#[ i could be more concise with this but honestly i just wanted to finish ]

[russellius]

THE SUNDAY TIMES: Molly Hudson, Saturday November 30 2024, 6.00pm GMT

Listening to George Russell field questions about the controversial issues that threaten the future of the sport with clarity and calmness, you would be hard pushed to detect that he was once an unsure and self-conscious child.

Russell as a director of the Grand Prix Drivers’ Association is now one of Formula 1’s leading public voices. But such were his difficulties, he was sent for speech therapy and that focus on clear enunciation has been crucial in helping him progress in a sport that requires concise feedback.

“When I was a young kid, six or seven, my dad used to say he could never understand what I was saying, because I was mumbling all the time,” Russell says as he sits in his team kit in the Mercedes hospitality suite. “As I grew a little bit older, and I started to race in Europe, for three years I had an Italian mechanic. I was in an Italian team. It was a European environment, and you had to talk slow, you had to talk precisely so they could understand.”

“When I was with Force India [now Aston Martin], as a test driver, we did some work with an ex-RAF pilot, just about clear communications and interpretations of people’s words and that really resonated with me.”

The 26-year-old secured his third Formula 1 victory last week in Las Vegas, and that communication came to the fore. He recognised that the track evolution, which meant that lap times were improving as the track was swept clean of dirt by the cars and rubber was laid on the circuit, meant the last car on track would have the best chance of success.

“Vegas was a good example — in qualifying, I was so clear. ‘I want to be the very last car to cross the line.’ It was pretty clear what my requests were. We did that, and we got the pole. I believe in myself this year, especially whenever I’ve trusted my gut,” he says.

Russell was born in King’s Lynn, and attended the private Wisbech Grammar School, before his karting took precedence. He spent his first Formula 1 pay cheque on a new Mercedes for his father, Steve, who ran a business selling seeds and pulses and travelled with his son to races in a motorhome while he was karting.

That family dedication has paid off. Russell is preparing to begin a pivotal new chapter of his career, stepping out of the shadow of seven-times world champion Lewis Hamilton and becoming Mercedes’s lead driver next season, alongside a rookie teenager, the Italian Andrea Kimi Antonelli.

It has been a season of ups and downs for Mercedes, struggling to find a consistent car despite registering four race victories, and managing the departure of Hamilton to Ferrari at the end of the season. Russell has transformed from someone who watched Hamilton race, to being his colleague, and he leads him in the drivers’ championship.

“I definitely looked up to him and admired him,” Russell says. “My hero, honestly, was my brother [Benjy, who also raced under the driver No63 he uses]. “He’s ten years older than me, and he’s who I looked up to when I was go-karting, because that was maybe more relatable for me. He was winning races in go-karts, and he was winning British championships, World Championships, and that’s what I wanted to do, because I could visually see him doing that.

“But without doubt, I’ll always remember my first F1 race for Mercedes [shortly before signing to their young driver development programme] in Abu Dhabi 2016, the Nico [Rosberg] and Lewis race, and just being in the same room as him in the debrief, listening to it all unfold. I was starstruck being there in that moment. So for sure it is surreal that we’ve now been team-mates for three years, and that I know within myself that I can perform at a minimum of his level.”

Russell has raced in 126 grands prix, with three victories, four pole positions and 15 podium finishes, having spent three seasons at a struggling Williams, before stepping up to Mercedes in 2022. His highest finish in the drivers’ championship was fourth, in 2022. This season is his most successful statistically speaking, but he is further down the rankings in sixth because of the spread of drivers claiming wins.

For so long, Hamilton carried the hopes of British fans in F1, and this season Lando Norris has provided the best chance of success. Russell believes next year can be his opportunity, assuming he has the car to do so.

“I’ve been in F1 six years now, next year is my seventh, and my fourth year with the team,” he says. “I feel absolutely ready to take my journey to the next level and I feel ready to fight for a championship. I feel ready to fight against Max [Verstappen] and if we get the opportunity, I’m not going to waste it.

“I feel I’ve been ready for three years. I’m team-mates with the greatest driver of all time and if you’re ever finishing ahead of Lewis Hamilton or beating him in a championship, you know that probably in 12 other seasons that would have been enough to win, or at least fight for a world championship.”

Russell has learnt to celebrate the good times with gusto when they do arrive, cancelling his flight home to party, instead, in Vegas with his girlfriend, Carmen Montero Mundt, and his team members.

The Vegas grand prix is particularly brutal on the body, as it involves travelling to the other side of the world, and then it is held at night. Before claiming his pole position, Russell took a 45-minute nap in his driver’s room.

Those challenges meant extra celebration, and something Russell had been inspired to do by a fellow driver.

“I listened to Fernando [Alonso] when he was on the Jake Humphrey podcast saying he looks back on his victories and regrets not celebrating it more [but] I’ve got to be honest, when I was out in Vegas until the early hours there’s a point of which I thought to myself, ‘You know what, I need to head back now, because I want to experience this feeling again.’ ”

Russell knows that the ability to challenge for titles is dependent on the capability of his car as much as it is a marker of his own talent. His time at Mercedes has coincided with the dominance of Red Bull and Verstappen.

“Arguably, Max shouldn’t have won the championship this year,” he says. “But the others made a few more errors and didn’t capitalise when they had the chance. I feel that we have [won what we could].

“Opportunities don’t come around every single day. This year was Lando’s chance. They [McLaren] might be there again next year. They may not. We just don’t know in this sport; nobody would have predicted Red Bull to fall off form in the manner that they have.

“There’s so much hype around Max. He’s such an exceptional driver, but the fact is, he’s won one race in the last 12 and, it just goes to show everyone is beatable because you are at the mercy of your race car. The difference with him this year is he’s won every occasion that he’s had the chance, and his rivals haven’t.”

Russell will hope that next year he has the chance to show he can capitalise where others have not.

[lollytea]

Unfortunately due to TOH being cut short by Disney a lot of character arcs and more storyline could not be fully fleshed out and finished as Dana had to wrap up everybody’s story in just a few episodes

I'm fully aware that Disney's intervention is responsible for a lot of the plotlines getting suffocated. Which is why I don't think it's fair to go harassing crew members with "why didn't THIS happen??" and all that, because nobody really knows what they endured working on those final episodes and how much they had to cut and rewrite. But from things Dana has said, it was likely a very stressful and exhausting experience. So I don't like to make assumptions about the crew being incompetent. Nobody knows how the season WOULD have turned out if they had been granted full creative freedom and breathing room to develop it to their hearts content.

However, me not directing personal ire towards the crew doesn't mean that I think that the show is immune to criticism. Its flawed. It might not be entirely the crew's fault but that doesn't mean we can't talk about how it's flawed. If anything, I think acknowledging and dissecting its weaknesses is a good learning opportunity for what we should consider when creating our own stories.

Season 3 is a bit of a mess. There's good stuff. There's some less than good stuff. I think ultimately, as a story about Luz, King and Eda, it knocks it out of the park. When they were left with no other option, they decided to prioritize the writing of their three protagonists and I think that was the correct choice.

But I've been thinking about the three specials and how they stand on their own, quality wise, and honestly, there's valid criticism to be said that is completely unrelated to the shortening.

Bear in mind that the crew has known since Follies that the show was getting cut short and they needed to start wrapping up loose ends. So it's not like they started writing Thanks to Them believing it was the first of 20+ more episodes. They knew that they were going to be writing a 40 minute special. So the execution had to be tight, concise and satisfying, right?

Well...it was....weird. Definitely fun. Good for fan service. The main hook was the witch kids navigating the human world in their dorky witchy way. And initially, that was enough. But once the novelty of that wears off and we focus on the plot of the special, what do we have left?

Thanks to Them is very guilty of lore baiting. Dropping in stuff that they know damn well that they're never going to elaborate on, leaving the audience with a feeling of intrigue that is never going to be satiated.

I personally think that is just bad writing. They knew they didn't have a full season 3 and rather than rewrite the means of which the hexsquads finds answers, they still made the choice to drop in what are most likely vague ideas from the initial draft.

I think, if they had no intention of developing it in future specials, there was no point to that scene of Masha telling the Wittebane story. It was just...filler. To stretch out the running time. Which is....kind of precious. Only 40 minutes. If you're obsessive enough about lore, you already knew the story from the Hollow Mind paintings. That scene was for casual viewers. Which is useless, because there's no point in casual viewers learning about Evelyn and Caleb because it never went anywhere.

Also. I personally think that if there was any value to learning the Wittebane lore without making it plot relevant, it would be for the sake of character development. We wanted to know how the kids would react to this knowledge.

Well how did they react?

*Shrug* They seemed a little unnerved but they kinda forgot about it the second they got off the hayride.

So what was the point of all that? What was the point?

Is it because we wanted "Goodbye, Evelyn," to be more of gut punch?

Was it worth it? Was "Goodbye, Evelyn" worth it? We know fucking nothing about Evelyn.

I think the rebus was a stupid and lazy means for the kids to discover Titan's blood. You introduce this mysterious object that was hidden under the floorboards and then you just use it as a plot device.

When the kids uncover the rebus and find the secret code inside, the viewer is not thinking about how it can be used as a means to an end (finding blood) The viewer is thinking "what the fuck is that thing and how did it get there and how did Flapjack know it was there?"

Questions that will not be answered <333

ALL IM SAYING is that I'm sure the crew could have come up with another way for the kids to have a Titan's blood treasure hunt. Maybe they could have dug a little more into the history of Gravesfield and follow leads on weird things happening on this one spot in the graveyard (which turns out to be because there's magical energy there, revealed when Luz realizes she can use glyphs)

I just think that if you're gonna leave the mystery box a mystery, you shouldn't have included it.

And I know. Its subtle storytelling. There's elements of what could have been a far more complex story and they're leaving hints of it here and there.

Well the thing about that is I think the hints are very unsatisfying and weaken the episode's plot significantly.

Also I don't think they should get to just pick and choose what parts of the lore are subtle and what parts are ham-fisted.

YES we are going to be reminded like three times that Flapjack is being secretive and hiding things from Hunter.

NO we are never going to get a payoff for that because he gets shanked and dies first.

BUT!! BUT!! If you squint, its IMPLIED that Flapjack belonged to Evelyn and blah blah blah

You don't get to rub things in the audience face and then choose to be all subtle about it at the last minute. Pick one or the other.

Anyway....I think they could have written Thanks to Them as more of an intriguing and suspenseful horror mystery where they spend forty minutes gathering clues and everything finally clicks together at the very end. That's not what we got.

We got a very weak attempt on the Hexsquad's part to be little detectives, but like a minute of screen time was devoted to them dicking around in a library, a costume shop, and a zoo.

I don't think we can blame the shortening for this.

[steddieunderdogfics]

This week's writer's spotlight feature is: @rindecision! With forty-two works on Ao3 in the Stranger Things fandom, they've written thirty-one (!) works with the Steddie ship tag!

Nominated by @skjachukson, they recommend the following works by rindecision:

You Know Where to Find Me — Live Aid

Nectar

Give Me Fuel, Give me Fire

From Hell and Back

Rindecision has been a great friend throughout the Steddie holiday exchange, and their writing is just so fantastic. - @skjachukson

Below the cut, @rindecision answered some questions about their writing process and some of their recommended work!

Why do you write Steddie?

It started when my partner asked me to. I’ve always loved writing, but I never got into fanfics until they asked me to write a specific type of story that led to the creation of The Devil of Hawkins. From there it was a slippery slope!

What’s your favorite trope to READ?

Due to ADHD and the corresponding comprehension issues, I rarely read. Not just fics, but anything really. Although, I do personally enjoy whatever the sneaking around trope is. The characters being intimate in places or situations where they shouldn’t be.

What’s your favorite trope to WRITE?

So far I’ve found that I enjoy FWB to Lovers with Steddie. Most of my fics tend to revolve around that.

What’s your favorite Steddie fic?

I’m currently enjoying ‘I Think I Could Have Been Someone’ by @madaboutmunson

Is there a trope you’re excited to explore in a future work but haven’t yet?

I’m new to fandoms so honestly I don’t really know a lot of tropes by name, but I have a long list of fics I want to write at some point. I have a ‘Through The Ages’ Steddie series in mind that I hope to do at some point. 

What is your writing process like?

Harrowing. It’s honestly pretty complex as I’m using writing fanfics as a means to improve as a writer in general so I can be more confident when I get around to my originals. But the short version is: Rough Draft -> Proof Read 1 -> Beta Proof -> Proof Read 2 -> Grammar Edit -> Text-To-Speech Edit -> Final Beta Proof.

Do you have any writing quirks?

Probably, lol. I try to keep my writing concise and leave little up to the imagination. The partner that requested I write fanfics has aphantasia (lack of imagination) and they read everything I write, so I want them to be able to enjoy it just as much as anyone else. 

Do you prefer posting when you’ve finished writing or on a schedule?

I’m kind of chaotic on this one. It depends on the fic to be honest. So far, I’ve found I prefer posting ongoing fics without a schedule that I just post a chapter on as soon as I’m done editing it, whenever that happens to be. Other than the ‘You Know Where to Find Me’ series, the only fics I’ve posted on a schedule have been event fics and it’s been a bit more stressful than I expected it to be.

Which fic are you most proud of?

That would have to be my ‘You Know Where to Find Me’ series. Particularly the first one: ‘Valentines ‘85’ 

How did you get the idea for You Know Where to Find Me — Live Aid?

I needed something powerful between ‘Independence Day’ and ‘First Day of School’ but couldn’t think of anything that would work. @stardust-walker helped me work out the details. That entry genuinely wouldn’t exist without their help. 

When writing Nectar, what was something you didn’t expect?

Managing to stay under the 20k word limit. 😅 

What inspired Give Me Fuel, Give me Fire?

A Twitter post about mechanic Steve in cut-off shorts.

What was your favorite part to write from From Hell and Back?

That’s a hard one. I don’t think I have a singular part that I liked the most, but I really enjoyed being able to explore the logistics and lore around Eddie being a shapeshifting demon. In and out of Steve’s bedroom.

How do/did you feel writing Give Me Fuel, Give me Fire?

I was surprised by the reception it got, and I can’t wait to get back to writing it as soon as I’m done with the Stranger Things Reverse Big Bang

What was the most difficult part of writing You Know Where to Find Me — Live Aid?

The time limit. I had 2 weeks to write and edit nearly 30k words. It made me hit burnout HARD, but I got it back pretty quickly.

Do you have a favorite scene and/or line from any of your fics?

I think that would have to be the first kiss in The Devil of Hawkins. It was also the first Steddie kiss I ever wrote. 🤍

“You aren’t stopping me, Harrington.” Eddie’s lips barely grazed over Steve’s as he spoke. “I know,” Steve squeaked. The feeling of Steve’s lips plucking his like a guitar pick was more than he could handle. He leaned forward, finalizing the kiss. They both let out a small groan. Eddie placed his other hand on the back of Steve’s neck, holding his head carefully, yet firmly. Eddie pulled away for a moment and looked at Steve; there was a look of longing on his face. An expression that Eddie was hoping for. He faintly smiled before pushing Steve’s lips to his own, plunging his tongue between them. He could feel Steve tense below him before relaxing into it.

Do you have any upcoming projects or fics you’d like to share/promote?

‘You Know Where to Find Me’ will be coming to a close in March, but there will be at least 5 more entries to it. I will also be posting my entry for the STRBB in March. I hope after those are done I can jump back into my ongoings.

Outside of these questions, Is there anything YOU would like to add?

I just want to say a HUGE thank you to everyone that’s read my work, and a platonic hug and kiss for those who have gone out of their way to leave comments or reblog them. It means the world to me 🤍🖤

Thank you to our author, @rindecision and our nominator, @skjachukson! See more of @rindecision's work featured on our page throughout the day!

Writer's Spotlight is every Wednesday! Want to nominate an author? You can nominate them here!

[blueheronpronouns]

I started making a post with my thoughts about the debate last night, and I'm back to finish it this morning. Here's what I wrote last night:

This really really REALLY showed off the differences between the two of them in so many ways,,,, Harris went for the handshake, he tried to ignore her. Harris looked at him, and he never looked at her or said her name. Harris was mostly clear and concise and rarely interrupted, and he wouldn't SHUT THE FUCK UP. Overall she comes across as much more put together, sane, and articulate than him (mostly because. she is.)

All of the memes that are coming out of it are insane (eating dogs, killing babies, transgender operations on illegal aliens in prison, Trump lusting over Putin/Kim Jong-un, etc.) and I honestly think we need to not ever shut up about them!!! Keep bringing it up!! Keep making fun of all the stupid shit he says!!! Keep highlighting how genuinely crazy he is!! He doesn't get called out on his bullshit enough so we need to!!

I genuinely think he thinks he's still running against Biden,,, yet another thing to add to the "reasons why he's crazy" list.

I strongly disagree with Harris on some points. There were things she said that made me full-body cringe. However, at the end of the day, I'm still voting for her - I'm too scared of what could happen in another Trump term. I think we still need to pressure her on some of her policies, and that we need to break the two party system (but we need to start small with that one; win local elections first!) but I'll still vote for her come November.

Thoughts this morning:

Taylor Swift supporting Harris is actually really huge. I bet voter registration numbers are going to really go up in the next few days.

Can we PLEASE call Harris by her last name or her full name? We refer to every male presidential candidate by their last names, so why do a lot of people still just call her "Kamala"? (it was brought to my attention that this is a branding decision, which honestly makes a lot of sense! Still leaving this point up though as it feels disingenuous to remove it. I'll also continue to call her Harris, but I feel a lot better about people calling her Kamala now)

Damn that debate was insane. Gotta laugh about how insane our politics are or else I'll cry I guess-

it's so funny that he doesn't even want to be associated with vance,,,

Anyways, that's all I wanted to say- shoutout Tumblr for having the funniest memes about that hellscape of a debate!!!

[starrysnowdrop]

Dawntrail Review and Thoughts

So, it’s taken me a while to not only finish the msq but also to gather my thoughts, but here’s my review of Dawntrail, as well as what my OCs and their ships will be doing during 7.0. I’m going to be doing bullet points and trying to be as concise as I can. I’ll try not to ramble!

As expected, MAJOR spoilers for the entire 7.0 msq ahead, so please don’t click below if you don’t want to be spoiled!

CAUTION: SPOILERS AHEAD!!!

What I Enjoyed

The graphics update really shines in the Tural zones, because everything is so beautiful!! The weather effects, the textures, god it’s all stunning! I took my time just looking around at everything, and over and over I stopped and just stared at flowers, or water, or mountains in the distance.

Even the later zones were outstanding, but my favorite zone by far is Yak T’el, especially the lowlands where the Mamool Ja are from. It reminded me so much of Macalania Woods from FFX, and I already have some gposes planned in that area for a reason. It’s probably my favorite zone in game right now.

The world building in DT is excellent, and I also loved learning all about the different peoples and cultures found throughout Tural. I actually liked how the WoL is learning about Tural alongside Wuk Lamat participating in the Rite of Succession. Though the msq was slow at times in the first half, I didn’t mind it really because I was taking my time doing side quests and getting all the Aether currents along the way.

For the most part, I really enjoyed all the new characters that were introduced in DT, and I also loved that we learned about Krile and Erenville as well. I wish some characters had a bit more screen time and development, but overall the characters themselves were great, except for one that I’ll get to later.

The new lore that DT has established, especially with the key that allows travel between reflections, and now with a sort of merging/failed rejoining?? of a reflection with the Source via Alexandria, I am extremely excited to see where the overarching story is going from here. And you all saw that the key had the Azem symbol on it when it was activated, right? Yeah, that plus the fact that we got a LOT of new Lalafellin lore via Krile’s origins and such, I am eating all the lore up!! Azem AND lala lore??? I’m in heaven and I’m so excited to see how this will effect Hali’s story in particular moving forward (as she’s a lala and she is my Azem).

What I Didn’t Enjoy

I actually enjoyed the beginning of the MSQ with the rite of succession. The biggest complaint I had with it was that it was slow in some parts, but honestly that’s about it. The second half feels like it could be its own separate expansion really. But that’s also not really an issue.

After much thought, I realized that I was so disturbed by how the Alexandrian culture worked in the second half of the MSQ that the last zone didn’t hit me emotionally enough for me to care about the Endless.

I was vibing with the story up until Living Memory. I understand how Krile, Erenville, and even Wuk Lamat would be conflicted about shutting down the terminals and “erasing” all of the Endless as they say, but me as the player, it did not hit me emotionally like I suspect that it’s supposed to. I was like “okay, these people aren’t real, just shut it down. Why do I care?”

Another thing is Sphene as an antagonist. I just did not like her at all, and to me, she is one of the weakest antagonists we have had so far. I hated how the narrative was trying to convince us that Sphene was originally a good person who had good intentions, and that we should empathize with her, but it didn’t make me care at all for her in the end.

It goes back to my point before that the way the Alexandrians use souls as a commodity and don’t seem to care that they’re using other people’s souls to extend their own lives, and that they don’t even remember their loved ones because their memories get erased so they don’t experience the pain of death, it all disturbed me so much that I just did not have much sympathy for the Alexandrians or Sphene.

What This Means for Hali

For Hali, she has recently learned Pictomancy alongside Krile, and she will be the one who is helping Wuk Lamat with the Rite of Succession; Aymeric is going with her and remains with her all through 7.0 and potentially the patch content.

She will be with Wuk Lamat, Erenville, and the others throughout 7.0, and though she will have a really hard time dealing with the Alexandrians and how they treat souls, memories, and the like, as she will be highly disturbed by it all, but she follows Wuk Lamat’s lead nonetheless.

Hali is enjoying playing the Mentor figure and being the source of advice, comfort, and the muscle whenever she is needed, while Aymeric is a tremendous help for Wuk Lamat when it comes to learning about leadership and navigating through her first days as the new Vow of Resolve.

Overall, Hali’s story follows the MSQ nearly identically, except that Aymeric is with her and they both are advisors and mentors to Wuk Lamat. After the final battle, Hali and Aymeric stay in Tulliyollal for a bit longer to actually have their vacation time.

What This Means for Yume

(Yume’s side blog: @firelightmuse)

For Yume, her DT experience will be vastly different from Hali’s. As she will be in a committed relationship with Zenos by then after she saves his life following their duel in Ultima Thule, Yume will begin DT by wandering Tural with Zenos and hunting down Tural Vidraal as a newly trained Viper.

Yume and Zenos will not be assisting in the Rite of Succession for any candidate, nor will they be involved with any of the politics. However, they will show up to help in the defense of Tuliyollal both times that the city is attacked, and they will be involved with the final battle alongside Hali and the other WoLs (shoutout to my friends’ OCs Meeps @meepsthemiqo and Astrid and Arslan @traveler-of-light).

Following the final battle, Yume and Zenos will also remain in Tural for a while (for the patch content I suspect) before they head back to their home in Shirogane.

That’s all I have for DT reactions for now. If you’ve made it this far, thank you so much for taking your time reading all of this! I’m super curious as to what all of your thoughts are, so feel free to comment or send me an ask or whatever! Once again, thank you!! 💖

[gumnut-logic]

Five times Virgil tackled loopy family members, and one time they tackled him (Part Six, Bit 1)

Part One | Part Two | Part Three | Part Four | Part Five | Part Six - Bit 1

This is an attempt to finish this fic off. Unfortunately, this last part is big and I was unable to fully complete it this morning. But there is some Tracy boy action in this, so I hope you enjoy what should be the first half of the last chapter of this fic.

Now I have to go to work, drat it.

-o-o-o-

…and one time his family had to tackle him.

It was another fire.

Virgil had seen so many wildfires now they were at Tuesday status. Didn’t mean they weren’t tiring.

It was a full team effort and they had been at it for hours in the Californian hills. Virgil wanted to curse the eucalypts that weren’t supposed to be here, but honestly the native pines burned just as much, both full of flammable sap that just set the fires roaring.

At first he had stayed in Two, water-bombing with local fire services and laying down a firebreak to stop it all from getting into suburbia.

There lay the nightmare. The few times a wildfire had breached a city limits were all on Virgil’s most hated rescues list. Not that fire anywhere wasn’t horrible, but the city increased the density of human lives and ever so many more were inevitably lost.

Once the firebreak was set, he went back to slowing it down, but then some fire personnel were trapped and he had to leap out of Two to save them. A family who should have evacuated earlier also found themselves trapped on their property ahead of the fire front and again Virgil was the only one able to reach them.

By this time he already had his firesuit on and with a second thought also grabbed his exosuit. There was no indication it was needed, but he felt much more secure with it on.

Gordon called it his ‘wooby-suit’. Well, once, Virgil’s reaction had been sufficient to nub that one in the bud.

His brother still snickered on occasion when Virgil announced he was suiting up.

His fish brother really was a little shit at times.

A loveable one, but a shit nonetheless.

The house was a two storey at the very end of a cul-de-sac. Its driveway disappeared into the trees and as Virgil landed Two in the path of the oncoming fire, he had a few curse words for those who didn’t follow wildfire prevention protocols.

Two barely fit on the dead-end road, her backend almost nudging one of the other primly neat, ordered and now deserted homes.

At least one garden gnome met a gruesome end.

Virgil barely noticed. Moments and he was running down that winding dirt driveway. It appeared that it was one of those hidden pathways to a lot bigger property. Fortunately, John was in his ear with clear and concise directions.

A house appeared after a decent jog through the trees, Virgil frowned. There was no car packed for an emergency retreat. It all appeared deserted.

Only the backdrop of smoke and the ash drifting on the air gave the landscape any urgency.

“They are sheltering in the basement.” He could hear the frown in John’s voice.

“Well, get them out here. I don’t have time to dig them out.”

“I have been trying. They are quite panicked.”

John was interrupted by Scott. “Thunderbird Two, you are needed on the south-west flank, we have break through.”

“FAB, Thunderbird One. Retrieving two rescuees. ETA in ten.”

“Make it five, we have unevacuated civilians in the fire’s path.”

Again?

What the hell?

“FAB, Thunderbird One.”

Damnit.

The house itself could have stood in for one of those horror films. Tall, two storey, made of wood, not maintained too well. Even its paintwork screamed black and white Hitchcock.

Virgil didn’t bother with the front door, instead scooting around the side of the building to a set of external cellar doors. He banged on the wood with a claw. “International Rescue!” No response. “You called for help?”

“Virgil!” John’s voice was panicked.

A man appeared out of nowhere, yelling something incomprehensible. Virgil staggered backwards at a sharp pain in his arm. Someone else tried to grab him.

What the-?

“Get the damned machine off him! Cut the hydraulics!”

Virgil reacted, spinning where he stood, exosuit arms coming up in defence. Kayo’s instructions chanting in his mind, unbidden.

Disable and run. That’s all you have to do, Virgil. You don’t want to fight. Don’t fight. Run!

He wasn’t very manoeuvrable in the suit, but he was practised. Keep moving. Don’t let them immobilise you!

His right claw was a huge weapon and it barrelled into two men as he spun.

“Goddamnit! Get it right the third time, you idiots!” A woman’s voice and Virgil realised the cellar doors were open. She was climbing out to join the fray.

He spun, hitting someone else. How many were there? What did they want?

Why?

John shouted something in Virgil’s ear. Something about Scott.

Someone jumped onto his back, a hand blocking his vision as it gripped his helmet.

Pain as cold metal cut into the shoulder of his uniform.

Virgil set his feet and disengaged the exosuit, flinging himself away.

He hit dirt as the woman yelled at the men again, but he didn’t give himself time to register what she said, instead launching himself off the ground and running just as Kayo had told him to do.

“Get him, you idiots!”

Virgil’s breath was harsh in his ears as he put everything into his legs towards the safety of Two. His fire suit hampered him and he wished for the umpteenth time in his life that he had Scott or John’s long legs. But life had gifted him with strong, sturdy, and a damn sight shorter. He was literally made for heavy lifting.

And not for running.

But run he did.

For the trees.

His brain screamed at him about the fire hazard, about the glow above those trees, the ash dancing in the air, but he needed cover. A mix of eucalypt and pine waving in the hot wind.

Sparks drifting lazily past.

He wanted to stop and gaze at them but there was a voice urging him on.

And that horrible woman screeching far behind.

The scrub swallowed him whole.

-o-o-o-

“Scott!”

“Thunderbird Two will be available momentarily. We have pods to deploy and slow progress.” Scott stared at the map, suddenly missing Virgil’s input. This was definitely Virgil territory. Maybe he should switch out Gordon for Virg and assign him to control. One could take up the slack. “Yes, Thunderbird Five?”

“Virgil has been attacked. Code Green. Sending you coordinates.”

“What?!” He straightened so fast his back cracked. A glance at the fire chief and he was grabbing his helmet and moving. “Alan, I need One now!”

He didn’t need to ask for further information. As he slapped on his helmet, John threw it at his HUD. A live feed of five assailants chasing the staggering green dot of his brother.

“Virgil’s vitals indicate he may have been drugged. I’m seeing spikes in his heart rate and his direction of retreat has become erratic.” John’s tone was clipped but full of tension. “He will not reach Thunderbird Two before he is overtaken.”

“Call in Kayo and notify the GDF.” He barely heard his own words as Alan dumped One precisely down beside him. Her ladder lowered and his feet were on it before it could hit dirt.

Dust welled up around his ‘bird as Alan launched her back into the air. Scott grabbed the cargo bay railing and secured himself.

“Gordon is inbound with the Dragonfly.” Alan’s voice was as clipped as John’s, not even turning to look at Scott. “ETA twenty seconds.”

“FAB.”

One shot through the thick smoke of the fire front, leaving swirls of grey atmosphere behind it, and emerging out into the clear air of the yet to be burnt.

Evacuated suburbia lay quiet below as Alan threw the Thunderbird to the right and spun down for an abrupt and determined landing in the front yard of someone’s wannabe mansion.

“Stay with One. Keep her secure.” Scott was moving before his littlest brother could protest.

A tactical readout appeared on Scott’s HUD as his feet hit dirt. Gordon’s dragonfly pod touched down beside him, his fish brother’s eyes catching his.

Without words, Scott grabbed onto the pod and Gordon launched her to skim across the ground, closing the little distance between them and the trees.

Thunderbird Two sat quiet beyond the property, her green hull gathering grey ash as firefighting aircraft buzzed about the fire front, a closing distance away.

“Shadow is inbound, ETA ten minutes. A security team in on their way. Colonel Casey has confirmed a response from the GDF as soon the fire has been controlled.”

“What?!” But as Scott’s boots hit the ground again, he didn’t have time to discuss the GDF’s inadequacies. “Virgil’s status?”

“I’m getting no response. He is speaking, but not to me. He appears incoherent.” A pause. “Approach him with caution.” Another pause. “Five assailants still closing.”

Rage leaked through Scott’s composure, but he had no more time for that than he did for the GDF’s failings. “Gordon, you have my six.”

And they were swallowed by the trees.

-o-o-o-

TBC

[stylinsoncity]

Sorry if this ask is a little long. I’m going to be a little cheesy here :’)

I am an extremely avid reader: I’ve read literary classics and trashy BookTok romances and dark political satire books and NOTHING, I mean NOTHING makes me as excited to read than when I see you updating on AO3. I used to tell myself that I was just new to the fandom and getting into reading fics about my favorite artists and THAT’s why I downloaded CAYA and SEL and The Wonderlands onto my Books app where I would just reread and reread and reread. I’ve memorized some of your words at this point. Like when you’re rewatching your favorite sitcom and you’re ready to recite the next line of dialogue hahaha

I just read the first chapter of The Thrill of It All and I DEVOURED it. I reread some sentences out loud, slowly, because they were written so beautifully, with such diligence and care. I realized that moments like that are why I liked reading so much in the first place. Even though it was only around 6000 words, I’m already so amazed by the characterization and the way you’ve set the romantic and moody vibe already in the chapter.

I’m writing this ask because I went through some of your Tumblr posts and I can tell that you’re putting a teeeeeny bit of pressure on yourself to finish your works in progress and to post the ABO fic and to edit CAYA for publishing and you’re also navigating the fandom’s recent loss and all I wanted to say is that I trust your ability to put out magic like you always do, whenever it happens. You probably hear this all the time, but you have a very wonderful gift for writing. Take whatever time you need to update/write fics. I’ll patiently reread your magna opera until then! I’ll obviously miss your writing if you’re not continuing after these next two fics but please know that your works had a profound impact on me. Thank you for sharing the little corners of your beautiful mind! <3

okay well you successfully made me tear up!!

i struggle so much responding to things when they make me have Emotions because it becomes difficult to concisely express how i feel and what the message means to me. and then i worry about being wordy and ultimately not explaining myself well.

your perceptiveness and attention to my headspace is genuinely appreciated. i definitely do put quite a bit of pressure on myself. i'm anxious and a perfectionist which is an exhausting combination for so many reasons. i feel like everyone here is pretty understanding and very many are familiar with how long it takes me to update and how scatterbrained i can be. and it honestly does help for ppl to pay attn to those things. somehow it makes me feel safer being a little bit of a mess.

i'm also kind of coming to terms with having anxiety and adhd and accepting that this is how i create and that's okay. so i try to be nicer to myself but every now and then, i do get into a place of like wishing i could do a bit better, work a bit faster, etc... so what you've said honestly does help more than i can express. i really mean that! thank you so much D':

and for the lovely comments on my work... also thank you!! i'm so happy you're enjoying the thrill of it all so far.. you also just named all of my favorite children lol so i'm even more moved by this message.. i still feel like i'm not fully conveying just how moved i am!! but genuinely thank you for your support and patience and love! ily!!

[shares-a-vest]

20 Questions for Writers

I was tagged by the wonderful @hbyrde36 and @sidekick-hero. Thank you both so much for the tags 💖 I always love seeing authors talking about their work!

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

Six. I really need to cross-post some stuff, including what I wrote for Steddie Love Month and the Flufftober Spring Event.

2. What's your total AO3 word count?

16,565 words.

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Stranger Things and let me tell you, the brainrot is not subsiding (it is settling in to fester now).

4. What are your top 5 3 fics by kudos?

you should come live with me and we can be pirates, then you won't have to cry

Just a Shirt

Eds, I'm Hungry

5. Do you respond to comments?

Yes! And I'm sure my answers are always too long-winded 😂 It makes me so happy to get comments on the silly things I write. Actually, brb, I'm sure in the initial excitement, I have forgotten to respond to some here and there.

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

This ficlet (WARNING: BREAK UP FIC). Life got hectic during Eddie Month so I only wrote a couple of things and this one hurrrrt baaad.

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

Hmm, tough to pick seeing as I usually write happy endings. Lol, the number of times I ended something with Steddie kissing or saying, "I love you". I think I'll go with the entirety of my Joanie Munson AU because it's where I aim to be as fluffy/sappy as possible.

8. Do you get hate on fics?

I am extremely thankful that so far I haven't. And I am sending all my love and hugs to people who deal with/have dealt with hateful comments.

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

Steve Harrington & Eddie Munson vs. A Box of Condoms is the closest I have come (hehe, pun). Idk, I struggle to write smut. I'm much better with suggestive language and innuendo, but somehow this fic got the balance right and honestly, gave me a lot of confidence!

10. Do you write crossovers?

No. But I need everyone to know that I have a Riverdale x ST crossover sloshing around in my brain juice on the regular.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not to my knowledge. But now I'm paranoid *also proceeds to have an existential crisis about ai scraping my very internet-based soul.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

No, but I'm more than welcome for someone to reach out.

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

No. I am absolutely open to it though! The closest to a collab I have done is Just a Shirt in which I wrote a whole fic from some incredible tags that were left on a ficlet.

14. What's your all-time favorite ship?

I mean, it's gotta be Steddie right? I've never had a hyperfixation give me brainrot like this. Though, if we go back to lame teenage me, the ship that really got me into the fic/tumblr sphere was Sterek.

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

I have been returning to a few wips I thought I had abandoned lately, so never say never. I firmly believe in taking a break if something isn't working out and circling back with fresh eyes.

16. What are your writing strengths?

Despite how I am probably answering most of these questions (lmao), I think I am pretty good at keeping my writing concise and moving it right along. It's not that I rush writing, but I am good at recognising when something I have written begins to meander. I like writing dialogue where people are cutting each other off, and crafting stuff that is a quick little ficlet etc. Having said this...

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

Descriptive language. I always get so caught up in action and dialogue that I easily forget descriptions of surroundings, objects, clothes etc. Funnily enough, right now I am working on a few quick visual aids (flash-sheet style sketches) for my Steddie BB fic of things that I need to keep in mind/remember to describe as a strategy that will hopefully help.

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

I could never do it (I only speak English), but honestly, kudos to you if you do/can!

19. First fandom you wrote for?

Stranger Things is the first fandom I have written for.

20. Favorite fic you've written?

I swear to god this isn't a plug, but I thiiiiink it might be the wip I am oh-so-close to finishing. It's basically a character study of Steve's Mom and is her POV of the end of season 3. I have shared some snippets in the STWG server (and complained during writing sprints). I just need to do a solid edit and get a vibe-check read-through from someone else then it's good to go!!!

Tagging: @momotonescreaming @eyesofshinigami @devondespresso @missberrycake @steventhusiast

(I know this tag game has been making the rounds, so if you see this and haven't been tagged yet, count this as a tag)

[calipsoup2electricboogaloo]

Ok so I was able to do like 3 of the prompts—I’m probably not going to finish the rest until tomorrow so that’s rough.

BUT ANYWAYS

Top Left is Monday prompt (Saints or Ghosts) and I said lmao why not both but make it angsty—specifically ran Where Can I Run (reprise) in my head over and over again too think of this one. I always thought the eye imagery thought the musical was sick so like why not make it the ghosts and saints. It was super fun messing with brushes for the Quincy’s wing tho—Vincent calling Quincy angel lives in my head rent free :’)

Top Right is Thursday prompt (Self-made or socially constructed) and I chose Ambrose bc it was between him and Beatrix and I already had Beatrix for another piece and besides I wanted to draw the golden boy mwahahaha. Anyway, the scene where Vincent describes how Ambrose makes art with perfect precision and how Vincent makes art in a more messy way also lives in my head rent free and I thought it would be cool if I didn’t make something super concise with my lineart, with a painted vibe for color, and only gold (bc golden boy)—oh and then the blood showed up and honestly it all just checks out.

Bottom is Sunday prompt (pre-freshman year or post graduation) and how could I not do post grad when the Other Side of failure lives in my head rent free :’) I’m not really happy with it that much—I’ll probably finish it later but I do like the textures/colors that I pulled and am super happy with the overall design.

Hopefully I’ll get the Tuesday, Friday, and Saturday prompts up before the end of fan week but idk if I have the time to do the Wednesday one lmao—but even if its late Imma still post it bc I already have drafts of them all done and I need to draw more Beatrix bc they’re just so neat teehee

[1800duckhotline]

https://www.tumblr.com/1800duckhotline/748414044204154880/i-seriously-think-this-show-was-created-in-a-lab?source=share

hi! im not able to send you dms but i really want to know what you think about hazbin. i downed the entire thing in a day out of morbid fascination of seeing how that artstyle animates, but the quality of the script and handling of the structure of the show are so dogshit that the show has been lodged in my mind. and my friends who i can rely upon for their thoughtful analysis are not people who would watch it.

basically Hello Send Help

Honestly you summed up most of my plights within the show already, its just dogshit all around flaming and whatnot and i cannot believe there's 30 years old who eat this slop up. i can forgive teenagers for liking it (i am very self-aware as someone who read fucking homestuck when i was 13) but i cannot forgive fully grown adults for thinking this show has any sort of nuanced or well-written story

i finished watching the show feeling less aggravated by the designs and visual dev of the whole thing (though obviously its still really bad), and instead more by how insultingly and exhilaratingly bad the writing was.

i could literally take out my blocknote review of the whole show starting from ep 1 to ep 8 but i want to spare my friends who dgaf about hearing about this show. so ill just try to resume concisely my thoughts using my notes as crutches

this will be a very long one and again to spare people of pain ill put it under a readmore

vivienne medrano does not care about the female characters in her own show. idk about helluvaboss and i honestly dont want to watch it unless someone watches it with me, but from what i hear hazbin hotel was supposed to be the show "focused on the girls" while helluva boss was supposed to "focus on theboys". you'll never guess what happens in this show. the main 2 girls, who are supposed to be protagonist, are completely flat characters, that are given the slightest margin of spotlight THE LAST TWO EPISODES OF THE SEASON, and no 8 episodes isnt a justification for the dogshit writing they have. vaggie is the "angry mean militaristic lesbian of color who also coddles her white girlfriend" and charlie is "goody two shoes who doesn't use her powers as literal PRINCESS OF HELL because it's 'too mean' and who is babied and is also written like a baby that doesnt know how to act besides being 'positive and whimsical'". they are literally a ship trope shipped together because idk.

most of the development in the show is handed onto the guys, obviously, as they get the most songs, most exposure to their backstories, and most interactions that are somewhat written less one-dimensionally than the girls. (not to say the guys aren't also walking ship tropes for fanfic purposes). like you can't spin this in a way that doesn't sound bad, the men just get more spotlight and that's a fucking fact. so much for "focus on the girls". fucking SIR PENTIOUS GETS A SONG AFTER HIS DEATH, GUYS

none of the angel vs hell lore makes any fucking lick of sense, and i dont mean to say it needs to be biblically adjacent, it just doesnt make fucking sense even in the "original" lore it is constructing. how is hell supposed to be a threat to heaven when hell denizens dont have access to heaven?? this question alone makes anyone question what the hell the exterminations really are for. also, like, i really fucking hate adam, he's literally the most annoyingly written villain, like he's not even funny in a trashy way. if you want to make your main villain a hypocrite who's also a massive misogynist and sexist, writing him like a frat bro makes sense if your story is set in a college campus. this is HEAVEN AND HELL. all of his lines are just stupid and senseless for the context this all takes place in (also like lute being essentially a tradwife for him is literally such a stupid choice, if you want to make a meaningful commentary about misogyny among women this isnt how it works)

all of the sin and pure shit and repenting deal is like... literally awful. for a show that prides itself on owning the bigots who think gay sex and doing drugs and doing crimes is all inherently evil, the writing really does not do itself a favor of subverting this real-world bigoted way of thinking. as unintentional as it might be it kind of just reinforces it when the character they decide to 'repent' is fucking angel dust, a literal sex worker stuck in a cycle of abuse with an abusive rapist pimp and who does drugs as a way to cope in his life. because obviously sex work (and bdsm) is inherently sinful and disgusting and the only way to repent is to give up disgusting gay sex and sinful drugs and just stick it to the abuser that has you literally by the leash! i dont think this was intentional but it comes off as hilariously stupid and straight up tactless. (also we don't talk about how the storyboarded for the song poison apparently also drew rape comics of angel dust and valentino before as a kink thing)

oh on the topic of valentino, i dont fucking get people liking him. he is literally shown to be abusive and a rapist. people will see a thin man who's not straight and hump his legs like their life depends on it. at least he isnt white but i'd actually say this makes everything worse because vivienne medrano LOVES making the characters in her show of ambiguous ethnicities/backgrounds and ends up making most of the awful ones, of color. again dont think this is INTENTIONALLY done but it still comes across as horrid nonetheless. whew!!!

also i hate alastor in all types ways sauces and forms. he exists to attract fangirls and rabid fans who love tumblr sexymen. other than his design being tremendously aggravating, he's literally just fucking useless, and i hate that the show tries to shoehorn in halfway that he's supposed to be a "dad figure" to charlie when he literally never has done anything dadlike for her in the whole show (and yes i watched the pilot, i still dont think this counts). the only saving grace for alastor is his voice acting. everything else needs to go. there is no saving this one

and, on the topic of alastor, i'm not the first one to point this out but something about him owning husk's soul (the one character being voiced by a black VA, who coincidentally also has a design that is conveniently ambiguous with him being a fucking. winged cat furry demon ig) has like some really bad vibes about it that i can't quite put my finger on. i'm not entirely qualified to like dissect the issues this whole show has with like... the way certain implied characters of color act within it (i say implied because vivziepop is allergic to giving the main characters of her shows actual dark skin colors that arent grey, except maybe some one-off side characters) but it was just so jarring i had to mention it

i also hate lucifer because again, made for purely fanfic ship tropes and rabid fans who are obsessed with 'pathetic sopping wet cat men' with that signular character trait. his persnality is: Depression and Dad. I literally hated every fucking moment in this show where he was in a scene and was treated as "just some guy". same with charlie. Like the lack of authority they have for a supposed KING AND PRINCESS OF HELL is just... i dont know? stupid?

conclusion is that i hate the show, i will however bee seeing season 2 just because at this point im in it for the long run, its just like, other than the visuals being awful; it was legitimately the least aggravating part for me (THIS DOESNT MEAN I LIKE THEM, I DONT, I HATE THEM TOO) but the whole writing is just... wow. i just don't understand how they got a24 to back this up. like you cant make this shit up this bad even if you tried. and im sure there's a trillion other things other people have more eloquently explained in how and which ways they are bad; these are just some of my thoughts.

my concluding statement is that i also feel really bad for people who do entire rewrites of this thing as 'fans'. i dont get it. like i get doing redesigns because it can be an exercise and because lets be real, like, everyones design is bad, hardly anything is salvageable or makes sense. but rewriting... guys please just make your own stories from scratch. at the cost of being told "omg this is just like hazbin hotel!" you have to persevere and just write your own shit. because doing the redesigns means unpacking heaps of 'lore' that doesnt make any whatsoever sense...

[jacksmusesdrv3]

Honestly I think people's tendency to do this sort of all or nothing thinking is silly. I've yet to write things down concisely but since finishing the game I like playing around in the sense where I pick one or several flashback lights (or other 'facts' mentioned in the game) to be true and see how that affects the pre and post V3 story. This in turn really gives you more playroom to interpret and understand certain aspects of the story and characters. Sorry, I'm not sure how to word it. Like yeah, what if Makoto really did make a new Academy? What if the world didn't end, but the virus is fact? What if V3 was fictional, but that doesn't mean the 'peaceful outside world' we were presented is real? Not only does that make fandom play more enjoyable, it also makes you really think about things beyond taking things at face value like I've sadly seen many fans do.

To disclaimer a bit that I have no qualm with people taking the 'All-Fiction' reading at its face if they like the pregame concept (I've seen some fun ideas like the meek Kokichi who wanted to become a good liar, that's a favourite I've seen anyway) or like, whatever other reason. It's just- yeah!! It's absolutely not the only possibility for canon nor is it particularly satisfying to those of us who want to play with canon context as opposed to like, imagined character-to-character progression to the canon, even if those can make for great stories on their own

*cue me going off in 3... 2... 1...*

And speaking of affecting pre and post V3, the dire consequences probable for any/all of the pre chapter 5 Flashback Lights being true- the mixed-motive videos involving characters, especially- knowing that dr2 used a distorted past as a motive, is just too juicy to pass up?? Especially if that involves characters who were otherwise trusted acting in untrustworthy ways, and this is gleaned in hindsight? Imagine if there was later content - a novel perhaps - to expand upon the world we dismissed as fiction and little by little we have to reckon with the consequences if we search it out, like how Dr0 told us of how the Tragedy came to be?? And DRV3 will never look the same again?? Especially if all this was gradually steamrollered by an unsuspecting Makoto opening up new hopes peak and that started to go spectacularly awry not least due to the collective tensions against Ultimates and-

-Just. FRICK!! The possibilities enough to drive one crazy

At least the hindsight part is how it's most meaningful for me, imagining the world itself - beyond the dystopian security tech Nanokumas, wwoah geez a lot to unpack - is so much harder to do, and can get extremely messy (probably because I'm at an overload with all the information-misinformation combo buuut also because of conspiracy themes nonsense) so like, a lot of work to do there.

...Oh! This reminds me of how Dr:Togami is apparently layered in this kind of cerebral shit that makes you think outside the box as to what the fresh hell is going on and pick apart false narratives, so all of these potential alternate if-not-x-then-y sorta threads you mentioned here, could be pulled together just like that! (I hope I'm understanding right- I need to actually READ DR:Togami but uh.)

[ansbobcar]

EP 2. Rabbits are a terrible excuse

WORD COUNT. 2239

Link to overview

_ _ _ _ _

Once she was met by the gloomy dreadful sight of her familiar dorm room, she heaved out. That was absolutely pointless. As a student of the superior between the two, there wasn’t really a good reason to leave the school she had dealt with for the past 4 years of her life, taking out her things from her oddly heavy suitcase barely touched during her stay.

A simple-minded life with a simple minded goal of leading a healthy and routine life. Graduate high school without any life-threatening stains in her record like that 1st year transfer weirdo, get a job in the Bureau of Magic and she’d consider her life fulfilled.

A knock on her door was heard. “Darren, are you back?” Was muffled through the wooden door. “You can enter,” which revealed a classmate of hers with two lines running down his left cheek from her view.

“How was your visit?” He wondered. 

She rolled her eyes, “It was boring. If you want me to compare the two schools, this one’s obviously superior to theirs,” as she continued unpacking. Attempting her best at summarising and reflecting about the matter concisely. 

“What about the students?”

“Barely met them since I,” she lost her words as an unfamiliar and sickly feeling overcame her stomach. Swiftly, she dunked her head into her suitcase and vented out a hearty scream. That’s a new sight for him to see, she covered a cheek with a puzzledly muddled expression once she was done. 

'Embarrassment?'

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing. Nothing’s remotely wrong about the situation,” she fumbled, continuing to reach into her baggage before she sighed. “But if I were to honestly answer your question…” she took a deep breath; “There’s this guy and…” she froze as a familiar warmth reached her fingertips. 

To his green eyes, she pulled out a creature from her luggage by the ears which crippled any remaining composure she had as her mouth twitched with restrained glee and more embarrassment.

“A rabbit?”

“Bunbun? Why are you in my suitcase?” Cradling it in her arms. Unable to hold it in any longer, she let out a defeated laugh. “You’re not helping my situation at all! He’d be terrified and lost with your disappearance,” scratching its chin lovingly.

'This rabbit has a name?' He held out his hand to stop her from rambling any further. “You’re telling me, that after 4 years of denying every love confession aimed at you and swearing off liking anyone, you have a crush on a student from Easton of all places?” He reiterated.

“Correction: I swore off shitty people here ‘cause they are all Grade A garbage,” she huffed. “Including you, Charlie,” which seemed to make him even more dejected than before.

“Just for a rabbit?” He pointed at Bunbun.

“Huh? What are you saying?” She placed the bunny down on her bed. “There’s a ton of them! It’s a win win situation for everyone if I leave!” She cheered with a spin. “You assholes don’t have to deal with my presence you all seem to hate so much and I don’t have to deal with so much bullshit from everyone here either!”

She clapped her hands together resolute in her choice. “I’ll go tell the principal right away!”

“But it’s”---she had already cast the spell--“midnight,” before he could finish his sentence. Her intrusion into the office and announcement had caused a conditional spell to be released through out the school, erupting its’ students into an uproar with the notice of her leave.

That day would mark one of the greatest cases of mass hysteria known in its’ school history.

_ _ _

“Bunaldo… how could you?” Rayne pointed his wand at the stubborn rabbit, who had been outcast by the others as the scapegoat. “You have violated one of the fundamental laws of this house, the outside world isn’t as kind as you think it is,” he glared at the buck.

“As punishment,” he flicked his wand and dragged him into a cage. “Reflect on your actions for the next week.”

A knock interrupted him from casting another spell. “Delivery?” He didn’t order any supplies, finding it oddly suspicious but the door was pushed open revealing the missing doe with that girl from yesterday morning. “You…”

“You’ll see me more often now,” she scratched her cheek as the bunny hopped in reunion with the rest.

“You transferred?”

“Yep.”

"What house did you get sorted in?"

"Adler."

'Shit.'

_ _ _

"Do you only eat mussels?" Watching her pull out her nth cooked mussel for what, her fourth day at school? "What are you?? An otter??"

"That's cute thing to compare me too!" She quipped. "Sea otters, you mean," as they walked to their next lesson. 

How in the world is she part of Adler?

A house meant for students with courage and conviction. She seemed to fit Lang better with her ability and ambition. Or maybe, the sorting hat hated her? He wouldn't deny how annoying she was, watching as the students apart from Max Land, his own roommate, made a bubble of 2 metres between them.

That was, until they had stepped out of the school's immediate walls and headed towards where his rabbits were kept.

“Impart Zero,” she uttered without batting an eye. Easily dispelling a barrage of mud headed their way as they stopped and turned to see a bespeckled student with 2 lines on their cheeks in a white robe that was lined with purple flame fabric in their view.

“So the rumours were true. The new transfer student is wandless,” he snickered.

“Why does that matter to you?” Clearly annoyed by his presence already.

“Because the full capability of a magic user lies within their wand, meaning this is the full extent of your capabilities right now."

She arched her brow at his words before she let out a sigh. “If you want to duel just say so in my face because… I need to know where the infirmary is.”

He hawked at her words. “Don’t worry, I’ll take you there when we’re done,” he aimed his wand at her. He had the upper hand, he’d drown her in quagmire before she could take another step.

“Thanks for telling me, Rayne,” she waved as her friend continued on without her before she faced the Lang House student. “Did you say something?” She didn’t listen to him? 

'The audacity of this random one-liner.'

“It doesn’t matter, MUDORUS!” But nothing happened as she walked closer towards him. Why wasn’t his wand working? No. It wasn’t his wand as he noticed tiny plots of mud where he had aimed. “MUDORUS!” It didn’t work! ‘Was it her magic? But she didn’t have a wand!’ His inability to accept this reality resulted in her fist colliding cleanly with his stomach. An easy K.O.

“Let’s get you to the infirmary,” she casually lifted his body with ease like a damsel.

Meanwhile, Rayne could only be reminded that she had uttered that spell in response to his own when they had met for the first time. Was her specialty dismantling magic? He’ll have to ask later.

_ _ _

The Lang House student groggily woke up. “Great, you’re awake,” she drawled him into a harsh thud against the wall, she tossed him another pillow patterned with stars. “What’s your name?” She pulled out a notebook and quill from her pocket to that question.

Agitated by her calm demeanour, he yapped, “What the hell did you do to me!?” She definitely did something illegal. Something foul. He just knew it.

“Nothing.”

“Bullshit,” he spat to her face. 'She definitely drugged me!'

“Tell me your name at least,” she clicked her tongue in annoyance. 

“Wirth Madl, 2nd Year.”

How fitting, she told herself as she held back a laugh and irritation. “Well…”

“I made you feel like nothing.”

His eyes widened as he fished out for his wand to cast another attack at her but was met with no results. His heart trembled at her resounding smirk. 

“If it’s a battle of strengths, you would lose,” she began. “A battle of survival and usefulness, you would best me… for now.”

“Nice to meet you, Wirth… Madl. I'm Darren Randel. 2nd Year from Adler,” she introduced herself personally before she stood up. “Your magic power will be back by sundown. Do what you want with that information.”

She uttered barely audible for his ears, “Good luck feeling worthless for a while.”

_ _ _

“Get a life will you?” He kicked the girl who was on the floor surrounded by rabbits. She barely moved an inch though. “But there’s barely anything to do other than do catch up study,” she mumbled. “Isn’t that right, Buns?”

To which the male rabbit nuzzled its head into the crook of her neck, much to her glee.

“I’m leaving,” he bluntly added. 

“So early!”

“The professors and wardens are stricter with curfews for being outside the main building by sundown,” he explained. It was simply due to the fact there were no compulsory mealtimes, which is incredibly lax on their part. “Then who uses the dining hall?”

“That’s for the middle school section, high school students are allowed to eat there as well but it’s not really a common occurrence.”

How boring, she thought to herself.

“What do you usually have for dinner?”

“Instant noodles with bean sprouts.”

“UNHEALTHY!” Bamboozled and horrified by his words, she instinctively punched his shoulder. 

“How big is your appetite?” She couldn’t care less about impressing him if he only ate junk and extra water. He was as good as dead to her if he didn’t eat well. 

“Two bowls of rice for dinner is my limit,” he responded. 

“With side dishes?” He nodded. “Any food preferences?”

“Vegetables.”

“Poké it is. Where's the kitchen?”

_ _ _

Once they arrived in the Adler Dorm Shared Kitchen, they were greeted by a mess with a raging oil fire and nobody left inside. Her patience seemed to be running thinner with infuriation. “Rayne, can you,” and the flames that danced violently at the stove dissipated before she could finish her sentence. 

'I know the spell,' her hands balled into tight fists.

“It was probably some 1st years,” he muttered as she began to somehow take out: frozen salmon, rice, lettuce, seaweed, corn, cucumber, some soy sauce in a bottle, and two bowls from her robe before wearing an apron. She cut the tuna into raw chunks as she let the rice cook in a pot. Within a few more minutes, she finished her dish. 

“Should keep you full for the night without feeling too heavy.”

He was a bit sceptical of the uncooked fish in the bowl but for the sake of having dinner, he took a bite of it with some rice and seaweed. His eyes lit up although barely noticeable to the average eye. It was simply delightful, savouring the cooled rice and cold sides.  “But how’d you get raw salmon?”

“I’ve got my connections,” she replied nonchalantly, as they scarfed down their meals dry and began to quickly wash and dry the dishes. Once they were done, they walked back. Their footsteps clicked and clapped in a syncopated rhythm with each other, as their thoughts wandered elsewhere.

For the serious outlooking one of the two, he was intrigued. 

The logic behind a dismantling spell is that the user must know what the targeted magic’s effects are in order to break it. The most basic and easily taught with this principle is ‘Dispel’ which only works once a spell has been inflicted onto a person or target. Whatever she used to break his Partisan and Wirth Madl’s attack, was more complex than a simple Dispel. Advanced magic dismantling is unheard of unless its’ tied to curses, a sense of uneasiness lurked from the lack of knowledge regarding her skillset.

Darren’s feet came to a standstill before she pivoted to face him on the 11th floor. “Just tell me what you want when the time comes, regarding food,” she stated clearly which puzzled him.

“You don’t have to.”

“But I will and you will oblige,” she pointed her finger at him. “I’m doing this for the win-win-win situation between the Bunnies, yourself and I, alright? We can all live comfortably without losing nutrition and I can get closer to you.”

Did he hear that correctly? “To ‘me’?” He repeated. Was this girl honest or plain stupid?

“Yes.” 

He arched his brow at her until her calm demeanour cracked with a single word.

“Shit.” 

Both it seemed.

She messed up the plan! 'Screw my worrying instincts,' scrunching up her hands into fists again. The plan was so damn simple, she was months--months early to the agenda. She didn’t know his favourite colour or his favourite food yet, they haven’t even become close friends yet! Stupid stupid Darren Randel!

“Forget that. I ain’t ready yet,” she searched for her key, retaining the remainder of her level-headedness by a few moments. “I’ll see you in the morning, Rayne.”

“Good night.”

Quickly dashing down the hall to her room: 822.

Well that was that, falling down to the floor when she entered her lonesome room.

"I fucked up big time," she cursed looking up to the night sky. "Oh Bunbun, how does your owner do it?"

In the meantime, he simply sighed.

‘I forgot to ask her about what she specialises in.’

‘Again.’

_ _ _ _ _

I got impatient and I also published this chapter on ao3 yesterday so uh... have it.

I forgot to say that my spelling tends to be inconsistent for the words which have ea and ee in them like sweet and sweat or for the ones which have like the uk and us spellings like specialize and specialise or practice and practise (it hurts my brain to think it I've got like french to overthink yk). So if you do see these in repeated succession, I apologise.

[chloeinletters]

hello! I love your work & your writing--as someone who is doing exactly the kind of thing I want to do (balancing substack + tumblr + internet identity/irl work) I was wondering if you could tell me a lil bit about how you came to the decision to link the two, and if there's anything you changed abt your tumblr use in doing so? tysm for your time!!

Hi!!

This is a really interesting question and I will try and be concise though I am not always good at that. Largely I was someone who was always sharing their writing online and during the pandemic I felt the desire to really take it more seriously as publications began closing and my options felt more limited. I was also like, I've essentially finished all my creative writing classes so why should I hold off from being a "writer."

A part of that did involve, in some ways, changing and reworking. I feel my motives in regard to social media is always how can I make this the easiest possible thing for me. I always want it to be easy and fun to do especially since I work full-time outside of writing for all my stuff. I didn't want it to feel precisely like a second job and I wanted it to be accessible to me on the go.

I changed my presence online in a kind of way. When I thought about what would be easy the easiest thing was like how can I be myself? Which I think is what makes So I had the handle chloe in letters reserved across most if not all platforms and I slowly began to establish myself on each. Instagram was probably the hardest and took the longest to figure out as far as the presentation. I began to experiment in early 2021 and I switched to a more casual personal approach so that it was easier and more me rather than a kind of steril homogenous vibe I had before which didn't really lend itself to, what I think is important in writing, which was feeling connected. It was also difficult to maintain.

Then one day I was on my way home from work and I wrote something in google docs and took a screenshot and I was like yes this is it. That was like in early 2022 so it took me a good year to get there! and then it was like wow its so easy to just....take a screenshot of my work wherever its posted and share it across all platforms. Most platforms support this kind of sharing of words really seamlessly. So in establishing myself one place, it was also easier to establish myself elsewhere. I wanted to take each social one step at a time so I could learn to juggle them all with practice rather than going all out on each. Substack first, then tik tok, then Instagram, then tumblr, then twitter. Since I had experience in most of these from my personal use of them it was pretty seamless to figuring out what to post.

All in all its a long process of linking. I mean I struggled with algorithms with readability, with length etc etc but there's a real learning curve and I think its one of those learn through doing. I don't think anyone has to join the internet in a fully formed way to begin with the process of finding your footing in its large capacity. The bulk of my following came from the period in which I was working out how I wanted to be ~online~

I wouldn't say I changed anything in terms of compromising myself either. I think if anything this has been a really thorough look at how can I really be myself. What feels good for me, what feels like me so that when people do find me it's consistent because it's always just who I am as a person. I don't wish to sound arrogant in saying that I think a big part of what is likeable about my work is the authentic (as much as social media can be) presentation of myself. Maybe yes I am more tender on twitter and funnier on Instagram or what have you, but its not a widely different shift because I have really gotten to the heart of myself and my desire. Which is honestly hard with social media and the idea of aesthetics.

I also think a big thing in linking everything was again this idea of who is going to say I'm a writer if not me? I really began this with a sense of the world is falling apart and I thought someone was going to pluck me from a sea of candidates and coronate me into the vast net of people who write for the internet. The fact was I wanted to be a writer so I decided to be one. And every day since has been a question of what kind of writer do I wish to be. ALl of that changes, it all changes all the time, but I feel more capable of it because I spent so much time trying to find a way to present myself that felt true and real so I know how to identify when some things don't serve me anymore or are old stories I am still telling myself about who I am.

I hope this answers your question! I feel like I kept rereading your ask and confusing myself on what you were asking so it was not concise at all. I also hope it doesn't sound bleak I think the technical stuff on algorithms and such was a big part of my life at the beginning but really again it's boiled down to how can I make this easy since everything else is so hard. It's become less of a science and more of a joy. Even if it sounds like it's all very complex it's only because I am a work in progress as always!

[thatwheelchairchick]

20 questions for fic writers

Thank you to @rebelrayne for tagging me in this.

How many works do you have on ao3?

available: 29, but I have 1 hidden and a few anonymous.

What's your total ao3 word count?

409,509 (but that's all of them, even anonymous)

What fandoms do you write for?

I mainly write for LITG, but I've written for Harry Potter, Euphoria, Doctor Who, Grey's Anatomy, Gilmore Girls in the last 4 years. Before that, I also wrote for Nurse Jackie, Twilight, The Dumping Ground and many others over on fanfiction.net.

Top five fics by kudos:

Safe Haven | Euphoria, Fez/Lexi at 312 kudos

My Saving Grace | Gilmore Girls, Rory/Tristan at 275 kudos

Piece by Piece | Gilmore Girls, Lorelai/Luke at 239 kudos

Right Where You Left Me | Euphoria, Fez/Lexi at 189 kudos – this one sucks, really want to orphan it as it's only popular because it was posted during the fexi craze.

Protecting Rory | Gilmore Girls, Lorelai/Luke & Rory/Tristan at 157 kudos – this is the sequel to Piece by Piece.

Also, why are my top two are both about rape? Just, why?

Do you respond to comments?

I try to respond to all of them, but I also have like 25 unread because I haven't been in the headspace to respond and most of them I got after the ONS challenge we did recently.

What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

I don't tend to do angsty endings, but I guess Just This Once could be interpreted as angsty. And the ending to Protecting Rory makes me cry but that's more bittersweet than angsty.

What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

Piece by Piece – it ends with a wedding and adoption, it's not like there's much competition there.

Do you get hate on fics?

Not now. I did a long time ago on old fics, but I haven't since I started writing fanfic again in 2021.

Do you write smut?

I'm even doing a smut challenge.

Craziest crossover:

I haven't done any crossovers that you can find on AO3, but I've written Gilmore Girls/Harry Potter, Twilight/Harry Potter… okay, anything crossed with Harry Potter. And if you could upload thoughts to AO3 without having to write them, there would be a lot more of them.

Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not in a long time, but it did happen when I was younger… and honestly, I saw it as a compliment because they thought it was worth stealing.

Have you ever had a fic translated?

No.

Have you ever co-written a fic before?

Yeah, but let's just say it was a mess…

All time favourite ship?

I've had Meredith Grey/Harry Potter brain rot for years, so I guess that one, but for LITG, Gary/MC. Sorry, he's my man and always will be.

What's a wip you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

There are so many that I couldn't even attempt to list them.

What are your writing strengths?

I have no idea. Like I can point to lines I like and say I'm strong at that, but I don't know what it is so I'm going to share something that I think I do well on a semi-regular basis:

His words are poison-tipped arrows, and they find their mark with ruthless precision. For a heartbeat, Nikki's confidence wavers, and the world tilts slightly off its axis. The familiar gnawing doubt that she had long banished to the darkest corners of her mind begins to slither forth, whispering insidious thoughts.

What are your writing weaknesses?

Being concise? Idk

Thoughts on dialogue in another language?

I'm not a fan, purely because if someone is reading a story in English, they're not prepared to try and translate the dialogue, so unless you add a translation right next to the dialogue, I don't like it.

First fandom you wrote in?

Harry Potter

Favourite fic you've written?

I've had Lexi brainrot for almost three years so Instincts/The Right Choice

I don't know who's been tagged or whos done it, so tagging @mnlpine, @mrsbsmooth and @queen-of-boops

[gothsuguru]

hi hi! you can ignore this but i was really curious about your writing process?? you just write so well and i’m curious to see how your work starts from an idea all the way to the finished product!!!

the way my jaw DROPPED rn like omfg are you talking to ME??? I’M SHOOK PLEASE YOU ARE WAY TOO KIND AND SO GENEROUS 😭 my writing sucks ASS but thank you SO much you’re so sweet <333 i can try & let you know my process but tbh baby i do NOT have one 😭 but i’ll try to think of something 😭 also i’ll try to be as thorough/concise as possible but i’m sorry if i tangent! ALSO this’ll be long bc i’m a yapper so forgive me <3

1) everyone is different but in my case i have a tendency to ALWAYS think of new ideas for writing (at least for geto!) find a character that you can consistently think of ideas for bc they’ll serve as practice! also i JUST started writing a month or two ago so i, myself, am STILL practicing with every fic & i am always willing to learn!

most importantly, i write based off my whim! whatever idea has me in its clutches is the idea i’m writing for, even if that means i’m leaving other fic ideas in the dust at the moment! i recommend creating a list of fic ideas and save it as a draft (can be a wip list or literally just a random list depending on how many ideas you have!) — for those i tend to jot down random dialogue, vibes i wanna express, plot points i really wanna show, the personality of geto or reader, & whatever randomly comes to mind pertaining to that fic! i write it all down!

2) it honestly changes between fic to fic but i recommend asking for requests in the beginning — even writing just ONE thing will give you practice/an idea! so here are some examples of what i’ve written so far:

- the first thing i wrote was a request for suguru being obsessed w satoru’s girlfriend. the way i started that fic was thinking of the feeling that suguru would ultimately feel which was “guilt, shame, & desire.” and then i… personified? each thing! at first i personified guilt as an arachnid crawling in suguru’s throat but it didn’t work as well for me… and then i thought, “how about a serpent?” and it flowed much better -> slithering down his throat, embedding his fangs into his flesh leaving it raw, mangled, & bloody -> roaming across his heart/ribcage. and for that, and this may sound silly but i SWEAR by it, look up SYNONYMS for words on google! “dances along his bones -> pirouetting across his bones” i think little nods like that can help you not sound too similar all the time or like you’re constantly repeating yourself! shame was expressed in alcohol (amber whiskey ties into his amber eyes as well) & desire was expressed within the flicker of a lighter reader gave him which he holds in his hands (he imagines the cold metal as reader’s hands, which he ends up holding in his warm ones at the end)

- second fic “black is the color of my true love’s hair” was my first time writing a fic and that was because i wanted to write something for v-day & i really love this song! music can be a great inspiration — same w song lyrics! but for that one i had a few ideas i KNEW i wanted to use (knuckle kisses, stargazing, depressive suguru who reader gives a bath to/has a heart to heart with, and reader making a scrapbook for suguru!) he may be ooc but also i’m not afraid of making suguru be soft and quirky, i think that makes him fun! have FUN w different facets of your favorite characters personalities! also personally, i hate when readers don’t have personality/are always too shy/can’t banter/are too serious so i try to make my readers have a personality that align w the fic!

now for the knuckle kisses i knew what i wanted to do and i think that part came pretty easy! just a bit of revising as i was writing so i could be more descriptive in certain areas, change my wording around so it’d be less clunky in others! stargazing idea was incredibly hard & so was the scrapbook… so here’s advice i have for you that SAVED my ass. now. if you just wrote random writing in your drafts, whether it was just stream of consciousness that has nothing to do with the fic or was just a random piece of dialogue you jotted down — DO NOT DELETE IT. two parts of my fics were from RANDOM writing i wrote that had NOTHING to do w a romance fic and with a BIT of tweaking it gave so many ideas/serviced my story perfectly!

ex: i had zero idea of how to start the stargazing part so i just wrote the part i knew i wanted, which would’ve been in the middle of the story! aka reader buying the star for suguru and him being Shook To The Core. i was wondering how the hell i think of the events leading up to that, and one day i randomly just wrote “you zig-zag around the counter like a bumbling fawn” bc i was brainstorming ideas for the fic but was like… this has no place in my story BUT i didn’t delete it i just kept the draft. THEN i was like… wait this can work… so i used it as my beginning to the stargazing section and it flowed wonderfully! same w the scrapbook section! i wrote a series of dialogue that i ACTUALLY intended to use in an angst where reader despises suguru in their relationship, but with a bit of tweaking and deleting parts of reader being apathetic and suguru being toxic, it ended up being a great series of showing suguru’s overthinking nature/his genuine love for reader!

also maybe i do this unintentionally but i usually have a focus into suguru’s thought processes more in my fics… maybe bc i’m just curious abt him more than anything LMAO so that can be useful i think! if you’re like wow i have no idea how to write for my reader, write for suguru!

- third story was a request (shoutout bestie rem 🤝🤭) who gave such a cool idea of twisted suguru watching reader grieve him for leaving. now it wasn’t an actual haunting bc reader & geto are both alive, but i still used words of that nature to express them haunting e/o’s thoughts (mourning, ghost, corporeal phantom, living rigor-mortis etc…) the first thing i wrote for this fic was “prostrate yourself” — a tie-in to cult leader geto & also his confusing feelings about/towards reader. i also wanted to show bleakness so i mentioned suguru likening himself to a plague & a calamity. also don’t be afraid to show the ugly parts of a character — suguru is a bit callous in this but he’s still human and has a push & pull w/in himself! this fic i really tried my hardest to do a “show not tell” for certain paragraphs (bc i personally have trouble with that/dialogue/imagery/descriptions/engaging writing) — so i would constantly go into my “writing tips” tag and try and heed the advice they give!

sorry i don’t think i was of much help bc honestly i do NOT have a process 😭 even when writing my current fic about curator!geto — i just outlined OOOOOH WAIT OKAY HOLD ON YUP MIDTHOUGHT AND NOW I’M JUST PROPERLY ANSWERING YOUR QUESTION 😭

BITCHXHXHBXBX I FORGOT. OUTLINE!!!!!!! THAT’S WHAT YOU WERE LOOKING FOR THIS WHOLE TIME AND I WAS JUST YAPPING AWAY FOR NO REASON I’M SOOOOOOOOOO SORRY OMFGGGGGGG OKAY SO 😭

curator!geto is the FIRST time i’m PROPERLY outlining a fic (so actually i didn’t do anything wrong pleek don’t beat my ass for yapping 😪) so basically since this is the first time i’m outlining i made sure to write the premise of the fic, characters & their jobs, their personalities, their place of work/interactions/relationships there and then also how they would meet! so i wrote how i wanted suguru & reader to meet, a few pieces of random dialogue, and then i also wrote about how they would later on be more romantic (in what way). i’m currently trying to think of a conflict and just now thought of an idea that i may or may not use but i wrote it down anyways! and this is the first fic where i’m properly paying attention to “show not tell” and trying to describe words/paragraphs with more imagery! (esp since it’s an artsy/visual fic!) tbh the “writing tips” tag on my blog will help you more than anything i can say 😭

also! i recommend looking up writing tips and also reading a bunch of fics that you like! my mutuals have some of the BEST fics i have EVER read and reading them is honestly a masterclass in itself of amazing writing/prose/how to flow a story wonderfully! i’m just a beginner so i have lots to learn still about fic-writing BUT just think of each fic as a stepping stone to getting better! write, post, but don’t overwhelm yourself/force yourself to finish a fic you have no ideas for. it’s okay if it takes time but also remember that it won’t ever be perfect so don’t let “perfectionism” stop you from posting your fics! someone will always read it — whether they rb, like, comment, or are a silent reader — someone will take the time out of their day to read your fic! and honestly don’t get caught up on numbers! i’m soooooo thankful that people read my fics & leave tags even if i think my writing sucks! it’s all in good fun at the end of the day! enjoy it however you can and i’m sure you yourself are an amazing writer! good luck bestie! <3

[juminies]

I finished V's route! knocked out both the normal and good endings in one, of course. I was going to make notes as I was playing so I could somewhat concisely talk about him & his route when I was finished but I ended up not really doing that aside from a few random things like this

so we're just going from the heart.

while I was playing I was actually fairly certain I was going to end up with at least one bad story ending accidentally because well, he's very confusing isn't he..? you really have to find a sort of balance, which I found hard to do particularly when it came to talking to rika. I never had any idea what I was meant to be saying to her and it was also difficult to hold myself back from being hostile sometimes. the woman talks some utter nonsense. I went with the strategy "hear her out but don't agree with her" and it seemed to work. though I have to admit that I flirted with her in texts and calls just to see what she'd say, and I (unfortunately?) do not I regret doing so... being praised by pretty women (even insane ones) is my kryptonite 😔 the voice acting from both rika and ray when it came to specifically emotional scenes was soooo immersive and enjoyable. I sometimes find rika's voice in normal conversation to be a little grating, honestly, but when she's screaming? crying? shouting? panicking? her VA did SUCH a good job.

now, V... I mean this in the most affectionate way possible, you guys weren't joking about him being pathetic. mind you I love a pathetic character who consistently makes awful choices, but calling this man frustrating is an understatement. I quite often found myself realllly struggling to understand what he was thinking, or what he wanted. his lack of willingness to accept help even when he knew he was about to do something quite frankly ludicrous was the least admirable bravery(?) I've ever witnessed, and he is PERSISTENT. it made me feel relatively distant from him for a fair amount the route, mainly because the events unfolding just meant I felt horrible for the members of the RFA and he absolutely was not doing anyone any favours (though he thought differently). I was somewhat concerned I wasn't going to recover from my perpetual state of "?????" but thankfully I actually did in the end. maybe it's my inner "I can fix them" coming out (isn't that the premise of mysme really?), but him being so frustrating sometimes sort of made it feel more rewarding when he really starts to trust and believe you, lol. there were definitely moments that got me in my feelings within the last few days, his heartfelt spiels about learning to love at the forefront. it was nice to see him not only believing in you but actually starting to have faith in himself too – after how self sacrificing he's been he deserves to put himself first. that said, while sweet, I found the good ending to be a little underwhelming. I know a bulk of potentially more fulfilling content is in VAE, but I absolutely do not have enough hourglasses to play for myself so reading the wikipedia summary will have to suffice for me for now.

tl;dr I really enjoyed the route! for me it was a level of dramatic and angsty that made it consistently entertaining and surprising without feeling like it was too much. it was an absolute rollercoaster both plot wise and emotionally, and I had fun experiencing that with so little knowledge of what was to come next. it definitely boosted my affection for V, given how little I legitimately knew about him before :)