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mydearesthrry · 4 years ago

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places we won’t walk (chapter one) || peter parker

summary - the doors at midtown seem a little boring, but when you get introduced to someone you seem to remember, what happens when they seem to remember you too?

word count - 2.9k (wow shes gettin better!)

pairings - peter parker x fem!reader

warnings - like mild mention of s*xual assault, angst if you squint really hard, mj being a softy for you, mj being a lowkey bi, peter being stupid as always, y/n calling peter a colonizer.... thats it ok enjoy

a/n: so i know i last updated in october, but as u all saw i have a 25 days of xnas thing going on (PLS I WROTE THE A/N LIKE A MONTH AGO PLUS I FORGOT ABOUT THE XMAS THING DISREGARD) so pwww updates will be slow (as if they werent already omg) but the next chapter will be arriving hopefully, fingers crossed, on xmas eve or xmas! also, are you guys watching the new euphoria episode? also, i’ve stopped using the word ‘stuttering’, as it may be ableist, and i’d never wanna come off as insensitive. anyway lmao, enjoy chapter one, the trials and tribulations of hitting someone in the nuts.

also side note psa: biggest thank you to @blossomparkers for helping me so much w this chapter. i owe it all tooooo u lani yani. thank u for everything !!!!!

series masterlist | regular masterlist | series playlist

(gif not mine!)

when y/n y/m/n stark was in her early years, she was never aware of the impact her father would and did hold over her life, and in turn, the whole world. for the longest time, you’d always assumed that your father wasn’t real, and everything that had been told to you by malicious family members who were jealous over your father’s “successes” had been lies, and you had it believed yourself. no one would even think that you were tony stark’s daughter until it had been mentioned. tony’s snarky attitude had been a character trait that you’d gotten, and you always took pride in your humor and attitude.

the story of your mother and tony had been messy and all over the place. from a drunken hook-up followed by multiple days of morning sickness, to a surprise pregnancy test, the storyline of your parents had been.. well.. interesting to say the least. you never focused on your family’s history, solely based on the fact that you didn’t have two fucks to give about your family history, but you also never knew your father which was-- bizarre.

when tony had found out about you, he claimed it was a drunken accident, a mistake, and one he made when he was “less responsibly a stark”, which was actually just some fucking bullshit, but he didn’t wanna admit that he hooked up with some random chick at a bar that he thought was hot.

since you had been raised by a mother who was barely there, you had to raise yourself. you were kinda street smart and book smart, and you were always smart when it came to books, because you were the type to want to learn-- unlike others.

when you were in your teen years, you had tabs on you and the media on you 24/7 to make sure you didn’t royally fuck up. the unwanted attention became too much when you started realizing that people didn’t want you for your personality, they wanted you for your title. but this was after you moved from brooklyn. nuvale and peter never saw you as some “movie star”, or some famous person in the media because you weren’t. but when you had grown to learn what your father did, he had forced you to not fuck up to maintain his-- somewhat okay reputation.

you always wanted that superstar life, as a fantasy of course, but when you got to it, you realized the cliche-y-ness of it all. you’d idolized the famous women in the media-- idolized how they looked like. you realized fairly quick how fucked up the media truly is. you realized how things really aren’t as they seem. its not just the galas that look extravagant, or getting to wear a fancy new gucci outfit every night. it honestly was a whole bunch of other shit you wouldn’t even imagine. it comes with the no privacy thing- people stalking you in public, the death threats, so much shit that wouldn’t happen as common if you were just anonymous.

being an avenger (basically), your dad had natasha teach you the ropes; the basic rules of how to kick someones ass. it was a handbook that the women of the avengers had created, and it had all the rules and regulations of how to spar someone on the team, and basically how to righteously beat someone's ass up. it was never really something you found too important, but as you grew older, you realized that it was very important to know, especially since you were a girl.

despite your harsh remarks and snarky attitude, your father always knew how to hit a sensitive point in you that always managed to break you down. you never quite understood why he would want to make you feel worse about yourself than you already felt, but regardless, you always felt underappreciated by him. being a stark, you were expected to be a genius, get over the top grades, and constantly be able to keep up, but with your luck, you were graced with depression, social anxiety, and a 4.0 gpa. fun, right?

wrong.

when you were 11, you had made friends with the kids in your apartment halls, and you learned that their names were nuvale jones and peter parker, and you were basically the golden trio. you were hermione, peter was ron, and nuvale was harry. which, now that you look back at it, makes much more sense than any other arrangement. you also had another friend, harry osborn, but once he moved away, there was no way for you to talk to him anymore. he had moved across the country to california, and from then, it was just you, peter, and nuvale. your best friends ha been there for you for what seemed like decades, although you only knew them for about three.

peter was the boy with the rosy cheeks who little 12 year old you would get butterflies in her tummy. or the type of boy to bring you an extra snack if you weren’t able to pack it the night before. he was the type of boy to walk you to the nurses office if you got hit with a dodgeball. he was the type of boy to fall for someone like you. but he didn’t. or so you thought.

little prebubescent y/n was an awkward girl who thought the world would be on her side when she needed it the most, or that whenever you needed peter or nuva, they would be there. you didn’t think your best friend would stop talking to you after you had moved away. you were too naive to know that peter liked you, and you were too naive to know that he had liked you back, but you wanted to believe what your brain would tell you, so you decided to flush your feelings down the drain and forget about them, which, in hindsight, was a pretty shitty idea. who would’ve known?

your alarm clock blared loudly from beside you, causing you to let out a loud groan in protest. you hit the side of your head angrily, then whining and rubbing the spot which you hit. whines and loud sighs fell from your lips as you rubbed the sleep from your eyes and pulled the covers over your head, knowing what would come next after you would try to snooze your alarm.

“good morning, miss stark, how could i be of service to you this morning?” friday’s voice echoed through your large bedroom. you peaked your eyes and forehead from beneath the covers, your eyes slowly starting to adjust to the light that was pulled through the big blinds which were now open.

“mmm, fri, just tell happy to get the car ready, ill be ready in a few min- nevermind, tell him to get ready in thirty, im probably gonna fall asleep in the shower.” you croaked, taking your phone from the charger which was on your nightstand. you slipped on your bunny slippers and turned on the heater in your room, the draft filling your room with cold air throughout the night.

-------

once you walked through the large industrial doors of midtown’s cafeteria, everyones voices started to drop into sharp hushed whispers, making you roll your eyes and pull your hood up over your face. you pulled your airpods from your pockets into your ears and tried your best to avoid any and all eye contact with anyone you did end up coming into contact with. you walked over to the food bar where you grabbed a red school tray and plastered on your best smile to the lunch ladies who work oh so hard to make sure you all were fed. as you walked through the line, you could feel the intensified stares on you, making your back erupt in chills. you didn’t like to be watched, and the fact that you were a so-called celebrity didn’t help your cause in any way.

“hey.” a low voice called from behind you. it was a girl with curly hair with gorgeous light brown skin, and a jawline that would cut you. you were almost astonished by her beauty, but you remembered the facade you had to hold, especially to strangers that you didn’t know.

“hey?” you asked unsurely, wondering if she was with the media or not. which was something that tended to happen quite a bit.

“don’t worry, i’m not with the press. you just seem interesting.” she said in a monotone voice, but still with a strong look of seriousness on her face. you giggled softly when your eyes locked and your faces went totally still, making the girl in front of you laugh as well. she held out her hand in front of you, while also balancing her tray and book in the other hand. you placed yours into hers and shook it, smiling when she told you her name.

“michelle jones.” she smiled, your throat getting a little tight at her last name, and you had to admit that it struck a little chord within you, but you quickly cleared it from your thoughts and introduced yourself as well.

“y/n stark. pleasure to meet you, jones.”

“pleasure to meet you too.”

“so, i get that you’re new here,” she started walking, inviting you to walk along with her. “what- what are you doing here? i mean i get you’re smart and all, but this is a nerd school; you literally could’ve gone anywhere, so, might i ask, why here?”

“hm, interesting question. seriously i don’t know. my dad and i don’t really get along so he makes the decisions and i tell him if i like it or not. which by the way, i’m gonna have to stay near you-- you’re the only one making this bearable for me right now.” you snorted, nudging your elbow to hers.

“hm, daddy issues. great song, love the artists.” she smirked, making you shoot your head back in loud laughter, gaining some side eyed glances from a few people sitting at the tables around you.

“so, where are we sitting? i usually nev-”

“hey mj!” you were interrupted by a boyish laugh and hoots and hollers coming from a table two tables ahead of you.

“jesus fucking christ. what? just because i got some and you didn’t doesn’t mean that you have to be that fuckin’ loud about it.” she grumbled, placing her tray down, slinging the backpack on her right shoulder beside her. you looked at her with a nervous but curious glint in your eyes. she gave you a knowing look which said, ‘just go with what i say’, making you nod in understanding.

“woah! holy shit! i m- i mean woah- nice to- nice to meet you!” the boy fumbled over his words, looking at you and michelle in disbelief, shaking his friends shoulder and poking at his cheek.

“nice cut, g. looks nice.” you said to him, giggling as you stuck your straw into the mini juice box.

“o-oh, thanks… g?” he said back to you, observing your looks with a confused expression written on his face making you giggle at his confusion.

“peter! look! y/n stark is at our table!” he whisper shouted to his friend, making you look at michelle with a smile on your face and playfully rolling your eyes. she looked back at you, rolling her eyes as well, gesturing to her head as if saying ‘idiots’, making you giggle and turn back to them.

“so, bowl cut dude, what’s your name?” you nodded to him, picking at your salad with the blac spork that was so cordially given to you by mj.

“n-ned, ned leeds.” he smiled sheepishly.

“and you, colonizer, what’s your name?” you tapped on the table, alerting the boys attention. you could hear michelle and ned hollering and snickering from their seats, but decided to keep your poker face rolling. but i mean, how couldn’t you? the look on his face was absolutely priceless.

“peter park- wait did you just call me a colonizer?” he cut himself off in his own sentence, looking at his other friends for confirmation, to which they nodded, still cackling at the fact that you had indeed call him a colonizer.

“peter park, hm?” you teased, ignoring the way you hesitated and ignoring the way your chest felt heavy when the name of peter was said.

“n-no thats not my name-” he said, tripping over his words, making you let out a chuckle.

“i’m messing with you. with what you’ve given me, i could only guess your name is peter parker?” you rested your chin on your hand, engaging in the awkward conversation.

“yeah. thats my name.” he said more confidently, giving you a tight lipped smile.

“nice to meet you, parker.”

“you too, stark, my pleasure.”

----

after the small encounter with your new found friends, you had gone back to your respective classes, which meant that your next class had peter in it. after you had split up, you decided to get there early to avoid any commotion surrounding you.

as the boring class continued, you heard the loud clicking of high heels in the hallways, which had to be one person and one person only.

“stark,” someone shouted from the door which swung open. low and behold, in front of you was the prickly bitch, your principal, mrs cunningham. “come with me, eugene’s parents have requested a meeting with you and your father considering that you had just hit their son in the private areas!” everyone snickered and laughed. finally someone had stood up to flash’s shit.

“y- you punched flash in the nuts? i thought that was just a rumor?” peter stuttered, looking at you in disbelief.

“yeah, the fuck was i gonna do? let him flirt with me? no. that bitch tried to grab my ass. i’m a stark, i was raised better than that.” you whispered to him, packing your bag as you did so.

“hm, guess you’re right. well, good luck stark.”

“thanks parker.”

--------

once you arrived in the principals office, you saw what seemed to be his mother in one of the seats decked out in expensive pearls and diamonds. typical.

“little miss over here punched my son in the privates! i will not allow this to happen!” fuck. you thought; another one of those stuck up cunty parents.

“pfft, probably paid to get their son into here.” you muttered under your breath, playing with your protection bracelets incase anything was to ever happen.

“wHAT? mrs cunningham, i will not allow this child to talk about my son this wa-”

“hello! i was called in?” a voice interrupted, one you could only peg as your father.

“ahh! mr stark! you’re finally here!” your hilarious excuse as a principal said cheerfully.

“i am! and i am here to.. come and have a meeting about my daughter's- behavior?” he asked questiongly, already seeing the triumphant and cocky look on your face. he knew you weren’t at fault, and you were gonna lie your pretty ass out of it.

“well, mr stark, we have a student in the nurses room due to the actions of your daughter!” she looked at him menacingly. he shook his head with a smile on his face and walked over to you, grasping your shoulders in his hands.

“well kiddo, wanna explain what and why you did what you did?” he smiled, giving you two taps on your shoulder, already knowing what was next. you two had a pretty good acting schedule when it came to it, when in reality, you despised eachother.

“sure daddy! eugene had been hitting on me for several days now, and even found my private social medias in use to.. how can i say this, use me for my fame? he tried talking to me, very inappropriately on several occasions, and even went as far as to try and grab me in areas in which i find extremely inappropriate, without my consent, might i add, which doesn’t seem okay with me. does it seem exceptional to you, mrs thompson?” you asked, while only keeping your eyes on his mother.

“why, i am so sorry miss stark! his father will be in contact, i did not raise my baby to be this way! im sorry for any inconvenience he may have caused you!” she gasped, raising a hand to her heart.

“it’s okay, i just request, may this never happen again? i would not like my privacy to be invaded, much less from your son, and can i please ask that he never try to hit on me, nor any girls at this school ever again? i can only imagine how many other girls this may have happened to, mrs thompson.” you sighed, your eyes filling up with fake tears. you reached up to touch your fathers hand, tapping it twice back, knowing that you both had just won.

“never again miss stark, once again, i am so sorry this happened to you.”

“it’s okay. now mrs cunningham, shall we see our way out?” your father answered for you, looking over at the old white woman who looked like a piece of cheese. she could only nod in awe, giving you the cue to pick up your bags and walk proudly to the door.

“thanks i guess.” you muttered, pulling out your airpods once more, hoping to seal the conversation with your father.

“yeah yeah, no problemo.” he muttered back, avoiding eye contact and stuffing his hands in his pockets.

once you reached the door, you remembered that you had left something in your locker, and informed your dad that you’d be going back to get it. he all but nodded and looked back at his shoes before trudging to the car.

once you entered the seemingly halls, much to your surprise, you saw a scrawny teenage boy lifting open a set of lockers, which you didn’t even know was possible, and pulling out a red and blue suit. once you saw who the hands belonged to, your mouth fell agape as you gasped,

“peter?”

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allthevmff · 4 years ago

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Find Afrocurl’s work // AO3 // LJ interview from vmfictitious // originally posted Mar. 20th, 2011

How did you get into Veronica Mars fandom?

Somewhere in the middle of S2, a friend of mine from high school started to talk about this show and how much I’d like it. At the general description of a high school detective, I borrowed her S1 DVDs and devoured the show in three days. After that I started to discover fandom, mostly because I used Inigo’s transcripts to keep myself up with what the show was doing before I could watch live.

Shortly after starting the show, I had this job where I spent too much time in an office and was easily bored. I used a bunch of downtime to read fic and post in a message board (FanForum for anyone curious.) When that job ended (thankfully) I had all of this spare time and just sort of fell into writing.

Were you an experienced writer when you started writing for VM? If so, what kind of writing had you done, and/or what fandoms had you written for? If not, was it really intimidating to post your first story?

I’m a little fuzzy on these details right now, but I wasn’t that experienced when I started writing in VM. I think I had a story or two written in The OC before I posted here, but I had some great support from a few friends (sarah_p // Sarah's Crack ) for one was a big support) when I did post my first story.

What was it about Veronica Mars that interested you? Why did you feel compelled to write for this particular show?

I really fell for the characters when I started to watch. Veronica was such a compelling character, and as I kept watching I fell more in love with Logan, too. I felt compelled in that post-S2 summer to see the relationship between Logan and Veronica explored (as so many other people did.)

Are you creative in other media for fandom (vidding, icons, etc.)?

I pick up making icons here and there, but I don’t think I have the same skill as many other people do. It’s a different creative medium, and one that I think stretches a different part of my brain.

What was the best moment for you, in fandom? (Not necessarily a moment in the show, but fandom itself.)

I think it was the moment when I found myself in a position to go to all of these events around LA and San Diego. I found that people around LJ were interested as a result because there was something for people to enjoy that I had been able to capture.

If you had a magic wand, and could change VM fandom in any way, past or present, what would you do?

I wish S3 hadn’t been so divisive—it’s spoiled so many people on the show, and when you still love parts of it, but not all of it, it’s hard to stay positive around other people.

Of your accomplishments in fandom/cyberspace, which are you most proud of?

Weirdly, I think it’s little things I’ve done that bring a smile to my face. Sharing my time with the cast with others in any way. That’s not just the picspams when I went to an event, but these moments where I could get autographs or phone calls to other people. At different times, I’ve been able to make a friend’s birthday just a little brighter with a message from the cast (Sarah and another friend M.)

What’s your favorite VM episode and why?

I go back and forth on this answer all of the time, but I think it’s Ain’t No Magic Mountain High Enough. In part because it was the first episode I remember watching live, and also because I’m a sucker for banter between Logan and Veronica. That whole episode is filled with it, even if they aren’t together as a couple.

What’s your least favorite episode and why?

Blast from the Past—I just can’t get behind the mystery of the week, or what Jackie does to Veronica as a way to keep Wallace to herself.

How do you feel about season 3?

I’m a mixed bag on the subject. I think that the first arc has promise, though it didn’t do much to satisfy my need for Logan and Veronica in a healthy relationship. I’m not a fan of how Piz was introduced, or what his purpose was in the long run.

The Dean O’Dell arc lacks heart (and the Hearst rapist does too when I look at it), and the last five are just all over the place.

In total, I haven’t brought myself to rewatch the whole season since it aired, but I made a promise to myself at some point I would (I plan to live-blog all of the episodes, but I only managed to finish the first three.)

If you met Rob Thomas, what would you say to him? (Assume that you have taken magical drugs that enable you to not be tongue-tied and you can completely speak your mind.)

I briefly met him and talked to him during season three, but if I could have a longer conversation, I’d really want to understand what his motives were for Logan and Veronica in that season. It seemed that the show always had Logan and Veronica together off screen so that the audience had no real reason to understand those later break-ups.

If you could talk to the writing staff, what question(s) would you have for them?

I’m always interested in some of the specifics of the room—are there any writers who cater to writing for certain characters? What characters do you like to write more than others? I think I’m just interested in their process more than anything else.

Writing

Which story of yours is your favorite, and why?

I’m really a fan of “The Black Hole” because I think it was a different sort of writing exercise for me. I also think I was really into the moment when I wrote it, and it shows. I can’t remember how long it took me to write, but I think it was a pretty quick write once I had the idea solidified in my head.

Are there any stories of yours that are (to your surprise) fan favorites?

Not really a surprise, but I love the reaction I had to Rational Thought. My Piz issues just got one big escape in that piece and everyone who read it had a similar reaction.

Do you (or did you at first) feel uncomfortable posting R or NC17 rated stories?

I think I was a bit apprehensive the first time (especially since it was my first fic in the fandom), but as I’ve written more and more of those fics, I’m more comfortable with the ways of writing it. I also love all of my betas who help me through the mechanics of writing it.

If you could start over and rewrite any of your stories (assume unlimited time and you would be paid for your efforts, because this is a fantasy), which story would you choose, and what changes would you make?

I’m not proud of Compulsion as it was written in the end, so I’d work there and really craft the narrative more than it is now. It’s not that it’s not beta-ed, but that it wasn’t really planned or structured beyond what is written. I think there was promise in the beginning and it floundered.

Do you write for any other fandoms?

I write here and there in a few other fandoms, but most of my work is in VM. Some of the other shows are harder to get a feel for, so much that I don’t know if I have the character voices down.

Do you write any original works, and if so, can we see any of them? Have you ever taken any writing classes? Have you ever published anything? Won any competitions?

I wrote a few pieces of original fic, which are at my writing community. I haven’t been one to take a writing course, but in high school I had an award-winning poem at the local county fair.

That piece, I wrote was in my junior year of high school, spring semester (so let’s call is March 2000.) We had to write an emulation of Langston Hughes’s “I Am”, and I went all out—confused kid to the max. My teacher ate most of it up, and had me submit it to the Fair. It went on to win the best poem for high schoolers, the best high school piece and Best in Show for all student work. I have three lovely ribbons, a paper weight to show for it.

What other VM author influenced you the most? Do you have a favorite VM story (by another author)?

I spent most of my time reading things from Loveathons and Fic From Mars when I was reading, so I guess any of those authors. I really love dark_roast’s ( dark_roast) style. I think mutiousmuse and truemyth (TrueMyth) each have some amazing pieces, too. What’s great about being part of fandom is learning how much else you have in common with authors you love. I’m still friends with Musey and Truemyth after I met them at Comic Con in 2006.

Overall, I think my favorite story is Finite Erasure (TW), which puts me in the camp of loving angst. I worked with Trixx (Trixx) as she wrote it and I think I fell for the story she was telling and how much it hurt along the way.

What fanfic do you wish you’d had the idea for and written yourself?

If I had a mind for her particular brand of crazy, I’d have love to have written One True Pair, because the creativity and perspective amaze me.

Who are your favorite traditional authors? Do you have a favorite book or series?

I love Oscar Wilde’s wit; I love Fitzgerald’s use of flawed characters. When I was in college I became a huge fan of Isaac Bashevis Singer. Sadly I’m not a huge book fan, though I do love words and compelling stories. Persuasion is one of my favorite stories, along with The Alchemist. I found myself more easily distracted by television as a kid and when I do get a book, I tend to read some fluffy chick-lit.

Getting to Know You

To which character in VM do you feel you are the most similar, or what situation in VM reminds you of your own life?

Even though I don’t write her enough, I feel like I’m a slightly less tech-savvy version of Mac. I wasn’t one to have boyfriends in high school, and I think that just influences my outlook now.

Share a fun memory with us, something related to fandom.

This moment at an event in San Diego where my friends and I spent a good five minutes trying to remember the Eleanor Roosevelt quote from Logan’s voicemail.

Or the time I had Jason write a message to my journal without him really knowing where it was going.

Dog person, cat person, neither or both?

Cat person! My cat Auric loves everyone he meets, and wants to keep me from my computer when I leave it open in his presence. He really loves to sit on my keyboard when I’m not around.

What was the happiest day in your life (that you can share with us)?

December 12, 2000—the day I got into college. I’m pretty lame most of the time.

The apocalypse is on us. You’ve got five minutes to gather your stuff before you flee (assume that your loved ones are already safe). What do you take?

This is going to be pretty typical, but my laptop, and external hard drives, so I’m not without my pictures. Maybe a few of my autographs and old-school photos too.

What don’t we know about you, that we should know?

I’m not nearly as interesting as I sound on the internet. ;)

The Nuts and Bolts of Writing

Do you consider yourself a stickler for grammar, or do you prefer a more casual approach? Specifically, serial comma: for or against?

I’m weirdly a stickler for grammar when I’m not the one writing. I’m usually for the serial comma, which I blame on years of it being grilled into my head from school.

What grammar issue do you constantly have to struggle with?

Spelling—I’m horrible at it most of the time.

Do you have any writing reference books you can’t live without?

I have a few copies of writing guides tucked away in my garage, but I don’t regularly look at them when I’m writing.

Are you a plotter or a “pantser”? (Do you outline your stories or do you write “by the seat of your pants”?)

It really depends on the story. I have some basic idea of a fic when I start to write it, but there are times when I only know that general outline and other times when I have a better plan.

There’s one story that’s been buried on my computer that’s plotted more than anything else I write. There are notes on how each chapter should work, but I only did that because it was a true multi-chapter fic.

My other fics that have turned into WIPs are not as plotted as they should be.

What’s your favorite point-of-view to write?

I love third-person more than anything else. It gives you the flexibility to talk about more than one person in the context of the story.

What type of writing is your favorite to write (dialogue, plot, action, interior monologue, description, sex scene, etc.)? Your least favorite?

Dialogue—no questions. I love banter as much as anyone else.

My least favorite—probably sex scenes. They’re awkward to figure out, positions, how clinical but not too clinical.

Do you listen to music while you write? Do you listen to different music depending on what you’re writing?

I do, unless I’m watching TV. My music doesn’t change depending on what I write, though maybe it should. My poor iTunes has been known to be demonic when I read fic, though it doesn’t do that as often when I’m writing.

What inspires you to write?

I like motivational moments that can drive a point home—so I tend to write shorter pieces that are about emotions instead of plot driven.

What blocks you from writing?

Lack of time. The inability to express what I’m looking for.

Specifically for Afrocurl!

What surprised you the most about Jason Dohring in person (that you can share with us)?

He’s a genuinely sweet person who adores his fans and what they do for him. I’d never had too many experiences with actors before I met him and he set the stage for being kind to fans.

How is he like Logan? How is he not like Logan? Did he do anything that freaked you out after watching him on TV so much?

I think he has Logan’s physical ticks—hair rakes and the like.

He’s not as precise with language as Logan. In person he’s sort of like any other California guy I’ve met.

Which story of yours would it appall you the most to find out that Jason had read?

The Weevil and Logan story. I think he’d blush and be shocked at the subject more than anything.

Which of your celebrity encounters thrilled you to death, but the rest of world could care less?

The girl who loves politics was thrilled by meeting Justice Scalia at my college. Though I’m sure I’m the only one who can appreciate it now.

We know you do a lot for charities. Do you have anything coming up that we should know about, that you’d like us to support?

Since Sweet Charity has ended, I haven’t done much work for charity recently. I’ve been a little too busy with the rest of life to help out with the Queensland floods and the like.

What’s your dream job?

Working at a high school teaching either Government or US History, maybe AP if that’s an option.

Your life seems to be going through a lot of changes right now. How do you see yourself ten years from now?...family, job, hobbies, etc., anything you want to share with us.

I’d love to have a stable job, with friends and family nearby for support. I can’t hope for much else than that right now.

Find Afrocurl’s work // AO3 // LJ

Source: X

reposted from vmfictitious // originally published on Mar. 20th, 2011

#vm fanfic #veronica mars fanfic #veronica mars fanfiction #writer wednesday #writerwednesday #author interview #authorinterview #the more things change

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eien-no-gakusha · 5 years ago

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Pili on Netflix!

What a year for puppetry! Not only do we have the Dark Crystal prequel, Age of Resistance, but Pili is now on Netflix too. Having watched pili as a kid & being one of the few losers who earnestly liked it, it’s nice seeing it finally get more attention. And now’s a good time to spread the love and defend this artform that gets so much hate! But before I gush, here is a crash course for those of you who don’t know. This is all anecdotal knowledge. I’m not an expert, just a banana who grew up with the culture.

Pili aka Budaixi (布袋戲) is traditional Chinese glove puppetry. In China, it’s generally preserved as a traditional art so it’s very smol and basic. More popular forms of puppetry like shadow puppets tend to overshadow pili so it tends to get buried by the competition. But it still exists and has generally been stopped in time in all its original glory.

Hop over to Taiwan and pili gets more controversial. The traditional artform is still preserved but pili thrives in Taiwan because it has modernized. The old masters don’t exactly approve of what it’s become but modern pili is always innovating and stretching the limits of storytelling with glove puppets. Think the Thunderbolt Fantasy collaboration with Gen Urobuchi and PILI Fantasy: War of Dragons. Things that are in pili that weren’t there hundreds of years ago include: CGI, practical effects, camera angles, fancy set pieces, and more advanced internal mechanics. Seriously, these puppets are huge compared to their ancestors who were literally sock puppets the size of your hand. Not only can primary puppets reach up to 18 inches tall but they can blink, mouth lines, hold props, wear mascara, and sport fancy hairdos. Where it used to only take one hand to control a puppet now these guys can need upwards of 3 puppeteers to function. Hence there’s a lot of dialogue between traditionalists and puppet nouveau. Usually the who’s-doing-it-wrong sort of talk and yes vs no to anime influences from next door.

But outside this miniature world and their ring of hardcore fans, the Taiwanese population at large do not really care for it. There was practically no respect for it until Thunderbolt Fantasy received worldwide attention. Had Gen Urobuchi not praised it as artisan crafts and exported it out, no one would know that pili existed and Chinese people would just not give a damn about it. Because you see…

The usual reasons you get to the question “why don’t you like pili?” in Taiwan is:

1) The puppets are creepy nightmare fuel, especially these new fancy ones that blink and look really humanoid and stuff

2) Puppets are boring and for kids

3) It’s just wuxia with puppets, why watch that when you can watch real people do kung-fu in real locations?

4) They’re lame and not hip at all, only puppet otaku losers watch that

5) Bad influence for kids because remember that time a whole generation of children were led astray by these damn puppet shows? They made a historical fantasy pili so convincing kids actually believed the fictional protagonist was a historical figure & wrote the summary of the show on their history exams and totally failed school.

Reason #5 is the most harmful as it’s the most widely cited, at least in the neighborhoods I frequent. Televised puppet shows being so addictive it distracted children from their studies became such a huge scandal it still hurts the industry’s prestige to this day. Since that incident, pili has been inexorably linked to rotting children’s brains. Therefore, it’s cool to casually hate pili or call it dumb, because it’s linked to literal stupidity. On the flip side, it’s not cool to earnestly enjoy a good puppet show since it’s viewed as grown ass adults playing with toys and there’s the stigma that people will magically turn dumb by watching them. Basically, if you’re caught as a fan people might think you are a bit below average in the head.

I think that’s complete bullshit! Chinese people have been making wuxia historical fantasies since we invented writing! Some of those are even great classics and required reading in schools all over Asia. They’re so popular they get theatre, TV, and movie adaptations. I’ve seen some pretty pathetic wuxia historical romances that drag on and have poorly written characters and they don’t get this much hate. Puppetry is just another storytelling medium and one’s interest in that medium is a matter of personal preference, there’s nothing objectively good or bad about it. And there’s no direct correlation between glove puppets and being a dumbass.

My theory of what happened 50 years back was television became widely accessible to the public. And given how TV booms start everywhere else, the local population will be inspired to film anything and everything around them. So like Hollywood started with mimicking Broadway and theatre productions and Chinese cinema filmed Beijing Opera before coming into their own. In Taiwan, we had pili so people filmed that and it became its own television genre. Also like any new thing, the older generation aren’t sure how to react to the newfangled technology but the younger generation embrace it and that disconnect as well as society as a whole learning to adapt to the new thing cause a bit of conflict. Just like in the West, neglectful and stubborn parents were quick to point fingers at the new thing when a problem happened when the issue was learning how to adapt life incorporating the new thing. Then we figure out the new thing isn’t evil and very useful or interesting. So I think pili is finally entering that phase when we are respecting it as an artform and not being blamed for bad grades because some dipshit parents think TV is an acceptable babysitter or bad teachers looking for a scapegoat.

Thank you Gen Urobuchi for elevating pili as an art and introducing it to the rest of the world when no one else would give it a chance. Thank you Takarazuka for promoting it as something cool. I hope everyone will learn to love pili more, or at least give it the respect it deserves.

I don’t know what to think of the puppet sex though, it’s a lot to unpack.

#pili #budaixi #glove puppets #puppets #netflix #thunderbolt fantasy #Chinese puppetry #布袋戲 #Taiwanese puppetry #gen urobuchi #虚淵玄 #my thoughts #my ramblings #my rambles

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notsoharsh · 4 years ago

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The Scholarly Adventures of Brain Girl and Blood Dude || Morgan & Harsh

TIMING: Mid July LOCATION: The Scribe HQ PARTIES: @mor-beck-more-problems and @notsoharsh SUMMARY: Morgan and Harsh take a little field trip to read a lot of dusty old books.

Thanks to her super-strength, Morgan was able to pull more books for Harsh’s soul problem than she ever could have on her own. She lead him down the dusty shelves with the glee of a suburbanite at the fancy grocery store, plucking everything that seemed remotely tied to the subject at hand. “This place is pretty amazing, right? I mean just look at everything you can accomplish with some collective organization and, well, deep pockets, probably,” she said, smiling. “We’re casting a wide net, but, obviously, indexes are going to be our friend, so if you can’t find any of our keywords inside, just move it into a nope pile. I went ahead and put it on a flashcard.” She turned and passed him one. “I hope you don’t mind my getting a little excited. I get it, why you might not be, and it’s not that I don’t appreciate the gravity of the situation. I think I just really miss having a reason to come back here.” And something concrete, even tangible, to hope for.

So this was the Scribe HQ. Harsh hadn’t really thought about the place before, but somehow he had expected it to be harder to get into. Not like he was about to complain about that. He trailed after Morgan, eyes scanning the shelves. “It’s really… something.” He should probably be impressed, but with each title, he had to fight to keep his eyes from glazing over. There was so much. How were they ever going to find anything in here? He took the flashcard with a little nod. “It’s fine. Honestly, I was kinda surprised you were so up for this. And I get that. There’s… a lot in here. Did you come here a lot for witchy stuff?” He grabbed one of the books Morgan had selected, blowing the dust from the ancient cover before opening it and squinting at the writing. “This one looks like it’s just philosophy, ‘what does it mean to be ensouled’. I’m guessing there’s not really a section here with a bunch of how-to guides?”

Morgan continued to look, climbing onto stacks of books on the ground to reach higher ones. “Nope, just my curse. It went back over a hundred years deep so I had to trace back all these obnoxious second and third hand accounts to all the terrible things that happened to my ancestors trying to get down to the source. My mom had a lot of faults, but enforcing a well rounded magic education wasn’t one of them.” She balanced on the tips of her toes to get another book, On the Metaphysical Material of Human Essence, and jumped back down, grimacing only a little when she landed off and had to knock her ankle back into place. “Magic is complicated, Harsh,” she said. “In a good way! Say your magical heart’s desire is the number 20. You can get there by ten times two, or five times four, or fifteen plus five, or nineteen plus one. Lots of roads can get you to twenty. Also, witches are, historically, protective of their grimoires. And some spells are too sacred or too dangerous to really want to pass down, you know? Ooh, seriously, check the index of that philosophical one, though. There might be some reference to some, I don’t know, random Romanian death cult that was known to help vampires restore their souls. That would give us a lead to follow up on.” She moved on to the next shelf before popping her head around the corner again. “I’m kidding about the death cult, by the way. I don’t know if that’s a real thing. But it would be pretty cool if it was, right?”

“Shit. Y’know, as long as I’ve been dealing with this stuff, the whole ‘ancient curse’ thing is still kinda wild. I guess I need to expand my horizons a little more,” Harsh said, watching her scramble about. He should probably offer to help, but… she seemed pretty content. Even he could understand needing a project. That was a lot of numbers, but it sort of made sense. Kind of. “I’ve picked up on the protective thing. That coven weren’t the first ones I tried to go to. A bunch of them would’ve rather staked me than let me see any of their dusty old books. Yeah, got it.” He flicked through the book, finding the index number before scanning the pages again. “I’m not seeing Romanian death cults, but there’s some Latin stuff in here. Well, I think it’s Latin, but all I know is audio, video, disco, so we’re gonna need some translating if that’s actually gonna help much.” He chuckled as he set the book down and grabbed another. “Hey, trust me, death cults are very real. They throw some banging parties, but you never wanna stay too late. There was this one I ran into in Spain, and--well, that’s kind of a long story, but they would’ve been very into you. They were all about the brain eating stuff.” Trailing after her, he scanned the top rows of the shelves. “How about that one,” he said, pointing at an especially thick, black covered book. “Looks like it’s got little skulls on it, that’s gotta be good.”

“Well a hundred years and change isn’t ancient-ancient,” Morgan admitted, still pleased to have impressed a vampire as old as Harsh. “But brain eating death cults? That’s kinda hot. Scary, but I’m okay with side hustling as a cult maiden. But the not staying too late, is that because after midnight is when they start to get actually all murder-y?” She laughed goodnaturedly at his suggestion about the skulls on the book. “You know, I have started coming around to the idea of skull iconography being a good omen, but this could just as well be about fun curses or potions.” She tried to climb up for it, but her short arms weren’t quite up to the task. She gave Harsh a sheepish look. “Maybe you could, uh--? And then we can start unpacking what we’ve bothered before we start looking again? I think thirty books makes for a solid beginning.”

“The ones I ran into always treated their zombies pretty well. One of them even made this cool throne for them, it was pretty badass. But yeah, usually they start the murdering right after Cinderella turns into a pumpkin. You get extra drinks if you bring someone to add to the murder pile.” Harsh decided to leave out just how many extra drinks he had managed to earn. Morgan was strangely cool with the soulless thing, but adding a couple dozen murders to that might push things a little too far. He snorted. “You don’t want to spider monkey your way up there? Yeah, I’ve got it,” he said. It was a little out of reach, even for him, but getting a leg up on one of the lower shelves was enough to grab it. The book was weirdly heavy. Maybe that meant it was extra full of magic or something. Hopping down from the shelf, he brushed the dust from the cover. “Yeah, seems like a good place to start. Which ones look the most ritual-y?”

Morgan pouted as she reached for another, closer book. “I want a throne.Can it be made of bones? My girlfriend has a huge thing for bones. We’d look pretty together on a bone throne.” And for ceremonial purposes, maybe with the right amount of discretion and care with, well, offering selection, it might even be a halfway decent time. She smirked at the thought, wondering what kind of coronets death cults might make for their zombies. She laughed at Harsh’s joke and carried their haul to the nearest desk. The books tumbled from her stack and spread themselves over the surface. “Well, here’s the thing: a ritual with full instructions and ingredients is an endgame, a big ol’ golden goose. But, you know, this might start off with something a little more broad, a little more sketchy. We don’t want to turn our nose away from death cults or norwegian summoning stones or...whatever. Because some weird reference might lead us to the golden egg. And the actual golden egg might be buried in some other archive. And then, because we followed the breadcrumbs, we’ll find it in that other archive faster, and...sorry, I’m mixing way too many metaphors, huh? Anyways, I can start on the books on this end of the table, and you can start on the ones on that end? You read fast, yeah?”

“I’m pretty sure making it out of bones is required actually,” Harsh said, with a thoughtful nod. Honestly, it was a little surprising that White Crest didn’t have any death cults, at least as far as he knew. They didn’t tend to be very public. Attention moving to the books, he grabbed a few and pulled them close, scanning the titles. There were some promising ones in there at least. “Right, it would be boring if it was that easy anyway. This kinda thing seems like it needs a lot of bits and pieces before it goes together. The coven said something about ‘proving myself’ so if you see anything like that, just, I don’t know, highlight it or something. I read pretty quick, yeah.” He flicked through the pages of the first book, an older one laden with dust. The cover might have been green at one point. “Don’t think there’s any eggs in this one. It does have a spell for cooking them though. I think this one’s more basic rituals than the big one we’re after. It does have a little thing about summoning, but mostly just bats and rats and stuff. Any luck over there?”

Morgan was running her finger down the index of the volume in front of her, picking out anything that looked remotely undead or soul related and flipping to the corresponding pages. There were a few technical magic terms that stuck out that she wanted to look at as well before she wrote off the reference as a dead end for this volume. She reached for another and started the process all over again. “Not yet, although, you know, lots of fun stuff about necromancy. And vampire cults, although I guess you already know whatever you want to about that stuff.” She balanced the next one precariously on her lap and started flipping back and forth, one section after the other. “This one looks like it has lots of serious lore, though. We’re talking old myths, druidic shit, some stuff I...can’t actually read. Do you know this language?” She passed the book over to Harsh, finger hovering over the photograph of some runes.

“I guess necromancy is sort of near what we’re looking for,” Harsh said a little dubiously. Honestly, he didn’t know nearly enough about magic to be sure. It seemed to make sense though. They both had to do with souls and restoring them. Or something. “Vampire cults can be kind of cool, but most of them are pretty anti-soul, so I don’t know if they would be super helpful.” He reached for the book, brow furrowing as he scanned the runes. “Sort of. It looks like Sanskrit, just a little off. I wonder if it’s like some ancient dead version.” His fingers trailed over the letters as he muttered to himself, working to muddle through the meaning. “I think it’s talking about a ritual. It’s a lot of sorta spiritual stuff, but… I think some of it sounds pretty legit. Some of the words are kind of weird, but I think it’s saying there are three, uh, three pieces you need to retrieve a soul. And then there’s some words I don’t know, this one just means really, really old. What about the other bits, the druidic stuff?” he asked, passing the book back as he moved closer to read over Morgan’s shoulder.

“You never know. Maybe understanding more about how you get rid of them could help us understand how to get one to come back.” Morgan said. Harsh couldn’t afford to turn down any possibility, and neither could she, if she wanted to be good for more than just cheerleading. But as Harsh looked over the text and translated, Morgan started to wonder if the search would be so hard after all. “That...that might just be what we’re looking for! Look, this sigil here, means spirit, but it’s sort of a vague all encompassing sort of an idea, it could me soul, intuition, intention, but when you look at these wrapped around it, you get a soul’s last regret. And when you look at its placement in the circle, it's on a material vector, an ingredient. But it’s also in the center, where you do the conjuring for what you want to accomplish. And in that place it’s also joined by this little squiggly? It signifies a joining, of two planes or two pieces, you see it sometimes in certain kinds of alchemy circles and binding magic.” Her face cracked wide into a smile. Harsh, it’s a spell to bind a soul to a body! It’s real!” Morgan shot up from her chair, almost toppling the book to the floor. “Harsh, your cure is real! I mean, I’m going to need to do more work to figure out the other ingredients, and we need to follow up on that Sanskrit, because that might be important, and who even knows how we’re going to even get some of these things once we know what they are, but still!” She jumped on her toes to give him as strong a hug as her arms could manage. “It’s possible. And that’s what matters most right now, right?”

“That’s a good point, actually. I sort of always thought of them as being two really different things, but… I’m not really an expert on any of this. I should’ve done way more research ages ago.” Harsh had thought as much before, several times… and then done basically nothing. He’d had two hundred years to learn this and he had thrown all that time away. Oh well, he was doing it now. That had to count for something. He nodded vaguely as Morgan went on, doing his best to follow along. It was a little beyond him, but the pieces he could parse were encouraging enough to make a grin slowly spread across his face. “Holy shit--Morgan, you’re amazing!” Meeting her halfway, he locked his arms around her with enough force to lift her off the ground, spinning the both of them in a circle. “You figure out what we need and I’ll get it,” he said as he set her down, still grinning widely. “Whatever we need, just leave it to me.”

#wickedschatzy #writing #chatzy #morbeckmoreproblems #c: morgan

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ice-cream-nekogirl · 5 years ago

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Amy Martinez (Character Sheet TV Tropes Style) K-O

Kick The Dog: Several times…

When she and Midoriya fought each other over how he handled the debacle with Overhaul, he attempted to apologize to her and give her an All-Might figure as a gift (Shinsou’s suggestion), but she rejected the gift and crushed it with her telekinesis.

Much like with Midoriya, Aizawa attempts to appease Amy when she’s upset with him for not taking her in after her parents died when he and the other pro-heroes could have, by apologizing and buying her a cat plushie, but Amy tells him it’s too late, denounces it as garbage and incinerates it with her pyrokinesis.

At the Christmas party, after Eri ate her cookie not knowing it was hers, an incensed Amy pretends to call Santa on her to not give her any presents.

Amy also wrote everyone angry letters (not knowing she wasn’t supposed to send them) and she simply wrote for Eri to “Get out.”

As stated, Amy wrote angry letters to most of her classmates, but ended up accidentally sending them as her classmates end up reading her actual, cruel opinions of them and she later says them word-for-word which made Iida,Yaoyorozu and Ojiro cry:

Calls Uraraka a ‘basic bitch’.

Tells Kirishima that he’s an idiot if he thinks being manly means anything.

Says that Yaoyorozu is ‘really stupid for the smartest girl in the class’ and is a ‘privileged bubblehead’

Similarly she calls Iida an ‘uptight robot’ and a ‘priveleged rich boy with no real meaningful goal’.

Asks Sero what he’s even doing in the Hero Course because he’s a “fucking human tape dispenser”

Calls Ojiro the “worst one in the class” because he’s “boring”, then insults his hero costume on top of it all.

Really just about anything she and Shinsou do to Ojiro as they relentlessly mock his generic personality by calling him ‘boring’ or steal his things for no reason other than amusement.

When she, Midoriya, Todoroki and Bakugo intern with Endeavor and visit his family at his house, she calls Fuyumi an idiot for being so forgiving towards Endeavor.

Kick The Son Of A Bitch: She always punishes Mineta for his perversion usually in the form of groin attacks, tossing him out the window or using him as an expendable decoy in battle.

She also beats the shit out of Tate Langdon with Shinsou before letting the former be dragged to Hell when together them and Madison free the residents in the Murder House from their purgatory and let their souls move into the afterlife.

Kiddie Kid: She’s a high schooler and yet she tends to act MUCH younger than that as it shows through her fondness for toys and My Little Pony, her excitable attitude and her dislike of work. Iida even frequently tells her that she needs to grow up.

Shinsou straight up says that having Amy as a friend is the same as having a child, one that he and Ashlen constantly look after with him being the ‘dad’ and Ashlen being the ‘mom’.

Kill It With Water: Her second death at the hands of her ex-boyfriend Damien as he drowned her in a bathtub. Much like above, she gets better as Madison this time revives her.

Killer Rabbit: Small, cute and for the most part sweet, but Amy can and WILL kill you if you cross her, if you’re lucky, she’ll just curse you or hex you.

Knife Nut: She’s handy with a knife and clearly gets a high out of using them.

Lack of Empathy: While she IS capable of feeling empathy for others, Amy can also easily show a disturbing lack of empathy for others due to her selfish nature and sense of entitlement as she can easily dismiss other people’s problems and feelings.

Amy: Greenie I’m not some urchin you found on the street I matter.

Lady Swears A Lot: She’s VERY foul-mouthed and has an affinity for F-bombs and other vulgar language. Iida has frequently told her to watch her language, denouncing it as unladylike while she just says “Shut the fuck up” in return.

Lame Comeback: Although she and Shinsou are normally very witty and quick to come up with a smart remark, when they are too angry to come up with anything clever, their insults are... less effective.

Large Ham: She’s super dramatic and almost always at 11, not to mention she loves to dramatic sing songs when she hears anything that even remotely sounds like a lyric to a song she knows.

Laughing Mad: Since she’s not very stable to begin with, Amy has a habit of bursting into laughter at inappropriate times. As she laughs during her fight with Midoriya after he punches her, which greatly unsettles him.

Leitmotif:

La la la la la da…

All the good girls go to hell…

so what if i’m crazy? (the best people are)

Like Brother and Sister: Her and Shinsou have known each other since they were four years old and have a very close friendship built entirely on trust and unfiltered honesty to the point where it’s almost inappropriate but it nonetheless displays that they only love each other like family and have nothing romantic between them whatsoever as they found out during a so-called date and they realized that while they love each other, the thought of being together repulses them.

Light Feminine, Dark Feminine: Although she’s just as wicked as Madison is, Amy’s definitely a Light Feminine compared to Madison’s Dark Feminine.

However, Amy is the Dark Feminine to Ashlen’s Light Feminine, as well as her other female classmates, especially Ashido, Uraraka and Yaoyorozu.

Light Is Not Good: While Amy wears black like many of her witch sisters, she also is fond of light clothing such as pink and other pastel colors, but she’s not exactly the most heroic girl in the world.

Limp and Livid: When pissed off beyond belief, Amy slouches even more to signify her very fragile stability and fights even more viciously, letting her rage literally take control in battle.

Little Miss Badass: Ever since she was 11 years old Amy’s enter a world of bloodshed and action and has gotten VERY good with her powers and magic, and only gets stronger as she gets older.

Living Emotional Crutch: She’s one to Shinsou as he broke down hard when she left for New Orleans and fell into a depression. While he managed to pick himself back up he never stopped thinking about Amy, imagined that she was there with him and made her one of his motivations in his goal to become a pro-hero. And he’s absolutely elated when she returns and gains even more drive to fulfill his dream with his friend back to him. And Amy is one of the few people that Shinsou trusts enough to turn to when he’s at his lowest point and his loneliest and Amy is quick to give him all the support and comfort he needs.

And vice-versa when Amy returns, Shinsou is easily the only living being that keeps her from going insane as she thinks about him whenever she’s having a meltdown as he can reason with her before she acts recklessly while at the same time comforting her and reassuring her. It helps that he’s the last piece she has from her childhood that reminds her of a time where things were easy, innocent and fun for her as she thinks fondly of their happier times where nothing other than having fun mattered.

She’s one to Ashlen as well, who has expressed of fear of not having her best friend in her life anymore to the point of crying and panicking. She even tearfully begs Amy to not leave her alone, because she can’t be without the person she views as her best friend in the world. And vice-versa, Ashlen becomes one to Amy, as she falls right back into insanity and depression when she thinks she’s hurt her and can’t bear to live with herself with that fact knowing that she harmed her. Amy even says that she doesn’t think she’d be able to live in a world without Ashlen, and confesses that she’d probably have gone on another homicidal rampage she’d never come back from without Ashlen in her life.

Logical Weakness: Amy might seem like the lucky one with her variety of powers, but in actuality having more powers also forces her to utilize more energy depending on the power she’s using and thus leaves her very vulnerable when using too energy to fuel her powers drains her and renders her weaker with nosebleeds and headaches, and she’s even realized that should she overdo it with her telekinesis that she could suffer brain damage.

Love Makes You Evil: Not quite as bad as Toga, but still very present.

The Mad Hatter: Amy goes insane during her time in New Orleans, is well aware that she’s no longer sane by the time she gets to UA, but embraces her insanity as part of who she is and how she’s grown. While it unnerves her friends at first, they wouldn’t have her any other way.

Amy: (laughs) I wouldn’t be nearly as fun if I were sane. All the best people are crazy~.

Manic Pixie Dream Girl: She can sometimes act like this, especially for Ashlen surprisingly enough, as her wild behavior encourages her to loosen up a little bit and find more confidence in herself.

Manipulative Bitch: Fiona did raise her for a short-time, but boy did she rub off on her. Amy’s learned how to use her appearance and earn sympathy from others while also bending the truth to get people to do what she wants or fall into her traps. Shown during the end of the Culture Festival where she pretends to be remorseful to Aizawa, only to blind him with a potion and begin her rampage.

Masculine Girl and Feminine Boy: She has this dynamic whenever she’s with Midoriya. Amy might dress and act femininely, but she’s far more ruthless, vulgar and crude compared to the soft-spoken and gentle Midoriya. Although Midoriya isn’t really effeminate, he’s the one who has to keep Amy from acting too rough and aggressive.

Likewise, while Todoroki and Iida aren’t anymore feminine and masculine in their own ways, they’re much less crude and shameless than Amy is so she’s also the Masculine Girl to their Feminine Boys.

Meaningful Name: Amy means “beloved” or “worthy of love” which may have to do with her loving nature as despite all of her flaws, Amy loves VERY strongly and her powers are connected to her strong emotions including her capacity to love others as she even states that she wants to become a hero because she believes in love and wants to fight for it. Also, Amy herself is very beloved by several that she is close to such as Shinsou, Ashlen, Bakugo, Madison, Todoroki, Cordelia, and many more.

Martinez is derived from ‘Mars’ which is the Roman name for Ares, the God of War, which MAY allude to Amy’s love for fighting and affinity for violence and chaos.

Her middle name ‘Ophelia’ also means ‘help’ which ultimately refers to her helpful nature as she becomes an ally to the heroes, women, witches and other groups she wants to fight for and support. Also could refer to the character ‘Ophelia’ in Shakespeare’s Hamlet who slowly lost her sanity after her father’s death and Hamlet’s behavior, much like how Amy herself lost her sanity after her parent’s deaths.

Mood Swinger: Can go from cheerfully happy and sweetly smiling to fuming and screaming angrily to bitterly cold and threatening murder to crying miserably and sulking sadly all within the span of a single hour or day.

Morality Chain: Shinsou is one of the few people she actually treats with equal respect and genuinely cares about enough to stop during a meltdown. Similarly, her coven and her classmates serve as hers as her friendship with them kept her from going over to the villain’s side or returning to New Orleans. Shinsou, Bakugo, Midoriya and Todoroki in particular are some of the only people that she is willing to reason with, likewise, Kaminari, Hagakure, Kouda, Shouji and Aoyama are the only classmates she consistently treats nicely.

Her new best friend Ashlen is one of the few people aside from Shinsou and Todoroki that she is willing to reason with, is always respectful towards her aside from teasing, and the only person who can get her to behave and be nice to her other classmates. And thus far is the only one who’s inspired Amy to treat people around her better as she reflects on her actions after following Ashlen’s example and has learned to be kinder and more respectful.

Morality Pet: She’s one for Madison, as the older, crueler witch will hold back on her meaner impulses when tormenting her classmates, most of the time, for Amy’s sake and will go out of her way to make sure the younger witch is happy. Likewise, she also served as one for Fiona, the former Supreme who treated her like a granddaughter, it didn’t stop her from attempting to murder Amy, but she feels regret for it and still cares for the young witch and watches over her to ensure she is safe and being treated well. Lastly, she’s one for her Ax-Crazy friend Darcy, who became less violent due to Amy’s influence.

More Deadly Than The Male: Witches are stronger than warlocks, and it shows in that Amy was always stronger than her ex boyfriend Damien. And when she interns with Endeavor alongside Midoriya, Bakugo and Todoroki, the three strongest males of 1-A. Endeavor reluctantly admits to himself that despite being the only female, Amy’s unpredictable temper, array of powers and tendency to fight from a distance makes her the most dangerous of the group.

The Music Meister: Sort of. When she breaks out into song and dance she can get some of her more outgoing friends to sing and dance along with her. Even Shinsou, especially when she starts singing Panic! At The Disco.

My God What Have I Done?: As she fights Midoriya and gains the upper hand by trapping and grabbing him with her Sentio Compassios form, she’s ready to maim him in her form’s hands but as soon as she sees him crying and pleading with her to stop, Amy finally pauses when she remembers that she protected him first, only to hurt him and as she lets him go she leaves without a word but it’s clear she felt horrible for intending to maim him. And then she feels even more horrible when she stops to see the damage she’s done to UA and all the heroes she’s harmed. Despite claiming to be sick of UA, Amy mostly withdraws from the school because she felt too guilty to return.

Never My Fault: Would rather shift the blame onto something or someone else even when it’s clearly her fault. Not only that but Amy generally doesn’t take much responsibility for her actions nor is she willing to own up to her mistakes.

However, this is ultimately subverted as Amy is well aware when things are her fault and DOES apologize for them, it just takes a while for her to admit it due to shame and guilt.

Nice Hat: Just like her sisters, Amy has an affinity for wearing some very nice black hats in the style of witches.

Nice, Mean, and In-Between: Of The Zombie Trio, she is more the “In-Between” to Ashlen’s “Nice” and Shinsou’s “Mean”.

However at times she and Shinsou either switch roles where he becomes “In-Between” and Amy becomes “Mean”, but then they are also capable of both being the “Mean”. Amy and Shinsou are both only “In-Between” whenever they are joined by Madison or Bakugo.

The Nicknamer: Much like Bakugo, but her nicknames are far (most of the time) less insulting as she likes to give everyone nicknames that are usually affectionate and cutesy as she tends to especially use ‘cat’ or ‘bear’ in their

Ashlen: Ash, Ash-bear, Ash-chan

Izuku: Greenie, Zuzu, Deku-bear

Bakugo: Katsu-kitty, Katsu-kun, Kacchan (like Izuku)

Shinsou: Hito, Toshi, Tosh, Toshi-bear, Toshi-cat

Madison: Mads, Maddie

Tsuyu: Tsu, Tsu-tsu, Tsu-kun

Todoroki: Toto, Sho-kun, Sho, Shoto-cake, Shoto-bear

Iida: Ten-ten, Tenya-bear, Four-Eyes

Uraraka: Raka

Hagakure: Toorun, Ruu

Yaoyorozu: Momo-bear

Kaminari: Den-kun, Den-kitty, Denki-bear

Kirishima: Kiri-kat, Kiri

Aoyama: Twinkle-Toes

Ojiro: What’s-Your-Face

Tokoyami: Toko, Toko-bird

Sero: Sero-bear, Han-kun

Ashido: Min-chan, Mina-min

Kouda: Kody, Kouda-bear

Aizawa: ‘Back-hair’

Nightmare Fuel Station Attendant: Due to her love for horror, Amy is more than happy to scare the shit out of her classmates by telling them horrifying stories about death, torture and serial killers. Helps that Amy’s unsettling nature also adds to the horror whenever she makes gestures and adds sound effects to her stories and even shows pictures.

Nightmare Fetishist: Enjoys horror-based things such as witchcraft, the occult, and also has a fondness for creepy creatures such as tarantulas, snakes and alligators as she coos at how ‘cute’ they are. She’s also ecstatic when she wanders around haunted sites with ghosts and blood-drinkers such as the Murder House, the abandoned Briarcliff Manor and the haunted Hotel Cortez.

No Indoor Voice: Prone to screaming at the top of her lungs when making a point. In fact, she’s the second loudest in the Hero Course behind Bakugo.

No Sense of Personal Space: Amy’s very hands-on and touchy, as she constantly puts her hands on her friends whether it’s on their shoulders, hugging them randomly, holding onto their arms or hands.

No Social Skills: Downplayed. Amy’s perfectly capable of socializing with people, but doesn’t seem to see an issue with swearing in front of adults and strangers, nor does she see an issue with being overly affectionate and touching, especially shown when she happily greets Inko.

Not Good With Rejection: No... she’s really not. Just ask Midoriya.

The Not Love Interest: She’s one to Shinsou, as his best friend, she is the person he is closest to and serves as one of his motivations, thinks about her every single day, cares and looks after her and is seen with her the most out of anyone. Amy is also quite affectionate to him and Shinsou was her main reason for returning to Japan so she could see him again and rekindle their friendship. They are very comfortable with each other, aren’t against hugging and share almost all of their secrets with each other. Also, Amy is one of the few people who can bring him out of his shell as Shinsou feels very comfortable loosening up around Amy and has no issue looking foolish in front of her. However, Amy and Shinsou have NO romantic interest in each other whatsoever, comically express how disgusted they are by each other and Shinsou’s true love interest in Ashlen, Amy’s best friend who she happily pairs Shinsou with.

Similarly, she’s also one to Madison, as the bitchy witch becomes slowly kinder to Amy’s friends because of her care for the younger witch. Madison also goes out of her way to make sure Amy is happy because she can’t stand to see her sad, even rescues her from All For One and the League of Villains by herself and often consoles her when she is upset. Amy’s overall influence has made Madison something of a better person who has become more considerate of others, but she gets jealous of other people who spend time with her and ‘steal’ her away, despite having no romantic feelings for each other. Helps that they even argue at times like an Old Married Couple.

She can also be one to Ashlen at times, as aside from Shinsou, Amy is one of the most important people in her life, acts as her main emotional support as she allows her to talk about her feelings and vent to about her past whenever she is sad or feeling insecure and Amy becomes one of her newer inspirations as she gradually grows more confident and secure with herself due to her influence.

Not So Different: She realizes this with the League of Villains, particularly Toga and Twice, who she forms a bond with over feeling outcasted by society and lack of mental stability. She also manages to have a pleasant conversation with Shigaraki when she can relate to him on feeling like one of the ‘losers’ of Hero Society, it’s the reason why he tried to convince her to join his League, while she didn’t reply, she ultimately ends up staying with the heroes because of her friendship with 1-A.

She ends up bonding with Bakugo after they got kidnapped together, where she points out that they’re really not that different from each other because she has a similar goal and mindset which leads them to talking more despite Bakugo trying to claim that they’re ‘night and day’.

Oblivious To Love: Averted. Amy is well aware of who’s crushing on who, or who has feelings for her as she is clearly flattered by Todoroki’s feelings for her and Monoma’s even more obvious crush on her.

Odd Friendship: With many of her classmates but particularly Midoriya,Tsuyu, Yaoyorozu, Tokoyami and Kouda.

Midoriya was the first friend she made aside from Shinsou, but while he’s a humble and shy nice guy, she’s shameless and arrogant.

Amy took a liking to Tsuyu as they are shown to work together quite well in combat and bond over tastes in aesthetics.

Despite mocking her in the beginning, she grows fond of Yaoyorozu even though they’re starkly different in terms of intelligence, personality and mannerisms.

Amy says that she likes Tokoyami because he’s a ‘boy witch’ and he’s fascinated by witch culture and they seem to get along relatively well despite him being low-key and collected and her being wild and hyper.

Kouda is the quietest student in 1-A while Amy is one of the loudest, but they easily become friends due to their love for animals and cute things.

To Bakugo’s horror, she hits it off with his mother Mitsuki due to their similarly loud, abrasive personalities and annoyance towards him.

She also becomes quite fond of Natsuo when she’s interning with Endeavor and allows him to open up to her about how much he hates Endeavor while she happily tells him that she hates him too.

When she and Ashlen officially meet, their friendship shows to be quite odd but sweet. Amy’s off the wall with a varying morality, while Ashlen is grounded and is firmly on the side of good.

Older Than They Look: Amy’s older than classmates such as Midoriya, Iida, Todoroki, Shouji and Ashlen, but acts MUCH younger than they do and certainly looks a bit younger than they do as she frequently gets mistaken for a middle schooler.

One Woman Army: When Amy is provoked and at her more insane, she becomes too much for even the pro-heroes to handle as she merely pushes them away with very strong telekinesis and keeps them at bay. Even the Big 3, Amajiki, Nejire and Mirio (who was quirkless) are no match for Amy as she effortlessly beats the tar out of them when they try stopping her. However, she’s still clever enough to fight older, experience heroes at a distance but her array of powers and rage (fueling her Sentio Compassios) allows her to overwhelm them and take them by surprise, and with Concilium she’s able to make some of the stronger ones simply go to sleep.

OOC Is Serious Business: Amy’s almost always upbeat and overzealous while also cracking jokes without a care in the world, but when she’s NOT acting happy-go-lucky or muttering a joke, it becomes clear that something is very wrong with her as her classmates are alarmed when Amy shows any instance of fear or nerves.

Seeing her acting unemotional or stoic is also an indicator that something is wrong with Amy, as Midoriya, Bakugo and Todoroki are each quite shocked upon seeing her so detached and cold during the Internship with Endeavor.

What further contrasts her from Bakugo is that while he drops nicknames and calls people by last name out of respect, Amy instead drops the nicknames whenever she is pissed off beyond reason.

The Ophelia: She was long, wavy dirty blonde hair, often sings at random times while dancing and appears to be out of touch with reality as she puts a positive spin on even the bleakest things. However, it’s played for horror when she goes on a rampage as she lets her hair down, singing all the while she’s causing mayhem.

As a bonus, her middle name is Ophelia, and she was even killed once in a manner very similar to Ophelia as she was drowned by Damien, not unlike how Ophelia died by drowning in a pond.

#amy martinez #bnha oc #mha oc #my hero academia #boku no hero academia #american horror story #american horror story coven #ahs #ahs coven #ahs oc #ahs original character #tv tropes

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junqkook · 5 years ago

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what’s your writing process like? :-) like where do your ideas come from and how do you get started writing?

oh!! thank you for being curious and asking c:

ideas-wise, i get them from anything and everything. songs, observations, lines, dreams, etc.! anything i see or hear or read can give me an idea for a story and then i build off of the original idea.

so basically after i get The Idea™ i build off of it to get the rest of the story. i’m not much of a planner bc if i do plot ahead i’ll end up going way off script while actually writing anyway (unless it’s a Big Boy™ fic or a mystery/thriller, in which case i do plan ahead and attempt to stick as close as i can to the original plan). The Idea™ is almost always a specific scene that i get in my head and i come up with the rest of the story around that scene. i’ll work with what i know from the snippet my brain gave me; these are some questions i ask myself before writing.

what brought them together to this scene?

what’s the au? (fantasy? college setting? work setting? etc.)

what do they do outside of the scene? (what job or life fits them best in the context of this specific scene?)

how long have they known each other?

what was their first meeting like?

do they like each other? do they hate each other?

how does the story start and how does it build to this scene?

what happens after this scene? more conflict? less conflict? feelings or no feelings?

those are just some quick examples of what i’ll consider when i decide to write The Idea™ into an actual story. once i have those answers, i come up with a few Main Points™ of the story, but not usually details. maybe i’ll have some specific dialogue that i want to use at some point. maybe i have one or two details for other scenes that i want to include. but mostly i focus on the Main Points™ that will move the story and figure out an ending (not always required—every breath you take had a planned ending that i always worked toward, into the woods did not have a planned ending until i actually wrote the ending).

then i just put some music on and write! i’m also a writer that can only write chronologically which sucks sometimes, but alas what can you do. if i get stuck somewhere, i take a break and maybe write something else until i figure out a way to move toward the next Main Point™ in the story and then i go back to do that! i also tend to cut out a lot of filler scenes in my fics bc i’m easily bored (both when writing and when reading) so sometimes it makes my stories feel rushed but oh well akdhskdhsk mostly i just have a vague idea and then i dive in head first with the writing, which changes and evolves as the story unfolds. i don’t like plotting beforehand bc i tend to get overpowered by my characters, who tell me to fuck off and guide the story themselves with me just scurrying to write down whatever tf they’re doing.

oh! and i’m a visual person, so i always visualize everything i’m writing. it helps me with the mood and flow of the story while writing! i need to be able to picture things so i love descriptions and details, but not too many or else i’ll forget what the heck was happening in the first place. if i get stuck with making a scene feel more real, i’ll just pause for a second and picture it in my head. what is (s)he hearing? what does it feel like? is the air fresh or is it dry, or maybe humid? what does it smell like? how is (s)he reacting to what the other character said? is his/her heart beating fast, or slow, or hard? these are all pretty good questions to ask yourself while writing that can help you make the scene more visceral and real for the readers.

i hope that helped (and was clear)!! ♡

#i’ve also been writing for 10+ years so i’m more lax i guess with some stuff #i just go with the flow of the story #tips #fictalks #: ) anon #bangtanonymous #asks #yarambles

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sammyspreadyourwings · 5 years ago

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I thought I knew all your on going projects but apparently not! :D If you don't mind me asking about some of them? (NOT full on spoilers but maybe tell us a little bit about them?) Eboy // Twitch Streamer, Plane delay, Frian fight, Post ‘91 Dom/Sub, Witch AU(have you talked about this before? did I somehow missed it?) Reincarnation, Air Bubble AU, Alice in Wonderland. I'm sorry I know I ask a lot but I'M JUST VERY INVESTED IN YOUR WRITINGS OKAY I love you *cue Lady Gaga's paparazzi*

Ihad like 80% of the answer done, but then I accidentally closed out of the browser,so then I gave up for the night and just wrote more on a different story, buttoday, we try again!

Hopefully, I avoided spoilers?

Oh, long post ahead!!

Eboy// Twitch Streamer

Okayso borrowing from the aesthetic of an Eboy, or “soft boy” mixed with egirlculture but ignoring a lot of that gross subculture (fun fact these things meantwo different things but I’m using them as one because I’m lazy.

BasicallyJohn is an accidental eboy, Roger has a pretty decent sized following, but oneday he invited John to be in one of his videos, and then John got a lot of peoplefollowing him because of it. And while he’s not super thrilled about it, fansdo tend to donate to his koi-foi or paypal or whichever so he can’t exactlycomplain when all he has to do is make a video about something and make himselflook “soft.” Freddie helps them both with it, but their videos do talk aboutscience things or cars or music.

Thenthere’s Brian, who gained a following on Twitch, because he was bored one dayand decided to play Animal Crossing. Because of the game and his voice, itpicks up popularity as a very relaxing stream to watch. Brian will just rambleabout anything from his classes to his music to deep questions, occasionallybreaking it up by shouting about something happening in game. He like overshares, but not about his personal life.

Johnfinds the channel one night when he’s going through a very high anxiety phase,and starts at Day 1, and by the time he’s caught up it’s already late afternoonand may have developed an accidental crush on the streamer. He thinks it’ll goaway because it was an exposure crush.

Spoiler,it doesn’t really.

Brianis also a lowkey fan of Roger and John’s channel, because he likes learningabout the things they talk about + and they’re both very cute (even if hispreference is the brunette with the beautiful smile), so win-win.

Theymeet when they’re both (John and Brian) invited to be parts of different panelsat a con.

Therest is as they say, history, or a massive amount of pining, long distancerelationships, drama, at least one break up, and Freddie being a saint forputting up with this.

Planedelay

Basedon the time that I was stuck on a tarmac for two hours because it was anopen-exit and there was lightning within 15 miles but it happened to be Floridaso there’s always lightning and they only checked every 15 minutes.

Brian’sbeen away trying to get big name donations for his charity, as well as doing a lecturetour on campuses. It’s been fun, and exciting to not just be Brian May, Queen’sGuitarist, but two months in the states (alone) is more than he can really beexpected to enjoy. He is so very ready to get home and not leave his house (ormore specifically his bed) for the next week reconnecting with his boys.Calling had simply not been enough. So here comes the big day of him gettingback to the UK.

Firsthis plane gets delayed for almost a full twelve hours due to mechanical issues.So now he has to mope around the air port for over fifteen hours (and that’sbeing optimistic that the plane won’t be delayed further).

Aftera quick call to his boys about the delay (to which Freddie whined about andRoger got irritated about and John just said they’d make sure a car would gethim), Brian sits by his gate and pouts.

Hedoes end up writing some very sappy love songs as presents and managing tocatch a few hours of sleep.

Anywaythe plane is only eighteen hours late by the time it fully touches down. Therest of the flight is pretty uneventful, sans Brian’s mind drifting to what he’sgoing to do when he sees his boys when he finally gets to their house (air portreunions aren’t exactly possible now with the fame they’ve accrued over the years)

Butwhen they touch the tarmac there’s a problem with the ramp. Mechanical failureof some kind, so he’s stuck again for a few hours while they move one toreplace it. Brian is literally so exhausted that by the time he grabs his bagsall he can imagine is sleep.

Frianfight

Oneof the first (and I think only?) Frian things I’ve written was about themgetting into a fight during Hot Space and Brian basically ending it, this is thefollow up to that

Post‘91 Dom/Sub

Soafter Freddie dies and John grows distant with the Roger and Brian beforeultimately leaving the relationship, Brian and Roger hadn’t gotten into thatusual type of scene. They had sex, sure, and sometimes it was kinky, but itwasn’t any of the dynamic that they had before. When Brian finally gets upsetenough to ask for it (part of his brain is telling him that Roger doesn’t wanthim anymore etc), Roger has to figure out to do what John did.

TL;DRAngsty bdsm sex

WitchAU

//this is an ask that I have, but it got kind of out of hand orwill when I actually type it out

MainlyI fell in love with the world (Sammy falling in love with world building, tellme it isn’t so) but hopefully the plot is super interesting

So,summarizing the ask text:

1)it’s possibly going to be a fem!queen au (I haven’t actually figured that outyet because I had such a weird relationship with those types of AUs)

2)John, Roger, and Freddie (for the sake of organization we’re using their realnames) are a coven

3)Brian has been dealing with spirits and visions since he was little, but hedidn’t know that he was a witch

Butthe spirits take a heavy mental toll on Brian: depression, anxiety, andinsomnia. When he meets the other three things surprisingly get a little better.

Briandevelops a crush on all of them, proceeds to panic and not tell them about it,and suffers in silence (so the unusual).

Nowthe plot revolves around Queen being a particularly powerful coven (each havingrare Gifts) and other witches in the world not exactly happy about that. One inparticular (a combination of a lover scorned and someone who has always wantedpower) decides that she’s going to stop them from having the power they possess.Her target? Brian, who has no idea that he’s a witch, much less come into hispowers. So basically this witch keeps getting more and more aggressive with herattempts. At first it was trying to distance him from the others (which Johndragged him back handily talking about how stupid Brian is, and that of coursethey want him around), her next step was to distract him from finding out his heritage,then to try and turn him against theothers (now she’s using magic for this) but Freddie manages to counter thespell, and finally she moves on to straight up trying to murder him.

Andthe spell she uses? It might very well succeed.

Reincarnation

Iwrote this as a prompt a long time ago, where if you look into the eyes of yoursoulmate, you remember your previous life with Maylor I ended up writing, orstarting to write John’s reintroduction

AirBubble AU

MyMerfolk AU, that was the Thought of the Day a few days ago

Alicein Wonderland

Brian,later on in Queen’s career once again falls ill with hepatitis (in the late 80s),and his fever dream basically makes him go on this adventure (because they hadjust watched the animated movie the night before this all flared up).Sothis one involves rapid shifting from fever dream to real life.Oh,and it’s going to be a little bit of a darker Wonderland. Going from say, thatthing resembles a deer to that thing was never a deer.

#nonnie #please talk to me about my AUs #otherwise they just get shoved on the list #and then I get distracted by things #but most of these do have something kind of written for them #beyond just an outline #but there are a few I'm particularly excited about #Anonymous #asks #wip list

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ellaenchanting · 6 years ago

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I was asleep when this ask frenzy was happening, so please feel free to select an alternate for anything you've already answered: 8, 9, 11, 14

Hee- I was too! :)

8. How do you feel when hypnotised?

I tend to feel really relaxed and loose and heavy. I often imagine the hypnotist’s voice as being somewhere physically in the top of my head. My thoughts tend to get VERY slow and disconnected and stay that way even for a while after the session. I feel really focused and able to redirect away from the stray thoughts that flit through my mind. I often get very annoyed when someone asks me to answer a complicated question because I have to bring myself out of feeling trancey in order to re-engage my brain and answer it. It’s the same with following most suggestions. It’s hard for me to re-engage my brain in this way without getting super analytical about things like the hypnotist’s technique.

9. How do you feel when you hypnotise someone else?

Also very focused- but in a way that allows for much more free flow of thoughts and ideas. If things are going well, I feel powerful and confident. It’s often much easier for me to talk and explain things when I’m hypnotizing someone- I tend to fumble in real life and feel like I have to rush through my parts of a conversation for fear of boring/annoying others. Doing hypnosis is one of the few times I feel like I have the space to slow down and speak thoughtfully.

11. What’s your ‘signature move’ as a hypnotist?

I’d be really curious to ask other people this! If I’ve hypnotized you, please let me know if you think I have a ‘signature move’!

If I were to guess on a ‘signature move’, I would say my pacing is pretty different than a lot of people’s. I tend to be pretty fast paced and kind of flow concepts and words into each other in a way that I don’t hear others doing as much. I also don’t really feel like I have a hypnotist’s voice- or at least not one that is markedly different than my normal tone- just a hypnotist's cadence. So that’s a signature style (if not a signature move).

I’m also pretty amused at myself that I wrote above about using hypnotizing as a way to slow down and yet the pace of my slowing down is still pretty quick. :)

14. Answered here!

Thanks @dommestic!

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spaztronautwriter · 7 years ago

Text

Office Rumors & Conspiracy Theories

A/N: I wrote this way back in the beginning of season 4. It wasn’t quite finished so I just slapped on a quick ending, but I fell back in love with this idea when I reread it and really wanted to post it, so… enjoy!

Read on AO3

###

McKenna pushed through the doors of Palmer Tech, a feeling of resignation settling in her gut. Her leg—the very reason she was here in the first place—ached a little as she put pressure on it, proving that this was where she belonged now.

No more police force. No more vice squad. No more stopping criminals or helping those in need.

Hell, McKenna called it a success when she could walk up the steps to her apartment building without the muscles in her leg knotting in pain.

It had been over two years since the accident. Hmph. Accident! Accident is what her sister called it. McKenna liked to think of it as when the psycho known as The Huntress shot her with a shotgun, destroying not only her right leg, but her career as well. Now she was reduced to life as a rent-a-cop.

Sitting behind desks, standing beside elevators, checking IDs. Being a cop may not have been glamorous, but at least it had been interesting. Most days the hardest part of her job was staying awake.

At first, after going through nearly seven agonizing months of rehab, she’d taken a job at the Coast City Police Department. She’d even enjoyed her desk job there, but that was when she still believed she had a chance to regain what she’d lost. Her dreams were dashed when she was told the only way out from behind the desk was to complete the physical ability test. Which she couldn’t. Not with her leg. The leg that was injured because she didn’t wait for backup like she was told.

Ugh. Maybe I do belong watching security monitors for the rest of my life, she thought as she shuffled through the lobby and up to the reception desk. It was early and there were a lot of employees rushing around, trying to get to their offices before their supervisors realized they were late, no doubt, which meant McKenna had to be careful to stay out of their way.

It normally wasn’t a huge deal for her. Walking she could handle. She could even run short distances without any pain. But Starling’s damp weather was really getting to her this morning.

Star City, she corrected herself with a small shake of her head.

It was crazy to think that her city had changed so much since she’d been away. Starling was literally a different city than when she’d left. Most of her friends on the police force had either moved on or had been killed in the siege two years ago and the man she’d been dating before the incident was now running for Mayor. A man who, she remembered quite vividly, used to party harder than almost anyone she knew in high school and seemed to be allergic to responsibility of any kind.

Well, that wasn’t really fair of her. It had been years since she’d seen him, and he had offered to come visit her in Coast City after the incident to try to maintain a relationship, but McKenna wasn’t stupid. She’d known it wouldn’t work before he’d ever even offered. She knew him, and she knew he would do the right thing in the moment, but it would become a chore after a while, and if there was one thing McKenna never wanted to be it was someone’s chore.

So she’d moved on from him and she’d moved on from the city and now, two years later, she was back and everything was different. It’s just going to take some getting used to, that’s all, she assured herself, checking in at reception and getting a guest pass from security.

“Ms. Hall?” A tall, gawky man approached her with a smile. He was wearing the white and navy blue uniform that signaled he worked in security. “The Coast City office told us to expect you. You’re interview is at 8:15. If you wouldn’t mind waiting over in the lobby, I’ll take you up myself.”

“Sure thing,” McKenna said with a forced smile. It wasn’t this man’s fault she was stuck taking a dead end job in security when all she wanted was her life back.

After realizing she’d never be a real cop again, McKenna had quit the force and taken a job at Palmer Tech in Coast City. It was a decent job and she made better money than when she was a cop, but it wasn’t what she wanted to be doing. It wasn’t what she’d dreamed of since she was a kid. She wanted to help people and take down the bad guys. Solve mysteries. But the biggest mystery she’d solved as a security guard was who was stealing lunches out of the employee’s lounge mini fridge.

She’d had enough, so when she found out that the Starling—Star—City mayor’s office was considering putting together a task force in conjunction with the vigilantes running around the city she jumped at the chance, despite the fact that her career was ended by one of those so called vigilantes. Like she’d said, a lot had changed in the city since she’d left and apparently vigilantism was all the rage now, and, as long as these vigilantes weren’t killing, the police weren’t going after them.

McKenna wasn’t sure she was okay with the idea of masked men and women running around the city doing the police’s job, but she also knew that the closest she could get to field work would be if she got onto that task force. Unfortunately, it wasn’t a thing yet, more of a rumor, an idea that someone had had and that Oliver Queen, newly announced mayoral candidate, was backing. But he had to be elected mayor first. And she’d have to swallow her pride and go see if he’d consider her for a position. She hated to beg an ex-boyfriend for a favor, but she really needed this favor. Or else she’d be stuck in Palmer Tech for the rest of her life.

“Did you hear they’re changing the name?” A voice broke through her reverie, pulling her back to the crowded lobby. “They haven’t officially announced it yet, but rumor has it we’ll all be working for Queen Incorporated within the next month or so.”

A young red headed man, maybe twenty four or twenty five, was standing a few feet away from the seat McKenna had positioned herself in. He was speaking to a small brunette woman in a navy skirt and a black blazer.

The woman shrugged. “So? As long as they’re not letting anyone go, I couldn’t care less what name is on the side of the building.”

“But don’t you think it’s a little fishy?” the man said, trying to keep his voice low. “I mean, Mr. Palmer disappears under mysterious circumstances and suddenly this woman takes over and changes—”

“This woman?” the brunette huffed. “The Vice President of the company, you mean? Honestly, Ethan, you need to stop watching those psychological thriller movies. They’re warping your brain.”

The woman walked off, sipping a cup of coffee as she made her way to the elevators, but McKenna was intrigued. Not only because she was bored—God, was she bored—but because of the mention of the name Queen.

“Excuse me,” she said, getting the man’s attention. He looked over with a helpful smile, like she was about to ask him directions or for the time. “I’m sorry, I couldn’t help but overhear. You were saying the company was changing its name?”

The man’s smile turned conspiratorial as he practically fell into the seat beside her. “You didn’t hear it from me,” he said in a low voice. “It hasn’t been officially announced yet. I’m the new Vice President’s executive assistant and, well, things like that tend to cross my desk first.”

McKenna nearly rolled her eyes. Of course an assistant would be spreading office gossip. Their jobs had to be nearly as boring as McKenna’s.

“But the thing that I find funny” he continued, “is that Ms. Smoak, the new CEO, is changing the name to Queen Inc. That’s what the name used to be before Palmer Technologies took it over. Well,” he said, with a shrug, “it used to be Queen Consolidated, but close enough, right?”

McKenna decided to play along. “So why would Ms. Smoak name her company after the Queens?” she asked.

Ethan brightened when he realized McKenna was looking for juicer gossip than just a name change. “Rumor has it that she’s dating Oliver Queen.”

Something in McKenna’s gut tightened at that, but it wasn’t jealousy. At least, she was pretty sure it wasn’t jealousy. She didn’t have time to think on it much because Ethan was still talking.

“But the fishy part is that last spring she was dating Ray Palmer. Right before the explosion.”

McKenna had, of course, heard about the explosion and Ray Palmer’s disappearance since she’d been working at Palmer Tech at the time. The CEO of your company doesn’t just go missing without gossip getting around. But this was the first she was hearing of a Ms. Smoak.

“So what’s fishy about that?” she asked.

Ethan smiled a little and leaned closer. “Mr. Palmer had signed the company over to her right before he disappeared. Allegedly. The contract wasn’t found until two months ago when Ms. Smoak came back to town.” He paused for obvious dramatic effect. “After quitting her job and leaving the city for nearly six months.”

McKenna was at a loss. “And?”

“And?” Ethan repeated, clearly annoyed she wasn’t following. “And you don’t find it odd that the woman was dating her boss, got him to sign his billion dollar company over to her, and then ditches town at the same time there’s an accident in his lab and no one has seen him since?”

Well, when he put it that way… “But the police aren’t looking into her?” she asked. “No body was ever found or suspicion of foul play.” McKenna had read up on the case. It was one of the many ways she entertained herself at work.

“I know, I know,” Ethan said, waving her off. “But these are billionaires we’re talking about. They have ways of making people disappear. Plus,” he added, smiling that conspiratorial smile again, “Ms. Smoak used to be Oliver Queen’s executive assistant before she became the VP of Palmer Tech—talk about a career leap—and now she’s dating him and putting his name back on the building? Seems suspicious to me.”

McKenna had initially started this conversation because she’d been curious about Oliver getting his family’s company back, but now she had to admit, Ethan had her curious. An assistant didn’t just get promoted to VP overnight, unless she was sleeping with the boss, which this Ms. Smoak supposedly was. And the fact that the boss had signed his company over to her and then disappeared was highly suspicious. It did reek of corporate thriller movie material. Billionaire loses everything and gets his former assistant to sleep her way to the top so that they can take his family’s company back and kill the man that took it all from him.

McKenna nearly laughed out loud at her own thoughts. This was Oliver she was talking about. Oliver Queen. The man couldn’t hurt a fly. And he didn’t have the smarts or the patience to plot something as sinister as what she had imagined.

Maybe I should write suspense novels while I check IDs for the rest of my life. At least it would keep her mind occupied.

But, then, was it really that crazy a thought? Oliver being involved might be out there, but she’d never heard of this Ms. Smoak before. What’s to say she isn’t a crazy, conniving psycho looking for money and the power that comes with the Queen family name? She’d certainly be Oliver’s type, considering the girl he dated before me ended up shooting me in the leg with a shotgun.

“Ms. Hall?”

McKenna’s head snapped up when she heard her name called. The gawky security guard who’d offered to take her up to her interview was standing in front of her expectantly.

“I can take you up now,” he said, throwing her another smile. “I’m Gavin Riley, Assistant Director of Security. I’ll be conducting your interview.”

McKenna nodded, suddenly glad he hadn’t overheard her conversation with Ethan. What a way to start a job interview, gossiping about how the boss might have murdered her former employer-slash-boyfriend.

She followed Gavin to the elevators and stepped inside as soon as the doors slid open.

“This should be relatively easy, considering your job at the Coast City office. Your supervisor sent over a glowing recommendation and said he was sorry to see you go. What has you moving to Star City, Ms. Hall? If you don’t mind my asking.”

McKenna had just started in on her speech about how she’d grown up in Starling and thought it was time to move back, when a voice called out across the lobby.

“Hold that elevator! Please!”

Gavin’s hand shot out, stopping the doors from sliding shut at the very last second, and McKenna saw a tiny blonde woman running across the lobby floor, coffee in hand and a purse thrown over her shoulder. She was dressed in a bright purple peacoat with really great red heels on. Heels that, obviously, weren’t making it easy to run across the tiled lobby floor. By the time she made it to the elevator she looked spent.

“Thank you! Thank you,” she sighed as she leaned against the back wall of the elevator. “I’m already late for a meeting and it’s not even 8:30 in the morning.”

Gavin smiled kindly at the young woman. “That’s the price of being the boss, I guess.”

“Ugh. Don’t I know it.” The woman smiled back at Gavin and then turned towards McKenna, beside him. Something like recognition passed through her blue eyes and her head jerked to the side. “McKenna!”

McKenna was taken aback a moment before she responded. “I’m sorry, do I know you?”

The blonde flushed slightly, closing her eyes and scrunching her face up. She shook her head and waved the arm not holding the coffee as she spoke. “No! I mean, we’ve never met, but I know you. Or, I know of you, since we’ve, you know, never met. But I’ve heard all about you. Not all about you, but some things. Good things, of course. Sorry.” She wrapped up her speech with an apologetic grimace and smiled sweetly. “I’ve been better with the rambling recently, but it’s early and I’ve only had, like, two sips of my coffee. I’m Felicity,” she said, holding out her hand for McKenna to take. “Smoak. I’m a friend of Oliver’s.”

To say McKenna was surprised to hear that this was the Ms. Smoak Ethan had been gossiping about would have been an understatement. Her eyebrows shot up as she took in the woman before her. Her lipstick matched the color of her red heels and her blonde hair was pulled back in a sleek ponytail, but she didn’t look like the owner of a multi-billion dollar company. Her glasses sat slightly askew on her face, her nails were painted an electric blue and she had an industrial bar through her right ear. And she rambled. There was nothing that shouted CEO about this girl and even less that shouted gold-digging murderer.

“McKenna Hall,” she said, taking the girl’s hand.

“I know,” Felicity smiled and then looked a little embarrassed. “I mean, obviously I know who you are, I shouted your name as soon as I saw you. Oliver and I were friends when you two were dating, so I kind of feel like I know you, even though I don’t,” she explained. “How are you? Are you back in Starling—I mean, Star City? It’s going to take me forever to get used to that.”

“Um, yeah,” McKenna answered, feeling that same twinge she’d felt before when she heard Oliver was dating this woman. Not jealousy, but like she was intruding someplace she didn’t belong, despite the fact that Felicity Smoak actually seemed incredibly welcoming. “I just moved back.”

Felicity smiled and then seemed to notice Gavin standing next to them. “Oh! Are you interviewing for a job?”

“Yes, ma'am,” McKenna replied.

“Oh,” Felicity waved her off. “Please, call me Felicity. Seriously,” she said with a small smile. “You and I have both seen the same man naked. It would be totally uncomfortable to have you call me ma'am while knowing that.” Then she slammed her eyes shut. “Not that it’s not totally uncomfortable that I said that. That’s, like, practically sexual harassment.”

“I don’t think that counts as sexual harassment, but don’t worry about it,” McKenna said, feeling sorry for the girl. “How is Oliver? You two are together now?”

“Yes!” Felicity smiled, her whole face lighting up at the mention of Oliver. “He’s doing good. We actually just got back to Starling ourselves. We spent the summer traveling.”

The grin on her face was contagious and McKenna felt her lips lift into a smile. “That sounds exciting. I guess Oliver moved passed that brooding stage he was going through when we were dating.”

“Not at all!” Felicity laughed. “He still broods, I don’t think he can help it. It’s like an unconscious reaction. But he’s happy. Happier than he’s been in awhile, and that’s all I care about.”

“Getting the company back must have made him happy.” McKenna wanted to take the words back as soon as she said them. It wasn’t that they were accusing or rude in any way, but she knew why she’d said them. She’d said them because her stupid cop mind had latched onto the idea that this girl was involved in something suspicious and, even though after meeting her it seemed unlikely, it still wanted to investigate. “I mean, I heard some gossip… about a possible name change in the future.”

Felicity just smiled brightly, excitement exuding from her expression. “Oliver doesn’t know yet, so I didn’t want it to get out, but of course a secret like that wouldn’t stand up to the gossip in this place. I wanted it to be a surprise, changing the name back to Queen. I know he’ll fight me on it, but I don’t want his family to completely lose their legacy. This is the Queen family’s company, even if they don’t, technically, own it at the moment. I’d give it back to them if I could, but Oliver wouldn’t take it, neither will Thea.”

“You’d give them a multi-billion dollar company just because they used to own it?” Gavin asked.

McKenna and Felicity both startled at his question, looking over at him. He flushed, looking a little startled by his question himself.

“They’re family,” Felicity smiled. “Besides, being the boss has its price, like you said.” She looked down at her shoes and shook her head, smile still firmly on her face. “I could be at home with Oliver right now.” She looked up at McKenna and sighed. “Who doesn’t have to be anywhere until after noon today because he was smart enough to opt out of taking the company back.” Felicity rolled her eyes at herself. “I must sound whiny. I actually really appreciate the gift I’ve been given with this company. And when we find Ray I’m going to hug him to pieces, but then, after, I will be having a word with him about how he tricked me into accepting that gift.”

“You think he’s alive?” McKenna couldn’t stop herself from asking.

“I know he is,” Felicity said with absolute certainty, as the elevator doors slid open and Gavin began to step out. “He has to be.”

“I hope you’re right,” McKenna said, following Gavin out into the hallway, but holding the elevator door open to speak to Felicity. “I don’t want to keep you from your meeting, and I have an interview so…”

“Right,” Felicity said with a smile. “You’re interviewing for a position in security, I take it? Long way from being a cop.”

McKenna grimaced. “Being a cop isn’t really possible for me anymore, with the leg injury.”

It wasn’t quite pity McKenna saw in Felicity’s eyes, but it was close enough to make her uncomfortable.

“I’m sorry, McKenna,” she said, and she sounded genuinely sorry. “I wish that hadn’t happened to you. Oliver does too.”

McKenna shrugged, hoping not to make it a big deal. “Things like that happen. I have to move on. And I need a job. This one’s as good as any.”

She closed her eyes tightly when she realized what she’d just said in front of the CEO and the man who would be conducting her interview, but Felicity only nodded sympathetically.

“I was forced into this job, too,” she said, “but at least I genuinely enjoy most aspects of it. I couldn’t imagine not being able to do what I loved. I don’t think I could settle…” She tilted her head to the side suddenly, a look of determination taking over her face. “And you shouldn’t either.”

McKenna could only stare as the blonde smiled to herself.

“I have the perfect job for you, McKenna,” she said, pulling out her phone and tapping the screen. “Much better than some security position.” She jerked her head up. “No offense, Gavin. Security is a great field to be in and, believe me, I appreciate everything you guys do, but this isn’t the job for McKenna.”

Felicity gestured for McKenna to step back into the elevator, before saying a quick goodbye to a totally confused looking Gavin.

“It’s not?” McKenna asked, also confused, but, as she stepped into the elevator, the twinge in her gut loosened for the first time since she’d walked into the building. Hell, for the first time since she found out she’d never be a cop again!

“No, it’s definitely not.” Felicity’s phone beeped and she grinned. She tapped something out and it beeped again a moment later, before she looked back up at McKenna. “You’re going to work for Oliver. Or, with Oliver. Sort of. He’s got this project…”

“The task force? With the vigilantes.”

Felicity tilted her head to the side questioningly.

“You hear all sorts of things in security,” McKenna explained with a shrug. She wasn’t sure she should admit that the task force was the whole reason she was moving back to Starling, or that she’d planned on quitting Palmer Tech if she was able to talk Oliver into hiring her. It seemed irrelevant now that Felicity had done it for her.

“Technically,” Felicity said, scrunching her nose up as she spoke, “there isn’t a task force for you to join, yet, so you’d be working on his security team with our friend John Diggle.”

“I remember Mr. Diggle,” McKenna said, pulling up a fuzzy picture of a tall black man in her mind. He’d been Oliver’s bodyguard back when she’d dated him, and apparently he still was.

Felicity smiled. “I know it’s still security, but it’s only until Oliver is elected and able to get the task force approved.”

“You really think he’ll win?” she asked, voicing her greatest concern.

“I’ve never seen Oliver fail once he sets his mind to something.”

As soon as the elevator doors slid open onto the executive floor, a flustered looking man in a suit came rushing out of a glass office, causing both McKenna and Felicity to look up. “Ms. Smoak, your first meeting is already here and he doesn’t seem very happy.”

Felicity sighed, taking a long swig of her coffee before handing the cup to the man. “Thanks, Jerry,” she said, before turning back to McKenna. “You should head over to Oliver’s campaign office this afternoon. They’ll get you all set up.”

“Thank you, Felicity,” McKenna said.

“It’s no problem,” she said with a smile. “I’ve got to go before Mr. Dennis has a conniption, but I’ll see you later!”

McKenna pushed the button for the lobby as she watched Felicity disappear into the glass office. She wanted to laugh at herself for ever having considered that the woman might be some murdering gold digger. It was ludicrous to even think about now that she’d met her. In fact, Felicity Smoak seemed to be exactly the opposite of what she’d assumed when talking to Ethan in the lobby.

McKenna wasn’t the type to enjoy being wrong about things, but she was genuinely glad she’d been wrong about Felicity Smoak. Not only did she just land McKenna her dream job in a matter of seconds—and without having to pathetically beg her ex for a shot—but she was glad that Oliver had found someone so warm and… alive. Back when they’d dated Oliver had been more withdrawn then she’d ever seen him. Side effects of being stranded on a desert island, she supposed. He’d tried to play the role of attentive boyfriend, but she’d been able to tell he wasn’t fully there. While she wasn’t sure how much Oliver had changed in the past three years, she was certain that Felicity Smoak was just the person he needed to help him readjust to the land of the living.

She could only hope that things went well with this security job and that, come May, Oliver would win the election, giving McKenna the opportunity to, once again, protect the city from criminals hell bent on seeing it in ruin. But, if not, well, at least she now had the plot for a really great crime novel.

#arrow fanfiction #olicity fanfiction #mckenna hall #felicity smoak

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thegreatunfinished · 7 years ago

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Maraetai Beach in Myth & Legend

A semi-autobiographical (but highly whimsical) piece that I wrote for the team at Up Country, 2014.

The expansive bush that stretches between Maraetai Heights Road and Rewa Road in the semi-rural Auckland village of Maraetai Beach contains the following features for the eager explorer:

a variety of tracks of varying difficulty and reliability.

peaceful streams and waterways, straddled by fallen trees that are definitely, probably, fine to climb over.

native flora that perform well as resources for building dams, forts, etc. Native fauna that will cease singing to look down from the branches as you walk by; you the invader, they the keepers.

escaped convicts, dressed in rags and with yellow, rotting teeth, hidden in shadows and grim of thought and deed, who carry rusty knives made for cutting the tender bellies of unlucky children who stumble upon their camps.

a tall (reports indicate around seven foot), broad shouldered alien, recognisable by his lumbering gait and his ability to light the ground where he steps. He is slow and silent, but his intent is considered to be sinister. Caution is recommended.

a witch, though she mainly resides at the lonely dead end of Maraetai Heights Road, near the line of trees that mark the beginning of the massive bush area.

The casual inquirer may observe that this seems a lot for one expanse of rural New Zealand wilderness to contain. But this information is supported by eyewitness statements painstakingly collected over years of my childhood as well as deductions made after hours of sitting at the window of the second story lounge, gazing out at the thick green carpet of secrets where the trees, mysteries, dangers and adventures, started.

The convicts are perhaps the least surprising inhabitants. Although it was a small and unassuming neighbourhood in the 1980s, Maraetai Beach was mentioned on the Channel One News with some degree of regularity. Growing up, my hometown seemed a favourite destination for nogoodniks evading the authorities. I've never quite understood why. Perhaps it was those large areas of rugged nature, into which escape must have seemed easy. Famously, a helicopter of serious looking men with guns once landed on our school's soccer field. We were all ushered out to watch. They were there to track down a baddie on the run, and he must have been a real bad baddie this time. My older sister and I walked home that afternoon, closer and closer to the bush where I knew in my heart that this baddie was hiding, peering from between the branches like a scared, angry cat. I probably should have tipped off the men with guns.

The alien was observed by an older kid at school, and described to me while we walked in pairs towards the Maraetai Town Hall for rehearsal of our school play. So confident were the boy's words, so mocking of my ignorance, that I had no option but to suspect he was telling the truth. His friend, walking behind us, was also an older boy and therefore another expert on worldly matters. He confirmed that he had seen the black giant shambling through the trees near my house, just the other night. That evening, and for many evenings later, I was extra-quick to reach out and slam shut my bedroom window, should a black hand shoot out and grab my wrist. Even today it’s a task on which I don’t linger too casually.

The witch I learned about from a closer source: my older sister. She trod lightly upon the details, allowing me to fill in the gaps with images of a decrepit old crone that existed at the dead end of our road, just over the rise and just out of sight. I wouldn't have believed it - my sister already having tried to convince me, only briefly successfully, that Soda Stream syrup was poisonous (she called it "Indian Ink", a perfectly exotic and deadly sounding name) - but her best friend confirmed the hag’s presence also. What choice did I have? By this time, I would have been about eleven, I was already developing a healthy enough skepticism to know that such stories could be lies. But then caution, and an enduring and ill-advised trust of people older than me, encouraged me to lean towards belief and safe avoidance.

These dark secrets were not the only thrilling mysteries of the bush that lined Maraetai Heights Road. We all knew about the wild pigs, big as cars, blood-eyed and with tusks that would cut through a young boy like a toothpick through cheese. Schoolmates warned against crossing certain paddocks that existed on the other side of the trees, lest you run afoul of the gun-toting, maniacally territorial farmers that lived there. Of course, we crossed anyway, either sprinting or scurrying on our bellies. We never saw guns nor crazed farmers, but we believed in them. And there were ghosts among the trees too, though that may have been the one story I myself added. I have always loved and been mortally afraid of ghosts.

That burgeoning skepticism eventually flourished and then hardened, childhood wonder and terror setting into the grey impenetrability of adulthood wisdom. The convicts in my mind started to look less like Dickensian rogues and more like the sad, disenfranchised individuals we see on the front page. They probably didn't wear rags, nor did they cut bellies as often as suspected, but they did once force our door open and steal our potato chips.

I saw an American TV special on aliens in the '90s that starred the exact being that lurked in the Maraetai Beach bush, illuminated footsteps and all. I suppose the story must have been famous enough for my young informant to have read it years earlier in one of those "World's Strangest Mysteries"-type almanacs. Either that or the seven foot ET got bored of scaring tough young kiwi kids and thought he'd try some American ones.

The witch. I've never asked my sister where the terrifying old crone came from, though I'd guess a jumble of Enid Blyton and CS Lewis. Nevertheless, it didn't stop me from repeating the tales and stone-faced warnings to younger cousins, now adults themselves. I should ask them all at our next family Christmas whether they ever think of the old hag that casts wicked magic just out of sight, as I still think of her whenever I see a dimly lit rural road disappear over a rise. Because for all the dull, relentless power of adult rationality, things that get into your head as a kid tend to stay there, fighting for their hard-earned space. I have a theory that people who grew up in isolated areas, particularly near large expanses of untamed nature, forests and beaches and mountains and what-not, have an easy time of imagining shadowy figures and mysterious threats just outside the corner of the eye.

But that may be indulging in self-mythologising. It might be too dismissive of the imaginative terrors harboured by our friends who were raised in suburbs or cities. I still think, however, that the certain type of grim and electrifying sorcery that comes from mixing a child's brain with exposure to wildness is a special one, and New Zealand's landscape gives it a special flavour all of its own.

Because, still. Still , still, still to this day, no matter how worn smooth my sense of childhood adventure and horror is, I cannot look at a wall of trees on the edge of a dark expanse, like that which runs along Maraetai Heights Road, that runs in front of my old bedroom window, that still features so regularly in my dreams, without wondering what lurks, lumbers, crouches or cackles just there, just out of sight, in the wilderness.

#autobio

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