#I only ask bc I have 3 main story line ideas that I’ve had for over a year

[melancholeemars]

Does anyone have any tips on keeping on track with writing fanfic?

[tennelleflowers]

Rewriting “The Power of Three”-The Sight (text version)

Okay, I said I would attempt to organize a written version of my rewrite here for you guys, so here it goes! I know it’s been a while and I should’ve done this much sooner, but it’s just a lot to organize and go through. A lot of my ideas were written over several different docs before they went into the final script, so this will be an attempt to show you guys what I took down for notes, what I wanted to change/fix/explore, and then what I wrote in the end.

I’m gonna break this up by book because this is already gonna be long. Of course if you just wanna hear all of it, go watch my video: https://youtu.be/D0G_40Q4A_o

I know I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: Feel free to use any of my ideas to write your own fanfic or whatever. I have 0 plans to ever actually write this, so have at it. My video was my way to talk about my frustrations with the arc and where I would’ve liked to see it go instead.

I also want to emphasize that my main goal with these “Rewriting” videos is to try to stay AS CLOSE to canon as I can, while still finding ways to make the books more enjoyable (to me, at least). Which was a huge challenge for this series because, to be frank, not a lot happens, and a lot of the things that do happen don’t add up to much. And that’s a big problem. So I had to invent more exciting scenarios/explanations of events to build to a climax that I felt would still be in the spirit of the original books and lead into Omen of the Stars without much changing. Of course, my version of PoT does end up making some big splashes to the canon by the end of it, but I think overall it is still in line with the general themes the arc presented us.

Let’s get started with some of my original notes when going into this rewrite for ‘The Sight’: 

Rewriting PoT

Goals/Things to keep in mind:

-Keeping the 3 as POV’s for each book. It’s their story, so Jay, Holly, and Lion should get equal development and screen time. Always ask: How does this make x character grow? How does this change their group dynamic? How does x’s growth affect the world around them? If I can’t answer these questions about each of them, I need to think about it more.

-Find a way to tie each story together by the end. Most books will be structured with the three feeling isolated or separated from each other, but the end should find a way to bring them back together: for better or worse. Each book should also feel like a milestone in them becoming more powerful. They need to level up at a consistent rate.

-Moving the plot forward quicker, with Long Shadows/Sunrise happening mid series

-Hollyleaf being “evil” for the second half of the arc, with Sol as the main antagonist

-Make Sol an interesting antagonist, somehow

-What the fuck am I going to do with the Tribe stuff for this arc??? Hhh…I’ve got plans for it in OotS, but I think scrap all but the bare minimum of it in this arc and use it as foreshadowing for OotS.

-Giving all 3 cats more authority so their powers actually come across as scary to outsiders

-Can’t keep this one as canonical as the Rewriting New Prophecy video, bc the problems with PoT are more of a direct result of the slow paced storytelling, verus NP where the main problem was *how* the story was told

-Will still try my best to keep things canonical, but events from Omen of the Stars can be used and shuffled in as well. Since these series are so closely linked, rearranging these events could help build narrative tension.

-Kill Firestar in Long Shadows. It would be much more meaningful here, especially if we build a relationship between him and the Three. Huge power dynamic shift and allows the Three to actually stand a chance at becoming “dangerous prophecy cats”

-No prologues, only epilogues. Making this a series that makes you ask questions at the end. You get a satisfying conclusion in each book, but the epilogue fuels the mystery and tension of anticipation for the next book.

The Sight

What happens canonically:

Jay, Holly, and Lion are apprenticed

Jay wants to be a Warrior but bc of his blindness is forced to be a Medicine Cat

Holly wants to be a Medicine Cat because of the power it gives her, but switches to Warrior when she realizes she’s bad at it

Lion is big dumb lad who wins fights, loves his dad, and hates Breeze

Graystripe comes back with Millie

Cat Olympics

*indicate who is the focal character of the book. Each book focuses on each character, but each book highlights 1 moreso than the others

How could we improve (?) this:

Jay*- Instead of wanting to be a warrior, Jaykit just wants to find a way to be an active member of the clan, because the clan has basically decided to keep him a kit longer than Holly and Lion, with the implication that he’ll be moved to the Elders den eventually and never be given the opportunity to train. Some clan cats (Thornclaw, Spiderleg) resent Jay and say things like “he’s using valuable resources” blah blah blah, but on the other side, Firestar and others say Jay is part of the clan just like any other cat but don’t allow him to do anything. Brightheart stands up for Jaykit and begins training him privately. After a while, Jay realizes he wants to be a medicine cat and Brightheart helps him learn the territory and how to care for herbs so he can prove his worth to Firestar and Leafpool for the job. Jay’s powers are starting to emerge. He can feel the emotions of the clan and how they resent and pity him and this makes him bitter. StarClan, at least, encourages Jaykit to continue pushing to become a Medicine Cat.

Holly- Mostly stays the same. Note that when she is a Medicine Cat apprentice, she feels ostracized from the other TC apprentices, this builds up as time goes on and she gets more frustrated with MC duties.

Lion- Focus more on the apprentice dynamics. The other apprentices are jealous of Lion for picking things up so quickly, and bc he isn’t humble about it. He also trains in the Dark Forest and loves being better than everyone else at fighting, although he feels guilty for talking to Tigerstar and Hawkfrost. He tries to find comfort in Holly and Jay, but both are bitter towards him as well. Holly wants to be better friends with the other apprentices and Jay is bitter about not becoming an apprentice at all. Lion could even be feeling pity towards his brother that Jay calls him out on.

Mid-book Graystripe comes back. (Maybe Graystripe and Millie come back during a normal day, Lion attacks them and expects to be praised for defending the border, but everyone is horrified he hurt Graystripe. This is part one of Lion’s wake up call.) This whole book is about figuring out where you fit in. After seeing the clan struggle with where Graystripe fits back into TC life, Holly and Jay finally get to do their switcheroo and Lion realizes he’s been a bit of a show-off/jerk to the other apprentices and stops that behavior but instead starts to become withdrawn.

End the book in a similar fashion, with the all day Gathering and the climax with Breeze almost dying before Jay and Lion save his ungrateful punk ass.

Epilogue: Firestar gets the Power of Three prophecy

Okay! So those were most of my notes specifically about how I wanted to handle this book and now here’s my actual script for the video:

So, in my rewrite, instead of wanting to be a warrior, Jaykit just wants to find a way to be an active member of the clan, because the clan has basically decided to keep him a kit longer than Holly and Lion, with the implication that he’ll be moved to the Elders den eventually and never even be given the opportunity to train. Hollypaw and Lionpaw get apprenticed while Jaykit stays in the nursery. Some clan cats (like Thornclaw and Spiderleg) resent Jaykit and say things like “he’s using up valuable resources” “He doesn’t contribute anything to ThunderClan”, which is horrible, but on the other side of things, Firestar and his family say that Jaykit is part of the clan just like any other cat but don’t allow him to do anything. 

In the midst of all this, Brightheart stands up for Jaykit and begins training him privately. After a while, Jay realizes he wants to be a medicine cat and Brightheart helps him learn the territory and uses her past Medicine Cat training to show Jaykit how to care for herbs so he can prove his worth to Firestar and Leafpool for the position. From the start of all this, Jaykits powers are starting to emerge. He can feel the emotions of the clan and how they resent and pity him and this makes him bitter and gives him all his angst that we know and love him for. StarClan visits Jaykit one night in his dreams and encourages Jaykit to continue pursuing becoming a Medicine Cat.

Now during all of this, of course, Hollypaw is training with Leafpool. For the time being, this mostly stays the same as the book. With a slight addition that when she is a Medicine Cat apprentice, she feels ostracized from the other ThunderClan apprentices. She doesn’t get their in-jokes and feels like she’s being left behind. This builds up as time goes on and she gets more frustrated with Medicine Cat duties. It’s not bringing her the glory, recognition, or satisfaction she thought it would.

For Lionpaw,  I want to focus more on the apprentice dynamics and give Lionpaw a bit more character development. Reminder: the apprentices around this time are Berrypaw, Hazelpaw, Mousepaw, Cinderpaw, Honeypaw, and Poppypaw. The other apprentices are jealous of Lionpaw for picking things up so quickly. And because Lionpaw isn’t very humble about his prowess either, they pretty quickly start to exclude Lionpaw and call him a show-off. Ashfur also turns out to be a hard mentor to please. (2 guesses as to why. And the second guess doesn’t count.) With no real friends and no Hollypaw or Jaykit to hang around either, he begins training in the Dark Forest. Tigerstar and Hawkfrost feed into Lionpaw’s ego, and in a way, are the closest things to friends that Lionpaw has made so far. As much as Lionpaw loves being better than everyone else at fighting, he does still feel guilty for talking to Tigerstar and Hawkfrost. 

At his lowest point in this book, he tries to talk to Holly and Jay about his problems, but both are bitter towards him as well. Hollypaw wants to be better friends with the other apprentices so she doesn’t understand why Lionpaw can’t just get over himself and be nice, and while Jaykit understands the struggle not getting along with their clanmates, he’s still bitter about not becoming an apprentice at all, and thinks Lionpaw has it easy compared to him. Jaykit’s powers also allow him to read Lionpaw’s emotions, and Jaykit is taken aback. Unlike most of the other ThunderClan cats, who Jaykit mostly feels pity from, Jaykit realizes that Lionpaw doesn’t really have any feelings towards him whatsoever. Only apathy. 

So the kids are all kinda being shitty to each other and going through A TIME.

My changes here are all done in the hopes of really putting our protagonists through some tough character development, but also hopefully foreshadow their roles for the rest of the series. Each character is going through their own problems with self-worth and handling it in different ways. Jay, Lion, and Holly start off as ambitious, but loving siblings to each other but then things quickly become complicated and messy, putting a strain on their relationship as each becomes more burdened with their own problems. They forget to care about each other.

As we get to the back half of the book, Graystripe and Millie arrive. Only this time, instead of showing up during a Gathering, Graystripe and Millie show up during a border patrol Lionpaw is on. Lionpaw is the first to notice the different scent and charges in after the intruders, attacking them without hesitation, just like Tigerstar and Hawkfrost showed him how to do. Lionpaw’s clanmates are horrified he attacked Graystripe, and this begins Lionpaw’s wake-up call that he’s been too brash and big headed. He begins to realize that the other apprentices were right about him and his ego is shattered.

As ThunderClan debates on how Graystripe and Millie are going to fit back into Clan life, this parallels Hollypaw and Jaykit problems as well. Through watching Graystripe reintegrate, Hollypaw realizes that she’d be happier training as a Warrior. And when Millie becomes part of the clan, this gives Jaykit the courage he needs to tell Firestar and Leafpool that he wants to become a Medicine Cat Apprentice and he can prove he’s capable of doing it. After all, if a former kittypet can walk into camp and become a Warrior, why shouldn’t he get a chance? Though he can feel his clanmates doubt and pity him, Jaykit also feels Brightheart’s pride and confidence in him.

Jaykit’s nerves do get the best of him a few times, and he makes a few unfortunate mistakes, but overall does the job. Firestar questions how Jaykit learned all of this, and instead of outing Brightheart, he tells Firestar and Leafpool that a StarClan warrior taught him everything. This half-truth seals the deal and Jaykit finally becomes Jaypaw, Leafpool’s Apprentice.Jaypaw feels strange, unfamiliar emotions from Leafpool and Firestar is also still strangely hesitant towards Jaypaw’s apprenticeship, Jaypaw doesn’t know what to make of these emotions other than assuming that they still don’t believe he can do it. Jaypaw burns with anger and determination but tries not to let it discourage him.

As we reach the climax of this book, the clans still go through with the all day Gathering, but this time Jaypaw, Lionpaw, and Hollypaw are enjoying the Gathering together. Before the Gathering begins the siblings have a heart-to-heart where they each apologize for not being there for each other. For the first time, Jaypaw feels his siblings look at him with pride. He confesses that Brightheart was the one who helped him learn everything. And while Lionpaw has recovered a bit from his shame of attacking Graystripe, he’s still a bit withdrawn, but Hollypaw and Jaypaw are just happy to have gotten an apology from their meat-head brother. 

Another thing to note is that throughout the book, we would still get introduced to Breezepaw and Heatherpaw. Lionpaw in particular has had a few confrontations with Breezepaw. And at the end, Breezepaw still nearly dies until Jaypaw feels his distress through his power and he, Lionpaw, and Hollypaw go save him. 

The clans celebrate Jaypaw, Lionpaw, and Hollypaw heroics and things end on a nice little note about finding where you belong, teamwork, and communication.

Only, now we get the epilogue. Ah ha ha! That’s right. There’s no prologue to this series, only epilogues. Firestar is receiving a dream from StarClan. Instead of any particular StarClan cat visiting Firestar, he can only explore a hostile and dark forest, and the words of a thousand ancestors cry out, “Beware. Three will come, kin of your kin, who hold the power of the stars in their paws.” Firestar wakes up in a cold sweat as he hears commotion outside his den. We, as the readers, now realize that this took place several moons ago as Firestar sees Leafpool and Squirrelflight walk into camp with Jaykit, Hollykit, and Lionkit as newborns and Firestar looks on with uncertainty.  

Okay, that was a lot of set up, and some definite changes, but I’m hoping that all of this will strengthen the narrative and characterization, AND give us some juicy foreshadowing of things to come.

[nerdygaymormon]

uhhhh david have you gotten the liahona yet bc idk how to feel about an article i found in there yesterday. it was pretty comforting and basic, but did use ssa the whole time. BUT the youth one was pretty crappy, it used ssa to the max and gave no real hope, was pretty bland and annoying about oh itll be find just believe and jesus and get hatecrimed <3 i would like to hear your thoughts on it, its the first time ive seen any queer topics in church magazines

Thanks for bringing these to my attention.

"Same-sex attraction" (SSA) is the preferred term of Church leaders. They say it's a way of not making it your identity, that this isn't part of who I am but rather is something I'm dealing with. In other words, people "have" same-sex attraction, not that they "are" gay or lesbian or bi.

There have been a few leaks from behind-the-scenes where the apostles say they use "same-sex attraction" because it's the term that people like least. People like it less that same-gender attraction or gay/lesbian. SSA includes the word "sex" and I guess the idea is it gets people to think of sexual acts and feel queasy.

SSA is the term normally used in Church magazines because they follow the lead of the First Presidency and apostles.

There's 3 items in the Church magazines this month about queer people! That's a lot for one month.

————————————————————

The first is a bishop talking about how to understand and include LGBT people at church. After becoming bishop, 3 sets of parents contacted him distressed that their child is gay or transgender (I note that the parents used "gay." He also mentions contacting someone who 'identifies as gay").

His first recommendation is to follow the living apostles. (which explains why the bishop uses "SSA" even though everyone else around him used "gay"). It's a good idea for a local leader to find what the current leaders are saying because it's changed. He also says to read the Church's websites titled “Same-Sex Attraction” and “Transgender.” He provides two lovely quotes from those pages about diversity at church and being loving to people who are different.

His second recommendation is to not be afraid to talk to people who identify as gay, but instead try to have love for them and then let the Spirit guide you in what to say. We're just people, it shouldn't be scary to talk to us, that shows how different he thinks we are from the other people he interacts with in his ward.

The bishop's third suggestion is to speak to people who are familiar with LGBT "issues," share your testimony, and apologize for hurtful things you say. His list of people to contact for help understanding was a little disheartening because he starts with his stake leaders, ward leaders, other bishops, and so on, actual queer people were the last people on his list.

He continues by saying to pull aside members who are saying homophobic or transphobic things and give them some personal guidance, don't share private information that a member shares with the bishop, and just because someone has these "attractions" doesn't mean they're acting on them, and if they aren't "acting" on them then you can let them have a calling.

I have a few comments about the last few things. If no one corrects the homophobic/transphobic comments in public but instead privately suggests the person do better, every one who heard those comments thinks they stand unchallenged. The atmosphere created by the comments is unchanged. Especially if the bishop was present to hear those words, if they go uncontested then people think this is what is acceptable.

You'd think bishops know not to share private information a member shares with them. I've been around long enough to know that when a bishop is unsure what to do, he starts contacting his network (stake presidency, other bishops) asking for advice. Some bishops are discreet when doing this and others name the individuals.

While it seems basic, I recently had a counselor in a bishopric who didn't think gay people could get a temple recommend, that there's a zero-tolerance policy. That is an attitude that is outdated by a couple of decades, but it shows that people need to learn that simply existing as a gay or trans person doesn't automatically mean we are committing great sins.

I do find it interesting there appears to have been quite a few queer individuals in his ward, at least 4 or 5, and reading between the lines it seems they all stopped attending.

The bishop's heart is in the right place. I get he's following the Church leaders and that limits some of what he can do for queer people in his ward. I think his perspective primarily is of making the parents feel more welcome in the ward and not ostracized for having queer kids.

————————————————————

The second article in the Liahona is written by a person with same-sex attraction and his work to overcome the shame he felt.

It's a much better article than the one written by the bishop. This person shares about the shame they felt at having gay feelings and working with a therapist to overcome that shame. He shares 3 lessons that helped him with this process.

1) God and Jesus love and accept him as he is. This is a message that doesn't often get conveyed to queer members and it's important they know this.

2) The Atonement of Jesus Christ offers healing. At first he was wanting the Atonement to cure him of being gay, but instead it helped him be healed of the shame he felt. I hear so many members who think the Atonement can change us from gay to straight, and that's not true. I'm glad he made this distinction. Our Heavenly Parents don't view being gay or trans as something that needs to be cured. I wish that message was taught more openly in the Church.

3) Build deeper connections and show compassion. Loneliness and feeling like you don't belong at church are two of the most troubling aspects an LGBTQ+ person has to deal with if they are active in the LDS Church. Developing close friendships will help with that. Also, queer people tend to be more compassionate than the average person and I believe it's because of the experiences we had to deal with of living in a heteronormative world that isn't made for us.

He includes a few useful tips at the end on how to engage with queer people.

All in all, a much better story than the one written by the bishop. He shared part of how it feels to be a gay member of this church, the idea that he should be ashamed for who he is, that being gay isn’t a burden, that he doesn't fit in.

I appreciated he said this is part of his layers of identity and at the core of his identity is that we're children of heavenly parents. That's more nuanced than the apostles who reject being gay has anything to do with identity and our only identity should be a child of God.

————————————————————

The final story is from For the Strength of Youth. This piece seems like it's written by a queer person, but it's anonymous and given as general advice to show that people with same-sex attraction belong at church.

This article makes 3 main points. The first is that God loves you. That's true, although accompanying quotes to back up this principle aren't specifically about queer people.

The second point is "you belong." All sorts of people attend church, and God is no respecter of persons. Then they have a quote from Elder L. Whitney Clayton that people with same-sex attraction are welcome to come to church. To me, he's an odd choice to give this message as he led the Church's fight in California on Prop 8 to make gay marriage illegal again. Words aren't enough. Saying I'm welcome is not the same as making a welcoming climate.

The third point is that God will help you. They include a quote from Laura F. who experiences same-sex attraction. She writes about prayer, scripture study, temple and church attendance. However, she also says she doesn't know what her life will look like in 20 years, she seems to be leaving open the possibility her journey with God will lead her to romance and out of the church. I thought that was very honest and important.

————————————————————

I found it noteworthy that nowhere in these 3 articles does it say being alone and celibate is good and what God wants.

I appreciate the idea that we can make our local congregations less homophobic/transphobic. The suggestions from the bishops shows that the bar is pretty low and it doesn't take much to make an improvement from how things are now.

The voices of the two gay members was important, what they shared was useful but nuanced, didn't make commitments to staying in the church long-term or testify that what the church requires is what God wants for them.

Even so, it's clear the publisher is very careful. They use "same-sex attraction" so often, I think readers would be surprised the preferred term of most same-sex attracted people would be gay, bi or lesbian. While they addressed some things, like homophobic/transphobic comments, feeling shame & not fitting in, I think they largely skated past the things that make queer people decide that this church isn't for them.

There's a part of me that says I'm glad we're having this conversation in the Church magazines, but another part that says this is too sanitized and doesn't get at the heart of things. These are very hopeful messages that make it seem that queer people could easily choose to stay in church if a few adjustments were made and if they only understood God loves them, which avoids the "doctrine" that excludes queer people from the highest blessings and joys and makes us essentially second-class citizens in the kingdom of God, at least according to our church.

[goldensstateofgrace]

Dream Of How You (Tasted) - Chapter One -

(So... my first Series!!! I’ll be working on this a lot, and i want you to know it’s not gonna be perfect because I’m not perfect and my writings definitely not perfect, so bare with me on this journey please!! Who’s ready for some Camgirl!y/n??)

A story about Y/N becoming a camgirl because she needs the money but also because she gets off on the praise she gets from total strangers. She enjoys helping other’s get off while doing so herself. When talk about a one on one session with a guy who always watches her streams becomes reality, what happens when she finds out it was her crush/best friend all along?

I hope you guys are excited!! bc I know I am!! Hope you enjoy, happy reading!!

(Also, i picture Harry as long haired harry, but you can picture him however you’d like!!!)

Word count: 1.7k (4 pages) (i promise the other chapters will be longer!)

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Y/n didn’t know college could be so expensive, her job at the coffee shop on campus just wasn’t cutting it anymore. She needed to find something else to help pay for school and her rent. 

She’s in her second year of uni, all the book costs and the rent for having an apartment so close to campus is outrageous. She tried to find a second job to help with the money problem she was currently having, but couldn't find anything that could work around her classes and coffee shop schedule. 

Her best friend, Harry, tried to get her a job alongside him at his job, but again the schedule didn’t work for her and they couldn’t change it. So now, she's stuck trying to find something to do so close when she needs to pay her rent. 

It was outrageous how much the rent was for a one bedroom apartment close to campus, it’s a thousand - some dollars a month just to be close to campus, but that’s including her light and water bill so she can’t complain too much. 

Harry had offered to let her move in with him to cut down the cost, so she could save some money for school. But she declined because her boyfriend at the time didn’t feel comfortable with it, only to find out on their one year anniversary that he had been cheating on her for a while. Asshole. 

Nothing has been said since, but she wished he would. Moving out of her apartment would help so much, but she didn’t want to ask. 

Lost in her thoughts she didn’t even notice Harry walking beside her, as she walked across the courtyard to class. 

“Why so glum” he nudged her in the side with his elbow, startling her out of her thoughts. She slaps in on the arm, chuckling, “Harry! Don’t do that!”

“You didn’t answer the question, What’s wrong? And don’t give me the ‘Nothing im fine!’ thing you do,” he says, mimicking a higher pitched girly voice, chuckling once he was done. 

“Heyy! I don’t sound like that you twat!” you backhand his abdomen making him rub his stomach area as he grimaces in slight pain. 

“But” she starts, “i’ve just been struggling again, i tried looking for a job but, just like last time the schedule didn’t line up with any of my classes or with when i was working at the coffee shop.” she says, huffing in annoyance. 

Harry nods his head as she talks, listening to her, wishing he could help in some way. He tried before, but she turned him down, she didn’t even tell him why. He figured it had something to do with that cheating ex of hers. 

“Y/n, if you need help, all you have to do is ask. I’ll always be her to help you in any way I can,” he tells her, his eyes flickering over her face, showing nothing but seriousness, a drastic change from his happy light hearted self he was just a few minutes ago.

She casts her eyes away from him, focusing her eyes on the pavement under her feet as she walks. She doesn’t say anything for a while, but eventually she looks up at him, tears filling her eyes. 

“I know” she nods, “Thank you, Harry. You don’t have to, but thank you,” she says, the tears in her eyes threatening to spill down her cheek but they don’t get the chance as she wipes them away before they do. 

Harry wraps his arm around her shoulder, pulling her into his side and placing a kiss to her head, “I may not have to, but i want to.” he mumbles into the top of her head. 

Her arm wraps around his middle as they continue to walk to their second class of that morning, “Thank you.” 

--------------

“You know what you should do?” Harry's friend Niall says as y/n, Harry, Niall and y/n’s friend Amy sit around a table in the coffee shop having lunch. Y/n quirks her eyebrow up as she takes a bite of her turkey sandwich, motioning him to go on.

Y/n had just got finished telling them about how she was in search of another job, and about how she needed the money to pay rent soon. 

“You should do only fans, or p*** h**, they make lots of money and that way you get something out of it other than stress and tiredness.” he says, making her almost choke on her sandwich. 

“W-what!”  y/n says just as Harry says “Dude! No!” 

“What’s the big deal? Lots of people do it, and you don’t even have to show your face. You could even go by a different name!” Niall reasons. 

Y/n was shocked by his suggestion, but she wouldn’t lie and say she was put off by the idea. Nobody would know it was her, and he did have a point about her not having to go by her own name. 

She couldn’t believe she was actually considering this but, you have to do what you have to do. 

“yeah uh” she clears her throat, “good suggestion Ni, but i think i’ll just stick with trying to find a job near campus” she says, chuckling as she takes another bite of her sandwich. 

“eh, it was worth a shot,” he laughs, before the conversation steers to assignments everyone had to get done and ones they’ve already done. 

After they all finish eating they sit around talking for a little bit before Y/n and Harry had to head for their last class of the day. 

As they walk to class, Harry’s arm that’s thrown over y/n’s pulls her into his side, “You know Niall was coming from a good place, right. He didn’t mean to offend you or anything,” he says, making you look up at him with your brows furrowed in confusion. 

“yeah , i know. I didn’t take any offence to it, but…” she trailed off, “What?” harry asks, motioning for her to continue as they walk past a group of people blocking the sidewalk. 

“Would it be so bad? I mean he had a point about me not having to show my face or use my actual name” she said, her eyes flicking over his face for some kind of clue into what he thought of it all. 

Harry doesn’t say anything for a while, it’s just as they were about to walk into their class that he pulled her to the side and let their other classmates go in first, “I don’t have a problem with it, it’s your body, you have the right to do whatever you want with it. If you decide that that’s what you want to do to make the money you need i’ll support you 100%, if not i’ll still support you, no matter what,” He tells her, looking into her eyes with nothing but seriousness splayed across his face. 

Y/n nods, standing up on her tiptoes and reaching her arms around his neck, hugging him tightly, “Thank you, Harry. I honestly don’t know what i’d do without you!” she mumbles into his neck as his arms wrap around her waist pulling her impossibly closer to his chest. 

“I don’t either honestly” he laughs, pulling away from her with a huge contagious smile across his face, only making her laugh and smile too. 

“Come on, let's go to class,” he said, throwing his arm back around her shoulder and leading her through the classroom doors. 

----------------

It was later that night, y/n couldn’t sleep. Her thoughts running wild with what could happen if she did decide to become a camgirl, or whatever it was called these days. 

She was laying in bed, trying to find out more about what comes with being a camgirl, what she needed to do and what other people were looking to watch. 

She had found a girl, her page consisting of videos showing off her curves and sexy lingerie, along with videos of her using toys on herself. All of the videos have over thousands of views, y/n decided that she would message the women who went by ‘daddiespet20’. 

Rewrote her message so many times she lost count before she finally found what she wanted to ask and sent the message,“Hey! I’m y/n, i was wondering if you could maybe help me, i’ve been looking into getting into only fans. Could you maybe help me with some questions I have?”

She waited a while for a reply back, along with going down a tiktok rabbit hole, laughing at the stupid tiktoks Harry posted the other day. Her phone finally pinged with a notification, she quickly pulled the notification bar down to see it was a reply from the women she had messaged, “Daddiespet20: Hi! Yes ofc, ask away.”

She honestly wasn’t expecting to get a reply back, thinking the women must have thousands of people messaging her all day every day. 

Y/n quickly wrote out a message of the main questions she wanted answered, “Thank you sm! It’s only a few questions, 1: does the amount you get paid rely on the amount of views you get on each of your videos?, 2: how did you gain your audience, and keep them interested in what you were putting out?, 3: Do you have any tips on where to start (seeing as I'm new to all of this)?”

The woman answers all of y/n’s questions with no problem, along with telling her some tips on how to get started and how to gain followers. The conversion ends after messaging back and forth for almost an hour, y/n’s walking away with all the information she was looking for plus more. 

Talking to her really helped y/n come to the decision that this is what she was going to do, she was going to make videos of her showing off her body and pleasuring herself. Never in a million years did she think she would come to this just so she could keep a roof over her head and stay in school. 

Now all she had to do was buy some sexy lingerie and some toys, well more toys. What? She’s not a prude!

 It was getting late so she decided she would go to bed and figure everything out tomorrow, along with ordering her underwear and the toys online. She definitely didn’t need anyone from school seeing her by that stuff. God, she could just imagine the embarrassment she would feel if that happened. 

---------------

Feed back is highly appreciated!! Hope you enjoyed 🥺🥰

[marvelouspeterparker]

!!! sensuality and serenity (pornstar!tom part two) coming friday june 4th !!!

look below the cut for a detailed update/random thoughts that no one asked for about the fic <3 some mutuals are tagged as well!

firstly i want to say thank you (and sorry) to everyone who's been patiently waiting for the second part to this fic. i was nervous to post the first part because it was a new au and it was kinda out there, at least for this fandom. but the response was overwhelmingly positive and i'm so grateful for that.

but while the response was motivating for some time, it also pushed me to this headspace where part of me felt like i was writing the second part only to please people and not because i wanted to (i did want to write it though, i even proposed it before really having an idea for the second part). i also felt scared because i didn't want to disappoint anyone (that was the main thing). the hype was a lot for the first part and i feel that people were and still are expecting a lot for the second part which i hope (but am not sure) i can live up to. i also found myself worried that the notes wouldn't be as much for the second part and i know that unfortunately that would be a blow to my ego sjkhgdf and make part of me feel like all the effort was for nothing (i know it's not but sometimes intrusive and self-deprecating thoughts happen, you know :/).

writing the second part felt like somewhat of a chore, because of my lack of motivation and it hurt and frustrated me a lot because the more i waited (or rather was unable to write) the more i felt like i was letting people down and disconnecting from the fandom. i had ideas and i knew what i wanted the story to have, but i couldn't write for some reason and while i've had moments of writers block before, it had never been this bad.

it pushed me away from writing for a bit, but after making my anime blog and writing there, i realized i needed a fresh start, new characters, more formats, open space, if you will. i didn't really have an interest to write for tom for a while and i'm not saying goodbye to writing for him completely (this is so dramatic bye) but this feels like the end of an era somehow.

i do think i'll be writing about sebastian more now. i have ideas that i'd like to explore and i hope that even if you don't read for sebastian, you'll give it a shot! i will still be writing for tom but i might delete some drafts that i had for him (sorry if you were waiting for other projects i'd hinted at before, they might not get done). they feel like they're holding me back in a sense, because i was constantly trying to one-up myself and write for others rather than for myself. i want to write things that i'm proud of, things that make me happy, so i won't be forcing myself to write requests or things that i don't truly want to. i want to make this blog my happy place again :)

but anyway bottom line is, i'm finally finished with the fic and i'm scared but happy that it's finally ready to be shared. i hope those that were waiting haven't given up, though i wouldn't blame you if you did lol. this blog will be changing in some ways but sometimes change is a good thing! thank you so so much for all the support. honestly, i am worried that the fic isn't exactly perfect, it feels like it's kind of all over the place but it's the best i could do skjdfhg.

thank you <3 <3

–––

some mutuals just to spread the word bc it feels like i haven't written anything in so long (anything big anyway)

@duskholland @sinisterspidey @kelieah @worldoftom @spideyspeaches @terrifictomholland @tetralea @itsallyscorner @greenorangevioletgrass @rosyparkers

[cestcirque]

Hi, is it okay to ask for a few writing tips?

So I've decided to come back to writing after almost 8 years of not doing it, and of course I thought it was a good idea to get back to it in a format I've never done before, a SMAU 🙄😓

I'm having a hard time trying to get the point of each chapter across through texts. Sometimes it feels like a character messages the other and it feels so unnatural like, I try to explain the context of something (like a characters bg story) and it feels like overexposition.

My main difficulty with this is making sure that the readers get to know and feel what happened outside of the "phone" without necessarily having to write out a scene, because there's a lot of subtly and body language in written scenes that help with the build-up of emotional plot points. Without that, I feel like the climax of my story is a little...lackluster?

Since you two beautiful stories that definitely made me FEEL things without having written parts, I thought of asking you if you ever had this problem and how did you overcame it.

Omg 🥺 yes, always down to give writing tips!!! I’m so touched it’s me you want to ask 💕 I truly think there’s so much you can do in SMAU and I wish more people explored it in depth

I’ll direct this towards SMAU but some of it is just philosophy for prose writers as well! ⤵️

I had trouble at first too, but it’s really just a shift in thinking. Instead of action, the focus is character—SMAU is literally all about how people interact with each other, and in my opinion that gives more opportunity to hone in on some very specific emotions

When it comes down to it, it’s like you’re writing a script. And in order to write a script, throw out that prose mindset. Just throw it out 😝 Body language doesn’t exist here!

Think about the scene you’re trying to write. Obviously first make sure it’s a *necessary* scene to advance plot / develop character. Then consider the following, in this order:

1. Don’t be afraid to let important things happen “offscreen”

First step is to let go of the details, esp when your characters are doing things in person. With SMAU, you don’t need to tell your readers everything! In fact, it’ll be impossible to tell your readers everything. The trick here is simply showing that your characters experienced it nonetheless. But rather than giving a play-by-play after the fact (one of my pet peeves 🙄), consider how the action would have changed the way they speak to each other

Something like… “God, why didn’t one of us bring an umbrella?” “Ugh next time I’ll check the menu before making a reservation.” “Weird that the park closes early on Sundays.” “Was nOT expecting it to be that much to rent a car.”

OR to focus on character… “You know you didn’t have to sneak out this morning.” “No fun, at least come inside next time.” “Not even a goodbye?” “What, missing me already?”

2. Find a good reason for each interaction to be happening in the first place

So you’ve figured out which scenes can happen offscreen… but wait, what if your characters are physically in the same space or there’s an in-person action that’s absolutely crucial to your story? Well, what would cause someone to text about it? Find the reason. My biggest pet peeve in SMAUs is when characters start texting each other while they’re in the same room… they’re only doing that bc the writer didn’t find a good enough reason

I’ll use Step 7 of Aperture as an example. The scene at the bookstore is where I struggled the most in the “no prose” challenge. Yet the solution was so simple once I shifted my thinking: “Akaashi help, I’ve lost you.” “Sorry sorry, I’m on the second floor. Literary fiction.” Two lines of setup. And now they can have their conversation

3. Say as much as possible with as few words as possible

Once you know all your interactions are on solid ground, try to write dialogue that tells you more than just the words. Say things without saying things. This is what I try to do in general, even in prose. Always try to do this. I think over-explaining is the mark of an amateur. Remember you’re not the only one on the court thinking—readers can connect the dots too

Example. My absolute favorite line of The Cardinal Set was in Page 21 when the interviewer asks Atsumu if he lost track of the prompter. He says, “Not at all, forgive me. I don’t believe I could’ve made it through that speech if I wasn’t looking at her.” Not only does that tell you what’s physically happening in the studio, but also exactly how he’s feeling

An easier exercise might be to ask yourself how a character says “I love you” without really saying it. We all say it without saying it sometimes—“get home safe” or “have you eaten yet?” or “I saw this and thought of you.” Shirabu said, “Let’s start over, okay?” Semi said, “I’m literally already getting ready to go out.” Atsumu said, “I will never disclose her name.” Akaashi said, “I’ll be back in a bit with stuff to make you breakfast”

4. Remember a SMAU is not just limited to “social media”

If you’ve gone through the first few steps and there’s still something that you can’t articulate quite right, maybe you can tell the story with a different frame. I mean I spoofed a whole online article, for God’s sake 😅 and that was probably my favorite thing to write

Think about how much you do on your phone! It’s a lot! All the world’s a stage! Back to Step 7 again, I literally added in that Google search screenshot hours before posting it, simply bc I realized I could??? Like it’s amazing how much the visuals on your phone can help tell the story

5. Do things that can only be done in SMAU

Last miscellaneous piece of advice. Seems basic but I think people still forget it bc the format is already so different. Why did you choose SMAU in the first place, and not any other method of storytelling?

Point being SMAU is a completely unique way to write. What really sells it is proving that you couldn’t have told this story any other way. I mean what’s the point if you could just as easily tell the same story in prose? I talk a lot about visuals having equal weight in the plot, but you can do it solely with writing too—in no other medium can you so easily sext the wrong person 🤣 and you can’t even try explaining these alternating conversations in prose

So experiment! Go wild! You can do so much more in SMAU than you think!

[bonkalore]

Buncha questions for you

(Submitting because the ask function won’t let you have multiple lines) >:(

-How many “Giant character X” AUs do you currently have?

-Have you ever considered a “Giant character X” based on Pokemon (esp. one involving Dynamax)?

-You really want Betty Ross back in the MCU (not a minor character/cameo), and there’s nothing wrong with that, but what’s your opinion on Leonard?

(This is his comics equivalent, BTW)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Usually don’t like to answer a bunch of stuff like this, but guess I will. 1) Tbh, I have no idea at this point. I think every fandom I’ve been in and drawn anything for has had a giant character/monster come up, even at least just as a single drawing for fun. And then certain fandoms had… multiple different ones. So, at least 14 main ones off the top of my head that I can remember. 14 and counting lol... 2) Pokemon was one of them, but it actually involved Sycamore, which was before the dynamax stuff. It really felt like something that would appeal to me directly, but I ended up not doing much with it still. Wanted to try, but I’ve been really drained of wanting to make stories for years now and only have had a couple stories of mine appeal to me lately. 3) Tbh, my want was mostly just wanting The Incredible Hulk to be relevant at all again to the MCU, but they just picked at whichever bits they liked to keep (like Ross, or brief video clip), and it was always really disheartening to me bc it’s one of my favorite movies and they’ll never give it any love and replaced that Hulk (and Edward Norton) entirely and keep giving Hulk the short end of the stick in everything in MCU. :( Also the attempted Bruce/Natasha romance was stupid as hell and what pissed me off most bc Betty still exists and was ignored entirely. THAT was mostly why I was upset they didn’t have her again. Human/monster if my favorite dynamic of course, and they managed to make it void of all life and it sucked. Impressive. As for the other dude, uhh, he’s cool I guess. I mostly just remember him coming up in the one animated Avengers show (which was also very good and cancelled too early). He’s not a favorite of mine or anything.

[atelierwriting]

idk if it's just me but as someone who's asian, the amount of "asian wips" by white creators rubs me the wrong way bc while representation is important, a lot of them tend to gravitate towards asian fetishization when it comes to their aesthetics and idk... it just doesn't feel as genuine.

i want to preface it by saying a few things. first: i am asian american, second/third generation, depending on who you ask. second: i am not gatekeeping asian wips. as i said in the conclusion, all i am asking is that you respect the culture, stay away from stereotypes, and don’t use it simply because it would have “interesting/pretty” vibes.

i have a lot of opinions about this, so let’s break it all down.

poc representation is important

fine line of fetishization

the big loud sentence i keep repeating about this issue is that YOU CANNOT PICK AND CHOOSE WHAT YOU LIKE FROM A CULTURE THAT IS NOT YOURS

an explanation about the big loud sentence i keep repeating

conclusion

more under the cut. warning: very long post. (another sidenote: this is all just applicable to writeblr wips, but i might have gotten carried away)

tagging @mitskism!

1. poc representation is important

this is a given. i’m sure you heard of how, when growing up, we couldn’t find people who looked like us in books, shows, and movies. we couldn’t find stories that really resonated with us and touched upon the same struggles we were facing within our own cultures. with all this said and done, poc representation is so incredibly important because media is what helps people understand and shape their identity. media teaches people because of how it proliferates. 

the feeling of finally seeing a character that you can relate to is unlike any other, but imagine that feeling when that is the only character who resembles you in any way. imagine seeing the characters that look like you, behave like you, and identify the same way as you being constantly used as a stepping stone for the main character--who, decidedly, does not look like you or behave like you or identify the same way as you. in fact, that main character looks like every other main character out there. 

that’s not the representation you want. you want stories about people like you. success stories, stories where they’re the ones who achieve their goals and get that happily ever after. but there is so little of that out there that it’s like searching for a needle in a haystack.

so yes, poc representation is important.

of course, poc representation isn’t the only important representation out there. but representation has to be done right. 

2. fine line of fetishization

what is fetishization? i think the anon here says it very well: gravitating towards a certain aesthetic without really acknowledging where it came from or the history that comes from it. all in all, though, fetishization of a culture is taking things at face value from a culture is not yours, without any real understanding of what those things are or if it’s even respectful of you to take.

i wrote a whole paper recently on colonialism, imperialism, and the idea of the white man’s burden and the problems of white saviors. there’s a recurring theme in history that i’ve noticed: taking things from other cultures and turning it into the next great thing, when it wasn’t even theirs to begin with.

but that’s a completely different topic.

the thing about fetishization in writeblr wips--particularly that of asian fetishization, since that’s the topic of the ask--is that it can be hard to pick out. you might get this vaguest feeling that something’s off about the wip, but not have any concrete proof to back it up. so where can the line be drawn? that’s hard to say. the line between giving representation and fetishization is incredibly thin, but i’d say answering the following question is a good point to start.

1. why is this character/setting/etc asian?

if the answer to this question is because it looks good, or because you like the aesthetics, that is fetishization. of course, you have to consider this as well: whether or not you are asian yourself and if you have done the proper research.

subtopic: the fetishization of asian culture

i’m sure you’ve seen this around: things that take on an asian-like aesthetic simply for the thrill of resembling something from an asian culture. it’s the stereotype of submissive asian women and yellow fever. it’s the usage of random asian-sounding character names in wips. i’m not going to delve too deep into this because i have discussion in 20 minutes.

asian culture hasn’t been seen as something “attractive” until recently. even now, people still look down at asian people as the Other, an unidentifiable other race--or maybe an entire other species--that is inferior to the western world. growing up in america, asian kids had to divorce themselves from their culture in order to assimilate. and now, suddenly, the culture that their classmates sneered at is aesthetic. it’s desired. it’s acceptable now.

asian culture is made out to be a hot commodity, and that’s not right. you can’t make an entire culture a commodity. this brings me to my next point.

3. the big loud sentence i keep repeating about this issue is that YOU CANNOT PICK AND CHOOSE WHAT YOU LIKE FROM A CULTURE THAT IS NOT YOURS

YOU CANNOT PICK AND CHOOSE WHAT YOU LIKE FROM A CULTURE THAT IS NOT YOURS.

4. an explanation about the big loud sentence i keep repeating

the culture isn’t yours. it never will be yours before it is ours. and i’m sorry about how heavy that sounds but it’s true. you cannot pick and choose what you want from a culture with such a long history of its own. you cannot put up an image of a rising red sun because it fits the aesthetic of a wip page, along with images of other commonly depicted asian symbols, without acknowledging that the rising red sun has been used as a symbol for japanese imperialism. 

(i’m bringing up this example because of this and also there’s. a lot to unpack in the history of japan and other asian countries)

5. conclusion

what i’m getting at is that you can do asian wips, if you respect the culture, stay away from stereotypes, and don’t use it simply because it would have “interesting/pretty” vibes.

[alethiometry]

Edward Kenway for character asks!

ooooooo okay i should open this with a disclaimer: i have not finished black flag yet (about 2/3 of the way through i think? i need to level up my ship so i can beat the next story mission lol) so everything i'm saying here is based on the game up to thatch's death, and everything we know about edward in ac 3: forsaken and the comics that came out a couple years ago.

First impression

oh boy... to be honest, one of the reasons it took me such a long time to get around to playing black flag (it was one of the first ps4 games i bought when i got my console in 2016, and i didn't start until about a month ago) was because i didn't really feel particularly strongly about edward's character design. i was vaguely interested in That One Pirate Assassin Game after having watched (and loved) black sails, but was afraid i would be let down; to me edward just looked like Some Dude, and i was still hung up on the black sails gang. to me, black sails and its characters were so genre/time period-defining that any other piece of pirate media just seemed lackluster in comparison.

i'd also heard a lot of praise for edward and for ac4 in general so i was aware that it was a very popular and well-received game. but since i mostly heard that from reddit (didn't join tumblr ac fandom until odyssey in 2018) i kind of discounted it, bc gamer reddit tastes are... questionable at best.

Impression now

I LOVE HIM!!! i always think i want stories about virtuous characters who believe in goodness and kindness and aren't motivated by gold or glory but aren't afraid to do what needs to be done to help others who can't help themselves. and sometimes that's true (coughratonhnhake:toncough). other times i end up clowning on myself because i realize that it's so much fun when said good/kind character has a rough and rugged exterior, and is motivated by personal gain (i think edward and kassandra are kinda kindred spirits across time and space in that regard, but maybe that's another rant for another time). sometimes you just want someone to be a little bit of an opportunistic bastard, and boy does edward fit that to a T. he's an incredibly complex man, and i think what really got me was that even as he was impersonating assassins and then templars and then assassins again, all for personal gain (pickpocketing the templars in havana while he gains their trust and agrees to do their dirty work lmfao my beloved <3), his primary motivation for doing so was to prove to caroline and her family that he is someone worth a damn, that he is capable of great things and that he is worthy of their love and acceptance. and i know from ac forsaken that the marriage with caroline doesn't last (though i haven't played ac4 far enough to see if that happens on screen, or if it occurs between the game and the novel) which makes his backstory in the game all the more heartbreaking. but his optimism and perseverance and determination to prove himself are all what make me love him.

so that's edward the romantic. now let's talk about the way edward is with adewale, his crew, and his friends. and let's also put the rest of this behind a readmore bc girl i am RANTINGGGGGG

he has several lines that he says to adewale that make me physically cringe (namely: "many of [these men] wouldn't accept you as captain" or "what was it like being enslaved?" like i get that someone like edward would be asking that question in good faith and genuine curiosity but also JESUS CHRIST UBISOFT). but on the flip side - cringey as those questions are, he also takes the time to actually listen and learn, and i think he genuinely values the perspective that he gets from adewale allowing him to open these lines of trust and communication. there's a patience and mutual respect there that i adore.

i also love how much edward loves his crew and his other pirate friends. those scenes of him + kidd + thatch + adewale + hornigold (lol) drinking on the beach and having a grand old time and talking about establishing - to borrow one of my favorite chills-down-my-spine phrases from black sails - a nation of thieves, for people like them to live and prosper, free from the chokehold of civilization. and i know he's not as outwardly invested in counterculture/independence/anticolonialism as thatch and vane and kidd are, but the fact that he so wholeheartedly supports his friends' goals, lofty and impossible as they are, speaks volumes about his love for his friends.

Favorite moment

every scene he has with kidd when kidd casually and softly reminds him that they see that he is a good person beneath his opportunistic and rambunctious exterior. i especially love when they discover julien du casse's mansion containing orders for templars to go out and hunt down assassins: the way kidd immediately knows that edward wants to help the assassins as a way to make up for the damage he did while masquerading as a templar, even if he hasn't voiced it aloud himself. the way that they don't force edward to admit anything about himself before he is ready, but still constantly remind him that he has a good heart. they give him space to come to terms with his compassionate side in a world/environment that more often than sees compassion as something to be stamped out or cast aside. i don’t love when characters are forced to be the Moral Compass for a main dude character, but i think it works for edward and kidd.

Idea for a story

not an edward story per se, but there are 2 povs into edward's life that i would cut off (someone else's) limbs for:

jenny's pov growing up in the kenway household. from haytham's pov it seems that she knows way more about his past than haytham ever did (it was hinted at that there are rumors about edward’s past as haytham was growing up that he wasn’t privy to, but i don’t think at any point in the novel does haytham ever find out definitively that his father was a pirate) and i want to know how she knew so much, and more into what her life was like - through her eyes rather than haytham, who is like 10 years younger and by his own admission barely understands her and barely has a functional relationship with her. i'll expand further on edward and jenny in the next question/prompt/bullet point, actually, bc i have a LOT more to say.

connor's pov learning about his grandfather from... idk? who's around to tell him? what's so goddamn sad is that by the time connor rebuilds the colonial brotherhood he's kinda the only one left. sure there's aveline down in louisiana, but as far as we know everyone who was around in edward's generation is dead now, and i'm not sure how much of the kenway saga is preserved for connor to discover, or if all this information about their family line was discovered in the modern-day, by your abstergo employee character, and later by osto berg in the comics. which is why i so badly want a revelations-style game where connor traces his assassin heritage back to the caribbean, relives some of edward's memories, and then makes the trip to london to see his aunt jenny. it would have been such a cool way to round out the kenway saga.

Unpopular opinion

idk how popular or unpopular this is bc i rarely see other in-depth posts about it on my dash, but edward was a terrible father to jenny. he was every bit the wonderful and loving father to haytham for the 10 years that haytham had a father, but i wish we'd seen more of jenny's perspective than just a few lines of dialogue in haytham's diary: i hate the way edward sidelined her and raised her in the same manner that any other wealthy person of the time would have raised their daughter - that is, for the sole purpose of sitting pretty and marrying her off in an arrangement that would benefit the family. it's especially hard to reconcile because in ac4 there are female assassins in the americas, and there are female pirates in the caribbean, so it's not like edward isn't aware that women have as much right as any man to live life on their own terms. it just seems like by the time he returns to england and settles down with his family, he's reverted back to the societal norms and gender roles that the pirates fought (and lost) against, and it's hard not to be deeply disappointed by that.

to be clear, i don't begrudge edward settling down and becoming a Rich Society Man. dude deserves to live comfortably with his loving family. he has every right to dote on his wife and children, and leave behind the hardships of being a pirate. but i think "fightning against deeply-ingrained cultural norms/expectations is a long and bloody struggle, and after losing so many people he cared so deeply about, i think it's understandable that edward wouldn't want to continue that fight alone (and also adewale is still fighting the good fight) (do NOT @ me about ac rogue I Pretend I Do Not See It)" and "i don't love the way edward sidelined his daughter into societally-expected gender roles she did not want; it makes me think that he did not continue drinking his Respect Women Juice as much as i thought he did/wanted him to" are two opinions that can coexist.

Favorite relationship

i don't know that i ship edward romantically with anyone, actually. i thought he and caroline were cute in the beginning, but it's hard to want to ship them knowing that she leaves him eventually. and ofc there'd edward/tessa in ac forsaken, and we know they were very happy together and that he loved her so so much. but we don't see that relationship except through haytham's eyes.

as for non-romantic relationships, i already talked at length above about his relationships with adewale and the other pirates and kidd, and i'll just leave it at that. i'm also vaguely aware that edward's got some upcoming scenes with anne bonny, but i'm not at that point in the game yet so i don't have much to say about the two of them. so far i've only seen them say a few lines to each other at the nassau tavern.

Favorite headcanon

kassandra absolutely rubbed shoulders with edward at some point during his time in the caribbean; i like to think that she needed to lie low for some reason (maybe she was with the assassins idk) and joined his crew. i just need my best stabby gal and my second-favorite stabby dude to be pals!

finally, this isn't a headcanon per se but it is obligatory that any time i talk about kenways i yell for a bit about the fact that EDWARD WOULD HAVE LOVED CONNOR SO SO SO MUCH AND I'M FOREVER DEVASTATED THAT HE NEVER GOT TO MEET HIM. at the same time, if edward hadn't been murdered and haytham not been indoctrinated into the templars the way he had, i'm not sure connor would even have existed. and in a way i'm glad that edward wasn't around to see how broken and cynical and depressed haytham became, because i think that would have absolutely broken his heart.

send me a character!

[alister312]

fic updates/concepts

spring break is soon for my job which means I’ve got time to write so:

Just Business will continue to publish as normal, aside from this week where it’ll be updated later than usual due to closing ceremony tomorrow. it’s another chapter with BIG revision so I’ll have another “my thoughts” accompanying the link upload.

the Damstophe fic I’ve been working on is almost done (@saturnpanther has been a wonderful beta for it) so that’ll come out soon, get hype!! it’s gonna have a little bit of nsfw 👀 but it’s mostly tame.

every day Davey Solokov gets less and less relevant and yet I still am working on the Lanskov fic… probably will continue to spend a bit of time on that during the break.

something I know for sure I want to start during the break is a Style fic set in an AU I’ve personally really come to love the concept of! i reached out to the creator of the AU for permission and inspo and I think y’all should be excited for this. so excited that i won’t say anything else lol.

as for other fics… I’ve got a couple ideas floating in my head that I’m considering. wanna lay the groundwork for hype here BUT I’m not promising anything so I’ll put the rest below the cut for those truly curious

first off, i have sitting in my drafts like 15 pages of a story currently titled “Gregory Goes to Therapy” wherein, well, Gregory goes to therapy. it’s set to be a gregstophe story with angst. all i have written is the Big Angst bit and my vague ideas outside of what that is. maybe i’ll do something with that eventually or perhaps those 15 pages will never see the light of day.

secondly, along the lines of gregstophe, i’ve conceptualized gregstophe one shots based off every song on Penelope Scott’s “Public Void” album. i’m thinking about doing that as one whole thing. that might be good writing warm up bc i want to try and practice brevity with those.

and AGAIN, still following this gregstophe train, i have a coregstophe one shot that has been on my mind for a while. what’s coregstophe? why it’s corey lanskin, gregory, and christophe ofc. i imagine their dynamic to be similar to people’s idea of gregstophlovski except corey is more chill than kyle

now, there’s 4 longer projects i currently have vaguely conceptualized that i’d like to get around to at some point. in no particular order:

1) a reboot of my Hell in a Handbasket aka zombie apocalypse AU fic. did you know i actually wrote 7 chapters of it but only ever published 2? crazy. anyways now i know where i actually want it to end!

2) i’ve REALLY been vibing with the idea of youth pastor craig/imp tweek lately and so i came up with an idea for a fic involving them. finally my catholic upbringing might come in handy

3) in one of my old RPs, my RP partner and i had this whole rivalry idea going on with the Tucker mafia vs the Cartman mafia. i forget where it came from but i want to do something with that. currently it’s got some creek/crenny vibes in my head but this one is the most vaguely planned

4) again with old RP stuff, it’s a “medieval” AU! this one would be style focused, being from stan’s POV. i’ve got all the different kingdoms w what noble rank each character is all thought out, as well as the main source of conflict. i know it’ll need good pacing to actually work tho and that is daunting

and that’s everything south park related that i’ve currently got on the mind in terms of fics! PLEASE do not hesitate to ask more about any of them, i would love to bounce ideas off of other people <3

[antiloreolympus]

3 Anti LO Asks

1. (partly from my comment, but I think it's worth sending you it like that as well)

I remember how a while back I saw someone recommending this comic. They were saying it was so romantic and progressive. Then I saw some critique, but I thought because it was fresh, maybe I could read the beginning. I mean, after all, it seemed to have a fan base. After reading the first few pages I had only one question: Who thought it was cute to begin with? I mean, the comic starts horribly filthy and Hades is such a creep. God, this makes me so angry.

Imagine reading this comic and having experience with trauma (the r*pe scene) and such creeps as Hades, it must be painful. Literally the only scene handled decently is when Persephone hides in her thoughts as Apollo does that to her. The story line itself is being used as a plot point which only comes up to make her and Hades closer. It's bullsh*t.

I'm writing myself and therefore I've done research on topics of trauma etc. Persephone wouldn't have went to Hades. She probably would have, if he was her close friend, but they've known each other for a too short time. He's a man and I know a lot of women who started avoiding men after such horrible incidents (which is totally understandable, so don't you think forcing them back into such acquaintances is a good idea). Also, her (and btw, Hades's) trauma is being forgotten about constantly. Back to Hades, we have numerous scenes with the creepy oversexualization of youth, or even teenage youth (Persephone being almost fully naked and wearing revealing clothing she doesn't even chose herself).

This comic was horribly problematic from the beginning, I wish people could have seen it right away.

2. Why IS it called Lore Olympus anyway? Punderworld makes sense, because it's taking place mostly in the Underworld and is more light hearted and fun. HxP Ficlets, I assume, is named such because they're little short bite sized stories dealing with Hades and Persephone. Queen of the Dead, well, that's obviously going to be centered on Persephone as a character. Lore Olympus, though? Lore is defined as, like, the collected information of everything that's known about a fictional world (history, culture, important figures and events etc), right? And Olympus is a location in the comic... but the main bulk of the comic is spent in the Underworld Corp and not much has happened to establish lore aside from snippets like the stuff with Kronos, Ares, Hera, Persephone's rampage (haven't gotten there myself but I know it's coming) and the tour of the Underworld (to which I *will* give some props in them remembering that the River Acheron exists and what happens to souls who can't cross, that's actually accurate IIRC?).

3. maybe that school anon is right, but I do find it suspicious how apparently HxP just happens to have this modern and feminist version of the myth that aligns perfectly with what modern readers what and support and yet no one ever actually says who or where this supposed version is from, they just go quiet as soon as someone (or multiple people) ask to see this proof. Are we to believe that for thousands of years, even predating Hesiod and Homer in the 800s BC, that this version was lost to time until some random tumblr kid found it in the mid 2010s? Because even going through actual published literature, the only times “Persephone went willingly/hades isn’t bad” are published are not from classics academics or Greeks passing down their stories, it was (white) women in America who just wanted to tell a sanitized version of mythology to their daughters and that they just made it up. I wish there was a nice, non-assault having version of the myth too, but it’s disingenuous to claim this perfect version exists and never actually showing the proof. Just because it feels good to imagine if doesn’t mean it actually exists. 

[jensungf]

𝐌𝐘 𝐔𝐍𝐈𝐕𝐄𝐑𝐒𝐄 🌌 𝐡.𝐫𝐣

summary: he was your best friend. you should’ve been happy when he went to go ask that girl whether or not she was his soulmate. so why was the universe pulling at your heartstrings now?

pairing: reader x best friend!huang renjun genre: fluff + soulmate!au word count: 1.6k warnings: none

6:23pm. you rolled your eyes as you read the time. where the hell was he?

your focus drifts to the onyx swirls dotted on your wrist, and you subconsciously trace all the scribbles making up your tattoo. you had been impatiently tapping your foot for what felt like forever, but in actuality, was about ten minutes. maybe i should just leave, you thought ruefully as the digit on your lit-up phone screen changed once again.

you had been through this too many times for you to simply count with your fingers. it was almost like clockwork at this point. despite this only beginning months ago, you knew the cycle. renjun would encounter someone, and would feel compelled to chase them down and ask if they were possibly his soulmate. unfortunately, it always ended in rejection.

you were always the one to comfort him when he returned with the same answer like always— that they had found their soulmate or they didn’t feel any connection at all. despite your annoyance of having to be inconvenienced at random hours of the day and having your quality time with him interrupted, you knew deep down it hurt you just as much as it hurt him.

yet you never once considered the reality that perhaps he would actually find his soulmate one day, and how that mere possibility would change your entire life.

if renjun was seriously going to confront that girl with a simple question of whether or not she was his soulmate, what was taking them so long? surely he would’ve texted you by now if he was successful, knowing you were still waiting for him. or at least let you know he was on his way back.

you winced at the thought that he might be too busy engaging in other endeavors, ones that involved less talking and more touching. you shook your head in an attempt to rid yourself of those thoughts, burying the odd feelings that made your stomach twist and turn. no, that wasn’t the renjun you knew. he wouldn’t be as daring as that despite his growing impatience to find his soulmate. besides, you wanted him to find his soulmate. there was no reason for your heart to twinge at the chance that maybe this time was the right time. you were his best friend. you were supposed to be happy for him, and hope for the best.

you hastily unlocked your phone, typing out a very annoyed albeit passive aggressive text to your heck of a best friend who decided to abandon you in the middle of your weekly dinner date to chase down a girl. you should’ve just left him moments ago, yet your feet stay planted in your spot outside the moomin plushie store.

“stupid renjun,” you muttered under your breath as you realized that the sky was beginning to settle into a hazy cloud of purple and pink. dusk was always your favorite time of day, yet you couldn’t help but feel a bit embittered that renjun wasn’t here with you to enjoy the view with. just when you were about to click send, a shadow casts over your figure and you lift your head.

“hey,” renjun says simply. his hands are shoved deep into his cream-colored denim jacket and he gazes at the sky instead of at you, causing you to stare quizzically at him.

“so....” you cock your head at his silence and wait for him to answer the obvious question. however, he makes no move to look you in the eyes. you hesitate, unsure what to do at your best friend’s abnormal silence.

usually he would be telling you that it wasn’t the right person and he had made a fool out of himself again or something along those lines, but this time, he remained silent. his eyes still avoid yours and you feel panic bubbling up in your chest. why was he acting like this? had something gone wrong?

“can i... try something?” he breaks the silence, asking quietly, almost as if he would break glass if he spoke any louder. he leans in slowly, and you freeze, your breath hitching. your mind screams for you to move away, to question what he was doing and whether he was in his right mind. yet your heart palpitates erratically and you make no move to turn away. his dark brown eyes gaze into yours, and you feel your head spinning.

despite your daze, you somehow feel your head nod ever so slightly, almost out of pure instinct with no control of your own body.

albeit with great reluctance, renjun takes this opportunity daringly. he closes the gap separating you both and gently presses his lips against yours. you melt into his warmth, closing your eyes as your hands subconsciously reach up to pull him in closer by gripping his jacket. his hands raise up to gently cradle your head and his lips feel like velvet, pliant against your own. the kiss is delicate yet firm, all hesitance dissipating as the seconds pass. you both pull away for air, but it felt as if you had just taken a deep breath of air for the very first time in your life.

people had told you about how they felt when they found the one, and you had never understood what they meant about how one person could make them feel just right until that very moment. how complete you had felt. your heart tugs almost as if you had finally crossed the thin line separating you from friends and lovers, something you never knew your heart had been aching for until now. you had always had renjun in your life, but you never knew how much he made you feel whole until this very moment. like he was the last missing puzzle piece that had finally found its place in your life, and nothing more could rival the feeling of this very moment.

he rests his forehead against yours and smiles meekly. your head was still reeling, and renjun moved his hand to gently cup your cheek. your mouth opens ajar, as you wrack your mind for the right words to say. “i… what? injunnie—”

he cuts you off by pressing another soft kiss to your lips. your eyes widen at his impulsive action, taken aback by how uncharacteristic that was. “i know you have a lot of questions, but i couldn’t resist,” he admits as pink dusts his cheek.

he entwines his hand with yours, fitting like two puzzle pieces as he leads you to the park bench. he looks up at the hazy sky once again with admiration before explaining.

“i never understood why it was so difficult to find my soulmate, when my tattoo was one of the more common ones,” he confesses as he glanced down to his moon tattoo. although it was indeed not as uncommon as yours, you had always admired the beauty it held, how beautifully and different it was drawn compared to the generic crescent symbols you had seen before.

it was as if renjun had drawn it with his own hand, with every tiny detail matching precisely with his art, his masterpieces. you look at yours, your wrist adorned with tiny scribbles of planets, stars, and even the sun scattered around all in one area.

suddenly it dawns on you. the space separating the sun and planets and stars is no longer empty, instead replaced with a replica of a moon. 

renjun’s moon.

“ever since we reunited with each other, i’ve been feeling more and more desperate to find them because i couldn’t help but feel something towards you, and i couldn’t live knowing you weren’t mine. at least— not until now.”

renjun is absolutely glowing when you look up at him.

“i guess you’re my universe, y/n,” he scoffs with a smile. his eyes meet yours, but despite the firmness in his voice, his telltale signs of embarrassment say otherwise.

and you believe him, because when he smiles at you, it’s as if you were the one who put the sun and moon and stars in the sky, as if you were the center of his galaxy. as if you were his universe.

“i never realized how much i needed you, until i saw that girl. she told me that she was the sun to someone else’s galaxy, and that’s when i realized that i had been trying to push away the pull towards someone who was always beside me for too long. somehow who should’ve been with me all along.”

you both locked eyes before bursting into laughter at his cringeworthy yet heartwarming confession. “when did you become such a cheeseball?” you snort. he locks you in a loving chokehold and your heart nearly skips a beat.

“we both wasted our time, didn’t we?” you remark with a carefree smile. all the worries, the gut feeling that made your head spin, the questions of why you couldn’t feel happy when it came to not having him, disappears within a simple kiss. the puzzle was done. the masterpiece was completed, but what was funny was the mere fact that you had no idea anything was even missing in the first place. you looked down at his wrist, now full with doodles of your galaxy. it glowed just like yours.

“we can make up for lost time.”

you nod and bask in his presence, gazing up at the stars scattered across and the luminescent moon peeking out against the darkness of twilight sky.

soulmates were an odd thing— to simply leave it up to a mere tattoo to connect you both when you had been connected since the very beginning. but you couldn’t have asked for anything more, when fate had already decided that you were his universe, and he was your moon.

you completed each other.

author’s note: i wrote this for @yongiefilms to thank her for being such a good friend and also bc i needed an excuse to post smth while i work on my main wip! i seem to have a curse where i cant write blurbs cus they end up turning into drabbles. oops? also i spent wayy more time on the header than the actual story lol ANYWAYS yay to my first renjun fic <3

[commanderfloppy]

17-19, 30, 36 from the GW2 asks, maybe?

[ @thoseofuswhoblossom ]

Thanks for the ask! <3

These are going to have kind of long answers because I am very bad at saying just one simple thing.

17. Whats your best guild wars experience?

There’s a lot of one’s I’ve really liked, of course the original experience of playing the beta is always fresh in my mind, any time I've done the human starter story I always get memories of that.

Tyria pride was super fun and I had a great time so that was a nice experience.

One that kind of gave me more inspiration to get a commander tag was when I went out to do Triple Trouble (I was unfamiliar with it at the time bc I hadn’t played in a while) and there was this super nice commander that was giving us a complete guide on the boss. I think it actually happened twice, I strive to be that commander.

Also not my experience, but once my sister was doing a jumping puzzle on a new character (she does this puzzle on the regular) but messed up on one of the jumps, and this high level player came over and guided her through it.

18. Do you have a favourite character from the lore?

This is a hard one, so many characters are good. I of course love my boy Tybalt, and I think Rox is a bit under appreciated/not in the story much but a very interesting character….

I am quite a bit of a sucker for Taimi though, not only is she really cute and sassy but I also feel like a lot of people forget how much she’s done in the story and how much she’s been through. Like yeah she hasn’t been in the front lines that much, because she has a disability and her mobility device (essentially) has been destroyed multiple times. But she’s almost always in there in her lab, speaking in our ears, helping out. You also get to kind of watch her grow up in the story (like the other younger characters but I think it is more impactful since she goes from being an actual child to a young adult), which just attaches me more.

19. Is there a class you like the idea of but the gameplay doesn’t match up for you?

God, so many of them. It takes a while for me to actually become comfortable with a class or be able to do gameplay with them easily. Which is why I’m almost always playing on Floppy with my same chrono build (which is honestly not that good).

I will say though, I’ve tried making a revenant multiple times and It just never really clicked for me? Revenants seem really cool lore wise but they just haven’t worked yet..

30. Are you obsessed with in-game fashion?

I’m probably not obsessed but I do love giving my characters cool new outfits. When a character gets to 80 or needs a new outfit I’ll actually go to the bank and look through everything in the wardrobe to see what works for them.

That being said, I am a total hoarder when it comes to transmutation charges and rarely change outfits once I make them. Floppy has had the same basic main outfit for...honestly since she got to 80 originally..

36. What type of player are you? Hardcore, Casual, Semi-hardcore, Barely online.

I’m not really sure where I’d fit, probably a dedicated casual player? Or something? I’ve been playing this game for a while now, but I’m not a really good or accomplished player? I haven’t completed many achievements, am only just now working on my first legendary. I have a commander tag, but not much experience with it. And despite pretty consistent playing (at least for the past year) I am still very much bad at this game.

[catnippackets]

have you seen/would u recommend pacific rim 2? ive heard some things about newt and idk lol

I feel like Im in the minority that actually did think pru was fun but that being said it ended SO abruptly and with like three separate plotlines completely abandoned that I was really frustrated for days after watching it until I had processed everything and had time to think deeply about it lol it just seemed rly unfinished?? it feels like it was deliberately made as 1/2 of two sequels and there needs to be one more to tie everything up. actually I’m gonna ramble abt this bc I have a lot of thoughts (obvs spoilers under the cut)

the thing about the second one was that I genuinely was enjoying it right up until it ended because I swear to god the moment the end screen went up I yelled "what the fuck, that's it?" out loud into my bedroom bc I was so SHOCKED that THAT'S how it all ended, because it just seemed so incomplete?? Like it seemed like one half of a story, that will only be made whole if there's a third one to tie up all the plotlines that they didn't go through with in the second and if that's the case then I will be completely fine with it but if it doesn't or if they dont have a third one at all I will stay so frustrated lol. one silver lining to this is that the vibe of this movie was so different from the first that it almost feels easy to separate it and just imagine it as an AU if you prefer which is sort of nice; usually if a piece of media I like does something bad I feel all gutted and anxious and terrible that this is the canon I have to accept, but something abt this movie just made it feel like it was sort of a totally separate deal. maybe cuz only 3 of the original characters were in it idk

to start off: I felt like there were a couple of plotlines in it that were just sort of introduced and then never seen through which was very ????? Amara & Vik's weird hate-rivalry thing was one of them; Vik instantly has it out for Amara bc she’s jealous, which is a very interesting concept, and then this prompts Amara to become hostile right back at her, which is also a very interesting concept, and then it never got resolved at all? like they couldve done something really cool with those two but it just never went anywhere. and then there was sort of a weird love triangle thing happening between Jake and Nate and Jules that felt so weird bc it had no significance to the plot at all and it felt like it was only thrown in there for the sake of having ~romantic drama~ idk maybe I wasnt paying too much attention and there was more to it than that but it really just seemed like they wanted to put romance in there and didnt want to bother to put any work into it

BUT the thing about romantic sub plots is that THERE ALREADY WAAAAS OOOOOOOOONE which brings me to the biggest frustration I have w this movie because--and DISCLAIMER, this was also my favourite plot point of the movie bc it was by far the most interesting, the biggest reason for me enjoying the movie at all, and the bit I feel like should have had WAY more attention--Newt and Hermann were like legitimately in love in this movie I swear to god I was watching it and thinking “this is GENUINELY the most blatantly gay thing I’ve ever seen in a feature film and I know that straight ppl are very talented at writing gay romances completely by accident so it’s possible that they just accidentally did it this way but also it is REALLY goddamn obvious oh my gooood?” (and then I did a lot of frantic googling and found out that I was right and Charlie Day & Burn Gorman knew what the fuck they were doing and I felt so validated lol), and yet despite this, the movie had them speak for the last time almost at the halfway point of the film and then spend the entire second half apart and not talking at all and even at the post-credits scene where Jake and Newt talked for a bit Hermann wasn't there?? not even behind Jake to give Newt any searching glances?? Nothing??

dude...Newt being possessed by the precursors is a HUGELY interesting concept that actually makes sense and I wish it had had more attention. I’ve seen a lot of ppl say that pru butchered Newt’s character and I don’t 100% agree bc like...being possessed will change you lmao so while yes I’m obviously sad that he wasn’t himself, I feel like it made sense that he had a slight personality change, because it...wasn’t him anymore. we don’t really see the Newt we all fell in love with in the first movie. we THINK we’re seeing him, but halfway through we find out we’re wrong.

my critiques with that plotline are basically that I wish the reveal had happened a little bit later on, and I wish that it had been a little more obvious I guess?? like, we definitely get hints of it (when Hermann excitedly asks Newt to help him with a dangerous unorthodox project and Newt says “dude why are you doing something so risky when we’ve already got a good plan in motion? just wait for that to be done, it’s fine” and Hermann IS us, he IS the audience when he reacts, because this is a completely insane thing for Newt to say. Newt, who, in the first movie, was so obsessed with finding knowledge that he went behind the marshall’s back to literally risk his life doing something incredibly dangerous just to see what would happen? being given the opportunity to do the same kind of dangerous frivolous act and refusing? this is blatantly out of character, and Hermann is all of us when he’s shocked, “what, you mean you...won’t help me??” which means it wasn’t bad writing on their part, it was purposefully supposed to stand out as something that was wrong and something that we needed to pay attention to. that was a really good scene to hint that something was Not Right with Newt), and I wish there had been a bunch more like it. I think the reveal should have been saved for the end of the second act; I think that should have been the moment that act 2 of a story usually has, that dreadful event that happens that leaves the main characters feeling completely hopeless and unsure what to do.

I also wish that he had managed to break through more than That One Scene, I think it would’ve been more dramatic if he’d had a few moments where he managed to take control for a second to remind us that he’s still in there and still fighting, and I’m sad they didn’t do that. I saw a fan comic that touched on this idea and I think it’s brilliant, even the idea of him suddenly getting a nosebleed and acting distracted to show that that’s the Real Him trying to fight through would have been sooooooooo good.

I also feel like it didn’t make any sense for Nate to be the one to subdue him in the end, I dont even think those two interact at all so like, why was it him?? it would have been so much more dramatic and heartbreaking if Hermann had been the one to confront him so they could’ve had a little conversation on the roof where Newt could once again break through for a second before getting taken over and then Hermann could like idk have a taser hidden behind him that he uses to subdue him and THAT wouldve been a way sadder and more interesting way to do it. I also think Hermann shouldve been the one to speak to him in the post credits scene, or to have him in the background behind Jake just watching him sadly so we can get a couple shots of intense eye contact like UGH I just wish there had been more interaction between the two of them after the reveal happened!! When the movie was over and I realized they never spoke again I felt so upset!!! they're soulmates!! they're literally in love!! this has been CONFIRMED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

and segueing in from the soulmate thing, another thing that made me sad was that nobody came in pairs anymore :( aside from Newt and Hermann, they were the only ones gjdfk but in the first one every character had another character that they were paired up with, both for drifting reasons and just for plot reasons (except Chau and Tendo but I’m pretty sure there's actually significance to that too), and in the second one it just sort of felt like everyone was drifting with each other with no strong connection needed and that made it feel way less special. granted, the movie takes place ten years after the first one so in that time maybe technology advanced to the point where you didn't need a strong neural connection to drift anymore, but for the sake of the story it would have been way better if they'd kept the whole soulmates concept from the first one, it made it way stronger and more special

so yeah in conclusion I did think pru was enjoyable and I probably would watch it again some time but also it definitely pales in comparison to the first one and I’m desperately hoping we get one more so they can tie everything together and FIX THINGS KFGH it’s not too late!!!!! I wish I could write Pacific Rim 3 I genuinely think I would do a good job I love storytelling and I’m very passionate about these characters!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[asterekmess]

1-11 Scott/Posey Stans always try to deflect criticism of the way Scott McCall is written in Teen Wolf by claiming that ANY attempt by a fan, a viewer, or a critic of holding Scott to a level of behavior that one would expect of a character who is a main and the self-proclaimed hero of the show is “racism”. Except that their accusations don’t make any sense whatsoever, because Scott’s canonical shitty actions and behavior don’t stem from his race (or canonical lack of thereof.)

Okay hun, this is a doozy, so I’m putting it under a Read More.

2-11 Scott McCall is mean. He’s mean to Stiles, he’s mean to Allison, he’s mean to Derek, he’s mean to Peter, he’s mean to Cora, he’s mean to Lydia, he’s mean to Jackson, he’s mean to Erica, he’s mean to Isaac, he’s mean to Malia, he’s mean to Malia, he’s mean to Kira, he’s mean to Liam, he’s mean to Chris, and he’s even mean to Theo (“You are barely even human!”) Scott McCall is deliberately rude to the Hales, Boyd, Ethan, Danny, Hayden, Jiang, Tierney, and Melissa.

3-11 Scott McCall deliberately USES, INSULTS, HUMILIATES and DEHUMANIZES people in ways that demonstrate that he is fully aware of what he’s doing. Scott McCall deliberately disregards other people’s needs in order to fulfill his own. Tyler Posey being half Mexican doesn’t change the fact that his fictional character Scott McCall is a whiny coward and an abusive piece of trash,

4-11 and that his so called ‘defense squad’ enjoys the power fantasy that Scott can be cruel, can lie, can assault, can lash out, can violate other people’s boundaries, bodily autonomy and consent, can commit premeditated murder, can break the law without impunity, can dehumanize, can gaslight and victim blame his friends to his heart’s content and no one should ever hold it against him

5-11 In both the production and in some Scott supremacist fanfics, there’s often the premise that people are evil and in the wrong if they call Scott out on his bullshit or hold his toxic behavior against him. Take Season 1. As much as the Scott McCall defense squad brigade love framing Stiles and Derek getting shit done and prioritizing people’s life over Scott’s jealous fits and temper tantrums as the height of depravity

6-11 Scott/Posey Stans consciously and steadfastly ignore all the cruel things that Scott says and does throughout the seasons, such as “How much Adderall have you had today?” OR “What are you trying to do?! I just made first line! I got a date with a girl who I can't believe wants to go out with me and everything in my life is perfect! Why are you trying to ruin it?!” OR “The hunters had a reason to slaughter your entire family and pack”

7-11 (As an aside, it’s amazing to me how Fanon rewrites Scott as this brilliant thinker and strategist and mastermind who is so much smarter and better than everyone else in every way even though Canon Scott spends the entirety of Teen Wolf doing absolutely nothing except get his ass handed to him by everyone, whining about wanting to be popular/get his dick wet/play lacrosse, screaming at his friends and girlfriends, being utterly useless when left to his own devices,

8-11 and planning to bite Stiles against his will because he doesn’t know what to do. But I digress.) Or take Season 5. In the rain argument in Lies of Omission (5x09), Scott McCall’s hypocritical, dehumanizing speech to Stiles is one of the meanest, cruelest, most disgusting manipulations I have ever seen a television character deliver to another television character they supposedly cared about. It’s victim blaming and gaslighting at its vilest.

9-11 And, of course, the Scott McCall defense squad focuses exclusively on the idea that Stiles didn’t behave “the right way” in that scene (AKA taking Scott’s bullshit without clapping back like Scott wanted and demanded), and cannot entertain for one moment the idea that Scott provoked that response by dehumanizing Stiles and by accusing Stiles of being a violent, dangerous, inhuman monster and serial killer based on Theo’s words alone.

10-11 After all, it’s part of their power fantasy. Scott being “abandoned” and “mistreated” by his “ungrateful” friends serves another type of fantasy: the poor oppressed martyr. It doesn’t matter why Scott is abandoned or who is leaving Scott, it’s all about Scott McCall’s right to own people and demand his friends’ love, friendship, loyalty, sympathy, forgiveness, obedience and devotion without having to account for his own abusive behavior.

11-11 And that’s Scott Stans’ point: Only Scott McCall Is Important and Damn Derek/Stiles/Liam/Other Teen Wolf character for having a life and motivations that don’t revolve around Scott! To them (and to Canon Scott), the pack exists not to serve all its members, but to serve and validate Scott McWhinyCall. Because, after all, that’s what antis want for themselves – validation in the face of shortcomings and bad behavior.

Wow, that was a lot of anger. Do you feel any better after venting that? I really hope so, it honestly looks p cathartic. Okay, I apologize in advance if I don’t come across as quite so passionate, I’m kinda bleh today and I already used up all my righteous fury in an earlier post, so I’ll do my best.

I honestly understand the worry about people disliking Scott as having racist motivations. As I said in another post, there aren’t a lot of Latino (wait, I read somewhere to use latine? Should I use that instead? I’ll use that, someone correct me if I’m wrong. The thing also said latinx was not great bc of pronunciation issues? I’m not educated enough on this. Halp, please.) Latine protagonist characters in popular television, especially for teen dramas like Teen Wolf. Intentional or not, written into the show or not, Scott is half-latine. His mother is a latine woman. We don’t see them speak spanish or take part in any specific cultural traditions, but that doesn’t make him white. Yes, his character was written for a white guy, but Tyler Posey is the one who got the part and we can’t strip him of his heritage just because the show originally meant for Scott to be white. My husband is almost always mistaken for white, even though he’s also half-latine, but that doesn’t make him any less latine. There’s little enough representation as it is, and if we start being picky about whether characters were ‘intended’ or ‘written’ as POC, everything will just fall to shit. Plus, as a white person, I have literally no rights to decide that Scott’s white. I’m cool with that. Would prefer to just stay in my lane, if I’m honest. With Scott established as being a POC, it’s totally reasonable for other POC and fans of Scott to be worried that those of us who don’t like him have that opinion because of either passive or active racism. There are a lot of occasions where Protags of Color were either liked less, or actively disliked for just being ‘not white.’ It also doesn’t help that Scott is one of very few “good” Characters of Color in TW (whether we agree or not, he is presented as a ‘good guy’). We have Boyd, who dies in 3A and doesn’t get much character developement in the meantime, and Kira, who sticks around for a while, then has to leave because of ‘losing control’ which is apparently a very common stereotype for POC, especially within Fantasy or Supernatural settings. Other than them, the other POC are either bad guys or just morally dubious. I’m not sure where Deaton falls on the scale either. I understand it being frustrating to some people for us to take one of the few “good’ characters and see him/describe him as a villain. It’s important for white people, and honestly, anyone not latine (because even POC can be racist against people who aren’t their race) to be self-aware and analyze the various reasons why we dislike Scott and make sure that we aren’t accidentally being passively racist. Just because we’re sure we aren’t, doesn’t mean we shouldn’t double check. And if we find we are, then it’s up to us to correct that mindset and educate ourselves. There is no shame in learning that you have not great habits or mindsets and working to fix them. That’s how growth works. It’s equally important that when we’re writing fic, we watch how we portray him and the other POC in the show. I’m not saying we can’t write Scott bashing fic. Fuck knows that I’ve written plenty of Bad Friend Scott McCall fic, and I don’t intend to stop. But we still need to be self-critical and make sure that we’re not writing Scott (or the others, please assume from here on out I’m saying Scott and the others) into racist stereotypes. We shouldn’t reduce him to just a “Yes” man, or make him constantly submissive, or constantly vicious and angry and mean for no reason. It’s one thing to write him as doing something bad or cruel and making it realistic for the story. It’s quite another to have him just randomly pop in to say “fuck you” and hit someone (I’m not referencing something specific here, I’m just saying dumb stuff). Honestly, I don’t know enough about this and I’m not really entitled to go into too much more detail. Instead, I’d recommend that even if you don’t think you’re hating Scott for racist reasons, still read This Post about racism in fandom/fanfic. When I read it, it was both reassuring and intimidating. I have anxiety, so I’m usually worried about doing things for ‘the wrong reason’ even when that’s not actually my reason for doing the thing. Reading this gave me a clearer view of my own thoughts, and it honestly made me feel a little more comfortable with my own mentality because it gave me a structure to think about and consider when I’m worried that I’m doing something racist. It’s worth the read. I’d also like to reiterate the suggestion on that post, to check out the blog Writing with Color, which is a great resource for writing Characters of Color. It doesn’t have as many resources for fanfiction writing and the grey area involved in writing characters that your reader already knows, but their ask box is closed at the moment, so maybe when it opens again someone’ll send in an ask about it (If I actually remember to, I’ll do it myself, but that’s unlikely, so if one of you feels so inspired, please do so and help a fic writer out!)

Now. I cannot speak for every single fan of TW who is anti-Scott in some way. Obviously not. But, I can speak for myself and for the experiences I’ve had within the fandom. My issues with Scott are many and complex and a lot of it is intrinsically connected to issues with the writing of the show in general and with the creators and the calls they made. In all the conversations that I’ve had with other fans, I’ve never seen anyone list Scott’s race as a problem. I’ve never seen anyone talk about how they wished he were more submissive or more obedient. Maybe that he would listen to actual adults once in a while, but not that he be unreasonably obedient of white characters. I’m not all-knowing on the subject of racist stereotypes, but nearly every complaint I’ve seen was based on details from the show and specific moments and dialogue, not just a general disgust with his existence. Furthermore, for all the anger I see directed at those of us that prefer Stiles, Derek, or even Peter, I’ve also never talked to anyone who liked those characters who wasn’t willing to admit that there were plenty of points in canon where they fucked up or did something wrong. Again, I don’t know everyone in fandom, so maybe there are people who won’t admit those things, but they aren’t in the majority.

I personally hate the way I see Scott treat people in the show. I hate the really vicious things he says and does and the chronic lack of self-awareness or growth. Even worse, the way the show excuses his behavior, be it intentional or not, has soured a lot of other parts of the show. The clearly impulsive moments that could easily be excused by him being a really stressed out teenager make me a lot more frustrated than they would, had I not known that he would never get better. That he would never stop saying things like that. I can’t even make myself enjoy the genuinely sweet moments with him and Allison or him and his mom, etc. I might hate that he left Stiles’ messages unanswered and skipped an entire day of school during a crisis to hang out with Allison, but I would’ve liked to enjoy their banter, the soft moments between them that are actually really nice. I can’t though, because so many other things about his character have ruined that for me.

It isn’t okay to attack people for disliking a character and throw around such charged words like “racist” and “abuse-apologist” or anything else. First off, this is fiction, and we all need to keep that in mind. These are not real people we’re talking about. Secondly, calling someone racist because they disagree with you (unless they are actively saying/doing something actually racist) isn’t okay and it isn’t an adult way to deal with things. Someone not liking a character doesn’t automatically make them racist. Someone happening to prefer a white character over a Character of Color doesn’t automatically make them racist. Sure, they might have passively racist motivations that even they don’t realize. But it is not up to strangers to come yell and call names without proof. There are plenty of reasons that have nothing to do with race (Not saying “i don’t see race.” I’m saying “Not About Race”) that I like Stiles over Scott, ranging from the fact that he’s physically more my type, to sharing a neurological condition with him, to just preferring Dylan O’Brien as an actor because he makes me fucking cry every time he cries on screen. What’s important is that we self analyze and check ourselves and our opinions to make sure that we aren’t falling into the racist habit of disliking Characters of Color for no real reason. But that isn’t something that other people can do for us, and it’s not their place to tell us what we think. Calling a stranger racist for saying they hate Scott’s behavior in the show doesn’t do anything for racial equality. It just makes people stop listening to the word ‘racist.’

There are times I seriously get frustrated with TW to the point of considering not watching anymore. Of closing my blog and stopping reading fanfic entirely because every single time I read a fic where Scott’s a ‘good guy’ or a ‘good alpha’ or where Derek is glad to be a beta again because he likes following Alpha Scott, I get squicked so badly I have to click out and just sit there for a second to settle. I can’t disentangle the things he does/says in the show from the fic.And I’ve written Good Friend Scott McCall fics. I have multiple wips where he’s either a decent person or he grows from being a dick to being a decent person. With my own work, I know that there’s an awareness to his behavior in the show and an active intent to rewrite/fix his behavior so that he is a nice person. With other people’s works, I don’t have a guarantee (unless it’s mentioned in tags or author’s notes, and I don’t expect people to have to explain themselves that way), and it personally makes me uncomfortable to read something when I don’t know if the writer actually sees Scott that way. It’s a personal preference, and one that I stick to pretty strictly.

Scott brings me no joy, and with him as the main character, I’ve come perilously close to cutting myself off from the most welcoming, loving fandom I’ve ever been a part of (except the Merlin fandom, but I don’t blame anyone who can’t compete with them. They’re fucking magical.). But I’m still here. I still love, if not the reality of the show, then all the potential I see in it when I watch. I love watching Derek and Stiles interact with each other and with the other side characters. I love seeing the glimpses of Boyd that we get, the tiny scenes of Erica, the snarky moments with Isaac. I even like Kira, though I haven’t seen a whole lot of the show where she’s in it/genuinely can’t remember it (I can’t even remember how far I’ve seen total, but I don’t think it was past S4, and I haven’t seen past S2 in months and months) and she spends most of her scenes with Scott, which just....kind of ruins the scenes for me.

That’s the glory of fandom though, of media in general. I don’t have to like Scott. I can love Derek and Stiles instead and I can choose not to read fics where Scott is a major player or an Alpha at all. I can read fics where Kira’s part of the pack without Scott ever getting involved, and see her interact with everyone else. Or fics where Boyd never dies and watch him bake or read or play lacrosse with the pack. I can curate my own experience, whether that means blocking tags or users or filtering fics, or just straight up skipping certain scenes/episodes of the show itself. I cope with my frustrations by coming on this blog and ranting about it. Yeah, this is a public space, but it’s also a space people choose to view. If they don’t like my opinions, they can block me or unfollow me or all of the above. They don’t have to read it, just like I don’t have to read any of their pro-scott stuff. I also read fic that does explore how Scott’s behavior is problematic and cruel sometimes. Fic that either erases him or turns him into the villain, I find fun and interesting and the relationship between him and Stiles cracking into pieces is something I find extremely cathartic, so I read it pretty much every chance I get (though, i’m so picky about fics I read, you’ve no idea). I also write fic. I write the most mushy, self-indulgent sterek fic and Stiles-centric fic and and Scott bashing fic that I can possibly write. It’s a joy and a therapy all its own. Fuck, I’m rewriting the entirety of canon for fuck’s sake and I’ve made so many changes that at this point I honestly have issues remembering what happens in the show, bc I rewrote the damn thing.

At the same time, Scott fans are gonna write their power fantasies. They’re gonna write anti-Stiles stuff and anti-Derek stuff, and whatever else tickles their fancy. They’re gonna make their own rant posts and gifsets. And to be quite honest, I don’t give a single flying fuck. I already have those tags filtered out on Ao3. I don’t follow any pro-scott tumblrs. That shit doesn’t show up for me most of the time, unless it’s not tagged properly, and even then I just click out, take a second, and move on.

No one is required to like or dislike specific characters, and it’s unfair of anyone to tell us otherwise. Fandom is built on choice. The choice to disagree with canon, or to re-envision it altogether, or to love it entirely. No one can take that away from you. So long as you aren’t hurting anybody, just keep doing you, friend. I’m here for you to vent to when it gets to be too much.

<3

[icharchivist]

first: WAHHHHHHHHH 😭😭😭 I got so emotional!!! so emotional!!!! so much that I can’t even do this first second pattern bc I have SO MANY thoughts!!!!!!! I’m writing this in my notes instead of straight into the askbox so u know it’s serious business™

ok so debut night!!! I was like ahah yeah it’s a tragedy whatever it’ll be fun to start out with and then the voice acting was SO good that it knocked me out of the park and I almost cried haha. it’s crazy how good the voice acting in a3 is like I love how the dialogue and voice acting works well together bc like it’s limited but so effective!! u can so very clearly see and understand the style they’re going for. especially like tsumugi’s death scene... the Talent jumped out it really did... uh and ok so. I think I may be a littleeee confused abt the play bc I had always interpreted tasukus last lines as raphael to be like abt his being secretly in love with michael. but now that I’m actually reading the line that’s like oh don’t fall for a human it only ends in misery I know that all too well or whatever... ig the implication is that raphael was in love with another human / the same lady michael was in love with in the play. side note I had to go back and edit the proper names in instead of tasuku and tsumugi lol... but speaking of!! speaking of the voice acting and the play itself I 1) love how blatantly obvious it is when tsumugi goes for that grander, tasuku like style of delivery!! like u could just so easily feel the difference it was wild... and 2) tsuzuru is once again spot on with his writing, lol... I felt that like raphaels inability to save or help michael really parallels how tasuku feels abt tsumugi so well, and it’s wonderful that they r able to resolve things and tasuku can properly compliment him on his acting where the angels fail to do so. it’s very good. and I think the play rly highlights (for me at least) that like. to tasuku, it was tsumugi who was sort of an unreachable existence. like were he to idolize and respect someone’s acting, it would be tsumugi. and I think that like caring carries over into their roles really well, because I think in michael’s love for a human tasuku sees like... tsumugi’s style of acting. the heart that he’d lost while within the god troupe. mb I’m losing my mind a little but ah. the play rly works with their relationship so well!! im very excited to see the other winter ppl get main roles tho—same for all the troupes!!! now this ask is too long so I’ll have to do another part lol

going to start off this second part of the ask abt hisoka bc oh my GOD. hisoka. like I was just thinking “hm where r the winter troupe cgs anyways” and then BAM. hisoka CRYING???? especially since he doesn’t seem that emotional it was a really hard hit!!! and who tf is august.... ok well actually theory time!! skipping ahead to the end theres that note that like mentions December and April and. not to expose my friend but very many years ago (a couple years before a3 was launched, at the very least) she wrote this story where there were like 12 orphan assassins and they were all named after months. I remember the main dude was named dec lol. coupled with my “hisoka is capable of murder” bit? listen.... I’m not saying anything but I’m also not not saying anything if u feel me. also I feel like assassin / thief with mysterious background is a common trope!! that was silver from the pokémon adventures manga too... why is this my reference point lmao. anyways I’m unclear if assassins would make it into a3 but like.... if the yakuza and supernatural stuff makes it in...

okay moving away from conspiracy theories and into emotions!!! the quotes from like EVERY mankai actor before the final production made me SO emo... and yay!!! they won!!!! (though admittedly I almost had a heart attack when no one clapped) but they won!!!! that ending cg!!!! and I adore how sakyo immediately goes after god troupe man (I know his name is reni I just don’t feel like calling him that) for the money lol it’s just so sakyo-like. also I love the lil mixed troupe interactions!! I found the game night ch so fun.... ahh, now I wanna reread that ch since it was so good lol

all in all I was super satisfied ahh!! I am SO excited to start up spring troupe again (HELLO character development!!! and chikage) and I’m even MORE excited to get thru all the act 1 events!!!! as a final note, is there any way to reread or replay the flair conversations? I didn’t want any spoilers for the plays while I was doing the practices for them so I kinda sped thru the first time ahah...

HELLO FRIEND IM SO HAPPY TO GET SUCH A LENGHTY ASK ABOUT WINTER IM LKDJFLKDJFLKFD  Winter makes me feel shrimps emotions (i know the whole “shrimps can see more colors than humans can’t comprehend” thing has been disproved but i’m not letting go of that expression, i REALLY feel emotions humans can’t comprehend anymore and i’m going to make it everyone else’s problem)

1) First about the voice acting, rIGHT this is just so fascinating to me!!! I remember after act 2 i came back to reread the main act 1 chapter and i was so thrown out by how GOOD the voice acting was, especially for the first few troupes having to convince you they’re not comfortable or good at acting yet. Winter whole thing is that they’re more subtle and mature and you really feel that with their voice acting, Tsumugi’s voice especially knock it off the park anytime he’s on screen. 

2) Second: what does it say about me that i’ve never, ever considered your reading a possibility because i was so set on “oh Raphael you’re in love with Michael sooooo bad you see it as a tragedy already because you can see him throw his life away” i didn’t even consider “maybe Raphael went through that too”. Though i guess if we’re going with that reading i can totally see “The Woman” they let themselves consumed by easily be a representation of acting or even more the God Troupe, with Raphael/Tasuku knowing to step away before it consumes him completely while Michael/Tsumugi, by his love and passion, pushed himself until he broke, which fits and it hurtsssss god Winter plays hits so hard.

3) Third: oh god yeah when Tsumugi goes for Tasuku’s acting it’s just. It makes me SO uncomfortable, i’ve experienced this scene like three times by now and the third time i was just “can i skip it i can’t go through this again i can’t Tsumugi i love you i can’t do this”. It doesn’t match the play at all and it just throws everyone off balance, and Tsumu you could have told theM YOU WANTED TO DO THAT.... god

4) Fourth: I LOVE YOUR READING SO MUCH I LOVE IT I LOVE IT YES YOU’RE RIGHT!!! Just as we follow Tsumugi let his passion consumes him until he breaks, Tasuku’s character arc really jumps out in Raphael, like, everything you say!!!  The way Tasuku/Raphael knew how the feelings Tsumugi/Michael felt would hurt him on the long run but he didn’t know what to do about it until it was too late, the regrets and the way Raphael voices his frustrations.... Tasuku struggles to be honest without acting (Tasuku pls i love you) but having such a role really help him expressing all he feels about Tsumugi and i’m HHHH this is so good so so good!!! but yeah i also love that Tasuku finally manages to actually compliment Tsumugi naturally, that he understands he can’t let him destroys himself again and it’s just gnhhhhh Tasuku is so kind and considerate and i care about him so much....!!!

5) Fifth: “i’m losing my mind a little” winter mood, winter mood winter mood- (though every troupe’s mood tbh but Winter is gnhhhhh kdhd hdhjf??? you feel me) (i am BIASED i can’t help it TwT) but yeaH i’m looking forward to see how you react to the others plays because the roller coaster juST BEGUN!!!

Onto part 2... Winter Troupe Chapter Feels... 2!

6) Sixth: DLFJDFKLDF HISOKAAAAAAAAAA I LOVE HIM SO MUCHHHHH. Hisoka crying fucked me up so bad!! so so bad!! Like on my first read i didn’t know what to think of him as he starts out very apathic to his troupe and then the more it goes on the more you can feel he starts to open up and i’m soft for this sort of slow burn, but then this whole scene happened and it HIT ME IN THE FACE, he was crying, i was crying, we were all crying, the Unopening Door opened a flood of emotions i can’t cope with. He sounds SO VULNERABLE during that scene and i know all of the Winter Troupe united on “taking care of him” but that’s really the moment i went “i care you and i will keep taking care of you” and look at me now. Thanks funky little scene for ruining my life. I’m glad you liked it i’m aldhjflkjdfkd Hisokaaaaa.....

7) Seventh: I am not commenting on the theory but 👀 that’s so highly specific your friend has a galaxy brain i love it. and i love the idea of “well we have yakuza and supernatural entity what’s an assassin adding himself to it” dLKFJDLKF i know everyone in Mankai calls Izumi out everytime someone joins but that’d be peak. I’m not going further about what December and August and April are all about but i love this plotline sO much, the few mentions of August when Hisoka regained his memories for a minute still haunts me, the guilt he seems to feel and this pain i’m just... godddd such a good set up. I love this plotline.

8) Eigth: EMOTIONS!!  Oh GOD YEAH THE ENDING WITH ALL THE OTHER ACTORS... I cried so hard it’s just. It really shows you it’s not just the culmination of the Winter chapter but of all the act 1 main plot and it really makes you feel how much of a journey you’ve been onto!! A3 is so good at showing you the growth of its characters that especially by the end of Winter you really saw how all of them grew in their respective chapters and how cozy they felt in their new home in the remaining chapters, and the fact this chap has those defining character arc’s lines really drive home “oh my god that was a journey” i love them sO MUCH.... 

9) Ninth: wE WOOOON!!! They’re all so good i just. i’m gonna cry just thinking about it dlfdjlfk i know like, the game has so many content so you know it can’t end at the end of Winter but the suspense really was there. BUT YEAH LMAO I LOVE SAKYO DOING THAT IMMEDIATLY, man sure has the eyes on the prize and we love him for that.  AND THE GAME NIGHT SCENE they are all sO CUTE and sWEET and they’re a family now and i’m hHHHHH i love a3 a normal healthy amount that isn’t just making me cry thinking about how all of them grew so close even through mixed troupes.

10) Tenth: I am SO happy you were satisfied with the plot so far!! I’m genuinely so happy that you decided to take that journey with us and that you shared all of this with me, and i’m so so happy you liked it!! There is still so much content and all of it is so worth it! 

11) Eleventh: Yes!! The flair conversations are all readable on the Mini-Chat tab! So they’re easily accessible and they’re sorted in a way that’s easy to read so you can feel comfortable skipping the flairs if you want until you have seen the stories the flairs are all about. They’re all kinda set during the rehearsals (except for some crosstroupe conversation that wouldn’t make sense if they were like how the Summer Troupe talks with the Spring Troupe in their Flairs DKLFJDF but it’s okay what is a timeline anyway) so some of them are set pre-development and it’s wild to get back to them. I love rereading Flairs i get emotional everytime.

ANND That’s it for this ask! i had a blast reading through your thoughts and i’m so happy and excited!! i’ll send you the drive now so you can start digging through it whenever you feel like it :3c good luck grinding for act 2, meanwhile i hope you’ll have fun with all the act 1 events i compiled for you!!

(side note i need to update the drive too but it’s mostly act 2 content anyway, the only two act 1 things i need to update on it is Sakuya’s birthday card i think?? i think Itaru’s is already in act 2 so i’ll try to get around to it eventually but it’s so far away anyway) (edit: i forgot that the three cards i got for the latest revival are from act 1 DLKJFD okay so i’m missing three cards -)

The drive has backstages and event stories and it may be a lot and overwhelming ahah. Focus on the event stories for the plot and go back to the backstages whenever you feel like it, no need to read them at the same time, unless you want to in which case everything is set up for you :3c and there’s a file with cards that aren’t associated to events too so... lots of goodies hanging around. I’ll send it to you in DM ;O 

Take care and thank you so much for all your thoughts! my inbox remains wide opened for any others thoughts you may have as you go further into it :3c