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onceuponaoneshotfanfic · 2 years ago

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Call It What You Want (Superstar Chapter 2)

'Cause my baby's fit like a daydream

Walkin' with his head down, I'm the one he's walkin' to

So call it what you want, yeah, call it what you want to

Sequel to Superstar where the Reader and Roy Kent have their first date.

Roy Kent x Reader

5.7k words

Warnings: language (because Roy Kent), adults drinking adult drinks

Note: We’re in a parallel universe where Roy & Keeley never date and Keeley is in a healthy relationship with Jamie. Also, this came out a bit longer than I expected but dang it was fun to write!

The tension came to a head during lunch that Friday, our office door closed as we both sat at my desk, eating falafel out of the foil containers Roy had smuggled in past Ted and Beard. As I took a bite, I snuck a glance at Roy, who was gazing at the orange sticky note he’d stuck above my computer the day before:

It had been a week since Roy Kent had discovered the shrine to himself in my childhood bedroom. The following days had been sprinkled with autographs left on any papers that didn’t look too important, teasing pleas for no pictures during work hours, and one particularly mocking offer to save his beard trimmings the next time he shaved. But it was also filled with lingering stares in the hall, chocolate muffins left on my desk each morning, lunches shared in our tiny office, and the occasional smile and wink on the pitch when no one else was looking. A few times, Roy even brushed his fingers against mine when we squeezed by each other in doorways. With each small touch or moment of longing eye contact, I felt myself wondering how long it would take for one of us to break.

To my biggest fan

XOXO Roy Kent

“When’s your mum’s birthday?”

God, would I ever get used to his out of nowhere questions? “Why, d’you want to crash her birthday dinner too?”

A snort flew out of his nose as he turned his attention back to his lunch. “No. Just wanted to make sure you’re not busy tonight before I ask you out.”

Look up the signs of a heart attack when you get home, you might be having one. “Oh, really?” I tried to keep my breathing steady. “You think I’m the kind of girl who has no plans on a Friday night?”

Roy rolled his eyes and stuffed another bit of falafel into his mouth. “I think,” he said between bites, “you’re the kind of girl who’s gonna be really fucking annoying on our date tonight.” He paused to meet my gaze. “Unless you’ve already got plans with David Beckham? Or Lionel Messi?”

Another one of his recurring jokes that week was asking about my interest in other football players. I narrowed my eyes. “Unfortunately Becks was busy tonight,” I played along. “So, I guess I’m all yours.”

“I like the sound of that.”

A heat filled the air as Roy used his foot to roll my chair towards him, opening his knees slightly so I could come close to him. My knees hit the inside of his thighs and our noses practically touched; the back of my neck prickled. This was the closest contact we’d had since our kiss upstairs at my parents’ house. His eyes searched mine, thick eyebrows raised. My heart hammered as I leaned forward-

“Roy? Hey Roy?”

My chair was swiftly kicked back into place before Ted opened the office door, his head bent over his phone. We both quickly turned our attention back to our lunches, as if eating falafel took a lot of effort. By the time Ted looked up, Roy and I looked like we’d just been eating in silence- which was actually completely believable.

Ted’s face lit up when he saw me. “Oh, there you are. Was wondering where you’d gotten to.” He turned his attention to Roy, then paused when he saw the food in our hands. “Aw, you’re already eating.” He snapped his fingers. “I was gonna invite y’all go get some fish ‘n’ chips with me ‘n’ Beard.” He shrugged. “Well, enjoy your…” He studied the bowls a moment. “Meat? Whatever it is, looks tasty.” With an oblivious wave he turned on his heel and left, calling out for Coach Beard to follow him.

After a moment of listening to the sound of their receding footprints, followed by blessed silence, Roy finally looked back at me. “Well, he fucking ruined that moment. So, I’ll get you at seven?”

“Yeah.” I cleared my throat. “I’ll text you my address.”

“No need.” Roy grinned. “Don’t forget, you’re an easy stalking target.”

I stuck my tongue out at him, amazed at how comfortable I had grown with Roy “he’s here, he’s there, he’s every fucking where” Kent over the past week. “I turned off my Snapchat location, thanks to you. So be nice or else no address.”

He raised an eyebrow at me. “Fine. Then you can just meet me at the restaurant, and we can miss out on the whole ‘you open the door and my jaw drops when I see you’ moment.”

We narrowed our eyes at each other for a moment before breaking out into matching grins.

“Pick you up at seven,” he repeated.

From the moment I got home from work until the moment I heard a knock on my door, my hands shook and my heart hammered. I was incredibly grateful that Roy had used the word “date” in our conversation that afternoon; if he hadn’t, I probably would have spent hours agonizing over what the evening ahead meant. Even with the confirmation that this was indeed a date, I was a mess as I agonized over the perfect outfit and fought with my hair, desperate to look special compared with what Roy saw each day at work. When the sound of knocking reached my ears at 6:59, the tremble in my hands spread to my whole body.

Relax. You know he likes you. He wouldn’t have kissed you and asked you out and tried to kiss you again if he didn’t.

An involuntary gulp escaped when I opened the door and saw Roy standing in front of me. He looked really good in his fitted black slacks and black button-down shirt. He looked even better when he smiled at me, his brown eyes traveling down my frame slowly.

“Fuck,” he whispered, eyebrows raised. “You look great. Really fucking great.” He held his hand out to me, his eyes sparkling. “Are you ready then?”

We walked out to his car, neither of us saying a word. When we got to the car, he opened the door and helped me in before climbing in on his side. I shifted in my seat and cleared my throat.

“So, what’s the plan, Kent?”

“Figured we’d go sit in our office and eat takeaway,” he answered as he started the car. “Y’know, same shit we do every day.”

“Romantic,” I snarked.

Keeping one hand on the wheel, he took my hand, interlocking our fingers. “Fine, nix that plan then. How about drinks and then a late dinner? Just no fucking work talk please.”

I stared at our hands, wondering if he could feel my pounding pulse through my fingertips. “Sounds great,” I agreed, giving his hand a squeeze.

It was a somewhat quiet drive, but a comfortable one. I’d turned on the radio to some pop station, and Roy drummed out the beat with his fingers, tapping the back of my hand rhythmically. With his attention on the road, I allowed myself the opportunity to unabashedly stare at him. He was still Roy Kent: grizzled, dark, something of a brooding aura surrounding him. But he looked different that he normally did in the office, more like he had that evening at my parents’ house. His shoulders were relaxed against the driver’s seat, and his mouth was curved ever-so-slightly upwards, a shadow of a smile. As if he could feel the heat of my gaze, his eyes shifted off the road and towards me, causing his mouth to curve even further upwards.

“Admiring something?” he asked, clearly amused.

A bit embarrassed to be caught staring, I turned my eyes back to the road. “Just… taking in the sights.”

“The sights,” he repeated, nodding his head. “I’d say to take a picture since it’ll last longer, but I think you’ve got enough fucking pictures hanging at your mum’s house, wouldn’t you agree?”

My embarrassment deepened. “You’re never going to let me live that down, are you?”

Roy gave my hand a squeeze. “Nope. Only because I like seeing you blush so much.”

We finally arrived at the pub, with me refusing to look at Roy’s smug face for the rest of the car ride. He quickly got out of the car and jogged to my side, opening my door, and holding my hand to help me down.

“D’you really need such a massive car?” I teased as his hand settled in the small of my back.

A playful huff came out of Roy’s mouth. “Oi, don’t make fun of a man’s car. Otherwise, you’ll be walking home.”

“Aww, but how will you walk me to my door and kiss me at the end of the night?” I asked with a pretend pout, crossing my arms to give the full bratty effect.

Roy gave a hearty chuckle as we entered the dark pub. “You’re a presumptuous thing, you think you’re getting a kiss on the first date?”

I rolled my eyes as Roy guided me to a secluded corner booth, letting me slide in before following me into the seat. “Oh, I’m sorry, can you only kiss a girl when you’re surrounded pictures by yourself? Because I stopped carrying your photo in my wallet ages ago. Might still have a couple saved on my mobile though, would you like me to check?”

Roy stared at me hard for a moment, his dark eyes practically drilling holes into my brain. “You talk way too fucking much, anyone ever tell you that?”

Before I could come up with some clever response, he leaned forward and pressed his lips against mine. I could only squeak weakly in response as my eyes fluttered closed. This kiss was a bit rougher than the one we’d shared a week ago, with my lips parting to mirror Roy’s own slightly open mouth. It ended entirely too soon, with Roy smirking at me.

“That ought to shut you up for a fucking minute,” he chuckled as an older woman in an apron approached, a knowing smile on her face.

“How’re you Roy?” the woman asked casually, although her eyes were on me.

Roy grunted in response, suddenly reverting to his usual monosyllabic self. “Fine. Usual, please.”

The woman hummed and raised her eyebrows at me. “And you sweetheart?”

I quickly ordered my drink, offering up a couple of pleases and thank yous. With drink orders out of the way, I finally let myself look around the pub. It was dimly lit, with a couple televisions above the bar. There was a mostly older crowd, with most other customers having at least a decade on my parents. There were darts on a far wall and a foosball table near another wall. A jukebox in one corner played a Vann Morrison song that I vaguely recognized. The place was a far cry from the loud, crowded, sweaty clubs my mates usually tried to drag me to. If I had to pick between the two, I’d take this pub any day of the week- especially with Roy Kent by my side.

When I turned my attention back to Roy, he was already staring at me, his mouth in a straight line for the first time all night. “Is this alright?” he asked bluntly. “You weren’t expecting champagne and caviar, were you?”

Behind the hard expression on his face, I could see anxiety in his eyes. My mind wandered to the women I’d seen him with in magazines and online… models, influencers, a couple B-list actresses, none sticking around for more than a couple months. I’d even read one blog post about a woman who stole his watch before ending the relationship. It dawned on me that most of the women he dated would probably not be okay with a place like this. Despite the almost-scowl on Roy’s face, I felt myself melt at the realization that he was nervous about what I thought of the place.

“I think,” I said after a moment, “that this place is great.” I laid my hand on his, feeling him relax instantly beneath my touch. “You must come here a lot if you have a usual?”

“Couple of times a month,” he admitted, his facial expression softening. “The old geezers know who I am, but they leave me alone for the most part, sometimes give me shit about Richmond when the team fucks up. Never have to worry about them posting pictures of me on Twitter or some shit. And the barkeep, Rose, she doesn’t always tally up all my beers correctly and undercharges me all the fuckin’ time.” His smile returned. “So at Christmas I like to clear a tab or two, to make up for the free shit I get.” He nodded to himself. “It’s nice to just come here and have a beer, not have to worry about being Roy Kent, y’know?” He squinted at me for a moment. “Alright, now you kiss me, because I’m talking way too fucking much.”

I laughed as the older woman- Rose- returned with our drinks. She smiled at me as she set down my glass. “He must like you,” she mused, her eyes darting to Roy. “Never brings his dates here. ’less you count that pretty-boy soccer player. Went on that bloody reality show. The one they sing that stupid shark song about?”

“Jamie Tartt?” I offered, eyebrows raised. I turned to Roy, whose eyes were practically behind his head. “Do I have competition? Because Jamie Tartt is definitely hotter than me.”

Roy dramatically threw his head back and let out a massive, growling sigh as Rose walked away, her chuckles echoing behind her. “Don’t ever call Tartt hot, I swear I’ll cut my ears off.”

“Relax, van Gogh,” I scoffed. “I won’t get jealous of Jamie if you don’t.”

“Hmmf.” Roy eyed me carefully, taking a sip of his beer. “Who’s hotter, me or Tartt?” he challenged. The tiny upturn at the corner of his mouth assured me that he was teasing.

“Definitely Jamie,” I deadpanned, taking a sip from my own glass. “I’m only here because he and Cristiano Ronaldo didn’t call me back.”

Roy shook his head and smiled, sliding his hand out from under mine and placing his on top. “Just so you know,” he murmured, leaning in close. “Ronaldo’s a fuckin’ prick.”

Before I could laugh, he pressed his lips to mine, mirroring the kiss from earlier, but gentler, slower now, full of affection. My eyes fluttered closed as I kissed him back, the little voice in my head unable to form a coherent sentence.

Roy Kent kissing me it’s Roy Kent he’s here he’s there he’s kissing me Roy Kent

“Fuck.” Roy gazed at his phone. “We were supposed to be at the restaurant a fucking hour ago.” He grimaced as his eyes met mine. “Had a reservation and everything.”

My fingers traced the rim of the glass in front of me as I shook my head. “Roy, it’s fine,” I laughed.

We had spent the last couple of hours- and rounds of drinks- cuddled in our booth, cracking jokes and sharing stories. Roy told me about his sister and his little niece and reluctantly explained his workout routine with Jamie Tartt, while I shared stories about my ridiculous brothers and gave a detailed ranking of Jane Austen’s leading men. The way his arm wrapped around the back of the booth and his hand grazed my shoulder made missing the reservation worth it.

Roy wrinkled his nose. “I should feed you,” he argued. “’d be a shit date if I didn’t.” He glanced at his phone again. “D’you like pizza?”

Twenty minutes later, we were sitting across from each other, sodas in front of us, Roy’s pensive expression tinted red by the neon glow advertising Fresh Pizza.

“Can I tell you somethin’?”

I nodded, sipping my Coke through a straw. “Hmm?”

“This is the most fun I’ve ever had on a date,” he murmured. “And the first time I feel like I’m with someone who’s interested in being with me, not just being seen out some fucking footballer.” He gave a small nod. “So, thanks. Really, thanks.”

Heat rose in my cheeks as his eyes bore into mine. “Honestly, Roy,” I breathed. “Sharing an office with you is the best part of my workday.”

A grin flashed on his face. “Oi, we said no work talk.”

“Oh, shove off,” I mumbled, giving him a soft kick under the table as a young man in a red polo shirt brought us our pizza. I grabbed a slice and began to nibble on it as the teen employee did a double take at Roy before going back behind the counter. “Take a compliment, Kent.”

“Compliment,” he repeated gruffly, grabbing his own slice. “Is that something I’ll have to get used to? Being complimented?”

I tilted my head and swallowed a bite. “What d’you mean?”

He shrugged and took a sip of his Coke. “Gotta know what dating you involves. Spoiler alert, after tomorrow’s game I’m going to ask you if you’d like to go out again sometime.” His eyes darted away. “Hope that’s alright,” he grumbled, that nervous look in his behind his expression again.

I gave another kick under the table, much gentler this time. “You better ask me out again,” I teased. “Because this is the best date I’ve had in a long time.”

“You must’ve been on some fucking shit dates,” he joked, his eyes meeting mine. “Guess I’ve got to make up for that.”

For a moment, we just sat there, smiling at each other under the buzz of the neon light, slices of pizza in our hands. If two months ago someone had told me I would be on a date with Roy Kent, sipping drinks in a small pub, eating pizza in a hole-in-the-wall shop, I would have never believed it. But there I was, unable to look away from the brown eyes I’d spent years dreaming about, making him laugh and smile. And honestly, having the best time I’d had in a while.

The sudden preoccupied look on Roy’s face brought me out of my dreamy bubble. “Oi, there is something we should talk about.” The air suddenly felt heavy.

“Hmm?” Good, stay cool, don’t act nervous.

He took a deep breath, exhaling with a tiny growl. “Don’t take this the wrong way- I feel like a fucking prick saying this out loud-” He groaned, shrugging in defeat. “Would you be okay with, I dunno, not telling anyone about this-” He gestured between us. “-just for a bit?” A grimace now completely covered his bearded face. “It’s not like I’m embarrassed, or like I want to date anyone else-”

“That’s a relief,” I teased. My cheeks turned warm seeing him so flustered; it was endearing. “I thought you were completely ashamed to be seen with me and wanted to see if you had a shot with Jamie Tartt.”

That smile finally returned. “Come on, I’m being fucking serious.” He reached across the table and grasped my free hand. “Look, I really like being with you. I feel less pissed off at work when you’re around. And I want to see you outside of our fucking office. But you’ve seen the muppets we work with. They’ll never leave us the fuck alone once they find out we’re seeing each other. And I’d like to be in, I dunno, a little fucking bubble or something for a bit. Just while we’re getting to know each other and seeing where this goes.” His thumb stroked my hand. “Is that okay?”

The earnestness in his eyes nearly stopped my heart. “Of course,” I assured him, nudging his foot with mine. “I like the idea of being in a bubble with you.”

It was nearly midnight when Roy walked me up to my flat, his arm wrapped around my waist. After pizza we had gone walking around aimlessly, neither of us quite willing to say goodnight to the other. But my gentle reminder to Roy that Richmond had a game the next day was enough for him to sigh dramatically and agree to call it a night.

We paused in front of my door, turning to face each other as I fiddled with my keys nervously. Despite all the hand holding and flirting and shared kisses, I still felt a flutter in my stomach when I saw the fondness in his eyes as he gazed down at me. I couldn’t remember the last time I saw such warmth aimed in my direction; the fact that it was Roy Kent was just a bonus.

“Think I could give you a ride to work tomorrow?” he asked softly, tucking a lock of hair behind my ear.

I grinned up at him. “What happened to keeping things quiet at work?”

He shrugged, his hand still lingering beside my face. “Do I sound like a fucking prat if I say I just can’t wait to see you again?”

“Just a little,” I teased, leaning my cheek into the palm of his hand, not caring that he could feel the warmth of my face. “But I like it. Pick me up at 10?”

“How about 9? I’ll buy you tea and a muffin.”

I laughed and pressed myself a smidge closer to him. “Bribery works wonders on me. I’m in.”

A small kiss landed on my forehead. “I love that you’re easily bought.” Another kiss on my cheek. “Guess I should let you head inside before some nosy fucking neighbor sees us.”

“We’d be trending on Twitter within the hour. Roy Kent and Random seen outside flat the night before Richmond game.”

“The fucking press’d definitely blame you if we lost tomorrow.” A kiss on my other cheek. “So, we better say goodnight.”

I nodded, not bothering to hide my smile. “Guess we should.”

His mouth found mine for the millionth time that night, assuring me that this would not be the last time he’d be walking me home. A wide smile filled his face when he finally pulled away. “Good night then.”

“Goodnight, Roy,” I answered, planting one last peck on his lips.

Roy’s car now felt familiar as we rode to the Dog Track. I leaned my chair into a comfortable position and fiddled with the radio until I found a station playing an hour of 90s hits. I ripped off a bit of the giant chocolate muffin that sat on my lap and tossed it into my mouth, reveling in the brief domestic bliss before we had to act professionally in front of everyone.

“Gimme a bite,” Roy mumbled, eyes on the road. I ripped of another piece and popped it into his open mouth. “Thanks,” was his muffled reply as we pulled into the still empty parking lot. “And thanks for riding here with me,” he muttered, clearing his throat. “It was nice.”

A smile crept across my face. “Thanks for offering,” I answered. “We should probably head on in, I’ve got some things to do in the office before everyone comes in.”

The halls were eerily quiet, only a few cleaning crew milling about, offering nods and soft “good mornings”. I flipped on the lights in the changing room and coaching offices, quickly setting to work as Roy leaned on Beard’s desk, watching me with that thoughtful look on his face.

I started my Game Day routine: leaving our report on the opposing team neatly on Ted’s desk, right next to the playbook that I pulled off his bookshelf, updating the league standings on the whiteboard next to Beard’s desk, noting the possible rank changes based on game outcomes, setting up the coffee maker to their specifications so all they had to do was hit the Start button when they walked into the office. Between tasks I paused for the newest addition to my routine: stealing kisses from Roy, taking full advantage of the empty building.

He followed me into our office so I could organize my things; Game Day had quickly become my favorite part of my job. During games, I would stand by the coaches with my tablet, keeping track of different statistics: goals, passes, saves, anything and everything the coaches could analyze later to improve their plans. Ted kept repeating something about me “putting the Excel in excellent” when I first presented my detailed spreadsheet to the coaches, so I knew this was valuable data to them. It was the part of my job I took most seriously.

And I loved that it allowed me to be on the sidelines with Roy all game long.

“Are you going to be able to focus out there today?” Roy teased softly, wrapping his arms around my waist from behind me.

“Are you?” I shot back, leaning into him as I tapped away on my tablet, setting up my new spreadsheet. “I’m working, all you’ve been doing is staring at me.”

He laughed and pressed a kiss to the top of my head. “Trust me, as soon as those pricks show up, I’ll be my usual grumpy self.”

As if on cue, the sound of Coach Lasso’s voice echoed from down the hall. Roy immediately released me and threw himself into his chair, planting his feet on his desk and pulling out his cell phone; to anyone who just happened in, it looked as though he had been completely ignoring my existence, rather than holding me close. I shook my head and grinned to myself as Ted and Beard entered their office.

“Mornin’!” Ted called, poking his head through our shared door. “Look at you early birds. Y’all are just a couple of peas in a pod.” He pointed at me, his eyes sparkling with enthusiasm. “Thanks again for figuring out the Keurig. You’re a k-cup K-Pop star.”

I smiled and nodded, still unsure about what to do when the man complimented me. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Roy smirking behind his phone.

Ted noticed too. “You’re looking downright chipper this morning, Roy. Anything special you wanna share with the class?”

Roy’s smirk faded, his eyes still on his phone. “No.”

“No worries, I’m just happy you’re happy.” Ted was completely unphased; the guy was truly remarkable. He turned back to me. “Say, could I bother you to run some papers up to Rebecca’s office? Get some steps in before we head to the field.”

“Sure,” I agreed, setting down my tablet. “And it’s ‘pitch’, Coach.”

Ted nodded. “Right, right. ‘Pitch’.”

After a few more Lasso-isms, I was on my up to Rebecca’s office, carrying a folder filled with papers. I had shot Roy a wink before I left our office and was awarded the smallest of smiles, which was enough to make me practically skip down the hall, past the players making their way to the changing room. I smiled and waved at each of them, feeling excited to have a small role in this special team.

“Come in,” Rebecca called when I knocked on her door. She and Keeley Jones were sitting on her couch, Keeley adorable as ever in pigtails and a fluffy sweater, Rebecca the picture of class in her dress and heels. The women smiled and waved me in.

“Hey!” Keeley called, jumping up to give me a small hug. “How’re you doing? I tried to call you last night, but you didn’t pick up.” Within two days of me starting work at Richmond, Keeley had decided that we were meant to be friends, an offer I was more than happy to accept. She pouted at me playfully. “Were you out getting some?”

My ears burned. “Yeah, right,” I scoffed. “My phone’s been acting up lately, sorry about that.” I reached around to hand Rebecca the folder. “From Ted,” I told her, trying desperately to avoid the topic Keeley had brought up.

Rebecca opened the folder and glanced at it. “Shit, I should look at this,” she muttered to herself. She nodded towards Keeley. “Why don’t you head to our seats to watch warm up? Just don’t wolf-whistle at the boys too much, hmm? Save some for the game.”

Keeley gave a salute to Rebecca and linked her arm with mine. “Shall we?”

We strolled down the hall, Keeley talking a mile a minute about the party she had tried to invite me to the night before. “There were lots of real fit guys there,” she gushed, knocking her hip into mine. “Some of them were even worth talking to. Come on, what’s your type? I need to know what to look out for.”

I cleared my throat. “I don’t really have a-”

“Oi. You forgot this.”

Roy appeared out of nowhere, holding up my tablet, its case covered in Richmond stickers I’d bought the day I had gotten this job. My cheeks were warm as I accepted it, careful not to touch his hand. I could feel Keeley eyeing me curiously.

“Thanks,” I murmured, avoiding Roy’s eyes; I knew that any contact would tempt me to kiss the man.

He seemed to understand completely. “Keeley,” he greeted, giving a short nod to the blonde. He nodded to me now. “See you out there.” He turned and walked towards the doors that led to the pitch.

Once he turned the corner and was out of view, Keeley squealed and grabbed me by the shoulders. “Fuck, you should ask out Roy!”

My eyes widened. “What?”

She nodded, her pigtails bouncing. “Come on. He’s fit, he has a good job, and if anyone ever messed with you, they’d never find the body.” She wiggled my shoulders, waggling her eyebrows. “And the man looks good shirtless,” she added.

As if there wasn’t a shirtless picture of him tapped inside the closet of my old bedroom. I made a quick mental note to take it down and hide it- maybe burn it- before the next time he came over. Surely, he’d be coming over to my parents’ place again sometime? Maybe not anytime soon, but eventually, right?

Whoa there, relax. Don’t get so ahead of yourself.

“Come off it, Keels,” I scoffed. “I’m not asking out Roy Kent.” Well, you’re not lying. He asked you out, after all. “We work together. We share an office for God’s sake. And besides, he’s Roy fucking Kent.” I laughed and shook my head, trying to be really convincing. “In case you didn’t notice, I’m not his usual type.”

A smile spread across Keeley’s face. “Well, all I know is that last time he and Jamie were working out, he told Jamie he was sick of dating just to date. He’s sick of models and shit. He told Jamie he wanted something real.” She shrugged. “I dunno. You seem like the kind of girl who could be something real.”

I did my best to hide the pleasure on my face as Keeley confirmed what Roy had told me last night. Instead, I cleared my throat and turned my attention to my tablet. “Well, good for Roy. But I should be going, I’ve got to get to the pitch.”

“Yeah, gotta go stand next to Roy for the next few hours.” Keeley winked at me. “Don’t think I don’t notice the blush on your face whenever he’s around. You’re not as clever as you think. I’ll get you two together eventually.”

Little does she know, the little voice in my head chucked. “Sure, Keeley,” I humored. “I’ll see you later.” I planted a kiss on her cheek, reminding myself to try to match the affection she brought to a friendship, and waved as I walked away in the direction Roy had disappeared in.

I should have been more surprised when I turned a corner and found him leaning against the wall, scrolling on his phone. He smirked when he saw me.

“Did you wait to me?” I asked, not bothering to hide the smile on my face.

He shrugged, tucking his phone into his pocket. “Maybe.”

“Very sweet of you,” I hummed, shoving his shoulder with mine as he fell into step beside me. “But you should probably be a little bit less obvious at work. Keeley was just telling me about her new goal.”

“And what would that be?”

“To play matchmaker for us,” I answered casually. “Which means our chemistry is obvious.”

Roy let out a scoff of a laugh just before we reached the pitch entrance. “Let her try. I’d kind of love to see what kind of scheme she cooks up.” He sobered up as we walked onto the green, where the Greyhounds were beginning their warmup. From the stands closet to the pitch, I could already hear Keeley whooping and hollering. She’d definitely have something to say about seeing me and Roy walking to the dugout together, but I’d come up with my excuses later.

I took my position between Ted and Beard, showing them the stats from our previous match and reminding them about the adjustments they’d discussed based on it. Ted said something about me being just like Q from James Bond, a reference I actually understood. I smiled at the praise and took a seat, not needing to do much now until the match started. Instead, I took advantage of the cover around the dugout to brazenly stare at Roy, grinning to myself every time he yelled “Whistle!” at the top of his lungs.

As if he could feel my gaze, he turned his head subtly, a half smirk on his face when our eyes met. He shook his head at me and pulled out his phone. A moment later, my own mobile vibrated. I glanced at the glowing screen.

You’re going to make hiding this really fucking difficult, aren’t you?

Of course. Making your life harder is half the fun.

My phone vibrated again. Fine. Whatever. Grab a bite after the game?

My grin widened as I began to type back.

Only if I can get an autograph.

Roy turned his head again, that upturn of his mouth barely visible. I relaxed into my seat, tapping away at my tablet. For the first time in my life, I could hardly wait for a Richmond game to be over.

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summerroseart · 2 months ago

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Ooogh got back from the theater <3 gonna start off: LOVED the movie. Had a lot of fun. That is to say... I don't.... really...think it was good. It was not. (I'm sorry) But I highly recommend it! Felt like a direct to DVD sequel. I encourage piracy of this one. (/j for legal reasons)

In any case, it was fun!! Very very fun!! Absolutely no shade to anyone who disagrees with my takes lol. <3

FULL SPOILERS under the cut!!!

No seriously I'm gonna go over like. all the major plot points. Look away if you wish not to be spoiled.

- Okay. SO. not a fan of the pacing. Felt very choppy and incomplete like. RIGHT off the bat. Did not improve throughout the film, sadly. Writing and line delivery were also kinda bummer for all the characters, but those were my biggest gripes overall.

- 99 Red Balloons Green Day Cover?! Wasn't expecting that.

- Tom. Tom you KNEW that cave was there. Unless Maddie was the only one who went and got his stuff, and in that case, you BETTER have been the one cleaning out that attic.

- They are really having fun with dramatic irony in this one. Also not great callbacks to the first 2 films.

- WHY THE FUCK would you let them go with GUN???? They absolutely should have been tearing those boys from your arms wtf

- SA2 line ref, fun!!

- He... Shadow just. Hatched. fully grown. from a meteorite?? Disappointed but also EXTREMELY fascinated. What does this imply for Sonic? And Amy? Is it just because of the Black Arms? Is he fully Black Arms? Is he an unwitting spy for them??

I didn't watch the Knuckles series. Didn't they namedrop the Black Arms? But as another government branch or something rediculous?

- you guys have been alone for ONE DAY?? And you managed to crochet multiple projects, bake like 30 sourdough loaves, make a felt ventriloquist dummy, learn ventriloquism, and is that hand woven basket also implied to have been a project?? I'm impressed. But also. Do you... no longer have jobs? Does the government pay you now? I thought the knuckles series was irrelevant. What did i miss?? What happened to your work??

- Ily Maddie you deserve the world <33 they should've called you mom </3

- Sonic is giving major Boom Sonic characterization vibes, so I get why people don't like him in these films. (I love Boom Sonic wholeheartedly, but like. I Get it.)

- "Why are you tied up? Do that on your own time! You sicken me." AUSJHAJANABJAJBDJW

- Gerald is just. Alive. And 110 years old. There is no ARK. Maria didn't have an illness. The guy shooting didn't even intentionally kill her. Where is my corrupt government entity?? Devastating.

- Wish they'd done more with 70s Maria. Her character still seemed cool.

- Okay so Shadow just lived that over and over again for 50 years. Okay. I'm okay. Don't look at me.

- HATE that they inadvertently pinned the Blame for Maria's death on Shadow by having it be containers of his own Chaos energy that exploded and killed her, instead of the gun soldier shooting her in the back.

- WALTERS IS NOT A HERO SCREW HIM FUCK YOU GUN

- GUN is just... completely neutral in this :/ what was the point of Rockwell? She added nothing other than an unnecessary red herring. There could've been an EASY sideplot of Rouge stealing the master emerald instead. Especially with Wade watching it. EASY I TELL YOU!! WHERE IS MY GIRL????! WE WERE ROBBED!! ROBBED OF THE BEST THIEF IN THE GALAXY!

- Seriously though that Rockwell plotline went NOWHERE, WHY DID THEY DO ALL THAT???

(it seemed like they were setting her up to have been the one to commission Gerald for the Eclipse Cannon, but they just. Dropped her? after she gave Tom the key card?? Why did she want it??? Why was it relevant???)

- (paraphrasing bc my memory is Bad) "No person of any gender found me appealing" Sir your boyfriend is RIGHT THERE (obligatory WHOA HE'S BISEXUAL I DIDN'T KNOW THAT)

- Second act low point, but at least it felt sorta believable bc it felt like a legit sibling fight, and not a real falling out. They all just really love each other and want to protect each other. Knuckles you're wonderful, you have never done anything wrong ever.

- Missed opportunity for Dark Sonic. That would've been so FUCKING COOL! WHYYY???

- we both lost everything pep talk 2 (this time on the moon)

- just nicked the moon lmao it's fiiiiiiiinneee

- TAILS YOU'RE DOING AMAZING SWEETIE!!!

- Gerald getting zapped like a bug made me lose it.

- so like. Is everyone on earth just. Okay with finding out a world-wide government agency built a massive rocket powered death laser aimed straight for the planet that got hijacked immediately orrrrrrr

- Historians will say they were just good friends :)

- KNUCKLES YOU'RE WONDERFUL YOU HAVE NEVER DONE ANYTHING WRONG EVER

- "Team Sonic :)" "How about just team?" FUCKING SONIC BOOM REFERENCE????

- METAL!!! FUCK YEAH!! <- knew that'd mean Amy in the next film regardless

- AAAAMMYYYYYY MY GIRL AMY I CALLED IT I WASN'T EXPECTING BOTH OF THEM BUT HOLY FUCK!!! YEAHHHGGHGSHAHHDKKDO3BSJOXKNWHWISJBDNDJKDM I LOVE HER DESIGN SHE'S SO CUTE!!AA!!

- didn't catch the 2nd end credit scene but I'd already heard about the Shadow spinoff show (and/or movie??), so looking it up after, really not the least bit surprising.

Okay but i really did laugh at pretty much all the jokes. It was a fun time.

#sonic the hedgehog #sonic 3 #sonic movie 3 spoilers #sonic movie 3 #review kinda #no but really. i laughed through the ENTIRE movie. its fun to just have fun.

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itsascreambaby96 · 2 years ago

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Eddie Munson as Ghostface? With Reader?

Halloween pranks turned into fun time in the bedroom?

Warnings: 18+, mdni!!!!! Everyone is over 18. Knife play! Mentions of murder (no one gets killed) Oral (male recieving), this is pure smut. Plot? I don't know her. P in v sex. Bit mean!Eddie (just a tiny bit). If I missed anything let me know.

Pairing: Eddie Munson x Fem!Reader

A/N: Hehe my love that is a brilliant idea. And I am honoured to write my first Eddie piece for you😁 you know this was the final push to write that piece we were talking about a few weeks ago🤭 is this my favourite thing ever? Yes. Yes it is😌

Also applications for a boyfriend or girlfriend to do this with me are still open😅

It's a scream baby!

Eddie has been teasing you with his stupid mask all month already. And you were only half way through October. Giving you creepy calls, asking you about your favourite scary movie, which ended in hot telephone sex. Jumping out from behind the fridge, which led to Eddie hitting it from behind over the kitchen counter. Or jumping from behind a door, which ended in sex against the wall. Or jumping out of your wardrobe, which led to sex on your bed. There was no limit for him. Not like he didn't get to scare and kill people. He did. He just loved making you jump.

Of course you knew he was the famous Ghostface killer. It wasn't hard to figure out considering your High School bully wound up dead, a day after you told your boyfriend Eddie about what happened back then. You weren't sorry for them. It's what they deserved. It was also kinda hot and you might or might have not had the best sex after he admitted it. Of course he was wearing the mask, who might still have had some blood on it.

Eddie knew you had a thing for Slashers. The way you always look at them when you two watched a horror movie was a tell tale sign. And he was so excited about the thing he had planned. In his head is was coming together perfectly.

You found a part time volunteer job for the corn maze in Hawkins. The uniform wasn't much, basically just a vest and the rest were your own clothes. It was pretty chill most days. You only had to call someone 4 times yet cause some people got lost.

Today had been a quiet day and it was closing time. Your co worker left you to do the final round alone because he had an important date apparently and it couldn't wait. He was an asshole anyway so you were glad he was gone.

With your fleshlight in hand you went through the maze. You knew every path by now. It wasn't completely dark yet but having the flashlight gave you a bit of safety.

You had a weird feeling going in but it was probably nothing. You were almost finished now, already making your way back and you still couldn't shake that weird feeling. Like your were being watched and followed. Looking behind you, you saw nothing. You were going just a tad quicker just in case.

And then you heard it, a twig snapped behind you and you froze. Someone was definitely behind you. It was darker now but you didn't need your fleshlight to see who was behind you. The white mask reflected the moonlight. Black empty eyes kept looking at you. You let out a breath, fairly certain that it was Eddie. Who else would it be? Though in this town you could never be too sure.

So you said "Fuck Eddie you almost gave me a heartattack!"

Ghostface tilted his head slightly. Fuck those eyes didn't give anything away.

"I am not Eddie." You gulped at the deep modulated voice. You know it was him. 99.99% sure. But to pretend he was just a nameless killer? It kinda rilled you up.

"Oh you wanna play psycho killer? Can I be the helpless victim? Ok let's see. No please don't kill me Mister Ghostface, I wanna be in the sequel." You looked at him with fake innocent eyes.

You could hear Eddie snicker and you were relieved you were right.

"You better run fast, princess. If I catch you, it's over for you." That same deep voice spoke again. Your eyes widen, excitement bubbling up.

He came a step towards you, then another and another, before you were darting off, Ghostface right behind you. You knew this maze by heart, so it was definitely on purpose that you ran into a dead end so Eddie would catch you. Of course you didn't let him know that.

You muttered an audible "Fuck" and turned around. You could hear Eddie tsk behind you. He was closer than you initially thought. A surprise gasp leaving you as his leather gloved hand wrapped around the base of your neck lightly. Eddie lightly ran his knife over your cheek. Your heart was beating wildly, adrenaline pumping through your veins.

"Poor thing. Now what to do with you?" It was kind of thrilling that you couldn't see Eddie's face, yet his movements were so telling.

The pointy tip of his knife was under your chin, slowly lifting your head. The fact that it was a real knife and he could cut you with it, the danger of it all, only added to your arousal. You were sure your panties were already drenched.

Eddie slowly dragged the knife down your throat, only adding a tiny bit of pressure so you could feel the weight of the situation.

And you certainly did, it also turned you on immensely.

"Is there any way I can safe my life?" You were batting your eyelashes at him.

"I can think of a few things." Eddie dragged his knife up your thigh and under your skirt, making goosebumps rise on your skin. Then he kept dragging the dull end of the knife against your pussy over your panties, making you moan.

"On your knees Princess." Eddie pulled the knife back and you quickly got onto your knees in fron of him. Lifting his robe and opening his pants to pull Eddie's cock out. He was already hard. So you weren't the only one getting turned on by this.

"It's not gonna suck it self. So if you want your life spared, I suggest you start. And you better make it good." God that voice. Your pussy clenched around nothing.

You licked a long strip from base to top, wrapping your lips around his deep pink tip, licking off some of the precum. You repeated this motion a few times making sure all of his dick got wet with your saliva. Then you wrapped your lips around the tip again, letting your tongue glide over his slit. Eddie kept groaning and moaning the whole time, biting his lip under the mask.

You were enjoying this as much as he was, your juices already ruined your panties. Slowly you went to take more of him into your mouth until you couldn't take it anymore. Breathing through your nose you started to bob your head up and down. Your hand wrapping around what you couldn't fit into your mouth.

Your movements started slow but your pace became quicker by the minute. Occasionally you kept sucking on his sensitive tip. The low moans Eddie made only spurred you on. Drool was running down your chin mixed with his precum. Eddie loved messy blowjobs.

He tried to hold back the urge to fuck into your throat but his self-control was running thin.

"Hands behind your back princess." His voice was even deeper now, even with the changed voice.

You looked up at him with doe eyes, making Eddie twitch in your mouth. You put your arms behind your back and Eddie gripped your hair right as he made his first thrust. It was slow, as if to test you were ok with this. Once he saw you were eager and waiting he didn't hold back anymore. A gargled sound leaving you as he fucked his whole length into you. More drool and precum dribbling out of your mouth, down your chin. Your eyes began to water but you kept the same look on your face to let Eddie know you were enjoying this as much as he was.

Shoving the entirety of his cock down your throat he kept you in place. Your nose touching the soft tufft of his pubic hair. Tears wear running down your face now, completely ruinning your mascara.

You looked all the fucked out little slut Eddie knows you are only for him. That fact almost made him come.

He pulled you back by the hair after a few seconds, letting you take in some much needed air, before he pushed inside again and holding you there.

He repeated this for a while, you looking messier and messier every time he let you come up for air. And he was definitely getting off on this. His pace got quicker, you knew he was close. His cock throbbing in your mouth and with one final push he came. Groaning, he held you there until the last drop, then finally realising you from his grip. You were coughing a little, drool and some of his come on your chin, your mascara all over the place and your hair all tangled up. Eddie loved it.

He put his dick back into his pant and softly helped you stand up. You gave him a reassuring smile. Your knees hurted now but you knew he would take care of you.

"You did so well princess. But I am not done with you yet." With that he dragged you back to his van. Good for him that he knew the maze too. You were stumbling a little and were glad when you finally reached the van.

He opened the back door, and you saw an old mattress and a blanket on top of it. He really did plan this all through.

He pushed you inside and onto the mattress, making you giggle a little. Not bothering to close the door, Eddie got on top of you, still wearing his mask. He took off your vest and your shirt. Your skirt followed suit. Now he made a show out of cutting your bra and panties off. One of his favourite things to do during foreplay. The cold metal of the knife made you shiver.

He circled the tip of the knife around your nipples until they perked, giving a deep, satisfied hum. Slowly he dragged the knife over your stomach down to your pussy. His other gloved hand was running through your wet folds.

"All this shit got you this wet? What a dirty little slut you are. Letting a killer teat you like this and then letting him fuck you. Tsk, pathetic, really." He pulled his hand up to inspect the glove. It was glistening with your arousal in the moonlight that came into the van.

Taking the tip of the knife again he began circling your clit. A whiny moan escaped you as the cold metal came in touch with your heated pussy. But you were enjoying yourself. He didn't keep this teasing up for long and threw his knife to the side. Pulling his robes up he took his pants and boxers off. His dick was already hard again.

He didn't waste more time, spreading your legs he pushed inside of you with one quick push. You threw your head back both in pleasure and pain from the stretch.

"Fuck always the best fucking pussy. Sucking me in so deep." Eddie grit out between his teeth. He could spend hours inside of you if you'd let him. Usually he gave you time to adjust but he was really impatient today and so he didn't give you as much time to adjust to his length and girth. Instead he almost completely pulled out of you and snapped right back into you, knocking the wind out of you.

You let out a choked moan as Eddie kept drilling into you and soon the pain vanished and all that was left was hot pleasure.

You wanted to hold onto him but as quick as lightning he grapped your wrists and pinned them over your head with one hand. Black eyes staring at you. The sorta anonymity made you clench tight around Eddie's dick making him groan.

With every hard thrust the mattress moved but you could care less about that. You were biting your lip to quieten some of your moans but Eddie wasn't having it.

"You better moan as loud as you want, because I want every damn person in this town to know how good I am making you feel." He was almost growling and who were you to say no to him. And so you released every moan and whine and groan you wanted. The squelching sound of your pussy adding to the erotic of this whole situation.

Eddies thrusts became harder, sloppier and erratic. You knew he was getting close again but you also knew he wanted you to come first.

His hand moved between tthe two of you and he started to rub circles against your clit, using the right pressure and pace to match his thrusts.

Like this, it didn't take long for you to tip over the edge. Your ears started to ring and a loud high pitched moan came out of you. Your legs wrapping around Eddie, locking him in, as he too, reached his end, emtpying himself deep inside of you.

Once you've both calmed down Eddie finally took off his mask and the robe as well as his shirt. He pulled out of you, colapsing next to you onto the mattress and pulling you into his arms. He gave you a long and meaningful kiss that made you melt. Your heart was still hammering against your chest.

"Was it everything you dreamt of?" His voice sounded normal again, making you relax instantly.

"No. It was even better." Your voice was hoarse but that was to be expected. You didn't mind.

"I'm glad." Eddie kissed the top of your head. You two kept laying there for a little while longer before driving home and taking a well deserved shower. After another round, consisting of Eddie eating you out you fell asleep exhausted but oh so satisfied. You definitely planned on doing this again.

#eddie munson x reader #eddie munson #eddie munson smut #eddie munson x you #eddie munson imagine #ghostface!eddie #stranger things 4 #bea's writing

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raph-fangirl · 9 months ago

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SHILOH ROSETTE'S MASTERPOST

It would be so much to me if you took the time to donate even $1. I am broke living with my conservative parents and my only income is from random house sitting jobs. I don't have a steady income and want to do art for a living. Anything is appreciated <3 I have tiers for monthly supporters but you can also do a one-time donation.

MY STORIES

❖ That Which We Call Beast - A Victorian-era Beauty and the Beast retelling. Has been described by some of my readers as: "If Jane Austen wrote Beauty and the Beast". Ongoing. First installment in the That Which We Call Beast trilogy.

❖ A Tale of the Shapeshifters - My first ever complete novel. A Beauty and the Beast retelling set in early 1900s Ireland. Two shapeshifters do their best to hide their secret from one another, but that soon becomes the least of their worries as the past unfurls itself.

❖ Demon x Reader (unedited) - A sexy, fun, romantic story of a woman who never realized she wanted anything other than her plain, vanilla life with her husband in the suburbs---that is, until a perverted demon steals her away.

Chapters 1 - 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

❖ When Lilies Pierce Thorns - The second installment of the That Which We Call Beast trilogy. Has not been written yet.

❖ Melisande - Upcoming prequel/midquel to the That Which We Call Beast trilogy. Focuses on our dearly beloved evil queen herself and her villain origin story.

❖ Raphael - Upcoming sequel to the That Which We Call Beast trilogy. Focuses on our favorite wet pathetic man and his redemption arc.

❖ Tyler & Alaca - Childhood friends to lovers, with some werewolf and vampire shenanigans to make things interesting. Twilight and Castlevania lore but more original than fanfic.

❖ Forte-Piano - A Beauty and the Beast: The Enchanted Christmas prequel. Forte is determined to become the castle composer, but will this ambitious young pianist get in his way? BxB

❖ Shark x Mermaid story (title tba) - A young mermaid is desperately in love with a human, but has been betrothed to a mer-prince. In the midst of her predicament, she meets a were-shark who annoys her to no end and challenges her entire worldview, but that she can't stay away from.

❖ Donatello x OC TMNT fic (title tba) - Donnie has always loved April from the first moment he laid eyes on her. Even though April is now dating Casey Jones, and he and his brothers have become friends with a new outsider girl--Serafina--Donnie can't help but still harbor feelings for her. When he starts spending more time with Serafina, will he let his old feelings go or will he make a mess bigger than anyone could have ever imagined?

❖ In the Garden of the Witch - Completed short story. Hedy is so ready to be married to the love of her life, Bruno. Even if he is a beast, he has the soul of a man. But one day, something changes in him, and he leaves her. Will she be able to find him as she travels through the wilderness? Will Bruno recapture his humanity? Or will a conniving witch mess everything up for the two lovers?

❖ Dandelion - Completed short story in the middle of edits. Dandelion does not know what it means to have a family or to love another person. So what will happen one night when two people who say they knew her parents randomly show up asking for her help?

❖ He Who Dares Not Grasp the Thorn Should Never Crave the Rose - Beauty and the Beast one-shots and short stories for all versions. From the original myths, to Madame Villeneuve's novel, to Jean Cocteau's film, to Disney's movies, and beyond! Feel free to commission or request a piece.

❖ My Fair Ladyhood & Other Short Stories - Incomplete collection of short stories I've written and will continue to write.

Includes My Fair Ladyhood, an imitative memoir I wrote for a class: Southern Women's Literature. This is an extremely personal piece that explores my relationships throughout my life thus far, as well as my issues with body image and eating disorders.

And Nolan's Flood: Charlotte McPherson is the only girl—and one of the only people—in the town of Roadsdale who can read. This makes her particularly interesting to the local doctor and part-time Sunday school teacher, Mr. Nolan. Although they don't know each other well, the two make plans to marry. But how long will this courtship last in the face of tragedy?

COMMISSIONS

Tba

EDITING/REVIEWING SERVICES

Tba

#beauty and the beast #writing #writblr #fantasy #novel #masterpost #romance #historical #fairytale #writeblr #batb

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joysmercer · 5 months ago

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okay I’m so curious about the short fic you posted yesterday

can I ask how in this universe nina dies? And does eddie too?

(it’s mask of anubis on main btw)

ooh fun questions!! i was hoping someone would ask cuz i couldn't figure out how to work it in. also i added way too much info that you didnt ask for so now it's under the cut :D

first of all, this au is a much darker take on how i think nina's life "actually" played out – I think she'll always have random spirits coming up to her etc, but in this au, it's pretty constant and can get very dangerous very quickly. on the flip side, she sees a lot more fame for her "irl" work than she does "in canon" (see below).

somewhat ironically (given how guarded nina becomes from the constant barrage of gods forcing her to do things), she makes her living off of writing movies about her experiences. i think she does this in canon too, but here she really throws herself into it, almost like a form of therapy since there isn't really any professional she can process things with, you know? she eats, sleeps, breathes her craft – whenever she has downtime, she's writing, editing, networking to get her words out there. she's so fast and so talented with it that she graduates university in three years with honors, by which time the chosen one (season 1) has already been picked up by a major company and has started filming; she wins her first oscar two years later, and the next two each year after that.

(actually, all four scripts got picked up at the same time, which is why the turnaround was so quick – but they didn't announce the sequels until after the oscars because at that point she was a relatively unknown person)

(also i know this isn't how these things work irl but just work with me here. maybe she called in a favor from a random god and had things sped along idk)

anyway, the point im trying to make is that she spends her whole life balancing what she wants to do (her work) with what she has to do (paragon shit) and has a weird sense of self-worth as a result (she knows she's good at what she does, but wants to hide it from the world at the same time (out of fear). she hates that she needs others to keep her safe and refuses to believe they're doing it out of kindness, even though she also knows that they genuinely love her. it's weird) (also she and fabian make up sometime during their uni years so all is good there)

anyway, they (amber + KT) set up a rota of all ex-sibuna members (+ willow as she learns about it pretty quickly post-grad) to spend time in the states for a couple months out of the year each. this essentially made sure there was always 1 other person on the mission with her and 2 people nearby who knew where they were going, should things go wrong and they need rescuing or something. but for small/random tasks, nina would just do those alone.

her last mission (that fabian alludes to) had taken months to complete: three formerly-benign ghosts had been "turned" by a magician up in canada, released from the underworld, and, driven mad by the magic (and confusion of being back in the real world), had started a series of freak thunderstorms across the american midwest. together with jerome, she had to figure out how they got released, stop the magician, construct the device necessary to trap the spirits and send them back, and use said device to stop the storms. the effort had completely exhausted her (so much so that she – making headlines – decided to take a step back on touchstone production, instead of hanging out on set like she did for the other three)

(that's why tor is the way it is. with her dropping off of the face of the earth, someone decided – while she couldn't argue against it – to absolutely slash the budget, which lead to a mess of a story (screenplay is the only oscar it wins)

nina's death (as alluded to in the article) really seemed out-of-the-blue. basically, she was on a mission – alone – that suddenly and very unexpectedly turned dangerous. but when she was found (by KT and amber together) it looked like she just collapsed at home – there was no indication of any foul play or anything, really, of how she died.

also alluded to in the article, but a lot (but not all) of KT's "investigative journaling" was her covering up the consequences of nina's missions with theories that would make sense to the general public. nina's last request of her was to halt any investigation into her death prematurely as she knew things would unravel pretty quickly otherwise

joy's role in nina's life was mainly to book her for enough public-facing events/etc so that people wouldn't question where she was when she "disappeared" for a month or two, as well as act as her social media manager/"source close to her" to tabloids during extended absences so people continue to think she's okay. this was especially important given nina's monumental rise to fame (and as a screenplay writer, at that! usually it's the actors/directors who get most of it!) and her relatively young age, which meant she got herself a fandom very quickly…and we all know what the rumor-spreading capabilities of stan twitter are like. there were quite a few times nina came back from a mission to find several "new" pics on her instagram or that shes going viral for something she doesn't "remember" saying lskdjf

amber's role was to media-train the hell out of nina so she never gives any indication that a) there's an element of truth in her work; b) she lives a double life; and c) weird things keep happening in the cities she happens to frequent (eg random buildings falling, artifacts disappearing, etc). we all know this girl can't lie to save her life…amber is nothing but a miracle-worker in that regard lol

as for eddie – his death is basically the reason things are so awful, now. he actually dies at the end of tor, and not only does osiris himself blame nina for it (using "logic" that can rival senkhara's in s2), but it also leaves nina terrified since she no longer has a protector – something all the other gods/spirits quickly take advantage of (threats/blackmail/etc) for the first few years, by which time word of her willingness to do anything spreads and she can't get rid of the constant requests. it doesn't help that his death also proved to them that nina (like her counterpart) can, and will, sacrifice herself to save the world, if it came down to it, making her the perfect pawn in a lot of schemes.

#asks #your-favorite-fruit #house of anubis #i love love love getting questions like this thank you!!!#my writing #myposts

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centaurianthropology · 4 months ago

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Hammer Horror-a-thon: 'Dracula A.D. 1972'

I know I said that I would skip this one, but after I posted, my conscience nagged at me. I had said I wanted to see Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing face off again. I had said I might enjoy the worse and hornier sequels to 'Horror of Dracula' even more than I enjoyed the original.

And yet I didn't want to watch the terrible, horny sequel? Weak! Did I fall at the first shitty movie hurdle? NO!

Anyway, tonight I inflict upon myself and all of you ... 'Dracula A.D. 1972'.

From the off this movie commits a massive crime in my book: it implies that Dracula was already resurrected and faced off with van Helsing at least one other time, but probably often. Like, a full lifetime of cat-and-mouse between them. AND WE NEVER GOT TO SEE IT! Yes, I know I skipped all the sequels between the original and this one (I am here for this duo, and owe the Hammer cinematic universe nothing), because none of them had both Cushing and Lee in them, but this movie has the gall to imply that there is some other, parallel universe where there were like five other movies where these two tried to homoerotically murder one another?? And we were denied????

Crimes! Unspeakable crimes!

Anyway, we open with what is the final confrontation between the original van Helsing (whose name was apparently Lawrence rather than Abraham? I completely missed that in 'Horror of Dracula'). Both are killed. It's like Romeo and Juliet, but with a broken carriage wheel and blunt force trauma.

Look at them and imagine so many more movies of this. We could have had it alllllllll ...

But Dracula, who always comes back, is once again resurrected! How does this happen?

A groupie. Dracula got his ass a groupie, who calls himself 'Jonny Alucard', because Hammer Horror has never been about subtlety.

Wait, did 'Castlevania' steal Alucard from 'Dracula A.D. 1972'?? Because that's hilarious if true.

So groupie Alucard buries Dracula's ashes with van Helsing, which is fucking romantic in a creepy way, I guess, and then we flash forward to the swinging tunes of 1972. And I have to say, the cinematography in this film is coming on strong. It's dynamic, colorful, looks interesting, there's cool shots ... the director of photography, Dick Bush (yes, that is his actual name) is doing a lot with his little budget.

We arrive at a party in full swing. If there was ever a stereotypical counterculture party of 1972, it is this one. We have a band. We have sex. We have dancing. We have probable drug use. We have definite alcohol use. We are free of the Hayes Code, baby, and we are making the most of it. And in the middle of the color and the music and the abundance of varying-degrees-removed-from-hippie, we have Alucard (Christopher Neame in one of his very first roles!). The pretentious goth boy at the party, in his ruffles and black velvet and fedora. Before there ever were fedora-tippers, there was this lad.

You can practically hear the 'milady'

And I have to say, with our first real taste of it, the script is sort of solid? There's a fun patter to the dialogue, the characters come across as lively and snappy, and the whole thing feels way more fresh and fun than I was expecting after the fairly sedate writing in 'The Horror of Dracula'. The acting is also bouncier, with all the actors seeming to have quite a bit of fun in the scene. It's goofy, but it's in on the joke.

Turns out, he's a part of a group of counter-culture kids. You've got Alucard (same one? Descendent? Who knows, since grandkids have a tendency to have the same actor as the original, more on that later.), The Monk (I forget his name, but he spends the entire movie in a monk robe making wisecracks, so we're calling him The Monk), a few random cannon-fodder kids, and ... Jess (Stephanie Beacham).

She's got 'final girl' written all over her!

Alucard, to stave off the boredom of endless parties, suggests demonic rites, as one does. Everyone initially laughs, but they're young, dumb, bored, and, most importantly, the teenagers in a proto-slasher flick. So you know they're going to go along with it after they've given him some rightful shit for his continued pretentions. And again, the writing is a bit schlocky, but does genuinely capture the vibe of a friend group, ranging from people eager to give it a try to some who think it's silly to Jess, the most reluctant of the bunch. She thinks there might be some danger involved in trying to do demonic rituals in a soon-to-be-demolished church. And while in real life that's called being a killjoy, in this universe she has reasons to be concerned.

Reasons like her anthropology professor grandfather, Lorrimer van Helsing. Yep! We have another descendent-played-by-the-same-actor, and Peter Cushing is back as a new van Helsing for a modern era. Jessica is well aware of her family history, but both of them seem convinced it's a little more research-based, and she thinks it's fairly similar to any other new-age trip.

I have to say, I love what Stephanie Beacham does with this role. Jessica is young and hip, but also friendly and relatable. She's got a sense of humor, and with her delivering her lines in an easy, naturalistic manner as Cushing is a bit more old-school, you get a great sense of the generational gap between grandfather and graddaughter (no mention of her parents, but she seems to be living with her graddad).

I'm sort of blown away by how fun this movie is so far?

So the group of kids all show up to the soon-to-be-demolished church, which also happens to be where Lawrence van Helsing was buried. Jessica's more than a bit pissed, realizing they were arriving on the date of her great-grandfather's death (which makes Lorrimer Lawrence's child?? I don't think those dates work, but okay). But she ends up deciding that it's a coincidence, and is convinced to stick around by a fast-talking Monk.

The Black Mass scene is pure schlock, and it's hilarious. Christopher Neame really leans into the scenery chewing, and we finally kick off the horror part of this horror movie with gouts of magically conjured fake blood. It's a deeply stupid scene, and exactly the sort of thing I wanted from this movie.

It's so fucking dumb!

The kids scatter, leaving one of their friends behind (RIP Laura, you were great at screaming and getting covered in blood), and Alucard gets his groupie on as Dracula rises from the grave once more. Not that Dracula seems to give much of a damn about him. Poor Alucard, you go to all that work, are that dramatic, bleed all over a lady, and he doesn't even want to bite you. He goes for Laura instead.

So with Laura 'dead' (probably a vampire), Alucard goes about trying to convince his friends that it was all just a hoax, that Laura's fine, and they should definitely stick around to get picked off one by one.

Meanwhile, because we're now in the 1970s, Laura's death prompts an actual police investigation, and since Jess was one of her friends, the police want to talk to both her and her grandfather, who had apparently helped them before with blackmailing witches (can we see the white collar crime witchcraft movie, please??).

While the police are investigating, cannon-fodder teen #2 gets lured to Alucard's flat with the promise of jazz (RIP Gaynor, all we know about you is that you have good musical taste). Once again, she gets bit. Once again, Alucard gets nothing but a telling-off that he still hasn't managed to lure in Jessica (because Dracula is already fixated on the van Helsings). You'd think Alucard's going to start getting pissy about the lack of bisexual vampirism.

When will senpai notice him?

Van Helsing, much like his ancestor, can at least put the pieces together quickly enough (although one wonders why he hadn't already realized that 'Alucard' is 'Dracula' spelled backward, but he's on the trail. Was he trained to hunt vampires, or is he literally just a professor of anthropology in his 60s who's going to have to learn on the fly? We're about to find out!

Lorrimar van Helsing, Scrabble champion

Alucard throws a proper fit about once again being passed over, demanding to be turned. Dracula is not best pleased, but also clearly sort of into the begging. So in the end do we get bisexual vampirism? We do! We cut before it happens (boo), but Alucard finally has his vampire groupie dreams fulfilled.

Good for him

Van Helsing starts his investigation in earnest, grabbing a crucifix, a silver knife (does he know how to knife-fight??), and a bottle of holy water. And it turns out that the cops just believe him. No need to try to convince them about vampires, they're on-board, because we're int he Hammer universe, baby! At some level, everyone in this universe seems to already know that vampires and whatever else are real. He infodumps to the police inspector, who remains totally chill with this information and letting van Helsing run the investigation from here on out so long as they keep it on the DL.

Meanwhile, while he's playing detective, Jess is lured into a trap, since her boyfriend Bob has been turned into Bob the vampire by a newly-vamped Alucard. And unfortunately, she was not trained to be Buffy, so the best she can do is burn the shit out of Alucard with a crucifix before fainting. I'm not judging Lorrimar's parenting skills, but if he thought that that one obsessive vampire constantly trying to bite him and his entire family over multiple resurrections could, you know, get resurrected again, it might have been a good idea to teach her to at least carry a silver knife and a bottle of holy water around with her.

This is 100% an L for van Helsing parenting

Van Helsing realizes that Jessica's gone missing and starts trying his hand at vampire hunting in earnest as the baby vamps drag poor Jess off to Dracula. Luckily, one of the other cannon-fodder teens, Anna, reveals that she got high at Alucard's place once! Hooray for convenient info!

Van Helsing gets to cut his teeth at vampire hunting with a really fun fight-sequence against Alucard. And I have to say, I feel like horniness for the van Helsings runs in Dracula's bloodline, because Jonny really wants a bite of that old man. Luckily, goofy vampire deaths remain a mainstay of this series, as van Helsing takes him down with a mirror reflecting sunlight and a fucking shower of running water. It's so dumb. It's SO. DUMB, and Christopher Neame absolutely crushes it at the hammiest of vampire deaths. Positively gnawing on every inch of that scenery. I love him.

We get multiple vampire fights, and we start off with this? We are truly spoiled.

Tragically, we don't also have time for a fight with Bob, and we've sort of lost track of the other girls, because we're once more pelting madly toward that point of the movie we've all been waiting for: watching those old men fling each other around a room for a bit!

We kick off with some truly unhinged scene setup, as Van Helsing gets his whittling badge by digging a massive pit, carving a ton of stakes, and setting up and honest-to-God pit trap. Meanwhile, he also plants a crucifix on Jessica, who he finds in some sort of magical sleep, so at least Dracula won't be able to bite her before they can have their confrontation. Dracula manages to rip off the necklace, but van Helsing turns up, and its time for a good old lover's tiff.

Van Helsing demands Dracula remember him, and from that point on, Dracula only has (bloodshot) eyes for one man.

The disheveled nemesis ex bitch is back!

The expression of a man seeing his ex for the first time in a century, and the ex is still hot.

The ex is still hot!

And they get an actual verbal confrontation this time (at least Christopher Lee gets some really hammy lines!)! It's over-the-top! It's hammy! The fight choreography is deeply iffy. It's exactly what I wanted! Rough one another up some more!

Luckily for us, a hypnotized Jessica keeps this fight from ending too soon, and that ridiculous spike trap actually gets used, continuing the tradition of very silly vampire deaths. Seriously, does Dracula ever get a dignified badass death? Or does every movie end like a Loony Toons cartoon?

Alas, it's only a five-minute confrontation (I could have done with a lot more), and we end with the spell broken, Jessica fine, and perhaps a massive training montage in store for both the van Helsings.

So you know what? I am so pleased I watched this movie I almost avoided. Yes, it was ridiculous cheese. Yes, it was really silly, and you know what? I really fucking enjoyed it. I could still do with more Dracula/van Helsing fights (only five minutes??), but damn that was fun. Solid B-movie acting, an honestly fun musical score, and Dick Bush (did you forget about him?) really set up some great shots and got a really solid atmosphere going on a tight budget.

I really, unironically, enjoyed this movie!

And next time, we finish out the Dracula movies with 'The Satanic Rites of Dracula', this movie's direct sequel!

#Dracula A.D. 1972 #Christopher Lee #Peter Cushing #Stephanie Beacham #Christopher Neame #if you want an actually fun B horror flick for the season #I genuinely recommend this ridiculous film #could have been more homoerotic #but we did get five glorious minutes #and Alucard's hungry ass #Vancula #Hammer horror-a-thon

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wehangout · 6 months ago

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Another @shamelessdvdcommentary requested by the wonderful @suzy-queued with questions made by the amazing @callivich! This one is for Slick back My Hair (You know the Devil's in There)! These are a lot of fun, so hit me up if you want to see this for a different fic 😘

Give us some stats - (when you wrote it, word count, how long it took to finish, is it a one-shot/multi-chapter, etc)

Wrote it in 2015! It’s a long one-shot, and I think my second ever shameless big bang.

What was the initial inspiration for your story?

Okay. Took me a minute. I knew this was inspired by a one-shot I wrote for GW2015 that has since been taken down, but I also knew the one-shot was inspired by something and it took forever to go back and figure it out. Anyway, the initial one-shot was inspired by the Day 7 theme of “Imagine Your OTP – go to the website http://otpprompts.tumblr.com/ and choose a prompt!”. I don’t recall what the exact prompt was (I think digging a grave together), BUT apparently I still have the one-shot posted here on tumblr if you wanna read it! So, yeah, the Big Bang fic was inspired by this one-shot which was inspired by GW2015. Phew. That was a novel on its own

If the story is written from a character’s POV, why did you choose this character?

Mickey. Because I am me.

What was your favourite scene to write?

I’m not sure, but reading back, I really like the scenes with side characters as assasins. Sheila, Jimmy, and Angela. Fun stuff.

How did you come up with the title?

Ugh. This was back when iTunes was a thing lmao. I basically went through all my music, picking out songs I thought might fit the fic’s plot, then went through the lyrics.

Are there any little moments or references you hope readers will notice?

Two! I had fake IDs with the names John Foley and Axel McClane which is a reference to John McClane and Axel Foley – Die Hard and Beverly Hills Cop respectively. And I also had this line “Two inches to the right and it would’ve hit your fucking heart, Ian.” "Two inches to the left and it would have missed me completely” which was reference to The Mighty Ducks. Only one reader picked up on these lol.

Was there anything you struggled to write? If so, how did you overcome this?

The Terry fight scene. And, honestly, I just pushed through it.

Favourite line in the story?

Okay, the “My hero” continuation, but also, back in 2015, I wrote, word for word, “Knew you’d come.” I mean, it’s Ian saying it, but obvi why it’s a fave lmao

What are you most proud about in the story? (plot, characterisation, dialogue, twist/cliffhanger, etc)

I wouldn’t call them twists, but the little surprises that turn up along the way – Sheila being a badass, the texter being Mandy.

Are there any ‘behind the scenes’ info you’d like to share - e.g. what’s going on in a characters head in a certain scene or how you came to write a certain line?

At the end, where Mickey goes to save Ian. Ian’s “goodbye” is legit. Dude was sure they (at least he) was going to die.

Reading back the story now, is there anything you’d change or add?

It’s very quick. I’d probably add more depth to it. (also the title shh)

Would you ever write a sequel to this story?

I’ve considered it, but one half of the dynamic duo gets taken in this one. What other plot could there be?

Are there any ‘easter eggs’ in your story - e.g. references to other stories you’ve written, a trope you often use etc?

I think I did the big Oh moment in this, along with a few others. I think that’s about it.

If you’ve chosen your most popular story, are you surprised by the popularity?

This is definitely not my most popular, lol, but I appreciate the love it’s received!

Were you nervous or excited to post this story?

Oh, always excited

Did you have a beta or a friend who helped you as you wrote?

I did! Again, this was back in 2015 when my pal Ella @hubrisandwax was still around. We had similar time zones, so we’d Skype and write at night (poetry, bitch), and have our own little sprints. She was my cheerleader and beta!

Anything else you’d like the readers to know about the story?

I know this is an Ian and Mickey romance, but I actually preferred the scenes after Ian was taken. Getting into Mickey’s head when he’ll do literally anything to get Ian back? Including torture and murder his own brother? That shit was fun.

#fic commentary #ian and mickey #my fic #slick back my hair (you know the devil's in there)

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smaller-comfort · 3 months ago

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wip wsunday, 2 modern au fragments and a bit of devotional. I *want* to post bits of my sanguinalia thing but I caaaan't. >:xxxxxx

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can't stop, won't stop (modern au, aephorul/resh'an, college/post-grad years; call it the sequel to gotta start somewhere. probably counts as a kinktober thing; the boys go toy shopping.)

Devotional isn't the silliest thing in my wips. it's this. this gets absurd. there are costumes involved. it starts off fairly innocuously, though.

"Let me buy you something fun for my birthday." Aephorul sat down on the couch beside Resh'an and set his laptop on the coffee table.

Resh'an squinted at him. "That's not how birthday gifts work. And I know I'm bad with dates, but I'm pretty sure your birthday isn't for another three months." He frowned. "...it's not, right?"

"It was yesterday," he said gravely. "You didn't even wish me happy birthday. I was completely devastated. Absolutely bereft. Abandoned by my boyfriend-"

"You are such an asshole." Resh'an elbowed him sharply.

Aephorul managed to keep a straight face for half a second longer, and then lost it. "Your face! Oh my god-" He tried to fend off Resh'an's elbow again, but Resh'an nailed him in the solar plexus. "Oof- fuck- ow- this is abuse- motherfucker-"

He wasn't really sure what it said about either of them that this kind of thing ended up being foreplay at least 75% of the time. Not that he was complaining- well, maybe he was complaining a little. Resh'an fought dirty and his elbows were sharp.

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staycation: monday (modern au, aephorul/resh'an petplay)

this one is also very silly. most of the modern au is in aephorul's pov, so it's an interesting exercise to write resh'an's viewpoint, particularly when aephorul is being submissive.

I feel like I'm missing the point of petplay with this entirely, but I'm having fun with it.

"Sure you don't want a spoonful of peanut butter?" he asked while he loaded the dishwasher. "Because I kind of do. Maybe some fruit? The grapes are still good."

"Grapes," Aephorul said icily, "are poisonous to dogs."

"You're so obnoxious." Resh'an smiled fondly. "It's almost like you want to be muzzled."

Aephorul stared down at the floor and didn't say anything. He was trying to hide behind his hair, to disguise the fact that he was blushing hard enough for it to visibly darken his cheeks. Aephorul was teetering on the edge, and it wasn't going to take much of a push to put him all the way under.

But Resh'an wasn't going to push; he didn't need to. Aephorul would get there just fine, all on his own.

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devotional ch 4 (barma'thazel/elysan'darelle)

why yes, this story has snowballed out of control, why do you ask? this chapter is probably just going to devolve into some good old fashioned monster fucking. who knows, though, maybe somebody will get pegged.

aephorul sends barma'thazel a gift basket after chapter 2.

"This is the problem," she hissed. "You're a general, not some common prostitute."

"I am our Master's servant," he corrected. He ate one of the chocolates; they'd been enchanted to survive the ambient heat of this place, but it melted into velvety richness on his tongue. He closed his eyes and ate another one; it was as decadently delicious as the first, and it had some sort of crunchy center. Amazing.

"You really should try one of these." He held out the box. "It might put you in a better mood."

She looked almost like she wanted to fling them back in his face. "This- it's demeaning. You deserve- mmf!"

He popped one of the chocolates into her open mouth and tilted her chin up, forcing her lips closed. For all her skills with sorcery, Barma'thazël still moved faster than she could react.

Elysan'darelle's eyes widened with fury, and then scrunched shut as the taste of the chocolate hit her. Her hands flew to her mouth, but not before her tiny moan of pleasure escaped. When she opened her eyes again, she shoved Barma'thazel away from her and stamped a hoof in frustration.

#wip whatever #nattering #sea of stars #philosopher's bone(r)#barma'thazel/elysan'darelle #my fic #me when i realize that 75% of the stories in this series involve pillowfights or play-wrestling or scuffling like #ohhhh this is a Thing isn't it #aephorul outweighs resh'an considerably and it's all muscle; plus he did martial arts for years #elbows notwithstanding resh'an gleefully loses all of their fights #'slutty redheaded stick insect' vs 'sullen captain of the wrestling team'

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sincerely-sofie · 1 year ago

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Hi! This may come across as a dumb question, but I wanted to write my own PMD:EoS fic, but I’m kind of lost on how I want to organize my thoughts and the plot. Additionally, I get new ideas and then I end up struggling with what I want to do. How did you organize things for your story?

This isn't a dumb question at all! It's something I've struggled with for a long time as a writer, and I'd be happy to share what I've come up with to solve my fight with story organization! I’ll try to speak coherently, but this is something I’m really passionate about, so I might ramble a bit, haha. Keep in mind that this is what works for me, and what will work for you may be very different. Take from this post what serves you well and ditch the rest :>

Organizational Tools

You can use pretty much anything to organize your story— I’ve used everything from loose printer paper in storage clipboards to expansive Google Docs that are hundreds of pages long in the past. But what I’ve found that really works for me is an app called Notion. You may have heard of it— it’s really popular with productivity enthusiasts and small business owners, but it works like a dream for organizing creative projects! There’s a bit of a learning curve, but you can find a lot of templates out there for free that work really well if you don’t want to set things up yourself.

This is how my Notion page for TPiaG was set up:

The “Cheat Sheets” dropdown list was full of character sheets, links to Bulbapedia articles I’d refer to while outlining or writing, and also my completed outline. “Fun Stuff” was full of memes and jokes about the characters, an empty page that I’d start filling once I received kind comments on my fic, as well as ideas for additional stories relating to the AU— stuff like oneshots and possible sequels or diverging AUs. Fun fact: this is where I first wrote down my idea for The Present is a Gift: Paradox Edition AU!

“Chapters to Write” and “Chapters I’ve Written” were dropdown lists where I divided my outline into little sub-dropdown lists in “Chapters to Write”, and everytime I wrote a chapter, I would move it over to “Chapters I’ve Written”. Nothing is as reassuring when you’re stuck in the middle of writing a nearly 60k word fanfic as seeing the chapters slowly migrate to the right.

Organizing the Story

Outlining is a big part of my organization process, so I’ll be talking a fair bit about it. The first part of any story is your premise / core idea (it sounds like you’ve already got some of your own, so I won’t discuss coming up with those). The next step is brainstorming what you want to revolve around that premise. I already knew the characters fairly well, so what I did for TPiaG is write out a bunch of ideas for scenes on scraps of notebook paper and start arranging them on a table in different ways. I eventually settled on an order of events (many of which ended up cut for clarity in the actual fic), and then I started structuring them into chapters.

How I structure chapters is inspired by the Kishotenketsu structure that is used fairly often in Asian storytelling. I divide each chapter into 5 parts: an Introduction that provides a starting point for the chapter, Development that builds on and adds context or tension to the introduction, a Twist that causes a new perspective on either the situation, characters, or something else in the story, a Resolution that helps wrap things up in a satisfying way, and then a Hook that leads the reader to want to read the next chapter. This is a structuring method that works way better for me than the Three Acts or the Hero’s Journey— I prefer the stronger focus on character vs. plot— and so I try to use it as often as possible. Here’s an example from my outline (if you’ve read TPiaG, you may notice some differences between it and the actual published chapters of the fic! It’s chapter 4 instead of chapter 3, for one thing!)

Organizing Characters

I’ll be honest— I didn’t fill out character sheets like I should have for this project. I kind of just went with the flow as I wrote them. Twig and Grovyle are the only characters who got sheets at all, and Grovyle still only got a half of one. However, I do have a blank copy of a character sheet I can share as reference!

I think most of this is pretty self-explanatory— but if anyone wants clarification on anything or what goes into the individual note sections, let me know! This is what the topmost part of Twig’s character sheet bio looks like:

The Torment of the Human Mind, or: How to Deal with Idea Overload

This is an ongoing struggle for me. I’ve mentioned having ADHD in the past, but it really turns idea generation and shiny object syndrome into a purgatory of unspeakable proportions. Before TPiaG, I had never finished a creative project because I would constantly ping-pong back and forth between newer and funner ideas, inevitably abandoning WIPs, come back to them for a few weeks at a time, and then dart off to the next thing. This feels awful because you never finish anything when you’re stuck in this cycle, and having all those ideas as open tabs in your brain is exhausting.

My greatest advice for figuring out what you want to do and then doing it? Figure out a fun idea— maybe not the funnest idea, but an idea you enjoy and can create with your current skills and a good helping of hard work— and then commit to it with a story priority hierarchy. Every time you want to work on another idea, you have to work on the idea you committed to first for 30 minutes (or a different block of time, whatever works for you!). After that allotted time is up, you’re free to work on whatever other projects you like— but you have to start at the top of the priority hierarchy. That way, you still get work done on your #1 project, but you’re not restricted to it.

Alternatively: Write until that priority project is done. You can make notes on ideas, you can make Pinterest boards for them, and you can make playlists— but you can only write for your priority project. I’d recommend doing this with a deadline in mind. Something like Camp NaNoWriMo or a similar month-long challenge. Novelty is an important part of my workflow! I get it. But for some people, bouncing back and forth between ideas is detrimental to their ability to focus / write, and committing to a single project at a time is extremely beneficial. I thought that I was someone who needed total freedom to work on any of my projects, but it turns out that being handcuffed to a project and a word count goal for a month was exactly what I needed to finish my first ever complete manuscript.

Yikes, this was a lot. I hope I answered your question well enough. If not, ask again and give me another shot! I love talking about creativity, and I would be overjoyed to help you create however I can.

#stuff by sofie #sofie says stuff #creativity tips with sofie #writing #writing advice #writing tips #writing motivation #writer advice #writer tips #writers on tumblr #writerscommunity #writers of tumblr #fanfiction writer #fanfic writing #the present is a gift au

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regarding-stories · 1 year ago

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The dark abyss that is Andor

There were several things that led to Andor.

On the one hand, Disney screwed up its Star Wars intellectual property by handing it to complete hacks for Episode VII to IX, leading a potential cash cow to attract less and less viewers over the course of three increasingly bad installments. Seriously, The Last Jedi is one of the worst disappointments I've actually watched, and not only was I thinking "This can't get worse..." every five minutes only to be proven, "Yes, it can!!", it completely killed my appetite to see IX (and I would have left the cinema at that one's sheer stupidity). With VII, I saw it once with some initial excitement in a cinema when it released and a strange feeling afterwards, and I never revisited it. VIII I saw on two separate long-distance flights because I couldn't stomach the thing in one sitting. IX I didn't see at all, but devoured YouTube videos ripping it apart. Clearly, Disney had a Star Wars problem.

The other thing is the reboot that was The Mandalorian, especially season 1. The Mandalorian had a penchant for not very strong logic in its writing that you still accepted because you had so much damn fun and loved the characters. Given the fact that it clearly pulled lots of viewers into Disney+ that were loving its vibe that was true to the core of Star Wars, Disney management saw the fact that theaters and theme parks were closed due to COVID on the one hand and that big Star Wars movies were at risk of actually losing money on the other hand, and they did what executives are wont to do - they decided that if it worked once, it will work again and declared they will pump out TEN Star Wars series in the near future.

Meanwhile they cancelled also their ongoing series of "A Star Wars Story" movies that started with what could be called "Episode III.5" - Rogue One. Rogue One was plagued with production problems, so much so that seeming key scenes from the trailer weren't in the movie. "I rebel!", anyone?? Still, it turned out to be something new - a new kind of Star Wars story. It took the idea of a war movie (or its modern equivalent, Band of Brothers) and put it into the Star Wars cinematic universe. It did without an actual Jedi (kinda-sorta) and it showed a strong performance of Diego Luna as the morally gray Cassian Andor. And... (spoiler alert) ... it killed its whole cast in its finale.

I know people that say Rogue One is their favorite Star Wars movie. (But other people dislike it.) I hold it in high esteem. The way the resistance is portrayed also seemed to be somewhat subversive - both to its previous image on screen and to what is portrayable on screen for mainstream audiences in general. It became clear that unlike in the original three Star Wars movies resisting an empire is, on the ground, a dirty business and not just about big battles or commando raids. (Which then happen anyway. Because Star Wars.)

Then followed the lackluster Solo and the third installment Yoda was never made as Star Wars increasingly lost its ability to draw crowds into seats.

And thus it came to Andor

Now what do you do with a character that (spoiler alert? really?) dies. You make a bloody prequel. Which is funny. Andor is a prequel to Rogue One which is a prequel to A New Hope. Prequels, like sequels, carry the risk of rehashing the original material without adding anything to it (Solo ...) and being trapped by the inevitability of what has to happen next, curtailing its writing (Kenobi ...). But Andor season 1 betrays none of that. (Talk about being addicted to prequels, Disney...) It is a strong piece of cinematic art in its own right.

And yes, I'm saying art. About a Star Wars series. That's how I feel about it. Andor not only has strong execution, it has depth. It was a show that made me pause it and think about what just happened on screen. It's a show that gets deeper if you know about history, unlike most shows that actually reveal their shallowness to the knowing eye. (Looking at you, The Man in the High Castle. Boy, I hated that tripe.)

But even before we get into that, let me say how I impressed I was with its set and costume design. Whereas the Book of Boba Fett gave us cyberpunks on floating scooters, Andor poured a lot of heart into how everybody looked in their various environments, creating a more rich and varied Star Wars society by portraying various strata thereof, from the life of imperial senator Mon Mothma to the middle class living literally in her shade somewhere on the middle levels of planet-city Coruscant to the mining town labor class that we find Cassian in. It flawlessly cuts between different well-thought out locations, including, of all things, a holiday resort.

This is paired with some very strong performances by similarly strong actors. I mean, we all knew Stellan Skarsgard would deliver, sure. But Denise Gough absolutely kills it, acting-wise. Her delivery as a villain is perfect, the way she manages to always look so sour and annoyed already is quite something, how she normalizes evil into a technocrat career. Every flinch of her face conveys books of information to me as the fascinated viewer. She is at the heart of this series, and worth the price of admission alone.

And let's not forget Andy Serkis' heart-rending performance. Really, we're being spoiled. People are seriously acting, not just standing in front of a camera wearing costumes! In Star Wars!!

And yet, if it was only that, it still wouldn't have impacted me as deeply as it had. There's one more layer to this, and it's the massive bottom of the iceberg that is Andor. I haven't forgotten, even though I'm writing this a year after watching it.

(And definitely spoilers from here on onwards.)

Life under fascism

The second half of season 1 however can put deep horror into any thinking person's mind. It radically departs from previous portrayals of the evil Empire. It's not relying on cheap gimmicks like Episode VII where we see a village razed by the First Order. (So evil. So cliche, too. Also murdering Max von Sydow. Tsk, tsk. They had to get him off stage before any good acting happens...) Andor creeps under our skin and then reaps havoc.

(This part of this entry will become increasingly dark. You might not want to read on. Because fiction is one thing, and comparing it to historical reality is another. This is an actual trigger warning. Proceed with care.)

The first half of the season is standard fare, almost. Cassian gets himself in trouble and there is really no redeeming quality about it. He also gets everybody else into trouble. The Empire in its heavy-handed hurry to eradicate resistance actually creates it in the first place. And still... the lack of compunction about torture, about going victim by victim, vanishing people into its torture cells, breaking them... this is merely an overture. No hero is born here, but evil wears its mask imperfectly.

Cassian escapes his small world to eventually live the good life on a resort world, getting laid, pretending to be someone else. Instead of being caught as the fugitive and murderer and partisan he actually is by now, he simply gets caught up in the arrest of somebody else. The way the Empire "perpetrates justice" not only gets him arrested while having done no wrong (in that cover identity), he also gets sentenced by a court that doesn't even pretend to actually care about due process in any way. There's a machine of oppression, and instead of competently catching him, Cassian becomes caught up randomly in one of its many gears.

And while this may seem random, it's brilliant. It's one of the many reasons why resistance exists. Because the Empire's overreach is everywhere, grinding up people just living their lives while trying to perfect its control. The corruption of the desire for power leaks through in its banality.

What follows is Cassian's imprisonment, and this segment is brutal and horrifying on a deep level. The more you know, the worse it gets. Cassian is transported to a prison facility where he's forced into repetitive labor to make equipment for the Empire. There's a set of steps every labor team has to execute, and the team with the lowest quota gets punished with electric shocks. Day after day.

This is "Vernichtung durch Arbeit." ("Destruction through labor.") This is what the Nazis did to their political opponents. Before there was a Holocaust, there were concentration camps. And prisoners were made to work - the cynic motto across the gate of Auschwitz was "Arbeit macht frei." ("Labor sets you free.") People would gradually be ground down until they gave out in one way or another, fell sick, die of exhaustion, broke psychologically. The series never tells us its "inspiration," it just goes through similar motions. With the veneer of a super-clean techno prison over it.

Not only that, the very scene reminded me of what I read in a book about the Holocaust. Towards the end of the war the engines for the new secret weapon jet planes or rockets were manufactured by prison labor. Crews of malnourished prisoners would each execute a few pretrained steps and crank out more jet engines in slave labor than was previously done in the Reich's armament factories. This was the culmination of the Nazi system where all labor-intensive things like the bunkers of the Atlantic Wall or the underground factories of Dora-Mittelbau were erected by and on the back of slaves that were themselves gradually killed in the process.

Without ever breathing a word of what is portraying, Andor portrays the same. Skillfully, horribly so.

The devil is in the details

Some way into this horror, everybody gets their sentence doubled. The counter simply goes up. No explanation. Total helplessness in the face of total control. The deep gut feeling of "No one gets out here alive" or "It will never end" begins to descend. That number was a sort of life line for people to brave another day. And it lies!

As unbelievable as it may seem, people did get released from concentration camps, especially those on "lighter charges" like "antisocial behavior." But nobody really knew how long they had to stay or if they were to be released. Often, initially told they had to do 3 to 6 months depending on their conduct, and yet most people never left alive. A quick read in a book behind me says that 8 million people were sucked into the system, 7 million died, 200,000 left by being released by the system itself. The idea you might be released one day added false hope that in itself could create further psychological torture if it was dashed over and over again.

Then there is the "divide and conquer" approach to prisoner management. Work crews are led by other prisoners, rebellion and resistance is quelled within the ranks. This Andor merely hints at, but the Nazi oppression system skillfully created hierarchies to make sure a comparatively small detachment of guards could handle a large mass of inmates which could overwhelm them if acting together.

But it doesn't stop here, not in Andor, either. Eventually we learn that the Empire starts to eliminate the prison population. Rumors start to spread that an entire floor of the super prison was eliminated by electrocution. Just like the real Nazis the space Nazis start to construct yet another death machine to eliminate opposition.

And this leads to that sub-plots final chapter, the prison revolt. There are a few historical mass escapes, even from Nazi death camps. There's also the heroism of the two uprisings of Warsaw (including the ghetto uprising). Left with nothing to lose, left with nothing but death ahead, the prisoners overwhelm the guards.

And this happened in real life, too. It's probably based on the historical case of the death camp inmates that were forced to run the gas chambers and crematoria themselves. This is part of the Holocaust itself, the Nazis had finally dropped all pretenses and resorting to kill people in an industrial manner. And these people knew that eventually their whole detachment would be killed. They knew too much, were witnesses to this massive crime against them and humanity itself. They were also among those destined for death. Like in an antechamber of hell itself they were merely bidding time. So they managed one of the few mass escapes on record.

While Andor doesn't stray as far down the road as actual history does, it knows how to cite history for those who know. It's not made up of whole cloth. It actually is referencing the real history of the most inhumane version of fascism, but it does not put the fact in your face. But if you know, its chamber of horrors becomes so much deeper.

And that's why

This is what makes Andor an absolute masterpiece. It recreates the conditions without blindly copying the source. It adapts, but you can feel how deeply inhumane the circumstances are that it depicts. It gives you the bloody creeps, and even if you don't know how much it is rooted in darkness, you will still feel it. It shows. It tells. But it never spoils the source material.

This is art. This is the deep craft. The banality of evil, the careless, uncaring attitude of evil towards those it deems unworthy and not human. It's all on display. It switches us into the place of Cassian and of Andy Serkis' character as it draws us in as audience. We don't see what happens on other floors. We don't have the information advantage. We can only imagine. We are subjected to the fact that we can only imagine it. And so we share a bit in the plight of these characters. Sometimes not showing a thing is the highest accomplishment of movie making.

And this is why I'm pissed that a series that was planned for five seasons was already cut to play out in two. Because we need more of this and less of more Jedi doing backflips. Just like Loki plays on a completely different level than the rest of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Andor leaves all of Star Wars in its dust. If Rogue One was the attempt to tell a different kind of story in the same universe, Andor is the attempt at a different level of depth.

And this, more than Rogue One, makes it clear why they fight.

Watch it if you can.

And sorry if I horrified you.

#andor #andor series #cassian andor #rogue one #star wars

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corgi-cthuwu · 24 days ago

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Ugh... I'm done with Choices after ID 3 and Terror Fest Origins finishes, man... We're just going in circles. Terror Fest has been the only good book in a long time, and it's done. The Blades trilogy... the first book was definitely top tier, but the sequels were good, too.

The books they're releasing now are terrible. No matter how long it takes to get a new update for RC, I'd rather take quality over quantity. 3 new books from Choices and it's just badly written smut.

I feel like the only way to actually enjoy a Choices book nowadays (if you really don't like the LI-- if you do, that's great actually) is to just go with the flow, have fun. It's not that serious. Remember that you are not the MC. You're just making their choices in their story. If you actually do enjoy the story then that's great for you! Or maybe you just don't care that much-- either way, it's just a you do you and I'll do me situation.

At the end of the day, Choices has changed. Can't really do much about it since they're a company that only really cares about the money (which I was doubting, but it seems to be going in that direction the way they're heading).

You can't really expect anything huge that the MC can do at the end of it. Like cutting ties with the LI. Basically just suck it up because that's the plot!

(Rant below about Surrender, PB's general laziness, and a bit about Romance Club. It's long.)

It's sickeningly informal. Emojis, slang, shortened versions of words...

Okay, I need to rant about this for a second... I've just started properly reading Surrender, and the one thing that's absolutely pissing me off is the way the MC texts. Like, my god, it's as if she's completely disregarding the fact that this is her divorce lawyer and that she is a grown woman.

WHAT THE HELL IS THIS WRITING

And I get it, it's texting, people usually do that-- but her divorce lawyer isn't texting like that at all. Took the time to put in the right grammar, punctuation and everything... while she's over here texting like she's in high school. I think even high schoolers know that you shouldn't text like that to someone IMPORTANT.

I gotta hand it to Reagan, at least they're somewhat formal (inappropriate but still formal)... but I'm sure that's only a show of their character as the uptight one in the relationship-- but barely trying to contain their desire for the MC (honestly, why?)-- having their seriousness and formality so obvious all for a display of dominance.

That's on PB's part for writing Reagan like that. Yeah, I get it, Reagan is "in control" or whatever. They have to be the adult one. And the MC is so naive. It's only for the storyline.

Just because you text "formally" doesn't automatically make you the bigger one in a relationship. Weird call out, but there it is.

And just because the MC is the submissive naivete, doesn't mean she's like... This. WHO TEXTS LIKE THIS TO THEIR DIVORCE LAWYER??

She didn't even do a double-take or clear the air with Reagan after their forward messages either. She just went with it even though it's so obvious that they're gonna fight later on, or she's gonna get in trouble for the dumbest reasons and they're gonna have "heated sex".

"Oh, my divorce lawyer is hitting on me and sending me pictures of riding crops telling me they're gonna punish me if I don't behave? 🤐🤫🍑🥵 I'm not even gonna ask, 🤔 but I better respond questioningly while sending a lot of necessary emojis-- 🤳😛 and I don't really care about the fact that they're hitting on me, just on the fact that we're talking about BDSM and sex and how this is really enlightening for me! 😈😉 I was in an unhappy and sexless marriage you see... I'm so new to this!! I also have a BFF who supports me 24/7 💞💞 so she'll deffo give me the go ahead to get laid 🍆 from my hot divorce lawyer 😜. It's not inappropriate because they're like the hottest bachelor in the city 😍😍. I'm sure this would be REALLY creepy if this was a random person who was poor and ugly and lecherous tho. 🤮" - The MC, probably

THIS WOMAN IS AS BLIND AS A BAT

Like can you imagine if the divorce lawyer looked like Lester Castellanos from BB?? Just as young, just as rich, just as ruthless and practically everyone wants them-- whether as their lawyer or in their bed-- basically, everything is the same but he looks like Lester. Huge difference then.

It's practically similar if you don't find the LI physically attractive.

The only reason I tolerate Reagan for as long as I have in my playthrough is because I made them a woman. I found them more attractive and more digestable for some reason. Can you imagine how much more disgusting Reagan would be if I kept them as a man? Hell no. I would tell him to go to hell but I don't wanna meet him there.

I get that I'm being hypocritical about some of these... But my attraction to toxic masculinity comes in spades and shades, and Reagan Thorne definitely doesn't fit the bill. Especially with how PB wrote him. Reagan's character was terrible in general. The reason for their whole character's existence in the first place is discreditable to say the least. For a smutty cash-grab book with (probably, how would I know) no actual knowledge on BDSM. Source material was definitely the Fifty Shades trilogy. I mean, come on-- Seattle? And the helicopter ride? (What is with billionaire LI's and helicopter rides??) And literally everything else? Just cause you like BDSM doesn't automatically mean you had a shitty family dynamic and you're "broken." Uncreative AF. They could've actually made the book better. Not a shred of respect when you're automatically supposed to be desirable and attractive, and Reagan isn't even showing how to be a Dom correctly. The depiction of BDSM wasn't accurate either. It's actually just manipulation that "is how BDSM works" according to PB.

You'll be shoved down our throats anyway.

This is a huge problem with single LI books, especially if you don't like the LI and the plot is problematic or the LI is being a jerk (because the only person as a romantic interest actively pushing you away or being extremely smug/arrogant is very attractive)...

It's like, PB understands the logical standpoint, you would get mad at the LI, question everything and might even stay away from them at the beginning-- but it's absolutely fruitless. Because there's this PULL.

And that stems from them being the LI. The only LI. So whatever your personal opinion of that LI it doesn't matter a single bit. Every damn MC is always stubborn at the beginning but that down bad enough to consider actually liking the LI. The chemistry is so forced. It's always forced proximity or they're immediately horny for each other, despite the MC hating them just mere moments ago.

What's the use of taking or not taking their diamond options to further "deepen" your relationship? You don't like the LI, so what?

It literally does not matter if the book you're reading is one of those smut-centered ones and it's a single LI book, but you don't like the LI. You're together in the end anyway. The only solution is to not read the book entirely.

A great example of this is TCH. I don't much care for Kieran, though I liked them better in the second book. I actually understood their romance route then, for some reason. Their scenes were really cute and sweet, especially after everything Kieran and MC went through in the first book.

But when it came to just the first one... I remember being so pissed that Radiance was another fake-out LI (yes, let's make this other character default to the same gender as the player chooses Kieran to be-- that won't make anyone mad) that I replayed TCH, denied Kieran's affections every chance I took, and only tried to "romance" Radiance as best I could. And what did that do? Absolutely nothing. Even if ending up with Radiance was a stretch, breaking ties with Kieran after literally staying away from them this entire book is extremely understandable and should've been implemented. Like, what the hell? What do you mean you love me? What do you mean I love YOU? I BARELY KNOW YOU. Can I PLEASE leave?

The chemistry is forced. It's even worse when they declare their "love" for each other during the climax of the end. This isn't love!

It doesn't matter what you personally think of the LI, just know that you're stuck with them and your MC will always be attracted to them even if you actively go out of your way to pick all the options that are as negative as possible. Even if you stand your ground against their "eyes that darkened dangerously", internally the MC is shivering with lust. It's so random to get those kind of options which are considerably less romantic but the outcome is that the MC is still horny for the LI no matter what option you pick. There's no choice, ironically.

This is sort of why I love it when we don't know who the LI's are. The possibilities are endless when it comes to creativity. But Choices kind of feels like it's all set in stone.

That's why Simon and Lindsay were a saving grace in Save The Date. There'll be people who actually like Justin, but at least the "romance" and chemistry wasn't shoved in our face. Justin was annoying as all hell (for me, and I'm not hating on anyone who like his route), but he was still kind of appealing because there was a choice between these three drastically different LI's.

And about there being "no choice"... Another little pet peeve of mine, and it's kind of nitpicky, so I understand if not everyone sees it this way as well.

On the other hand, sometimes there's too MUCH of a choice. Literally opening scene for the pilot of Do No Harm, and the reader for some reason gets the option to choose whether the victim the LI kills at the start will defy or grovel at their feet before death. Why am I choosing how this random person acts??

It would be so much better if you just watched how it happened, no choice at all. Because it's not even my character! Just some random dude at the start to give you a taste of how "ruthless" the mafia boss LI is. PB, let me be scared of them! Maybe the victim could've groveled on their own and they get shot anyway, but it's not my choice to make how they act. Let the character... be the character.

And I feel like that could've been salvaged if you had just did better with the writing and technical narrative design. Keep in mind, this is the PILOT for an upcoming book-- and it's already pretty bad. AI aside, the plot is... The concept was actually interesting, but the MC having this whiplash to hating then being outrageously down bad for the LI took me out.

PB nowadays have been so soulless. It started with the names. The last names for characters are recycled for some reason, with the characters having no relationship to other characters with those names. Julian Navarro = Donovan Navarro.

There's also Trystan Thorne and Reagan Thorne... They're from completely different books and not related at all biologically. Why didn't you just use a different last name??

And with Do No Harm, they recycled the last name from Rivals With Benefits-- "Coine." RWB is a fresh book that just ended. Literally, it's not hard picking a default name. Just go on Pinterest and look up name ideas. Or maybe start using your human head and give the character a name that actually means something and is unique to them, y'know, since they're a new character?

It's a NEW book, clean slate, and you're recycling the names?? Why??

Those gender-neutral names for GOC MC/LI's are absolutely vile to me, because you KNOW they didn't even try. Sam Carpenter for the MC in Terror Fest as a nod to Scream was a good one... But for other GOC MC/LI's it's basically, 'what's the most gender-neutral name we haven't used for a character yet? It's for the gender, not their character or personality. Who cares what the character's names are, right?'

Why recycle the name?? What's the purpose?

Then it hit me. There IS no purpose. It occurred to me that they're probably getting so lazy, reusing names and body types and tropes because the characters are an empty husk. They don't give them their unique lives, they don't have any other purpose than to tell the story they're going to be for. They're not even characters, just shells that can be filled and emptied again and again. The teams behind the writing (which I highly doubt there are anymore) don't have any particular fondness for the characters they wrote. They're not treated with much thought.

It's not like RC, where each character has substance. They're THEM. They're treated as OC's, not some overused lifeless husk. You can set them apart from other characters from different books if you put them in the same room, and they would still be THEMSELVES. Even Seaweed from Soulless has better character than the MC's of these newer books. Consistency, for one. And that's coming from a cat.

And I know RC has its faults, too-- I'm not ignoring that. I don't want Choices to be perfect, and I'm not saying RC is (it definitely isn't). But so far, RC is generally just doing way better compared to Choices nowadays in some aspects. And they still have their heart.

And one thing about RC is that they listen to their fanbase. Maybe with poor judgement, and they're not exactly implementing the best choices (like adding LI's later on due to popular demand, most if not all the time male LI's-- which works out occasionally but in that situation the best case scenario is that none of previous LI's gets left behind and their character arcs are all complete... and worst case is what's going on with HSR), but they do listen.

When it comes to the writing however is the author's own thing. Sometimes there's a canon LI, which they make quite obvious... Or the writing in the way they tackle certain routes or triggering scenes is pretty bad. Or there's obvious internal misogyny. Or the writing and representation is just bad in general.

There's not a lot of LGBTQIA+ representation in RC, especially MLM-- since most of the MC's aren't men-- and WLW is struggling as it is. Male to female LI ratios are insane (6 vs 1??) They are sidelined most of time (especially in their older books, if there are any) and sometimes just aren't done very well with little to no thought.

GOC MC's, on the other hand... Choices gets the win for that one. And generally being more open-minded and less conservative with their LI's. Choices has been heavily ahead in that for a good while now, which is great.

But the soulless, corporate cash-grab aspect it's in right now is damning. The plots are reused. The background characters are reused. The whole "if someone else does it, my MC isn't a bad person" mentality. The LI's nowadays are annoying. Again, most of the choices don't really matter that much. In the newer books, your MC is basically the same person personality wise... unless you have a guilty pleasure for that book and add your own personal headcanons.

In RC the MC's choices are actually life or death. It's always frightening to see that 'your choice will affect the plot' notification but the walkthrough hasn't been updated yet so you don't know if you actually did something horrible.

But going back to Choices... I know I can't really expect much... I mean, that's what you opened the book for right? You expected all this. It's right in the title. If you don't like it, just don't read it. That simple. You don't have to rant about it. It's not that big of a deal.

But the quality of Choices nowadays is significant, especially compared to their older books and how they were before. I just hate to see the state Choices is in right now. Not even trying, every book has the same plot with the same arrogant/cocky LI. Holding on to every surprise book that becomes popular and drawing it out. Using AI. Joining an AI company. Their older books weren't perfect, but at least they had a soul.

#playchoices #choices stories you play #rant post #THIS IS LONGGG

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