#the whole time & was Actually planning on tying up loose ends the whole time but AGAIN it doesn't make Sense he'd wait so long

[brittlebutch]

Desperately trying to make sense of Alex's motivations in Season Two and you know, I do eventually have to wonder if maybe Alex wasn't actually lying in the majority of those tapes.

Like, we tend to assume that Alex's motivations have been a consistent throughline since the college years, but do we actually know that that's the case? Do we know for sure that Alex was acting in deliberate, calculated ways in 2006; or could it be that he's telling the Truth on those olds tapes when he says he's blacking out and can't remember what's happening to anyone? After all, if we're assuming that Season 2 Alex's motivations are the exact same as his motives in Season 3, then it doesn't make any sense at all that he spend months working with Jay to try to find Amy; Season 3 Alex would have attempted to kill Jay like, on sight just to get things over with as quickly as possible and contain the spread of contamination as best as he could.

But, maybe, if Alex really had been separated from Amy after the events of the 04-04-10 tape, and if he really doesn't know where she is, then maybe that could make things start to make more sense. Maybe he really had been watching Jay's channel, and seeing Jay start going through the same things he went through in college without things devolving into violence and disappearances, and wondered if things maybe could play out differently this time. Maybe he really did send that tape to Jay to ask him for help, maybe he really was just trying to find Amy.

But then, instead of actually being helpful, Jay makes it extremely clear that he's a lot more interested in stalking Alex than he is in finding Amy. Alex asked for help, and instead there's a bunch of masked dudes on Jay's heels that keep attacking him, Jay is breaking into his house, stealing his things, leading the Operator right to him all over again, keeps trying to get other people (namely: Jessica -- if Alex is being honest when he says that his call reassuring her that Amy had been found was an effort to make Sure she stayed away from everything that was happening) involved; and instead of anything getting better, instead of anyone finding Amy, things are just getting worse all over again.

It's not until after the incident at the tunnel that things seem to start rapidly devolving. Rather than a calculated attempt to finally follow through with his need to curb the spread of contamination, this is very clearly an outburst of rage and terror. Alex's "I told you not to follow me" line in conjunction with Jay speculating that Alex didn't know who that guy was, to me, pretty firmly seems to speak to Alex having mistaken that stranger for Jay. From his point of view, Alex knows that Jay and totheark know where he live, have broken in before, he suspects that Jay stole a key to make it easier to get into his house, and he's been followed on the daily for months -- Alex is sitting at the tunnel because he doesn't know where else he can go without being constantly surveilled, hunted, and assaulted. And instead of getting a moment by himself to breathe, Jay followed him out there all over again (it feels like Alex looks directly at the camera in Jay's footage of him from this day; he knew for a fact that Jay was there), and then to make matters worse now 'Jay' won't even keep his distance anymore.

So Alex lashes out. And it's not until afterwards that he looks down and finally recognizes that this wasn't Jay -- it was someone completely innocent. Things have finally reached the low point he was at in college all over again; maybe even worse this time. If Alex doesn't remember attacking anyone in college, but he was at least partially conscious of it this time, then things have reached an entirely new rock bottom, they've reached an absolute point of no return.

He has no idea what happened to Amy, and he's spent months trying to find her with no hint of where she could be; he doesn't know where Jay actually is or what additional trouble he could be causing at this point; he does know that now innocent people are getting caught in the crossfire (in regards to the stranger in the tunnel, and also Jessica now that Jay has her phone number, and the untold number of people Jay got involved when he started posting videos to the Marble Hornets channel); things are spiraling out of control and there's no one left to ask for help. The situation isn't getting better, it's getting worse; things aren't getting easier to handle, they're just getting more out of hand; the negative impact is spreading and who knows how much further it can still go?

So, Alex decides to go scorched earth. He disfigures the body with the rock either to hide evidence or to make sure the guy would actually stay dead and not just get back up to start his own cycle of contamination in a few years. He tries to give Jay one last chance to back off, and Jay instead admits he's been talking to Jessica, acts obstinate and lies about not having Alex's spare key, and then breaks into Alex's house a second time (minimum). If Alex doesn't stop him now, who will? Alex met with Jay planning to kill the others, and then himself, so he could put a stop to this once and for all and keep things from getting any worse than they already were.

Maybe it makes a lot more sense if, rather than being a strangely incomprehensible detour on what should have been a straight path, the events of Season Two were the breaking point that put Alex on that path to begin with.

[minihotdog]

Good ol' fishing boy

Pairing: Simon Ghost Riley x gn!Reader

a/n: idk. Simon is a big ol softie in this one

Summary: Simon learns how to fish

c/w: fake worm, maybe a swearword

Word Count: 1k

***

The weekend had finally come around. The usual hustle and bustle of the compound died down as everyone ran off to enjoy the little free time they’d been given. 

“Hey, Lt!” You beam at the sight of your superior. “Whatcha got planned for today?” You stood with your fishing rods tucked under your arm and a backpack stuffed to its brim.

“Nothin’.” He sat at the table with his morning tea. He always had such a cold look, with or without his mask, but you were determined to try and break down at least one of his walls. You’d been working for the task force for about three months now, and he was the only one who you still didn’t know a thing about.

  “You ‘otta come fishing with me. It’d be a good time, I promise.” You raise your eyebrows at him, waiting for his response.

“Not up my alley.” He swiftly declines, leaving you taken aback. 

In all my years, I’ve never heard a military man say no to fishing.

“Wha’d’ya gonna do? Sit here all day?” You say in disbelief.

“Yes.”

“Oh c’mon, Lt.! What if I fall in the water and I can’t get out and I’m all by myself!” You clasp your hands in front of you as if you were about to get on your knees and beg. He sighs at what he referred to as your ‘American dramatics’. 

“Fine, but keep the talking to a minimum.”

“Yaay!” You celebrate, causing the stern Brit to groan in annoyance.

***

The air nipped at your nose as you and Simon sat on the bank of the river. The mountains off in the distance were topped off with fresh snow. The warm sunlight would occasionally peak out from behind the grey clouds. 

“Here ya go,” You hand him a rod and open your tackle box between the two of you. You start tying your hook to the line and reaching into the box to pull out a long black fake worm. You look over to Simon, motioning to the worm, “See this little guy? Bass love this shit.” He snorts lightly but you notice him go still when he looks at the contents of the box.

“So what do I do?” He asks, a little embarrassed. Most boys learned how to fish with their dads, unfortunately, his dad had been set on being a nightmare rather than an angler. You stop dead in your tracks, eyeing the man.

“You ever been fishing before?”

“No.”

You almost drop your worm, 

“What?! Really?!”

He shoots you a look that says, ‘Cool it or else’.

“Your dad never took you when you were a kid?” You probe.

“We weren’t very close.” His eyes avoid yours and look out at the bend of the river. Simon wasn’t one to feel embarrassed about his upbringing, he saw it as something that made him the man he was today. It motivated him to be better than what he witnessed and to maybe even eliminate the horrors that many were forced to live with. But it came with a cost and that cost was the simple things other people had gotten to experience that he didn’t.

“I wasn’t close with mine either,” You sigh, hoping that you hadn’t brought up painful memories. His eyes were back on you at the revelation.

“I actually learned how to fish from the locals when I was stationed in Turkey.” You smile, recounting the memories from your time overseas. “I rented a pole out and asked a taxi driver to take me to a fishing store. The taxi driver could barely speak English but it was clear as day that he loved fishing. We talked the whole way to the store and he even went inside with me.” You chuckle, “I’d run into a group of ‘Turkish Uncles’ out fishing and they’d try to show me their tricks.”

You place your rod down on the rocky ground and motion for him to give you his. “I’ll show you,” Your words come out softly. “This part is easy.” You place the rod between your knees and grab a hook out of the box to show him. 

“Now, there are all sorts of knots you can do but I use the Y/L/N special.” You put the line through the hole at the top of the hook and wrap the loose end a couple of times around the line coming directly from the rod.

 “So you wrap it however many times, then you put it through the loop at the bottom. Pull it and then tie a knot.” He nods at you showing he understands, and his eyes examine the funny-looking knot. 

“One time I went fishing with a friend of mine. He was the Bill Dance of trout.” You pause briefly to explain, “Bill Dance is an old man in the States that strikes fear in the hearts of Bass everywhere.” Simon laughs softly at your dramatics. “But, he took one look at my knot and I thought I was gonna die from embarrassment. He was too nice to tell me it looked awful, but it works just like any other.”

You gently clap your hands together, “Moving on, you know what these are?” You point to the contents inside your tackle box. Simon shakes his head, a smirk still playing on his lips. He almost felt like a young boy again, recanting the stories he’d heard in school of the other boys going out on the lake with their dads. Here he finally was.

“These are lures, a.k.a. Fake bait. They come in all shapes: Frogs, worms, little fish. Depending on the fish, some work better than others. Bass like the worm. Snakeheads, those angry demon fish, like the frogs.” You trail off stating the different lures for different fish as you grab a black worm out of the box. 

“You can hook however you want, but I think this is what separates boys from men.” Simon’s little smirk grows briefly. He found the way you explained things to him to be endearing.

You grab the hook in one hand and hold the fake worm in the other. “You could do this,” You put the hook through the side of the worm and let it dangle. 

“But you’d probably lose your lure on the weeds or from a strong bite.” You pull the worm off. “This is what I do because I’m a big fishing man,” You joke. Simon silently laughs again. He’d hear you constantly calling yourself jacked and joking that you were as big as him. Here you sat, looking about as big as the worm in comparison to him.

You put the hook through the top of the worm’s head, coming through the side. Your now cold fingers slide the worm to the top of the hook and poke through the middle of the squishy lure with the pointy tip nudging back into it. “This way, your hook stays weedless.” You hand him his rod before hooking your lure.

“Now we can rip some lips.” You laugh at your own joke as you stand and walk closer to the water. You point to the button your thumb rests on, looking back at him. “Hold that down when you cast.” You turn back to the water and give your rod a swift jerk. Your hook goes flying out to the middle of the river. Simon follows and casts his line out, the hook barely lands two feet away. He tuts quietly.

“Here,” You place your rod down and come up behind him. You place one hand on his left shoulder and the other over his hand on the base of the rod. “Keep your body facing the water, and swat it like this.” You run through the motion twice before backing away to watch him. This time he casts without a hitch. “Right on.” You smile at him and for the first time, he smiles back.

The two of you sit back down on the log. “Give it a couple of little tugs every once in a while and reel it in little by little. Or how the Turks taught me: Reel, reel, reel, action, action, action.”

“Reel, reel, reel, action, action, action.” He talks himself through the motions. 

“Just like that. Now we wait.”

Moments pass of silence. You couldn’t complain, the view was beautiful.

“Is it true that fish can hear you?” Simon asks you, a bit of humor in his voice.

“No, I think that’s something dads made up so their kids would be quiet.” The two of you laugh. You liked this version of Simon. Relaxed, still quiet and reserved, but he wasn’t the same cold person you met as Ghost.

“Thank you… For teaching me.” He said suddenly.

“No problem, I could use a fishing partner.” You nudge him with your elbow. “Just don’t catch more fish than me or we’ll have a problem.”

[dana-chan-the-control-brain]

Now I'm wondering in Helpwanted2 if we are actually playing as Vanessa this whole time?

Vanessa is down in the basement of the Pizzaplex, tying up the loose threads.

Maybe it's why Moon is the one most present in the Minigames cus he is working with and helping her?

Her plan is to get rid of Glitchtrap once and for all? Post-Ending Security Breach?

Since the "traditional" ending has Cassie receiving the Vanni mask. I think this means that her killing Glitchtrap is not the canon ending. She tries to get rid of the remains of Glitchtrap, fucks up and he lives on for the next generation.

[onehundredandeleventropicalfish]

this might be a controversial opinion idk, but i feel like a lot of people assign more intent to dream's ending than was actually there

like. yes his death was in part a suicide, i'm not saying it wasn't, and i've talked a lot about the reasons and motivations behind that already. but i've seen a lot of responses to my posts lately talking about how dream knew this would definitely happen and he had a plan and was doing [x] thing because he knew it would lead to his death (or the more gentle version that he didn't plan it, but saw it coming and did nothing to stop it)

which. doesn't feel like an accurate description of what happened?

because he tried to stop the kindly ones plot. he genuinely did

he knew that the furies wouldn't be persecuting him out of nowhere, that's unlike them, there's enough nuance in this situation that something else has to be spurring them. which is true. lyta invoked the furies for revenge against dream, and the blood debt is enough of a technicality that they had the power to back her

so dream goes after lyta - stop her, stop the furies. but he's met with thessaly, who predicted this, and has protected lyta inside a ritual circle, which dream can't cross. she taunts him about it (bc this kind of magic is one of the few places mortals have more power than endless), and when he asks why, she says she wanted to hurt him

alright. no stopping the furies. but dream knows they will have to meet him face to face if they want to do anything about this, so as long as they meet him in the dreaming, that's his seat of power, they won't be able to act against him in any real capacity. he'll just have to wait them out, until they tire of this or something happens to lyta

there's one more caveat though - if he leaves the dreaming willingly during their attack, he cedes that seat of power, he won't be the master of the dreaming anymore, it'll belong to them. and that's the last thing he wants, so he tells delirium when she asks that he can't go with her, he has to stay here

nuala is the breaking point. because he has still been dealing with suicidal thoughts for centuries, they're not new and they didn't go anywhere, he's just really good at ignoring those thoughts in favour of his actual responsibilities. and while he didn't intend to die here, he's more exhausted than ever, he's lost in grief over his son, and for the first time, doesn't have the strength to push those thoughts down. nuala calls him from the dreaming, because he promised her any request, and it's a good enough excuse and he's tired enough that for a moment his subconscious wins that battle

and from there he's stuck. he tries to go back to the dreaming and fix it, but it's not his anymore. so he's left with only two choices - leave, abandon all this, go somewhere far away and stop caring about everyone you left behind and what the furies may do to the dreaming in your absence - it's no longer your problem. or he can acquiesce to their demands, lyta's call for revenge

and given who dream is, that was never any kind of choice.

i think people assume he planned it all because of one of these lines

but that's the thing. when the only thing keeping you going is the fact that suicide would be the most terrible horrible act you could possibly commit (this is someone who values his responsibility over anything else! he is dutiful! the whole point is he cannot willingly abandon his post!), you definitely haven't made a plan, and you're never going to. it's an escapist fantasy that sits at the back of your mind, that's all

the things death is drilling him about here are his decision with nuala and the fact that he never chose to leave, even when he got in way over his head, that's all she questions him about in this conversation

and i don't think he's lying in his response to her

yes, he's been 'making preparations' for a while, but those are things like ensuring daniel's ascendancy, tying up loose ends with people, actions that don't lead to anything. he doesn't have to die just because he did those things, those are just emergency precautions. and they make him feel better to do, because he gets to indulge in that fantasy without doing anything about it. he can't be blamed for this, they don't mean he wants to leave, he's going to keep doing his job forever because he has to

but you know. just in case. he's just being smart about it. that's what he can tell himself, anyway

and the reason why this distinction matters so much to me is, dream really tried. we see as early as season of mists that this is what his internal monologue is like so much of the time, given the slightest excuse to give up, in this case literally just the journey between the dreaming and hell, and some part of him yearns to just abandon everything

but he tells it no. he's been telling it no for centuries. this has been a constant fight to stay alive and he's been doing it! it's not been easy, but he's been putting in so much unnoticed work to keep everything going, to not give up. and one moment of weakness that ended up being his downfall shouldn't get to erase that

and when we say that he planned this the whole time, or that he knew this would happen and let it, we're not really appreciating just how much he tried

[freneticfloetry]

hi courtney! @reyesstrand here on my main blog ajdnskd but for nice ask day i’d love to know about to build a home…what was the writing process like? any little tidbits you want to share about it? it’s one of my absolute all time favourite fics, so anything you’d want to share would be amazing <3 also!! i saw your ask where you mention you saw hozier and i’m seeing him on tuesday (!!!) so any hozier songs you feel speak to the lone star characters/relationships the most?

Hey Maddie!

First of all, hugs and kisses to you for all your kind words on to build a home (here and in feedback). I’m so glad it struck a chord.

I’m not sure what else to say about it, to be honest! Um… okay, there were four scenes in my original outline that I cut. Well, three scenes cut and two others combined. Very early on there was a scene at the honky tonk the night TK and Carlos met, sort of the tail end and aftermath of their first hookup and Carlos deciding that he needed to see this boy again, even if it meant breaking his rules and bringing him home. I never even started that scene proper — once things got flowing it made much more sense to just refer to that in the scene following, after TK stormed out on the date. Immediately after that one was supposed to be the scene when Carlos finds out Iris is alive, which got the axe for two reasons: one, I really didn’t want to write Michelle, and two — more importantly — I needed Iris to stay a sort of ghost for Carlos until he’s forced to unearth all that later.

Chapter Two pretty much proceeded exactly as planned, with the exception of the post-fire scene at Owen’s — that was just supposed to be Carlos laying in the dark and sort of inside his own head, reflecting on all the things he lost but the one thing he came out with being the only thing he couldn’t bear to lose. But TK sort of stormed the castle. I was chugging along, and all of the sudden, I’d typed that he’d woken up. It was literally like he said “my baby’s hurting, he needs me.” Which was cute, but not the plan. 😂 Still, I was really happy with the conversation that emerged.

Chapter Three, though… well, like mother like son. Not only did TK go rogue again, so did Gwyn, with the whole “future” talk toward the end of their conversation. The post-Cooper scene was originally post-Sadie, but it was too raw and too soon for TK to have processed things in a way that would have let him have that talk with Carlos (who would’ve been too freshly-mired in his own guilt, at that point, instead of adrift and unsure in Cooper’s wake). Switching it was definitely the right call, for me. The We Need to Talk About Iris of it all had huge changes in the moment, because once I started the scene, even though I had a plan, I wrote one line in particular and it unlocked everything else. Going over it with @ambiguouspenny, I thought they were going to have a meltdown. But in a good way! The hospital scene threw me a curveball, in the form of tying up a loose end from the first chapter, so that’s how Dom happened. It derailed the original plan for the first half of that conversation with Gabriel — he was going to tell Carlos that his abuela had always called him such a homebody, that after he came out he couldn’t leave home fast enough, and Carlos was going to confess that he’d sort of detached because he wasn’t sure he’d have a place under their roof after everything, that he had a bag that lived in Iris’ trunk for months, because it was better to be ready than to be blindsided — but I actually like the detour better. There was a scene planned immediately following — the boys coming back to the loft from the hospital after Marjan’s whole ordeal, where TK tries to convince Carlos to take the detective exam — but once I finished the scene before that was the easiest cut ever. It would’ve derailed all the emotional momentum from the scene before. And the wedding and wedding night were supposed to be two separate scenes, but halfway through the hospital scene I randomly got the urge to combine them, and I really love how it turned out.

There are a few lines and snippets that didn’t make the cut, one piece of dialogue in particular that inspired a whole new fic. (Also there was an extended exchange during the move-in scene, with Carlos’ crack about the exercise bike, that kind of went something like this:

TK: “Seriously, how does a guy who looks like you own zero gym equipment?” And then, like a little lightbulb: “Oh my god, you were that kinda gay.”

Carlos: “There’s a gym at the precinct, TK.”

TK: “And I’m sure that’s what you use now.”)

So basically… the writing process was chaos. I guess I had things to say after all! 😂

Second, YAY, A HOZIER SHOW OF YOUR VERY OWN!

Re: Hozier speaking to Lone Star characters and pairings, why yes, don’t mind if I do.

I think there are a bunch of things that fit, actually. Tarlos and Francesca are clearly a match made in heaven, but First Time has hella TK vibes, both Shrike and Sunlight are Carlos as hell (though the former fits TK too), and I, Carrion (Icarian) fits for both Tarlos and Judd/Grace, from TK or Judd or even Grace’s perspective. From Eden is such a Judd-about-Grace song, as is NFWMB, but I think Would That I is his truest theme. Better Love could be Judd or Carlos. Unknown/Nth is my Breakup Era Carlos Anthem, and As It Was fits for TK during that same stretch. I have too many feelings about Movement to even nail down who it belongs to. All Things End feels like it would work well for Owen and Gwyn, and I’ll be damned if Arsonist’s Lullaby isn’t Owen’s buried anger issues to a tee.

I won’t even get started on individual lyrics/verses (but “I get along without you very well some other nights” and “be still my foolish heart, don’t ruin this on me” is the most TK Strand shit ever).

Not that I’ve thought about this at all. 😜

(Oh my god, this was an utterly unhinged answer, I’m so sorry.)

[nityarawal]

Is it too late to have a coming of age experience at 39 after two kids, a husband, and a career in Real estate?

I had the most amazing 40th birthday weekend. I thought I would write all my friends and see if anyone wanted to go to Esalen with me- this is a hot springs in Northern CA that I've been wanting to go to for my whole life! Just a massage is pricey and to go for the whole weekend was over $750 but I thought I would throw it out there. I didn't really care who I saw while there. I just knew I wanted to enjoy it with friends. I didn't have the nerve to go to a spa where everyone swims naked without any friends or family. I had 4 takers.  Several good friends committed. We tried to decide which workshop to do. I was thinking to do one on songwriting and bhajans when my friend Tess suggested the creativity workshop. At first I thought that one was so ambivalent...I know about creativity and my own process. I've been doing TM my whole life after all and I know how to tap that place. The truth is I rarely do any creative writing anymore which is what I have my degree in though. I wasn't looking for a revival though, but more than anything a chance to soak in the hot springs next to the crashing pacific waves in good company. Tess suggested this Josh Radnor workshop, "he's the guy in ‘How I met your mother!’" 

"Oh," I said. Yes I remembered him...I actually didn't know which character at first but my favorite was Ted Mosby and was delighted that is actually Josh Radnor. She also said that David Newman was teaching it with him and was famous in LA for his amazing yoga studio. It sounded like this was the course to do! So I called up Esalen and managed to switch workshops and got two of my friends to switch with me. Tess had known of Josh also because he'd been on ER and her husband was a writer/director of the show. Unfortunately she didn't end up coming on that special weekend because her hubby had a intensive writing weekend planned and she needed to be in back up support with the kids but I'm forever grateful she intervened and tipped us off on where to go!

I worked until the minute I left practically- emailing and tying up loose ends on a real estate deal. I was concerned my client would miss me for two days being off the grid and not reachable by phone. I assured her it was actually only one day that I would be totally gone since Friday and Sunday I would be travelling and could be reached. I could tell she was a little panicky about it but luckily her daughter had the same birthday as me and she had also planned to go and visit her in Portland. I felt a little foolish going to this workshop without knowing too much about Josh Radnor other than his role in HIMYM so I did a little homework late at night before I left and read some reviews and interviews with him about his movies. I decided to download the first one he did- ‘Happythankyoumoreplease.’

The trip to Esalen was loooong! I thought I would fly- only an hours flight- and get there early with time to relax and enjoy the facilities. I was expected to arrive at noon and my friends were going to pick me up. We'd have lunch somewhere glorious along the ocean enroute. I was so excited! I left my house at 9:30am but my flight was postponed and postponed. I called another friend to pick me up who was also driving down from the bay area and let the other two go ahead and have lunch etc. Danielle somehow got lost en-route though and then stopped somewhere for directions and left her handbag, so had to go back, and finally got to me around 4pm. No worries, I sat in the airport watching the rest of Josh's first movie, ‘Happythankyoumoreplease.' I had started it on the airplane and I was savoring all of it. He wrote, directed and acted in it. It felt like a first movie yet it was so sweet and I was excited to see Malin Ackerman in it as well. I just knew when she said this line about how an Indian taxi driver told her if she got something she liked in life to just say, "more please," that there was a spiritual message and I was in for a treat but still no idea how special Josh Radnor would be.

Danielle arrived when I had 20 minutes left and I kept pausing to tie up loose ends up on my Real Estate deal back home too. Last conversations with my transaction coordinator, my client and broker before I checked out for two days. I was so excited and didn't want to be chatting or negotiating on one of my favorite coastal drives down to Big Sur with a dear old friend that I hadn't seen in several years. No, we had fabulous talks about sex and caught totally up. My magical girls' weekend had begun and the smells of eucalyptus trees and ocean was intoxicating. We couldn't resist stopping at Nepentheon- one of the great restaurants of Big Sur- even though we were only a half hour away and had paid for a wonderful dinner at Esalen. The sun was setting the view was spectacular! We indulged in some tapas and a glass of wine, I got the last of my messages before my phone died and we were on our way out of reception.

We arrived into a pitch dark place. The guard keepers of Esalen said they couldn't tell us where our other friends were staying- some strange policy and that we'd have to leave a note on the bulletin for them. So we thought we'd quickly check in and get to our workshops. We were given flashlights and navigated halfway across the resort to our different classes. Danielle was trying out some metaphysical mind over matter one but later switched to my course on sat after I told her how great it was. I showed up late and felt a bit battered from my long and harrowing day. I wished I was fresher for this first meeting but was too excited to lose any more time. Our meeting was in a yurt next to the ocean and we all introduced ourselves that night. I didn't say where I was from but David and Josh seemed interested that I did TM and they both had learned too but seemed to be onto other things. I mentioned what a great tool it had been for me and they agreed while others in the group expressed their curiosity. That first night was intimate- with only 20 or 30 people in the yurt. I didn't know where my other friends were but I enjoyed sitting there alone... I told the group that we were there celebrating my BIG birthday. For me this was so special. It was such a treat to be there whereas I felt like many of the people who were there had no idea how special Josh was and were even further behind than I was in watching his shows! Many didn't even know about HIMYM! They were just simple folks, many once hippies, coming to enjoy Esalen. Although one woman was an editor from San Francisco with a big publisher and had read his biography! Oh, how I would love to get my hands on that book! She said it was really good and Josh shared his reasons for not publishing it. He said he did things that he'd rather not go public on- he takes his role as a leader and role-model very seriously and doesn't drink, swear or go to strip clubs and is super into his shakti and spiritual path.

We did some chanting and bhajans after the introduction and my heart felt open as I set there on my cushion with no backrest rocking to the music, my spine unwinding and kept accidentally catching Josh's eye. It was a magical evening!

When I got back to my room Danielle said her meeting was OK and that she'd switch to my class because I was very floored and excited about the weekend ahead even though I hadn't planned to do too much of the workshop in my pursuit of hot water. As we were talking Hollie and Mona popped up! It turned out they were in the room next to ours! This seemed like such a gift since the stern Esalen Heralds had not been willing to share their location. We laughed and talked all giddy to see each other but they were tired and had been enjoying the grounds for hours- they'd had their massages, soaked, a divine vegetarian dinner and walked the grounds. I was a little jealous but didn't want to miss out on lost time so Danielle and I headed to the pools and decided sleep was not the priority. We soaked until about 11;30 in the waxing moonlight. We tried the silent Roman pools and enjoyed the meditative atmosphere but Danielle wanted to chat so we went to the other pools. Each pool was so completely glorius. We moved to these pools outside but under the verandas that were open to the crashing waves below. I'd never been in such a beautiful spring in my life and my heart was soaring with the experience. I felt so completely blessed. I couldn't stop smiling. This was the best present I'd ever received and I was savoring every moment of it- I couldn't believe that 3 dear friends were willing to share this with me too! Danielle and I had lovely talks and had a lot of privacy with only a few others there. We tried several different pools and finally were too tired to soak more so showered and headed up the dark paths home. The hills and stairs were a work out and we arrived to our room out of breath and exhausted but in a fantastically good delicious way. I knew my itunes movie was going to expire and I hadn't finished it but I was too tired, and only had about 20 minutes left, so just hoped I'd find time the next day.

Saturday we had a plan to meet HOllie and Mona for breakfast. We had a lovely meal in a corner and I had to sample every food they had so took tiny portions- all was glorious and different for me- I had miso soup- which I've never had for breakfast with kim chi. Mona said the granola was unreal so I had a smidgeon of that with yogurt. They had stewed prunes- which I thought was genius since hot springs for some odd reason are constipating. We enjoyed a couple of cups of coffee and tea and every turn I took around the dining room, Josh seemed to appear next to me in his hoodie with bed head- which is his signature look. God, it was unsettling. I tried to smile and be casual but he has a grumpy morning face. I must have almost bumped into him about 10 times! I couldn't believe it and wanted to yak about the crazy experience with my girlfriends but the lunchroom felt too small for such indulgences. They didn't even know who he was or had seen his shows so they weren't very excited in the same way. Although they appreciated how cute he was! This seemed to be my magical universe. 

Mona said I must get a massage- that they were glorious and I owed it to myself to get one for my bday. Her and HOllie were getting theirs for the second day in a row! Danielle and I headed into the reception to make our reservation and guess who was beside me also requesting something? Josh. God I had butterflies. I get funny around celebrities and very excited so this was all just a bit too much! I wished I had someone who could relate. The most my girls could offer was that he was cute. 

Mona was super excited to see my message on the board and instagrammed it to Facebook.

Then we all walked joyously up the path to class. It was like a dream...gorgeous flowers blooming everywhere...my friends looked so beautiful and I just wanted to hang out and take photos but was also very excited about our workshop which we were rapidly late for. Esalen is like a '60's commune though- it radiates love and peace and it's hard to believe this magical place still exists in this day and age! We wound our way up to our class and it was sparkling in the day light. I had gotten lost winding up there the night before passing houses and walking through forests but in the light of day I could see the school garden, the school bus converted into a class and granted myself a few pictures of the girls. One of Hollie under an arch of metal she wanted to recreate in her garden. I felt proud to have my friends in class with me that morning. We all sat in the back row and they didn't get the proper introduction but I did whisper that Hollie was a Scorpio since we'd all shared our signs the night before.

Holl's and Mona don't have the best backs so even though they got back jacks their backs were suffering by the end of the lesson. I felt like this yoga energy was coursing through me and I didn't mind not having the support. I was really getting into the Bhajans. I felt like my heart was opening wide and those silly feelings of catching Josh looking at me, like a girl in school- like my sparkle must be on and my inner light shining out. Hollie, Mona and I were giddy that day laughing and giggling catching each others eyes just thrilled to be on our retreat! After class as we were walking out I mentioned to Josh that I'd love to see Liberal Arts and asked if we were going to watch any of his movies. He said maybe. That afternoon I arrived a bit late after my gorgeous massage- this was one of the best massages I'd ever had- I lay naked with one wall open to the pacific, the warm air and sunlight glowing in and felt the feathery hands of a woman perform some Asian combination massage indigenous to Esalen. I could see why HOllie and Mona had to get one of these two days in a row and felt like this massage I almost stingily didn't get might have been one of the best I'd ever had. She cocooned me afterwards in towels and I could've slept there all afternoon but only allowed myself a few minutes because I didn't want to miss a moment of Esalen. I was hoping to soak with Hollie and Mona after but they were just heading into their massages. As I was walking out of the roman bath I saw Fillipo Francini in the dressing room- he's an Italian composer that is a client of mine. I said hi, but he looked so inward and puzzled with his towel draped over his privates, like a man from roman times- I thought maybe it's not the best time to be social so let it go.

I was late for lunch and Danielle had already finished so I took my food to this nook under a tree at the bluffs edge. It was such a perfect place to journal. I felt so awake. I could've written for hours but there was little time to take in so much. So then I dipped in the cold swimming pool in the verdant green bluff and appreciated the paradise.

As I was walking to class I saw HOllie & Mona- they said they weren't going since they were late to class and wanted to hike and enjoy the sunset etc. so I went ahead. Danielle was sitting by the door but I thought I would sit where I had been and Josh was sitting in the seat next to mine so I just went with it and enjoyed his company as we sang Bhajans.

At the break Danielle told me the good news that we were going to play a movie that night. Josh put on some scenes from his movies HTMP and it was so cool to have him share his favorite scenes- one of them I hadn't seen yet and it was so fantastic the way this man who wasn't attractive in the beginning of the movie suddenly became gorgeous as the light of love dawned in the leading ladies heart. He really captured this well in the movie and this was a feeling I'd had before and enjoyed the way he'd painted it. He was so humble sharing all these scenes with an audience that had no clue how brilliant he was. He didn't seem to mind and I felt like a bit lame that I hadn't even finished his movie before the workshop, but was very excited that he'd listened to my cue to show Liberal Arts, and it just felt like my birthday couldn't have been any better. Danielle had a bit of a laugh at me for parking myself at the other end of the room from her near Josh but I just explained that was where I'd been sitting before.

That night when we arrived all the back jacks and pillows were gone. Many people had several under them and there was a fresh batch of popcorn. I didn't mind and sat in the back of the room with Hollie and Mona. We found some blankets and they laid down. I was just in bliss and still feeling this yogic kundalini which somehow kept my spine strong even with no support. Josh put on Liberal Arts and plopped down next to me in the back row (again!!! I couldn't believe my luck!)

I found a couple of small pillows and rolled one over to him. I couldn't believe that Josh; the workshop leader, whom I thought was the guest of honor, was lying on the floor with no support and none of the patrons had offered him some of their comfort. 

Hollie thought it was rude no one offered us their pillows either but I didn't care. Her and Mona finally couldn't take it though and left to go soak and I stayed and enjoyed this surreal experience of watching Josh on the screen while laying next to him. This was the most unbelievable thing! Sometimes he'd jump up and stop the movie to share some interesting tidbit about it and I felt like this was one of the most creative things to partake in- I could tell he felt vulnerable sharing his art and was listening for our laughs and peeking at our expressions for feedback. It was such a magical night and it made me realise what was possible for myself as an artist too. He gave me such a great gift by sharing his movie with us that night- it lit a fire of inspiration and creativity that I still feel strongly though I still struggle finding time to express it and do my own work. I'm writing this story now on notepad and my novel is buried in files I still need to wade through on this laptop. Nevermind though. 

It was one of the most stimulating and exciting evenings even though it was a quiet and rustic setting off the grid in Big Sur. Danielle felt the same way but I think neither of us could put a finger on it. She also confessed that Josh had been staring at her. I guess he was like Krishna that weekend and probably many of the girls had that experience. The music kept taking my heart to new levels too- David had us singing these gorgeous bhajans and even Josh sang with us- not above it at all and often he referred to David to answer questions about creativity and things even though I think most of the class was more interested in his creative process.

At the end of each evening David would play some bhajans so we'd end on a high note and he’d say he'd see us in the pools as if both he and Josh would be there. That night the pools were busy and Danielle and I squeezed into the one by the oceans edge after trying a few and looking for our place. It was exciting to think that Josh might be in the other pool but it seemed like a lot of men were over there so we stayed away. We did have a run in with David in the co-ed bathroom that was embarrassing- saw a little more than we would've liked! Ha ha!

We got tired again around midnight and decided to head home. The magic of Esalen was more important to me than sleep. Normally I love my rest but on this occasion I just wanted to absorb as much of that atmosphere as I could.

Sunday morning was still high. Danielle finally asked her question about creativity. David and Josh said they work in the morning best after a cup of tea. I longed for the discipline to get back to that place. I used to work daily and my creative process flowed around my routine and energy levels but since my 2nd child it seems to flow around the family with little time left for energetic creating. I felt like I'd lit a flame that I would tender though. And I made a commitment to work on my book and finish it once again. I told Josh about my town in Encintias and he and David were familiar with it. David invited me to his concert at the Kirtan Castle- Phillipo Francini's house- and I laughed and told him about seeing him in the dressing room and that he was my client!

I normally don't go visit because it's also a Tantra center but decided I would go to see them the following month. Danielle took a photo of Josh and I after class and I gave him a small crystal ganesh and a card in case he wanted to show his movie HTMP in Encinitas or Fairfield- He said he wanted to share it in towns of yogis where they get it. I also met with the agent from the famous publishing house and got her name and gave her my card over lunch. We had one last special meal out on the deck. By now, everyone was quite comfortable with Josh and he seemed to have many dates for meals; I no longer felt like we were two lonely ships colliding in the lunch room as frequently but was still very aware of his presence.

I was wishing I could stay. As I went to reception to check out after lunch- I overheard that Josh was staying another day. I asked if there were rooms to stay in; it would've been half price to stay another day without a retreat and I was sorely tempted but my friends were already in the packed car and waiting to get to the airport.

I couldn't stay but I long to do another retreat at Esalen again. I don't know if it will ever be that great- this was a birthday treat of a lifetime. I felt like the Gods were shining down on me. Josh had his shrine set up in that yurt and David was singing mantras- it was a very high weekend. I felt a lot of ecstasy and very excited that my creative spark had been lit. Yet it was time to get home. Back to my clients, my family and my other world. I don't have the luxury of unlimited time delving into those creative windows but that weekend with Josh at Esalen will stay with me and has lit my fire. Now in the evenings, when I have a few minutes, I play music from his play list, I follow his twitter, see the interesting articles he shares or writes, and sometimes it seems like my imagination- did I really become friends with Josh? Or was I just a stranger he obliged with a photo and a few words. It doesn't really matter. He moved me with his presence, stories and movies and I felt like I got a really unique experience on my last weekend being 39. I felt really blessed!

[bonesandthebees]

Also, while I’m here. Could you do 2, 4, 6, 13, 17 and 18 for the ask game if those haven’t been answered? Or pick any of those cuz it’s a lot.

-🌲

2. Do you read/reread your own fics?

Absolutely. I write my fics for myself first and foremost, so yeah I reread them a lot. It doesn't hit the same as it would reading someone else's fic, but there are so many times I want a very specific niche of content I can't find and I'm just like "well gotta do it myself." A lot of times I even get distracted from writing bc I start rereading a different fic of mine. that almost happened with world forgetting last night but I pulled myself out before I could start rereading it bc I had stuff to do lmao

4. How many WIPs do you have right now?

Uh. This depends on your definition of WIP. If you mean something in progress I know for sure I will continue posting, then 2 right now (glass and tinfoil) (and also the series that roses was a prequel to but I haven't started properly writing it yet I've just been doing a ton of worldbuilding for it recently). But if we're talking anything in progress that I might end up posting at some point but probably won't... too many to count

6. Are there any fics from others you reread all the time?

the thing is with the fics I REALLY enjoyed (like from a storytelling perspective) I won't actually reread that much because if I do, I want to sit down and do it properly yknow? so the fics I reread tend to be easier, simpler one shots or just snippets of fluff fics if I just need a shot of serotonin straight to the brain. I will say though, I make it a point to reread ritual purposes by thanotaphobia on a semi-regular basis because there's just something about the atmosphere and the story and all of it that really hits for me. just the way roxy describes small details scratches an itch in my brain so I adore rereading it just to pick up on those smaller bits

13. How much planning do you do before writing?

If it's a 'smaller' fic (ie: anything below 100k words like honey and tangerines and below) then I'll usually do a loose bullet point outline of the entire thing before I start writing. if it's one of my big fics then when I start I usually know the beginning, the end, and some in between scenes I know I'll throw in at some point, but that's it. I'll do a loose bullet outline usually 2-3 chapters at a time, but I won't plot out the entire thing in one go because then I'll get bored of it. Coming up with most of the plot as I go helps me to not only keep myself interested, but I feel like it helps the plot flow better because I get into a rhythm with the story and I can let it go places I didn't originally plan

17. What’s something you’ve learned about while doing research for a fic?

well the other day I googled "heat capacity of rivers" doing research for the eventual big royalty fic I'm gonna do after glass is over so. learning a lot of climate stuff! (apparently the reason coastal cities have a cooler, more stable climate than inland areas is because of the heat capacity of the ocean so I wanted to see what the heat capacity of a river would be and if a river would have a similar if less noticeable effect on the climate of a town)

18. What’s one of your favorite lines you’ve written in a fic?

I usually answer with the same thing every time so I tried finding a different answer to this question this time around

I really loved this whole segment I wrote in the penultimate chapter of stars. especially the lines about Prince Theseus being a child of Eldingvegr itself. Idk what I was on but I just love the mental image this provokes

ty for these spruce!!

ask game!

[thetruearchmagos]

💬 and 🖊 BUT the quote has to be about or from that character! (or vice versa)

-@athenswrites

Hey there! Thanks for the Ask!

Alright, after much consideration I've decided to go with Malik, United Commonwealth intelligence agent, from Swift Seas And Whirlwinds. I'll start with 'the quote about him', in this case a discussion between his 'chief of station' and her superior.

------

"How's our man in Cagnan?" "Sitting tight for now, though not sitting easily. He'll be fine, as long as you've actually got a plan for us. A good one, if you insist on ignoring mine." "Oh, believe me, we do."

------

On to the man himself!

In many ways, Malik's sort of become the 'main' / most prominent Character and 'perspective' of mine in SSAW, and absolutely one of my favourites. I don't believe I started the WIP with him in mind at all, but everything about and surrounding the spy's come to really make the whole story 'his', as much as anything I'll ever write can ever be said to be about some 'one' individual in the great tapestry of the 12 Worlds. That said, I'll try and keep this 'Introduction' short and spoiler-free.

Quick Facts:

Full Name: Malik, as far as anyone's concerned

Pronouns: He/Him

Title: Deputy Press Observer

Gender: Male

Age at start: 25

Siblings: [---Redacted---]

Notable physical features: In Nouvolouis, brown skin and a short beard count as notable, sometimes enough to be suspicious. Aside from that, he's a man who blends in well enough anywhere.

Personality: Daring to the extreme, and committed to his job. Acerbic, in that he'll follow his orders and curse every soul under the sun all the way. Above all, though, he is his job, and not a lot else.

------

Spies come and spies go in the Republic of Nouvolouis, and Malik is just one among faceless others. He is nothing and no one really, as far as the assets he runs, the security men who hunt him, and even those few he calls his 'friends' know. Living on UC Embassy grounds, Malik puts on the face of the 'Deputy Press Observer' with the easy smile, sharp suit, and sharper senses who appears for all the 12 Worlds to exist simply to hang off the shoulders of his everyone else, a useful enough cover sufficient to keep off the bulk of the attention of his watchful 'hosts'.

Malik has let himself become defined by his purpose. On the one hand, he and his fellow agents serve as the United Commonwealth's eyes and ears into the black hole that the post-Coup Republic has become, and on the other they represent the last, tenuous lifeline between the outside worlds and those disparate pockets of resistance that have survived under the regime's heavy hand. On those few occasions he lets himself reflect on why he does what he does, Malik might admit to a sense of shame. The networks he's inherited and contacts he keeps are but a shadow of their former selves, laid low and now lying low, and for all his sweet talking and briefcases filled with 'aid' he knows there's nothing much he can do for them.

At the time of SSAW, around 154 A.S., Malik's on the up and up, and looking forwards to his tenure in the blasted place coming to an end. He's preparing his offices and affairs for an eventual hand over, but while in the middle of tying up some loose ends uncovers something very special indeed. Machinations at play amongst the members of La Clique, quiet purges shaking the Republic's armed forces, and darker plans in the works pointed to the southern, Commonwealth shores of Ngaionui. The sort of information that's really quite above his pay-grade, and the sort that seems likely to justify the United Commonwealth's best man in Cagnan delay his grand exit just a touch. The sort of information that starts a war.

[combinado]

Just finished watching the final Venture Bros movie, and man... ;_;

Sure, it probably wasn't as cool as it could have been if it was a whole final season instead of just a movie, as was planned originally, but still. They probably made it as good as it was possible, with picking up most of the loose threads and neatly tying them. I don't know what else to say without spoiling anything, but as a long-time fan I was pretty satisfied with those conclusions. That ending felt really nice c:

And it's hard for me to describe everything that I feel about VB, but I basically grew up with this show. And it sure had a huge influence on me, and I owe quite a lot of who I am and what I'm about nowadays to it. It showed and taught me many things, and it truly means a lot to me. And I'm really glad that something like that exists and that I stumbled upon it many years ago and decided to stick with it.

Sure, the early episodes may be... rough, to say the least, especially by the modern standards - some of 00's adult swim language and jokes may seem in rather poor taste nowadays, but hey, it was a product of its time, and it does get better later on. And the early animation may not be super polished, and is also rough around the edges - the pilot episode was even done in Flash, haha. But I always found VB really endearing even despite that. And it makes it only more satisfying to see how the quality of both the writing and the animation get better and better with each season.

If you have the time, and if you're willing to tolerate the rough start and a few crass jokes here and there - please, give Venture Bros a chance. It's a wonderful show made with so much love and attention to the details, with a fantastic, fun and colorful cast, and it's just really entertaining to watch - there's more than enough humor, mysteries, suspense, cool action and heartwarming moments. And oh, the character growth! Some character arcs take quite some time to start rolling, but the payoff is great. And you probably would enjoy it even more if you know the things it references here and there, but even if you are like me and have been living under a rock without getting familiar with most of pop culture - it still holds up on its own just fine. And despite its 20-years-long (woah!) run, it's not actually that long - 65 episodes (counting the pilot and the specials) and a movie. (And don't miss the after-credits scenes!) There was a slideshow-presentation style post about "why you should watch Venture Brothers" that I really liked, but sadly I can't find it. But these posts can work as well: - https://www.tumblr.com/taki118/628651351412441088/go-watch-the-venture-brothers - https://weirdmageddon.tumblr.com/post/627555718310019072/in-depth-guide-thread-for-people-who-want-to-get - this one also has content warnings, though it's probably better to do your own research if there are some topics that are sensitive to you.

Anyway.

Go Team Venture. And thank you for the wonderful ride.

P.S. And here, have a picture of one my faves - the wonderful Dr. Orpheus :]

[tmrrwppl]

"I've already had my chances to be a father and fucked them all up in increasingly unique ways, so forgive my hesitation to do it again."

Jed, my guy, you took perfectly good kids and gave them god damn crippling anxiety is what you fucking did. THIS IS WHY THERE IS A MURDER PARTY PLANNED FOR YOU.

John:

LITERALLY Bought him

Had his human friend killed ('orders from above' whatever you made him WATCH)

Sent his best friend into Anax, then had John hunt him for years since they were friends

Then dropped 'subtle' hints about John being the candidate for Anax when the first one failed.

Did all of this for a 'grand plan' you and your brother cooked up instead of just... idfk, teaming up and straight murdering the founder

Had John hunted like a fugitive

Tried. To. Kill. John. Multiple. Times. Like, you were just... tying up the loose end. DESPITE still caring about him like a son.

Had multiples of people under John's protection shot or killed

Literally trapped John and got him captured by Ultra

Allowed the Founder to torture him

Left John out to DRY and absolutely manipulated him into protecting Roger's body

Gave John the second most non-apology apology about ALL the manipulation and deceit (only bested by ROGER'S SHITTY NON-APOLOGY)

Took him from his friends, to give him his brother's powers... found out it made him amnesiastic and decIDED TO JUST KEEP HIM??

Ordered John to kill any Lair Dwellers who tried to get into his head-- resulting in John killing one of the only people he considered family, and ordering John to kill one of the only other people if she stepped out of line-- DESPITE HER BEING HIS ACTUAL BIOLOGICAL DAUGHTER

Clari:

her whole birth was from a one night stand he never concerned himself with

Sent a grown ass man to chase a terrified child with veiled threats (okay it was the southern branch but he was the big head who just blindly signed off on it)

Left her to be a scared and alone in NYC and didn't bother worrying about her until John got ahold of her.

Ordered her brother be killed or crippled to try and starve her and others (and John)

Literally sent kill squads after her whenever they caught wind of her, resulting in her being an absolute mess of paranoia and chaos... AND BEING MAD AT HER FOR IT.

Had her shot along with multiple others and ONLY THEN found out she was his daughter in the aftermath... and only... lowered her threat level???

Still sent agents to capture her, killed almost every agent who failed (which is legit the definition of insanity, she's half you, moron, of course she's smarter than your fucking agents)

Had her brother killed by one of the only other people she considers her family.

Actively told that person to shoot her if she tried anything.

Dropped the fact he was her father on her while she was vulnerable and alone.

oNCE TOLD HER HE WOULDN'T HAVE CHANGED A THING if he had known he was her father earlier since it wouldn't have led them to this exact point of her needing him.

Tried to manipulate her SO MANY TIMES she has an entire identify crisis about how she is just like him in the end with how she chose to fight him (taking his playbook and using it, something he didn't... somehow think she was capable of AFTER ALL HE DID TO HER).

[nikethestatue]

"So it’s interesting--is Feyre narration completely skewed? Or SJMs writing is so inconsistent that it’s truly all over the place?"

It is definitely the last for me. In case of Nesta and Elain i just accepted that she’s not going to give us a valid reason why the two of them were so on the 1st book or why they acted as they did. Or let’s say she’s only given us half an answer.

I once read in a post that she said in an interview she had planned for Nesta and Elain actually to be these typical evil step sisters only later she decided that the two will play a bigger role.

So yeah if that is really the case i have my answer to why Nesta and Elain’s dovelopment was that twisted/strange however you want to word it because it wasn't even planned to happen.

And don't get me wrong it is completly fine for any writer to chance their minds about the plot and characters but when you write a serie and one part is already published then you need to build up that chance or give a valid reason why, espacially when it is a big chance. It is a differnt if you want to chance the color of a dress our a whole characters or the plot. If you think twice Sjm isn't doing any of it she just let it stand in the room.

Sjm messed up/twisted whole characters because she threw her chance of mind just in the room and let it just stand around. Mor, Elain, Nesta, Lucien... He is a good examples.

You can't tell me Sjm still have (or had) a soild plan for him. First his character chance in from acotar (#give me acotar Lucien back). The question of his first love interest. First Jesminda then it should have been Nesta and now Elain as his mate. Then the thing with his real fahter. Correct me if i am wrong but wasn't it said when Feyre was Utm that Lucien looks similar to Beron? And now it is like nooo you have so many similarities with Helion. Like okay but what now?? How can Feyre see the connection so quickly but the other who lives for over hundert years miss it?

Sometimes it is even the plot that makes no scence.

Why do we need a whole plan in acomaf to get the Veritas but in acosf it is like hey you need music np i have the veritas ���. I truly belive Sjm just wanted to write the throne scene and needed a reason for the IC to attempt HC XD and don't get me started with Acosf. Acosf is actually a Novella but is tyring so hard to be a novel that you got that mess of a plot. I could nearly cry so much wasted potential on so many levels.

Sorry for the rant and negativity you ruin pretty much every book if you think too deeply about it but some points are just too obvious with Sjm. You see when thinkinc twice what she really planned through and what she didn’t.

I absolutely agree- i think it's totally fine to change your mind as an author, but at the same time, going forward, you need to think about tying all the loose end then.

LOL--I know. The stealing of the Veritas was the funniest thing in the world.

Azriel: Hey Rhys, you totally don't need to be there. I am a spy and shadowsinger. I'll just go and grab the Veritas. There is so much crap in there, no one will notice.

Rhys: No, no. Feyre and I need to be there. She needs to be basically naked, writhing on my lap,

Azriel: But...why?

Rhys: It's important.

Azriel: ...

Rhys: Just trust me, there is no other way to get the orb.

Azriel: No, no there definitely is! Mor could get it. Remember, she is Queen of Hewn City. She can take the orb and,

Rhys: Absolutely not. It won't work unless Feyre is on my lap.

But yeah, essentially, SJM fixated on a scene and come hell or high water, she wanted to write it. Don't get me wrong, it was a sexy scene, but it made no sense.

With the sisters...why can't she just make it better? you know. Just take a little time, do some flashbacks, have some dialogue. Shouldn't be that difficult to make this happen and make it make some sense.

[brekker-by-brekkerr]

(Anon with the question about why the lab kids were killed) don’t feel pressured to answer if you don’t feel like it! I’ve just been seeing a lot of gif sets of Kali recently, which has reminded me how much I wish the gifted kids storyline was developed and followed rather than the Russians subplot.

Just answered it but I'm not sure how helpful my answer was 😅

Aaand the page refreshed and deleted everything I had just written out in response to this ask so now I'm sad but i will try to remember everything I originally wrote.

Yes! I completely agree! The Russia plotline was just not that interesting to me. I kept finding myself bored or wanting to skip through it. The only part I really liked was Hopper's jail cell conversation with Enzo. I had a lot of problems with Hopper's character last season, so it was nice to see him being redeemed. But the rest of the subplot felt so unnecessary. Even their role in vol. 2 felt so loosely attached to the story, like if they took it out the writers could have still made the ending work with little changes.

It's frustrating that we spent all this time galavanting through Russia on a plotline that could have been at the very least way shorter while the gifted kids plotline was condensed into all of them being one dimensional bullies with the same powers who died, tying everything up in a neat bow. I wonder if after the backlash to Kali's character and episode, the writers were scared to touch any of the gifted kid stuff and now they're just washing their hands of it all before the final season so they don't have to worry about it.

The thing is, we could have still had the gifted kid storyline, Kali wouldn't have to be ignored, and Henry still could have been sent to the Upside Down. In the Stranger Things comics, some of the kids escape the lab, and Brenner decides to kill off the rest of the kids because they're too hard to control and he wants to focus all their efforts and attention on Eleven because she's the strongest. This isn't the strongest story idea ever but it at least gave a reason for El being the only kid left in the lab without retconning Kali. It seems they wanted to make Brenner less evil in the show, which is fine because they could have integrated this plotline with the S4 plotline of Henry being the one to kill the kids. If all of them had different powers, it would make more sense why Henry would single Eleven out. Not only would she have been the most powerful, but she has similar abilities to his. Then he might have killed off the rest of the kids in the same logic as comic book Brenner, because they would be too hard to control and wouldn't be necessary. Everything could play out the same as in the show, with the kids being killed and El sending One to the Upside Down, setting up El as the last lab kid without retconning Kali. I know the writers don't want to introduce new characters in season 5, which I completely agree with and think is a great decision, but if they had gone with this storyline they could have at least implied that there were other gifted kids out there trying to live their lives. This could have even set up a spin off show if they wanted (I know they're planning a spin off right now and it obviously won't be about this, but it could have been interesting. But maybe we'll at least get a Kali spin off to make up for her mistreatment in the show).

And just imagine how good it would have been if instead of making them bullies, all the lab kids were like siblings (remember that Eleven and Kali fully see themselves as sisters). Realising that your family was brutally murdered by the person who was supposed to be like your older brother? And that the trauma was so great you blocked it out of your mind? That's some heavy stuff. That would have been interesting. It also explains why El didn't remember Kali, which is so so sad because if you think about it El probably remembers spending her whole life alone in the lab when it actually used to be a place where she had family.

The lab kid thing was what most drew me to this show when I first started watching it, and it's been one of the most interesting parts. Ever since the introduction of Kali I've been waiting for more, and to see it reduced (and Kali's character possibly retconned) makes me frustrated with the show, especially when you look at how much effort and time they put into the Russia plotline that had barely any relevance to the main storyline.

[weirdthoughtsandideas]

Writing Advent Calendar 2023 Day 20 :)

Prompt: Santa

Aka: Little Luna and Simón perform an unclear skit

Read on ao3 or under the cut

It was the end of the year talent show they had at a local stage for children aged 5-12 in their area. Simón and Luna were backstage, preparing their costumes.

”Can you help me tie my shoelaces?” Luna asked. She was in first grade and tying her shoelaces was not something she could do yet.

”No, Luna, I think actually it’s funnier if it’s untied. It works for our performance.”

”You’re so right, Simón!”

”Look,” Simón said and put his finger in his mouth, ”My final baby tooth is loose!”

”Yay! Soon you’ll only have adult teeth!”

”I know! I feel like a man!” Simón was 9, and absolutely not a man, but let’s not burst his bubble.

The two friends had been writing their own little skit. It was about a boy who became santa. That was the ultimate goal of the plot. But it was written by a 6 and 9 year old, so we’ll see just how good it’s gonna come across.

”Next up is two friends named Simón and Luna, who are going to perform a little skit!” the announcer announced. ”Give them some applause!”

Simón and Luna excitedly went out on stage.

”What a beautiful day!” Simón exclaimed.

”I agree!” Luna replied. 

"Did you know that I found a spell to turn you into Santa?"

"No! What is the spell?"

"Here it is!" He handed her a paper.

"But I can't read!" Luna exclaimed. This caused the audience to chuckle.

"Yes, you can! You learned that in school this year!"

They only wrote this in because Luna was proud of having recently learnt how to read. 

"Oh, right!" she said. "The spell is booger sand tacos million billion thousand!"

She then tripped on her own shoelaces. However, this was planned. She had a santa beard inside her shirt, that she tucked out and "discreetly" put on while lying on her belly. It was not discreet in the slightest, but she was 6.

"Oh no!" she exclaimed, wearing the fake beard that almost was falling off her face so she had to hold it up. "The spell went wrong and now I'm Santa!"

The audience started laughing.

"Wait, I can fix it!" Simón said.

"How?"

"By losing my final baby tooth!"

Simón had planned on getting his baby tooth out, right here on the stage.

He had, however, not planned how he would get it out. 

He started wiggling it.

"Come on, come on..." he mumbled.

"Need some help?" Luna asked. "I'm gonna-"

She tripped on her shoelaces again. This time, it was not planned. 

As she tripped, she grabbed onto Simón's arm. This lead to him to get a stronger grip, which in turn made the tooth suddenly get ripped out of his mouth.

Some in the audience gasped, not being prepared for it to just get ripped out like that.

"It worked! Thank you! Now I can finally become Santa!"

Luna took off her fake beard. "Here you go!"

Simón put it on and let out a "ho ho ho!" 

Then both him and Luna bowed. Their skit was over.

The audience clapped. 

Years later, they were in Simón's childhood home, going through old stuff.

"Luna, remember this beard?" Simón asked, laughing.

"Oh! From that skit we did?"

"Yes! What was the skit even about?"

"About how you were turned into Santa if you took out your baby tooth?" Luna chuckled.

"Right! Ah, I was so excited to lose my final baby tooth. I honestly think we improvised the whole thing, because if I hadn't had my baby tooth lose, then I wouldn't even have included it!"

"I think half of our skits were improvised..."

Simón put a finger over his mouth. "Don't tell our audiences that, though... our best performances came completely improvised."

[offbrand-deltatraveler]

Info dump about ur aus?

Dang sorry for getting to this so late-

Tbh I didn’t really think through telling people to ask me about things I never told them about-

So I’ll just give you a list of them and you can decide which one you wanna hear more about, if you’re still here to do so some time later

Jewelpet: Blinding Light

A sequel to Jewelpet: Kira Deco (Fourth season of the anime) who’s story mainly focuses on tying up a lot of the loose ends that the endings of Jewelpet seasons tend to leave

Originally this was gonna be a fanfic but Kira Deco is the only season that references real places that I don’t know jack about so heavily. So I’d have to either butcher their cultures horribly or cut them out of the story, and neither would be all that great

I have. A lot of Beatcats AUs- But they all include Headcannoned Timeline spoilers so I can’t really talk about them

Onegai My Melody: Bluelight Specil

An Onegai My Melody x Deltarune crossover AU taking place during Season 2, in which My Melody summons Spamton Deltarune on accident due to her “Depression” from Episode 24. Almost every episode going forward is affected in some noteworthy way

This was also gonna be a fanfic a long time ago but I quickly realized I wasn’t the most qualified to make half an OMM season’s worth of Deltarune crossover content

Suzie Season

A Supercute Adventures x Deltarune AU where another version of Susie ended up in Sanrio Town instead of Hometown

Suzie & Cinnamoroll’s Skybound Adventure

A concept of a potential story for Suzie Season where Cinnamoroll wishes he could be friends with Suzie. A few days later, a mysterious blizzard is approaching Sanrio Town, and Suzie, not exactly looking forward to Sanrio Town being buried under a mountain of snow, goes to get Cinnamoroll’s help to stop it. However, she doesn’t really have a plan beyond “Cinnamoroll is related to clouds. He’ll figure something out”

This concept was scrapped, but it’s still cool enough to be worth talking about

Okite Mimmy

An Onegai My Melody x Hello Kitty & Friends crossover AU that swap Onegai My Melody’s cheracters and settings with those of the original Hello Kitty & Friends, with some Furry Tale Theater elements. Probably one of the most unhinged and depressing Sanrio AU stories I’ve ever written

Keroppi Town Expanded

More satisfying execution of the concept behind Season 6 Episode 5 of Supercute Adventures, where the box if Fortune Cookies ended up getting passed around to too many people resulting in Sanrio Town being transformed into a whole new world. And it’s up to Hello Kitty and Keroppi to get it back to normal

A few Headcannoned Timeline storybeats were present in this one, but the story overall was self-contained enough to be able to work around that

Hello Kitty In “A NEW CONTINUITY”

More lengthy execution of the concept behind Supercute Adventures Season 6 Episode 4, Hello Kitty In “Back To My Friends”, where that Sweet Happy News article from the end of PART 2 is actually important and kickstarts the slow and steady downfall of the space-time continuum

Deltatraveler: Onegaishimasu

Fanmade Deltatraveler section for Onegai My Melody Season 2 (Taking place during Episodes 23 & 24)

I didn’t really know a lit about where I wanted to go with this one but it’s still worth mentioning

[confessionsofatgirl]

New Chapter

Hey Dolls,

I've began this blog as a way to word vomit into the void, to spout my thoughts into something as an attempt to paint a clearer picture of myself. And after today, I have a lot of thoughts.

This afternoon, just an hour ago, I was given my gender dysphoria diagnosis. I suppose I don't have it in writing yet, but ignoring the formalities of paperwork, I've been diagnosed. To be honest it feels a little surreal, to be in a position where I can say with 'concrete professional' approval that I'm trans.

The two psychiatrists were truly lovely, and going into the process I was nervous having heard the horror stories of the medical system's attitudes to us. So to be asked questions not intended to catch me out or undermine my experiences, thoughts or feelings, felt so liberating. Prior, I spent so much time planning out how I'd answer, carefully snipping off the parts of myself I thought they'd use against me, so to have those personal truths of my self perception on display and having them be welcomed felt so validating. The whole process was more of a conversation than an investigation. I cracked jokes, hopped between topics of conversation, and the whole hour gave me a lot of time to reflect. This was a my second consultation, so it was a lot of repetition from the first, but looking back at something twice just provides a second examination. Overall it was actually quite fun. Truth be told the pair both individually asked or encouraged me to share my thoughts publicly, as perhaps my ideas or experiences might help somebody else. The thought of how it might've helped a younger me was the final push to begin.

I've been socially and medically transitioning for close to 2 years, and all of my legal documentation validates my womanhood. So to be in a position where I have done it all backwards, skipping 'step 1' and going right into the real transition feels bizarre. I'm grateful, absolutely, but now to be recognised as a trans-woman by such criteria feels unimportant, unnecessary. The big diagnosis felt more like tying up a loose end, though it is nice knowing all my effort thus far hasn't been for nothing; even if it all feels a little lacklustre.

That's all I have to say for now, truth be told I struggle to write anything, so typing three paragraphs is another achievement for today. Hopefully these three paragraphs aren't the last I write here, but who knows.

Kisses xxx

-R.S