#I actually really wanted to write a comment to it but as of the time I'm scheduling this post I still haven't been able to get around to it

[michygranger23]

"What if Optimus did a few modeling photo shoots in order to pay to enter the Autobot Academy, being known before as Orion Pax?"

|

Hi there!! I bring to you a really silly idea I had inspired by a post from @snowsupply and a comment under said post made by @unicornblossom13 , in which Snow mentioned how Optimus has the prettiest lips and Unicorn mentioned he would have done some modeling gigs before his time as an autobot student, even winning some royalties and keeping some of his old magazines!! I couldn’t get this idea out of my head so I had to make something for it lol (please go and support them since they’re the ones that inspired me with this idea in the first place!)

And since I fully got consumed by this concept, I made a silly comic about the first people to find one of Optimus’s old magazines!! This is technically my first time doing a comic (and drawing TFA! Bee and Sari) so forgive me if this isn't good or they look wonky (and also my handwriting haha, I'm still getting used to writing with an Apple Pencil)

Btw the name for the magazine, Bolide, is an actual astronomy term! It's used to describe an excepcionally bright meteor, and they typically produce a sonic boom. Thought that it fit for a fashion brand name haha

Let me know if you would want more cover magazines art and how the other's react to Optimus’s old job!! I might even do the Decepticons too hehe >:D!!

[myrrusstuff]

Streamer!Jinx Headcanons!

Just some basic ideas and drabbles pooled into one post. I see a lot of streamer!ellie and streamer!vi, but barely any jinx if any at all. I don’t know, I just think she’d be the funniest streamer ever.

CW: Cursing? bits of Jinx x f!reader. jokes about jinx being cancelled, homophobia mentions.

Streamer!Jinx who got surprised when she blew up pretty fast. For the wrong reasons, Ofcourse (controversy, because she can’t keep her mouth shut), but once it smoothed over she gained a lot of following

She has no filter. None. The second something pops into her head, she says it aloud. She deals with the consequences afterwards.

Her room is either really messy, or oddly tidy. On that note, Streamer!Jinx that decorated her whole setup and desk, plus her headphones. They’re all covered in scribbles and spraypaint.

Streamer!Jinx that sometimes manages to convince you to play on stream with her, addressing you as a close friend to keep you both comfortable and safe online.

She constantly says “chat” and “gang”, even when she’s not streaming. Vi and Ekko pick up on it and comment on it frequently, using it to tease her.

Rages at Minecraft. 100%. She joined MCC, just to ragequit half way through because her team was in dead last. Her chat watched her leave the server and walk out of her room on the webcam. She had to take a whole 15 minuet break and come back with a cup of coffee to calm down.

She would start a Minecraft hardcore series just to hide in a hole as soon as it turns night, before logging off and never returning.

"Guys this is my first episode of... MINECRAFT HARDCORE!

…

Chat this seems to be my first AND last episode."

Jinx who accidentally revealed your relationship on live. She slipped up and called you "darling" or "babe", and her chat never dropped it.

"BABE?!"

"Holy shit did she just call her babe?"

"Ladies, we have a chance!"

"DID WE HEAR THAT RIGHT"

She tried to change the topic, "We’re going to win this round!", to say she lost, and her chat didn’t drop the topic, would be an understatement.

She got cancelled for homophobia once, because she went on a 'just chill and talk' live about how she didn’t approve of Caitlyn and Vi being together. It got taken the wrong way and had to explain that she’s infact Queer with a girlfriend. She defended herself with "Guys, I’m literally dating.." after she revealed your relationship, and then went on a rant sesh about you. She’s the biggest yapper ever.

Her twitch account got banned or suspended once because she got so mad at a kid on Fortnite that she cursed him out and went overboard. (Again, she has no filter).

She mainly plays Minecraft and gun games. But sometimes she’ll do longer lives for charity where she’ll play the chat’s top pick.

She accidentally showed your face on stream once, forgetting to tell you her webcam was on. You didn’t realise until later that day there were edits of you on your own fyp or twitter TL. "Babe, you might wanna see this.."

Jinx still gets confused whenever she sees an edit of herself. Also, she has a public favourite folder of edits of you. She doesn’t know how to edit it to make it private.

Once you got comfortable showing your face on webcam, Jinx hosted a “do my hair and Q&A” stream where you braided and brushed her hair while you both answered questions. Any excuse to spend time with you at the same time as working.

Notes: first time ever writing jinx, so I thought I’d start with headcanons. Do we want a streamer!jinx fic? Like an actual fic? Pls give me ideas on what to write abt her. This was re uploaded from my old blog @myrruwrites.

[ai-the-broccoli]

enemies to lovers / but you'll never own my heart

@luzon-dove happy birthday, Quinn!! As a present, I decided to draw a piece fanart of your "blood in the walls of the yagami house" AU fic series, since I found it very well-written and full of super interesting ideas and concepts. I hope you like it!

[elssero]

YOOO CONGRATS ON 1K !!! <333 i’ll totally send in an ask for funsies hehehe (but ofc no pressure to write it!)

sooo how abt a one shot with reader and teenage hawks (like 17 or 18? but definitely before he has his official hero debut) and him and her started as partners at the commission, but they click from the start and are total trauma bonded best friends to lovers

ANYWAYS THEY’RE TRAINING TOGETHER BC THEIR HERO DEBUTS ARE COMING UP SOON AND SO THEY SPAR 🤗 he flirts, she flirts, he get flustered, she pins him and wins the match, they both go quiet and stare at each other longer than “just friends” would—

the age old story that i eat up every time tbh 😪 bonus points if he confesses and lands an actual non-platonic date with her, but i’ll leave it up to youuu <3

impending lovers.

hawks

-from partners in the commission, to friends, and maybe something more.

part of my 1k event! submit your asks!

‘ready to get your ass beat today birdboy?’

keigo stands around 15 paces in front of you, an amused look on his face.

‘i thought i told you to stop calling me that’

the gym is empty other than you two, it gives you the ability to speak freely, act freely, a small sense of freedom. but only when it’s just you and him.

you had originally thought it best to ignore him, all those years ago when he was brought into the commission just a couple of months after you were.

he was.. a distraction.

you think he still is.

but when he smiled at you on the first day you met him you knew it was no use.

‘you finally decided on a hero name?’

‘oh um yeah- i think im going for hawks.’

hawks. it suited him. it felt powerful, matched his huge- beautiful red wings. it’s why you had suggested it in the first place.

‘you went for my suggestion huh?’

he looks away- maybe a little embarrassed. bashful and blushing at your realisation that he picked the only name you suggested.

it’s always been like this. you tease and you laugh, border on flirting until- nothing. nothing ever happens, your beginning to think nothing ever will, although that’s probably for the best.

‘of course i did- come on, we’re wasting good sparing time’

the first part of his sentence is hushed, whispered, as though he doesn’t want you to hear it.

you don’t comment on it, instead you get into position, fists in front of your face to avoid a potential quick attack from him.

you’ll always find yourself here, standing in front of him, a couple feet away, just slightly out of reach.

he doesn’t count down, instead lunging towards you in one quick movement. you watch his hands, he’s not looking to punch, it’s more of a grab, a push maybe.

you move to the left- not quick enough, he trips you up with the side of his wing but the impact sends you both tumbling in the same direction.

neither of you give up, tossing around on the ground- hands reaching to grab the others in an attempt to stop them moving.

you hook his legs on yours, immobilising his lower half before you climb over him, giving yourself the upper hand.

it’s harder for him to fight you from below you, he’s trying to push you off, but your legs have his in a vice and it becomes clear to him that your not going anywhere.

you have his hands now, pinned together above his head, he’s attempts to move his wings, but their trapped under both of your body weights. you have him.

you haven’t really been looking at him- other than predicting where he was going to put his hands, he’s unmoving now, accepting defeat. it gives you a second to look at him, his face.

he’s staring at you, your faces are alot closer than you thought. your nose is inches from his, you can feel his breath on your face, you can feel his chest rise and fall.

your staring at each other now- and he has this look in his eye, you’ve seen it before, for split seconds. it’s admiration- but there’s something more. he looks almost dazed.

you want to move- but you can’t. there’s nothing holding you down but the idea of ruining this moment- so delicate, soft. it breaks your heart.

you can’t indulge, you’ve never let yourself before. you see him, of course you do. you’ve always saw him.

you see him fly, you see him laugh, and cry- your the only one who ever sees him.

it hurts that he’ll never see you too.

it’s better to push him away, don’t let yourself indulge.

in one quick movement your separated from him, you miss the look of panic in his eyes as he jumps up after you.

walking away, going to grab your water or a rag to dry the sweat, just anything to have a little space from him.

you don’t make it far.

‘wait- stop-!’ his voice is a little frantic- whatever he’s about to do is unplanned.

‘how long are we going to pretend?’

it catches you of guard- he’s gripping your hand, spinning you towards him. the look of upset on his face breaks your heart all over again.

‘what are you talking about?’

he shakes his head, even lets out a little laugh, as though he’s saying something obvious that your not understanding.

but there’s something desperate about the way he’s holding your hand in his, about the uneven breaths he’s letting out, about the way he’s looking at you.

he’s desperate- and suddenly it all makes sense.

‘i can’t keep pretending you don’t mean everything to me.’

[flawssy-227]

Fogwell’s pt.1 Matt murdock x f!reader

pairing: College!matt murdock x fem!reader

a/n: this is a repost from almost THREE years ago on my old blog! since the new daredevil is coming out soon... maybe I'll revisit my favorite hell's kitchen baby boy.

I will always do my best to leave the reader description as vague as possible (albeit female, but I am a woc, so will also always have woc in mind in my writing)

WC: 1.3k

Warnings: mention of beer, language

You remembered the first time you met him.

It was a Sunday at Fogwell’s, the gym was closed except for a private training session you had held earlier, some women from a hair salon in Hell’s Kitchen wanting to learn self defense.

You heard the little bell chime above the front door that signaled someone was coming in.

“We’re closed,” you called out without turning around. You were preoccupied with taking off your hand wraps as you heard him tentatively tap his way into the gym.

“Oh, sorry,” he started. “I was hoping I could speak with the owner.”

“You’re lookin’ at her,” you stated definitively. You took in his appearance, tall, somewhat built, a slight blush crossing his cheeks, and stubble you almost wanted to reach out and run your fingers across. He was cute you thought, as you tried searching his eyes before realizing they were pointed downward, a walking stick clutched tightly in his hands. “What can I help you with?”

“You don’t sound like the owner of a boxing gym in the middle of Hell’s Kitchen,” the man cocked his head to the side with a small smirk.

You scoffed a bit. “It’s my uncle’s gym, but he is on an extended vacation in Florida. Till he comes back, if he comes back, I’m the owner-operator,” you stated matter of factly. “You gonna question me or tell me what you want?” you said as you finished unwinding your hand wraps.

His small smirk extended into a full grin as he took a step closer to you and extended his hand for you to shake. “I’m Matt. I uh, I wanted to see if I could train here?”

You shook his hand, large and warm in yours. “Yeah, sure. We have open gym from 11-4, Monday through Saturday, kickboxing classes during the week at 5, boxing after that…” you trailed off. “What are you looking for?”

“Something more… private, actually.”

Now it was your turn to cock your head questioningly. As if he could feel it, he started speaking again.

“Even though I’m blind, I can feel people watching me. I know they’re wondering what someone like me is doing at a boxing gym, but I don’t need the judgement or little comments they make that they think I can’t hear. Plus my dad used to box here, way back in the day. I just want to be able to train in peace, privately. After hours?” he explained.

“After hours?” 

“Just a couple of days a week. I’ll stay out of your way. I promise.”

There was sincerity in his voice as you weighed your options. He seemed perfectly nice, innocent even. You usually stayed late in the gym most nights anyway, either looking over Fogwell’s books or training by yourself. Matt training after hours wouldn’t really impact you either way, plus, if you were being honest, you could use all the extra help financially.

“I’ll tell you what, you can stay today. I’ll be in the office, working on some things. Use the gym, do whatever you want, and I’ll make a decision after. Does that sound fair?”

Matt nodded his head, still clutching his walking stick. “Thank you, I really appreciate it.”

“No worries, Matt.” You began walking your way back to your office before turning around again. “You’re a Murdock, right?”

Matt was in the middle of unzipping his jacket when he turned to look back at you quizzically. 

“You said your dad trained here. It was Jack, right? Jack Murdock?”

He slowly nodded back at you. 

You walked backward to your office, taking in the man in front of you. “Nice to meet you, Murdock.”

That was about 5 weeks ago, and Matt had been making regular appearances in your gym ever since. He would show up after hours a few times during the week and on weekends, sometimes giving you a call and begging, pleading you to come back and unlock the gym for him. You always would, knowing he would slip you a few extra dollars or bring you a 6-pack of beer to show his gratitude. You knew it wasn’t the only reason you would go out of your way to let Matt into Fogwell’s, but he didn’t have to know that.

You had a quickly developing crush on him. He was sweet, kind, and smart. Not hard to look at, either. He would flirt with you sometimes too, you were sure of it. Complimenting your perfume, praising your generosity. Sometimes you felt like he could read your mind, calling out your name or coming into the office every time you would daydream about him. You would always ask him to stay later when he brought you beer, too. Sometimes he would, and you two would spend an extra hour sitting around and talking about life. You really began to look forward to his calls, feeling a little lonely if you didn’t hear from him for a couple of days. 

There were other reasons you wanted to see him, too. He would do things, when he thought you weren’t paying attention. Things that made you question how much his disability really affected him. So, when he gave you a call at 9 PM on a Saturday, begging, no, pleading you to open up the gym for him, you immediately said yes.

He was waiting for you at the front door, body perking up as he heard you approaching.

“You got here fast,” he said.

“Murdock, you know I live upstairs.”

“I know, I know. I’m just surprised you didn’t have plans. It is Saturday, after all.”

You scoffed as you held the door open for him. “Here to make me feel bad or to train?”

He laughed as he made himself comfortable in the gym. He took off his hoodie and you made a sharp inhale at his toned stomach. Was it just you, or was he getting ripped?

“Can I ask you a question?” you asked, walking toward the ring in the center of the gym.

“Sure,” he said, rolling his neck and shaking out his muscles.

“You ever think about getting in the ring?” You hopped up onto the platform and lowered the middle rope to climb in.

Matt looked at you, a smile tugging on his lips. “Can’t say that I have. Might not be easy for me to see who I’m fighting, on account of the no seeing thing.”

“Humor me,” you said, trying to take a slow deep breath as the shirtless man made his way toward you.

Matt walked to the ring, reaching his hand out to feel for the platform before climbing into it himself.

You slowly walked around the ring while Matt stayed close to the ropes, trying to decide the best way to approach your theory.

“I’ve been watching you these past few weeks,” you started, centering yourself directly across from him.

His eyebrows quirked up at your confession. “Oh?”

You nodded your head. “You’d probably be a tough opponent. Natural ability, a lot of fight in you.”

Matt’s smile grew bigger, his chest puffing out slightly at your compliment. He was clearly about to make some clever, flirty remark back at you, as he always did, but you took advantage of his distracted state and slid your keys out of your pocket, throwing them straight at his head.

You watched as his brows furrowed, only slightly, his head popping straight up. You don’t know it, but Matt feels the breeze shift in the gym when your arm quickly moves to throw the keys, he smells your deodorant, the fragrance being released because of the little bits of friction caused by your movement, and he tastes the metallic of the keys as they fly through the air.

You weren’t sure what you were expecting. You had a feeling, but you were still surprised to see Matt clutching your keys directly in front of his eyes. He looks at you, eyes pointed slightly downward, a devilish smirk plastered on his face, knowing you caught him.

“I fucking knew it!”

would you guys like more Matt? I have a very very old angsty wip that I'm tempted to finish if anybody is interested!

[11vein]

Hello! 11vein, this is my first time sending you an ask so I hope I am doing this properly! Anyways—

I want to know what inspired you and everybody else in Team 6x11 to choose to set the story of Qualia Automata in Iraq, out of all the Middle-Eastern countries. Like, I know that Carbon Monoxide on your team is Iraqi, but still, my question remains that why Iraq specifically? I’m not Iraq, but I live in an Arab country and, from my observations of cross-cultural representation, countries like the UAE and Iran and Saudi Arabia, as examples, are usually represented more often in stories set in the Middle East. So I was wondering why you folks chose Iraq as the setting for the story of Qualia Automata, and I’ll be glad to hear how you were inspired to do so as well. Tell me all about what brought the team to the decision. Reply back soon, please!

i wish i could say we had an elaborate reason to make QA's story based out of a futuristic iraq, but it was kinda spontaneous haha. we were deciding the ethnicity of tamari and went with iraqi because some of the members knew someone who was iraqi (carbon monoxide) who we could consult for further ideas. this later led to them being added to the team :) i asked carbon for further input: "while i can't speak for why the team chose to make tamari arab initially, i can say that i haven't seen too many experiences related to my specific ethnicity depicted in media, and it's something i've been wanting to work more towards. iraq occupies an interesting place in american culture, i feel; most americans know of iraq ofc and know of the iraq war, but if u were to ask a random person on the street, they likely wouldn't be able to tell u much about the country outside of that. my family had to escape as war refugees when i was extremely little, but i'd very commonly fly back home to spend long vacations with extended family. i'm very intimately familiar with the effects of war, it was fundamental to my development and my identity as an iraqi person. infrastructure was still ruined from bombs dropping, streets were destroyed or not maintained at all, power would very routinely go out and i vividly remember need to grope around in the dark for flashlights and fighting with my cousins for the limited supply of lamps, and that's all stuff that was YEARS after the actual conflict. not to mention all the generational trauma, the metaphorical and cultural scars that war creates that has ruined people and families.the first-hand accounts of war from the perspectives of my mother and older siblings were extremely harrowing.

when i first moved to america, it shocked me how little people knew about iraq, how deeply-embedded imperialist propaganda was baked within the fibres of american culture. a lot of people i'd met were completely ignorant to this thing that shaped everything about me before i was even born, that blew me away.

qualia automata of course isn't ABOUT the iraq war, it's set years afterwards and it was never meant to really reflect any sort of real-world historical events. but i put a lot of myself and my family into these characters, and just by virtue of me being iraqi and helping write iraqi characters, i've seen war refugees from my country comment on how they relate to what's being represented. fayrouz in particular was the character i had the biggest hand in shaping, and she's someone who's deeply-molded by generational trauma, and the attitudes iraqi women had to adopt in order to survive during such awful times being passed down throughout the years. it's the type of thing only other people with these experiences would be able to immediately point out, but i'm always happy when people do

that and i think it's very useful to just write about iraqi people as, well, people. there's a stigma around arabs especially, but like i said before iraqis occupy a very unique space within american culture, so i think it helps normalize these cultures and experiences by just, having characters exist as they are!"

[sweet-s0rr0w]

writing interview game

honestly, i very much doubt that anyone wants to read what i have to say about writing, but i got tags from some lovely friendly people (thank you to @garagepaperback, @citrusses, @arminaa8 and @wholahoop) so let's start and we'll see where it takes us.

how many works do you have on ao3? 31

what's your total ao3 word count? 368,607

your top 5 stories by kudos?

Nor All That Glisters 

Kept in Cages with @ihopeyoubothstaysafefromharm (art)

Dreaming Skies with @tackytigerfic

Among the Elements

When The Party's Over

do you respond to comments? no, i'm awful, i don't think about it too much or i feel absolutely overwhelmed. i read and appreciate every single one though (except the draco simps complaining about glisters you know who you are) and in my dreams i will reply to you all one day.

what's the fic you've written with the angstiest ending? i don't really do angsty endings, although i did recently write a creepy timeloop fic! also, if anyone wants a laugh please check out the first bookmark on that fic, which is named After the Time Loop:

(also, 'a good enough fic' yeah well your reading comprehension skills aint all that either mate)

what's the fic you've written with the happiest ending? maybe kept in cages?

do you write crossovers? no

have you ever received hate on a fic? not just hate on my fic, hate on my fic that somehow led to me being accused of something i didn't do and basically ostracised from fandom for like nine months. wild!

do you write smut? intermittently

have you ever had a fic stolen? no-one would bother. though i think AI is stealing from all our fics right?

have you ever had a fic translated? yes! the lovely @moonletterss has translated several of my fics into brazilian portuguese! and by the way i had the nicest comment a few weeks back from someone who'd read the translation and came to say thank you to me too, so i'm super grateful to you moon <3

have you ever co-written a fic before? yes, i had the time of my life with @tackytigerfic on dreaming skies and my dream is to write a drarry with them one day if they'll have me. i think there are probably two other people i'd love to co-write with, but i'd be too shy to say!

what's your all-time favourite ship? so basic, but drarry

what's a wip that you want to finish but don't think you ever will? omg i started a fic many MANY moons ago which was actually supposed to be a gift for @vukovich with a fairly morally corrupt draco who works for vice squad and is sent in undercover to let some guy pick him up, and harry's his handler and has to watch him in frustration as he shows off for all the hidden cameras etc. not sure it's something i would write well these days but you never know!

what are your writing strengths? dialogue, pacing (i think)

what are your writing weaknesses? everything that's not dialogue, also i joyfully skip back and forth all over the shop when i'm writing a first draft which means i have to force myself to go back through in order afterwards to make it all make sense. there are better ways, i'm sure, but i really don't care.

what are your thoughts on writing dialogue in other languages in a fic? oh, definitely! what, as opposed to jkr's 'eet ees lucky zat 'e is marrying me'?? yes, no thanks to that. i'm sure i've had some french in there before, and i seem to recall asking people for italian and german advice though i reckon that was like book titles and not dialogue. but definitely i would!

what's a fandom/ship you haven't written for yet but want to? oh god, f1, always the one that got away.

what's your favourite fic you've ever written?

nor all that glisters (i'll never not be proud of that as an achievement, especially given the pit of postpartum despair i was in), dreaming skies, or silhouettes

tagging: @tackytigerfic, @maesterchill, @kamaela, @shiftylinguini, @moonflower-rose, @epitomereally, @lemonlimelea, @sorrybutblog, @oknowkiss and anyone else and if you've done it pls lmk so i can hunt it down and reblog <3

[ashirisu]

i am a big supporter of both knowing the Rules™ of writing and also of breaking them wherever and whenever it fits the vibe.

the thing about these snappy, frequently recycled pieces of writing advice is that yeah, they're really great rules of thumb if you're trying to avoid the common pitfalls of amateur writers, but they get tossed out so much and so passionately that people start treating them like they're the end-all, be-all rules of How To Write Good And Proper.

and they're really not—there are going to be a lot of times in your writing when it's better to tell instead of show, or to use adverbs, or to use "said" or toss out the dialogue tags altogether, etc. and like the previous commenter said, creating a structure piecemeal for yourself is damaging. it will actively hold you back because you'll never allow yourself room to see what other techniques will do for your writing.

writing is like any other skill and art form in that you actively need to practice, improvise, make "mistakes," and evaluate those mistakes in order to grow. something that you currently define as a poor writing practice may turn out to be a cornerstone of your unique style.

(personal example: i had a fear of run-on sentences drilled into me all throughout school, only to get into college and learn that not only is polysyndeton a thing, it is positively marvelous for the exact flavor of anxiety that i love writing)

i do think there's a balance to be struck—my experience is that it's much more helpful to learn what the Rules™ actually are and how to use them before you start breaking them on purpose, but you also don't want to go down the self-invalidating path of assuming you're never good enough to start playing around and doing things you're not "supposed" to.

this isn't chemistry, nothing's going to blow up. have a silly fun time.

hi it's me. "telling" in writing is sometimes fine. if you think a scene is better served by summarizing a character's reaction in plain, direct language, that's a thing you're allowed to do. you could consider elaborating from that direct language and using that to "show".

but like "show, don't tell" is absolutely not always the case unless you really want to buff out your word count. i had a writer early on quote "show, don't tell" to me when i showed her a scene that included what was essentially a set-piece character i described as a "sleepy-eyed dancer". she wanted me to spend time describing this character's exhaustion instead of just directly saying it. This dancer - who is referenced once in the initial description of a setting and never, ever shows up again.

that was probably the day i learned that you can hear writing advice and respond politely but quietly think "mm no". you can also do this.

(feel free to fight me in the comments but know that i despise catchy and generalized writing advice like this and the way it can hinder new writers when stated with no room for exploration. and i will die on this hill. i am not normal about this)

[malinowaj]

selected figure skating

so, @almostlake said they wanted to watch and learn more about figure skating. i will take any excuse to talk about this wretched sport (the love-hate relationship is strong, okay), so i've put together a list of my favourite programs. the original list was about 45 programs, so this is significantly scaled down. however, i'm always happy to talk skating, so you can ask me my current olympic quad favourites or favourite element or whatever comes to mind.

this also serves as a sort of behind-the-scenes for hope and legacy, because obviously some of these programs have heavily influenced how i write about skating in that story.

i'd like to say i love all disciplines equally, but the heart wants what it wants and unfortunately it wants chaos in the form of men's figure skating. this'll be heavy on that, though i'm letting my roots as an ice dance enthusiast show.

note: i acknowledge that russia has been a majorly significant powerhouse in figure skating, and there are several programs from russian skaters that could be on this list. however, due to basically two reasons i stopped paying any attention to anything russian skating related in february 2022 and everything i've learned since has been against my will. there is one russian program on this list, but that's the extent i'm going to discuss russian skating. all other skating though, let's chat.

men

yuzuru hanyu: seimei, hope and legacy, origin and let me entertain you. look, it's no secret yuzu is my favourite skater of all time. he's a once in a lifetime skater and pretty much changed the way i watch, analyse and feel figure skating. to me, skating is all about storytelling and yuzu does it like no one else. i could've really picked any of his programs, because there isn't a single one i don't like. i've had the privilege of seeing him live three times and i still remember, years later, how my comment after the last time was "i don't know if i should laugh or cry, because how can someone be so good".

junhwan cha: fate of the clockmaker/clock and dagger. i've never fallen for a skater as fast as i did for jun when i saw this program. i'd seen him around, of course, but this program was so perfect for him. the mood, the storytelling, the step sequence, the final spin.

deniss vasiljevs: romeo and juliet. a few years back i didn't watch that much skating because of life. then back in 2022 i actually sat down to watch euros and deniss, someone whose skating i've loved for years, did this. he doesn't just skate, he creates art and definitely makes me feel a lot when watching him. also, hands down the best spins in current men's skating. (also my reference program for simon's free skate.)

matteo rizzo: talking to the moon/that's what i like. is this matteo's best program? maybe not. (even i'm partial to his two men in love.) but this performance. the moment after his last spin and the step sequence. i saw this live and it was LOUD. he brought the arena alive like no one else and sadly this video doesn't quite capture it. depending on where in the world you are, i'd say get a VPN and watch the video on ISU's channel, with his reaction and bows, because that sort of gives you an idea how much we all loved this, and how much this meant for him. every time i write simon's step sequence, this moment is what i think about. out of everything i've ever seen live, that might be my favourite figure skating moment.

jason brown: sinnerman. jason has so many good programs, but i think this captures so well all his strengths, and is wonderfully different too.

jeremy abbott: exogenesis. an absolutely exquisite skater who sadly never quite kept it together under pressure. easily his best program, it has so much feeling to it.

stephane lambiel: wilhelm tell. could've been any of his programs, because i just want everyone to see what the bestest of best spins look like. (nowadays coaching deniss vasiljevs, which explains his spins.)

daisuke takahashi: bachelorette and blues for klook. i remember sitting on my grandma's uncomfortable leather couch with my mouth open when i saw bachelorette, because you're telling me skating can be like this too? dai's skating skills are to die for and he knew how to sell a story too.

women

carolina kostner: bolero. look, i hate bolero. it's possibly the worst figure skating music choice one can make. but i've watched caro's bolero more times than i can count, because it's incredible. there are so many of her programs i could've picked, but for the aforementioned reason this is notable. skating skills, spins, interpretation. god, i love her.

satoko miyahara: song for the little sparrow. program so good there's a guy doing a tribute to it. satton is easily one of the best and overall most well-rounded skaters of recent years, with spins to die for, and i'm so sad she never got to shine like she deserved. and i adore her recent show numbers.

akiko suzuki: O. the way she embodies the music is pure magic. this program should be the benchmark for all aspiring skaters, and it sure is my favourite women's program of all time.

pairs

wenjing sui/cong han: rain, in your black eyes. THE pairs program of all time. it's so effortless, it's so difficult, and it's so stunning. every time i watch it i go "oh, it's over already" when the finish, because they capture your attention and suck you in with this program so that you wish it would last at least three times as long as it does. also, my reference program for wille and stella.

aliona savchenko/robin szolkowy: pina. they have so many good programs, but i remember watching this in awe because it was different from what they'd done before. and the risk for a pairs team to do a dance-themed program, i think they were the only ones who could pull it off.

tatiana volozoshar/maxim trankov: masquerade waltz. the chemistry, the technique. i got to see this live at art on ice almost right after they won at the sochi olympics and it was magical. the height of their twists and throws was something unbelievable. my other reference program for wille and stella.

ice dance

tessa virtue/scott moir: moulin rouge. there's a thing that goes along the lines of 'someone who's seen one ice dance program will say v/m's moulin rouge is the best of all time. someone who's seen 100 programs will say it's some obscure original dance from a pair that was together for two seasons. and someone who's seen 1000 programs will say v/m's moulin rouge is the best of all time.' that's how good it is. the timing of the twizzles is my favourite thing in the world. i also love their farrucas. you want to watch amazing ice dance, you watch tessa and scott. (and then weep because they don't do ice dance like this anymore.)

meryl davis/charlie white: bollywood. the 2010 olympics original dance competition was definitely one for the books. this stood out with its originality, with it's attention to detail and it'll always be one of my favourites. (i'm going to start a petition to bring back original dance.)

sinead kerr/john kerr: scottish dance. i loved the kerrs, so much. they did so many things no one else did, especially when it came to lifts. and this one is legendary for john's kilt alone. (original dance i miss you so.)

kana muramoto/daisuke takahashi: soran bushi. yes, the same daisuke takahashi that appeared in men's. he ended his career in ice dance and this program is the best thing they did. the music choice, the details of the choreography, the way they perform.

kaitlin hawayek/jean-luc baker: with or without you. the best rhythm dance we never saw in competition last season. such an original take on the 80s theme, and an absolutely perfect fit for them. the skating skills are among the best, and there is so much emotion. if there was justice in the world, they'd have been USA's top pair after beijing, but sadly there isn't. i sometimes watch this when i want to cry, because it'll make me shed tears every single time.

ignore any and all typos, but please tell me if the links don't work. (i'm typing this after a 6-day workweek on too little sleep.)

finding skating videos, especially if you want a specific performance, is needle in a haystack stuff these days. the best way to get into skating is to watch it, preferably a lot, to find what works for you and who you like. the skating ISU channel has a lot of videos from recent seasons, and apart from the olympics does all major competitions live. depending on where you are in the world, you might need a VPN. (setting it to the netherlands works pretty much always.)

and if you ever get the chance, go watch skating live. it's the best, i promise.

[starquestingfordrarry]

writing interview

thank you for the tag @xalandrix! You should go read their post because they've got so many banger fics

how many works do you have on ao3? 28, and 3 unrevealed

what's your total ao3 word count? 221,659 😲

your top 5 stories by kudos

All These Winding Threads | E | 35k

Half Sick of Shadows | E | 40k

Of easy wind and downy flake | E | 14k

Simulation Theory | E | 35k

Draco L Malfoy (the L stands for legs) | E | 1.8k

do you respond to comments? yeah!

what's the fic you've written with the angstiest ending? hmmm, I don't know because I don't like angsty endings 🤣 but my most open ending is Your Hot Hands maybe?

what's the fic you've written with the happiest ending? Gotta be With Love in Her Luminous Eyes - families and homes are found, plus it has a fluffy sequel

do you write crossovers? not yet - unlikely to because they don't fit in my head logically, but never say never

have you ever received hate on a fic? no! somehow I have been very lucky in that respect

do you write smut? hell yeah

have you ever had a fic stolen? not that I'm aware of

have you ever had a fic translated? yeah! both lips on the mirror has been translated to french

have you ever co-written a fic? not yet, but I SWEAR I WILL

what's your all-time favorite ship? hmmmmmmmmmm HMMMMMMMM

what's a WIP that you want to finish but don't think you ever will? I refuse to acknowledge that I won't finish everything I've started. I'm in denial.

what are your writing strengths? oh god don't make me write nice things about myself. Um, descriptions. The rhythm of my sentences. Word choice.

what are your writing weaknesses? paring things down -- my betas are essential for this. Sometimes writing things that only make sense to me. Plotting. Actually sitting down and doing the damn thing.

what are your thoughts on writing dialogue in other languages in a fic? it's cool, but I especially like when the authors do that neat formatting thing with the footnotes

what's a fandom/ship you haven't written for yet but want to? I have a list! pretty much any and all w/w ships in HP, jayvik (once I watch season 2), shallan/kaladin/adolin and kaladin/adolin (again, once I catch up on all the Stormlight books), and recently I was thinking about suffering through the rest of the fourth wing books to write fic because god they are so bad but the dragon shit is so cool! the world seems really fun to play in. BUT, if I'm being really honest, it will probably just be more drarry 😅

what's your favorite thing you've ever written? I think it's still Half Sick of Shadows because I'm really pleased with my literary allusions and I love the OC's I came up with and I love the setting so much.

tagging @drarrymyheart, @lqtraintracks, @greattemptation, @arminaa8, @smehur, @badwolfblues, and anyone else who feels like playing <3

[mcmeerkat1]

𝑻𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑾𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒔

So i have been reading all these inserts featuring the MTMTE crew and i couldn't help but want to explore it in my own way. I wanted to mention that @wifetomegatron inspired me to actually sit down and write something. It only felt right to mention you as my little oneshot was inspired by little bits and pieces of your own writing and i didn't want to be that person to use your work to inspire my own without a shout out lmfao Anyways, as always y'all, 𝒆𝒏𝒋𝒐𝒚 First Contact AU ~ Where they have established earth as a new home (Rodimus x self insert)

This was stupid. 

I brushed out the wrinkles of the sheer black fabric that made up my supposed more formal top. It was nice in a sense. A v-cut neckline, flows with every movement, and most importantly pairs with blue jeans. Yeah, your not catching me dead wearing a skirt.

My leg anxiously bounced as i took in the small bar. The lights were dim and the room was filled with mindless chatter. It was a nice place. A rustic feel with a modern twist. It felt homey compared to the more distinguished settlements. A place where I definitely didn’t belong. 

“Oh come on Mia lighten up” Hailey chuckled from her spot beside me, gently nudging me with her arm I rolled my eyes. This wasn’t just stupid. It was ridiculous

“How can I lighten up if my nerves on a whole new level of high?” I retorted, taking a sip of my water. The blonde shook her head at my comment. She offered a friendly smile and shrugged “Yeah but you have also never gone on a date before. Its probably just the shock of the fact you even matched with someone. Especially if its with one of those….uh” “Cybertronians?” “Yes!”

I groaned and pinched the bridge of my nose. “It scares me that you convinced me to do this and you don't even remember what they are called”

I loved Hailey with all my heart…but she made me want to double check my own sanity.

She let out a huff, “Oh shut up. It's a mouthful” Sometimes I wonder how she even convinced me to make a profile on that damn app. I was very keen on the idea of living my life with my glorious army of black cats but life has other plans.

I made a profile and what do you know, I matched. Not going to lie, he looks great based on his profile. But its hard to imagine someone like him with me. Not because I'm human and he is a Cybertronian. I don't need that pity. Its just��I don't know. There is something there that I can't name. Something that nags at me and says I should just drop this all and return home. If that were the case then why am i still sitting here? One of life's greatest mysteries ....OK and maybe I was curious. “MIA!!”

I jumped at my friends sudden harsh whisper as she grabbed my arm “What?! You can’t just do that without an explanation!” I scowled as i tried to steady my racing heart. Why must i scare so easily? Hailey rolled her eyes and pointed to the entrance of the bar. And at that moment, time seemed to slow. This was really happening. “Oh hey, he really does match your hair” she laughed softly, gently ruffling my fiery curls

I pushed her hand away and attempted to fix it. Although my eyes never left the stranger... or i guess he wasn’t really a stranger I never really considered the stigma that was the difference between silk and metal. Both shine in their own individual ways but they are not the same…no. If i were to see a attractive guy, my eyes would immediately be drawn to how nicely they are dressed. A crisp suit that hugs their body in every right way. A compression shirt that reflects their long hours in the gym to craft the perfect physique. Oh to dream. But when it came to Cybertronians, you didn’t consider the same things. I can see that now. He stood well over 6 feet with a body that could make any girl go crazy. Lean frame with metal armor that sculpted him an athletic build. Could I even call it that? And those eyes. Bright blue optics that glowed in the darkness of the bar. It was alluring and made my heart almost stop. He was confident with the way he held himself. He was human in his own way. Blue on hazel. He never broke that contact. He knew his worth, no doubt. I just didn’t know if i could meet that same level…. I was so starstruck that I didn't even notice that Hailey had abandoned me. No wonder it was so quiet. The Cybertronian walked up to the bar and leaned against the counter with a sigh, casting a lazy smile in my direction. “Its Mia, right?” I nodded, giving him a smile of my own “Yeah”

We fell into a comfortable silence as we sat there, listening to the patrons of the bar having a good time. It was a unique blend of humans and Cybertronians. The beautiful part was that we didn’t even bat a eye. They entered our world with bang yet seemed to capture our hearts in a matter of months. This was their home now too. “Forgive me if I pronounce it wrong, and your Rodimus?” He chuckled softly at that, raising a eyebrow at the comment “Didn’t sound like you had trouble saying it sweetheart. But to answer your question, that's me. Oh brother I could feel my face heating up at the comment. This was going to be a long night.

[iwoulddieforher]

Here’s an ask! (For Casey x Alex obviously lol)

You’ve mentioned a couple times Casey tends to be self deprecating. How does Alex support her?

When/how does Alex realize Casey uses the batting cages/gym as an outlet (and takes it too far sometimes)? How does she handle it?

Oh! And while I’m on firsts! How about the first time Alex sees Casey in one of her shirts that say Cabot? (Loved the stealing clothes stuff btw!)

Thank you so much for the ask <333 I LOVE ASKS I LOVE TALKING GRAAHHHHH

This got hella long!!! Warnings for discussion of self harm, self hatred, blah blah blah and also implied sex below.

Have this picture of upset Casey (fittingly for what I ramble borderline incoherently about here) so the reply doesn't seem so short above the divider

It's always difficult for me to write more comforting interactions between the two, because as much as it feels natural to make them comfort each other to a really high degree, I want to keep the characterization provided by the show as closely as possible and thus despite my intrinsic urge to project the way I personally as an author want someone to treat me if I was in the high-stress scenario these two find themselves in, the reality of it is overt comforting probably would not work well on either of them. They're both strong, independent and emotionally resilient women- and the flaws they have oftentimes probably could not be directly addressed or they'd just withdraw and become defensive.

Thus, since Casey slips self-loathing comments into casual conversations, it always comes off more as a wry joke, and that's why other people such an Olivia or Elliot just assume she's poking fun at herself or venting frustration. Alex, too, initially perceives similar, but then she starts registering Casey's 'tells'. The way her hand flexes as though she wants to bite the fingernail on her thumb and has to consciously hold herself back from doing so, the way she refuses to make eye contact with anyone and if she is forcing herself to do so anyway her gaze is very blank because she's not actually looking, the angle of her shoulders and collarbones in relation to her spine- stupidly specific, intricately tiny things in Casey's body language that show, no, she's actually really stressed. When the correlation between these minor actions and Casey's comments jumping to a more frequent pattern emerges, Alex realizes this is actually an issue and although Casey conceals it by jesting she's being dead serious, she does believe she's unworthy of what she has or incapable or whatever else negative Casey believes about herself.

Since noticing it at all used such attention to detail and the actions are so minor they're unexplainable, Alex realizes that if she approached this issue head-on Casey would probably do a wonderful job at gaslighting her into believing she was making up problems, so she doesn't. Instead, she simply begins peppering praise and reassurance throughout daily interactions, enough that Casey realized it had increased but not much that she'd grow suspicious. Little things, like staring at Casey's figure for a little bit extra long so Casey would notice Alex was admiring, making sure to smile down at the legal notes Casey had asked her to review so when Casey studied her face intently while Alex read she'd know Alex was beyond proud of her, or just straight on whispering compliments into Casey's hair when they passed eachother in hallways.

Eventually, she did see Casey's deprecating comments decrease, and instead when Casey was stressed she subconsciously sought out Alex because she knew she'd find gentle praise and reassurance from her when Casey felt as though she was lacking.

I think your second ask is somewhat asking for a continuation of Softball to the Ribs (Kiss it), so I'll just talk about the storyline I would've written had I decided to make a next part (which I won't, all my fics exist solely as one-shots);; Alex finds out because Casey did tell her in the bathroom that it was a softball, she just didn't know the details of how the injury occurred. I think Casey would never tell her, Alex would find out from something like Life360/Find my Phone since it would make sense to me that at some point they start sharing locations due to the nature of their job. Casey vanishes for random hours at a time when she's grappling with heavy caseloads and Alex checks it to find her location as being at the batting cages. The first time she sees it she does nothing, she just makes sure a warm bath is already all set up for her when she comes home and drops by an Apotheke (what the hell is Apotheke in English????? nOt my language) to pick up muscle rub and then pretends she's initiating sex as an excuse to massage it into her. Casey is nonethewiser.

Eventually, though, when Casey has been gone too long or it's happened back to back on multiple days, Alex goes to the batting cages and sort of just sits in the corner with her legal notepad and despite being uncomfortable in the weird sporty setting proceeds to try to work there. Her presence is grounding for Casey and it makes her want to push herself less because she doesn't want Alex to watch her get hurt- and when Alex gets bored of faux scribbling random shit she just starts being the one who controls the batting cage so she can press the button to stop it if she thinks it's going too far.

Self-harm is a very difficult issue and I wrote Casey to be using exercise dependence as a means to do it, and I have a concern with many fics in which a character's romance causes them to suddenly lose interest in what is a destructive coping method, and I think at least in my experience that's unrealistic. Self harm is wildly addictive and Casey is dependant on this to make her feel as though she's coping with stress she otherwise can't, and although Alex would obviously love to step in and pull that feeling out of her, that's just... not how life works, most of the time. If it was something like cutting or burning one self, obviously that's an entirely different story, but where the line between healthy exercise and an overt dependence that leads to self destruction ... that's hard to differentiate at times. What athlete hasn't accidentally gotten injured? The same story could exist in which Casey uses exercise as a healthy method to deal with stress (literally in the show that's what it is.) and the whole thing happened by genuine accident if it wasn't for the fact Casey simultaneously wasn't eating. If her ribs weren't visible in that fic Alex probably wouldn't have known something was seriously wrong. But I wrote Casey as intentionally putting herself in positions in which the risk for it is very high, and not caring for herself after- but how could Alex read Casey's internal dialogue and draw the line somewhere? It's complicated.

Alex focuses, then, on fostering a nurturing, loving environment and accepting every part of Casey as she is.

She can't directly stop Casey from participating in sports but she does ensure Casey eats and sleeps to a healthy degree and if she realizes something like Casey skipping meals more than is normal for people with inconsistent work schedules she'll do something to make sure Casey gets the care she needs.

Eventually, through this environment and Alex's comfort, Casey can build the emotional skill set required to cope with stress adequately - that's the ultimate goal, because even if Alex did somehow twist exercise out of her grasp, there's always the possibility something in their relationship would break and Casey would fall straight back into it. Alex is smart enough to avoid that possibility.

Finally, the first time Alex realized Casey was wearing something of her's was one of the first times the accidental swapping of blazers occurred that I described in the other post. Alex had stopped by Casey's office with food during a lunch break and while they ate Casey extended her arm to reach for something, and Alex realized her name was on the sleeve. Cabot suddenly becomes very bothered and jumps Casey's bones the second they're somewhere more private because holy shit does the idea of Casey being her's and similarly labeled do something for her.

[arookinthelighthouse]

I rise from my tomb once again to yap about Tulin (work was stressful and Tulin is saving my sanity)

So, in terms of Tulin and his parents. He doesn't actually know his birth parents. From what Myrna and Vorgoth have told him from when he turned 18, he knows his parents were both elves, Antivan, and were at some point part of a Dalish clan before they split off to travel alone. He doesn't know their names or what they look like other than a passing comment a senior Watcher made once that he looks a lot like how that Watcher remembered his mother looked.

Vorgoth became the father figure that Tulin looked up to growing up. It was always made clear to him that Vorgoth isn't his dad, nor would they ever want to replace him, but despite that Tulin has always regarded them to be their dad or the closest thing to that. He doesn't really have a mother figure, but he did grow very attached to his Elven tutor from a young age. He has a great relationship with both of them and often writes to them.

Vorgoth has met Lucanis many times. Granted, the vast majority of those times were bc Tulin brought Lucanis along either on quests or to show him the memorial gardens. Tulin hasn't quite plucked up the confidence to ask his Elven tutor if she'd like to meet Lucanis formally bc he knows she's not his mother and she has other students and he doesn't want to make those students feel like he's her favourite. Lucanis has been trying to plan a meal so that he, Tulin, Vorgoth, the Elven tutor, and Caterina can all sit down and meet each other formally but it's been tricky finding a day and time that works for everyone now they're trying to put the world back together again. (Also Lucanis doesn't know ow what Vorgoth eats or if they even eat anything in the first place and it feels inappropriate to ask someone if their state of being stops them from eating)

Heeey Howdy! 🤠 Happy Friday!

How it works: I ask you a question about your Rook(s) and you answer it with as much brevity or verbosity as you desire. You can do this whenever you want, and I’ll reblog it + add some comments! There’s no time limit— if you want to do the older ones, they are collected here! (The post is updated on Fridays!)

1/24/25– I schedule the RIH posts out one per hour between 8:30 am - 10:30 pm MST. I already have posts scheduled out for most of the day today, so your rbs will be a bit delayed! Thank you for your patience !

Today’s Question(s): Does your Rook have parents? If not, surrogate parental figures/mentors? Do they like them? Do they resent them? Are Rook’s parental figures proud of them? Do they talk to them regularly? Have or will they meet your Rook’s LI or the other members of the Veilguard?

Answer as much or as little as you like! Have fun?

[lexosaurus]

If you're only commenting on a fic to ask for an update or worse, to be passive-aggressive about wanting an update, then please do both yourself and the writer a favor and don't comment at all.

Saying things like "Can't wait for the next update!" as part of a comment about how you enjoyed the chapter is one thing, but just going into the comments and being like "Where's the update?" or "You haven't finished writing the next chapter yet?" or something similar is not only rude, but also I ASSURE you it only serves to make the writer anxious about writing at all.

Fic writers are not content creators. We're not robots. We're real people with careers, families, and other irl responsibilities. Writing is something I do in my thirty minutes before I go to bed to wind down from the day. Whatever I want to write that evening is what ends up getting written.

So by making me anxious and putting pressure on me to update a fic, especially in that passive-aggressive way that so many people do, all you've ensured is that when I open up my folder that evening to see what I feel like writing, my eyes will completely skip over that WIP that I got the rude comment on that day because I Feel Bad about it and now I don't want to even look at it.

So please, just follow the golden rule of "if you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all."

[xxplastic-cubexx]

cant stop thinkin bout charles and erik readin together on the couch but instead of reading with him charles is listening to eriks thoughts while he reads. Live mind commentary ……..

[eikichi-supremacy]

If nothing else Koenma is a Kuwabara stan and I'm right there with him o7 (I need to write the kuwameshi fic that goes with this fr)