#I'm actually thinking about posting another part soon that I wrote but it happens far after part one so I'm like...perhaps I should actuall

[musicrunsthroughmysoul]

LILY!! MEANT TO TELL YOU I LOVED UR EXCERPT U POSTED I thought eric and west had such chemistry plus thank you for giving us ur super awesome music knowledge i was like jotting this band down this singer down loool love it

Heehee, ahhhhhh, thank you so much, Angie!!! 🥰 It makes me SOOOOOO HAPPY to hear that you think they had chemistry! Although I mean, not to be biased, but I thought so, too. LOL And, heh, including those artists and bands in their discussion was more than a bit of the self-indulgent part!! 😅 Hopefully the playlist that I posted there helps. 🙂

[staygoldwriting]

💌 To the Steve I Loved Before: Part 5

A Steve Harrington TATBILB!AU fic

Parts 1-4 on my masterlist!

Summary: Y/N has written love letters to get over her deepest crushes. What happens when Steve Harrington gets his hands on her letter to him?

Disclaimer: This is inspired by the To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before series by Jenny Han! I have used none of her characters, but have only used the premise of a love letter in the wrong hands.

Word count: ~1200

Warnings: None, just fluff!

A/N: I'M STILL HERE!!! 🎉 I have been gone for so long and I'm SO SORRY!! I started my new job, and it's taken all of my time 😢 But I'm finally back, and I hope you guys love this next chapter! I will try my best to get another part out soon 💕Also, I know I keep teasing the letter, but know that I wrote it before anything else, so it'll be out in a couple chapters 👀Please let me know what you think, and, as always, please show love and support! ❤️✨

“Y/N?”

You were staring blankly at Steve as he waved his hand in front of your face. You snapped back into reality and looked at him.

“Sorry, okay, you said seven for pizza at your place?” you said quickly.

“Eight, but Y/N, did you write me--”

“Gotta go, Steve, see you!” you said, then rushed away before he could finish his question. As you sped walked to the front of the mall, Robin was waiting for you, shaking her head. 

“What have you done?” she asked, chuckling.

“I don’t wanna talk about it, let’s just go,” you said, not stopping as you walked past her.

-💌-

You sat at your desk, bouncing your knee up and down, planning and panicking in your mind. Robin was laying on your bed, her head hanging off the edge as she scrunched her face up in concentration.

“So,” she started, “you’re going to pretend to date Steve Harrington.”

“...Yep,” you said, squinting at the wall.

“Well, you’re going to need some ground rules,” Robin said, looking at you.

“Ground rules?”

“Yeah, so you guys are clear on this little game you’re playing.”

“I don’t think we need rules, Rob. We’re not even actually dating.”

“Are you gonna kiss him?”

“What? No!” you said, your heart beating quickly.

“Okay, then how are you gonna make your relationship believable?” Robin asked, flipping herself onto her stomach. 

“I mean, I don’t know,” you said. 

“Well, you should definitely kiss him,” Robin said. “First of all, no one would ever believe you two are dating if you don't kiss at least once in public. Second of all, it looked like you both enjoyed it quite a bit,” she smirked. You threw a stuffed animal at her.

“Bite your tongue, Buckley!” you yelled, trying not to laugh. 

“You’re blushing!” she yelled victoriously.

“Am not! I mean, yeah, he’s cute or whatever, but that doesn’t subtract from the fact that he’s a class A jerk,” you pointed out.

“I don’t know, you might be surprised,” Robin said, sitting up. “I think all the rejections he’s gotten at Scoops have bruised his ego enough for him to actually have mappable humility.”

“Steve? Humble? I’ll believe it when I see it,” you chuckled. 

“Well, keep me posted. I think you guys should both visit each other at work, but make it look natural since you haven’t done that before. Ease into it. Second, you have to make him drive us all around.”

“Us?” you smirked.

“I have to benefit from this somehow,” Robin smiled. “Anyways, third, you guys have to go to the Fourth of July carnival together.”

“We won’t be together then. Eddie will forget about the letter far before that,” you objected.

“Just stick with me,” Robin said. “Lastly, and most importantly, do not fall for him.”

“Rob, we’re not in a John Hughes movie, I’m not going to-”

“Stick with me,” Robin repeated. “Don’t rule anything out. After all, you did write him a letter, right?”

“We’re not talking about that,” you said quickly.

“Well, the truth’s gonna come out someday,” Robin said. “In the meantime, it’s 7:45. Prince Charming awaits.”

-💌-

You knocked on Steve’s front door, and he opened it, smiling at you brightly.

“Hey, fake girlfriend,” he smirked. “Looking good tonight.” You scoffed at him, trying to hide your blush. 

“Can I come in?” you asked, trying to change the subject.

“Come on in,” Steve said, moving from the doorframe. “Go ahead and sit anywhere,” Steve said, motioning to the living room. 

“Sounds good to me,” you said, sitting on the couch. Steve sat down, facing you. You smiled at him awkwardly, then he opened the pizza box.

“Dig in,” he said. You nodded in thanks, then grabbed a slice.

“So,” he smiled, taking a bite.

“So,” you repeated, nodding. 

“You like Eddie, and now we have to date?” he asked.

“Yeah, I guess you could phrase it that way,” you chuckled. “I’m sorry I got you mixed up in this, Steve.” 

“Don’t worry about it,” he said, his mouth full of pizza. “What are friends for?”

“We’re still friends?” you asked weakly, making Steve look at you in disbelief.

“Of course we’re still friends, Y/N, why wouldn’t we be?” he said, looking at you confused, his mouth still full. 

“I don’t know,” you whispered. “You became so popular, and we stopped hanging out.”

That doesn’t mean I don’t want to be your friend anymore,” Steve said, wiping his mouth and looking at you in concern.

“It sure feels that way,” you whispered, making Steve look at you sadly. 

“I’m sorry,” he said softly. 

“Don’t be,” you replied. “Anyway, we have some planning to do,” you said, trying to move on. You looked up at Steve, who was gazing at you. 

“Um,” you said, trying to break eye contact, “Robin had some recommendations to help our relationship look believable,” you said, looking back at him. “She says we should kiss at least once a day in public.” 

“Are you sure you can survive with just one Harrington kiss a day?” he asked, wiggling his eyebrows. You rolled your eyes at him, fighting a laugh. 

“She also said we should visit each other at work, and that you should drive me around, and Robin too.”

“Hm. So now Robin gets a free ride to work every day and also sees her best friend every time she has a shift. Makes me wonder who this is really benefiting,” he smirked. 

“Well, do you have any rules in mind?” you asked, and Steve tapped his chin. 

“Will you come to family dinners with me? Maybe with you there I can actually get through a conversation with my father. And we should go to the movies and stuff, make our relationship really public. Stuff we used to do, you know? We’ll just kiss when we do it.”

“I guess that works for me,” you said. “Is there anything we shouldn't do?”

“Well, I'll stop flirting with the girls at work, and you'll have to stop drooling over Munson,” he shrugged. “Other than that, I don't think I have anything else.”

“I haven't been drooling over Eddie,” you defended. 

“Well, then start drooling over me,” Steve said, mocking your tone. “Oh, and we should go to the Fourth of July carnival together,” he said.

“Robin said the same thing, but I don't think we'll still be doing this plan then, will we?”

“Well, we don’t have to be together to go,” Steve pointed out. 

“I guess so,” you said. 

“Did Robin say anything else?” he asked. 

“Yeah, she said we shouldn’t fall in love with each other,” you chuckled.

“I’ll try my hardest,” he smirked, winking at you. 

“Alright then, I think that covers it. We’ll hang out after work, I’ll go to family dinners with you, we’ll kiss each other once a day-”

“But more is always welcome,” Steve winked, making you groan. “And I’ll take you and Robin to work, and, when the time comes, we’ll go to the carnival, all while not falling in love. Sounds simple enough,” he chuckled.

“Yeah, totally easy,” you joked. “Deal?” you asked, holding out your hand. 

“Hm,” Steve said, his smirk returning. “I'll do this all on one condition,” 

“Okay, what is that?” you asked tiredly. 

“You have to let me read my letter.”

-💌-

Taglist: @tillkummer @mlle-ayka @sonicthehedgedoggo @klaine-92 @aurumbelis @onlyangel-444 @beep-beep-sherlock @morishitoshi @onceuponathreetwoone @toomanybandstocare @underthebatcape @zeldaknight @fieldofsecretss @prettyinpunk85 @igotbasicdrag @gothicfaires @thatonecurlygirl @luvthatlovestolove @loliakeoghan23 @dearelliewrites @mslunawinchester @aphex2winn @simonsbluee @inkedaztec @dumplinshee @pastel-abyss-x @frozenhuntress67 @hawkins-hs @witheringawayagain @theshinyrock @hollandcomics @pinkgothiccprincess @persephone13 @katsukis1wife @murnsondock @fictionlandslanddreams @srapalestina @babyghouly @madformunsonsstuff @harrys-titties @middle--fingering @urmomgov @maybankstarkey @jbetches @stardustmunson @maltinonka @chaerfull @middle-of-the-earth @lilsunshine1092 @thehairington86 @the-weeping-author @bisexual-and-intellectual @loving-and-dreaming @dory-98 @carinacassiopeiae @munsonzgf @just-a-lost-princess @imvomitting @lalalyra

[x-bee-x]

Alright here's the thing.

I started this in January I think, worked on it for a couple weeks, got distracted by writing other things, mental health and other life stuff happened, you know the drill.

But I'm coming back to it now.

Normally, when I write and post things, tagging creators directly is a big no. And I'm still a bit iffy doing this, but Aimee has expressed so strongly the want to be tagged in things, and shared their love for fan writing and fan creations in general, I feel more okay doing so.

I didn't really watch him during the event, but from the clips and other reactions to them I've watched or seen, it seemed like she had a blast. I am so proud of them for making it a far as they did, the whole team. And watching back parts of the vod to make sure I had everything correct before making this was so much fun, he's so sweet and warm but insane and terrifying at the same time, it was perfect.

I hope it's okay that I'm tagging and that this is what I wrote about and you don't mind this is the topic I chose even though it's been like seven months. I hope you guys think I did an alright job and you enjoy.

Aimee, in the rare chance that you see this, you're so cool dude, you are amazing. You're such a lovely human, and you bring smiles to so many peoples faces, I'm so proud of you, for so many things, and in so many ways.

I hope you all like this, I'm pretty dang proud of it. @aimseytv

Pomegranate

Death, not described in the fic, but there is a body. Cannibalism. Descriptions of body/parts/removing pieces of it/details about it/eating.

932 words

The sun would be going down soon, rays of light and shadows slowly changing the course of its path, the almost sickly colored sky and landscape were painted ever slightly as the day began its routine to bid the world farewell.

The antennae on top of Aimee's head twitched briefly as they sensed the air and took interest in the sight before them.

One of his could have been acquaintances. Actually. One of his could have been acquaintances bodies.

Their limbs almost tangled in the way they had fallen upon Death's embrace. Fabric that had once counted as an outfit with enough cover was now worn thin and falling off of their already exposed skin. Trails of slowly drying vermilion ran down the corners where sun kissed and chapped lips met.

Her head cocked slightly to the side in curiosity as their line of sight went up up up the mountainside.

Maybe their opponent tripped on something. Maybe they forgot their glider. Maybe they thought they'd experienced enough the past days and got a bit too eager and just happened to realize the ledge was right there.

Whatever the cause, it happened long enough ago for the contents of their backpack to have been collected by other members who had found themselves in this place, leaving only prints from shoes in the dirt or in the tacking puddles of crimson.

His stomach growled. Again. More often than not they seemed to spend hungry or have eaten only enough to save energy. It feels like it's been ages since he's known the feeling of being completely full.

They looked at their deceased opponent again, pale skin from a layer of life in this place and a layer of death holding them gently, and for the first time truly pondered something. Something that had been an occasional passing thought of disgust turned not quite unappealing but close turned morbid curiosity turned genuine. Something he would possibly come to regret.

She took the small knife from her pocket and crouched next to the victim and considered carefully.

No area of them was exactly clean, not like it mattered in the end, maybe it would soothe the cogs in his brain just a bit starting at an area at least somewhat covered by cloth.

Perhaps the side. Yeah that sounds good. It's just another sirloin of meat.

They took the knife and cut the still together fabric of shirt about halfway up to reach access.

As expected, the skin there was somewhat pale and had dried beads of sweat, it was also almost warm due to being exposed to the close to unbearable temperature, but at the same time kind of cool due to the lack of blood flow.

The end of the blade pierced and broke their almost comrade's skin and ruby came to its surface, it didn't well in beads or flow too terribly, because it had sat stagnant under the surface as it hadn't had a source to travel through for some time.

He tentatively brought up the knife to their mouth, antennae twitching once more and tongue peeking through somewhat nervous lips, then they licked a stripe along the side of the weapon.

It wasn't as special nor as startling as she was expecting.

The temperature was lukewarm and it was kind of sticky on his tongue and it tasted more like metal than anything.

But she still wanted more.

She placed the tip of the knife back in its slot of skin and finished removing the small filet of flesh.

He held it between slightly shaky but not as nervous fingers like any other piece of food and placed it on the pad of his tongue in one piece.

They tested it for a few seconds, just getting used to it on their tongue, then started to chew.

It was kind of tough, a bit more than her preferred style choice of how they liked any other cut of meat, but not uncomfortably so.

She could feel little pieces of tissue breaking and catching on the ridges of his molars and between teeth and it was thick when she swallowed but it was perfect.

They sliced off a bigger piece from the unexpected but not unwelcome sacrifice of sorts below him.

When they felt like they had sampled enough from the fallen's torso, he moved onto different parts of the body, not like they were expecting drastically different results in taste, but it seemed almost unfair to only eat from one area.

He also sliced into their bicep, taking sections like they had from the person's side and eating off the end of the weapon or taking it their fingers, but when he moved onto their thigh, they also placed both hands on either side of the leg to stabilize it.

It was tougher trying to chew through this than the meat that had already been sliced and separated and sitting on the pad of their weapon, this was still attached, and her teeth weren't very sharp, but he did his best anyway.

At last she was satisfied, she was full, that was a feeling she had almost forgotten.

His teeth were sort of sticking to themselves, they could feel bits between them and touching his gums, her skin was sticky and tacky and kind of cold from the drying crimson around their mouth and on their palms.

When they filled the distance walking between where his meal took place and the area his team took shelter, curious and satisfied eyes making contact with something like fearful ones, they only smiled.

[emmerrr]

fic tag game

thanks for the tag @kelliealtogether !

How many works do you have on ao3? 106

What’s your total ao3 word count? 677,888

What fandoms do you write for? The Raven Cycle/The Dreamer Trilogy, All For The Game

What are your top 5 fics by kudos? The Road To Nowhere / Yes, Coach / Stay / The Bones of You / You go your way, I'll go your way too -- all AFTG fics. it's funny, i feel like i'm more 'known' (for want of a better word) for trc/pynch fics and i've certainly written more of them, but almost all of my aftg fics are considerably more popular if we're going by kudos.

Do you respond to comments? i used to reply to every single one without fail but it started to make me really really anxious at a time when i was writing a multi-chapter fic, because some comments really don't warrant a reply, but i got into a mindset of 'well if i reply to one comment i have to reply to all of them' and then i realised that i don't, actually! also i'm allergic to notifications so as soon as i read them i mark them as read, which makes my brain happier but also means i'm more likely to forget to reply. i always reply if someone asks a question, and i do try to at least reply to the first chunk of comments i get on a new fic though!

What’s the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending? probably burning bright right 'til the end

What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending? head over heels immediately comes to mind. also kick start my rock and rollin' heart. but tbh almost all my fics have happy endings, that's just how i roll. (also a lot of them are short oneshots that are less about narrative and more about vibes, so they don't all necessarily feel like they have endings as such!)

Do you get hate on fics? nope, i've been pretty lucky so far!

Do you write smut? i very occasionally write smut-adjacent lmao, but not really

Do you write crossovers? no, they don't really interest me

Have you ever had a fic stolen? i hope not!

Have you ever had a fic translated? yes, one. i've been asked quite a lot as well and my answer is that i'm fine with my fics being translated (with credit obviously) but only if they're being posted on ao3, i don't want them on any other site.

Have you ever co written a fic? nope 

What’s your all time favourite ship? i mean i've definitely written more pynch than anything else, but i ship a lot of things!

What’s a wip you want to finish but doubt you ever will? i don't wanna say that i'll never finish any of the fics i've started in earnest -- if i liked an idea enough that any of it all made it out of my head and onto a page then there's hope for it in the future. i'll get to them when i get to them!

What are your writing strengths? dialogue. it always comes the easiest to me. a lot of my fics start from conversations that popped into my head, then i get to write the situation to get that conversation to happen which is the tricky part!

What are your writing weaknesses? everything else! idk, world-building i guess? i don't think i'm that great at descriptions. i can do all the internal character feelings and emotions and stuff, it's just the external that i stuggle with.

Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic? i haven't done it but i'm not like, against it?

First fandom you wrote for? technically lotr before i knew what fanfiction was, and i printed it out lmaoooo. i have no idea what happened to it i think i probably threw it away.

Favourite fic you’ve ever written? at the minute? Caught By The Light. ask me tomorrow and my answer will probably change!

not sure who's already been tagged, so if you haven't yet and you wanna do it, consider yourself tagged!

[walkawaytall]

For the fic ask game you just re-blogged?

7. Your favourite ao3 tag. I have a guess about this one.

8. How slow is a slow burn?

36. How do you come up with fic titles? What's the one you're most proud of?

7. Your favourite ao3 tag

Okay, so...favorite tag because I find the tag itself amusing? Technically, my favorite is a freeform tag I made up: "Hoth Turns The Rogues Into Feral Space Raccoons" and I have dreams that it will someday be a common tag (which I think requires 3 separate users to use it and tag wranglers to think it worthy of such a thing, so, you know, I'll keep dreaming), but as far as more common tags go...I mean, for hilarity's sake, I like all the variations of "no beta we die like __________"; I used to use "no beta we die like Palpatine didn't", which, considering at the time I had never used a beta, all that tag meant was "I probably should have let this sit a night and edited it one more time before posting, but I didn't".

Favorite tag that I actually search to find content? I think some combination of "Hurt/Comfort" and "Pre-Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back"

8. How slow is a slow burn?

Okay, I don't have a set number of words or whatever that define slow burn for me, and, frankly, I think some things that are called "slow burn" are actually just "will they or won't they?" but because they go on for like 100K words, people slap a "slow burn" label on there and call it a day. And I do think of these as two different genres. Like, a slow burn can have "will they or won't they?" elements, I guess, but I don't think that's all there is to it; I think of a slow burn and a gradual build to the relationship that just...takes awhile from the reader's perspective. If the characters both like each other romantically by like...5K in and then a bunch of stuff happens to keep them apart for 40K words...I don't know that I'd consider that a slow burn? It's possible my definitions aren't quite on-point; I don't know.

I feel like I just went on my slow burn rant instead of answering the question, but I don't have a set length. I think of a slow burn as a multi-part story and I think the ones I've read have all been over 100K words, but I think it's really less about word count and more about how long the relationship takes to come to fruition within the story and how the relationship comes to fruition as well -- whether it's done gradually or not, etc.

36. How do you come up with fic titles? What's the one you're most proud of?

All of my fic and chapter titles except for two (Speak Louder and The Short Stick) have come directly from the text of the fics in some way (technically I guess Reconstitution contains the word "reconstituted", but close enough). I usually know as soon as I write whatever the phrase is that it's going to be the title -- my brain just goes, "Hey, that's good and describes the story well enough" and whatever it is becomes the title. Though with chapter titles, it isn't uncommon for me to be skimming the text of the chapter to find a suitable title after I've already pasted everything into AO3 (but before actually submitting it); I'm not generally as worried about those (this 100% happened with this most recent chapter of Purpose of Heritage, "Open Communication". I had no strong feelings about what the title should be and just picked something from the text that seemed thematically on-point). And, with Collateral, I had the title before I actually wrote the scene where the word was used, but I had the dialogue in my head from the beginning.

The title I'm most proud of...probably Reconstitution because that one has layers, but I also really like chapter two of Collateral, which is titled "They Like Me Tragic" and is taken from something a very drunk and very despondent Leia says a few months post-Yavin. Also, I just like Confirmed by Sources Close to the Subject. It's kinda long but it's fun and it works on a couple of levels in that story and I like it.

Thank you for asking!

Yet another writing ask

[humanmorph]

C/W 06-09 thoughts : ]

Boy this took me a bit!!! I made the post for the first set of episodes on August 12. I said then I should take more notes while listening, & I think I in fact took LESS notes. edit: and wrote... more??? ok.whatever

Summary (short)

There's a food crisis. Orth gets kidnapped! The Chime gets an automated message to find him and they track him down to some train tracks where the train Orth was on (with a food delivery) got derailed. They get in a really long fight some people from a group called the Iron Choir (they have Orth!) and also some Apostolosians (only really due to bad phrasing on AuDy's part) . And then don't really win but do get away with Orth, so everything's fine I guess?

(more on faction game down below. too much happens in those to summarize here.)

Ground Game

This is the second (and last!) arc they play using MechNoir. I only just started the episode where they switch the characters over to The Sprawl, and I'm counting that towards the next bunch of episodes rather than this one... Anyways, this arc is like a good argument for that switch. It kind of stands out as a "oh they switch after this, right?" thing now. BUT!

The fight was honestly not as much of a slog as I remembered. Like they've done wayyy better fights since ofc especially with mechs (for me personally PZN is still the standout but PAL has had some Good Shit too) but this is like. It's ok! There's fun bits! I like Aria's mech! Part of it might absolutely be that I like. Give a fuck about mechs now and as a result am able to also imagine them better. I think in 2021, when I first listened, I was like. I guess there's Big Robots. Like transformers? (isn't even familiar with transformers) (really doesn't have a touchpoint for this at all)

I liked the snooping around bit before they got to this 2 episode long fight. I already mentioned it in an earlier post briefly, but we learn some minor details about Orth (they are looking through his office), that now really delight me because I love Orth! But when I first listened I don't think I cared very much at all about him at this point. This time around, his and AuDy's relationship intrigues me expecially with how Jack has been playing them.

Player character update...: AuDy is still my favourite. I still don't quite know what to do with Cass, but maybe I'll get there soon? Mako's funny. Though, and I thought I posted about this? But I can't find it now, an arc this episode also brings the morality of fogging robots onscreen for a bit. AuDy's upset by it. I think the notion of the robot he fogs getting more sentient is interesting...? Expecially if you draw a connection to what gives Mako the ability to do it in the first place. ... I won't say more here because I'm not actually sure but it's definitly running via Rightenousness a little bit, right? No clue if those facts are actually connected or not though. Uhm. I like Aria : ). Not many notes there so far, pretty much just the same stuff I said last time (I'm paying more attention to her where I feel like I hadn't as much on my first listen due to Ali being a little more reserved as a player this early on).

Further up I already talked about the switch to The Sprawl & I know the reasons and agree. however. I do think it's fun when they come up with adjectives, even if it messed with the pacing a bit because it took some time to do well. There's still a bit of this with other games they play later, too, like naming risks in Armor Astir or... whatever it was called to take something in Scum & Villainy (I recently relistened to the bit where Gig gets crushed and blown up and is VERY upset by it. It's still very funny).

Another thing I'm noticing more is that I'm occasionally a bit wonky on the factions, even super major ones ( OriCon vs. the Diaspora). I think it's because I didn't listen to the worldbuilding ep... I remember it having pretty rough audio (though probably not worse than that epispde of AiH where you couldn't hear Art at all), and also I skipped it back when I first listened, too (I'd bounced off before. I feel like I've mentioned this). It made some stuff in these episodes a bit hard to keep track of, expecially talking about the food crisis, and who is affected, and who is blamed, etc. (& I very much enjoyed all that! Like oh! We're getting into it now! Space factions and their politics and their effect on the world our characters move in! This rules. Friends at the Table rules)

Faction Game

Sylvi is so ON it with the faction game it's crazy. The other day while listening I remembered this was her first season on the show, like... damn!!! Just a ton of great ideas. It's really fun seeing them all be so enthusiastic about this.

Really good and fun faction game. I'm enjoying these a ton. A lot of my favourite scenes (or very memorable ones) from my first listen is faction game stuff, so I knew I'd like it, but I'm like REALLY really enjoying it. I've already said this in my other post, but I'm pretty sure it's due to the fact I can pay attention better & parse information.

It's a real big one too with a ton stuff getting set up. RIGOUR, Ibex, the Hands of Grace (hi Vicuna), some first September Institute stuff (like how fogging works!), and Loyalty gets introduced in that episode (hi Kobus, also). A lot of Divines, really! I'll get to this very big and important thing first: Rigour getting dug up!!! I totally didn't remember Austin immediately namedrops it at the end of the episode, lol. That probably wouldn't happen now, but these early seasons are more. informal? just less produced? And I really don't dislike it, it's simply a different vibe. And I'm liking it. (The rough-ish audio is also part of it IMO. Love to hear the static white noise if a mediocre mic under their voices.) I do still really like that scene though. Very effective. The image of a worker getting out of his mech to dig the last bit with his hands... It's good shit. Also just. RIGOUR. It maybe even hits more this second time around, because I know just What has been uncovered here and the consequences it will have.

Another is Ibex getting introduced! Hi!!!! : ) Apparently he's something called a "seductress" (or well. seductor) in the games rules, which I extremely forgot and made me laugh when I heard it. And then they proceed to come up with pretty much his whole deal, which Austin's performance is gonna finetune & shape more later on. I'm just excited! I like this guy! (Something I'm trying to do more this time around is take notes to look stuff up later, like what animals the Candidates are named after. I didn't do this for Ibex until sometime last year! Cool animal.)

This faction game also has the first appearance of Diego Rose who I have in mind as sort of Sylvi's special little guy? He's a pretty important guy in the faction that she plays, so I'm just gonna assume he'll show up way more in the future. But really I just loved that scene of him offering a prisoner they took after he shot their ships down to join the Odama Fleet while also threatening him. And he's soooo cunty about it it's so funny to me. Great job.

Tacking this on the end here: I had to look up the summary on the fatt.wiki because it's really been a while since I started this ep vs. finishing it, and this is like the first scene they play through. (The new season got in the way...!) But yeah this episode also has Grace's first real major appearance (& her Candidates, Vicuna). And it's a great scene! I think it's the first Divine onscreen? And showing one's influence on people ("People in the crowd, some of them begin crying and wailing. It is a religious experience for many."). It's good shit!!! I love Divines!!! They've never stopped being cool as fuck as a concept and there really wasn't a point when they weren't. It's just SO good and it'll only ever get pushed further and in even more interesting directions. And it's nice to be back here, at the start.

????

This is neither here nor there. Not anywhere really. But at some point Jack says "no that's undertale" (I didn't note down what about.) %& it really threw me for some reason like ik the years match up. But I just have C/W in mind as like... ages ago... (it was) and Undertale. Is Undertale. /I/ played Undertale! And that wasn't ages ago (lie) (it was)! Like I was probably playing Undertale when they made this season! Strange to think about.

Grace's arrival(?)

I want to try and draw a little image for each of these sets (though this one took me a bit longer than I would've liked). Here's Grace('s feet, because she's so big) and the sculpture park on Gemm

I'm not actually sure why (I don't think it gets mentioned in the episode???) but I've always imagined that planet (Gemm) as like, really foggy. Maybe because fog + ruined statue park looks really cool? + Graces light through the fog? Yeah, I don't know. The park is also empty here, when of course there's a whole parade and stuff in the episode, but this is just an image (an approximation of it.) I have in my head...

[three-headed-monster]

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (five, tk take separately, luv uuu)

bestie you always come through thank you :))))

i hope that you're okay with me choosing from a variety of ships and fics cause that's what i'm doing lmao

long post incoming so inserting a cut here

and i can see us lost in the memory: muskoka lake cabin scene

really want to highlight this one cause i sort of feel like no one realizes that i ever wrote for them? probably because it was 3 years ago at this point and also has a lot of key characteristics of my early writing opposed to my writing now. but this is probably one of my favourite actual confession scenes that i've written. i knew the whole time when writing this fic that i wanted it to end in muskoka, with them together on the pier talking to one another. i think at the time, i was just so in love with the idea of muskoka being this place that connected both of them when they were pushed so so far apart. it felt right.

this is also where i kinda started like obsessing over eyes lmao. you can see that a common thread throughout my fics is the idea of eyes "crashing" into one another and eye contact being a sort of simultaneously clarifying and intense moment for the characters. i think that's personally because i hate making eye contact with literally anybody and find that you're most vulnerable when you're looking somebody right in the eye. The bond snaps into place as soon as Connor’s clear blue Muskoka eyes make contact with his is one of the best lines in the fic in my own personal expert opinion lmao because it signifies the beginning of the two characters finally starting to open up with each other, alongside a physical indicator that they do.

another one of my favourite lines is: They’ve both changed.  They’re both older, wiser.  They both look a little different.   But this place?  And these feelings?  Hasn’t changed one bit.

i love the idea of places holding weight and meaning. i just think that everything has memory in it you know? that'll never change, no matter how hard you try, and when you revisit those places, you're brought back to how you felt the first time you experienced them. you'll never forget them, but it's also always compounded with the new way you look at the world. and when you can connect those two things together and still end up feeling the same way, it's beautiful.

anyways this is basically me just plugging myself like please go read this fic cause i think this confession scene is beautiful !!!!!! i wrote it very well me thinks!!! it's probably the best part of the entire fic and definitely taught me the importance of a good closing scene.

2. i don't need your closure (i have my own)

more like a ficlet than an actual fic, but actually so necessary to how i write going forward tbh (i mean all of these fics are really important parts of my writing journey but like there are specific things that i got from all the fics you know)

this one is SUPER introspective on bo and it really lends to my writing style. i like when characters soul-search a little bit. i tend to lean that way more when putting down fic, thinking about what is logical for a character to feel during certain situations as opposed to the action actually happening around them. when characters really look deeply at themselves and realize why they're doing certain things, or why they're feeling certain ways, that's what is most exciting for me to write as an author. you'll notice that i often overuse this in fics though, with less dialogue/action focused scenes and more like "oh my god what the fuck is happening in my head rn" scenes.

i also am a sucker for best friend relationships. almost every ship i read and/or write for must have a deep friendship i think, before i can even consider seeking out content for them. this isn't to say i don't enjoy a good enemies to lovers, but i love the aspect of friends being there for one another and that transitioning into a deeper connection, into love. there isn't any tagged ship in this fic, but dylan and bo's friendship is at the forefront of it because the comfort that dylan provides to bo changes how he thinks and views things. he and dylan have a strong platonic love for each other, and i think it shines through! the best line in this fic is: We have to go inside now yeah? Don't worry, I've got you. and it perfectly sums up what this fic is. like a warm hug from a friend after a hard day.

3. i didn't just come here to dance: handfeeding scene

handfeeding is one of my favourite tropes in fic and i wish i gave myself more opportunities to write it because the intimacy of it!!!!! being cared for by someone in ways you know you don't need but want to give them anyways!!!!!

i wrote this one into this fic in particular because of the character dynamics and characterization of the two leads. i think this is one of the first fics where i really started to explore that idea, of having my own headcanons for characters, and integrating that into how they interact with others and with the object of their affection especially. in this case, one of the big things i wanted to highlight was jack's big fear of never being enough. he's never been enough for anyone (or so he thinks) and how does that inform his interactions with noah? it certainly tinges them with a sense of desperate connection with the one person who does see him as enough. i feel like all of my characters tend to have something like this (like owen's constant paranoia about not being interesting enough for kent to stick around).

also this serves as a good consent scene for the both of them, both of them sane and coherent enough to say yes to one another. which is always good! consent is necessary and sexy!

4. the boy who sits at the front of the class: breakup/makeup scene

another really underrated and really short one! i never get an opportunity to talk about this one, mainly because i have a lot of fucking fics lmao, and it's one that i released kinda under the radar.

i felt like this scene was needed mainly because i didn't want their relationship to be perfect. it's unrealistic to expect that, especially as a high school relationship. right person wrong time is something i believe in so strongly, and it just wasn't their time after high school going into college. that didn't mean they stopped loving each other though, and i think i say it in that scene that both of them were devastated by it.

you'll also notice the repetition of 3s rule in this scene (p much throughout the entire scene) and that's another trait of my writing. i love using that for dramatic effect and also to really emphasize what is going on. i think it makes it easy to add a ton of detail to scenes without feeling like there's a disconnect with what's actually going on. i mention 3 unrelated moments, but they're all kind of connected by the "there..." thread. great literary technique, highly suggest to all writers!

my favourite line from this fic is: Kent, Kent, Kent. It’s all him in the end.

because it could really be a synopsis for the whole fic and how i view owen as a character lmao. reading through the rest of my owen/kent fics, you'll notice that my owen characterization develops throughout, to really highlight that as one of his key traits.

5. lover of mine (maybe we'll take some time): nail scene in amsterdam

one of my favourite scenes i've written for this fic, mostly because i think it's one of the only ones that perfectly balances the angst, the pining, and the humour of it all. if i had to introduce someone to this fic, i would probably use this scene to do it tbh because it has everything i want to show from it.

funnily enough, this was a scene i started over at least three different times when writing out this fic. truly, i have no idea why it was so difficult, but in general, i find that this one of the most difficult fics for me to write. i think it's because i don't have a very firm grasp on kent's characterization at all, what makes him tick and what not. the au setting does make it a bit easier for me to mold him to whatever i want him to be, but there's a reason i tend to write from owen's pov instead of kent's. i feel like i really understand owen as a character (and you'll find i tend to lean one way in all of my ships in terms of understanding their characters), and with kent, i feel that less so. i wanted this scene to show owen and kent's genuine friendship, and how owen cares for him enough to do things like this with him. owen cares enough to pay attention to the fact that this is what kent wants, and to ask him the truth about what's going on. he doesn't push, because he knows kent well enough to know he'll tell him anyways. i wanted to give the audience an idea of how far their connection goes and how good of a friendship it is. add in a bit of owen clearly wanting to tell kent how he feels about him (spoiler: he's kinda in love), and some humour, and you have a great scene.

i think this scene is also a really good indicator of how kent views owen too. it's a lot of foreshadowing for how they will inevitably end up together, through the dropping of little hints. like really, kent shouldn't want to be so observant of what owen is doing, but he wants to because there's something more than friendship simmering under there. and because he finds he's really good at it.

the vibe is this scene is truly something i want to try to capture in most scenes going forward in this fic. and hopefully i do! the next chapter is great chapter and when i do release it, i think you'll find that a lot of the amsterdam vibes do reflect on it.

[literali1110]

Rating Season 4 Chenford Moments

We're halfway through the season, and coming up on a mini-hiatus, so I thought it would be fun to rate the Chenford moments we got this season so far!

This is essentially a ranking of each episode in terms of overarching Chenford plot/content. All gif credits go to the lovely @chenfordsource ! Please feel free to reblog with your own rating/ranking/additional moments!

4x01 Chenford hug #1 and (almost) sleepover 8/10

It feels like we had dreamed up endless possibilities for what could happen in the premier and it was almost too good to be true that one of them actually happened - Tim took Lucy home with him for the night and she almost slept in his bed!

She asked for a hug, to which he agreed with a "come here" (!) following which there was a verrry long look, and then: Lucy. almost. went. into. his. room.

I was almost in shock watching this scene, and nervous that something more would happen, which would have felt too soon, in my opinion. I love how they left the scene and personally it doesn't bother me that this moment wasn't brought up again because it was connected to the grief about Jackson.

We didn't get much more Chenford in this episode, and I think I would have enjoyed this moment so much more if it hadn't been in the promo but nevertheless this was a huge moment for them so 8/10!

4x02 Lucy pranks Tim with booties - twice! - and he compliments her 6/10

The prank! The (baby) booties! The locker room scene! Tim's smile! This was a welcome surprise in an episode where Chenford weren't even riding together. This gets a solid 6/10.

4x03 Lucy and Tim flirt banter about Lucy becoming Tim's go-fer aide 7/10

The lead-up to Chenford deciding to ride together again was almost even better than their later scenes actually riding together again.

The stubbornness, the way these two were openly bantering in the roll call room, and finally, that conversation at the end of the episode!

A conversation that gave us lines like: "a very handsome boy" and "screw what anyone else thinks?" which simultaneously made us think Tim might be aware of what is developing between him and Lucy, and also wonder if Lucy is anywhere close to beginning to think of Tim in that way.

I give this a heaping 7/10.

Although, this did leave me wondering: was this a step in the right direction, or was it just an additional obstacle they would need to overcome? I'm still 50:50 on that.

4x04 Tim and Lucy...spend some time working together? 3/10

In this episode...we had some screen time with Tim and Lucy together...! lol

I wrote another post pointing out some positives after this aired but aside from the Tardis comment, a moment when Lucy seemed to impress Tim with the state department, and them sitting close together in that truck, there wasn't much to go on. At least they were together for part of the episode before Tim disappeared? A generous 3/10.

4x05 Tim and Lucy talk about having babies together 5/10

The topic did seem to come out of nowhere, but we got Chenford talking about having kids, plus Chenford interacting with kids on the job. I still think it's foreshadowing. What more could a shipper want??

No Chenford for the second half of the ep though, unfortunately. 5/10

4x06 Tim and Lucy make another bet and continue to be competitive dorks, which everyone notices 6/10

Another episode where Tim and Lucy aren't riding together (and so soon after getting "back together") but still have some quality interactions! That handholdshake? Talking to their other teammates about beating each other (we saw that exchanged look, Nyla and Nolan). Their full-body reactions at the end when Tim won they tied!

Giving this a 6/10, since in terms of progression to their relationship, there was a minor setback with the whole Ashley introduction.

4x07 Chenford have a bet rematch including a 🔥 van scene 7/10

The competitive banter this episode was amazing, their case was fun, and we got the closest we'll probably ever get to an UC Chenford plot. I loved the entire van scene from Lucy criticizing Tim's outfit and essentially dressing him, to him hiking his shirt up higher than I'm sure was necessary, to Lucy not knowing where to look, to her highly entertaining commentary in his ear.

However, the ending left me confused, and I kind of wish the bet had been outside of work like the one in 2x03. Not ending the episode on a "high note" rounds this score down to a (still impressive) 7/10.

4x08 Lucy meets her future SIL and gives Tim some advice 4/10

It was cute to see Lucy and Genny bond in this episode, and Lucy's words to Tim at the end were definitely coming from the right place, but looking at this episode as a whole without what was to come in 4x09 - especially with the camera angles - didn't score very high for me in terms of overall Chenford plot. This was a great episode for Tim, of course, but we didn't get to see as much of supportive Lucy (yet!) as I would have liked. Oh, and we find out Tim is not single. 4/10

4x09 Lucy supports Tim investigating a case involving his dad, and we get our SECOND CHENFORD HUG 10/10

This episode blew me away. I want to thank whoever kept most of the Chenford stuff out of the promotional material, because it made it that much better. All of Lucy's scenes were with Tim, from helping out at his old house (I still want to know how that came about), to going with him to the station on their day off (his confident "c'mon Chen"!), to interrogating a suspect for him, to that final hallway scene and HUG.

Her "come here", paralleling 4x01, her reassuring "you're nothing like him", Tim just breaking down and melting in her arms...this whole storyline definitely felt like a significant milestone in their relationship and I loved this hug even more than their first. My only complaint is we didn't get to linger on it longer! 10/10

4x10 Tim needs Lucy's help yet again in his relationship 5/10

We get a hint of jealous!Lucy, them talking about Kojo, and of course the scene where she calls Tim a sweetheart. Having Ashley call Lucy was a welcome surprise and the show is being pretty obvious this time around about contrasting how well Tim and Lucy know each other vs their LIs. Plus we got another parking garage scene!

On the other hand, we got introduced to Lucy's new LI and Tim had an ending scene with Ashley so overall I'm giving the Chenford content a 5/10.

4x11 Tim is a supportive *partner* to Lucy while dealing with a personal case 5/10

This was another good episode for Lucy (a continuation of what I hope is her upcoming "personal journey" from last ep), and it was nice to see Tim kind of take a step back and let Lucy take the lead on this one, while still letting her know he was there if she needed him. Overall there wasn't much development in their relationship, but we did get to see Tim in her apartment again, plus another interaction with Tamara, and they did have a sweet moment in the shop where he asked if she was ok. 5/10

4x12 TIM AND LUCY GO ON A [double] DATE 9/10

Unlike Tim, we were well fed in 4x12!! We have never seen Tim and Lucy act the way they acted on that date and it only highlighted how far they have come and how well they know each other. Stealing food, sharing inside jokes, finishing each other's sentences, sitting next to each other (turned towards each other!) and basically ignoring their dates - I think this exceeded our expectations and then some!

It was also great to see them solve the main case of the episode together. Personal space, what's that??

The only reason this isn't getting a 10 is because they each ended the episode with their LIs and not each other. 9/10

Final ascending ranking:

12. 4x04 Tim and Lucy...spend some time working together? 3/10

11. 4x08 Lucy meets her future SIL and gives Tim some advice 4/10

10. 4x05 Tim and Lucy talk about having babies together 5/10

9. 4x11 Tim is a supportive *partner* to Lucy while dealing with a personal case 5/10

8. 4x10 Tim needs Lucy's help yet again in his relationship 5/10

7. 4x02 Lucy pranks Tim with booties - twice! - and he compliments her 6/10

6. 4x06 Tim and Lucy make another bet and continue to be competitive dorks, which everyone notices 6/10

5. 4x03 Lucy and Tim flirt banter about Lucy becoming Tim's go-fer aide 7/10

4. 4x07 Chenford have a bet rematch including a 🔥 van scene 7/10

3. 4x01 Chenford hug #1 and (almost) sleepover 8/10

2. 4x12 TIM AND LUCY GO ON A [double] DATE 9/10

1. 4x09 Lucy supports Tim investigating a case involving his dad, and we get our SECOND CHENFODR HUG 10/10

If you've made it this far, thanks and I hope you enjoyed - would love to hear your thoughts too!

[someone-worth-racing-for]

My plan was to read the last chapter of "Becoming a Man" during next week but I couldn't wait so… On the day you posted it, I might have went to bed a "little" late 🙈

Really, I love how you portray Carlos. When I thought that he couldn't be more perfect… He was so gentle ❤️ You really wrote a truly wonderful first time for Lando. Ah, loved that Lando wore THOSE specific boxers.

It just so happened that in the day before I also read another Lando first time - "Diamond" (Carlos was so gentle in that fic as well. I mean... he always is). This story was so fun to read. By the reactions of Max, Charles and Daniel at the beginning while talking to Carlos, I already knew that Lando's crush was Carlos, but I was dying to see Carlos face when he arrived at the restaurant.

Oh, and I'm addicted with your fics where Carlos is a father. I LOVED "My Bad Habits Lead To You", I was not expecting Carlos being a father of two, but it was just a wonderful surprise (also to Lando 😅).

Ok, it seems that this is the round 2 of me talking about your other fics, so "Who am I, without you" - Carlos saving Lando and Max was so emotional. A perfect turning point in their relationship. And of course the elevator scene ❤️ Loved the ups and downs in the conversation (the elevator was the perfect choice for this 😅). We thought everything was good, but then "and you and Charles?", but then finally all was enlightened. Ah, loved that you also include Max and Charles's moment!

"And suddenly all love songs were about you" - I think it was the most different Lando that I read so far in your fics. It was really interesting, although sometimes I wanted to yell at him "DON'T YOU SEE HE LOVES YOU". Oh, and Charles letting Carlos go 🥺 Really loved Charles in this story. And this part, the Spanish quotes you chose, just perfect: "With still that cheeky smirk on his lips, the Spaniard challenged his friend all bossy like already so many times before “Say something else.” Lando still needed a few moments to understand what was going on right now and what those words coming from the man he loved with his whole heart really meant. Carlos could exactly tell the moment, the younger one got it and his lips also formed into his usual cute, happy smile. And like the cheeky, young man he was always, Lando answered all naughty “El helicóptero no puede volar.” They did both burst out into laughers at the same time, because out of all those many memories they did share, Lando had chosen this one. When their laughers calmed, Carlos tilted his head and looked all lovingly down at the younger one, who exactly got it that his friend did still want to hear more from him. So Lando finally whispered with tears in his eyes “Soy lago.” Also tears were shining in Carlos’ eyes, but not only from their laughers any more. Because they both knew what those two simple words meant to each other. It meant more to them than any other words in both of their languages could ever do, more than anyone was ever able to understand."

Just one more thing. How I laughed with "Toys" 😂 Piñón playing with the dildo ahahahah

Maybe I will annoy you again soon with a round 3. It has been a real pleasure discovering your stories 😊

Oh, another one of those great messages of yours! 🥰 Or like I call it - a day-made-message 😉❤

I'm really sorry for taking some well-deserved sleep from you - no, I'm actually not 😜 Just kidding! But seriously, I'm really happy to hear you have enjoyed the latest update of BaM ☺ I have wanted to make that chapter as perfect as possible, because Lando deserved it and I know so many have been waiting for that chapter. So I'm really, really glad that you liked it that much! That really means a lot to me and was worth the entire work!

Oh, Diamond is one of those stories of mine I have enjoyed to write the most! I really love to look back at that story and those vibes that come with it 🥰 I'm just a sucker for AUs 😅🙈

And I also really, really have a thing for Carlos being a father - like you have probably already noticed 😅 I just love, love that thought, it always warms up my heart just thiniking about it 🥰 MBHLTO is also one of those stories I have really enjoyed to write a lot - back then, that thought just had to get out of my head, you know 😅

WAIWY was a little more difficult to write and maybe also to read, but I'm glad I still managed to give all of them their deserved happy end, even though I have needed months to finally finish that story.. But I just love Lestappen and I couldn't leave them behind like that - they did deserve their happy end as well, after what they had been through. But that story has sadly got waaaay too long in the end - something I really try to avoid in the future 🙈

Yes, in ASALSWAB I have really portrayed Lando way differntly to like I usually do, but it just had to be, for the storyline. Even though I still felt bad at the same time to do so, but I think it still made sense in the end why I had to write him like that. But that was also one of those stories that was really hard to write, but I just needed to write it down to finally go on with other projects 🙈 And yes, Charles was really great in that story, such a sweetheart! He was there for Carlos, knew what he needed in that difficult time and he also even knew when it was time to let him go. That was really brave of him, I still get goose bumps just thinking about it. But I also loved the moment Carlos and Lando finally got together after everything was sorted out, because yeah - they are just meant for each other 😉

Haha 😄 Oh, that story 😜 Believe me, I also had a lot of fun writing that storyline 😁

Yes, yes - you really "annoy" me a lot of these kind of messages of yours 😉 No, I'm actually really happy to hear, that you obviously enjoy my stories so much! It's the best compliment a writer can receive 🥰 So thank you very, very much for your always kind words and taking yourself the time to write those messages 🙏🏽 I really appreciate a lot!!! ❤

[heartfragment]

Okay sorry for the long asks I'm gonna send! I wanna give you my thoughts on the routes after playing and getting the good endings of all four of them (I haven't touched the bad ends yet because I'm not ready to destroy my soul 😔) and I figured it'd be easier to have one ask per route for simplicity. Also I will be as spoiler free as possible with my thoughts for the sake of anyone who hasn't played yet. These may not be the best written reviews though, my thoughts kinda go all over lol. So first off, Kay my beloved darling!

He was the one who caught my attention first and I gotta say while I adore everyone so far he's still my favorite! Man that Act 1 plot twist about who Kay really is? I'm still mind blown over it like I never ever EVER expected that to be the case! So when that was thrown at me I was basically like "?????? wtf??? WTF????" Honestly Kay's route was sooo heartbreaking in many respects, from Kay's struggles to Xani dealing with the consequences. And my gosh as someone who is the biggest baby alive when it comes to horror and anything related to it, the unsettling moments were *chef's kiss* I saw another anon bring this up and I wanna agree that Kay's VA? Outstanding, simply incredible. Every emotion, every line that came from Kay was believable and hit me in all the right ways. My fave moments being a certain breakdown in a shack and basically everything from the Branch 2 ending. And I really enjoyed how you wrote the mental health issues in this route, especially the issue regarding dependency. Kay himself was so enjoyable as a character as well, both pre and post that part of Act 1. I loved his teasing moments and kindness, I loved his more solemn moments, I loved the moments when he was struggling because of you know what. This route also had me asking a lot of questions which works that it's paired with Clive's route that contains some answers. For Kay my favorite end was the Branch 2 ending, I think it was the best way to wrap up everything that happened.

Hi anon!! This is ... one of the most sweet and most lovely asks I've ever gotten. Thank you so, so much for taking the time to write all of this. I'm sorry it took me so long to actually reply. I was away on vacation and while I saw these soon after they were sent, I didn't want to reply until I had access to a computer so that I could compile all the asks into one post.

I hope you know that this message literally lit up my entire day when I first saw it and it continues to do so as I reply to it now <3 Things like this help to encourage me to keep going even when things get tough. I'm glad you got so much enjoyment out of books one & two! If you haven't already, please consider leaving a review on the game as well. It isn't necessary of course, but it helps a LOT to have detailed comments like this... or even simple ones like "it was good"!

Wishing you a super lovely day!

Here's a compilation of this anon's other asks:

Next up, Clive you little weirdo (affectionate)!

Starting Clive's route was already breaking me because, as I said, Kay's my fave so there I was making sure not to bond with him too much so that I could get Clive's route. That coupled with The Plot Twist™ of Act 1 and basically I was already grieving with the start of this route. I say all this but truly I was already fond of Clive. He's just so incredibly, adorably, painfully earnest in all he does. It's hard not to love him even when he acting so obviously suspicious. And that sincerity in his interactions with Xani over the course of the route does help to lessen the sting of certain reveals. This route did answer some questions I had about Kay's route but it also raised so many more??? Like seriously as this route went on I was half ready to do a conspiracy board to try and piece things together. I enjoyed how this route dealt with identity and how you choose to see both yourself and others. And it was sooooo much fun interacting with Clive over the course of this route and seeing his funny and adorable reactions to Xani mixed in with how achingly sweet he was at times. And it all made the drama of the latter part of the route all the more better! Once again, shout out for the VA work because Clive's VA did a great job selling how awkward and sweet this guy truly is. Great first impression with the hiding behind the tree scene and the adorableness of the scene at the end of Branch 1. So while for Kay I preferred his Branch 2 ending (I did say that it was the Branch 2 ending I loved more for him right? The one with the party? bleh my memory is bad sometimes but yeah that's my fave of the two for Kay) in Clive's case my preferred ending for him in the Branch 1 ending. Mainly for the heart melting sweetness and partially because I couldn't bear having poor Xani deal with a certain consequence of Branch 2's ending.

Now we got my precious baby Shannon!

This book wasn't big in terms of spooks but it dealt with other kinds of fears that still chilled me to the bone. I adored how this route handled paranoia and how much do you truly understand/try to understand the people in your life. I was already attached to Shannon in the common route so finally getting to play her route was great (plus I'm a sucker for childhood friend romances)! Shannon's bubbly energy and A+ friendship was so adorable (everyone deserves to have an incredible friend like Shannon) and precious but my truly favorite scenes were the ones where she tried to open up more about what she was going through. I felt her frustration and loneliness whenever Xani wouldn't let her in (completely understandable why Xani would but I also totally felt why it hurt Shannon so much). Shannon's VA completely sold me on her adorable bubbly self and also completely sold me during the scenes where she let out emotions other than "I'm happy bubbly Shannon". A certain yelling scene after a certain other character's role in everything was revealed comes to mind most. Can I just say that gigantic WTF moment (the "memory" one for the sake of being as spoiler free as possible) nearly fried my brain? Like I was right there with Xani wondering what the hell was going on here and how that happened. Didn't get a conspiracy board but I did actually start taking a shit ton of notes in a spare notebook I have trying to piece together everything going on and all the questions I have! Also screw Dustin, all my homies hate Dustin >:( But it was fun to meet Charlie and Choi (will we see more of them later on? they were so fun it'd be a shame if we didn't). For Shannon it was actually a really close call between Branch 1 and Branch 2 for my favorite ending because each branch had something I loved so much in terms of romance, friendship and pure drama. But the Branch 2 ending just managed to win between the two because I liked that drama more and also that dance scene was too precious for words! Also the after credits scene of Branch 2 killed me with cuteness!

And last but note least, my actual mom Lana!

When I looked at the walkthrough for Lana's route and saw there seemed to be fewer choices than for the other routes I was worried that would mean her route would just be shorter. But nope, you put my fears to rest when I saw what you did with Act 3! I'm really glad you made that choice for Act 3, because it answered so many questions about the precious acts in her route but also gave a great insight into Lana's mindset! May be sounding like a broken record here but Lana's VA also did a wonderful job here, giving Lana such a caring and soothing voice. Like that finale scene between her and Xani was beautiful and made me melt into a puddle from how much love I could feel in Lana's words! I enjoyed this route's take on trust and the past, how much of it do we hold onto and how much do we need to let go of in order to move forward and heal. This route also revealed a couple somethings that I had been guessing early on and was so excited to have confirmed (namely the identity of a certain someone Lana knows and what said someone's name is). The dream sequences in this route were sooo cool and trippy and makes me want more and more because I need answers! I need all the answers!!! I adored seeing Xani and Lana interact with each other, seeing them reignite that closeness from their past while Xani also has to battle between sincere love for Lana and the mess of emotions coming from all the shit that happens over the route. Lana only has the one good end though I loved how you had variations in there via having the other three be potential love interests and also a certain other variation. It really was fun to try them all out (especially since I super curious how you were gonna pull of one particular variation considering said character's unique position at this point in the game)! Also can I say Lana was incredible in both how hard she tries and truly is a wonderful guardian for Xani and also in how she deals with the grief and despair of past tragedies and also the nonsense of general adult life. Personally I'm closer to Lana's age than the rest of the cast's ages so I ended up really connecting with many of her struggles since they mirror so many of my own.

Last one, I promise!!!

Anyways yeah those are my scrambled thoughts after playing the routes. I'm over here basically vibrating intensely because I cannot wait for Book 3 and the final book to be released. I'm getting closer and closer to upgrading my notebook to a full blown conspiracy board 😂 But seriously, I have so many questions and all the hints and teases you put throughout these routes has my brain going into overdrive trying to figure it all out. Because I noticed certain things and was glad the game was like "yeah isn't this off?" but there was other stuff pointed out to me that I didn't even realize (the dates…THE DATES). Also Xani is such a wonderful MC, my love and light. Both female Xani and male Xani have such adorable designs and their VAs did great when it came to bringing them to life in both sweet moments and in the harsher moments (also loved seeing the different reactions the other characters would have based on Xani's gender it was so cool you added those variations in dialogue). Anyways you have done such a good job on the writing on this game and please pass along my admiration and love to the artists who made the incredible images, the composers and singers and all the music folks who made some absolutely amazing tracks that were perfect for the scenes, and also to all the fantastic VAs who brought these characters to life! Love the game and am eagerly awaiting the next part!!!

[utapriyanderes]

Here’s the revised version:

Can you do a Yandere!HEAVENS (Eichii, Kira, Van and Yamato) when their s/o knocks them out in an act of self-defense when they're about to take things a bit too far (e.g. smashes a vase on their head). Thinking she's killed them, it causes her to flee in fright. Once she is gone, they get up and I let you decide what happens afterwards

Thank you so much for the ask and resending it in! I hope you enjoy it~!

(Edit: I wrote this then reread the ask, so this isn't necessarily out of self defense and just something they decided to try to get out of their captivity, but I still hope you enjoy it either way and if you would like it to be self defense then I can try again and you can just resend it. Though I hope you still enjoy it!)

Eiichi Otori:

    I ran out of the house as fast as I could. I quickly go into the garage and check to see which car this key works for before finding the right one. I'm quick to go into it and drive off, far away from this place. I don't take a single look back, taking in a long deep breath of air accepting my new found freedom.

    Part of me can't believe I actually did it! All it took was a swift hit in the back of the head with the alarm clock and then he instantly went down. I can't help but to laugh to myself at the whole ordeal. Why haven't I tried that sooner? Though it doesn't matter now since he can't take me back. He's dead after all.

    With that thought I drive. I drive as far away as I can until I need gas in the car. Thankfully I took his wallet with me so I can fill up the car and keep going. When the tank is full I go inside and pay the cashier the proper amount. I leave the store and start to walk back, but someone grabs me. They put a hand over my mouth and pull me into a dark corner where no lights are.

    "Did you really think it could be that easy Angel?" I can't help but to tense at that voice.

    "How about we go back home and talk this out?" I hear his voice right beside my ear. I start to kick and scream, anything to be noticed so I don't have to go back with him. Though no one is getting gas this late at night, and the cashier most likely can't hear me. So I'm stuck being dragged by him, being placed into the same car I drove away with. He puts me in the backseat and buckles me in. He then handcuffs my wrists to the top of the front passenger seat so I can't unbuckle myself.

    He then moves to the driver's seat and starts the car. He glances back at me with a smile on his face.

    "How about we go for a drive first? I should let you experience this one last time before I truly put you in a cage Angel."

Kira Sumeragi:

    I shift my eyes over from the back of his head to the vase full of flowers right beside me. He made the vase himself and gifted it to me to tell me how much he loves me. Though if he loves me then why would he keep me locked up like this? Which is also why I have to do this. If he loves me then he will understand.

    I grab the vase slowly to not disturb the quietness of the room. I take the flowers and place them back down. Then slowly I move towards him. As soon as I'm close enough I raise the vase as much as I can then smash it over his head. He goes down right then and there.

    I'm quick to then go find the keys and slip on my shoes. I put the front door key in the lock and turn it. Hearing the satisfaction of the door unlocking, I run out into the cool night. I'm so happy with being free that I don't even know where to run to. I just run and feel the fresh chilly breeze go across my cheeks as I run around aimlessly.

    I finally stop once I need to catch my breath. I stop by a lamp post and start to figure out a location to go to. Anywhere where people are should be good. In fact I should probably go to the police station, but I don't want to end up in another jail if I'm blamed for killing my "boyfriend" despite it being self defense. So I think it over. After a moment of thinking I reason that somewhere crowded would be the best option, but now to find somewhere that is crowded this late at night.

    Then, in the darkness of the night I see something move out of the corner of my eye. I look over in the direction I saw it coming from but see nothing. I can feel fear starting to creep up within me and decide that it's best to keep moving. Even though he's not around anymore, it doesn't mean someone else isn't here. So I start running, though I don't go far.

    I'm pulled back into someone and can feel something being placed over my mouth, a cloth with some weird smelling chemicals on it, but chemicals I know all too well.

    "It's... alright… (Y/N)... I'm here… for you… now." Those words in that voice are the only thing I remember hearing before my eyelids droop down and close. Then quickly after, I fall limp into his arms.

Van Kiryuin:

    I slowly back up. I look down at his lifeless body and drop the bat that I used to do it. After looking at him for a good minute I run as fast as I can. As soon as I'm out I grab the bike against "our" place and start pedaling. I pedal until I feel safe enough to finally slow down.

    I take a moment to consider my options before stopping at a diner that still seems to be open. I pedal up and then put the bike in the bicycle rack before entering. I walk past the one other customer in there and head towards a corner table. I quickly pick up the menu to look at what they have to offer. While looking at the food my stomach lets out a loud growl. Disrupting the quiet atmosphere.

    Though instead of being embarrassed I just end up ordering my food when the waitress comes by. Then as soon as my food comes, I dig right in. By the time I'm done with my satisfying meal I hear someone else come in. I don't pay much notice to who it is as I get up to go pay. Except all of a sudden, I'm called out to.

    "Hey, (N/N)-chan! I'm so happy to see that you're safe n' sound!" When I hear his voice it makes me almost want to lurch up all the food I just ate.

    "Don't worry, I'll cover this one." He flashes me a smile and pays for my meal. I use this opportunity to go outside and grab my bike. Yet when I go to pull it out I can't move it. I try to pull at it a few times but find it no use. I take a closer look and see that it's locked in place. Letting out a shaky breath I decide to start running, but before I can, he grabbed my wrist.

    "Van, please…," I start pleading with him. He lets out a soft chuckle, "It's alright (N/N)-chan! Let's go back home and talk this out. There's nothin' a little talkin' can't fix after all."

Yamato Hyuga:

    I run and run as long as it takes me away from him. I pass street lights and buildings knowing with each step I'll be farther away from him and a step closer to safety. Even when my feet need a rest and my lungs are burning for me to stop, I keep going. I might be free now and he may be dead, but it doesn't mean I'm actually safe.

    Though eventually I do stop. I hunch over to catch my breath once I can't take it anymore. A block up ahead I notice an entrance for a nightclub. I decide to go up a little and sneak in with a crowd of people going in. Once inside I'm hit with the loud atmosphere and can smell the booze coming from some people surrounding me. I decide to go hide in a corner of the bar and just observe everything for now and to take a short rest. As soon as I'm feeling better I'll head out once again.

    I look around the venue but mostly stay focused on the front after finding a back exit door if needed. I also wave off the bartender knowing that I'll need to stay focused. I end up thanking myself for it a minute later when I see him walking in. My heart can't help but to drop. Yet quietly I get off my stool and start to make my way onto the dance floor in hopes the crowd and flashing lights will cover me.

    I then start to make my way towards the back exit but in the middle of making my way there I feel someone grab my arm. My heart picks up speed as I turn around. Orange eyes are staring back at me. He gives me a smirk before looking up to notice the door that I was going towards. He then pushes me along as gently as he can until we are out of the club.

    As soon as we are out I try to yank myself free from him, "L-Let go of me!" I shout at him also in hopes someone might hear. He's quick to cover my mouth with one of his hands.

    "Did you really think a pot was going to do me in? It takes a lot more than that to get rid of me." Yamato looks at me challengingly. I glare back into his orange orbs trying to spread to him my distaste.

    "Heh, I'll forgive you this once. If ya don't make a sound as I bring ya back home." I don't want to give in. I want my freedom. Yet I know that if I don't give in then I'll have even less freedom than he already gives me at home. I refuse to be kept in a cage that small, so I give him a nod, making him remove his hand. He then moves his other hand from my upper arm to my hand.

    "Let's get going then." We start to walk hand in hand back home. To anyone who passes us by they probably see a couple taking a midnight stroll together… but if only they knew what this relationship really was.

[miyeosin]

i agree with your post about the line distribution!! i also love and respect soyeon as an artist, but when it comes to title tracks nxde and tomboy follow the same structure, and it would have been far more exciting to have things different. i find myself going back to titles like hwaa, where soyeon opened the song vocally and gave it a completely different feeling, i also feel like her rap was more well-integrated within the song structure - in nxde her second verse feels kind of jarring. i think miyeon's voice shines so much in the bsides, she makes each song really shine, the more i listen to her since her solo came out, the more i fall in love with her voice... also it's a little ironic that we got so much shuhua in the title - finally! - but i barely hear her in the bsides... i'd really love it if they go out of the box in terms of song structure bc following a formula, even the tomboy one, isn't going to help them develop more... they could become one of those groups stuck imitating their megahit sound over and over (momoland, exid) and i really don't want that for them.

i think miyeon might get better "treatment" if she starts contributing to composing and lyrics, like i've noticed minnie and yuqi getting a larger share of a song they wrote, so maybe that's one way for her to shine more. i know she wrote the lyrics of a song on my, but idk if she wants to compose and she doesn't have to, but i guess that might be one of the reasons she doesn't get more varied/many lines...

all that said, do you think it's likely we get another miyeon album in the next two years? or will other members getting solos push her comeback even further?

i feel like tomboy and nxde are kind of like two sides of the same coin, in that they touch on the same overall topic just with a different focus area. so it doesn't really bother me that they have the same structure. and with the mess that 2021 was for them maybe get back in the swing of things, so unless the next cb follows the same, i'm not really worried about her getting stuck. and honestly it isn't all that different from past title tracks, if she just put a real bridge back in the songs...or add a second verse before her rap (like in uh-oh or lion)

(just so no one has to scroll past a long response)

i actually love her rap for nxde...i wasn't too crazy about her rap in hwaa. only bc i didn't like the transition from her to yuqi wasn't as smooth as i wanted it to be (with the overlapping (which i think would've been fine if soyeon's voice tapered off instead of just stopping the way it does)) but i don't mind hwaa, or oh my god, bc even tho miyeon is singing the same part of the song the lines don't repeat each other

and honestly my issue isn't even the structure of the song, i need her to know that miyeon (and yuqi) can sing verses in the title tracks.

off the top of the head, some statements i remember her making seemed like she tends to write around minnie's voice (i say that lightly bc they were just simple comments like how she said she would write western sounding songs to show off minnie's charm, and when she was talking about how she like how minnie sounds when she sings certain things. and i haven't really seen her say anything like that about miyeon's voice (and if she has then absolutely no one cared about it bc i've never seen it)) they all have their charms, minnie has a raspy voice, yuqi has a deep voice, and miyeon has a very crisp clean voice. i would like to hear them all utilized on title tracks. i mean miyeon is a main vocalist....like soyeon pls

maybe it's bc minnie's voice gets a lot of attention for being so raspy that it's become a staple for idle tts. idk.

i keep hoping that we'll see her name listed in the credits on an idle song soon.

and i certainly hope so. [my] did well and i mean 2022 was 2 cbs and a solo. and even if they were just planning her solo as a fallback if ind wasn't successful, they still made it happen and both were quality. so they're obviously capable of planning more then one release a year. idk what the cb time frame usually is for soloist who are still in active groups, but i feel like 2 years is reasonable.

(cube: triple h released music 2 years in a row while pentagon was also releasing music. hyuna only had 1(?) release during that time but i mean right after the second album cube decided to be an idiot...)

(not cube: baekhyun debuted as a soloist in 2019 and had 1 cb a year since then before enlisting. and during that time other exo members were also releasing solo albums. but, exo was also on a weird hiatus where sm only had them releasing 1 album towards the end of the year....so they are technically an active group they were.....moving as a turtles pace.)

(idk how cube operates but those are some things to consider)

[traincat]

I feel like I've read a ton, but I'm honestly still pretty new to comics rn. That being said... What is one more day? Ik we don't like it and it happened a while ago, but that's about it [,=

Time for Spider-Man History With Traincat: Highly Controversial Storylines! And that feeling is totally normal with comics with huge canons -- you can read a ton and still have some fairly big blindspots in your understanding of the total picture. That being said, this is kind of a big one, both in terms of Spider-Man history/canon and in terms of how Spider-Man fandom functions. I would say probably no other storyline has had quite as much impact on how the fandom views and interacts with the source material as One More Day/Brand New Day. It's been the Wild West out here ever since it happened. (Which was in 2007, so like, yes, fairly long ago, especially when you look at how Spider-Man canon has evolved since, but in the grand scheme of things, also kind of recent. One More Day is not old enough to rent a car.)

So when people talk about Spider-Man's One More Day, they're usually actually talking about two related arcs: One More Day and Brand New Day. For the sake of simplicity, I'm going to be covering both. For the sake of transparency, I am going to admit that I think One More Day, as a self-contained story, is good, actually. This is controversial! I admit that! But I stand by my stupid opinions on this blog, for some reason. I think One More Day when you examine it on its own, by which I mean you ignore the decade and a half worth of canon that came after it, as a Spider-Man story and as a PeterMJ-centric story holds up under scrutiny and that people who don't like it don't like complicated love stories and might actually throw their own mothers under buses. No offense to the OMD haters. Little bit of offense to the OMD haters. Brand New Day, which is the continuation of One More Day, on the other hand -- largely bad. Very largely bad.

But let's backtrack. One More Day is a four issue crossover storyline that takes place directly after Civil War, during which Iron Man and Captain America got divorced and divvied up the superhero community and Spider-Man made some startlingly bad decisions and made a fugitive out of himself and his family in a manner that got Aunt May shot, and Spider-Man: Back in Black (Amazing Spider-Man #539–543) which examines Peter's actions immediately after Aunt May is shot and ends with him humiliating the Kingpin in front of an entire prison. One More Day consists of Amazing Spider-Man #544 -> Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man #24 -> Sensational Spider-Man v2 #41 -> Amazing Spider-Man #545. In One More Day, Aunt May is dying, all of Peter's efforts to save her have thus far failed, and, consumed by guilt, he is rapidly running out of time. Approached by Mephisto, a literal demon from hell, Peter is offered a deal: Aunt May will live -- and Peter's identity, which was previously revealed to the world at large during Civil War, will once again be hidden from the memories of all but a select few -- if Peter trades him his marriage to Mary Jane. Peter and Mary Jane struggle with this, but eventually both agree to the deal. The clock strikes twelve, the deal is done, and Peter and Mary Jane's marriage fades into history.

(ASM #545) A reasonably simple premise for a story that caused so many problems -- most, I would argue, not actually the original story's fault. So obviously, this was an unpopular move -- Peter and Mary Jane had for a long time been a fan favorite Marvel couple, and in a fictional universe where most relationships are doomed as soon as they begin, the enduring Spider-Marriage was sacred ground. And then, with a snap of its fingers, it was gone: Peter wakes up in Aunt May's house, no longer married, with Mary Jane out of the picture. (She would not return to the book on any sort of consistent basis for over 50 issues.) In the wake of One More Day began Brand New Day, which is basically what it sounds like: a promised "brand new day" of "exciting" Spider-Man content and a publishing schedule where Amazing Spider-Man came out three times a month. (Which sounds good on paper but I think in practice caused more problems than it created good storylines.) Peter, newly single again, had new love interests! And also Harry Osborn was alive again for some reason! I generally like Harry's post-BND stories so that part's fine with me.

But overall? Brand New Day is a mess. It knows it wants to tread new and exciting ground with Peter -- tell new stories! ensnare new readers! make them fork out for a book three times a month. -- but it doesn't know what those stories should be. Readers who were invested in Peter and Mary Jane's relationship -- a major facet of Spider-Man comics for decades at that point -- felt rightfully betrayed that the marriage could be so easily traded in and that Mary Jane herself, perhaps the second most important figure in Spider-Man comics after Peter, could be tossed aside. From a personal point of view, I think Brand New Day fails in large part because it abandons what has always made Spider-Man such a compelling series, and that's the mix of Peter's personal life with his vigilante life. BND sees Peter with new friends, new jobs, new love interests, etc -- it is very much a brand new day! But it isn't a better day compared to the stories that came before it. I do like some post-BND stories, especially American Son (ASM #595-599) and Grim Hunt (ASM #634-637), but compared to pre-BND where I think the majority of canon is good, it's a very lacking body of work that is hurt by the way it divorced itself from the PeterMJ marriage as Spider-Man's central relationship.

"But Traincat, I thought you said you liked One More Day?" Yeaaaaah. I do. This is why I keep saying I like One More Day on its own merits, and not on the merits of the stories it opened the doors for. I like a good romantic tragedy in fiction, and the way Peter and Mary Jane's final scene in One More Day plays out is beautiful. I like the idea of Peter caught in this impossible situation, being asked to choose between two women he loves more than his own life. A really common criticism I see leveled against One More Day is that Peter should have chosen his relationship with Mary Jane over May's life, which is -- okay, I think it's weird that people keep insisting on this, not in the least because by asking Peter to sacrifice his aunt's life they're essentially demanding he commit a callous, out of character act in order to further his own interests. It's also weird because the thing is, Peter already chose Mary Jane over May -- that's what gets them into this situation. It's literally in the scene where May is shot:

(ASM #538) When the gun goes off, Peter's spider-sense kicks in, and he covers Mary Jane, leaving May in the path of the bullet. He does choose Mary Jane over May, regardless of whether he realized what he was doing. And that's why he can't make that choice a second time. His actions in One More Day do make sense for him as a character, whether or not any individual reader likes them, and Mary Jane's actions make sense, too -- after all, she's the one who ultimately tells Mephisto that they agree to the deal when Peter can't bring himself to voice it.

A lot of people also like to nitpick One More Day by going, well, why could (x) or (y) with life saving powers save Aunt May which is like -- yeah, I guess, but if we're going to ask that about this specific comic book near death setup, you kind of have to do it with every single one, and I'm not going to stake every single moment of comic book drama on whether or not that gold kid from the X-Men was busy at the time. Comics are soap operas in flimsy paper form: serialized longform storytelling that relies heavily on melodrama. Sometimes you have to go with things. Sometimes you sell your marriage to the devil. Stuff happens. That in and of itself doesn't make One More Day a bad story -- and while some people blame the Spider-Marriage's dissolution entirely on One More Day, I think that's a little shortsighted when you look at the history of Spider-Man since the turn of the century. It's clear -- and Marvel themselves have been perhaps a little too open about this -- that Marvel in the past few decades has had trouble with the direction they want to take Spider-Man. They WANTED Spider-Man to appeal to a distinctly youthful audience that they didn't think they were actually reaching -- understandable, considering that Marvel nearly went bankrupt around 2000 and was saved by Ultimate Spider-Man, an out of main continuity series which retold Spider-Man from the beginning and focused heavily on Peter as a teen -- but the problem was Spider-Man in the main continuity was at that point in canon a happily married man who was pushing the dreaded 30 whether or not they wanted to admit that. This is also why Marvel has continually pivoted away from Spider-Man having kids, because they feared that making him a dad would age him too much and make him unrelatable to their coveted audience of Teens. (This is also why almost every new Spider-Man property, especially the live action movies, perpetually stick him back into high school, despite that occupying a very small slice of 616 canon.) So around the year 2000, they started trying things in relation to the Spider-Marriage, which was viewed as a major problem -- after all, what's more adult than being married and liking your wife. First, they had Mary Jane presumed dead. Then, they had Mary Jane and Peter separate. Then, when Mary Jane and Peter had only recently gotten back together, One More Day struck. If One More Day specifically hadn't gone the way it had, it's pretty clear that the Spider-Marriage was going to go one way or another -- it's a little bit of a shame it happened when it did, because OMD is the end of J Michael Straczynski's run, and JMS wrote a really beautiful Peter and MJ relationship. But Marvel as a company and especially editor in chief at the time Joe Quesada viewed Peter and Mary Jane's relationship as a major problem in how they wanted to portray Spider-Man and thought that striking the relationship from the books would allow them more freedom in their portrayal of him as younger and more relatable to their Desired Audience of people who I guess really wanted to see Peter sleep with characters who weren't Mary Jane.

(ASM #546. Younger! Fresher! Less attached! Kissing random women in the club!)

The problem with One More Day has always been in the follow through -- from the content of Brand New Day to the pacing of events to the fact that Marvel withheld key information for such a long time that it allowed misinformation to thrive. After all, what does it MEAN to trade Peter and Mary Jane's marriage to the devil? It altered the events of canon in Peter and the majority of other characters' memories so that the marriage didn't exist, but it left people wondering -- did the relationship as they remembered it existed? How much of Spider-Man canon was altered? And the answers didn't come for over 100 issues of Amazing Spider-Man. One Moment In Time or OMIT (Amazing Spider-Man #638-641), which revealed that while Peter and Mary Jane never got married in the altered canon they did continue their long committed relationship up until just after Civil War, was published in 2010, so essentially readers were hung out to dry without answers for three years. That's a long time to string people along, but not as long as it took Marvel to confirm that the popular fan theory that Mary Jane retained her memories of the original timeline as part of her own deal with Mephisto was also true, which happened this year. I would say, at least from my perspective, a lot of the frustration doesn't come from the individual One More Day storyline so much as how Marvel has continually dragged out the aftermath, using the promise of a Spider-Marriage return to keep fans on the hook. Which is why One More Day continually comes up in discussion of current Spider-Man, because Spencer's run has relied very heavily on imagery from that period with a serious question of whether or not there actually was going to be payoff, something which is still up in the air.

This has been Spider-Man History With Traincat, brought to you by anonymice like you.

[piratical-princess]

Who is ready for a WHALE of a tale?

It begins back in 2003. I was a few days away from graduation, awkward and trollish in appearance but still convinced I would one day blossom into an elegant, Sandra Bullock-esque knockout. I'd reached a point in my life where I was through being shy around people I found attractive - I would simply say what I felt, and hope that eventually someone wouldn't turn tail and sprint.

A fella - for this story is name is Frankie Avalon - passed me a flier. He was running for class president and his flier was a comedic list of reasons students should vote for him. At the time, it was hilarious and charming, and I was sure I was also hilarious and charming enough to make Frankie fall for me - lumpy potato figure and swarthy appearance notwithstanding.

I wrote a list of my own - reasons that Frankie Avalon should stop everything he was doing and date me at once. I was witty, charming, a Lucille Ball and Audrey Hepburn sandwich. Aaaalll lady.

Frankie Avalon never spoke to me, positively ran when he saw me in the halls. No problem - I was graduating soon and leaving this raging tire fire of a town.

Three years in the future and I am living in Hawaii - still unattractive, but working on it. In 2006, record shops still exist and I work at one. I have an mp3 player and a cellular telephone with buttons. LiveJournal is THE social media platform for disillusioned twentysomethings with a creative streak, and back in those days a post just talking about how weird dating is or how I nearly got in a car accident would garner 50-60 comments each, if you can believe it. (Sidenote: Should we all go back to LJ?)

A friend from back home sent me a link to a pre-reddit style computer club forum where a certain type of male could compare software programs and D-20 dice with impunity from the pedestrian world at large. In the post to which I was directed, my old crush-letter to Frankie Avalon had been posted by someone I didn't even know, for everyone to see and snicker over. Another old crush Dave was among the snickering jerks, as well - to my absolute mortification - as Frankie Fucking Avalon.

A few words from my 2006 self on aforementioned LiveJournal: There are some things, particularly things in high school, that one should never, ever have to relive. Once you graduate and you move miles and miles away and leave absolutely everything behind in favor of a new life that actually makes sense and nobody knows who you used to be, you think it's over. You think you won't have to remember all that dumb shit you said, you won't have to play nice with people who called you names, you'll never have to go back to your stupid fucking high school reunion, and you can happily forget everything that happened to you back then.

But you can't, and it's there, and it festers under your skin like some loathsome disease, waiting until you feel safe to strike. I was gone, it was over, I'm living in fucking Hawaii for chrissake, and my past can just stay put, slowly fermenting in my psyche and building up complexes that will take years to fix like every normal person. But it's not good enough to be far away, it's not good enough to forget everyone you used to know and misplace their email addresses and never return phone calls. It's never enough because the worst, most humiliating parts of your old life will always, always come back and grab you.

I was horrified, and I moved on. Abusive relationship, money struggles, comic projects coming and going, death of my mother, the end to the abusive relationship, a move to Florida, a real career, and someone sweet and funny and smart and hot who loves me later - I get a message. A message through my etsy shop, of all places, although I imagine I'm not an easy name to find on the google.

Frankie Avalon had found my 15 year old post about him when googling his name for an upcoming job. He wrote me a massive apology.

I've always been embarrassed for just avoiding you after you gave me that letter, but I was, you know, 16 and let's say not exactly a model human being. I would never publicly shame you for that, I wasn't involved in reposting it or anything. I'm not even sure who scanned it or what my comment was on the matter in 2006 as the link is now deleted, but I imagine it was something assholey. I wish I could read what my stupid past self wrote so I could properly apologize, but anyway, I am sorry. It was pretty awkward, is all my brain holds about it currently. Most of my high-school - late-20's life is categorized that way, so it's pretty full and the details have been lost. I wish I was the sort of person to say, "Hey, it was actually pretty cool this person wrote me this response," but alas, I was a creature of peer pressure. So, mystery solved if you ever wondered.

I hadn't wondered. I knew I had put him in an awkward position as he was young and nerdy and I was not especially overburdened with good looks and charm. The apology was, however, tarnished ever so slightly by the ending, where he asked me to remove his name from the post so it would not show up in a screening for this job he wanted. Maybe if not for that, he would have apologized anyway - one can assume he had no idea I'd written the post until he searched himself, and one can further assume he didn't know how to contact me back when it initially happened.

I think all of us have fantasized about being in this position - the person responsible for childhood humiliation now coming to you with an apology and a favor to ask, the power you might hold if you decided to be a vengeful god of destruction.

But I'm not. I deleted the incriminating post, said good luck with the job and happy Halloween, and left it. The other ghosts of my past are a hell of a lot more frightening than some mush letter to a guy who never spoke to me.

But... what a day for an old ghost to come haunting.

Happy Halloween, witches.

[chasseuses]

reasons why i love jade leech part 3

I don't know why I'm doing this again I am a big fool goodbye ☠️ but ahhahahwhahjwhsjfhfjfnfkbdsjbdkdbjd im a doormat for him so. haha. I'll just. fukcignvkjgknv everyone pls look away this is the last post i swear 🤩

Part 1, 2

So.... 🤡 Hi I'm back again with another simp post I'm your local Jade simp and I'm here to point out reasons why I'm an absolute doormat for this eel and why I'm staying as one.

I'M FUCKIFNCGD. SCRVEN AMWIANAJWBAJVWKQVWKAGAKAVDKFBYKDGSKEIANSJAMEINSLENDKEBEKSBEKSHEKDJEKSJRKDJRKDHSKDHKEHSKEBSKEJDLDHDKDBDKHRKDBEKSHEKSUSMS

Ok so, URGFKFHDKDUDKSJSKFHDKGDKDHD if you've been here long enough or something i think i posted something about his initial birthday suit up illustration here which i wrote while i was sobbing and being overly emotional over him.

BUT BASICALLY. IT WAS ABOUT HIS SMILE. I MEAN RTHGJKHJGK JADE LEECH..... SMILING.............N N .VJV.JV. WITHOUT ANY ULTERIOR MOTIVES...... IM FUCKFING DEAD YO!!!!!

HEAR ME OUT. I JUST GJVKJGKVNGKV ... dont u think there's just something about someone as shady as jade who looks shady 90% of the time look like he's not shady for the first time ༎ຶ‿༎ຶ

idk if that made sense but yeah.

ALSO IDK IF ANYONE WAS SIMPING HARD ENOUGH TO NOTICE BUT LIKE 😭 IF U COMPARE HIS HANDS TO FLOYD'S THERE'S A DIFFERENCE.

and now if you've known me long enough to know that i am a big fan of his hands, you'll know that i went absolutely crazy over this detail!!!!!! THEY WERE ROUGHER THAN FLOYD'S AND THAT WAS JUSTHGJJGKGKFNKFKGNGKGNFKDDJFKGNGKFJF A DIRECT HIT TO THE GUT WHAT THE FUCK DISPLEX YOU CANT DO THIS TO US 😭😭😭😭😭

do u see the fork he's holding?

yeah

i wanna be that fork so bad

im not even kidding

i legit want to be that fork.

why?

.

haha.

you dont need to know

ANYWAYS. ONTO THE STORY 🥰

we got a lot of lore for the twins this time around and i am tHRIVING :BIBBEK:

"However, and this is unusual for me, but so many people wishing me ‘Happy birthday’ has made me rather embarrassed." HELP?????????&(&!4(£;#(-__8-##(-_(£+£(£ I II I I I I HUCHJWNWISHEJDHWOHSKWGSKSYAKGSKA HI KAUAKSGKAGSKSGSJAYJAGSJAGAJSYSIGSJGSJSHSJAHsks

Their mother!!! Uses!!! -san!!!! At the end of their names!!!!!!! Which got me going 🧐 that is not usual at all!!!!! wtf is going on in the leech household

a lot of ppl theorized mafia stuff and all of that which honestly makes sense imo and also because i find that hella hot HAHSMDGSKDHKSJS mr leech...... 😳 mafia.... HELPGKFJKGJFKF

wait. won't that mean he's rich.

bonus points eyy /j GFJFHFJDHJFNF

"Well, they do say that married couples take after each other… It’s good that they get along well." MR LEECH YOUR HAND IN MARRIAGE RFNJVJKHKGKGKOGJGKVJKFCKIJGKTJKFFJKDHDKXHFFHFJ

guys im losing it

if that wasn't already obvious RHUFHGUF

HELLO????????? ONE OF THE REASONS WHY HE LIKES TERRARIUMS??1?"!"!'! HELPFKVKV CONTROL IT'S CONTROL

"Whether they live or die is also up to me…" i just think.

no i dont think but you get what i mean why the fuck is that line lowkey hot lmfao something is wrong with me

i dont knwo why the fuck but the fact that he likes unpredictability is also kinda????? lmao how boring was ur life that everything u did went exactly your way 😭 how does that bring u amusement i cant relate gomen mr leech

or am i completely wrong idk 🗿 mr leech tell me more about you onegai

Ok honestly, before the birthday card came out, I thought their earrings were like,,, from their parents or something. like heirlooms!! i thought they were precious in that aspect but what i rlly didn't expect is for them to fckinghgkgngknfkf FIGHT A DAMN STURGEON FOR ITS SCALES 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

deadass why would a sturgeon challenge them anyways 🧐 and the twins were just like, "ok sure but can we have your scales if we win" and they rlly did 😭 just how strong were you guys before middle school wtf!!!!

and they turned the scales into earrings 🧐 which is now what they wear!! p cute

they're apparently popular to use as amulets in the coral sea so i. i fucking rotted over this AHHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHHA hrufhfigjofhckfbcjc should i delve deeper into this? no. but perhaps you can find out what my rot is about just by reading this single bullet

"Floyd and I have gone near beaches on nights with fireworks as well." HELEPEHLEPDFKLEGSLDOSODB EGHFKCNDKMCURLDHLDGSMX

WATCHIFNFG FIREOEKSKF WITHHF JADE AJFNJFVJFHKDHF

ohmigod this is getting way longer than intended 🤡 should i continue

yeah fucj it HFJVHFJHCJFHJCJ everybody pls ignore my rot 😌

as all of you know, jade wears purple eyeliner. that's right.

Purple eyeliner.

Why does this matter, you ask? Oh sweet summer child, it may not matter to you but to me—eyeliner is super fucking hot I kid you not I started crying at night when I thought about this and wrote a mini essay about it like a fool so I'm just going to.

I am legitimately losing my shit over this like-?? Who allowed you to fucking put on eyeliner? You're already deadly without them and more so with them.

It honestly makes me wonder if he puts this on his own or not but seeing how deft he is with his hands, it's not a stretch to assume that he puts it on his own.

And I find that really hot since look at those clean strokes..!! He's better at applying them than me. I have this desire to let him do my makeup but when I think about it I start making incomprehensible noises and bury my face into my pillow. Purple eyeliner just-? Looks so good on him?

It should be illegal at this rate he looks so tempting I hate it. Sometimes I just have this urge to ruin in, I don t care how I just want to smudge it for some reason. Like deadass, I just want you all to appreciate how good his eyes look!

HELP HIS EYESDHFHTKHEKFHDKFHDMFHKDHFKSGDK IM FUCKFINDG LSOING IT

WHY DO I LOVE HIS EYES SO MUCH I DONT FUCKING KNOW I'VE NEVER BEEN A FAN OF CHARACTERS WITH MISMATCHED EYES BUT WITH HIM IM JUSTHGJJFJG KG NVM

His eyes are fucking beautiful, man. 🤡💞 Could stare at them for hours and never get tired!!!!

Need I say more?

BRO IM FUVKGIGNVJKGVKNGKFHFKFFJF HIS TEETH IM CRYIGGN WHAT THE ACTUALLY FUCK I KNEW THEY WERE SHARP BUTJGKVJGKGJFKGJCKFJKCFJKFFHKCJFKGJDOFHKDHFKDHDKDHDJ BARKBARKBARKBARK

I mean what 🗿

guys displex is insane because they literally made jade have two ssrs in a row with banners that were available at the same time do you know how painful that was for me

when jamil bday card dropped all i lost ebg because i panicked over the thought of a jade bday card and started saving!!! and i did!!!! i managed to save up 100 pulls and i was so fucking chill after that but then,

abema stream happened

i was asleep when that happened so when i woke up i had like 283628 pings in discord telling me that he has an ssr for the halloween event and i was just 🗿 yo say sike his bday is soon displex must be joking

haha nope! they were dead serious.

that shit was painful i started crying 🤡 what the fuck because i didn't have enough gems for both ssrs and his halloween card was just absolutely beautiful.

so i went insane and saved 200 copies of the same jade card in attempt to make him come home before pity so i dont have to whale

I mean,

Black nails.

The bandages.

The harness.

The hat is kinda ugly but that's ok.

THE BELTS AT HIS WAISTFJTKDJRKFBFKFHOFHDKDHDKSGDKSHSKXHSKJS

SO I WAS REALLY DESPERATE AHHSHDHFJFGHJFJF THANKFULLY THEY BOTH CAME HOME BEFORE PITY SO TYSM JADE I LOVE U FOR THAT AHAHJAHDJ

oh shit this got long so imma just end this here 🐬 if you read this far, congrats HAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHA

[katierosefun]

Fic writing question: 4, 12, 19 and 20!

thank you for the ask! // from this ask game

4. Which has the most “you” in it, however you’d define that?

oh, i think that would have to be until the starlight fades into night. i don't really know where that story came from except one day i was in a weird, blind panic and i scribbled as much as i could of this story in my notes app: something that's usually only reserved for personal writing. so i guess the fact that i wrote this on my notes app, something that's usually meant either for fic outlines or personal poetry / journaling / prose pieces means that i might have poured a bit more of myself into it.

12. What WIPs do you have going now? Are you excited about them?

so many. so many. excluding star wars related wips, i think my main wips (that haven't been posted yet) for beyond evil is the joseon dynasty jwds au (which i am . . . so excited to post, bc it's already very near and dear to my heart. i also think it's . . . very different from anything i'd written before, in part because i think the pining/slow burn levels are genuinely off the charts this time (and i say this after / while writing the fake married jwds au, where joo won and dong sik only finally kiss after 97k words).

besides that au, i've got some other shorter wips: i have one that has something to do with joo won and dong sik and ice skating (brought to you by a real life event that happened to me yesterday lmao), another wip that has something to do with joo won, cats, and growing trust/affection . . . another wip that's about ghost yu yeon, another wip that's like . . . i think it might be a two or three-parter, but it's hades/persephone jwds au (there is one scene that started that au and i am so excited) . . . there's yet another fic that i haven't started but i want to start, but so far it's just titled "alexa play this is me trying by taylor swift" . . . i have one fic about jeong je and dong sik and whatever the hell was their youth (i'm as much on team "park jeong je unrequited feelings for dong sik </3" but also "park jeong je and lee dong sik may or may not have actually had some kind of "more than friends" relationship, but mostly because a) they know each other best + so think okay, it's harmless to try this with each other, right? and b) two queer boys growing up in a small town? yeah.). oh, and of course . . . a midnight mass/beyond evil au that's so far called "and to dust you shall return", and there's one scene that lives rent-free in my mind and i don't really know if i'll survive it.

i realize this answer is now three paragraphs long, so i'll stop here--but as you can tell, i am very excited about them.

19. Do you make up scenes at work/on the bus/at the gym? Who are the characters that pop up the most? Do you write them down?

i make up scenes wherever i go! although i'm more than willing to admit that some of my fics were written/scribbled down in my notebook during my 10 am class last semester . . . i'm pretty sure that was where i wrote the entirety of with paper rings lmao--

the characters that are currently popping up in my head the most are, of course, probably han joo won and lee dong sik. although oddly more of han joo won these days. i'm not sure why--i think he needs attention right now. obi-wan kenobi comes to mind every once in a while too (we're currently on a break, but y'know, we get coffee from time to time).

but anyways--i do write them down! or try to, as soon as i'm able.

20. Go nuts, and talk about writing. Or write me a little ficlet-whatsit using a character/image/line I shall now specify:

talk about writing . . . just writing itself? i feel like after watching things and noticing the interweaving themes/character archetypes, i'm becoming pretty influenced by mike flanagan. or at least, i want to write something that draws on what i've learned/observed of a lot of mike flanagan's works: something that's frightening, but something that's also very quiet and very lovely. something about loss, for sure, and something about a love story disguised in horror. i've honestly fallen in love with that genre--something twisted and terrifying turning out to actually be a love story (beyond evil, the haunting of bly manor, the haunting of hill house, midnight mass) . . . and so, i think it would be cool to write something like that of my own one day. (which is what i'm kind of doing? i have a few original works that very much sit in the horror genre, but also, it's about people falling in love despite the potential of loss and so on and so forth.)