#;; lmao the fact that we've never written them.............

[stellylee]

WHO: Stelly & @chetang

WHERE: The Sydney & Walda Besthoff Sculpture Garden

WHEN: February, 2024

Hanging out with their step-brother, of all people, hadn't exactly been on Stelly's agenda. But family dinner before the big trip had of course brought up the question of whether or not Stelly planned on showing Chetan around the city, and they had made a promise to his dad that they would at least show him some of their favorite spots. So he wasn't a total nerd on his own. Or whatever. Having walked through the NOMA, Stelly took a small breath, before gesturing for Chetan to follow them. "C'mon. I want to show you the sculpture garden. It opened right before I left New Orleans, like a year or two, I think? But it's one of the things I was saddest to leave behind."

[filipinoizukuu]

what comes next though? (MHA ch. 413)

// major spoilers for mha ch. 413 since its leaks, so please stop reading if you arent quite caught up. i havent written one of these in a LONGGG while lmao.

ANYWAY, with all that being said.... this week's leaks huh?

We saw it coming a long time ago, we speculated it to hell and back, we made aus and fics, and now it's finally here. The conclusion we've reached and the one that's been hinted at since the release of Heroes Rising in 2019:

bnha is going to end with deku giving up one for all and becoming quirkless.

(LOTS of words under the cut -- youve been warned.)

For those who are a little lost; the basic premise of the ending we are hurtling towards is that Kudou (the 2nd user of ofa) has a plan to take down Shigaraki. With AfO dead and gone + Shigaraki becoming so powerful he is essentially invincible -- theres no other choice for the heroes other than destroying him inside out; the plan being the equivalent of charging a battery so much it explodes.

the way they're going to go about this is by essentially, feeding Shigaraki bits of One for All until he's given all of it -- then allowing the vestiges of the previous wielders to create a massive revolt similar to what SnS did until they can successfully tear him apart from inside the "quirk realm" and shut him out. Kudou volunteers to go next since danger sense has already been taken, and if Shigaraki uses gearshift again after Deku already used it twice, Tomura's body will likely shutdown and receive twice the backlash Deku does when he uses kudou's quirk.

(sidenote: funny as fuck that deku only understood once kudou equated the strategy to bkg throwing papers at him. bro stupid af.)

its a sensible(ish) idea. one that seems plausible given the context of the last hundred or so chapters with heroes like Hawks and SnS having their quirks revolt against both AfO and Shigaraki in a way that makes it clear that its not uniquely OfA that animates the souls of peoples quirks. Its inherent. Quote, Nana Shimura, "romantic" even.

(let it be known though that i think hori absolutely did not plan on delving into this plot point as much as he is now. ill explain in a bit, but heroes rising was 100% a major factor of why he moved in this direction.)

That being said, the conclusion of the plan (and subsequently, the major plot of bnha) is as follows: Deku gives up One for All to Shigaraki. One for All unites with All for One within Shigaraki and destroys it in one final clash between Yoichi and his brother. The break in the barrier of Shigaraki's hatred will part, letting him find the consciousness of Shimura Tenko behind it after years.

Shigaraki dies, taking OfA and AfO down with him,

and then Deku is quirkless once more.

Sad conclusion aside for now, I firmly believe that no matter what way you look at it; Deku was always meant to end the story without a quirk. Given some of the original drafts of bnha where Deku was never supposed to be given a quirk in the first place, this is clearly unsurprising. What's more is my favorite piece of information relative to katsuki and deku's character development:

the fact that heroes rising was (one of the) ideas for the original ending of bnha.

a refresher for some of you: heroes rising is about class 1a going to the isolated village of nabu island and defending it against an upcoming big bad villain named "nine" with a quirk that is essentially a scaled down version of all for one. katsuki and deku eventually resolve the conflict together via brute force by deku giving katsuki ofa, them rushing in while the quirk is transferring and both of them have it, and then ultimately defeating nine at the end. the movie then of course circles back on deku losing one for all, undoing that consequence by saying the transfer never completed bc ofa chose him over katsuki and they all move on to the endeavor agency arc with katsuki remembering absolutely nothing of the final battle.

many fans often misunderstand one of horikoshi's quotes about the movie in that it was, without a doubt, the original ending of bnha. for the sake of accuracy, that is not what horikoshi really said; what he ACTUALLY said was something closer and to the tune of of how it was "one OF the endings" he planned on using for bnha, but his original idea for how the story ends "has not changed one bit."

obviously disregarding the cop out where ofa sticks back to izuku in order for the series to continue as normal; this can only confirm that bnha was going to end with midoriya izuku quirkless whether katsuki was involved or not.

so what's different this time?

its hard to figure out how far horikoshi had planned the ending of bnha with heroes rising's prototype conclusion in mind. if heroes rising never pulled through and horikoshi had planned on bnha ending with the shared ofa transfer and katsuki continuing deku's legacy -- then that means katsuki wouldve died an early death because of all might's confirmation that only quirkless people can hold on to one for all without dying young, meaning he either intended on katsuki dying soon after the story ends or only planned that plot point after heroes rising was released.

the plot as well of heroes rising's conclusion cannot have been thought of all that early on because of ANOTHER tidbit of information that changes perspective of the entire series: in that,

bakugou katsuki was never supposed to be a major character to begin with. (keep an eye on this link; i reference this interview a LOT)

he was not supposed to have an arc. he was not supposed to become a major focal point of the series. he was not meant to be the hero he is in the story today. bakugou katsuki was not written with the intention of being a major narrative this late into the story -- instead originally only existing as a character that deku would surpass within the first few arcs.

but then katsuki cried, and deku apologized, and then opened his big fat mouth, and then told him a secret he didnt even tell his own mother -- and suddenly bakugou katsuki was not just another footnote in deku's story, but a legitimate character that grew and created one of the most loved (and hated) character turnarounds in shonen history. he started of as a literal EXTRA before snowballing into the very same character horikoshi decided would defeat all for one, the original scariest antagonist of the entire series. someone not even ALL MIGHT could defeat.

but circling back, yeah. heroes rising was definitely not the ending horikoshi thought of first, nor was it the ending he thought of last. ultimately, it was simply another route he couldve taken into wrapping up deku's fate into what it was (probably) always meant to be:

deku was gonna lose one for all no matter what.

it's kind of fitting, honestly -- for this to be the ultimate conclusion to the series. it makes the most sense, since what sent deku down this path so many years ago was his mother apologizing to deku for being quirkless; as if being quirkless meant he was born inferior to those who had quirks. people, after all according to deku's famous beginning monologue, are not born equal.

Even still, i thought to note: deku never stopped wanting to be a hero. we all know this, obviously. this was his driving force -- but then when you REALLY think about the implications, you have to ask. what the heck was deku even planning to do?!

he had ideas. he had hope. he wrote notebooks for the future and thought of his costume for being a hero -- but not once do i remember him writing about his hero experience as if he was suddenly going to develop a quirk. he was planning on saving people quirkless -- an extremely interesting motivation especially when he couldve so easily chosen to walk the path of being a doctor or engineer instead if he wanted to save people so badly. its a story about conviction, about doing the things you wanna do in the way you wanna do it no matter what ANYONE else says and hey wait a minute that sounds familiar

it doesnt quite read that way at first, especially because of how izuku almost listened to all might about "being realistic" when the first met and nearly gave up on becoming a hero entirely, but izuku is a lot similar to katsuki in the sense that no matter what gets in his way -- he is determined to achieve his dreams in the way HE CHOOSES, and not the way that is more "convenient".

even when you look at just his name, "deku" in the way that uraraka had interpreted it (dekiru -- "you can do it!") and the way deku reexplains it to katsuki in deku vs kacchan 1 ("the deku that doesn't give up!") you can so easily tell that deku from the very beginning has only ever needed the slightest push to pursue being a hero, quirk-or-not-be-damned. hell, we even see a glimpse of this possibility in the sports festival race when deku absolutely DECIMATES not just bakugou but also TODOROKI (as well as every single other damn student participating in the festival) with nothing but robot scraps and his balls of steel. it just so happens that until the promise of one for all, no such encouragement or push was ever given to deku in his pursuit of heroicism, most especially in comparison to katsuki who had been receiving praise and validation for his goals his whole life.

i'd argue that deku's conviction is even stronger than katsuki in a way no other person seems to recognize (except maybe katsuki himself). katsuki had received only positive feedback and zero competition for his goals growing up while deku received nothing but discouragement. both of them kept the conviction of being a hero for TEN YEARS; neither wavering til the day of the sludge incident.

that aside; what comes next?

we know the story after that. deku gets his quirk, he goes to school, he fights, he drops out, he fights some more, and now he's standing before shigaraki tomura with every quirk of one for all unlocked and over twice the power that all might had in his prime -- fully knowing he's about to lose EVERYTHING in order to defeat shigaraki.

this is deku we're talking about. he doesn't care. he knows the implications and what that will mean for his dream -- but his goal right now is in front of him. his goal is shigaraki, consumed by hatred, threatening to take down the world izuku loves most into a pit of misery and decay because society failed people like them. does he care? probably. will he refuse to give up his power if it means not saving the world and fulfilling one for all's purpose? absolutely not.

deku has made all might's quirk his own, but one for all does not belong to him. it belongs to yoichi. and kudou. and bruce and nana and all of the other users who built that quirk for generations in hopes that one day, someday, someone would be able to yield it all and bring down the monstrosity that created it in the first place. deku will not hesitate, but also deku knows what he will lose.

i have... a few things i dislike about this.

Admittedly, i do think that this is a better resolution than the simple brute strength approach of Heroes Rising. For one, while i do love heroes rising with my entire heart and soul, i firmly believe it would not have been a satisfying conclusion to the core lessons and teachings bnha tries to impart throughout the story. simply outnumbering and outpowering afo/shigaraki would not be enough to close yoichi's story and one for all -- much less the story of shigaraki himself as tenko, the boy consumed by hatred.

Still, this new ending that horikoshi has laid out leaves me with more questions; as well as large expectations for how izuku's character will close out. its complicated, because deku's evolution and development is subtle and intricate in a way i havent seen from other shonen protagonists and i worry about doing it justice.

but most of my problems have to do with bakugou katsuki.

(aint that the truth)

i know i mentioned that bakugou was never intended to be a major character, but i want it to be known that that was only in the beginning. season 1, maybe even season 2 -- but horikoshi had said it best himself in that bakugou katsuki, against his permission, had gained a life of his own and inserted himself into the very grain of mha's story. you cannot deny this.

he is the series deuteroganist inarguably. one of the most beloved characters and one of the most attentively-written development arcs in the whole series. katsuki in and of himself embodies major themes in bnha that make it so that ditching his development and impact last minute after defeating all for one would reflect poorly upon the conclusion of the story itself. he and deku are intertwined in arcs -- even if they do have separate paths at the end of the day. katsuki is the one izuku told about the quirk. the one who followed izuku during the paranormal liberation arc. the one who understands one for all and is determined to learn about it more than anyone else barring all might and deku himself. the one who is closer to izuku than anyone else.

it can't be over for their arc, no matter what way you see it. friends? rivals? hero partners? what comes next, when the smoke clears? what comes next when izuku gives shigaraki hell, like katsuki told him to?

katsuki's atoned. we accept that, have known it since chapter 285 and have continued to know it until the iconic apology in the rain. that's not where katsuki stops however, because we know that its not all about begging for izuku's forgiveness nor atoning for himself. its about catching up to izuku -- the last words he uttered before shigaraki crushed his heard say it all.

"can i still catch up to you, izuku?"

since the moment katsuki died, we've been given a metric ton of material to read through what he and izuku have become in the story. firstly, the point of katsuki being the person closest to izuku. what does this mean? what does that say about katsuki? is he supposedly the person izuku loves the most? the person izuku believes in the most? i'd argue these two criterion would easily fit his mother or all might a lot better -- not his childhood friend turned bully turned rival turned barely-friend. katsuki sure as hell didn't believe he was the person closest to izuku before shigaraki brought it up as evidenced by the fact that he let IIDA bring deku back to UA -- and neither does izuku as far as i bet. what was shigaraki's intention?

katsuki heard that statement. he hasnt said anything, but he definitely heard it. its an open end that is left entirely unanswered PRECISELY because katsuki fought afo on his own and izuku is about to tackle shigaraki without katsuki by his side. if it was heroes rising's ending wherein they would both fight shigaraki and take him down together -- then that statement would easily be answered by how their strength and bond is the one thing that gave them an upper hand in the final battle. other than that... i'm not entirely sure how they're going to have katsuki and izuku acknowledge katsuki's brief "death" and Tomura's reasons thereof.

But fine, lets ignore that for the time being and move on to what happened when Katsuki came back.

katsuki answered izuku's cry for help. he came back to life in the last moment to save all might when izuku was too busy fighting tooth and nail to win. they are the penultimate example of two sides of a hero; the win and save. not one without the other. every single parallel thus far between izuku and katsuki have always been to draw attention over and over to each of their stubborn convictions to win and save under all might's tutelage.

katsuki has chosen to prioritize winning and fighting over saving and rescuing over. and over. and over. and over again. at every single opportunity from the very beginning of the series. in usj, in sports festival, in the final exam, every choice he's made up until --

chapter 285 - bakugou katsuki: rising.

he chooses to save izuku in this instant. as he says, his body moved on its own -- or in other words, he felt like how izuku has always did since the sludge villain incident. this is bakugou katsuki catching up to midoriya izuku. its katsuki realizing that he needs to save so deku can win, and actually being okay with that for once. it's a major turning point in his character that clearly tells even horikoshi that there's absolutely no way katsuki can go back to being a side character within the plot of bnha after a development like this.

and then, after this instance, we notice it happen again and again. katsuki choosing to save to win instead of winning to save. katsuki protecting best jeanist against the nomu. katsuki coming to chase after izuku when he runs away from UA. katsuki (in a way) saving aoyama when its revealed he's the traitor. hell, katsuki saving ALL MIGHT as soon as izuku -- the savior -- begs someone to save his idol when he can't because he's too focused on trying to win.

so what changed?

what changed since the moment of chapter 285 was katsuki accepting his fears and anxieties. katsuki letting go of his aversity to working with deku. the reason katsuki started accepting the path of saving to win was because he TRUSTED deku to win where he couldnt.

this is katsuki accepting that him and izuku already surpassed all might together.

but katsuki said it himself. it's not over. he accepts that him and izuku are finally on equal footing -- hell, he admits he's the one who needs to play catch up. it's not about katsuki conceding to weakness, but katsuki being able to trust in izuku to finish the job. the point is that they both will break and break until they win the way they choose to, and the other will be there to win while they save and save while they win. moreso, katsuki still wants to be number 1. he still wants to catch up and surpass deku. he wants to fight by deku's side. but ... as we've established:

deku will be quirkless soon.

my problem (or, i guess, curiosity?) with the path horikoshi seems to be going down for the end of this story is what happens to this end? what happens to the wonder duo? i believe in a quirkless deku plot as much as the next person -- but any reader would find it easy to see that once deku loses one for all, he will not be nearly as efficient nor quick nor capable of a hero as he once was. especially not against a developed katsuki with mastery over cluster explosions.

he will lose one for all and he won't ever be the pro-hero he was going to be before the final war arc. katsuki will get number 1 surely, but will he be happy about this resolution? i don't think so. All Might himself had said it when Katsuki spoke to him about his relationship to Izuku; that the twin stars reminded All Might very much of his own rivalry with Endeavor and the bitter feelings it created.

endeavor expressed regret and a bitter end to their rivalry; the acknowledgement of the bitter truth that the only reason he was the number one hero is because all might lost his own quirk. he knew he didn't deserve the mantle all might had held for a long time before him. he knew that he was still only just playing catch up with the wisdom and understanding of heroicism that all might had in his heart from the beginning. endeavor will likely retire from being a pro-hero unsatisfied with this truth and his own victory at becoming the no.1 at the very end -- never feeling like he truly surpassed all might of his own accord. both enji and toshinori -- victims of their destiny.

is this the fate that will befall katsuki once izuku is quirkless for good?

There are many questions I have in wake of the recent chapter. The end of the series is here, and that's a whole can of worms i haven't touched in and of itself. We all saw this coming; some of us know that this was always going to be Izuku's fate since the beginning of the series. But now that it's more than just izuku's character involved in his dreams of being a hero -- i dont know how this series is going to conclude and if it will be satisfying to any means. there's a lot of questions i still have; bakugous arc feeling incomplete ever since he came back to life, the conclusion of all might and one for all's dreams now that they will disappear altogether. where does deku go after this? where does bakugou go? where do any of them?

i guess i gotta wait and see lol

[archer-kacey]

Shawn Flynn (Analysis)

Let's talk about my favorite JDS weirdo!

We first hear Shawn's voice in Bendy and the Ink Machine, but Joey also mentions him in Illusion of Living in passing.

Joey mentions two things here, firstly that Shawn does "an excellent job." I know Joey lies more than a kid caught with their hand in the cookie jar, but considering the fact that JDS is held together with duct tape and rubber bands, I'm inclined to believe him here. After all, how the hell could they keep up with demands (so much so that the Alice dolls were overstocked) if the foreman fucked off constantly.

Joey also says that Shawn's "creativity knows no bounds." Makes sense for his position, but also helps confirm that Joey does think highly of him in terms of his work. On a personal level, though, maybe not so much.

Based on Joey's insistence for perfection, we can infer that Shawn, like many, was just trying to do his damn job, and Joey blew his lid when things weren't exactly to his liking.

Shawn also mentions that the Alice merchandise wasn't selling well, and offhandedly proposes that they may have to melt the remaining stock down in order to get rid of it. Pretty self-explanatory tape, all things considered.

(The Bendy Wiki also mentions that he has a Dublin accent. I am not at all an expert on ANYTHING Irish but I did find out that Jacksepticeye is from Offaly, Ireland (Midland/East Ireland) and Dublin is also part of East Ireland, so...I'm assuming this is correct.)

There is also an easter egg with the Seeing Tool in BATIM written over Shawn's audio log, though this is mostly a nod to his voice actor.

Anyway, onto Boris and the Dark Survival.

In BATDS, Shawn mentions that he bought a new belt, (a one-of-a-kind toolbelt apparently,) and it was stolen immediately the next day. The perpetrator was a Gent employee, and they very brazenly wore it around right after stealing it. We aren't sure who this employee is, that's mostly speculation. But I don't think that's the point- this odd anecdote represents some of the first seeds of distrust being sown between JDS and Gent employees.

This brings us to Dark Revival.

Funnily enough, I find Shawn's departure from the studio much more interesting than his actual time employed there.

Firstly, Shawn mentions that Joey took it well when he decided to leave. Between the shift towards Gent's experiments and new technology, the funding from Gent, and the sudden irrelevance of having Bendy merch going out in droves, it's possible that Joey just didn't care.

Shawn also seems to give zero fucks about Joey's opinion, based on his Dark Revival and Bendy audio logs, which I find fucking hilarious. Not the first disgruntled employee, but certainly the most confident when faced with Joey himself.

He mentions wanting to find a cabin upstate, see some open sky, and start anew with his family. Overall it seems like leaving JDS gave him a more hopeful lens on life.

But the MOST headscratching thing about his parting audio log is the last few lines;

"But before I go, I've made one last toy. A little parting present for the factory lads. Let's see how long it takes them to find it."

We never hear from Shawn again, so we have NO IDEA WHAT THIS MEANS LMAO. Leave it to Shawn to be mysterious for no apparent reason.

However, there is a possible connection to be made. In the Heavenly Toys area, there's a factory output sheet slapped on one of the walls.

The last column mentions a "Bendy Starface Stuffed Toy", which we've never seen presently. There was only one ever made, and after that it was immediately discontinued.

I don't know why it would be listed at all if Shawn did leave the Starface Bendy as a gift, so this may all be a dead end. (I'm also aware that this might be a "Scarface" reference, although I really don't know what that has to do with anything.) Regardless, I find it a weird coincidence that Shawn left a single toy behind, and Starface also seems to be a completely unique Bendy toy.

TL;DR Shawn Flynn is cool and might have left an Among Us plushie at the studio for his co-workers

[tehrevving]

Long responses are such a gift, honestly. What's this about a Golden Saucer analysis? 👀👀

The Gold Saucer Date!!

I love that chapter. Honestly one of my favourite things I've ever written. There's so much symbolism in it and I put so much thought into trying to have each part of it address a different part of Vincent's issues, trauma and his relationship with Reader. I wonder how much of this my readers picked up (probably none. I overthink everything.)

Anyway let's go!

Before we go into the chapter itself, let's talk about what the previous chapter (coming in his pants lmao) represents to Vincent.

Vincent has been in hibernation for a long time and hates his body, current appearance and everything. He thought that he would be happy with just making Reader come and not needing anything in return, because that's generally how he's approached many of his previous casual sexual encounters, and because Lucrecia would never get him off. Anyway. I digress.

But, he's caught feelings and is struggling. In his head, as long as he can keep feelings out of it and everything separate, then he can continue being friends with Reader while also pleasuring her occasionally. This then gets muddled by his own feelings and the way that she tries to reciprocate and shows care and affection towards him.

After she gets him off, sticking within his boundaries and being enthusiastic about it. He decides that he is going to try and see if he can act normal enough to have a normal date/relationship and tests this at the Gold Saucer.

At this point there are a few main points that are causing Vincent grief about having a relationship.

His appearance, body, scarring, monster bits etc

His own self loathing and hatred

The fact that he is not normal, not human and will never be

The way that Reader looks at him with fucking stars in her eyes

He is 95% sure that he is going to reject her after the date, but holds out hope for that tiny 5%.

He also feels selfish because as he states later. He wants the memories of her having a good time because they will be all he has. This dictates quite a lot of his behaviour during the date too.

Now that we've outlined what makes him angsty and thought process going into the date. Let's start the analysis.

The Skywheel

This is right at the beginning, so Vincent is in full 'date mode'. Everything here is showing him being kind, thoughtful and a good partner. A hand on her back to help her on the pod when she hesitates, reassuring her during the light show, pointing out the towns and then having her on his lap and cuddling at the end. This is who he wants to be (and who he is lol but anyway).

Reader brings up that they need to have a talk, which previously has made him shut down, or try get sexual lmao. This time though he does commit to having a discussion later, which is a huge deal.

The Travelator

Vincent knows that going on the travelator is going to fuck him up. Technically this has nothing to do with any of his issues, he could just dress less fucking extra. But it still sort of kind of relates to his body and how it can't be changed. Anyway, he tries to lead her to the stairs. She specifically asks him if he's nervous and reassures him that she's here for him and will help him through it. If she had said anything else, then he wouldn't have gone on it. But because she said it from a place of genuine care, he decides to just do it. Personally, he doesn't mind being the butt of the joke, for people he cares about anyway and knows it would make her laugh. He wants to have that memory of her laughing and caring about him, so decides to go through with it.

Cid

Cid's section is where the night starts to go wrong for Vincent lol.

This section reminds him that his body cannot be changed. He will always be bony, lanky and awkward, and has the monstery bits too. Everyone will always look at the two of them and wonder if she's bruised from his body, or what she sees in him. It's something inescapable that she will always have to deal with being with him.

This part also addresses the fact that he can't eat normally. He can't have a normal date and go out for a meal, share a picnic, all of that shit lol.

Vincent Playing Games

This has 2 parts that tell a story together lol. Anyway, Vincent is good at games, that's fine lol. We expect it. Reader tells him that he could atleast just let her win one. He plays it cool, but when compared with the next scene, where he plays Tifa and lets her win. It means something.

My highschool english teacher would be so proud of me lmao.

Basically, him not letting Reader win represents that he's decided that he's not going to lie to her in the context of the relationship. He will hide himself or lie to Tifa, or any other member of the gang, but he's not going to lie or hide himself from Reader.

G-Bike

At this point from Vincent's perspective, the night hasn't gone that great. Almost all of his concerns have occurred, and even though Reader doesn't seem to care, they're still weighing heavily on him.

She is very eager to play G-bike, because she's actually good at it (like me lmao). Vincent knows the VR will likely glitch out on him, but isn't quite sure how. He figures he can play all of it off like he did on the travelator, and he'll get a good 'memory' out of it. But, we're at the end of the night now and his patience is wearing thin. Keep in mind that the closer we get to the end of the night, the closer the inevitable conversation where he has to reject her grows.

What happens to him on the G-Bike is basically the worst case scenario. The entire game glitches out because he's not human and then he can't even take the damn thing off at the end. This sends him past his breaking point.

The Ending

Reader obviously recognises that he's having a panic attack or something, and go pulls him out somewhere quiet. This fucks him up more because he needs to be in control of himself, and he's losing it. She tries to reassure him multiple times, which just makes him feel worse because they all feed into those insecurities. We're back to those main points again. He's not human and can't do human things, the normal world does not work for him. And that she is trying to reassure him with care and understanding (the best that she can anyway).

This takes Vincent to a breaking point and he needs to remove himself from the situation immediately, lest he risk losing control and transforming. So he's very abrupt and mean so that she stops trying to reassure him and lets him go.

--

So there we go, that's my Gold Saucer analysis. I bet no one realised how much symbolism I put in here while you were reading it lol. Anyway, did any of you pick any of this up? Please let me know, I'm so curious.

[sseanettles]

okay so spinning off some thoughts that came up while I was word vomiting my other arthur/lucy appreciation post was to rant a bit about van helsing and some rancid takes I saw about how the way he treated lucy on her deathbed was "creepy" with the hair brushing and stuff bc hoooooOOOO BOY

"van helsing infantilizes lucy"--okay setting aside the fact that this is a victorian novel written by a victorian man and gee water is wet, please expect some of this it's tragically a feature and not a bug, van helsing specifically infantilizes and underestimates...everyone to varying degrees???? it's a function of the plot lmao, it takes us so long to talk about vampires straight-up because he constantly looks down on others/doubts their capacity, that's not a women-talk-only problem he has. it's just a central character flaw. like. my deranged professor of a man is a master of personal and intellectual negging. everyone is "my child" and "my boy" and "my girl" and "good boy/good girl" all the time (and he calls himself an old man repeatedly). when he beckons arthur to come say goodbye to lucy he calls him "my child" and anyway now that we've established that van helsing is just like this with everyone it's just more jarring when it's a woman because we're understandably sensitized to that today....can we talk about the deathbed behavior???

van helsing brushing lucy's hair is not fuckin' creepy, jesus. tell me you've never tended to a dying person before without telling me, bc as a nurse who has tended many dying folks, tidying a patient???? giving them back their dignity???? at the end of all things???? giving them that tenderness, that act of service, for both the patient and their family???????? calling them my child, my boy, my girl????? my god, it's all one of the easiest and biggest gestures of humanity you can give someone. one of the attendings I love working with described hospice once as "we move through life in symmetry." as we near death, we become childlike again, just as we emerged into life.

to be cared for like a child is one of the greatest comforts I have seen given, time and time again. every time I hear seward say that when they entered the room to say goodbye, they found that van helsing had even brushed lucy's hair so that it lay like sunshine upon her pillow and had made her comfortable, my heart fucking aches and I start sobbing. that is not treating her like a doll. that is one of the most basic acts of compassion and decency you can do for someone departing us all forever, especially after prolonged suffering and pain and fear like she endured. treat them as a human who deserves comfort, who deserves dignity, who deserves decency. return them back to days when (if you had good parents) you always knew you were safe, you always knew you were cared for, and the world was gentle and kind and soft.

ALSO SHE IS FUCKING NINETEEN, SHE IS A FUCKING TEENAGER, THAT IS A FUCKING BABE ON THE COSMIC SCALE OF THINGS, she is nineteen, she is nineteen and her mom died on top of her and she doesn't understand what is happening to her, just that she is dying, no one can save her, they tried, they tried so hard and she is still dying, she is alone and she is dying, she is dying, she is nineteen goddamn years old and she is dying.

let someone be gentle with her. let someone brush her hair.

[hex-blogs]

So we're doing this now, huh?

I don't recommend following the listed individuals because they fill me with so much joy and love that I cannot handle it. Just kidding! This is an appreciation post a-la @thefreelanceangel Buckle up, buttercups! Feels are happening below:

@sihdiel:

My person, my sister, my friend, my life-partner of whom I know I'll grow old with outside of our husbands! You've been my rock for 9 years. You've been my shoulder, you've been the words I needed to hear when the actions of others sought only to tear me down. Nine years of working together as a team, as companions, to ensure that we're both always seen, heard, and felt. I can't begin to express what you mean to me. What your influence as done for me, but more importantly, it's what your kindness has afforded me. I really am so fortunate to call you my best and closest friend. You know me more than anyone, and I trust you implicitly. I love you! ♥ --- @thefreelanceangel:

I don't have a photo of us, but I DO have a throwback to 2012 when Lux got married and made the unfortunate decision to have Othello as a bridesmaid! Let me tell you, girl. You're an amazingly bright person who treats everyone they meet with kindness and respect. Throughout the years we've been in the same RP circles, same games, and always, ALWAYS, you've greeted me like an old friend. I'm so fortunate to have someone like you in my circle. Someone who encourages, is helpful, and brings a light to my life I'm forever grateful for! I love writing with you, taking screenies, and chatting it up at all hours! You, my friend, are a keeper, and I'm thankful for you, your influence, and the delight you bring me! I love you! ♥ --- @sigridderioslainn

(tumblr compressed this image but you'll know what it is when you click it! LOL) The one and only Short King! Haaah! A fantastic companion with a mind-blowing talent for the written word! For years we've delved into amazing stories together filled with anguish, tribulations, and character development! Our character's weren't the only ones going through those developments. You and I, together and separately, have grown into stellar people. I'm so thankful that I have you in my life. Truly. Since, gosh, 2013? You've been someone I've spoken of in high regard even through ups and downs that life seemed to toss our way. The ways of which you've grown are awe-inspiring! I love reading your messages after a long day. I know it's going to be a good time when I have 20 unread messages from you detailing shenanigans your characters are getting into! From GW2, WoW, AU's, and now FFXIV---I can confidently say I've had a solid friend throughout them all! You're the best. You're amazing You're talented You're beautiful I love you, Linds! Can't wait to continue having O cause chaos just to have her justice driven inquisitor/justiciar tailing right behind!

--- @iarecereal:

Oh look, a picture with you, me, and @sihdiel! The fact that we met on Xbox360 in a Call of Duty lobby back in 2010 is WILD. What made it even more wild was you being gone for who knows who long, only to log on and say: "Hey! I moved to WA!" (Also, I'll never forget being in that 1V1 lobby, where I'm dominating and suddenly I die, out of nowhere and I see in the top left corner: 'Donovan killed Lady Lunacy'. Then your laughter when I yell: OH, YOU BITCH!' into the mic!) You've been there for me through many facets of my life. You were a key player in early House Cress lore with Caelnon, you were my 'pew-pew' pal for a while, and even were a part of my baby shower. I think of you fondly ALL THE TIME and I know life broadened the distance between us, but we always pick up where we life off. As if time and distance are just words and not facts. I love you, man. I really do, and I appreciate everything you've been a part of and will continue to be a part of in the future! ♥ --- @adoraphlox

Girl, you know I had to drop this pic of us from back in the day LMAO! Your gentleness is something I've always admired, but that doesn't discredit that fiery spirit of yours! Through the years and the 'life has a way' moments, you've been a friend, a counselor who guided me through some pretty rough times, and someone I know I can message at anytime and get a ♥ back! Writing characters not only in House Cress but other AU's with you has been a highlight of my writing 'career ' that I look back on fondly! You're a real one, through and through! I will always consider you a friend no matter how much time passes.

I love everything about you --- @lilac-memorials I wanted to post a screenshot of our Warcraft babs but I'm on my work PC so just know, that image is in my mind! Remember when we were in voice chat and we thought we were complete strangers till we discovered we were 'One Kevin Bacon Away' from one another for over a decade? "Omg I remember that!" "Omg! I remember YOU!" It was like a friendship that had always been there finally had the doors opened and we were waiting on either side to embrace one another! You, my friend, are one of the strongest individuals I know to date. You have a POWER to you that is wielded by a kind hand. Nothing can stop you, and I mean nothing. Our time together has been amazing and I can't wait for more! Writing with you, laughing with you, going through the motions with you--I'm here for all of it! You're a welcoming person. A wholesome person. You're someone who vehemently believes in right over wrong and that's exactly the type of person I want to surround myself with. Keep being you. Keep being amazing. I look up to you in more ways than one! I love you, through and through! --- @v-xv Dude--I was going to post that pic of us we took when I visited in 2013 but decided not to do us that sort of disservice! Lmaoooo I know we rarely engage in mushy feelsy things, but I think you know the positive impact you've had on me since our humble beginnings. Your talent for art and prose is widely known, but the thing I admire the most about you is your attitude. You're real. Like, you tell it how it is. You set your boundaries but that doesn't take away from your ability to be a kind person. Writing with you is an absolute joy and I love when we get the time/chance to. I know our lives have a choke-hold on us but you know I'm there for you whenever you need it, however you need it. You're hilarious! You make me laugh so fucking much, it's insane! I love the time we spend together and look forward to more of it! Thank you for being authentically you and thank you for being my friend through all these years. You're another one who, no matter what time passes, we pick up like nothing happened. I appreciate you in more ways than I could ever express! Much love, bitch! ♥ --- That's all the time I have for today! Thank you to everyone in my circle! Thank you for shaping me into the version of myself you see today. You all had a hand and I am so, SO thankful for each and every one of you. I love you all! All the love-- H E X

[halojalex]

Lets hear that essay

oh man i kind of wasn’t expecting to get any replies to this LMAO bUt here we go. strap urselves in this is gonna be a long one

i won’t share the whole document i wrote bc it’s really long and i go off on a lot of tangents but here’s the general idea

for starters, i believe g&c is absolutely about jalex. we already know it's about a gay couple, so with this in mind, alex telling jack that it's about him is enough to at least consider what that means. granted, i know many believe that he was joking, but i've always thought his tone and general demeanour seemed far too sincere for him to be joking; we've seen how alex acts when he jokes around with jack, and this was different.

furthermore, it's also worth pointing out that jack and alex specifically wrote this one song on their own in a cabin (?) away from everyone else; i know this may not seem important on its own, but it's always worth keeping in mind. ie why would two friends go off to write a song about a queer relationship on their own?

adding onto this, there was that interview with kerrang where alex talked about wake up sunshine as a whole and how it’s about discovering yourself and coming to terms with who you are (i’m paraphrasing but that’s the general idea), so to have a song about a gay couple on an album that’s all about alex discovering who he is seems to me like he wrote it from personal experience.

secondly, i feel like it's important to note that, while jack and alex have always been closer than the average friendship, always bordering on acting like a couple, this closeness was especially apparent during the time that alex was separated from lisa and was living with/near jack. people have commented before on how 'dependent' they were on each other back then, so it's clear that the bond between them was especially strong at that time. of course, i'm sure many will say that it could've been bc alex needed jack's support/bc he was living close by so spent more time with him/whatever, however i feel like there's more to it than that, given all the other reasons. i think they were more than friends.

i'd also like to bring people's attention to one particular incident - that photo of them spooning on a beach. frankly, i've always been a little surprised that so many people have skipped over this without blinking, bc that photo to me has always seemed so intimate and domestic, i find it really hard to believe that many friends would casually sit like that.

and of course how can i forget to mention alex's bday post for jack in 2021? that caption haunts me. "what's there to say that isn't already tremendously obvious? you're a bright light in this weird world my dude. love you times a million" how does that not scream a bday post for a partner? "love you times a million"??? bye they ruin me. all of it just seems so,,, romantic?? idk but i feel like if my closest friend wrote something like that about me i'd find it just a little too much. but maybe that's just me. but also i've seen/heard people say that that caption sounded a lot like something they would write/have written for their partner so,,,,,,, make of that what you will.

ofc honourable mention of the time they went to a gay bar together and karaoke. i realise it’s only from word of mouth that we know that it was a gay bar, but it seems a well-enough-known fact that i feel like i should include it.

i’m sure there’s more i could say, it’s just hard to keep track of everything, especially without making this ten pages long. but another thing i believe is that jack has always had feelings for alex, long before they ever got together. granted, that on its own doesn’t necessarily mean that he and alex dated, however it’s important to note. one thing that sticks out to me with regard to this is how andie once made a post commenting on how jack never looked at her the way he looked at alex. this is interesting to me bc it just seemed like she was implying that she was competing with alex in a way. maybe it’s just me, but i can’t really see that post any other way than that tbh. i mean why else would she have said it? if jack didn’t have feelings for alex, then why would it matter how he looked at him?

furthermore the fact that jack wasn’t alex’s best man at his wedding fr keeps me up at night (i mean not literally but u get the idea). like everyone knows how close they are, alex has literally called jack his “best friend in the whole world” (brb while i cry over that), so why wouldn’t he choose jack, his closest friend, to be his best man at his wedding? i always feel like he did that intentionally to spare jack’s feelings. as if he’s always known that jack has feelings for him, and as such he knew he couldn’t put jack through that, as presumably the best man would have had to give a speech etc. just something else i think about a lot.

anyway, all of this was probably very confused, i hope it makes sense as i have a tendency to waffle sksjsksj but yeah, this is my general idea! lmk if anything doesn’t make sense djskdjsk

[dryeyed]

SHIPPING INFO.   answer the following for your muse(s) so people know how shipping works on your blog.

     What’s your OTP for your Muse(s)?

erasermic... sobs

whatever's going on with orion and shouta (lovingly)

     What are you willing to RP when it comes to shipping?

anything within the realm of possibility with shouta. i need the ship to be grounded in his reality, including what he could be swayed / influenced like with another muse. it has to feel real to me, there has to be something deeper than a shallow and surface-level dynamic. i'm really not all that picky once we've made it there LOL, there is a full range of shit that i'm not thinking about off the top of my head atm

     How large does the age gap have to be to make it uncomfortable?

no one younger than him by 4-5 years. ages above him are a hit or miss.

     Are you selective when shipping?

i definitely think so. i'm reserved with it, i don't just go giving out my muses' hearts because honestly. i'm tired of having ships with people and then for whatever the reason was, having the entire friendship fizzle out with a mun and then having gap where their muse once was. i've lost muse for a few characters that way and it's been shittier and shittier every single time, so i try to 'pick' / vibe it out with a little bit more... idk. scrutiny isn't the word for it but something along the like. tldr i need to be able to see an actual future between the muses + have a strong connection with the person on the other end. i'd like to be good friends, rather than someone to occasionally pass notes to.

there's also the fact that shouta is not a romance-centric muse whatsoever. bro is fighting for his life against the man in the mirror, he is in the trenches, life is slowly killing him. he's very walled up and difficult to get through to, and this could prove pretty difficult to build meaningful and lasting connections with him on.

     How far do steamy moments have to go before they’re considered NSFW?

i'll be honest i haven't written smut in a loooong time, and even then i was never really confident in my abilities to effectively write a sex scene. i think anything past suggestive talk and wandering hands will fade to black on blog. but i'd probably be open to discussion with current ship partners on like. discord or smth. i don't need to write nsfw for a ship to feel whole to me, sometimes plotting it's fun too, but. lmao. idk. could be fun to fuck around and find out at the same time

     Who are other muses you ship your muse with?

god do i ship shouta with mic sooo much. so much. their dynamic can be explored in soo many different ways, and they're just all so fun and exciting to me i just hfgkldfghfl i want to gnaw on my toes i love them.

i've thought about shouta with toshinori. i think they could work, i think it'd be cute, but also remains to be seen. they're cute in every sense tbh

counting ocs, i definitely ship shouta with @gravesung's orion aisa. a flavor of erasermic but to the right and folded and crumpled yet shaped to be something even better. he is a delight to read and learn about, both as mun and shouta himself, and there's just something so enticing about the unknown. someone you once knew coming back into your life for possibly better or for possibly worse, for possibly fruity reasons. mwah mwah mwah i love them

     Does one have to ask to ship with you?

i'd love to be asked tbh. if we've hardly interacted, i'd like to wait a little until we've talked/written more. but at the same time if it's possibly heading that way, it'd be fun to find out. i do turn into a massive gremlin with ships, though, and if that's not something that can be handled or matched then that's a pass from me

     How often do you like to ship?

i do like to write romance. i really, really like to write romance. i think a lot of it is personal yearning / maladaptive daydreaming / general love for love lmfaoooo. but at the same time... it's not ever something i want to just jump right into, or write it right off the bat in a dynamic. this may be the demi in me but i tend not to just dive right into pre-established romance. i need to both have plotting and written interaction happen for me to get a sense of how they mesh, what they'd look like in the mindspace so that writing the scenes don't feel forced in the slightest bit. i also would like to consider myself to be friends with the muns of the muses i'm shipping with, and i will admit i tend to be pickier on that front. mayb it's the neurodivergence. mayb it's the trust issues and inherent cynicism

     Are you multiship?

yuh. i've done singleship before and i think i'd only do it again under very specific circumstances, but i'd also rather not close myself off to a possible dynamic that could occur out of nowhere. things happen, and that's the exciting part of it.

     Are you ship obsessed or ship more-or-less?

i feel like i'm overthinking this question. i definitely think i tend to favor or have more muse/motivation to write some romantic threads and dynamics, but at the same time it's not a necessity. i wasn't actively seeking out my ships across blogs, they just came into fruition with plotting. a lot of other dynamics can also give me the same amount of feelings and motivation, though, i guess it just depends on where i've been mentally at that point in time, and what's getting me the most.

     What is your favorite ship in your current fandom?

i fell in love with erasermic and i fell in love with them hard. easily my comfort ship throughout the summer and i'm excited to keep taking them with me into the future, to grow with them because honestly. i don't see myself leaving shouta or hizashi behind anytime soon, nor bnha as a whole (even if i fucking hate it sooo much sometimes lmao). i go back and forth on if i like erasermight or mightmic, i think i like them. i think i could be convinced. but i'm also eh. i also took one look at izuku, katsuki, and shouto, saw my kanto pokedex trainers and immediately saw them as Something. tbh i don't really have a lot of ships for bnha? atleast at this point in time lmao.

     Finally, how does one ship with you?

LMAO be gay with me lets scream and be absolutely unhinged

tagged by :   @implde thank you <3 <3

tagging :   steal and tag me!

[snowdeong]

Jujutsu Kaisen is ending in 5 chapters and Idk I'm super disappointed.

I don't think that'll make it bad now or anything but there's so much it could have been that it will never be because it's ending and that's very weird to like process lmao. I think Gege has told the story they want to tell and as a writer myself I think that's wonderful especially considering the conditions mangaka in weekly serialisations go through.

But like as a fan of this world and these characters and this story I really can't help but think of what could have been and what we've missed out on because either Gege didn't want to do it or because there were certain constraints from editorial or time or whatever. People will say "that's the point" as if it's a catch all deflection from criticism and while I agree that Gege doesn't just do shit for the sake of it I don't think it's weird that so many people expected so many things from this manga and need to go through the process of mourning the fact that there was never any intention for elaboration for shit that we were looking forward too or liked. Enjoying media should not only end at liking every single thing and justifying it. Sometimes loving a story is also about being critical of it, not even from a place of hate or anything, just cause you want the best for it and your opinion on what that could be is different from what's on paper.

I don't think I have anything definitive to say about JJK rn cause I need to do a reread but I will say, I really wish that Gege had written a lot of their female characters differently. Maki's the best of them yeah but like the Toji wank kind of ruined that for me. Yuki and Nobara.... sigh. I understand the "point" like it's about the fact that being a sorcerer will never give you a happy ending and all that stuff to do with the self vs the group and what it means to be part of something and blah blah but it's unfortunate that in this cast of majority male characters I'm supposed to accept that 2 really cool women had to die to "prove a point" as if we didn't get it already when Nanami and Junpei died. They could have been more than a reminder that shit sucks the same way the male characters were and I personally don't think Gege did a good job with that pfff.

Ig we'll see how the story ends and if my ranking of it will drop or rise cause we know how Gege is they might make all this worth it in some way and I'm excited to see what ending they have cooking. I think hjskahd

[zalrb]

idk if this is an umcomfortable ask, i'm sorry if is but with steferine coming up a bit recently i was wondering which are some of the steferine sex scenes your most proud of from your stelena+steferine fic? cause i know you said writing sex scenes is super tricky with finding natural dialogue that doesn't just seem corny and unnatural. (i think you nailed it by the way! it all seemed very sincere and in character for the story. just like what they would say and do in those scenarios.)

Oh, with the amount of things we've talked about on this blog, trust me, this is not an uncomfortable ask so dw 😉

Steferine sex scenes, hmm ... I will choose three.

Their scene in "Kill" because I'd already written them doing quite a bit in the previous parts and so I was like, how am I going to keep this fresh and dark but still in character for Stefan specifically with it continuing a cycle without it being too repetitive of what's been done/said in the parts before and also for Katherine figuring out a way to, in her mind, beat Elena and beat Rebekah, which is through the intensity of their dysfunction and the intensity with which Stefan fights the urge to take things too far because with Elena he'd never do that and with Rebekah (specifically in the 20s) he was already off the deep end so it's that struggle between both that Katherine's like, oh yeah, this is mine, and I think I found a really fun way to do it that also didn't undercut Stelena:

“Fine,” she said, opening her eyes to look at him. “So then fight for me. Keep me from walking out that door. Make me stay here.” 

            Katherine’s eyes glinted with a primal kind of malice.

[...]

She walked out of his room but then found herself backing into it again. Stefan had intercepted her in the hallway, blocking her path, and started walking, guiding her back to where they were a moment ago. His expression was dangerous. Katherine’s skin tingled. He was doing what she told him to. Keeping her from leaving. But she needed the words. She needed his surrender. 

“You want me to stay here,” she said. “Say it.” 

He took a hold of her, his grasp tight enough to break the bones of a human, and kissed her violently, bruising her lips, thrusting his tongue in her mouth, making her knees buckle and head swim.

There was no affection, just an angry passion. She pulled her mouth away and slapped him hard across the face, splitting his lip, her fingernails clawing his skin with one sharp rake that left scratches on his cheek. His eyes reddened and veins darkened his face, his upper lip curled as fangs descended. Katherine grabbed him by the back of his head and forced him to her, kissing him again, pushing him to a wall. She bit his tongue, making him wrench away. Reacting instinctively, he grasped her throat and lowered her to her knees. She looked up at him with excitement, her eyes daring him.  

He blinked rapidly and his irises were back to their normal green, the veins disappeared from his face, his fangs were gone. Now that his senses had returned, he let go of Katherine but his hand, trembling, still hovered around her neck, as if itching to continue. This, Katherine thought triumphantly, he’d never do, never have to do, never feel with his precious Elena. Or that wench Rebekah. This battle within himself, that belonged to her.

2. One of their first scenes in "Toxic" when they're starting to get into their rhythm and Stefan threatens to break the door if she doesn't let him in, just because I think it's a hot scenario, lmao, and I could absolutely see Stefan just being very matter-of-fact about it, like it's happening

Stefan immediately went to open the door but it was locked. He waited for her to open it but she stayed where she was, her body bowing off the bed, delighted at seeing his taut expression, his stillness. She knew that his quietness, his lack of reaction only proved how aroused he really was. She started to pant and then –

“Let me in.” 

Katherine grinned and continued, turning her head even further to the side so he could see the agonized pleasure contorting her face. He flexed his jaw and looked her in the eye.

“Katherine, I will break this door.” 

That elicited an urgent noise from her, which only inflamed Stefan further. He exhaled, frustrated. She smirked and when Stefan saw her eyes cloud as she edged closer, he broke off the door handle, banging the door open with a force that made the glass shatter.

3. Their scene in "Blood" because I didn't expect the reaction it got from readers of the series, I didn't realize they'd find it to be so hot and so heartbreaking for Elena lmao

Could he do it? And then, like the week before, the belt was around her neck and he held onto it like a leash. She waited, still looking up at him, and he tugged her forward, into him, and then she surprised him as she sank her teeth into his inner thigh, making him curse. She moaned as she drank and he panted, smashing his fist against the brick, making a hole in the wall, instinctively pulling on the belt, tightening it around her, making her groan and feed, making him dizzy with the carnality of it all.

Did this make Katherine his or did it make him hers? She’d had him in 1864, she’d had him drunk on her, blinded to her, infatuated with her, yearning for her, and then she’d killed him. Condemned him. How to make up for that? How to get her back. For that. The confusion made him want to conquer her, possess her, for good. No blurred lines.

Somewhere, he knew he should resist. Stop this game. Stopping would be what proved something. But it was a distant caution in comparison to the immediate, overwhelming pleasure radiating throughout him from the source of her bite. She started massaging him as she fed and his free hand was twisted in her hair and he licked his lips, tasting her blood, as she drank his, pulling on the belt, and he hated himself as much as he relished the pleasure and he wanted to leave and he wanted to stay and —

“Oh my God, Stefan!”

[elevenelvenswords]

20 Questions for Fic Writers

Tagged by @curufiin- thankies <3

How many works do you have on AO3?

Only 8 so far.

2. What’s your total AO3 word count?

20,718 apparently

3. What fandoms do you write for?

The Silmarillion- it's been an ongoing obsession for approximately 7 years now lol.

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

Fretting, which is my first ever published fic, is at the top. I'm not super proud of it if I'm being honest but I'm glad others enjoyed it :P Then we've got Inside Out, Unbridled sword and passion, Take a chance and Stutter.

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

I do try to reply to every comment! The fact that someone made time to tell me something nice about my works means the world to me.

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

Probably this one? None of my fics are fluffy so...

7. What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

My recent Curufinrod fic, I think? It's less... gnarly and angst-driven?

8. Do you get hate on fics?

Fortunately no.

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

Considering that 6 out of those 8 fics are tagged as explicit, you can draw your own conclusions :P I write various flavours of kink :)

10. Do you write crossovers? What’s the craziest one you’ve written?

Nope!

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not to my knowledge.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Nope.

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

No, but certain fics that I wrote were inspired by conversations I had with other fandom members :3

14. What’s your all time favourite ship?

I'll go with the good ol' Angbang. I've recently become deeply invested in Curufinrod though, and I'll (hopefully) write for more pairings over the Christmas break.

15. What’s a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

There's a very old draft of a multi-chaptered Angbang fic that's been gathering dust on my laptop for a year xD I might polish it up and post it at some point IF I find the motivation for it.

16. What are your writing strengths?

I guess I'm fairly good at descriptions and metaphors?

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

Good pacing and finding the right balance between dialogue and narration are both pretty tricky for me.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic?

I've never tried this but I find it exquisite in other people's fics :D

19. First fandom you wrote for?

Probably The Hobbit? But what I wrote is between me and god lmao.

20. Favourite fic you’ve written?

I tend to be very critical of my own works, especially after I post them. I don't really re-read them so it's difficult for me to choose a favourite one when I can't recall half the things I wrote lol. But I was pretty proud of Beyond the pale back when I wrote it! My writing style changed over the years, I believe, so I'm pleased to see the improvement :)

Tagging @polutrope, @crackinthecup, @gardensofthemoon, @havenotwillnotreadthebooks, @i-did-not-mean-to and whoever wants to give this a go!

[seriousbrat]

If you were to modernise the dynamics of the marauders versus Snape to today’s landscape, how would it be? I think ideas and representations of bullies, popular kids, oddball kids, have all changed a lot - but they still find insidious ways to be mean to each other. Politics have also become more polarised and complex to navigate. Where would they fit?

This is an interesting question! I'm not sure if you mean if they were muggles, or just how I think the dynamics would be represented differently if the books were written today. I do think a lot of the themes are still very relevant today, and in some cases, even more relevant-- for instance the way Snape is a great parallel to the way modern day teenage boys fall down the alt-right pipeline online and become incels. Obviously young boys being radicalised isnt a new thing, but the reason the incel movement fits so well with Snape's story is because of how it's tied to his unrequited feelings for Lily, which seem to mirror the stereotypical narrative of the average sad loner incel who is eternally overlooked by the girl he likes. "Friendzoned" if you will, in favour of the "chad" "alpha male" James, which causes him to join a hate group in rage over the unfairness of life lmao. It fits so well that it's almost prophetic.

You can probably chart the changes in people's attitude towards Snape as time has passed. When DH came out, most people's (including myself) reaction to the Snape reveal was "aww, how sad, poor Snape" and he was viewed as romantic and heroic and tragic for loving Lily. At the time, if you think about it, the story of the shy loser nerd who is in love with and eventually gets the pretty girl was allllll over film and television, and people by and large sympathised with those characters and rooted for them and cursed the girl for not giving this nice guy who loved her soooo much a chance.

In a post-gamergate world, however, we've seen the consequences of male entitlement, because the incel movement is based on the belief that all men inherently deserve access to women. Very often, these consequences are violent. We're incredibly jaded by this and nowadays those sorts of characters are viewed as creepy, entitled, and given little sympathy. as it should be, imo, but you can definitely see how this has altered fan perception of Snape who is generally reviled, particularly by younger fans.

Personally, though, I think this modern lens can make his story more powerful, because it's not about whether Lily should have given him a chance (she shouldn't have) it's about the fact that his actions in the end were truly selfless, the opposite of entitlement. Lily's death was the catalyst, but if it was just about Snape's selfish desire then what is the motivation? She can never love him if she's dead, and there are moments that prove his change of heart, such as his yelling at Phineas for saying "Mudblood" when he previously used the word freely. If it was written today (i mean who knows, it is jkr after all) I think there would probably be more focus on that aspect of Snape than the fact that he loved Lily, which simply doesn't have the impact it once did. people are unimpressed by that narrative, but I think the story of a sincerely reformed incel could still be powerful. Maybe. I think people are also less forgiving nowadays haha, but I still think that teen incels growing up and seeing the error of their ways is a good thing. They may not deserve medals for it, but it's still what we should want for them.

As for the bullying, obviously if they were modern day muggles the internet would be a huge factor, as social media is hugely important for kids nowadays and a lot of bullying takes the form of cyberbullying. I honestly think the themes of class differences and bullying in general are still just as relevant today as they ever were-- although I think we've seen how modern interpretations of SWM have changed. "James SA'd him" was not even remotely a discussion back in the day, I've talked about this before so I don't want to get into it, but it's a good example of something that might be different if it was written today. At the time, that would have just been a typical example of schoolyard bullying, but modern day sensibilities view it differently. The same goes for Snape's mistreatment of his students-- at the time he would have been an average 'mean teacher,' now we view it as abusive. Which is a good thing, don't get me wrong, both offences are incredibly serious and should be viewed as such. I think particularly in the case of SWM it would be written differently today-- in the case of Snape's behaviour as a teacher there's a certain suspension of disbelief just because Hogwarts is a magical school and things there are less realistic. On the other hand, James was a minor and Snape was an adult, so irl different standards would apply.

Anyway, sorry that got so long, it's an interesting topic!

[alphabetboyluvr]

hiii holly! i hope november's treating you kindly so far!

i wanted to ask whether you have any advice for writers that are just starting to publish. literally any modicum would be greatly appreciated.

it's really hard to assess whether one's writing is any good when literally no one ever reads it :( at the same time, I know I should write for myself first and foremost. can't help but want to be held accountable by the possibility of an audience, tho (maybe that's just my brain chemistry??) I fall into the pit of thinking "if no one's reading it, why am I even writing? I can daydream indefinitely and be satisfied. Why write?" Yet I always come back to writing; it's something magnetic.

it's not the same to ask close friends to read ur stuff bc they are ur friends, and may not give you the sincerity ur looking for so as to not discomfort u. conversely, they might not be interested enough so as to pick up on the fine details.

f/u question: how do you deal with publishing your work on the internet for free? does it ever scare you that strangers could copy and republish ur work without your knowing?

I guess that's one of my main apprehensions about posting loyally on writing platforms. I'm scared I'll write something I'm very proud of and have it plagiarized and not be able to track it back as my original property??

anyways, enough of my self-exposing on your q and a's feeling v vulnerable sharing my doubts so openly lol

thank youuuu :) ly <3

hiyaaa!! it's getting chilly, i won't lie, but other than that November has been pretty typical. likewise, i hope it's treating you well too!

honestly the fact you casually drop words like modicum probably suggests you're a paygrade above me in terms of writing hahaha

my answer is a long (srsly i just kept on going lmao) ramble, so I'll put a read more here haha

i've many lovely friends who i absolutely adore that I've met through writing that are now irls, but none of my friends that i know independently outside of writing have ever read my stuff - I've even got irl friends who are deep in the ao3 trenches, who are paying for other tannie writers' patreons, but we have an unspoken rule that my work is not to be read by them. i just don't let my friends read my work, full stop, so i get that sentiment.

the thing is, humans are naturally inclined to be storytellers - it's been that way for thousands of years. our tales are meant to be told. sharing is just a very human thing for us to do.

I've been publishing on wattpad (within the tannie space) for 4 years, now. readers didn't appear overnight - i actually recently found a screenshot of you up? from march 2021. it had 28 parts, 2.03k reads and 313 votes.

it now sits at 62 parts, 1.45million reads and 55k votes.

that's a little bit perspective for you, i guess - i'd written half of an entire novel that was averaging around 70 reads per chapter, but i loved that world, and i had story to tell, so i told it. some people viscerally hated it, some loved it. i was writing for me, and the numbers prove that. if you worry about the numbers, you'll never satisfied.

similarly, comparison is the thief of joy, or so they say.

comparing yourself to other writers is never healthy. there are far more 'successful' authors on wp in terms of reads, but i genuinely mean it when i say i think i have the most fulfilling and rewarding space on tannie wp because my readers are so unbelievably lovely. i wouldn't trade my current readership for bigger numbers, not a chance.

in terms of plagarism, there are 170,000 words in current use within the english language, and 36 plot types. we've exhausted a lot of them, already. overlap and similarities are bound to occur, so i try not get fixated on it.

take cv for example - i was so gassed up with myself when coining the terms mono and multi, only to find out after i'd finished writing the story that there was a drama with a similar concept that also used the term mono for a similar condition that aired after i'd already started writing cv. overlap happens.

similarly, we're a product of the media we consume. endeavour is my favourite word, because it was in a song i liked when i was a teenager and it stuck with me. i use it all the time, and we can trace it back to the pen of alex gaskarth lmao.

I've seen readers of mine publish work that's been heavily inspired by my work - with and without 'permission' - and i just sort of shrug my shoulders whenever i notice it.

the way i see it, we'll never tell the exact same story. likewise, no two readers will ever read identical texts the same way. i encourage creativity, and know how important it is for me to empty my brain, so I'll never go for someone's throat for doing the same. that's how myths were born, right? people telling and retelling the same stories over and over again? how am i gonna write a romeo & juliet x greek mythology inspired fic and then get annoyed for someone taking inspo from me?

just like the way hair will always grow back after a terrible cut, new words can always be written after a disappointing discovery. idk, i just don't take it very seriously, i guess.

as for whether or not your writing is any good - it's totally subjective. there are people who have explicitly, publicly stated their disdain for my writing. I've had cruel opinions about my writing projected and amplified to large followings. and it sucks.

but there are people who have been exceptionally kind about my writing, too. i get some of the loveliest messages in the world. there are tiktoks with hundreds of comments of just unadulterated loveliness directed towards my work. I'm afforded so much grace and love that it can be overwhelming at times.

not everything is for everyone, and that's okay. you can't let yourself get hung up on pleasing everyone.

the one thing i will say, is that if you're seriously concerned about your IP, write original characters, and use wattpad as your platform. i know they have a reputation, but they give a shit about copyright infringement and the second someone gets reported for plagiarism, they'll investigate it, and take down the story.

no reward without risk - you gotta decide if the risk of plagiarism is worth the reward of sharing your work.

and plus, ai is taking over anyways. may aswell write while we still can lol.

so i guess tl;dr - don't let outside influence impact your internal need to create. the right readers will find your work eventually, but it's not an overnight miracle kinda thing. if i stopped writing just because i didn't see results in my stats, then i would have stopped after kumiho, and we'd have never gotten throttle, or bd, or anything else of mine you might have read.

do it because you love it, and it fulfils you. i love the communities built around my stories, and that's why i share them. writing without sharing doesn't fulfil me in the same way.

okay i've really rambled too much so i'll leave it here, but i hope that helps a little!!! or at least has given you insight into my brain!!!!!!

luv u byeeeeeee

[anchorandrope]

That includes Sweet Creature, a sweetly-strummed ode to a person that Styles won't disclose.. "The fun thing is, you can write a love song that's not always in the traditional sense - it doesn't always have to be romantic or even about a person at all, if you don't want," he said.

Do you know if this interview is true? I didn't find it anywhere until I found it on Google

hi!! i mean, that is what usatoday posted on may 12, 2017 about what harry "said" about sweet creature in the "The Zach Sang And The Gang Show" (x) that was published on may 3, 2017. You can listen to the entire interview, he didn't say that, at all...

that same interview was quoted in teen vogue, billboard, rolling stone (they deleted it but here's the article in web archive), and a lot of other popular magazines. and, as you can see, none of them use that quote.

i tried to find a transcription of the interview or quotes of UAs but i couldn't. so i decided to do it myself. the entire interview where harry styles talks about sweet creature for the first time ever below the cut! :)

one last comment before the interview: funny how they accuse us of using "questionable articles" when this situation proves totally the opposite. we say that sweet creature is about romantic love and certain people say its for his sister/mother/etc. the fact that somewhere there are people using that quote that he didn't even say to "prove" that its for gemma; proves us right lmao.

okay now the interview!! sorry im not a native english speaker soooo sorry if there's mistakes!!

Zach: Hello Harry Styles, what's going on man?

Harry: Hello! How are you?

Zach: I'm doing well. You're on with me. 

Harry: Good.

Zach: Zach Sang, Dan and Heather. 

Dan and Heather: Hi! 

Harry: Hello Dan and Heather. 

Heather: You said my name.

Zach: How are we feeling right now man? 

Harry: I'm very excited man, thanks for having me on. 

Zach: Of course.

Harry: I appreciate it.

Zach: Come on, Sweet Creature drops yesterday, Sign of the Times kicks off this new solo Harry Styles project. I mean this is exciting. This is creatively freeing.

Harry: What's exciting is that you called Sweet Creature, Sweet Creature because I spoke to someone earlier and they called it Smooth Criminal. 

Heather: [Laughs] What?

Zach: Are you kidding?

Harry: I'm not kidding.

Heather: That's not the right thing.

Harry: We're off to a good start. 

Zach: Dude, first of all, I am a big fan of yours for many years now. We worked together. I interviewed you guys as a band back in Nickelodeon years ago 

Harry: Yeah.

Zach: And you got me drunk at Meghan Trainor's party once. 

Harry: No I didn't.

Zach: You did. I was drinking too girly of a drink.

Harry: I didn't get you drunk at Meghan Trainor's party once. No way.

Heather: You got yourself drunk Zach. 

Zach: No. 

Harry: I don't drink.

Zach: [Jockingly] Never. Never. Okay, let's talk music. Seriously, this is very exciting because I think the art you're releasing, the world needs it. And I think our generation really needs it because we've been missing music with this type of message and with this type of sound. I genuinely believe that. So one, thank you.

Harry: I appreciate that. I am glad you're enjoying it. Yeah, I mean it's been very fun for me. It's been one of the best times of my life getting to make this and it's made me very happy to make. I think when I started it, I had no idea what it was going to sound like. And I just wanted to write stuff that I wanted to listen to and I'm really happy with where it's ended up and I'm really looking forward to getting to play it for people and being able to play these songs live and yeah, I'm very happy. 

Zach: Can you take us back to that first solo studio session? A creative team of your choosing, what is the song that you work on? What was the first song to tackle? 

Harry: The first song of the very first session, so I hadn't written for a while, and the first session that I did to start writing again for the album was actually Sweet Creature. So yeah, I mean I think I just, all I knew that I wanted to do was be honest and I didn't want to edit myself. I wanted to be honest and open and I feel like when you listen to the album through, I think you can see that and I think to me it's what makes it interesting to listen to. And it's why I am now proud of it.

Zach: Is there a top to bottom story through the entire album?

Harry: I think there's a few. I think more so than one story, I think it's very much a piece of me that I haven't shared or talked about before. So I think the album is very much a snapshot of me more so than it is about anyone else. But I think, like I said, I really didn't know what it was going to be when I started writing it and it finished in a very different place than it began. And I just had so much fun working out what it was that it was going to be the whole time. And that changing the whole time was really fun. And now I've ended up with something that I love listening to and proud of. I'm also, you know, found it very therapeutic to write and be vulnerable while writing. And I think if I'd made anything other than that, I would have been disappointed in myself.

Zach: Do you live life and then sit back and process what you just lived through and then write music? Do you write as you go? What is your style? 

Harry: I think it's kind of all of it. I think very much all of the above. I think sometimes, you know, sometimes stuff happens and it's pretty hard to process and a lot of stuff is easier to kind of think about much further down the line. And sometimes it's easier to literally get home from something that happened and sit down and write about it. I think it's so different. There's kind of all sides of the scale. You know, sometimes you sit down to write and what's the first thing you think about? Oh, it's something that happened to you four years ago that you hadn't thought about for a while. You know, I think it's really it's really amazing to to kind of just let that happen. I feel like it's very much it's often much easier to say something and talk about something to an instrument than it is to a person. And I found making this album incredibly therapeutic, getting to, you know, allow myself to be vulnerable and think about things that I hadn't thought about for a long time or things that I maybe had kind of tried to forget or not. Or, you know, I think just being open is always good. 

Zach: Was it nervous for you to be open and to go into the studio with, you know, your feelings literally on a paper or in a phone? 

Harry: Yeah, I think I was really lucky to find a group of people that that made me feel comfortable enough to do that. I don't think I wanted to do anything else with the album. I really wanted it, to be honest. And I was lucky enough to find a group of people who created an environment where I felt like I could just be vulnerable with them all the time. And I think once you get through the first couple of sessions, you know, you start to strip away any feelings of, you know, censoring yourself or anything away. And then that's usually when the best stuff comes.

Zach: Is there any part of this music making process that you look at or respect differently now that you're solo that maybe you didn't respect or look at before?

Harry: Honestly, I think I've always loved the touring part of of working in music, and I've always loved performing so much. The last few One Direction records we made kind of on the road in between shows, which was amazing, obviously, for for different reasons. I think this time not rushing and having a chance to really immerse myself in the process and feel like I was learning a lot as it was happening. I really felt like I fell in love with the other side of music. I really felt like I loved being in the studio every day and working on stuff and trying to work stuff out that, you know, I know I don't understand as well as other people. And it was really fun to just kind of learn as we were going. So, yeah, if I'm honest, I fell in love with the studio side.

Zach: That's awesome. And that's really special.

Harry: More so than I had before. Yeah, it does feel special. Yeah. It feels like, you know, something that I now love. I'm now writing more than I ever have before and I'm playing more than I ever have before. And it's cool to kind of be in a place where I just love writing and I'm writing all the time. Makes me excited for the next one.

Zach: Are you already writing the next one or are you always writing?

Harry: I think, I mean, I'm always writing. I don't think I'm writing right now kind of going, oh, this is for this and this is for this. I think the thing I learned a lot about the process this time was there would be songs that I love that I would absolutely love to put out that just didn't feel right for this first album. And it's cool to kind of feel like, you know, this is something that I'd love to say. Maybe I don't want to say it right now, but I can just keep it. And that's really cool.

Zach: Harry, was Sweet Creature written about a specific person? 

Harry: In my opinion, I think most songs are written for one listener. In my personal opinion, in the way that I think, you know, people who write books, I think probably write them for one reader. And yeah, I think it's a really amazing way of being able to say something to someone that, you know, maybe they'll never know it's about them. Maybe there's one thing in there that only they will know it's about them. I think it's, you know, like I said, it's so much easier to to say something in a song than it is to say it to someone. And I think it's it's really amazing to be able to communicate through that and be able to wrap up everything that you want to say in three and a half minutes and say it in a song.

Zach: For lack of like not wanting to like really analyze your art, right? You kind of said without saying that the song is kind of about somebody, right? You had a message that you were looking to convey. Who makes you feel at home?

Harry: I think that's fair. I think that's a fair, a fair acknowledgement. Yeah. 

Dan: So does this person know the song is written about them?

Harry: I actually don't know. I think the thing that's important to remember is it's not always necessarily the first thing you might think of, but I obviously would never tell someone that what they thought was wrong. I think the best thing about music is that everyone can take away different things from from stuff.

Zach: It's different every year. 

Harry: And that's not wrong. There's not really a wrong answer. I feel like a lot of my favorite songs that mean something to me, I'd be disappointed if someone told me that they're about something else. It might ruin the song for me. So, yeah, I think Sweet Creature is definitely about one person. But, yeah, I think it's important to remember that, you know, there's many different types of things that could be about, you know, a person. Yeah. Know what I mean?

Heather: It's okay, I know. 

Dan: Yeah. Was Blackbird by the Beatles an inspiration for the song? Because I've been seeing a lot of comparisons between those two.

Harry: Oh, yeah, I mean, I'm a massive fan of that song. It's incredible.

Heather: Good song.

Harry: So, I mean, being mentioned in the same breath as that song is a huge compliment. But, yeah, I mean, I just wanted to write stuff that was for me and what I feel sounded like me and what I wanted to say and listen to. And I feel really happy with it so far.

Zach: Do you have a hand in the fashion that is a part of, like, the album? Like, that blue velvet suit is gorgeous. It's very unique. Did somebody pitch that to you or did you find it? 

Harry: No, we found it. So, yeah, I think the thing that's really fun with music is you get to, you know, you see everything as well. And that has obviously become part of music in that people get to present stuff in the way that they want to present stuff. And I think it's a really good place to be able to, like, have fun with it and express yourself. And I guess just show the music in the way that you'd want to show it, I think. And it's a very cool way of being able to have some fun, I think.

Zach: We're going on tour. This is a very unique tour. It is a very intimate venue type situation.

Harry: We are going on tour.

Zach: You must be really excited to perform in intimate venues, right?

Harry: I am very excited. Yeah, I think it's my first album. It's my first tour. And I'm going to be playing some amazing venues that a lot of my favorite artists have played. They're amazing rooms. And I just wanted to I wanted to go and play these songs for some fans who wanted to come and watch and listen. So I'm very much looking forward to it. It's going to be really nice, I think. And the band I'm going to be with are amazing. And I think it's going to be a fun run.

Zach: By the way, you said rooms, right? Not arenas, not stadiums, nothing like that. Are you preparing differently mentally and creatively to cater to an audience of a smaller size?

Harry: Just kitchens. We're just playing kitchens across the U.S. 

Zach: Yeah, that's actually a really good idea. There's a lot of people who would open their kitchen up to you. 

Harry: Yeah, I that would be lovely.

Zach: You get a lot of food.

Harry: It'd be a bad kitchen though. I mean, yeah, it's very exciting. I'm looking forward to, you know, I think the energy that you can feel in those rooms, there's some of the some of my favorite shows that I've ever been to are in rooms very similar to the ones that we're going to be playing. So I'm excited to to see how it goes. 

Zach: How long does it take you to get dressed and get ready in the morning? Like, do you sit in front of the mirror in your closet for a while or is it is it quick?

Harry: It's pretty quick, man. 

Zach: Okay.

Harry: Pretty quick.

Zach: Because you always look real cool when you're out and about.

Harry: Thanks!

Zach: But I think the coolness, but the coolness is kind of like the real quickness of it. Right. The dishevelment. Right. You didn't try, but you tried. 

Harry: Comfortable, man.

Zach: Yeah. Comfort is cool.

Harry: You just have to be comfortable.

Dan: All right. Harry, everyone wants to know about the hair. Is the is the hair going to stay a little shorter? Is it going to you going to grow it back out?

Harry: Undecided, I'm enjoying both right now. I'm enjoying both. Right now, just add a little trim. I'm feeling pretty good about it. Yeah, a little breezy behind the ears. 

Zach: Are you going to bring back? 

Harry: Good. 

Zach: Are you bringing back painted fingernails at all?

Harry: Sure.

Zach: Cool. 

Harry: Why not? Yeah, I haven't really thought about it too much. Probably, yeah

Heather: Now you are. 

Zach: Sweet. By the way, I know we're talking a lot about music, obviously, because that's what's going on. Harry Styles, self-titled album, debut album coming out May 12th. He does go on tour. And this is a super unique tour. And I can't wait to see the show.

Harry: Thank you.

Zach: I just want to talk about movies real quick because you got music, but you are doing some movies. And do you have a dream role? Like, do you see yourself like in a dream role at all? Like, who would you want to play? 

Harry: Well, that's a really good question. I don't know, really, I think I was with this one, I was always a massive fan of Chris Nolan's movies. Yeah, it was something that I feel like if I hadn't been involved in it, I'd be very excited to watch it. And I kind of really wanted to get involved. And I felt very lucky the whole time I was on set to be involved in a movie like that. And I think it's going to be good. I think it's going to be a fun one. And I think if there was stuff in the future where I really wanted to get involved, then I'd love to be able to try for it, I guess. Dream role, I'm not sure. 

Zach: Can I put out into the universe that maybe one day James Bond, you know, just going to put that out there?

Harry: Well.

Zach: Right?

Harry: Well.

Zach: I don't know. I think like maybe like 15 years down the line, 20 years, whatever. Like, that's pretty sweet. I think you'd make a killer James Bond. 

Harry: I don't know. I don't know. Maybe I could use some help. 

Zach: No guns. 

Heather: Kind words of love.

Zach: Compliments. 

Harry: Throw roses around.

Heather: There you go.

Zach: Any collaborations on this album at all? 

Harry: No, nothing on this album. 

Heather: Only Harry Styles.

Harry: No, I feel like it's really important to me to work out what it was going to be going into it, not knowing what it was going to sound like. So I didn't know what my album was going to sound like. So I felt like I kind of wanted to work that out first and just kind of not kind of stray too far from just making an album of what I wanted it to be for my first one, I guess. But no, nothing on nothing on this one. 

Zach: What's the hardest part of this solo process so far for you?

Harry: I'd say you can't deflect any questions to anyone else.

Zach: Yeah, it's a really good answer.

Harry: Yeah, just just just you.

Zach: It's all you.

Harry: And then, yeah, but I'm finding new ways to wriggle out of stuff, which has been a lot of fun. 

Zach: Love for you, Harry Styles. Thank you so much for taking the time, man. It really means a lot.

Harry: Thanks for having me.

[whetstonefires]

spiral emoji and umbrella emoji for the ask game?

🌀Post the fic summary for a fic you haven't written/published yet. It can be hypothetical or something you really plan on releasing...

hmmm i have had another segment of that AU where Carrie Kelly is Tim's Robin mostly written for years, I keep fiddling with the ending. it's one of those fics i'm gonna summarize with an excerpt, I'm thinking this one:

Robin almost tripped over herself, stopping so hard, but she sorted her limbs out without actually falling down the roof, and dropped into a defensive stance. “Who are you?” she demanded. The stranger cocked his head. “I’m Batman,” he said. His voice was a little less deep than Tim’s, flatter and throatier, so that instead of making a pronouncement from on high, he came off as stating crushingly obvious fact. Robin glared. “You’re not.” “Am.” “I’m Robin! I know Batman. You’re not him.” This Batman’s mouth twitched with amusement, almost the same way Tim’s did. “Other Batman.”

☔Is there a fic concept you have that you'd like to just explain and share because you're not sure you'll ever write it? If so, what is it?

You know this is hard. I don't generally remember ideas existed if I don't write at least 2k of them down immediately ngl. And from my abandoned drafts there's so many....oh!

Okay here's one that I think is super funny but I can tell I'm never gonna finish. I was complaining in the groupchat that I'd just read a fic that asked me to believe modern AU Wei Wuxian dated Jin Zixun, got dumped by him, and was broken up about it. Impossible.

I was like, if you want to use an existing villain as a fuckboi ex, still why pick the guy who never once had the power to do anything to Wei Wuxian except annoy him? There's options! And then like. We've actually seen shitty boyfriend Wen Chao done, usually a coercion situation. Xue Yang is a semi-plausible abusive ex if you make them the same age and shift some other variables around, seen that.

You know what none of us had seen? Su She.

And it's weird people don't use Su She for this! He's pretty capable, he's a hard worker, he has to be decent looking if he was allowed to be a Lan disciple, he's not totally dumb. He's deeply selfish but in a mildly complicated way. He's dollar store option Lan Wangji, that's his whole bag!

If you're going to have wwx settling for shitty guys (which like I think that's really ooc because Wei Wuxian had no particular interest in having a love life before it turned out he was hip-deep in True Love and he's a brutal judge of character, but if that's your plot, maybe he's doing some queer version of comphet where you gotta be with someone or your identity isn't valid idk) Su She should be at the top of the list.

Now, for my money, with my fairly demanding standards wrt character motive, I can't see Su She successfully bagging wwx without being genuinely into him, because Wei Wuxian's nose for bullshit is superhumanly powerful. But that's not hard to set up.

All you need to justify Su She pursuing Wei Wuxian with genuine intent is for Wei Wuxian to validate Su She's feelings at a critical moment when they're young--say, coming across him directly following the Waterborne Abyss arc, when Su She was no doubt given the rough side of Lan Qiren's tongue at the very least, for losing his sword and being ungracious and so forth. And sympathizing with all his intense feelings of being hard-done-by and disrespected and so forth. (We will assume there was not outright treacherous behavior from Su She at this point.)

Su She will demonstrably follow you to the ends of the earth and through a river of blood for making him feel properly valued. I do wonder whether he's an orphan or just has shit parents. (I wonder this about Jin Zixun also lmao. His parents wouldn't actually need to be shitty, if they were just totally overruled by Jin Guangshan.)

A lot of what he admires in Jin Guangyao is also true of wwx; when they met wwx was on top of the world, making him a target of envy and resentment, but you could definitely reshuffle that if you started early and showed Su She the right background cards.

And Wei Wuxian does not usually decide he likes people who turn out not to deserve it, through a combination of strong insight, the fact that his faith in people typically inspires them to return that devotion, and that it's just not that kind of story. But he is strongly biased to keep liking someone once he starts, in a funny ADHD kinda way where he doesn't really think about you if you're not there but treats you like no time has passed when you come back, so if he decided this ridiculous sulky unLanish Lan was his friend it would take a lot to change his mind. Su She would remind him of both Jiang Cheng and Lan Zhan, which would help.

The other half of the brainstorming, that had a plot rather than just character setup, was a modern AU fic where (as I've seen done a couple of times) Lan Wangji was dating Mo Xuanyu in the attempt to get over Wei Wuxian, and Wei Wuxian was dating Su She, who unlike Lan Wangji actually like. Said something. Out loud with his mouth words lmao.

And then, probably by watching lwj watch wwx at a party or something, Su She figured out that Lan Wangji was pining for his boyfriend, and because of his intrinsic jealous shithead qualities he was ecstatic because he finally had something Lan Wangji wanted and couldn't have.

So he went out of his way to gloat and flaunt, and kind of lost track of the actual reasons he had sought out this relationship in the first place in favor of his weird Hanguang-jun complex.

And ultimately he destroys both relationships--poor Mo Xuanyu ah?--and fucks himself over, and you get a wangxian endgame.

I actually seriously considered really writing this, from Su She pov mostly, but the thing was the 'scenario for wwx to attract su she's loyalty' was grounded in the canon setup and the dating scenario required a low-homophobia modern setting, and just thinking about doing the worldbuilding to make them match made me tired and bored. I don't like modern AUs and their chief virtue is recontextualization in a familiar context, if I've gotta build some kinda smushworld then where's the value added?

And the idea, while very funny, just isn't my thing enough to dig in and work for. I'm not inspired by dating drama. If anyone wants to adopt it they're welcome!

Here's a bit (set in the smushworld) I wrote that I really liked, where su she and wwx are texting back and forth in their late teens:

>Jiang Cheng would never forgive me if I ran off. >Because he’s counting on you to run his Sect for him. >He absolutely is not. Jiang Cheng will work himself into the ground before he lets me do his job for him. He didn’t admit that of course the Sect Heir was counting on him, but he didn’t disagree, which was basically the same thing. Wei Wuxian worked very hard, for all it looked like he didn't, and was rewarded for it, but Su Minshan knew that even in Jiang the equal opportunity only went so far—he was the Sect Leader’s pet for personal reasons, not just on merit, and even so he could never rise to be the equal of the blood heir. It was infuriating sometimes how that didn’t bother him. Have more ambition! >You’re so lucky, Su Minshan wrote, because he was jealous, he was so so jealous. It was just hard to hate Wei Wuxian. >I am! <3 But let’s see, outside the main family how important can a person get in Lan Sect? You can make a plan. Weeks of effort did not produce any particularly good plans. The most realistic one took forty years to show results. >Maybe I should just kill Lan Wangji and use a spell to disguise myself and take his place, Su Minshan joked. >Haha! Minshan-xiong, I’m sorry, you couldn’t pull off being Lan Zhan. That hurt, an unexpected cold dagger to the ribs. Wei Wuxian was his friend! >Why not! he typed angrily. Was his playing too weak, his swordsmanship, his deportment? Would even Wei Wuxian tell him he was just not good enough? >Because you could never resist saying something bitchy when you had the chance, and he keeps all the bitching inside his head. Su Minshan put his head down and laughed until he thought he might cry.

[darthnell]

20 Questions for Writers

Oh This looks fun.. ty for the tag @wordspin-shares !!

How many works do you have on AO3? As of right now, 19 !

What is your total AO3 word count? Well.. you see.. 501,371. ..Huh I the chap I just posted cracked the 500k count ! Congrats to me ig !

What fandoms do you write for? The Hunger Games ! I have some Star Wars fics on my AO3 from years ago, but 96.2% of those words are THG so. hjvbdhvhbddfbh

What are your top five fics by kudos? Sighs really heavily. So I pretty much only write OC stuff for THG, which means that the 3.8% of Star Wars fics are taking 3/5 spots on the top 5 kudos ranking. F in the chat. So starting at the most, we've got: Lessons Unlearned (SW), Is That Really Me? (SW), True Vengeance (THG), Widow's Bite (THG), and Take My Hand (SW). None of those SW fics are over 2k while True Vengeance is probably going to hit 300k by the time it's over... Really interesting to see the statistics of what it looks like to write in a larger fandom vs a smaller fandom tbh :0

Do you respond to comments? Why or why not? Absolutely !! I love reading what people think about my writing. It's neat to see what sticks out to them and how they feel about my characters or plots or everything really ! :D It makes my day to see them <3 Also I love chatting about my writing and the thought processes behind it, so if you every get an essay in response to a comment u left on my fic, uh.. sorrie... bdjfvbhdb

What's the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending? Hm.. Maybe Reparation Clause or True Vengeance? Granted, I haven't written the ending of TrV yet but given that I've killed off all of Ven's arena friends uhh.. yeah. The Bridges We Burn could also possibly fall under this category... Turns out there is no shortage of angst when you write for the child death pageant fandom jdvvbhdf

What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending? Now that's a harder question, rip. I do generally try to end my Victor Exchange fics on happier notes (Destined to Fall, Desiderium, The Bridges We Burn). I think Widow's Bite and No Sleep for the Wicked also end on more positive notes..? I wouldn't exactly call it Happy though.. (maybe some of my Star Wars fics would qualify, but I do not feel like talking about them LMAO)

Do you get hate on your fic? No, I'm perfect (insert sunglasses emoji here) /j I don't think I've ever gotten straight-up hate comments on my fics before though. I've gotten some criticisms (one person wasn't happy about the fact that the Games continue after the events of True Vengeance, according to the other fics on my profile hvfhvbf), but nothing that's ever put me down about my writing. ...Do affectionate death threats count as hate? (my friends are Goofy bhjdfbvhd)

Do you write smut? If I do, you'll never know BHVF. Ok for real though, it's not really my jam as a writer. Worth trying probably to step out of my comfort zone, but definitely not something I'd ever post. Sorry guys.

Do you write crossovers? Nah.

Have you ever had a fic stolen? Afaik, no. Not in terms of straight-up ripping the text. I think I've had some ideas borrowed, but like. Who give a fuck LOL. As my one friend likes to say often, there are no new ideas in THG (in terms of things like arenas, quell twists, tribute concepts). What makes something unique is having different authors writing and interpreting said concepts !

Have you ever had a fic translated? No, but I've thought about translating one of mine into French myself as a way of practice.. Never got around to it though, alas.

Have you ever co-written a fic? Ooh, so Technically, no... BUT. I do create tribute characters for SYOT (Submit Your Own Tribute) fics, which is more of a collaboration than co-writing. I also have three fics I've written for the Victor Exchange event in the SYOT Verses discord server where the pov victor characters were created by another author and I wrote their stories (and I received a fic for the victor character I created!) So again, not Reeeally co-writing, but. Collaboration !!! Uhh I was really into Barriss/Ahsoka in high school. FinnRey starwar is also<3

What's your all-time favorite ship? Scratches head uhhhhh.. all time favorite..? If my ocs count, I will say Maritrix (Venatrix and Mariposa) and also Oberon and Dagmara. Otherwise, uhhhhh..... I will be real, it has been a Long time since I've cared about any specific ships to the level where I need to read or write fanfiction about them LOL. I was really into Barriss/Ahsoka back in high school. Also FinnRey starwar<3

What's the WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

What are your writing strengths? Ooh I love writing dialogue, and also fight scenes!! Description is fun too c: But yeah, I have been called the fight scene queen by a friend once so I think that counts as a strength LOL.

What are your writing weaknesses? I have no weaknesses I'm perfect (sunglasses emoji). /J bvhjfvfbh.. I'm Slow. I get hung up sometimes on structure/style things while writing and it makes the process take a bit longer. I think also sometimes I tend to meander a bit... I could use a lesson in conciseness jvhhbfv.

Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic? It seems like good practice !! Like I said, I had wanted to translate one of my fics into French as practice.. Not sure if that's what this question is asking, or more of like. A bilingual character or something..? Idk ! I think if it's something that you want to get better at, it would also be wise to get concrit from a native speaker on how natural it sounds.

First fandom you wrote for? Warriorcats ! :3c

Favorite fic you've ever written? I /gen enjoy most of my writing.. I know not all people do and I'm not trying to brag or anything, I just. I pander to myself LMAO. But my Favorite TM has gotta be True Vengeance ;-; It's the longest thing I've ever written (and probably will be for a while), and I've spent every day for the past ~3 years thinking about it, so. That is telling hbvdhbf.

Tagging: @illegalcryptid @emeraldflower25 @rivalhughs @ladyqueerfoot @justafunctionalmess @conschintz and general tag for anyone who wants to answer !!