostalgia and remind others to appreciate those things, too. It’s a very niche, wholesome sort of enjoyment for sure... but not to worry! If you’re looking for something more mainstream and ‘haha funny,’ he also got very into the whole ‘Surprise! It’s cake!’ meme trend that was going on for awhile and is still delighted to find a video where a realistic object is cut into and turns out to be cake. He’s definitely going to make one himself, maybe as a social media marketing thing for his home business...

Ell (Horrorswap Papyrus): Very meme savvy and tends toward some of the maybe darker types of humor--stress and anxiety memes, introvert memes, et cetera. Animated text is a big one he likes, with enough of a mix of pessimist and optimist memes that he doesn’t come away from checking it actually bummed out or feeling bad, a fine line to walk to be sure. He also likes coding and programming humor! He’s still kinda teaching himself, so he definitely doesn’t get them all, but it gives him a little sense of accomplishment and community when he does, which he really likes.

Pitch (Horrorswapfell Sans): Not interested in memes, and a lot of them are heavily based on visuals which, unfortunately, he’s going to miss the context. Still, he does get a hell of a kick out of brazen and blatant misinformation--the smooth sharks post, facts-i-just-made-up, and the like--and finds it hilarious when someone insists something that is obviously untrue, especially if a lot of people aren’t getting the joke and are trying fervently to convince them of their wrongness. He’s also a little bit evil, so whenever he learns a new piece of whatever slang is popular and in at the moment, he’s going to use it incorrectly, or use outdated slang to induce cringe in those around him. ‘Totes yeet yo’? Yes. ‘That is so pog, as the kids say’? Of course. ‘It’s lit, fam’? Definitely, who do you take him for? The cringier, the better, he revels in the discomfort of others when he throws one of those babies out.

Nemo (Horrorswapfell Papyrus): Definitely knows a little bit about memes, not always the latest trends but his base knowledge is pretty good, and of course has his favorites. He loves John Mulaney references and reaction images, they just Speak to him, y’know? Outside of that, he’s very fond of day-of-the-week memes, Tuesday Again?, Out of Touch Thursday, Fat Fuck Friday and so on. Aside from being a useful reminder of what the hell day of the week it is, he likes the consistency and recurrence of it, just a silly little moment to look forward to at some point like, “oh yeah, it’s el muchacho monday, nice!”

Sunny (Gastertale Sans): Pretty wise to the meme scene overall, loves the fun and creativity of it all. If you want him to absolutely lose his shit, though, show him a terrible picture of an animal--by which I mean, poorly photoshopped, blurred, in mid-panoramic, as long as the end result is an absurd or very screwed up image. Why are things like ‘buff half cat’ and ‘dog but very, very long’ his sense of humor? He has no idea, but the worse it looks, the harder he laughs. He has a bit of a fondness for ‘gotcha’s too, like a Rickroll but really anything where you go into it expecting one thing, and get trolled by receiving something else. (If Megalovania memes were a thing in his universe, he would be all over them, if that gives you an idea of the kind of gag he thinks is funny!)

Aster (Gastertale Papyrus): Aware of memes, but not all that invested in them. He likes corporate and office/business memes a lot-- the kind that roast bosses and unnecessary meetings, translate ‘polite’ corporate phrases, anything to do with emails--because they can be very relatable. He also likes seeing screencaps of people on Facebook or Twitter getting dragged for misinformation, or trying to act like a pompous jerk and getting shredded (for legitimate reasons of course, not just random unprovoked cyberbullying). He...may be involved in a bit of that sometimes himself: he may not be working in a scientific field, but he is half of a scientist, and just petty enough to spend a few hours of his free time looking up and reading through a few credible sources to cite in a strong and well-crafted rebuttal argument if someone is being especially, dangerously wrong about something. Not everyone has the time and resources to do it, so why shouldn’t he? 😇

[doc-pickles]

right where you left me

I think this is the fastest I’ve ever finished a two part series haha. I honestly thought I was done Saturday but decided to add some more to it and the whole thing ended up being almost 9K words so.... I hope you guys enjoyed this! I had a lot of requests for this fic and I really enjoyed writing it :) and if you need it here’s a link to part one

Sunday 10:38 AM

You two doing good?

doing fine, just a little tired

Need me to bring anything by? I’m off at 2

I think we’re okay, i’ll text if I think of anything

thank you :)

No problem. Talk soon.

Sunday 11:15 AM

I’m going to grab a late lunch. Do you want anything?

Sunday 11:52 AM

Heading into surgery, shouldn’t be too long.

Sunday 1:47 PM

About to head out.

Sunday 2:08 PM

Missed Call from Alex

Sunday 2:15 PM

Missed Call from Alex

Sunday 2:22 PM

You okay? I’m getting worried

Sunday 2:39 PM

On my way over.

Sunday 2:45 PM

Missed Call from Alex

Jo is exhausted if she's honest with herself. At six months pregnant she’d thought that things would get easier from here on out, but she’d been foolishly wrong. She’d been dealing with a nasty resurgence of her morning sickness the past three days and her once abounding second trimester energy had now dwindled down to practically nothing. After leaving work the day before she’d barely gotten out of bed, only leaving the warm blankets to go to the bathroom or grab a snack.

She’s laying in bed, finally settled down after another bout of morning sickness, when the door to the loft slides open loudly. She ignores it at first, knowing it’s probably Alex coming to check on her, but she bolts up from her position in bed when he starts practically screaming.

“Jesus Christ Jo! I thought you were dead, you can’t reply to a text or pick up your damn phone,” Alex is clearly frantic as he paces the loft, barely acknowledging Jo’s presence. “I’ve been worried sick about you.”

“I’m sick Alex, I’ve either been asleep or throwing up since I texted you,” Jo’s voice had an edge to it as she stared Alex down. “And I don’t need you coming in here and trying to guilt trip me or whatever this is.”

“I’m not trying to guilt trip you, I’m trying to make sure you and our kid aren’t dead!”

“Well now that you know we aren’t you can leave Alex. You probably wouldn’t even be here if it weren’t for Meredith getting sick,” Jo could feel her anger boiling as she looked at Alex. She knew her words were a low blow, but her anger and her hormones won out as she continued to yell at him. “I am more than capable of taking care of myself and our son without you constantly keeping tabs on us. That’s not your job anymore, you’re not my husband! You’re just the guy who knocked me up and then left for three months after telling me for years that you would never leave. You left and you weren’t coming back and the only reason you did is because I’m pregnant. If I wasn’t then you wouldn’t be here acting like you care… Do you think I don’t realize that? I get it, I’m nothing to you anymore and you’re only here for the baby. Well your son is fine and I’m fine too so please just get out.”

There was a moment of silence as Jo and Alex stared at each other, her eyes alight with anger and frustration. She settled herself back into bed with her back facing the door, holding her breath until she heard the door to the loft slide shut again and Alex’s footsteps retreat downstairs. When she finally released the breath she had been holding, a shaking round of tears followed it.

She didn’t know if she believed the words she’d spat at Alex, at one point she did but now she wasn’t so sure. He’d shown her over and over that he genuinely cared for her outside of his parental responsibilities to their son, even if he had left her behind. In truth, no matter how many therapy sessions she went to or how much her and Alex talked things out there was still a gaping hole in her chest created by the man she loved. She’d work through it, she always did, but right now all she wanted was sleep.

-

She sleeps for three hours, the longest stretch in the past few days that she’s been able to manage without throwing up. When she finally wakes her stomach is growling at her which almost makes her roll her eyes because she hasn’t been able to keep anything down lately. Jo slowly rolls out of bed and heads to the kitchen to find something to eat, but instead stops at the sight of her dining table.

There’s a large bouquet of tulips, her favorite flowers, along with ginger ale, soup, and her favorite snacks. Next to that she spots the tiniest blue striped onesie she’s ever seen, the sight bringing tears to her eyes. As she scans the spread once more, she grabs the card on the flowers and reads the barely legible writing.

Jo,

I’m sorry for the past few months. I know I’ve put you through hell but I’m trying my hardest to make it up to you and I promise I won’t stop trying. I’m a better man because of you and I hope I can be that man for you and our son.

Alex

Wiping up her tears, Jo grabs her car keys and heads down to her car. She knows she probably looks a hot mess but she drives the few blocks to Alex’s apartment anyways, barely noticing the thick sheets of rain that soak her thin pajamas as she bolts from her car into the brick building.

When Alex opens the door, she knows she looks insane but she forces the words out before he can say anything, “I’m sorry for snapping at you, you didn’t deserve that. I said a lot of things I didn’t mean because I was angry and my emotions are all over the place. That doesn’t make it right, it’s just… I’ve had a hard time lately. With everything. And I lashed out at you and I shouldn’t have.”

Alex stared at Jo for a moment before stepping into the hallway and pulling her into his embrace, “I’m sorry too, for freaking out on you, that’s the last thing you need right now. I meant what I said, I do want to be better for you. For both of you.”

“And I’m sorry for telling you that we’re having a boy by yelling it across the room at you,” Jo let a quiet laugh out as she looked up at Alex, a blush forming on her cheeks. “Maybe we can just talk things out from now on? And try to contain our tempers. Oh god, I hope our kid doesn’t have a temper.”

Alex chuckled, pressing a light kiss to Jo’s hair as he ushered her inside his apartment, “He's probably going to but you can teach him how to throw stuffed animals at the wall.”

+

“Hey, how’s your day going,” Jo tried to act as casual as she could as she leaned against the wall next to Alex who was typing up something in a chart. “Just out of curiosity, you know for a patient, how do you tell the difference between Braxton Hicks and real contractions?”

Alex’s head whipped up, eyes moving from Jo’s bump to her face. She had kept a calm demeanor as she left her surgery early, but now standing next to him she felt nervous, “You’re having contractions? Are you in labor?”

“If I knew that I wouldn’t be asking you would I,” Jo huffed as she pressed her hand against her stomach. The movement didn’t seem to calm Alex as he stared her down, his own hand coming up to sit right above hers on her belly. “I don’t think I am, I’ve just been super uncomfortable since last night. I spent an hour just sitting on the couch because I was in so much pain I couldn’t move. Actually I was kinda convinced I might just give birth then and there, but my pain went away and I got a few hours of sleep.”

Alex pressed his hand against Jo’s back as he led her down the hallway, his eyes not leaving her as they walked, “I don’t like you being alone in there all the time. What if you had actually gone into labor?”

“Then I would’ve called you.”

“And what if you couldn’t reach your phone? Or you lost too much blood and passed out,” Alex stopped walking and braced his hands on Jo’s shoulders. “I’m just worried about you and the baby. You know I always am, especially with your due date being so close.”

Eyes narrowing, Jo reflected on the past few months as she stared Alex down. After their blowout fight, Alex and her had begun to slowly work on their relationship and building it back up. It wasn’t an easy task, there had been a lot of yelling and crying and talking through things, but she was happy with where they were as the weeks leading up to their son’s arrival dwindled away on the calendar. She didn’t know what the future held for them, but she was content to just have him by her side for now.

“Well I’m not moving out of the loft if that’s what you’re insinuating,” Jo crossed her arms across her chest. “I know you’re worried but I’ll be fine.”

Alex fixed her with a serious stare, one hand coming back down to her growing bump, “Well then I'll move in, I mean if that’s okay with you. I really don’t want you to be alone and I can help when he gets here. I’ll even sleep on the couch.”

A groan left Jo as she looked up at Alex. She appreciated his help, but she didn’t need to be under constant supervision, “Alex, I’m fine. I love that you’re worried, but I don’t need a babysitter. Now I am going to go home and take a long nap, I’ll see you later.”

Jo walked away from Alex, not letting him get another word in as she headed for the residents lounge to grab her things. She knew being due next month meant that things would only get harder from here on out, but she was determined to do as much as she could by herself.

-

“Jo? I brought you dinner.”

Jo’s head popped up from her position leaning against the back of the couch, her body protesting at the sudden movement. She held back the groan she wanted to release as she watched Alex throw a takeout bag onto the kitchen counter. She’d been trying to relieve the pain that had been building in her back all day, but it seemed to have heightened as soon as she got home.

“Hey, sorry for barging in but I figured you were hungry,” Alex eyed Jo for a moment, brows crinkling when she didn’t verbally answer him. “You okay? You look a little pale.”

Jo nodded, but immediately dropped her head to her hands and let out the loud, pained groan she’d tried so hard to hold back. Her hips and back were on fire, the baby’s positioning not helping matters at all. As she tried to hold back another frustrated moan, Alex came up behind her and settled his hands on her lower back, fingers working down into her skin to release some of the pressure building there. The feeling was the first relief she’d felt all day, prompting her to immediately burst into tears. For his part, Alex was unfazed by Jo’s outburst, his fingers continuing to rub her back as she let out loud sobs.

“Hey, look at me,” Alex���s voice rang out softly after a few minutes, prompting Jo to turn and meet his eyes as he held her close. She cursed her heart as it beat out of time, stuttering at the intimacy of her and Alex’s positioning. “You don’t have to do all of this on your own. I know you can, but I’m here and I want to help you. Will you let me help?”

Pressing her head against Alex’s chest, Jo nodded as she took a deep breath. She hated to admit it, but Alex was right, she did need a little help. She hadn’t slept properly in days, her back was on fire, and her Braxton Hicks were coming at an almost constant rate now. More than anything, Jo just needed someone to support her and Alex was the best person for that role.

“Good, now let’s get you in bed. You look like you haven’t slept in a week,” Alex chuckled as he pressed a kiss to her head. The small move sparked something in Jo, despite Alex having done it more than once since returning home. Her fingers curled into his shirt, eyes turning up to meet his with a dark glint behind them. “What? What’s that look for?”

Before he could say anything else, Jo moved one hand to tangle in his hair and bring his lips down to hers. The feeling was indescribable, something she’d craved since she had dropped him off at the airport so many months ago. As if sensing the same thing, Alex kissed her back hungrily, his fingers readily finding purchase against her hips. After a moment, he pulled back and met her eyes.

“You were just crying and now you’re kissing me,” Alex chuckled, brushing back a strand of hair from her face. “I think you do need to get some sleep.”

“Will you lay down with me, I haven’t been able to sleep for like three days,” Jo’s eyes were pleading with Alex as she crawled under the covers. “He calms down when you’re around, I might actually be able to sleep for more than an hour.”

Alex obliged, kicking his shoes off and crawling into the other side of the bed. As he wrapped one arm around Jo’s expanding stomach, she closed her eyes and let her mind believe that this was a normal day for them. That they’d come home from work and were settling in for the night, that they didn’t sleep in separate apartments, that they weren’t divorced and Alex had never left. For a moment Jo let herself believe everything was okay.

Those thoughts and Alex’s presence lulled Jo into the most peaceful sleep she’d gotten in weeks. Her mind drifted off, letting her aching body rest and giving her much needed relief.

-

“He’s gonna be in the bassinet for the first few months, I don’t see why you insist on setting up the crib now,” Jo groaned as she sat herself on the couch, propping her bare feet up on the coffee table. “Can you just shove your clothes in the dresser and come sit down? Your nagging has exhausted me.”

A chuckle leaves Alex as he settles himself across the couch from Jo, reaching for her feet and pulling them into his lap, “Sorry that all of my heavy lifting and asking you where I should put things has bothered you.”

A noncommittal groan left Jo as her eyes fluttered closed, one hand floating down to her bump as Alex rubbed her swollen feet. He’d been at the loft every night since their agreement last week, making sure that he was able to help Jo sleep and stopping their son from keeping her up all night. Jo was thankful for the reprieve, even more thankful when Alex hadn’t batted an eye at her request for help relieving some of her more… primal urges that had sparked since her raging hormones had taken over her body. She’d fight anyone that insinuated that her and Alex were together, because they definitely weren’t, but she had a hard time denying the fact that sex with him was just as great if not better than it had always been.

Even being so far along in her pregnancy, Alex seemed to know what her body craved even more than she did. The way that they still worked so well on a physical level was no shock to Jo, but Alex’s uncanny ability to make her come undone and feel completely satisfied still shocked her. The first time they’d had sex again Jo had come three times before he’d even taken his pants off.

“You want me to order dinner? We can get Chinese if you want,” Jo barely registered Alex’s voice as his fingers moved across her skin. She could tell her body was already reacting to the feeling of him so close to her, her mind desperately trying to fight off the growing heat between her legs. “Jooooo? You in there?”

Jo peeks her eyes open, meeting Alex’s gaze with a grin. She moves one hand to grab his shirt and pull him closer to her, a chuckle leaving him as he understands exactly what she’s asking for.

“You’re insatiable,” Alex’s tone is light as his lips trail down to Jo’s neck. “I wouldn’t be shocked if sex is what sends you into labor.”

“Your dirty talk needs some work,” Jo groans as one of Alex’s hands trails up her body to brush against her breast. “But you might have a point…”

+

When Jo rolls over to glance at the clock, she's beyond frustrated that it tells her it’s midnight. She’d fallen asleep not even two hours ago after tossing and turning for 45 minutes trying to get comfortable between intermittent Braxton Hicks contractions. Resigning herself to another night of insomnia, she rolls out of bed and heads for the bathroom.

“You know, you’re being a real pain in the ass,” Jo groans as she looks down to her belly, a kick hitting her bladder as she flips on the bathroom light. “Yeah, you’re definitely a Karev.”

Finishing up in the bathroom, Jo walks quietly back to bed and settles herself above the covers. She knew she’d have to pee again soon and didn’t want to bother climbing all the way into bed again only to climb right back out.

After her scare early on in her pregnancy, Jo was just grateful to be carrying her baby still. But with only a few days left until her due date, she was growing more and more frustrated as her body began to prepare for labor. She hated how she couldn’t go more than an hour or two without feeling like she was going to pee her pants, how her back was constantly in pain no matter how she laid herself across the bed, how her son was now so large that even taking a deep breath was a monumental task.

It didn’t help that she’d been on maternity leave for the past two weeks and had been home alone bored out of her mind most of the time. She’d cleaned the loft, organized both her and Alex’s dressers, washed and folded all of the baby clothes, and watched every season of Friends. Jo almost wanted to go into labor just to have something to do that wasn’t cleaning.

Just as she’d predicted her bladder began screaming at her once again, prompting Jo to pull herself off of the bed and head back towards the bathroom. To her shock however, a loud pop sounded as soon as she stood, her feet instantly soaked by the rush of liquid now pooling on the ground.

“Alex… Alex! Wake up,” Jo tossed her pillow at Alex’s sleeping form across the bed, watching as he slowly began to wake. She felt bad knowing he’d just come off a long shift the night before, but she needed him. “Alex!”

The lights in the bedroom flicked on as Jo let out a low groan and reached for the edge of the bed, a sharp pain running through her stomach as she clenched the blankets tightly. A warm hand settled on her back, calming Jo slightly as her mind began to race, “How long have you been up?”

“Twenty minutes, but my water just broke,” Jo took a deep breath as she blindly reached for Alex’s hand. “Sorry I woke you up.”

“Don’t be sorry, what else am I gonna do right now,” Alex pressed a kiss against the side of Jo’s head as his hand continued to rub soothing circles into her back. “Will you be okay if I go throw the bags in the car real quick?”

Jo nods at him, but as soon as his hands aren’t on her anymore she wants to call out and bring him back to her. She’d gotten used to being so close to Alex, his hands constantly near her as he rubbed her aching feet or back and moved his hand across her belly to feel the baby’s movements. She’d even made it a habit of curling up next to him when he crawled into bed after a long shift, his hands always moving to pull her closer as she buried her face into his chest. When he’d moved back into the loft to make things easier when the baby came she’d been hesitant, but Jo couldn’t help how comforting she found his presence.

“Cars packed and I called the hospital so they know we’re on our way,” Jo looked up, Alex’s voice startling her out of her thoughts. His hands fell to her lower back again as she leaned against his chest, the feeling relaxing Jo as another contraction rushed through her body. “Those are pretty close together, how long have you been having contractions?”

“On and off since you left for work yesterday morning,” a groan left Jo as she braced her hands on Alex’s shoulders, the pain radiating through her stomach growing stronger. “Nothing this bad though.”

“Well let’s get going then, I’d like to avoid you giving birth in my car,” a small chuckle left Jo as Alex led her out of the loft. The next time they’d walk through the doors they’d have a baby with them. “Hey I was wrong! Sex didn’t put you into labor!”

“Shut up Alex.”

+

The exhaustion that falls over Jo as she leans into Alex is only surpassed by her joy at the squirming bundle that’s being placed on her chest. A head of dark curls greets her as she presses the infant close to her, fingers coming up to brush the soft skin of her son's cheek.

“You’re here, you’re real,” Jo laughs wetly as she looks down at the baby in her arms, her son, tears instantly welling in her eyes. “Oh my god your head is huge.”

“Sorry about that, that’s my bad,” Alex’s voice rings out from behind her, prompting Jo to shift closer to him as he presses one hand on the baby’s back and another against her arm in a comforting gesture. “You did so good, you’re a freaking rockstar.”

As she sits with her newborn snuggled against her and Alex’s arms wrapped around her, Jo thinks that she could stay right there forever. The pain, the heartbreak, the worry, all of it fades as she relishes in the feeling of the two people she loves most by her side. She’d been through so much in her life, lows she never wanted to relive, highs she would remember forever. All of it seems to pass by her eyes in a flash as she zones into this moment, the one moment she’s sure she’ll never forget as long as she lives.

In a second, without warning, Jo realizes that nothing else mattered. What had happened before, the grudges she’d held, the words spoken and not between her and Alex over the past year didn’t matter. He was here, with her and with their son and she knew he wasn’t leaving. He didn’t have to say it, didn’t have to promise anything or beg for her to let him in. His arms holding her close and his fingers brushing at their son’s curls reminded her that things had changed so much already.

“I love you,” Jo whispers as she lays her head on Alex’s chest, her eyes still trained on the baby in her arms. “I love you so much Alex.”

There’s a pause, a stillness in the air as Alex freezes next to her. The words that they’d exchanged so freely before now held a heavier meaning, they meant more this time around. His fingers moving slowly up and down her arm stop for a moment, continuing again as he presses a kiss to her temple, “I love you too Jo.”

She doesn’t know how long they sit like that, both of them staring down in awe at the little boy they’d created together. Alex tells him about how he was certain that they’d conceived him in the backseat of his car, Jo chuckling at the ridiculous story as her eyes fought to stay open. She’d been in labor for almost five hours and had been pushing for another, the event taking its toll on her as she leaned against Alex and shut her eyes.

“You sleep, I'll take him and we’ll be here when you wake up,” Alex grabs the infant from her arms, Jo peeking her eyes open to marvel at the sight of their son nuzzled against him. “Tell mama to take a nap, she deserves it.”

Jo watches the two for a moment more before closing her eyes and letting the joy she felt wash over her, lulling her into a peaceful sleep.

+

Jo wakes to small cries and the sound of someone singing softly. The cries lessen as the singing gets a little louder, the rough melodic voice singing some rock song that was not appropriate lullaby music. Sitting up in bed, she lets her eyes adjust before making out the silhouette of Alex rocking their two week old son to sleep.

“Is he hungry? I can take him,” Alex’s head popped up in surprise at Jo’s voice, his face illuminated by the low light shining from the kitchen.

“No, he’s almost back down. I gave him a bottle already,” Alex rocked back and forth a few more times before smirking up at Jo. “You go back to sleep, you need it.”

Settling her head back into the pillows, Jo watched both boys for a few minutes until Alex settled the baby back into his bassinet. Satisfied that the infant was going to stay down, he crawled back into bed and pulled Jo into his arms, “I thought I told you to go back to sleep.”

“Mmm yeah but you and Max looked too cute,” one hand trailed up to Alex’s face as Jo snuggled against him. “Besides it gets cold in here without you.”

A chuckle left Alex as his hands wrapped around Jo, bringing her flush against his chest as his lips brushed a kiss against her hair, “I love you.”

“I love you too,” Jo settled her head against Alex’s chest, letting the steady beat of his heart calm her own body.

Jo’s eyes close again, her mind drifting to think of Luna, of the concern she’d had that her son might end up alone and scared like she had been. She knew that the little girl was probably sleeping in her crib at home, her mom healthy and snoozing beside her, the thought comforting her slightly. As she thought of Alex and the way he cared so deeply about her and Max, Jo knew she’d never have to worry about either of them being alone again.

[yellowocaballero]

⭐️!

TBH I was gonna talk about Tim (because I can talk SO LONG about Tim how did he get that complicated) but I just got a question about that so I should try to refrain from talking about Tim for five hours, which people can attest I can do. 

“Sorry about all the hoopla,” Annabelle said. “I just wanted to thank you, and show you something.” At Melanie’s dumbfounded expression, she gestured to the now riotous crowd. “I wanted to show you this. The way you try, and the way you never give up - I know it doesn’t always work out. But it meant something to all of us, to just watch you. You know? It was kind of inspiring. So thank you, Melanie King.”

“Annabelle,” Melanie asked hesitantly, afraid of the answer, “what... are you a fear demon of?”

But Annabelle just smiled at her, small and real. “I told you. Peace and love. What makes you think I don’t get to choose?”

I really wanted to give this story a happy ending. Just over the top happy. I always go for hopeful endings - things have been bad but they’re looking up - but for this one I really just wanted to recognize something that Melanie hadn’t known. 

It’s not obvious, but Melanie is a really unreliable narrator. She’s extremely self-absorbed, and although she’s exceptionally emotionally mature she really only flexes that when she’s paying attention - which she almost never is. I wrote a Tim POV fic set throughout Solitaire and it is stunning how little Melanie knows about his internal life. As well as how little she knows about what the others get up to when she’s gone, about how she’s viewed in the fear demon community, and her kind of emotional role in things. I joke that she was the last one to find out that she’s the leader of the Archives, but I don’t think she ever realized that she was the emotional heart of the whole group - she’s who tied them together.

Basically the moral message of this story, because there always fucking has to be one, is this: optimism gets us going and gives us hope, while nihilism is a recognition of the world as the way it is and a way of making sense out of despair. They both have good and bad points. But the point of optimism that Melanie didn’t understand was that it wasn’t about always winning, or things always wrapping up neatly, or always getting what you want - it was about never forgetting to try. And that’s so hard! It’s so hard to just keep trying and trying and trying. But even if you fail, it means something - both to you, because it means that you did your best, and to the people around you, who are helped by you and who see your attempts and are inspired by it. Melanie couldn’t fix everyone, but she gave other people the idea to fix their own situation.

And it started all because she was lazy at work, lol. When we’re trapped within a suffocating system and society, we get this sense of learned helplessness. You’re drowning so deep that you forget that you’re underwater. But Melanie was so fucking lazy that she just went ‘nah fuck this’ and tipped the chessboard. Elias and Melanie are parallels, but when Elias found himself in this situation he strove to get to the top and win - Melanie just refused to play. And to a community of Avatars who don’t like their lives and were forced to play an elaborate system of stupid ritualistic games, the idea that they don’t have to play is revolutionary. 

Melanie had no idea about this. All she knew was that they watched her, they came in to give interviews, and apparently they liked her? So this party was just my way of saying that all 100k of this story, even if Melanie just viewed it as her pulled to and fro in stupidity, was significant. To some people, like Tim and Annabelle, it was life changing.

It just makes me happy? I got attached to Melanie and I wanted her to have this. Haha, good endings abound. 

Also - Annabelle’s role swap, hilariously, is that as the Avatar of the Web she’s all about limiting choices and forcing people into things - while at the same time ironically aware as to how little agency she has. In this roleswap, she was able to just go ‘actually fuck THIS avatar of peace and love now’ and then she DID. THERE WAS NO ANNABELLE PLOT, GUYS. THERE WAS NO SCHEME. THE PARTY WAS JUST BECAUSE SHE WANTED A PARTY. IT’S HILARIOUS. 

Thanks for the ask! 

[coreastories]

Modern Royals: Queens Day Q&A about the queen of Corea

With syndicated excerpts from Corean Inquirer and the Corea Timesⓒ 

Corea celebrates Queens Day annually on September 9 

All eyes the world over are trained on the kingdom’s young new queen, former detective Jeong Tae Eul

Speculation is rampant on whether the Queen is in a delicate condition. Clues might be seen through the security and catering protocols in the upcoming celebrations

In a shocking move that has the Queen’s characteristic stamp of irreverent impishness and modernity all over it, the Royal Public Affairs Office released an open call for submissions of questions people want answered about the Queen. (But don’t get too excited, as you’ll see below). 

Corea has a long tradition of celebrating the Day of Queens on September 9th, the most auspicious date in the kingdom. 

The first Queens Day was held by HM The Queen Tae-Ra, who wanted to honor the Queen Mother and the Queen Dowager for their contribution to the country’s stability in the conflict with Japan in 1592. 400 years later and the tradition continues.

The palace opens its doors to the public on Queens Day. The people can pay their respects to the queen, or queens, in residence. You’ve read that correctly. Unlike other royal families, the Royal Court of Corea keeps no dower house. As many as three to four queens can be alive and in residence in the main palace, counting generations rather than the multiple wives/consorts of the polygamy periods.  

It seems implausible that nearly 500 years of queens never came into conflict, but this seems to be the truth as far as the Royal Public Affairs Office and the archives kept by the media would reveal. 

At present, there is only one queen. The king’s mother died in 1990. His wife is the current and only queen of the kingdom, and it’s the first Queens Day in 30 years that Corea has a queen enthroned. 

The palace gates open and festivities start September 2nd, lasting the week through until the grand feast on September 9th, when 999 lucky children will dine with the queen.

The Q&A

With resignation, Corean media-- and the rest of the world, including this author-- learned that the queen forwarded the questions for her Unbreakable Sword, Jang Mi-reuk, to answer. 

Coreans can’t and don’t complain: After all, the call of submissions never stated that the Queen herself will answer the questions. 

Majority of the press and the citizens find this move amusing. 

As for us, we’ll take what we can get. We are absolutely delighted at the candor and lack of censorship in the Q&A, directly transcribed from audio. 

Jang Mi-reuk, 27, started the rigorous and highly selective training with Royal Guards in 2016, rising in the ranks and emerging the best trainee in all fields, excelling in both close range combat and long-range weaponry. 

In 2020, his strength and abilities made him the Queen’s Unbreakable Sword, the life title given to the king’s and queen’s personal defender. 

Traditionally, the Unbreakable Sword is close to the king’s or queen’s age, a confidant as much as a bodyguard. Appointment is at the discretion of the king and queen, a personal choice without any influence or veto from the Court or Parliament.

The king’s Unbreakable Sword is Jo Yeong, famous in Corea in his own right for his dashing good looks. (Rumors abound that Jo Yeong is dating Myeong Seung-ah, one of the daughters of the old-money Myeong family, and working in the Royal Public Affairs Office). 

This author has seen both Unbreakable Swords from a short distance, and they are both intimidating. You wouldn’t want to cross either of them. 

HM The Queen sends her warm greetings and thanks to everyone who sent their questions. The Palace carefully reviewed them all. HM The Queen assures everyone that all your questions and wishes have been received and will be addressed sooner or later. 

HM The Queen wishes you all a Happy Queens Day, and thanks her Unbreakable Sword Jang Mi-reuk for his service in this task. 

Q. Is HM expecting? 

A. It’s not my place to answer that either way. 

Q. What is HM’s favorite food? 

A. I’m not aware. She asks me to get tteokbokki often, but sometimes this is a ruse to lose me, and I don’t fall for it after that one time, and she has a whole herd of us now. Good luck losing us. 

Q. What is HM’s favorite music? 

A. Is this a test? I don’t know. She’s tone deaf. 

Q. How did the king and queen meet? 

A. They’ve already met when I met Her Majesty. I’m not aware. I think it’s romantic. It’s one of my fondest wishes to know the story myself. 

Q. What is HM’s favorite color? 

A. I’m not aware. Neutrals. Her Majesty wears a lot of neutrals. It’s a good choice. It becomes her, especially cream and ivory shades of white.

Q. What is HM’s favorite scent? 

A. I’m not aware. If you mean the scent she wears, it’s very subtle citrus, florals, herbs and woods scents. She appreciates lavender in the car, too. We both like it. 

Q. What is HM’s shoe size? 

A. This is ridiculous. I think it’s 7 or 8. Her feet are small for her height, which is why she prefers sturdy shoes. Her Majesty does wear heels from time to time. It makes her legs and ankles look really nice. His Majesty and I agree she shouldn’t wear very high heels. It’s not safe. And Her Majesty likes to run around. 

Q. Does HM call the king an endearment? 

A. I. Am. Not. Aware. But I’ll get back to you if I hear them use one. It’s sweet, isn’t it? 

Q. Does HM miss being a detective? 

A. She does. I… I won’t elaborate on this. 

Q. What does HM think of PM Koo? Are they really friends? 

A. As far as I’m aware, Her Majesty and Her Excellency are on good terms. Sometimes they argue about the kingdom in the car. But nothing malicious. Mostly it’s the prime minister making acerbic remarks about the queen’s outfits. She thinks Her Majesty should dress better so she can dress better, too. *laughter 

Q. How many children does HM want to have? 

A. I am not aware. I think they should have four. That’s a nice number. No one will feel left out. Two sets of close friendships between the siblings. That always happens. I’m one of three and I’m left out. Their Majesties should start soon though. 

Q. Where did HM live before becoming queen? 

A. Seoul, of course. You know she worked in Jongno-gu. She lived there. 

Q. Does HM truly love the king? 

A. Wow, I’m glad the queen doesn’t have to answer crap questions like this. She loves him. He loves her. It makes the others uncomfortable when they’re together. We take 10 steps back but we can see them. Sometimes when the queen is in a temper, we hear them, too. *laughter

Q. Does HM ever have fights with the king? 

A. Not really. Just normal squabbles. The queen doesn’t have tolerance for bullsh--. Pardon me. I don’t mean to imply that His Majesty ever says bullsh--. Forgive me. Are you sure you’re deleting that? This gesture means I want you to delete it. I’m not just fanning my neck with my hand. Delete it. 

Q. How and where do Their Majesties date? 

A. I want the answer to that myself. I think they sneak out. Wait. Delete that. Hey. That compromises security. (Editor’s Note: We’ve confirmed with the Royal Court and the Royal Public Affairs Office that this is safe to publish, and the Royal Court assures the public that the king and queen are always safe).

Q. Does HM have advice for other female detectives, or female professionals in general? 

A. Well, this question should have gone to the queen. I’ve worked long enough with Her Majesty to confidently say she would advise women to never back down from what they believe to be right and just. 

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I think Jang Michael/Jang Mi-reuk is adorable. This is a guy unafraid of what society would consider “feminine” sensibilities. I love him. 😆

If you have questions you think the public of Corea would wanna know, send them in and I’ll pass them on to Jangmi lol 

And yep, I made Tae-ra a queen too haha. 

In case you’re wondering, it’s the Corea Times/Corean Inquirer excerpts when they refer to the queen as HM or HM The Queen. It’s the Daily Mail everywhere else. 

[ohayohimawari]

With Me Always - Milestone Drabble

Thank you for helping my blog reach another milestone! Thank you for following me here. I hope you enjoy the fanart that I reblog as well as my own creative endeavors.

I write these quiet, introspective pieces to acquaint myself with writing different characters and pairings. This is how I study and explore them, and I’m always happy to know that people enjoy reading them. I enjoy writing them. :)

This is also my 50th work on AO3! Milestones abound, haha!

I do not own these characters; I had a wonderful time exploring them.

With Me Always

Rated: T; no archive warnings apply

Pairings: KakaObi

WC: 1491

Summary: “Death strengthened the bond between Obito and Kakashi, not severed it.”

Read: AO3 or below the cut

With Me Always

Since he met Zetsu, Obito knew he wasn’t ever truly alone.

He’d witnessed enough of that creature’s omniscience to know that Zetsu had literally planted a piece of himself everywhere. Not even Kamui’s Dimension could offer Obito any privacy because of the pieces of Zetsu that he carried on himself. And whenever Kakashi discovered that shared space between them, it would become even more crowded.

Though for some time now, Obito had ceased to view him as an unwelcome intrusion.

Without knowing when it happened, Obito found himself frequenting the Konoha cemetery to visit his own grave rather than Rin’s. However, he was sure that it had everything to do with the official surviving member of Team Minato.

Kakashi’s self-loathing monologues angered Obito at first. It was compounded with the infuriating insult that Hatake sought friendship from a stone marker after refusing it from the person it honored. But what upset Obito the most was how empty he felt on the days when Kakashi didn’t visit the Memorial Stone at all.

It was Zetsu that pointed it out, of course, because true to Obito’s suspicions, he was always watched. As long as Zetsu didn’t bring it up, Obito didn’t question why he humored him.

Returning to Konoha was absolutely out of the question; Obito didn’t think he could walk freely around the village after unleashing the Nine-Tails upon it, although no one there knew of his transgression. Even if he could overcome his guilt and could somehow be forgiven, there was the problem of Zetsu.

However, Obito couldn’t keep himself away from the Leaf entirely. Just as he used to sit in the bushes outside of Kakashi’s home to watch him, he now sat in the bushes in the cemetery to do the same.

Watching Kakashi’s Will of Fire extinguish slowly both broke Obito’s heart and filled it with hope. No matter how much he swore his hatred for his former teammate, he hated to see him so used by Konoha even more.

In the darkness before dawn, when the moon and the sun were both hidden, it seemed the world around him held its breath, so Obito did too while he waited. In a few moments, he would either disappear, disappointed that there would be no visit, or linger longer in the shadows, closer to something like happiness. The familiar sound of sandals shuffling on the pavement interrupted the stillness, and Obito’s breath slipped silently through a relieved smile.

Kakashi’s appearance had altered again, and as much as Obito had despised the grey and black ANBU uniform, he thought the jōnin greens were infinitely worse. The vest hung off his shoulders, heavy, ill-fitting, and Hatake didn’t look comfortable in it at all.

Kakashi stood stiff, his arms limp, in a bout of silence that lasted longer than any other during his many, many visits to the Memorial Stone. Obito sat with his gaze fixed on his back, willing him to speak. Finally, he did.

“I’m supposed to be a sensei now.”

Obito bit his cheek to keep his snickers at bay. What was Lord Third playing at? How could he expect anyone to teach after they’d been chewed up and spit out by the Black Ops? Konoha must really be desperate if they put the task of molding their future shinobi on the shoulders of someone that wasn’t cut out for it.

“I’m not cut out for it, Obito.”

To think it, and to hear it admitted aloud were two different things, and it left Obito without snickers to stifle. The quiet that followed lasted long enough for pity to fester within him. Finally, Kakashi stirred again. He raised both hands to his face, and when they lowered again, they brought his mask and forehead protector down with them.

Then, he scoffed. “I don’t have the ability or patience to teach.” Kakashi glanced to the side before continuing in a hushed voice, “I have doubts that make me question whether or not I want to acquire either. I lack the will, Obito.”

Obito was sure he would’ve missed those words if he hadn’t wanted to hear them so badly. He crouched with every muscle tensed, his eyes focused on the forehead protector that looked ready to fall at any moment.

“How can I lead a team, of-of children…how can I be responsible for them when I couldn’t protect any of you—”

“Oh, would you shut up, Bakashi?”

It wasn’t the grand reveal that Obito had planned on, but he couldn’t keep his silence any longer. Kakashi had come so close to confessing contempt and dissonance for Konoha, that to hear him fall back on the same tired, old habit of blaming himself instead was too much. He was sure that Zetsu wouldn’t let this slide, so he decided to make the most of it and stood up from his hiding place.

Kakashi looked back at him over his shoulder, his face still bare and not surprised at all.

This unnerved Obito, and he felt twelve years old again when Hatake addressed him.

“You’ve gotten taller.”

“And you’ve gotten smaller,” he retorted, as their singular Sharingan eyes stared at each other. Obito blinked first. “I’ve been dead, and that’s how you greet me?”

“I talk to you almost every day; every day that I can come here anyway,” Kakashi still hadn’t blinked, hadn’t reached for a weapon, and hadn’t reached for him.

“You talk to a grave,” Obito accused.

“You think I like the sound of my own voice?” Kakashi tapped one finger on the scar that bisected his left eye. “It’s not my fault that you don’t answer.”

Obito felt his stomach drop and all of his anger with it. To think that someone, that Kakashi had an inkling that he was still alive filled him with a warmth that he’d forgotten could feel so sweet. “You knew?” He hated how vulnerable he sounded.

“You’re not as good as you think you are,” one corner of Kakashi’s mouth lifted in an attempt at smirking and then faltered. “And I’m not as good as others think I am.”

Obito walked toward him, closing the distance between them as his right eye searched Kakashi’s left.

“We share vision, Obito. I have glimpses at images that I can’t account for,” Kakashi turned to face him. “You’re with me everywhere I go, watching. I’m never alone. Even when I look in the mirror, you’re watching me.”

Obito stopped just before him, close enough to whisper. No words came to him as he realized that Kakashi was in the same predicament as himself. Whereas Obito loathed such an interference in his life, Kakashi spoke of it almost tenderly, as tenderly as someone like him could.

To be so utterly understood was profound.

“Every day, I hope that I won’t see something that will make you my enemy, Obito.”

So, Kakashi couldn’t see everything, leaving Obito with some secrets from him, at least. He hated it.

But if Obito could learn to understand and forgive Kakashi for Rin’s death, then perhaps Hatake could, in time, extend the same to him for Minato’s. “There is a way for us never to be enemies, Kakashi,” he whispered, exaggeratedly glancing around them to alert Kakashi that they might not be as alone as he thought.

Kakashi didn’t miss the cue, and Obito felt rather than saw him tense. This meant that their conversation would come to an end quicker than either of them wanted it to.

“You know I can’t do that, Obito,” Kakashi whispered. “Konoha needs me; I can’t leave it.”

“Why?” Obito struggled to keep his whispers hushed. “You know that it’s fatally flawed. This place is using you and using you up! Why are you so eager to volunteer yourself to defend it when you know—”

“It’s not the place; it’s the people within it, Obito.” Kakashi lifted one hand to Obito’s face, gingerly caressing the scars that marred it. “You taught me that.”

Obito regretted that lesson, proving that Kakashi wasn’t the only one that wasn’t cut out for teaching. As much as he wanted to argue, their time was running out, and Obito couldn’t stand the fact that Zetsu was watching Kakashi now, too.

Obito licked his lips, drew in a sharp breath between them, and pressed them to Kakashi’s.

Hatake accepted him more readily than he ever had before, his lips moving and parting, accommodating his. Obito was astounded that any part of Kakashi could be as soft as his lips were.

It wasn’t a passionate kiss; there was no urgency, no promise of fulfillment or gratification. It was a confession between them. An offering and acceptance, and Obito had never tasted anything so good.

He withdrew only when he had to breathe and rested his forehead against Kakashi’s. Their shared pair of Sharingan eyes met, memorizing, and reflecting the words that each man mouthed silently.

“Come with me.”

“Come home.”

 The End

[fatebreaking-a]

Tagged by : I am a thief. ( Stolen from @starthieve​ ) Tagging : steal it from me.

THE POSITIVE & NEGATIVE; Mun & Muse - Meme.

fill out & repost ♥ This meme definitely favors canons more, but I hope OC’s still can make it somehow work with their own lore, and lil’ fandom of friends & mutuals. Multi-Muses pick the muse you are the most invested in atm.

( I will not, I will pick all my muses, how dare- I’ll leave everything except this blog + my other Sona blog out, for length’s sake.) long post, so it’s under the cut.

My muse is:   canon / oc / au / canon-divergent / fandomless /

Is your character popular in the fandom?  YES-ish / NO. ( people who like her like her, and people who don’t... really don’t. )

Is your character considered hot™ in the fandom?  YES / NO / IDK.

Is your character considered strong in the fandom?  YES / NO / IDK.

Are they underrated?  YES / NO.

Were they relevant for the main story?  YES / NO / MAYBE ?

Were they relevant for the main character?  YES / NO / THEY’RE THE PROTAG.

Are they widely known in their world?  YES / NO / MAYBE ?

How’s their reputation?  GOOD / BAD / NEUTRAL.

How strictly do you follow canon?  — lol. I take inspiration from canon, let’s put it that way.

SELL YOUR MUSE! Aka try to list everything, which makes your muse interesting in your opinion to make them spicy for your mutuals.  —  Your local patron saint of lost causes, a heroic entity who has overcome betrayal and judgement to become an existence that can save the world. Also she’s tall and strong and hot and nice, what more could you want? Huh? You want more than being hugged by a 6′4″ lady??? Sona can also be in various countries, and can participate very easily in fluff, angst, and all sorts of other types of threads.

Now the OPPOSITE, list everything why your muse could not be so interesting (even if you may not agree, what does the fandom perhaps think?).  —  Lots of angst and drama, a bit of a loner with a distant vibe. Having no etwahl and not playing music kills the interest and ‘usual interactions’ for a lot of people, and being mute & not jumping to telepathy can make threads dry and slow. Being a ‘sexy boob lady’ ( u g h ) also has painted her in a certain light - I’ll never forget that someone said that ‘ofc everyone ships with Sona, she’s the village bicycle.’ I’ve made her exceptionally strong ( almost overpowered ), and that doesn’t jive with people sometimes - shoving in all these themes that I personally like and crafting an interesting story of a divine / demonic seer witch who doesn’t know what to do with herself, is finally ‘too strong’, and finds power distasteful... The themes can be a little depressing and cold, even when she acts nice. And seeing “Even though she feels nothing, she still acts nice” in character can feel... tiring. A mute is not an easy person to write with, and I don’t shy away from trying to give the impression that ‘waiting for Sona to communicate can be tiring’ - because I want my readers and mutuals to feel the kinds of things she goes through everyday. While I try to make the blog accessible, Sona has a speech disability, and that can be tiring.

Also that she doesn’t act like a fancy noble... I don’t know. I feel like the way that I write her is very, very different to the fandom’s impression of her, and that leaves people disillusioned. “This isn’t what I expected or signed up for.” She’s just not that person... And because she doesn’t speak, a lot of prompts are off limits. I’ve also recently reset because I wanted to emphasize that she is patient, grim, and secretive while still being kind. I’ve toned down her tendency for mischief a lot, she used to be an absolute gremlin.

A lot of these things also apply to my other Sona blog ( @virtuous-dignity​ ), where she is extremely structured and self-confident and a bit of a recluse, so while she’s much much nicer, she’s also a complete hardass. It’s rough stuff, especially since I make sure to point out, “hey this Sona practices music over 8 hours every day.” “Hey this Sona finds it morally wrong to play music for small audiences.” There are certain traits that just cut ideas in the bud.

What inspired you to rp your muse?  —  I played Sona a lot in bot lane. Multiple years of sexist remarks, shitty writing, and bad characterization made me frustrated. A lot of things were left unexplained and the etwahl felt like too much of a focus that I could not answer, “who is Sona besides a musician with a fancy instrument”. She has to be someone, right? But we never get to that in the story ( nor in the apparent upcoming lore rework either... ). She has to be someone, her being a famous musician is not everything. So I forcibly tossed aside the music part, especially to also prevent accidentally being pulled into ‘your music is so pretty’ plots. Plus: I wanted to write a character with an internal conflict who was going through some things but wanted to be nice anyway - I believe in that idea a lot. And I wanted to write a character that, tbh, could ship and flirt and just... be flirty and easy going more ( hah! didn’t work out so great now! ). My first canon characters were a ‘left by the void Malz’ dealing with his sins and Ori, who I talk about below, and neither were really great for getting that flirty vibe out. I also really wanted to emphasize that... Well, to be blunt, that if I wrote Sona as sexually promiscuous, that wasn’t a bad thing. That ‘being sexy’ and ‘sex positive’ did not equal ‘objectified tiddy witch’ and ‘perfect candidate for oppai mouse pad’ and other things I’ve heard directed at me in my league experience. Many, many things. Ugh. It kind of did end up turning into a thing where Sona herself draws an interesting line between ‘haha I can tell everyone’s looking at me with those eyes and it’s the fucking worst’ and ‘ok but I trust you and am in bed with you, so I want you to grab me’ - but that’s getting more into ns/fw topics so I’ll leave it there. 

What keeps your inspiration going?  —  All my characters tend to be expressions of myself, as well as answering important thematic questions, like “What does it mean to be rejected by your home and no longer have a place”, and some other stuff. I usually go back to that. Plus, exploring concepts around abandonment and loneliness is something I do a lot with her - feelings of neglect and disillusionment, and ideas surrounding “do I need to like someone or be liked by someone to treat them with dignity”. ( virtuous-dignity, on the other hand, was created because I wanted to write something as soft and uwu as possible, and then it turned into something about ‘balancing dignity for oneself with duty to others’ and handling those kinds of conflicts. )

I also really do enjoy, on some level, turning people around on these characters. “You made me care about character x” is such high praise.

My muse is:   canon / oc / au / canon-divergent / fandomless /

Is your character popular in the fandom?  YES / NO.

Is your character considered hot™ in the fandom?  YES / NO / IDK. ( idk, how many of you think robots are hot- )

Is your character considered strong in the fandom?  YES / NO / IDK. ( I think people downplay Ori’s intelligence a lot, but Riot also casually implied she did open heart surgery on herself so??? )

Are they underrated?  YES / NO.

Were they relevant for the main story?  YES / NO / MAYBE ?

Were they relevant for the main character?  YES / NO / THEY’RE THE PROTAG.

Are they widely known in their world?  YES / NO / MAYBE ?

How’s their reputation?  GOOD / BAD / NEUTRAL.

How strictly do you follow canon?  — hahahahahahaha. hah. hah. Sorry. Everything I write is divergent by default.

SELL YOUR MUSE! Aka try to list everything, which makes your muse interesting in your opinion to make them spicy for your mutuals.  —  A genius inventor and cute spherical robot duo who speak to other robots and shoot lightning, run around acting cute, and try to save their city one step at a time - all while dealing with deep existential dread and fighting off a fate that decrees Ori’s death. Between ‘pancake bot’ and Ori being an accidental flirt, there’s plenty of variety and development here as my oldest canon muse. Not to mention that the blog ‘grows’ and ‘changes’, and in the last year, Ori has taken to dying her hair pink ( because Vi is cool is why, just don’t let her near a rifle or she’ll try to imitate Cait ). I also regularly think about / draw different hairstyles and clothing styles. Ori is very much ‘alive’, the most so out of the three muses on this blog. A human that has the memories of being a robot, trying to live on and live a good life. Also, there are bird, angel, and time themes. So many clocks. Mega clocks!

Now the OPPOSITE, list everything why your muse could not be so interesting (even if you may not agree, what does the fandom perhaps think?).  —  Deep angst and existential dread, because she knows her fate is to die and she’s cheated time. Themes of dysphoria and other troubling topics abound. Being stuck in time loops, thinking she’s an aberration, needing crutches because her legs stop working, etc.

Also, removing the fact that she is a robotic automaton is a bunch of the appeal of Ori. Or well, it’s what makes her character ‘interesting and unique’ to many. Without that, she is ‘yet another Zaunite’, as the thing that made her most interesting was her death and rebirth. ( Nevermind that her entire story is that she’s a selfless person but- I’m supposed  to act like she’s bad, right? )

What inspired you to rp your muse?  —  Hey remember when institute of war was a thing? And then when it wasn’t? And Ori’s lore was “died to a turret shot trying to be a champion”... and then it was up in the air for two years?

That’s why. If no one else will love her, I will. She deserves better. And then the lore became close to my lore so I rewrote everything a second time trying to stick to the themes I had.

Ori’s thematic question is, “What do you do when you don’t recognize yourself anymore? How do you get back to ‘okay’ and what do you do from there?” It’s a pretty dim question that has a lot to do with body image, but also to do with abandonment and neglect, and  just dropping out of people’s lives. I think that’s something that people can really relate to. I originally wrote her on a multi with a ‘post void Malz’, who was dealing with the trauma of being puppeted around for years and all the things he had done, trying to get back to ‘okay’ without getting killed. More below:

What keeps your inspiration going?  —  Themes as noted above, Ori is super cute, and a lot of my art & general ideas. I’ve kind of turned these three characters in borderline OCs and keep developing them as they grow... Sometimes I think the stories and concepts I’ve written have outgrown the fandom. And thinking about her, and how she would live, and what her story is... mmm.

Also, the themes I write... I think they matter. Maybe it’s not obvious to anyone but myself, but writing a character who feels dysphoria and hates their body for ‘betraying them’... is relatable. It’s not nice. It’s not simple. But it’s relatable and it matters. Ori’s theme on this blog has a lot to do with “fighting a fate that says you’re going to lose and defying expectations” as well as “coming back from something wicked and rotten in your psyche/body”. And I do write some other skin verses for her but they’re all adapted to meet that theme. ( For example, in SG, she rises to guardian after finding out she’s fated to become a dark star and fights that fight alone, because ‘hell no she’s not going to go dark’. This was 5+ years ago back when there were theories SG and DS were same universe. )

Mostly it’s writing about these themes of expectation and reality. Overprotective parent, absentee parent, dealing with trauma... All my writing is like that. It can make my characters seem overly tragic, yes, but these ideas are not so far gone that they’re completely irrelevant and beyond belief. I’m sure many people have experienced emotional exhaustion and problems with body image. Even though I do write ‘polite but ready to fight’ characters only... Well, I believe in exploring and expressing these kinds of problems. Inner conflict and all. But also fluff! Fluff is really nice! Talk to her about pancake robot.

I also really do enjoy, on some level, turning people around on these characters. “You made me care about character x” is such high praise.

My muse is:   canon / oc / au / canon-divergent / fandomless /

Is your character popular in the fandom?  YES / NO. ( post rework??? oh my god )

Is your character considered hot™ in the fandom?  YES / NO / IDK.

Is your character considered strong in the fandom?  YES / NO / IDK. ( hard to consider ‘martial’ characters strong when Xer/ath and Syn/dra exist )

Are they underrated?  YES / NO. ( she’s a little overrated, isn’t she?  )

Were they relevant for the main story?  YES / NO / MAYBE ?

Were they relevant for the main character?  YES / NO / THEY’RE THE PROTAG.

Are they widely known in their world?  YES / NO / MAYBE ?

How’s their reputation?  GOOD / BAD / NEUTRAL.

How strictly do you follow canon?  — I still draw from old lore with her big four blades of doom and ‘reviving’ with the help of Raka ( though I leave it vague / easy to gloss over ). I also had a lot of ideas about music and rhythm and tradition before the update ( drums were a big thing for her, so strong percussive beats and motions reign over the more silk and ribbon dances that flow more, drawing on things like Zelos existing, Lito’s lessons & harsh behavior, and her own internalized habits of trying to calm herself ), so I draw on those a ton. For me, the progression is ‘classic’ -> ‘infiltrator / nightblade ‘ -> ‘aviator’ all as one timeline. Also wrote her as being ‘missing in action’, which makes the awaken cinematic weird. I also really try to emphasize that she’s an emotionally stunted wardog with scars and not ultra pretty, so.

SELL YOUR MUSE! Aka try to list everything, which makes your muse interesting in your opinion to make them spicy for your mutuals.  —  A world traveler and a wardog, you can find her anywhere, any time, ready to kick some butt and enjoy the local food. Her simmering fury is a counterpoint to her relatively muted demeanor and adventurous spirit. However you may find her, there’s a definite charm to being flown up above the clouds to watch a sunset and talk. She will fly you where you need to be.

Now the OPPOSITE, list everything why your muse could not be so interesting (even if you may not agree, what does the fandom perhaps think?).  —  I’m a little stuck on old lore and writing Lia as a character that has “left behind” her past and is pretending to be dead does make certain interactions tough. She’s also a deeply stunted character, emotionally, and I write her ten years of experience as having chilled her to a cold, ever burning ember rather than a passionate flame. Also, ‘aviator’ is kind of weird to handle for a lot of people.

What inspired you to rp your muse?  —  This one is really simple. When this blog started, the only splash where Irelia was smiling was the aviator splash. That’s it. That as the whole reason. “I want her to be happy and have found her happiness.”

What keeps your inspiration going?  —  I will admit that Lia is the character that I give the least attention to out of these three, and part of it is because I don’t really do flirting or shipping with her as much. She’s not one to reach out to others, and there are a lot of popular Lia blogs to the point that when I, as a multi, write with someone... She probably isn’t the first pick.

But I just... want her to be happy. That’s it. As I mentioned with the Ori section, what I’ve worked out for her has kind of outgrown the fandom itself, she’s become a different entity. Her themes largely involve recovery and finding oneself anew, and writing a character that is passionate about others while still being cool-headed is some of the variety I need. Because Lia is ace/homosexual, she sits out on a lot of the flirty content, but the chances I get to write her being romantic and caring... my god. Just a few posts back and forth with @unholyshe​ ‘s Akali and a So/na I used to write with....... Unforgettable. ( On that note go follow @unholyshe​ what a good writer, gosh dang. ) It’s these small interactions I find intensely compelling, and having a ‘quiet intensity’ and really thinking about her body language...

Also it’s nice to write a character with little secret agenda, who is just straightforward. “Will I enjoy kissing you? Only one way to find out. ‘It was okay.’ “ A ‘the only way forward is through, just do it’ attitude is refreshing.

------------------

Learning to write all three characters helps me write the others: The little things I think about that are specific to each person really help me out for the others. The depth of using body language from Sona bleeds into how Lia uses body language, and how Ori doesn’t ( even common ticks ), etc etc. Ori’s blunt, observational style of speaking ( telling you that you look good like it’s an observational fact ) helps me understand how to be straightforward with Lia.

Some more personal questions for the mun.

Give your mutuals some insight about the way you are in some matters, which could lead them to get more comfortable with you or perhaps not.

Do you think you give your character justice?  YES …? / NO. ( sometimes I do get very anxious abt it, esp. since I’m so divergent and do things like ‘so/na is one part succubus lol’ )

Do you frequently write headcanons? YES / NO. ( do excerpts count? less headcanons and more musings, since I’m on like 5+ years with 2/3 of these. )

Do you sometimes write drabbles?  YES / NO. ( time is not a thing but I used to write a ton, my drabble energy goes to novels now )

Do you think a lot about your Muse during the day?  YES / NO. ( this is why you see mobile posts from me constantly, and so many excerpts / musings ).

Are you confident in your portrayal?   YES / NO. ( It’s what I want but it can also be disillusioning / disappointing to people so. Dunno. Anxiety. =/  )

Are you confident in your writing?  YES / NO. ( It takes me a bit to warm up to a character again, but yes. I know my writing is not bad but I can be a little insecure about it. )

Are you a sensitive person?  YES / NO. ( Very. I cry a lot and I get upset pretty easily. Sometimes I end up being really cold instead but idk. )

Do you accept criticism well about your portrayal?  — To a point. Sometimes criticism is irrelevant or meaningless, or is just personal taste. “Sona shouldn’t be that strong” isn’t helpful ( but thinking about ways to pare down the complexity is good! ) Sometimes I get criticism that is the equivalent of tasting a chocolate cake and going, “It should have been vanilla, I like vanilla better.” That’s cool, but that has nothing to do with the taste of the chocolate cake I made. ( Ori as a human isn’t interesting, talk more about Sona & the etwahl even though it’s broken, Lia flying doesn’t make sense, etc - these are foundational flavors, so what can I do? ).

Also sometimes people make comments that make me feel they’re just being petty / catty and not sincere. I’ve seen quite a few hypocritical comments and it’s hard to take them seriously. So, yes, but ‘to a point’... Mostly I take suggestions, which I then talk about for the muse. Exploring those ideas. Unsolicited criticism is... hmm. In my experience, about half of it isn’t constructive. And from the wrong person, it can sound judgemental. 

Do you like questions, which help you explore your character?  — Of course? I love asks. Always. Great. Awesome. If I have a chance to draw to answer these asks, even better.

If someone disagrees to a headcanon of yours, do you want to know why?  —  Not really. I’m divergent, they probably disagree because they have a different vision for the character. I’ll be honest here and say I’ve had enough people tell me that “my portrayals are not what they expected” that this can be... disheartening. I usually have a good reason for 80% of my hcs. If we’re talking in IMs though or just conversing, I’m totally fine with it. This comes back to unsolicited criticism - to be a little blunt, some people just straight up don’t know what they’re talking about. And given that I put a bunch of effort in trying to make sure most of my headcanons can be glossed over, so it doesn’t cause conflict and my ‘ultra grim take’ doesn’t cause the end times... I dunno. I’d rather that someone tell me “the kind of interactions they want”, so I can lean into that direction. If you just want fluff, I can leave most of my darker hcs for So/na at the door... But you need to tell me that, so I can work with you. 

If someone disagrees with your portrayal, how would you take it?  — just leave? huh? I mean, I already know people disagree. If you’re not rude, then we’ll just move on and be chill. Otherwise... well, we won’t be chill and you can still go, but I’ll consider you a dick. I don’t expect everyone to agree with “Ori is a human”, but why bring that up to me?

This is why a lot of the time, when people talk about characters and my muses, my brain defaults to “Well that has nothing to do with me.” Why should I invest any time being upset that people are disappointed with my portrayal or I’m not what they expected. It’s exhausting. People have some really strong opinions about Lia and Sona sometimes, but... ‘that has nothing to do with me.’ There’s no point in trying to convince someone to try your flavor of ice cream when they’ve already decided what flavor and toppings they want. It just leads to tremendous insecurity. I should not have to argue that ‘my portrayal is worth paying attention to’. 

Ugh. I might be too sensitive about this. There was a point where people really got in the habit of saying, “this is how character x is” ( not their muse ), and it felt like someone trying to enter my kitchen. It did not feel like a suggestion or an idea. It was an assertive, “this is how Irelia is” by, say... a Ry/ze or Ken/nen blog or something. That felt extremely isolating and alienating to me, because it felt like I could not participate in that conversation at all. Or stuff after. I had to sideline myself, because... that has nothing to do with me or my interpretations. Ofc griping at them is wrong because I know they mean, ‘this is how I see it’, but ye. I’m short tempered and easily upset. Working on it.

If someone really hates your character, how do you take it?  — um? bye? hello?

god I used to go “ ok that’s cool you don’t like my portrayal, here are some other great So/na blogs that I love” but I realized that I was directing someone who felt the need to tell me my portrayal or character is bad to those people... and no. no no no. I still feel a little guilty about it, because thinking I directed a toxic person to my duplicates...  yuck.

If you don’t like the characters, or you don’t like my divergent takes, that’s fine. I get it’s not for everyone. Just unfollow me. You’re not paying me. You’re not under any obligation. To an extent, i don’t mind being critical of the character, but there’s a difference between being critical and being hateful to someone’s muse? And it depends a lot on how close I am with a person. For example, I think Sy/las is a complete scumbag and I hate him, but I don’t go yelling that to every Sy/las blog I see. C’mon.

Another bit of salt but it’s... kind of a sad topic, really. There are some characters people love to hate, whereas other ones get the ‘protection squad’. And in general it’s really disheartening to see someone shittalk Lux every two weeks, but go ‘these other champs are off limits’. If you have that attitude, it makes me think you’ll shittalk my characters the moment they get popular ( COUGHIRELIACOUGH ) and that’s kind of sad. And mean. So general advice on this is: Probably just don’t tell someone you hate their muse, you know? Idk. Everyone has their own tolerance level too so. meh.

Are you okay with people pointing out your grammatical errors?  —  Somewhat.  Not much to say here, sometimes I am very tired, sometimes I comma splice like a madman, sometimes I overuse hyphen dashes to avoid deciding whether to use a comma, period, or semicolon - like this. I don’t need an editor. English is my first language. But if there’s something egregious or you have tips, let me know? I’m someone who looks up grammar rules regularly, and breaks teh rules just as regularly. Knowing when and how to break grammar rules is useful. Though I do tend to... overuse something once I’ve learned it. Hyphen dash, I’m looking at you.

Do you think you are easy going as a mun?   — Yes and no. I’m chill, I can be a little overly passionate, and I’m pretty quick to apologize... But I have certain moral standards and if you break those, you’re done. Also I can be a vengeful bastard. I try to give as much benefit of the doubt as I can and many chances, but I’ve noticed that I really... have a sour attitude towards a lot more people than I expect. Sometimes people who are very well liked, just because they said or did something that ticked me off. Luckily, I have the special skill of not being a jerk even if I don’t like you, and overall trying to be nice to most people, so it usually won’t matter. 

Ah and I can be a little selective in who I talk to / play favorites a bit. I’m a busy person with an adult life and a stressful job, I only have so much patience. I skip from “tolerating it” to “leaving”, and that can seem like I ghosted, but that’s not always the case. Just better to leave than to pick fights. I have some pretty strict standards and harsh opinions. Short temper. Vengeful. Alas.

Somehow people think I am very nice and baby, so take that for what you will. Pft. I just want people to be happy and feel comfortable and okay. Wrong is wrong, blah blah blah ok I stop now.

That’s about it, congrats for filling out!

( If you managed to read all this, with 3 full muses... Let me know, I want to hug you??? )

[godfirstgodalways]

I have been trying to witness to a loved one but I feel like anytime an opportunity comes up, I blow it! After the moment has passed, I think of all the things I should've said. The moments catch me by surprise and I can't think of something good to say fast enough. I get nervous and overwhelmed and my mind just goes, "this is your chance!!! Speak!!!" And I freeze and fumble the words. This is embarrassing and sounds dumb haha please pray for me, I need it!!

The thing with witnessing is people only buy into it if your actions match your words/beliefs and energy. You must believe in yourself, but more importantly believe in the One who is in you. I’ve noticed in person that people are more interested in my beliefs when I speak in general with love and joy in a calm manner. I believed for a long time that you always had to be enthusiastic about witnessing....well that can only cause more anxiety. What’s more effective is actually believing every word that comes out of your mouth and that can look energetic or calm. I had an ex (he was a pastor’s son) who became my boyfriend before I got serious with God…he saw my potential as a Christian. I was drawn to him because of his faith, but every single conversation was about God and it always seemed like he was trying to “rescue me” from my old ways. It became overwhelming and eventually I distanced myself from him. If we’re being practical, a real relationship with anyone isn’t always going to have conversations about God and faith....we’re only human. People are drawn more to you when you communicate your faith in other ways other than having “Christian conversations”. Make sure that you’re not giving fear a chance believing that witnessing must be done all in one day. It takes time and patience, and a real relationship with the person, understanding their strengths and weaknesses and also an openness/transparency from you. If they seem to reject your words, it doesn’t mean they won’t ever want to listen to you again. There’s other ways and other times, but don’t get caught up in being responsible for their salvation.

I get that feeling though….”After the moment has passed, I think of all the things I should’ve said.” Can you try remembering what you wanted to say and journal often about it? This is something I personally do whenever I regret not saying something. The more often I meditate on it and bring it up in prayer, pleading with the LORD that my intentions are righteous, the more confident I become for actualizing it. Maybe it’s in God’s will that the time hasn’t come for you to be confident about speaking up because you really aren’t that ready. Well now, you know and have more desire to prepare for it. Bring it up often in prayer, express to the LORD how much you want to say just the right things at the right time, and ask Him to speak through you because your past experiences regarding witnessing is humbling (not embarrassing). Believe that this experience is all with good intent coming from God because now it makes you desire even more to be careful with your words and actions. Ask Him to show you what you should work on with yourself because before we try to make people change their ways, no matter who they are, there will always be something about ourselves that we see in them (good or bad). Explore your commonalities with that person through much prayer so the LORD can reveal to you how you can communicate clearly and effectively with this person out of love. Take your time to believe over and over again that the Holy Spirit is guiding you knowing your motives please the Father. You’re in my prayers tonight friend!

1 Peter 3:15 But in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect,

Acts 1:8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

Matthew 5:16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.

2 Timothy 2:15 Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.

2 Timothy 1:8-12 Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord, nor of me his prisoner, but share in suffering for the gospel by the power of God, who saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works but because of his own purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began, and which now has been manifested through the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel, for which I was appointed a preacher and apostle and teacher, which is why I suffer as I do. But I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed, and I am convinced that he is able to guard until that Day what has been entrusted to me.

Romans 15”13 May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.

By His Grace, Sheela (Via godfirstgodalways)

FOR MORE ANSWERED QUESTIONS VISIT sheelaleigh.com

[asmexus]

7, 10, 16, 22, 28 ily! 🧡

FEH asks!

7. Most emotional summon so far?

Hmm hard to say! But I think it would be hands down when I summoned PA Shigure on the PA rerun banner! I had waited an entire year to get him and when I finally did I was so so happy! I still can’t believe that I have him sometimes haha!

10. First 5* character you ever summoned multiple times?

Julia! I remember getting her back on her debut banner and then another one not too long after that! I didn’t really use her much because of her IVs, but now that her bane is neutralized and she’s got a pretty neat refine, I should try to use her more!

16. An underrated character you like to use?

I’d say PA shigure, although I’m sure he’s used a decent amount by people considering he’s a dancer, but I feel like people knock him around a bit much because of his low bst ): I can also say Rebecca now that I’ve started building her!

22. Favourite banner so far?

Another difficult question, but I’m gonna say both Valentine’s banners! I’ve been playing FEH since launch, but I really started getting invested in it when the Love Abounds banner came out last year! I feel like that’s what led me to meet all sorts of wonderful people so this banner holds warm memories for me. And this year’s valentine’s banner is really really cute! (Yay Tellius!)  I really love valentine’s day and the aesthetic of these banners as a whole so yeah I’d say these are my favorite banners!

28. A character you cherish but never use?

Summer Corrin! I think she’s super cute with pretty art and she’s dear to me due to being my one of my first seasonal units. Unfortunately she’s +def/-atk (no merges ): ) and since I use Halloween Nowi on my flyer team as a bladetome mage, she doesn’t really see any use. 

ily!! 🧡 Thank you so much for the asks! I hope my answers made sense!

[a-man-adrift]

Writer Questionnaire

Internet hugs to the super talented @eluari​ for remembering that I exist, even though I’ve not been providing much evidence of the fact lately!

Short stories, novels, or poems?

I’ve written (or at least started!) all three, but I have a bad habit of not beginning a project unless I can see the path to the end, which usually limits me to shorts, or long-shorts/novellas at most.  Usually.  There was this one time when a whole novel plot sprang fully formed from my head… I’m still working on The Anti-Agathics War, I swear!

What genre do you prefer reading?

If I had to pick just one, I’d say SF, but I’m also fond of crime stories, thrillers, and Victorian novels.

What genre do you prefer writing?

Again, probably science fiction if I had to pick just the one, although examples abound of how you can tell almost any kind of story within SF… come to think of it, maybe that’s why I like it so much!

Are you a planner or a write-as-I-go kind of person?

A bit betwixt and between, really: I’ve not had a lot of luck with those writing exercises where you just start writing anything and try and bootstrap your way up to an idea, but on the other hand once I’ve had an idea I don’t need to do a lot of planning to run with it.  This does vary with length, though: I do have a skeleton for TAAW—one or two sentences per chapter, then sometimes divvying up chapters into scenes—whereas I can generally write a short story straight off the back of the idea for it.

What music do you listen to while writing?

Either something instrumental or something with lyrics I know really really well, so the words don’t distract me.  When I’m writing Mass Effect fanfic, as often as not I’ll put the game soundtrack on, since it’s one of the best things about Mass Effect, and has no distracting words!

Fave books/movies/tv shows?

Books: I love Lois McMaster Bujold’s Miles Vorkosigan novels: so much that I can’t pick just one, it has to be the whole series!  I’m also very fond of Wilkie Collins, with my favourites probably being Man and Wife, and the short story collection The Queen of Hearts, although his better-known novels, like The Woman in White or The Moonstone, are great too.  I also likes me some Isaac Asimov, particularly The Caves of Steel.

Movies: My absolute favourite is The Guard (2011).  Thanks to flickchart.com (which I recommend as an excellent waste of any superfluous time you may have hanging around!) I have a top 20, which you can check out at the link if you’re so inclined.

TV Shows: Breaking Bad absolutely deserves the hype, and I’ll always have a sentimental fondness for Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, because it’s the Trek series I grew up with.

Any current WIPs?

The Anti-Agathics War is my main ongoing project.  I’m in the midst of the first of two chapters that form the climax of the piece, and I’m trying not to spook myself by angsting over whether I can live up to notes in my chapter plan like “Neela makes an awesome speech”!

I also have another Scene from the Life of Phil Shepard about two-thirds done, and generally I feel like I should keep adding to my Mass Effect fic output until I’ve gone from Phil’s parents meeting and deciding to move to Mindoir, all the way to Terri and Nezzy’s and li’l Ashley’s turn to save the galaxy!

If someone were to make a cartoon out of you, what would your standard outfit be?

Haha, probably chinos and an Oxford shirt.  I'd make up for it with wacky and memorable dialogue.  Hopefully.

Do you like incorporating people you actually know into your writing?

Really no. This was actually one of the things that killed a previous project: I tried joining the hallowed tradition of writing weird and wonderful events set in a university town and lab very much like the one I used to work at, but when I got to writing my viewpoint character meeting a bunch of grad students and post-docs very much like my real-life friends at the time, I found it incredibly skeevy.  Guess I’ll stick to aliens and space marines…

Are you kill-happy with characters?

Well, I did kill off Tali’Zorah, even though she’s one of my favourite canon characters, but no, on the whole I probably err the other way, on the side of keeping my character-babies happy!

Coffee or tea while writing?

No thanks!

Slow or fast writer?

Fast when I actually get down to it, which is at such infrequent intervals that, on average, glacially slow.

Where/who/what do you find inspiration from?

Well, obviously as a fanfic writer I’m inspired by my source material, but more generally my writing tends to owe a lot to whatever I’ve been reading most recently.  My saving grace, in that regard, if I have one, is that usually I know what source I’m riffing on when I do it, so I can turn it into a comment/reference/tribute to some source or other, rather than a plagiarism.

Most fave book cliche? Least fave book cliche?

OK, I’ll admit it: I like the typical Victorian/Edwardian male author’s conception of romance, where the hero loses his heart to the heroine on usually rather less than a paragraph’s-worth of acquaintance, and then suffers agonies of denial and self-doubt for chapter after chapter (in intervals of the plot moving itself along) until finally she admits that she quite likes him too!  I have to add a quote here, because it made me laugh:

'I say again that you are a foolish Robin,' said she, resting her cheek against my shoulder. 'You think your goose is a swan. But go on thinking it, and she will be as near a swan as she can manage, or failing that, a very faithful, affectionate goose.'

I don’t know about least fave, but one cliché I’ve been getting a bit impatient with lately is the one where the protagonist’s parent/mentor-figure dies at the most timely possible moment for the protag to step up and show that they can handle shizz on their own.  The man behind the curtain is so apparent in some of these that I wonder if the author just had really overbearing parents of their own, so that they can’t imagine any way a person could fully grow up without the olds getting killed off.

Fave scenes to write?

Fluffy home and family scenes always feel very self-indulgent, but they seem to go down well.  One of the perks of being a fanfic author, I guess!

Most productive time of day for writing?

This varies so much that I think the only honest answer is “any time when I don’t have something else I ought to be doing!”

Reason for writing?

Oh, some combination of “Liara is best waifu” and “BIOWARE U DUN GOOFED!”, probably…

I declare Omni-Tag!  If you see this and want to play, thou art subject to entagment!