#Okay that doesn't make me necessarily feel any better about this month but it doesn't make me feel worse

[valiantarcher]

If August is the new November this year, does that mean November will be the new August or November will be November - Part II?

[runningfrom2am]

requiem // part four

summary: according to coriolanus snow, his best friend had the most beautiful voice in all of panem. she had been training her whole life constantly to get where she was; being up for a residency at the most elite opera house in all of panem. singing was her passion. her true love; and when that got stripped from her in a second, his world became a whole lot quieter. he loathed every minute of it.

pairing: coriolanus snow x fem!reader

wc: 2.3k

masterlists / nav / requests

tags/warnings: opera singer!mentor!reader (blink and you'll miss it), she's kind of a prodigy!! p cool imo, mute!reader, bestfriend!coryo, friends to lovers trope ooo, mentions of graphic violence early on (particularly the prologue) but after that it's pretty safe, depictions of ptsd/trauma, mental illness and minor suicidal ideation but at least she's not entirely alone, descriptions of minor medical treatments and use of medication.

a/n: fighting for my LIFE trying to sort out my student loans rn. also i'm sick. butttt i did just finally get my hands on hogwarts legacy so that's eating up all my time. anyway that's a small update on my life.

also, reminder to follow @runningfrom2am-library and turn on my notifications there to join my taglist for this series!!

my asks are also open to talk about this series! (i do have emoji anons open now too!)

send me any and all of your thoughts! here!

series masterlist // playlist // pinterest board

three months earlier

"You could write her a song." Clemensia suggests with a shrug, tapping her pen against the inkwell, hardly looking up from it.

Coryo scoffs, shaking his head. "Don't mock me, Clemmie. I'm serious."

"So am I!" She laughs, facing her palms up against the table and looking across at him now. "She likes music, it's like, the only thing she likes. It would make her happy, I'd bet. Is that not the whole point?"

In the face of something so juvenile as asking his best friend to go to their graduation gala together, Coryo is stumbling. You were his best friend, yes, he could just outright ask- especially considering nearly everyone had already just assumed that the two of you would be attending together, but something about that didn't sit right with him.

Other girls were getting special things. Flowers, jewelry, notes, and love letters that he had genuinely heard that, on a couple of occasions, brought tears to their eyes. Not that he wanted you to cry, but... He wanted you to feel that he cared. It was important to him that you knew he really cared.

"It is." He grumbles, rubbing his forehead.

"Okay, then-"

"I'm not writing her a song."

Clemensia sighs, rolling her eyes. "It doesn't have to be any good. Maybe it's even better if it's bad! She'd get a good laugh out of it too."

"Yes, and then I'd never live it down." He says, pushing his hair back out of his eyes and trying to put his focus on the assignment they were supposed to be working on. "Besides, I didn't ask for your advice. I don't need it."

"Yes, you do." She insists with a teasing smile, reaching over the table and poking him in the shoulder with her pen. "You wouldn't have told me otherwise. You were just too scared to ask directly."

Coryo lets out a deep breath through his nose, shaking his head in quiet denial, but she can easily make out the pink tinge on his cheeks.

"Coryo, you know she'll say yes no matter what, right?" She adds, her voice softer this time.

"That's not... that's not what I'm worried about. Necessarily, I mean."

"Ah." Clemensia hums in response, taking the end of her ink pen between her teeth. "More like... you just don't want her to get the impression that she was a last resort?"

"She's not." He defends quickly.

She raises her hands defensively, a short and quiet laugh falling from her lips in the library. "I know. I know that. I'm just clarifying that you don't want her to get that impression."

When he doesn't respond, pretending to pour all his focus into taking notes again, Clemensia lets out a dramatic sigh. "I don't know, just ask her. She knows you well enough that I really don't think it matters. Just... when's the next time you're hanging out?"

"Not sure." He mumbles, scribbling down some notes that he knows are hardly legible.

"Well, what about after class today? See if she wants to go get coffee or something."

"She's coaching until seven."

"Tomorrow?"

"Rehearsals."

Clemensia lets out a huff. "This weeken-"

"Orchestra practice." He cuts her off this time.

"Panem that girl is busy." She sighs. "How does she even have any friends at all?"

"We make time." He shrugs nonchalantly, as if it didn't bother him that he hardly ever saw his best friend this late in the academic year. That was common for you, though. Usually come summer and fall you had more free time to share with him. And he was happy to wait- it wasn't like he didn't get busy during exam seasons too.

"Okay, well, now is the time to 'make time'." She exclaims sternly, leaning closer across the table and lowering her voice to a whisper. "Because I heard rumours that Sejanus Plinth was intending on asking her, and you and I both know that she is far too kind to say no. Even if he is District."

Coriolanus' jaw tenses at that and he grips his pen just a little bit harder. "Have you done question fifteen yet?"

He had already been thinking about that for weeks, and he would torture himself for another week before he finally took Clemensia's advice and "made time".

You had seen him since that conversation he had had with Clemmie, but that didn't mean he could ever get himself to actually bring up graduation outside of asking you casually if anyone had asked you yet. To which, the answer was always an unbothered "no", and a shrug that allowed you to mask the sadness behind your smile.

He didn't exactly "make time", though. His plan was quite the opposite. Knowing you had morning practice, he got to the academy early and shoved the folded up paper in your locker and practically ran down the empty halls to the library. No taking it back now.

'A note? That's so stupid! She's your best friend! Just ask!' His thoughts race at him, but that's exactly why he did it this way. He couldn't back out again now.

"Coryo," Your familiar voice says as you slide into the seat next to him, hair perfectly styled and uniform ironed flat despite the early morning you must have had.

He looks over at you, eyes slightly wide out of nervousness. "Uh, hey... How's, um... How's your morning?" He asks, trying his best to play it casual.

You smile, sliding the folded up piece of paper you had found in your locker back over to him. "Good." You answer, already going about taking out your books. "Yours?"

"Good." He nods, mouth dry as he stares down at the paper, looking between the sheet and you.

Silently, you nod for him to open it, a small smile on your lips.

He hesitates before opening it, the conscious effort it takes to not tremble taking over his nerves.

He curses himself for his own fears about what it would say, blinking a couple times before reading the note.

'Want to go to the grad gala with me? -Coriolanus'

And then in small, flawless handwriting, a swift and smooth print that lacked any hesitation, there was a new line underneath.

'Yes :)'

"I only tried on fifty different dresses to decide on the fit and style of what I wanted." You say with a slight laugh, unzipping the garment bag that held your dress.

Coryo was sitting on your bed, like he often did, hands fidgeting in his lap. Fifty dresses to him seemed unnecessary, certainly you looked just fine in the very first one all the way through to the very last. But he did understand how seriously your family took your dresses, for both your performances and events like the one you would be attending together.

"That's... that's a fair few dresses." He laughs with a small nod, gazing into your closet and away from you for just a moment, trying to get a glimpse at your performance gowns you had stashed in bags and lining the wall. It's a wonder you had room for everything, he knew you had never tossed or re-worn a single one- all large in either sheer poofiness and volume, or bright colours and patterns that drew the eye and held them hostage in your form. Sometimes both. Coryo was never sure if it was the intent to make you look like a princess from a fairytale, but a few times a year he got to see you look just like one. What he imagined them all to be, anyway, when recalling the storybooks his mother read to him and left on the untouched shelves in his should-have-been baby sister's nursery.

"Yes, well, I wanted it to be perfect." You hum, pulling the dress out of the bag and turning to him, holding it up against your chest. "Thoughts?"

Coryo nods in response, swallowing hard. The dress was stunning, and the colour was rich- it would compliment the tones of your skin and hair beautifully. He had very little technical knowledge of fashion, but what had trickled into his mind from Tigris would lead him to believe it would be complimentary to you.

But he had no idea how he would match that.

The last of his father's salvageable dress clothes was that shirt Tigris is working on for the reaping ceremony in a couple of months, and he couldn't possibly wear that twice. If she could even salvage it. Maybe he should ask her to prioritize making it into something that would better match your dress, or just wear it plain white with the black stripes to the gala instead, so he would at least feel worthy of standing at your side. Then he could wear his academy uniform on reaping day, and claim he forgot the occasion. Would that be believable?

No, of course not. That's the day the Plinth Prize will be awarded.

Hopefully to him. Definitely to him, he had to pray. He was never a religious man- no one really was anymore, but reading about it in pre-Panem history textbooks, he couldn't deny the temptation to beg some higher power for help.

The prize would solve everything.

"You like it?" You ask, drawing him from his internal panic and he nods, smiling.

"Yeah, yes. Wow. It's lovely." He nods, clearing his throat.

"Thank you." You grin, looking down at the dress and smoothing it against your leg a bit to try and get another good look at it yourself.

You let out a soft sigh of contentment before hanging it back up. "Anyway, do you want to do like a matching thing, or is that tacky?" You ask, turning to face him again.

Coryo purses his lips in thought, drumming his fingers on his lap. "I'm not sure. Are other people matching?"

You knew about his situation, of course, though he wasn't fond of talking about it. Obviously not, who would be? It never bothered you, at the end of the day he was still your best friend- even if he never let you come over to the renowned Snow penthouse unless it was some kind of emergency. Regardless, as far as the two of you knew, you were the only one outside of his family who had any idea. And you both intended to do everything you could to keep it that way.

"I think so, I heard some of the other girls talking about it." You say with a shrug. "Just something simple like a matching tie or something, we don't have to go crazy with it."

"Right." He nods, thinking it over.

"Here," You say after a moment, reaching into the bottom of the garment bag and pulling out a much smaller plastic bag with fabric samples in it from when your dress was made. "I asked for more extra than they would normally give for fabric samples, in case we wanted to match. I was hoping we could ask Tigris to make a tie or a pocket square or something, or maybe cover your cuffs with it." You suggest, sitting on the bed next to him and holding out the bag.

His heart aches as he reaches out to take it from your soft hands. It's hard to place, almost- whether or not it's gratefulness or loathing of the fact you had considered such a thing at all. Attending an event with a Snow should not include the accommodation of whether or not they could afford to dress accordingly.

The bitterness fades and settles into thankfulness for you, and all you do for him. Silently. Without discussion, without real, significant thought.

You could be friends with anyone; the girls with wealth enough to bathe in like your own, Sejanus Plinth, even, whose family quite literally bought their way into the Capitol. But you chose him.

Granted, when you chose him, you didn't have the slightest clue of the financial state of his family name, but even when you had stumbled across that fact, it didn't deter you. Coriolanus often wonders why, but who was he to question it? Hell, sometimes he wonders if the roles had been reversed, would he have been so gracious?

"Thanks." Coryo mutters, clearing his throat and nodding. "I mean, she's the expert, so I'll talk to her about what she thinks will work best."

"Yeah, that's probably a good idea." You agree with a soft laugh that makes him smile by instinct alone. He couldn't help it.

"Um, I meant to ask," Coryo says after a moment, tucking his feet up on the bed and sitting back a bit, getting more comfortable. "Did your coach agree to let you change your song for the year end gala? The one you pitched to her, that was really good. You did amazing. At least, in my opinion but I don't really know what I'm talking about."

"Thank you." You reply through a sigh, laughing slightly as you flop back on the soft cushioned duvet next to him. "But, yes and no. Yes she's letting me do something other than 'Never Enough', but it's not that song I showed her while you were there. She said it was too long and would disrupt the entire schedule, which, in hindsight does make sense and I wouldn't want to do that to everyone else."

"Well, what is it?" Coryo replies, eager to hear something new from you. It was special, he knew that it was. He had seen first hand how badly you wanted to do something else.

You smile, looking up at him as he leaned back on his hands next to you, blue eyes searching yours as if they could somehow portray the answer sooner than your lips- despite you knowing it would be a song he's never heard or even heard of before.

"I decided on something else. It's gonna be a surprise." You answer with a small, almost sly smile while you prop yourself up on your elbow, gazing up at him with your chin in your palm. "But you're gonna love it, I think."

You really hoped he would, at least.

While Coryo protests, tries to squeeze the information out of you in the light-hearted way only a best friend could, you don't budge. The song in title and content reminds you far too much of him; of his pretty face, and electric soul.

no taglist this time around!! my fics usually get over a hundred requests to be added to the taglist so instead i made a library! follow me over on @runningfrom2am-library and turn on notifs to get updates when i post new parts!!

[atticustimestwo]

do you mind sharing a bit more about your analysis of heart,,,

i'd love to!! (i assume this is about the heart critique piece i did a few months ago, but please correct me if im wrong!)

in terms of the "a critique on the treatment of hearts characterization" piece, i wanted to visually explore some frustrations i have had with how the fanbase seems to fall into some unfortunate patterns when it comes to hearts character.

frequently, i see heart infantilized - this either comes across as him being a kicked dog unable to help himself because he is too weak, a baby angel who did nothing wrong, or a feral gremlin child. i think flattening his character down to any/all of these is, for lack of a better word, a bit problematic?

; one reason being it just defeats the idea of emotions being a visceral, intense thing. heart is meant to represent emotion in its purest form; i feel woobifying him takes away from that concept because it shows having emotions as being inherently weaker or less mature. i think a lot of people kinda forget HMS aren't just tv show characters. they represent greater concepts that near everyone feels and feels uniquely - theyre more sensitive than your typical character. thats not saying treating them as characters is bad! everyone relates to them differently because they are so personal, they make them their own and i think thats really awesome!! ; but boiling them down to these really generic tropes and making heart a baby kinda defeats the idea that emotions are a real, visceral, multifaceted concept. ; another reason i think it can be problematic is that it sometimes unintentionally comes across really ableist? a lot of these 'fandom-y' tropes are already rooted in ableism in some way, which is bad on its own, but theres also the important addition that heart is frequently portrayed as blind.

ive seen people time and time again fall into stereotypes with heart that his blindness makes him weak/helpless/childish. truthfully I dont think people do this intentionally, but its still internalized ableism showing up. i recognize that a lot of the people who woobify heart tend to be on the younger side, so they dont really recognize that theyre flattening him down like that- not out of malicious ignorance, but because theyre kids who havent really had the life experience yet to grasp the full concepts of the album or realize they might be implying harmful stereotypes; that doesn't necessarily mean its okay, but i think its just them being uneducated cause theyre kids and they have yet to learn that stuff. ; all that being said, im not trying to police people on how they portray characters. im not any authority on this fandom/album by any means imaginable - im just a fan like everyone else here! like i said before, characterizing HMS is not inherently a bad thing at all ! its fun, and its what this fanbase is built on in the first place! its so great that everyone can interpret and relate to HMS so personally, i think chonny really hit it off with the concept for the album and the execution is stellar! seeing all the fanart and different interpretations of it and the characters is such a beautiful thing, no matter if its joking, lighthearted, or deep! ; at the end of the day, theres no wrong way to interpret this album, and theres no wrong way to characterize heart. more than anything that critique piece was built up frustration turned to a call to action for people to stop and think deeply for a moment about how they portray heart - to open eyes if someone might be unknowingly flattening or adding problematic ideas to their characterizations. and to just be mindful of that going forward! 💜��

[your-unfriendlyghost]

I have two things to ask:

1.-Can we be friends?

2.-Do you have any Outsiders headcanons (or any that you haven't submitted yet)?

I mean sure?? Idk who you are since you’re on anon, so not REALLY, but I’m always down to talk!

2. Yeah lol- tons. Too many. Here’s a few (okay like 25 oops) off the top of my head lol, some serious/angsty and some lighthearted/kinda stupid without any real order. (Lotta ‘em are about Steve tbh -there’s so little to him in canon that I have the freedom to hc pretty much whatever I want)

Steve Randle’s nearsighted and has no idea, which is why he’s literally always squinting. (I’ve had that one for like months but only recently mentioned it on here lol.) Steve thinks his vision is completely normal

Dally and Sylvia genuinely cared for each other, but they were both so horrible at having healthy emotions that they just made each other worse. In a bad way, not a fun way.

When Steve gets kicked out, sometimes he hangs with Johnny in the lot. They don’t really talk about anything important like their shared experiences of having lousy parents. Instead they talk about cars, girls, music, school…lighthearted stuff. Sometimes Johnny will find Steve crying, which he never mentions- he’ll just sit down as per usual, which Steve appreciates. Steve almost never finds Johnny crying though. Johnny doesn’t cry much.

Okay tangent- I love how Steve and Johnny are low-key foils. Like Steve always seems tough but then cries when pushed to his limit, while Johnny always seems skittish until he’s under a bunch of pressure- in which case he suddenly is confident. (Not necessarily thriving obviously, but confident yk? Like grinning while saving those kids in the fire.) I know SE Hinton probably didn’t intend that at all, but it’s just such an interesting detail to me. One of these days I’ll put it into words better

Johnny’s jeans-jacket is a hand-me-down from either Steve or Two-Bit. (I can’t decide which lol) (obviously Dally would make sense too, but honestly I think it’d add more depth to flesh out Johnny’s relationships with the other members of the gang)

After the events of the book, Two-Bit starts hanging around the Curtis’s place even more. At first the gang assumes he’s trying to lighten the mood. It’s only after he gets sent to the cooler for a month due to drunk driving that they realize he was actually hanging around so much because he was trying to keep his kid sister from seeing him so drunk…

Two-Bit likes to joke that he keeps failing junior year so that him and his sister can graduate together. Which is a very bad idea since his sister is a year younger than Ponyboy.

Sodapop often feels like he’s only good for looking pretty and not all that useful or interesting otherwise. He likes himself, but when he stops to think about it too much, he starts to wonder if he really has anything going for him at all

My H/C for Steve’s home life is that his Mom is sick w/ like cancer or something. Before she got sick, Steve’s life was pretty alright for an eastsider- he and his dad fought, but they always made up for the most part. They weren’t perfect, but they loved each other. But after she got sick, she wasn’t there to mediate between Steve and his Dad anymore, and the fighting got worse and worse. And then Steve’s dad started drinking more and it was pretty downhill from there. Steve’s Dad still loves him, but sometimes Steve wishes that he didn’t. If he didn’t, then he could hate him. But his dad does love him, so he can’t get himself to.

Steve and Dally taught Johnny to drive when they were all like fourteen-fifteen-ish. Johnny is a very reckless driver. He loves speeding.

Johnny also loves fast roller coasters and stuff.

Dally doesn't ‘cuz he’s low-key scared of heights- he likes riding broncos and rodeos, but put him at the top of a roller coaster and he’s convinced that it’s gonna break and he’s gonna die. He pretends he doesn’t mind. The only people who know he’s scared of them are Johnny, and before she died, Mrs. Curtis.

Steve has a napoleon complex. Johnny, who is shorter than him by a few inches, likes to bully him for it sometimes

Ponyboy and Cherry don’t interact much in the school year after the book, but in the summer after, they start to hang out. Eventually they become pretty close. They fangirl over Paul Newman together

Ponyboy still doesn’t let Cherry read his theme though until years later

Marcia and Two-Bit re-meet a few months after the book. (Two-Bit is really scared that she’s embarrassed to be dating him, and Marcia is really scared that he’s embarrassed to be dating her. Neither of them are embarrassed. They both adore each other.)

Two-Bit likes to watch Marcia barrel racing. One time while he’s there, he runs into Ponyboy watching Cherry barrel race and immediately tells everyone much to Pony’s chagrin

Evie knows a little bit about cars, and she sometimes helps out at the DX during summers. Steve is so whipped for her lol (and Soda too Steve has two hands)

Evie and Sylvia are besties, but Steve and Sylvia hate each other. They act civil in front of Evie, but as soon as her back is turned they’re growling at each other like dogs. (Well Steve is. Sylvia just acts condescending as hell. Sometimes it goes over his head, so Steve knows she’s insulting him but isn’t sure what the insult is/means. Which makes Steve kinda want to kill her.)

Steve and Soda are low-key co-dependent. (Steve more so- Soda has his family at least, while to Steve, Soda and Evie are his whole world pretty much) It’s probably not super healthy, and both of them are vaguely aware of that, but are trying not to think about it too hard rn

Ponyboy’s friend group in high school consists of Curly Shepard, Mark Jennings, Scout Jenkins (from the tv show), and eventually, in her senior year, Cherry Valance. (There’s others too but those are the main ones.)

Pony dates Cathy Carlson for a while too, idk if they’re good for each other or not- I kinda like the idea of them being a sweet couple tbh, but no one else on here seems to care about them so I haven’t really explored the idea much lol

In a Dally lives au, Mark Jennings and Dally end up spending a bit of time together through Pony, and at some point they realize that they’re half-brothers lol. Mark is a deeply obnoxious little brother to have, and he drives Dally nuts on purpose. Weirdly I think Dally’s a relatively good influence on him, as much as someone like Dally can be. And Dally does care for Mark, though not as much as he cares for Johnny- Mark is, in his head, not exactly his responsibility.

Well I have (so many) more, but I think that’s enough for now lol. Point is, even though I haven’t drawn in a minute, I love these characters and their romanticized version of 1960s Tulsa so much and I think about them way too often lol

(dw once i get more into the swing of school I’ll be doin more art!)

[palmviolet]

Hello! I don’t know if this is strange, but do you have any tips for characterizing Rust? Your writing of him literally feels ripped out of the show in a way I’ve seen very few able to do, and I have trouble balancing his “time is a flat circle, we’re all trapped in Samsara” beliefs with his “normal” (for lack of a better word) pessimism and worldview and always feel like I end up leaning too hard one way or the other. You strike a perfect balance between these (and just generally on his characterization, like, not necessarily just with these issues but on his little quirks and references he’d have as touchstones and small details) in a way that really impresses me. Absolutely no problem if you’ve got nothing (and also you aren’t obliged to divulge your secrets at all!), but either way keep up the great work!!!!

oooh okay great question — thank you so much, i'm so thrilled you enjoy the way i write him <3

i mean let's preface this by saying that i've watched TD s1 maybe... 7 times now? currently on my umpteenth watch in the space of six months. and aside from that i've been marathoning mcconaughey movies so really i've got his voice pretty near to hand if i need it lol and a lot of writing accurate dialogue, i find, is just being able to hear the character saying it in your head.

that being said it's not just dialect inflections; as you say, it's philosophy. i read the conspiracy against the human race by ligotti, which is reportedly the book that rust's whole nihilist philosophy is based on. would absolutely recommend, if you can stomach it — it's basically just immersion in rust's fucked-up head for 300 pages. but the central point to remember here is that rust as a character is as human as anybody else, meaning there doesn't have to be internal consistency w/r/t how his beliefs and actions tesselate with each other. he's made of contradictions and he's deluding himself half the time, alongside everybody else. case in point: that he seems to believe what the doctors told him (that sophia died peacefully without pain) despite his general confidence in the world as a thresher of suffering and the people in it as self-serving, delusional puppets. he clings to what was likely a comforting fiction to support his assertion that to die is better than to live but also to protect himself, because the likely reality (that sophia died in pain and fear) is simply too traumatic for him to handle. and in that he's human — and the constant conflict within his character is between the human instincts towards self-preservation, hope, loneliness, fear, justice, and his belief that those instincts are just the trappings of biology and a fragile constructed system that holds no meaning beyond the circle of an unreal world — a belief that arises from an event so traumatic as to have rewritten those instincts.

so half of it is collecting references to go along with his nihilist philosophy — philosophers, poets, postmodern theorists — and half of it is remembering he's just a guy who has a bottle of hot sauce and a coffee maker and nothing else in his kitchen. in that he has to experience the world just like anybody else does, though he does it a little to the left — i do have fun experimenting with his synaesthesia when writing from his perspective — and he has specific touchstones from his experiences in alaska, in texas, just generally being a cop in the south in the 90s. he'll know a gun make better than he'll know a car; he'll compare a good thing to a drug, not a candy. he'll answer a question honestly but he'll do it with varying levels of sardonicism, depending who's asking. he'll ascribe pain to everyone's existence except his daughter's, though she lived in a cruel world like everyone else, because the only way he can protect her is through the optimism of revisionist memory. just. what a character man

sorry if i've rambled. it's just about getting into his headspace by reading the right things (eg all the AA stuff in infinite jest when i reread it this year very much helped) and remembering it's okay that he doesn't make much sense to you in your narrative, because he's not a character that makes sense — which is what makes him such a good character, because it makes him more real.

thanks for the ask!

[weirdly-specific-but-ok]

have you ever broken up with someone? i need to do it for mental health reasons (we're still quite in love) and it's obvs really hard. do you or the maggots have any ideas?

Hey anon maggot! I have, yeah, a few times, and the last time was kind of similar to your situation. It was a really healthy relationship and I loved them but I was in an awful space mentally and I had to break up with them. I'll put it in after the uh advice so you can read it if you want.

So my advice:

1. Be very clear about the breakup, and about your intentions for the future. Make sure both of you understand that you are ending it, don't sugarcoat that part. Don't call it taking time or a break or anything other than breaking up. You're ending the relationship.

2. Explain the reason for you breaking up, but make sure the fact that you still have feelings for each other doesn't make it seem like there's any leeway about the breakup. You are breaking up. If less detail is better, then do that.

3. I know opinions are divided on this, but in my past relationships I've always found that you should cut off contact for a good while, rather than "stay friends". It's not helpful while you're getting better and they're getting over you, you both need space. Maybe you can be friends later when the relationship is properly in the past. But that's later.

4. Be prepared for it to fucking suck. It hurts, a lot. And you'll know it's hurting the other person too. But that doesn't necessarily mean it's the wrong choice. It's just that you cared about each other and the relationship was valuable. That's a good thing. Let yourself be upset without trying to fix the situation. Don't go back and forth and make it messier for both you and them. You'll miss them. That's normal. The breakup was still needed.

5. Take care of yourself. Talk to people you love. Know that you'll be okay, eventually. The pain heals and becomes bittersweet. You become grateful for the good parts. You begin to see the situation clearer. But all of that shit takes time, and give yourself that time.

6. You'll have to become okay with letting go of the other person and accepting that maybe they will blame you or be hurt or will never want to talk to you again. It sucks and their feelings are entirely valid, but you still have to choose what's better for you and for both of you in the long run.

Take care of your mental health, anon maggot. Been there. Survive it. Sending all the love and healing. I hope it goes okay, as okay as it can be anyway, and take whatever is helpful from this advice and discard the rest. <3

The breakup story under the cut:

So like I said, i was in a healthy relationship with someone whom I loved and who had been my best friend before that. But i was very ill mentally and physically, and i had to end it.

However, I fudged it up, kind of, because it was a couple of months before a major exam for me, and I said we needed to break up until then at least. They understood because I hadn't been in contact with people for a month at that point, and that was upsetting them too. So we broke up, except, well...

I didn't end up getting better, if anything i got worse. And I think they were waiting for me and were... excited for after the exam. I found this out through a mutual friend and I had to tell the friend to tell them that we weren't really going to get back together.

Long story short, we still wish each for our birthday via a message forwarded by the mutual friend. But they don't want any further contact with me and it took them a very long time to feel okay. I still feel guilty for how I ended it, even if it was best I could with the mental space I was in then.

So yeah, from that experience and my past breakups, I learned a lot and hence the advice. Take care <3

[sweetsummercourier]

Hii,

Can you talk about what inspired you to create your AOT characters and why you picked Eren and Reiner for their partners? Do they have any pet peeves when it comes to their partners?

Have a great day!

Hello! I got so excited for my first ask I made little character banners for my ocs ^^ please note: I have updated Saoirse's surname

Saoirse was my very first OC in the AOT fandom when I watched it at 13 years old. Granted, I wanted to watch Claymore on Netflix, but it wasn't on Netflix and AOT was recommended as a close second so I watched it and well I just fell in love.

Now, if you asked 13 year old me about Saoirse, you would've gotten the most Mary Sue, most power broken OC ever because well, 13 year old me was in no way shape or form good at making characters.

I know in the beginning I was inspired by the Titan Shifters to make an OC, as others were doing the same. However now that I'm older and have had the time to breathe new life in Saoirse, I can say my inspiration for her was to simply make her better.

Why Eren - 13 year old me loved the angry crackhead a lot. As a youngster, all I cared about was the MC and I was hooked lol. But as an adult and having rewatched the series, that love for Eren is still there, but now that I have the power of critical thinking, I see him in a different light that I can appreciate. I'm very excited to explore their dynamic now.

Pet Peeves - Saoirse doesn't necessarily have pet peeves with him, but early on she was definitely annoyed by some things he did when they were younger. She was definitely irritated as all hell by his speeches of freedom, defeating all the titans, so on so forth. It was a sort of "okay we get it" after some time, and his loud volume for the longest time genuinely pissed her off.

Come S4, oh, what she wouldn't do to have him back...

Ghislaine is relatively new! I got Attack on Titan 2: Final Battle for the Switch like 2 years ago, and I originally played as Saoirse (as expected), but I wanted something new. So, Ghislaine was born!

At first I had no idea what to do with her, and only in the last few months did I actually start to craft her. One thing that definitely inspired me was I wanted someone who was the opposite of Saoirse. and I was inspired by the Christa/Historia thing as well.

Ghislaine is a warm and kind individual, but is equally cold, calculated, and ruthless - if not more so.

Why Reiner? - after rewatching and completing the series, I focused on the characters other than Eren, and again, gained a new appreciation for each and every character (again, critical thinking skills).

I came to deeply appreciate Reiner and his development, and I feel deeply in love with him. I think also as someone who struggles with mental illness, I was able to relate with him and find comfort in his character. I figured he would be the perfect match for Ghislaine, especially considering she is half-blooded too.

Little fun fact, Ghislaine and Reiner are a couple in all but name come season 4. Everyone knows it, but they're just not saying anything.

Pet Peeves - like Saoirse, none necessarily. If anything, the rapid deterioration of Reiner's mental and emotional state greatly concerns her. At first she sees it as a burden considering the gravity of their mission, but during the time skip into season 4, she completely changes her tune and becomes both like a caretaker and partner to him.

Thank you for the ask!! I hope I answered your questions ^^

[dduane]

hello, hope you and Peter are doing well! I wanted to ask a question that almost certainly has been asked before: How do you go about ensuring that a creative project is sustainable/has 'wings' before diving into it? (I'm thinking less of outlining here and more the step before that - assessing how much meat's on the creative bone and what your appetite is, so to speak)

Well, the first thing I'd have to define is what exactly "sustainable" means. "Capable of being started and finished in some medium or other"? That might enter into the equation eventually... but not instantaneously.

There'll be times when a concept arrives in my creative space within a matter of seconds—like someone poured it into my head out of a jug—or times when it seeps in quietly over a matter of days, until eventually some critical number or volume is surpassed and there's enough of it to register as Something New To Do That Could Be Fun*. In either case I normally have at least a few minutes to work out whether anybody but me is ever likely to want to read or view this thing, and (if so) what medium it seems to belong in.

This process I usually refer to as "weighing [something] in the hand of the mind." And here you can insert video of an insert on a woman's hand holding a half kilo bag of sugar, bouncing it up and down a little to see if it's really half a kilo, or just kinda feels like it.

What I have to confess here, though, is that I have no idea how I do this, or from what my skill at the process derives.

Maybe just a lot of practice? Trial and error? As over forty years there've been more than fifty books, and a whole lot of animation, and a bunch of screenplays, not to mention the comics and computer games and audio adaptations and other whatnot. I've had a while to learn when a story will make an okay screenplay but not necessarily a book (or vice versa); or whether something's better as a novella or novelette, rather than as a novel based on a core concept that, like butter over too much bread, is going to wind up looking and feeling like what Bilbo would have described as "thin and stretched".

I really wish I could more clearly quantify the elements that make up one of these assessments. Every piece of work I embark on goes through one. Some attention's paid to the number of characters, the depth of the emotional interactions, the proposed in-story timeline, and the relative size and weight of the plot's payoff... and how all these balance against one another. But once this evaluation has been made, it's then possible to slot the project into the work schedule—and pray that nothing else interferes with it.

Because of course something may. The most severe form of these idea-arrival events doesn't give you a chance to evaluate anything at all. It just grabs you by the scruff of the neck and dumps you in front of the nearest device or material that can be used for writing and says, in a voice that will brook no dissent, "HI THERE YOU'RE WRITING THIS NOW AND IT WILL BE FUN!" (It'll say this even though that may not, strictly speaking, be true.) I thank great Thoth that this isn't that common an occurrence, because it tends to play merry hell with everything you're supposed to be doing during that period. ...Yet the effects can be good. The Door Into Fire did this to me. So have other projects I can't discuss due to NDAs.

Possibly the best note to wind up on here is that Sturgeon's Law applies. If 90% of all sf/fantasy stories are crap, as Ted said, then so are 90% of all their core ideas. (Or so it seems to me.) Any writer who's been doing this work for any length of time will have many, many story ideas in a given day... and know that only a small percentage of them are worth considering for more than a few minutes, or even seconds. Ideas are easy. It's execution that's hard— that costs you weeks and months and sometimes years of effort and sweat; of taking things apart and putting them back together in different shapes and hunting down just the right word.

If you're embarking on this kind of lifestyle: may luck go with you. (Because sometimes even very good work falls afoul of very bad luck.) ...But keep your hopes up: and keep working.

HTH!

*There are other forms of this surprise attack, including the one @petermorwood went through one time that was triggered by a chance line dropped by a studio executive we were having lunch with in the Paramount commissary. Without warning—and after the fact he was as surprised as everybody else—P. commenced to freestyle a series pitch so good that the lunch went on for three hours while it unfolded. Tl:dr; the series got bought and then ran aground on the financial rocks secondary to 9/11. ...But that's a saga for another day.

[ghostofasecretary]

trying to do something more than void screaming and uh. not going great

but since i haven't actually screamed:

wow, dude, it is becoming increasingly clear to me how much of the last two years i've spent not having emotions around all the vaguely shitty (and some tremendously shitty) things that've happened in my life!! and now that i'm thinking about moving, it's. like. oh right i used to have a wider range of emotions. i used to get mad because i wanted my life to be better and felt that it was possible. i was not actually always chill about things. my chill is mostly a response to crushing anxiety and misery actually!

and i'm, like. i was horrifically lonely for the first 8 months after moving back in with my parents in May 2022 and then it subsided until the last time a friend came to visit in January 24, which was lovely and then i cried for a few hours and felt like my chest was ripped open and i called another friend and sobbed until i was functional again

(i also cried on the way home from a vacation spent visiting friends but it was a bit easier to box that up again)

how much of my life has just been getting to function under a deep layer of unhappiness!!

and like, i'm not gonna knock getting to function. i fully did not have enough energy to do anything from, like, February to May 23. and i had very little energy after that, though more! and i worked from May to a few days ago, which i did because i found even more energy. but it was terrifying to be so knocked out i couldn't apply for jobs or think about the future or my finances, and that went on realistically for like 8+ months, and that makes me want to cry but. well. that's life. and i did get my accounting back on track and i took a class and i figured out some food stuff and i, y'know. was alive?

but i want to be happy. i want my life to be good. i don't want to spend years being miserable--i say, as if i don't dream about getting a PhD, y'know, The Process Where You're Miserable For 5-7 Years And Then Your Future Is Still Horribly Uncertain (but also you get to be super nerdy so. points!?)--and i don't want to have feelings about the past! i've had PTSD twice, surely that's enough rumination for anyone!

and i know it doesn't work like that. i know. it's okay to have feelings and it's okay for things to not work out.

but my growing awareness of, Oh Right, Used To Be Different, Used To Feel Less Resignation has mostly been coupled with, like, more anxiety and way less getting things done. and i would like to get things done and be less anxious! rude that that isn't happening!!

i dunno. i don't think i'm necessarily thinking clearly about any of this or drawing accurate conclusions, i just. needed to make some words about the storm i'm feeling

tomorrow i have three tasks and some bonus ones. tonight i can maybe get a head start on some of them or work on some little ones and that'll be good for me.

i'll be fine. i may also, like, scream for a good long while and be tremendously upset and have a bunch of "hahaha wow living with my rapey ex the first time i ever lived in a city sure was something, surely this will have no impact on me" feelings! but i'll also do laundry. so who is the real winner.

[mdzs-owns-my-ass-i-guess]

High risk, high reward

@krispydestinydefendor

🥂🚨🚑 ahem preferably wwx centric but like i love every single thing you've written so hehe <3

There is a saying in my country that's roughly translated as "either the ball [as in, the prom/banquet], or the hospital", and it means taking the leap no matter the risks because everything could either go terribly wrong or terribly right. It's an elegant way of saying "fuck it" before doing a high risk activity.

This prompt made me think of that.

Wei Wuxian likes risks. He likes the thrill of it, and the fact that, most often, he gets the reward that's made him take the risk in the first place. Whether it's a dare or an idea he wants to see if he can put into practice, he doesn't shy away from anything.

However, there are times when the risks he takes aren't necessarily calculated, and land him in trouble - nothing major, most often with getting yelled at by Madam Yu and having to replace whatever he broke or damaged using his own money... but this time, it's a bit more... difficult to do that.

Because Wei Wuxian won a bet he made with Jin Zixun just to shut him up - but now, Wei Wuxian is feeling like he's going to die. Or puke his guts and his soul out.

The bet was about Wei Wuxian being able to take 10 flutes of champagne at once. They're at this afterparty of some high class gala of the four great families, and since the parents and the uncles have retired for the night already, the younger generation has been left to have fun freely, without any formalities. It was uncle Jiang's idea, bless him, but Wei Wuxian kind of wishes it hadn't been.

Cause even with his massive alcohol tolerance, he's pretty sure he's well on his way towards alcohol poisoning.

"Huaisang, I think we need to call an ambulance..."

"An am- Wei-xiong, are you dying?!"

Wei Wuxian rolls his eyes. "I will if you don't call the ambulance. Just tell them what happened and to send in someone quick. I don't know, a doctor, a nurse, a priest..."

"Serves you right for getting into it with Jin Zixun." Jiang Cheng says, handing Wei Wuxian another glass of water. "You'd sooner die than mind your business."

"I'm really not in the mood for any of your lectures right now. Yell at me when I feel better. Or when I die."

Wei Wuxian closes his eyes and decides to try and at least get himself in a stable state of mind. Last thing he needs is to panic, so he tries to take in deep breaths and ignore the nausea and the impending sense of doom he's feeling.

He knows he's going to have to pay his own hospital bills, and he's going to also have to do Nie Huaisang's homework for months to cover the cost of the ambulance ride (which he has been generous enough to offer to cover), but at least he won't be dead. He'll wish he was when Madam Yu finds out about this, but that's a given.

If she ends up kicking Wei Wuxian out this time, like she threatened she would if he got into trouble again, he'll have to figure out how to make himself useful enough to convince one of his friends to take him in. He's pretty good in the kitchen and he can do a decent job cleaning, so maybe he could be their live-in maid or something... Well, didn't Madam Yu say he'll end up just like his father?

The sound of the ambulance alarm pulls him out of his thoughts. Right, the hospital. He almost forgot about it, which isn't necessarily a good sign of his mental state right now.

"Wangji-xiong, he's right there, I think he's almost passed out and I really don't know-"

Wangji-xiong? Oh, right, Lan Zhan is working the night shift as an EMT tonight, that's why he couldn't come to the gala... What a coincidence...

Wei Wuxian feels himself gently lifted in a pair of very strong arms, and he makes the herculean effort to open his eyes. "Lan... Zhan...?"

"I am here. You'll be okay."

"Mm... if you'll take care of me, I will..."

Lan Wangji tells Jiang Cheng something but Wei Wuxian doesn't really hear it. He's focused on trying not to throw up on his crush, who's so strong and smells so good and is holding him like a bride, and maybe it's the alcohol but Wei Wuxian really wants to kiss him, but...

"Lan Zhan..."

"Mn?"

"I like you..."

"I like you too, Wei Ying."

"No, like you as in I want you to be my boyfriend."

"Ask me again when you're sober."

"Will you say yes?"

"I will."

"Lan Zhan?"

"Mn?"

"I think I'm about to throw up."

[canonicallyanxious]

some assorted gay chicken show thoughts:

(i put a cut bc this got so stupid long i'm so sorry lol)

i think Earth has a really tough task with this role but imo he is totally nailing the restrained longing of it all and the undercurrent of wistful regret for lost opportunities in everything he says and does. the way he's not necessarily unhappy with his lot in life but doesn't think there's any value in it or what he provides for his community. the way he's resigned himself to loneliness but still can't help but want something more in a part deep inside of him (the shot of him looking at the moon in ep 1... I Am Thinking). i think it's really easy to see how bold and open Wen is with his feelings and be swept up in that bc the way Jim expresses his attraction is a lot more subtle but I think Earth does an amazing job of conveying that longing through the tiny shifts in his microexpressions, the way he looks at Wen when he thinks no one is looking (it KILLS me his expression when he sees how gentle and kind Wen is to his cat), the way he orients himself around Wen without thinking - it seems like he always has to consciously pull himself away in scenes like when he's dropping Wen off at the main street or at the end of ep 2 when Wen almost kisses him and i like the way Earth carries himself in scenes like that, he makes it easy to buy into

i really like the more meandering conversations that establish characterization and relationship dynamics. one example that comes to mind is when Jim and Wen are talking about the DVD. Full disclosure I'm not familiar with the movie referenced but judging from the title and the cover and the way Jim described it as "classic" I'm guessing it's some sort of romance. But then, "i haven't watched it in a long time. The disc is probably damaged." and then, when Wen says he can stream it if he wants, he says "that's okay, i don't want to watch it anymore." i like the way this dialogue hints at his history with love and ideals. "I don't want to watch it anymore", implying that he did at some point in his life want to watch it. The disc is probably damaged, but he can't bring himself to check to be sure. it's better to leave it alone and in the past. but in the past it was something he wanted to watch, an ideal he wanted to believe in; what changed? (who hurt u uncle jim i just want 2 talk)

the contrast between day and night life in this show ugh ugh ugh. the intimacy and vibrancy of the night, but also how lonely it sometimes can be; how harsh and uninviting the reality of daytime can be, but also how chatty and bustling. it's getting late and i'm sure way smarter people have already said much smarter things about it but just know this is a theme that always gets me and it is getting me now so fuckin hard.

and again i'm sure much more intelligent things have already been said about the relationship between Jim and Li Ming but I am fr LOVING it so far, not least of all because it reminds me so viscerally of my own teenage relationship with my parental figures skdjfnskdjfnskdjf but also the conflict between them just feels so well drawn and realistic, the way Jim is just trying to do what's best for Li Ming but doesn't know how to show that, the way Li Ming lashes out when at the end of the day all he really wants is for Uncle Jim to understand his point of view. it's some good shit u know

i do think imagining this whole situation from Li Ming's perspective is incredibly funny. like imagine it's one in the morning and you are in your room just minding your own business when a completely wasted man you've never met before wanders into your room, doesn't say a single word to you, and then when your emotionally distant uncle ushers him out he doesn't say anything to explain either he's just like "k sorry bye" and yeets himself out of there to go have shockingly tender sex with a man whose name neither of you know. and then like a month later you come into work only to find said drunk man is now your COWORKER at your UNCLE'S RESTAURANT. Li Ming doesn't get paid enough to deal with this shit. Uncle Jim wants us to think he has his life together so bad but he's just as messy of a bitch as anyone else on this show bless his heart

i'm really into the progression of the last part of ep 2, the subtle shift of the power dynamic, the way Wen so casually paying off the couple flows into Jim watching him work and understanding that they come from vastly different worlds flows into Jim telling Wen he's not fit to be anyone's home. and yet he still wants this closeness, as much as he tries to deny it; he made the choice to buy the second beer at the convenience store, he made the choice to offer it to Wen, he made the choice to let Wen rest on his shoulder if only for a little while. unstoppable force (Jim's yearning for closeness borne from a very deep loneliness) v immovable object (his abysmally low esteem of himself and his life)

as well i'm a huge hoe for glass metaphors so you know when Jim let himself want closeness with Wen by buying the beer only to come back and see him behind the window (like yes there is jealousy in that scene of the man Wen was talking to but there's also a distinct sense of never actually being able to reach Wen in his world; the reality is he stands behind the glass) a bitch was completely weak for it. it's me i'm bitch

obviously i love everything about the conversation at the end of ep 2 (a bitch is weak for a person as a home!!!) but something that especially interests me about it is what it tells us about Wen's relationship with Alan and the way he feels when he comes back to their apartment. i'm gonna be honest at this point i'm very confused about what's up with that whole clusterfuck lol but the implication that the place he lives in doesn't make him feel any of the things he described that he wanted from a home... home where someone waits for me, home where all my tiredness is gone and i have peace of mind, home that's more than just a place to sleep... how much he yearns for it that he's willing to pursue it with a man he only recently met... it paints a picture of a very lonely person and it does make me feel for him (even if I think it's really bizarre how completely casual he's being about cheating on his presumably long term partner not just with himself but with his friend who clearly knows the both of them skdjfnsdbfskdjfnsdjkfsn)

what i like most about this show so far is how at the core of it everyone just wants someone to see them and understand them. this, the aching loneliness everyone feels but in such different ways, is the driving force behind so much of the conflict and the drama and the interactions between characters. tonally it's exactly my kind of shit, i'm really looking forward to seeing how it builds as the story continues

[arunneronthird]

Uhhhh, yikes this is probably very unpopular among older Jon fans, especially JonJay shippers and this is probably just an excuse to rant but you cannot convince me otherwise that Jay Nakamura isn't a corporate oc. Don't get me wrong, his story and character in itself doesn't bother me but the reasons of his existence and the method of his conception have made him really bothersome and he ends up disgusting me. He is forced into a role of being Jon's equal when that can easily be dilled by existing characters. His "romance" with Jon was so rushed because they had to make a kiss happen in Pride Month, he checks off every box to be the perfect boyfriend to Jon it is actually very concerning (is a reporter who is also a fan of Jon's mom?? Happens to be someone Jon's best friend admires??) Of course some people believed he was a secret villian, he was too convenient. He annoys me because of it, he is so pushed to be Jon's romantic interest that it just ends up making him bland and overrides any actual character potential he had. The editors and writers don't care for him to take time in having him be a character just have him pushed as much as possible to cater to being Jon's romantic interest. I think DC should've have focused in having audience grow to like him before pining him to another character and have him ride on his popularity instead. But that's just me.

we will get cancelled together anon, also believe me, older fans genuinely do not give a shit about jay or jon for that matter, they care about the alan moore era joker and how bad superman films are and for that i respect them inmensely, i wanna be exactly that insufferable when im older

anyway, i think all decisions regarding the bendis era onwards are dc decisions made based on wanting to reach a new specific audience, but fun fact we the gays were here forever cause batman and robin are the least straight coded people on the planet but sure, lets ruin jon

i am okay with old jon now, but the start was... really fabricated wasnt it? which is not necessarily always a bad thing, tims existence was a dc decision which was "I DONT CARE THAT U HATE JASON WE WANT KIDS IN OUR AUDIENCE" and i respect it and i love tim

that being said, in the words of someone better at english than i am, jay feels... so preachy... hes perfect, hes beautiful, and everyone loves him and hes perfect for jon cause tom taylor said so but like, asides fromhaving a truth newspaper (were the truth is!!!!) telling everyone that they are not doing enough cause they arent supporting 45683 causes every hour of the day and saving the eastern box turtles and newborns in southern portugal and family owned ballerina shoe shops and making jon do whatever he wants what does he do

honestly i think i dont like him for the simple reason that he genuinely makes me feel the way politicians at debates make me feel

not gonna add too much about him being pushed into the narrative just before pride month cause i will actually Get Mad and i am trying to make this funny to read but just know i agree that the timing is suspicious and that he feels so hurried and perfectly constructed to work that i couldnt get into it

[cimerran-714]

Debunking an argument that Ron was justified in leaving his friends during the Horcrux Hunt

So, I don't really like to get into arguments. I try to avoid them whenever possible. But I was going through Quora, and I came across an answer by a Ron-Weasley apologist (that's a moniker they gave themselves) who attempted to defend him abandoning Harry and Hermione during the Horcrux hunt.

The writer was apparently glad that he'd done so. It'd turned into a mildly anti-Harry/Hermione rant too. Which is of course filled with the same nonsense.

Now, honestly, I do like Ron. I'm not one of those who pretend to either. I really do like him. But when you attempt to whitewash all of the bad things he's done (and before anyone points out, yes, Harry/Hermione are not saints either), that doesn't make you look much better.

Let me just address what this person has written (and here's a link for those who'd prefer to read it directly https://www.quora.com/How-do-you-feel-about-Ron-Weasley-abandoning-Harry-and-Hermione-in-Deathly-Hallows):

Unpopular opinion? I’m glad he LEFT the Hunt. That camping trip was the most boring, dull, stupid, and useless part of a fictional war I’ve ever read. Ron single-handedly saved it when came back.

Okay, so at least we start off by agreeing with it partially. The camping was bad, and I personally thought it was a huge waste of time too. And yes, Ron did save Harry when he returned, although it might sound a little like plot-convenience to me. But there's not much of a disagreement here.

So, why am I glad he left the tent?

It got him away from the Horcrux that had been torturing him for months. It got him away from something that turned his self-loathing and insecurities into suicidal ideations. The Locket weaponized Ron’s depression and anxiety against him in horrible ways and I’m surprised he lasted as long as he did before snapping and walking away from it. People that look at Ron here and think he’s weak and cowardly are just downright fooling themselves if they honestly believe they’d do any better than Ron did. I mean, he was 17 and people still act as if Ron leaving Harry and Hermione here was some type of unforgivable war crime or that it’d make him the next Pettigrew. It’s disgusting. Revolting. Makes me glad I don’t associate with anyone like them in my real life.

To break it down:

It got him away from the Horcrux that had been torturing him for months.

At the cost of his friends who suffered a lot more than when there together, after he left. Also, aside from the fact that Ron was splinched, I'm not sure that there was anything to specifically torture him. Otherwise, Harry and Hermione were getting "tortured" too.

It got him away from something that turned his self-loathing and insecurities into suicidal ideations.

Genuine question: does anyone remember any implication in Deathly Hallows that Ron had turned suicidal?

The Locket weaponized Ron’s depression and anxiety against him in horrible ways and I’m surprised he lasted as long as he did before snapping and walking away from it.

True, but he left even after hurling the locket down. We know from Harry's experience that its effect vanishes soon after you remove it. So you can't blame it entirely on the locket, which is just nonsense.

People that look at Ron here and think he’s weak and cowardly are just downright fooling themselves if they honestly believe they’d do any better than Ron did.

Well, I don't think Ron was weak or cowardly. I just think he was very much rude (he insulted Harry's parents, for one thing). So it sounds a bit like a strawman. He acted badly, but he might not necessarily have been a "coward", as we do have instances where he's shown to be brave.

I mean, he was 17 and people still act as if Ron leaving Harry and Hermione here was some type of unforgivable war crime or that it’d make him the next Pettigrew. It’s disgusting. Revolting. Makes me glad I don’t associate with anyone like them in my real life.

Why are they so desperate to justify what Ron did? He'd promised to accompany his friends (remember that Harry had told them that he didn't want that), and when he realized that his best friend hadn't lied, he flipped out, insulted his parents, and abandoned them during the middle of a war. He acted as if he were the only person who was having a miserable time there, which is a bad thing to do.

And no, that's not nearly as bad as what Pettigrew did (again, remember that it's a strawman, I've never met anyone comparing him to Pettigrew), but it's not a good thing to do nevertheless.

He needed to get his Splinching wound healed properly. Dittany wasn’t enough. He needed blood-replenishing potions and pain relief potions. He needed real rest and food to recover.

Honestly, it's probably the only valid point in this entire rant, so I'd give it some credit. But if he'd wanted to take time to recover, he could've done that without flipping out too.

Also, can someone point out to me where it says that Dittany wasn't enough to heal his wounds? I was under the impression that a few weeks had passed after he got splinched, when Ron left the Trio.

Because of this:

Autumn rolled over the countryside as they moved through it. They were now pitching the tent on mulches of fallen leaves. Natural mists joined those cast by the dementors: wind and rain added to their troubles.

He was right about the mission not going well. They were in over their heads. Camping was getting them nowhere. Harry even said their biggest accomplishment was not being dead yet. People were dying as they were hiding. Not finding more Horcruxes or ways to destroy the one they had was disheartening for all of them. 

All correct points, but as Harry was perfectly honest with them since the very beginning, it's completely irrelevant. Ron thought he was lying, that's on him.

They were stuck, but Harry had refused all help so far and Ron knew he’d keep refusing.

"All help" as in refusing Lupin's assistance? Is this person excusing him trying to be a deadbeat father?

So, yes, Ron was frustrated with the way Harry was “leading” them and he had a right to be.

No, he absolutely did not. Again: Harry was being honest, but Ron thought he was lying. That's Ron's fault for not believing his best of around six years, not anyone else's.

Why does nobody ever mention that Hermione agrees with Ron, but she was too afraid to ever say it out loud to Harry?

Why does no one talk about how even though she might've been mistaken in her idea that Harry was holding back, she was still willing (although she could've Disapparated with Ron instead) to help him with the search? Ron could've done that too.

Instead, she threw Ron under the bus trying to save herself.

No... that's a really weird way of looking at it. She wasn't throwing him under the bus. She wanted to help Harry. If she wanted to save herself, she could've just Disapparated with Harry instead.

People hate Ron because he’s never been afraid to call out Harry and Hermione. He doesn’t lick their boots or blindly follow them and people HATE him for that. How dare this super average nobody named Ron ever dare to tell Harry The Hero and Hermione The Goddess they’re wrong or that their ideas aren’t working?!

Honestly, that's such a ridiculous strawman that it's not even worth debunking. No one I've ever met (including anti-Ron folks) believe that he was Harry/Hermione's slave or anything. It might be fun to make things up, but please ensure that you don't lie about what others believe.

Ron was trying to see if Harry saw anything related to his family in the visions he got from Voldemort. We saw how worried Ron was about his family after the Death Eaters attacked Bill and Fleur’s wedding. We also saw just how physically relieved he was at getting his dad’s Patronus. It was never going to be easy for Ron to go with Harry and Hermione on the run knowing he left his family behind in the world where Voldemort was in control, especially once they had no way of ever knowing anything after Grimmauld Place.

Again:

He willingly accompanied them despite knowing that it's not going to be a cakewalk.

If he wanted to leave, he could've done that nicely. That's what a best friend's supposed to do.

The next section's about them describing why Ron was worried about his family, and I don't really have anything to say there. My point still stands.

So we move on.

Harry was being downright awful to Ron during the fight and he didn’t have the Horcrux on at the time

How so? By telling Ron that he had a problem when he was acting like a douchebag, and asking him to leave when he implied that he didn't want to stay?

If that qualifies as "downright awful", then I wonder what's it like to insult your dead parents, ask your other best friend to abandon your friend, accuse her of "choosing" him, and Disapparate despite her (the person you like) asking you to stay back?

Ron leaving showed how badly Harry and Hermione needed Ron. How much they missed him. Hermione spent weeks crying for him. Harry had never felt more hopeless in his life. They even resorted to taking out a portrait to have company because they didn’t talk to each other much. Like, it got better towards the end right before Godric’s Hollow, but Harry’s broken wand took them back to almost silence. 

"See, he abandoned his best friends, and they missed him a lot. That makes him such a good person, and his actions were absolutely justified."

Is.... this even an argument? It proves the point that his actions were not justified considering the effect that it had on his friends. It's gone from a post justifying what Ron did, to an anti-Harmony post. It's not surprising, because it's almost always anti-Harmony shippers who write such rubbish anyway.

There was no dancing or “charged moments” like JKR supposedly said existed (and if she was actually serious about that and not just pandering to the Harmony fans, well, that’s just even more proof that she sucks at romance, LMAO).

Oh, there are. A lot of them, actually. But I'm not writing this to make a case for Harmony, so let's just walk past that for now.

The next section is about how Ron's return helped the Trio, which is something I don't disagree with. Very reasonable points. I'm not sure how it justifies leaving them in the first place, however.

JKR once made a comment about how Hermione was the one who stayed with Harry throughout the whole last book and how that said something powerful about her while Ron leaving said something powerful about him. But it’s like… her writing reflected the complete opposite of that. Hermione might have stayed with Harry, but the only things they accomplished was almost getting themselves killed, breaking Harry’s wand, and finding and trusting a book written by Rita Skeeter.

Nah, that's not true at all. There are a lot of Harry/Hermione moments after Ron left them. But then again, that's a point for another post. This one's been long enough already.

So, yeah, I'll just end it here. I'm not good at signing off by making impressive comments, but to whoever's reading this: have a good day.

[ohbo-ohno]

How do you write fanfiction without going ooc?

Personally I think you're the best cod writer, I'm considering writing some fan fiction but I'm scared the characters arent in character

"best cod writer"??? when i haven't posted in like a month?? oh babe we are getting MARRIED ilysm thank you <3

im actually like fucking terrible at giving advice (i am not a well spoken person lmao) but i can talk At you for a bit about this!!!

grasping a character's voice is actually like. deeply difficult, and it's maaaaybe the thing i struggle with most when writing (or at least one of the things lmao). especially bc literally every single writer has a different voice for every character, so you have to find what works best for your story and your style. your ghost shouldn't look/sound exactly like someone else's ghost, because he's yours, yk?

that also being said - things that are ooc to me aren't necessarily ooc to someone else. the ghost in my mind would never let you call him a cheesy pet name like "sisi", but that doesn't mean that someone else's ghost wouldn't, yk? and to them, they're in character! so you've kinda got to decide what you think being in character is, if that makes any sense

i read a looooot of fanfiction before i started writing my own cod stuff. i've only watched the full campaign once, but i've read what's probably dozens of fics lmao - my ghost and soap are an amalgamation of the things i enjoyed most in other people's fics. think about the things that you love the most in your favorite fics, and see if you can replicate that tone/vibe

i also think that getting a character's Voice is a lot more than just dialogue. i write in either second person or third person limited, but for the sake of this i'll talk a bit about third person limited

if i'm writing smth like i'll eat you whole, im technically writing from johnny's perspective, right? so i don't write his internal monologue in his accent, but i do use certain adjective he would - like instead of describing ghost as "broad" or "hulking", i said he's "a big motherfucker" bc that's how i think johnny would talk. this doesn't matter nearly as much with second person, but letting johnny's voice float into the internal monologue helps keep me in the right headspace for the fic. it's easier for me to maintain his voice if i never really let it go, yknow what i mean?

also i know this sounds sooo stupid but i think a big part of writing in character is literally just thinking "can i see them saying this? would a person like this do this?"

like. okay. ghost is a 6'4 special forces lieutenant who is willing to do literally anything if it means completing his mission. he's a big man with an even bigger reputation. can you see him begging for your forgiveness at the slightest argument? can you see him stuttering on a first date?

and soap is an incredibly accomplished sergeant who's set records in the military, he's a demolitions expert and a skilled sniper with a hell of a temper. can you see him giggling? can you see him crying when his girlfriend is mad at him?

sometimes making sure you're not writing ooc is as simple as "They Would Not Fucking Say That", and as unhelpful as it is, that's literally just based on vibes

is any of that coherent at all?? i genuinely don't know. hope i didn't make things worse! ily!

(also just as general writing advice - practice!!! don't post everything you write!! i cannot tell you how many things i've written will never see the light of day, but all my little failures in writing have given me a better grasp on the characters, yk? you have to do badly and recognize what's bad before you can be super happy with your writing. write something and then focus on exactly what feels off to you, and change only that. idk. maybe im spouting bullshit)

[starastrologyy]

I saw your reply to the person, who dislikes predictive astrology..

What do you think about the solar return chart? (as the sr chart could tell you things that will happen for you during the year of whatever age, you're going to be)

Ex. someone having jupiter in 4h in their solar return chart which indicates moving homes.. (correct me, if i am wrong, thank you)

Is it like things are already planned for us (like i want to move somewhere else really badly yet, it doesn't play out so in my solar return chart) or we will make those decisions for ourselves, in that day, month, year? (I find it somewhat surprising yet puzzling that astrology can tell us about our future, eg. future spouse, something unfortunate that may take place)

i feel like the way, i worded it is confusing.. anyways, i would appreciate an answer, thank you. also, i'm genuinely asking.. (not tryna come off as questioning someone's beliefs or anything bad)

Thank you, once again. 😊💕

Hi there,

When reading a Solar Return chart it’s very important that you do not look at a single planet in isolation. You can’t look at one placement and assert that x is definitely going to happen. You need to cross reference and compare the solar return chart against the natal chart. Jupiter in the 4th house of a solar return chart doesn’t necessarily indicate a move, even on its own; I wouldn’t interpret that as a move. I’d more say that it indicates and ‘expansion’ of an existing home or even of a family. Familial relationships can strengthen at this time, especially with those in your immediate family. Alternatively, in some cases existing home and family matters may become exacerbated (Jupiter is the planet that expands) depending on the aspects made to Jupiter.

If I see that someone has transit Jupiter in their 4th house and a Solar Return that is 4th house -focused then I’d say the potential to move can arise during the year. Even then, the person may decide not to move. It’s important to not look at predictive astrology in a manner that is harmful, scary, or deterministic. It shows us our potentials as it gives us insight and information about all the influences that are currently coloring our day to day lives.

When using predictive astrology, the person needs to be quite skilled as you can’t look at any single predictive technique and make definitive statements without looking at all the others. I always say astrology tells us what’s likely to unfold in our lives but at the end of the day you are an autonomous person who has the ability to make decisions that feel right to you.

I always encourage people to use predictive astrology as a guide, and as a helpful informative tool. You should not base your decisions around your transits and solar returns. However, they can help you make more informed decisions. I actually think predictive astrology works better in hindsight for people who tend to be anxious about the future!

Interestingly, I personally have found that a lot of people who are seeking to know more information about their solar returns or transits, are often going through difficult transits themselves. I want to emphasize that Astrology can never ever replace professional medical or psychiatric help. I always encourage my clients to seek professional mental health services if they are in a dark place.

So, to answer your question, solar returns can provide a framework of what is likely to unfold in your life over the next year. However, you may see this and decide that you want to do the opposite of everything that you know can happen. That’s okay, that’s possible, that’s your own choice. I think whether or not psychics, astrologers, or tarot readers can ‘predict’ certain future events essentially comes down to personal opinion and personal belief systems. However, I have found so much accuracy in predictive astrology (when used wisely) , it is so useful when giving a framework of the energies/circumstances that are currently influencing a persons life.

I hope this helps! I recommend you listen to the Astrology Podcast (Chris Brennan) he talks a lot about predictive astrology and in some videos he has people (the audience) give examples of how certain transits manifested in their lives, it’s very interesting and it may give you some perspective/clarity regarding how you feel about this topic.

[yuzuyoon]

To me watching the third episode, it looks lik JM babies both JK and Tae but he seems to especially coddle Tae which honestly doesn't make sense to me since Tae is same age as him. Who even cares about the 2 months difference lol but I do think that JMs maturity is at another level. That was always going to be the case anyways since it's been pretty apparent from the beginning but this episode was noticeable too.

I personally don't think Tae and Jk were rude to Jimin. JM knows how to handle them both and if something wasn't working out for him, he would have told them off. He was just feeling motion sickness and needed a rest to gain his power back which he did halfway through the episode.

People need to stop trying to make Jimin look like a damsel in distress. He literally climbed the fucking wall and if those two were pissing him off, he can literally pick them up lol. I think people sometimes forget how strong JM is mentally and physically. Just because he doesn't feel the need to mention his strength doesn't mean he isn't strong.

I do however think JK was pretty rude to Tae. Like I know people excuse that as him being sassy, he is young and all that colourful word but I found it quiet rude. Generally I don't find him rude because I can only imagine how hard it is for them all but he isn't a baby anymore. I didn't find him rude in the USA part because I don't personally think he was rude to JM. He is obviously an awkward kid and trying to fill that silence without JM is hard. JK doesn't have the natural charisma that JM has. Plus they were both unwell so I could understand a bit there. But I thought the attitude towards Tae was a bit harsh and Tae didn't seem to deserve it.

I also think it's okay to call out certain behaviors without attacking the person. I saw shippers make fun of his rudeness saying how he didn't want Tae there. Even if he didn't want him there, he should be showing it in a better way. That's no reason to make someone feel crap. It also doesn't prove anything others than the fact that he can be an ass sometimes which I don't know why anyone would celebrate that about their favourite. This isn't to say I think JK is an asshole. I think he was being a bit of a dick in the episode. But also maybe he just wasn't having a good day.

I saw some people drag Tae for joining but I didn't see JM have any problem. Infact he seemed happy to have him there and he hung out with him a lot. The level of easiness JM has with Tae is quiet nice and that doesn't seem to change overtime. JM treats him like a fucking baby even more than he treats JK. When V is around, JMs attention also seems to go to V.

I also don't understand what people are saying when it comes to their bodies lol. I just saw two skinny dudes whose body I could have lived without seeing lol. I would say the same about it if Jimin was showing his body as well haha.

jimin's a big brother by blood so it doesn't surprise me that he babies his younger non blood related brothers.

i don't think they were necessarily rude but they certainly do not know how to read the room. if jimin wasn't feeling well and was just laying down to try to rest, getting him soaked was not the move. nausea is no joke. i had some trouble with it a month ago and i was nauseous all week but i wasn't sick. it sucks. the last thing i would've wanted was to be sprayed with water guns while trying to rest.

i also personally think ppl are reading too much into the th joining the show thing. it's not like he was one of jimin or jk's friends from outside the group like kai or mingi. jimin and jk could've said no to him coming if they really didn't want him there. they're all friends and they all clearly enjoy their time together, so i dont get the problem. you can be annoyed he's on the show but 🤷‍♀️

i honestly dont get the big deal with seeing them shirtless. there have only been a few instances when i've gotten excited to see jimin's body, and its very rare. it's kinda weird how stans of boy groups have gotten so comfortable expecting their idols to go shirtless or give them an ab flash. like it's not something that's surprising anymore but anticipated. they are not entitled to showing off their bodies, just like how female idols shouldn't be expected to wear incredibly revealing clothing. why has kpop gotten to a place where we value seeing skin over liking the music we listen to?