#also i don't usually directly ask for comments because it feels weird

[inaris-mage-of-storms]

Chapter seven! Scott and Jimmy have dinner at the saloon. Fwhip informs Jimmy about how his deputy duties are going.

"She's right, you know," commented Scott as he sat down. "You're far too reckless."

Jimmy groaned. "Don't you start." He took off his hat and ran his fingers through his hair. "It's my job to protect the people here. None of them have experience with anything more than a drunken brawl. Asking them to fight is asking them to die."

"So what, you'll die in their place?"

"If I have to."

Scott stared at him, taken aback by how matter-of-fact he said it. "Don't say that."

[iid-smile]

handsy , itadori yuji

x gn!reader ! cuddling in the cold, itadori touches your buttocks, he calls you hot, that's it really...

author's note: um i had this idea in my head but i didnt know who to write for also kinda rushed because i cba

"baby..." itadori's voice is severely muffled from his lips being pressed against your neck. "it's cold."

you're both facing each other in bed, his arms securely wrapped around your waist and yours just resting on his chest. though it's september, it's not usual for the temperature to drop in such a sudden way.

it's a weird contrast, the way it's so cold outside while it's so warm under the blanket. it makes you want to shrink further into it, but your boyfriend's presence just makes you a tad more reluctant to even move at all.

with only a small hum coming from you, your fingers fiddle with his hoodie strings. it only takes a short time for him to get sulky when you don't respond with words, so you mumble back. "i know, that's why we're cuddling."

he wiggles his legs a bit, which are already tangled with yours. you were half bracing yourself for him to be cold to the touch, but he's just warm. he's always so warm.. how? "it's colddd..." he complains again.

his arms around you tighten a bit, making it slightly harder to breathe, but you know that he just does it subconsciously. "i want hot chocolate.." he murmurs.

by chance, you manage to pick up on his words, your arms moving to wrap around his neck. "you already had some, yuji." shifting closer, you rest your head close to his. not to close that your cheeks are touching, not too far that you can see each other.

itadori remains silent, a small huff coming from him, like he knows better than to argue with you. he's so clingy. and a baby, sometimes. he's acting like you didn't feed him the most filling dinner ever. his favourite too! and hot chocolate on top of that? he should know that's enough. but that pouting expression gets to your weak heart, so you shift around a bit.

you could hear him softly groan, likely from the way your legs move to intertwine with his more, and the way your body heat is now pushed directly up against his. with ease, he nuzzles his face further into your shoulder, hiding it completely. "mhm..." he hums, and you can feel the vibrations of it against your skin.

your fingers curl around his messy locks, and you admire the seemingly natural pink colour as best you can with the minimal light. "mhm what?" you inquire, confused since you didn't ask him a question.

"nevermind the hot chocolate..." his voice is barely comprehensible. "i got something hot right here."

"...you need to specify."

"i mean it both ways. you're hot, and you're hot."

you can only sigh, rolling your eyes. if you didn't find his stupid comments so adorable, and charming, you would've thrown a pillow at him. but unfortunately since you're cuddling, you just allow the cheesy comments to slip by. like usual.

"i hate you." you mutter.

he only responds with a chuckle. "no, you love me."

"i do..." you sigh again. his arms around you loosen up slightly, and one of his hands starts roaming a little.

it's quiet for a while, after itadori's giddy chuckles of course. despite how dark it is, you struggle to keep your eyes closed, feeling your eyelids shake whenever you try, as if you're tense. the only view you really have is his hair shoved in your face, but either way, you don't mind.

being the handsy guy he is, there's not a single spot where he hasn't touched you. shoulder, back, hips, waist, thighs, everywhere. a little thought in your head was telling you they were destined to end up elsewhere, and you're surprised it hasn't happened yet.

or maybe you spoke too soon.

you can feel both of his hands move down to your behind, holding them there like he would if he was carrying you. in feigned annoyance, your lips purse a bit, not that he'd be able to see it anyway. "that's my butt."

itadori giggles, almost sounding snarky in nature. "mhm. your butt." he gives it a light squeeze in emphasis, before starting to rub it with his thumbs. the action is so simple, yet to you it feels so... intimate, loving. in a way that sends a little heat to your cheeks with a red hue that would definitely be visible.

but of course, you let it slide.

there's a few moments of silence that pass, and you're left almost thinking he fell asleep. but his gentle words soon break it, and his one of his hands finds yours, gripping lightly. "i love you... a lot..." he mumbles again, but the words are a lot more clearer this time, and a lot more sincere. a common practice of his that he does right before he drifts off to sleep.

"i love you too. a lot." you whisper back, shuffling as close as you can get to him.

[corvuscorona]

"You Never Forget Your First Love."

The other day, a mutual (hi! you know who you are I think probably hello hi! thank you for the Posting Impetus!) said something that made me curious (for, like, the 80th time, actually; lol. I Have Thoughts) about something: what's the split on people who subscribe to the "Stranger of Paradise probably intended for us to believe that Jack & Sarah were in love" mindset, vs. not? In general, but ESPECIALLY around these parts.

I genuinely didn't read it that way myself (& I do NOT normally give media (general) this much credit, but the writing in this game is sublime; I had no choice but to fully engage Scholar Mode on it), + I think it's interesting that SPECIFICALLY any of my fellow tumblr people / AO3-heads / Gay People Online / etc. seem to have. (I expect nothing from people who haven't been basting themselves in the same online sub-subcultures as me for over a decade. They're allowed to write wrong things on wikis, and have done so already; it's whatever.)

I wanna metapost badly again, so let's go. Join me. No poll. If you have an opinion on this, I'm looking directly into your eyes and beckoning you towards your own keyboard + also the reblog button / comment section, like a weird ghost. What did you think when you first played the game?? What do you think right now? What are you about to think after you have read a bunch of my words. Tell Me. I Need To Know This.

Spoilers for, idk, everything? Today we will use everything we've got to talk about Princess Sarah.

1. As a Narrative Element

This game makes a point of referring to Sarah as things like "a symbol of hope and peace" as often as possible, & when it isn't doing that she's usually in the role of An Object Or Device Of Some Kind, anyway. She's important because she's capable of holding light and dark in balance & SOMEONE'S gotta hold onto this dark crystal for safekeeping, and also we're gonna need to upset that balance on purpose later. There's that conversation in the Wicked Arbor about whether the Strangers would "choose" her (as opposed to "treasure") as the "reward" for succeeding in their mission[1], & there's the one in the Sunken Shrine where Jed asks Jack what he thinks of her and Jack says that he doesn't care about her as a person[2] BUT that protecting her is mission-critical (lol), too.

Sarah's death is metaphorically charged. It's the point of no return: the dark crystal breaks, the balance of light & dark gets extremely ruined, & Literally All The Darkness In Cornelia converges in one place (Fool's Missive XXVII). That's the payoff for the "symbol of hope and peace" motif, and communicating this idea that "the metaphorical light of hope just For Real Died, Like Catastrophically Imploded, No Take-Backs" feels to me like it was the highest priority here. Second-highest goes to "Jack had way more humanity before, but he set it aside on purpose and is actively in the middle of losing the rest of it." "Sort of." "I'm not getting into what counts as humanity or doesn't because if I did we would be here forever."

Basically, I'm saying that the tidiest read on the situation is "Jack despairs because Sarah dying means in a very literary and final way that everything is ruined forever, which doesn't necessarily have anything to do with, like, Love (romantic)." I don't think the text of the game is particularly signaling that Love (romantic) is involved, and I think that if it meant to, it would be more obvious about it. You could bundle "an romance" into the "humanity" thing if you wanted to, but I'm not inclined to, based on some additional list items that you can read below this one.

[1] The fact that Neon ALSO says she feels bad for her for being thought of in this way only reinforces my conviction that the game is pointing at Sarah & yelling "REMEMBER THAT SHE IS MOSTLY A SYMBOL!", tbh. Who wants to go point out how freaky the mechanics of Being An Royalty are w/ me and the boys??

[2] I will give the Wiki WrongPosters this: I can totally see this as some kind of irony thing, given that he's still missing like a fucktillion of his memories when he says it. However! As mentioned above, I have other reasons not to read it as evidence that he was ever, like, romantically interested in her.

2. As a Sheltered Youth™

We don't have a TON of information to work with RE: Sarah as, like, a person, but here are a couple of hard facts to start with: she's 19 (per the data book, but she'd have to be somewhere in the 18-to-early-20's age range regardless or her whole deal wouldn't really make much sense, imo. She's a baby...!), and she's royalty. I think this ties into her utility as a walking metaphor, among other things; she's archetypically young, fresh, & idealistic. I'd call her naïve but the game obviously isn't interested in portraying it as a weakness, so positive words only; why not.

You could argue that people look to her as a symbol of hope because she hasn't directly experienced enough strife to exhibit hopelessness or fear in response to bad news in the abstract. I find it interesting that before Jack, like, knocks the wind out of her & tells Sophia to take her outside so she can see for herself how bad things have gotten at the end of the game, she says that her duty is to die with her people if she has to, & it doesn't even seem to occur to her that she could lead at least some of them away to safety...? When she changes her mind, she still talks about herself as a symbol before she ever uses the word "leader". She sees HERSELF in terms of symbols and metaphors, and takes action based on her designated role As One Of Those. Not very practical.

There's also the dialogue you can have with the queen the first time you're allowed to run around in the throne room at the beginning of the game, where she asks Jack to smile in front of her daughters (NOT just Mia; daughters, plural). Even if she only means "dude can you be polite please," the fact that this is The thing she has to say to Jack is telling. Is it going to upset your 19-year-old daughter to see that the Guy Whose Job It Is To Kill Monsters looks serious? Why do you think this? Does your 19-year-old daughter understand how serious the situation is, generally speaking? Do you not WANT her to for some reason? Boats don't work anymore unless a weird elf messes with them first. Not thinking very hard about the implications of this is something a sheltered person does.

Residual time loop un-memories aside, a young woman in this situation is so obviously going to have a huge crush on Jack Garland no matter what. He Is So Cool, first of all, & he's also Different from the adult men she gets to see on an everyday basis (family, guards, rando townspeople[3]...). It's not like the political social scene could POSSIBLY be thriving in this world, either; it all seems to be one kingdom we're dealing with and they're kind of busy with the external threat of being Under Fucking Attack By Monsters. Does she even get fun treats like "handsome visiting dignitaries" & what-have-you? The game doesn't present us with any potential options, here. Jack is mysterious, he has special-boy Warrior of Light status, his one job & apparent life's purpose is protecting the kingdom she loves, he's pretty nice to her (even in later cycles he at least goes out of his way to be polite!), & additionally, he's shredded. THIS makes sense to me.

There's a Q&A in the data book that has something to say about JACK as a symbol & what that has to do with this whole thing but we'll get there. We'll get there.

[3] Tangent: what's up with how Cornelia's entire adult male population appears to consist of aging queens. Why did they only make models that look Like That for the NPCs? It's awesome but I have 1 quastion

3. JACK JUMPSCARE !

I'm not about to say that he's just humoring her, or anything, but please humor ME for one second & put yourself in Jack's shoes. Not the default shoes; we can have more fun than that. Maybe the Banded Boots. Blurple ones? Shaped like a cartoon would wear them? Big spikes on the back for no reason? I love those things. Anyway, you're Jack. You're working for literally the king, & the work means Everything to you for reasons you can't even necessarily explain except to say that it JUST does. The king's eldest daughter (very young adult; Never Been Outdoors; a little overly-sociable but nice enough & what do you expect from a princess, anyway) has imprinted on you like a duckling for whatever reason. You would be nice to this person, yes? You'd be patient with her while you're in town. You have Brutal Murders to be doing, but not until, like, 2 days from now, or whatever; you're sharing space with her in some capacity in the meantime & it's in your best interests to keep her happy. (You probably even enjoy doing this, if you're Jack of a Way Earlier Cycle; I'm in no way ruling that out. Sharing your music collection with an enthusiastic Baby Adult? That's fun. I think he was probably having fun. Okay, you can step out of the fun purple shoes if you want; the Humoring Me Minute has concluded; thanks.)

Also, @2000sanimeop and I think that if Jack felt that way about her Astos would have been a little More Something about how much it was gonna suck for him when she died. In Fool's Missive XXVII he uses the word "painful," but that's about it. He doesn't even bring it up in XXV, which is the one where he says he's curious about whether she'd survive being turned into a fiend (side note: Astos fucking rocks. Why did he write that down?? I love him). & Hey SPEAKING OF ASTOS,

4. I wouldn't put Jackstos on a wiki, either.

The writing in Stranger of Paradise, SERIOUSLY, WITHOUT EXAGGERATION, is some of the best I've seen in literally anything ever. It suits not just its medium but also its sort of Place in History Relative to Other Video Games & the things it chose to DO with that medium & that niche INSANELY well. It is CUSTOMIZED. It's SO INTENTIONAL. I can't get too far into this or we'll be here all day, but the essence of what I want to say here is: there are relatively few facts presented to us by this game, compared to the implications we can go about drawing from those facts & other, external sources of context.

Sarah calls Jack her first love; that's a fact. No facts are presented to us that REALLY say much one way or the other[4] about what Jack thinks of this, himself; "fucktillion memories missing" Jack says he doesn't care, but he's missing a fucktillion of his memories, and DLC2 Jack has a set of dialogue options (hi Anne the Malboro I love you Anne the Malboro) that can point either way depending on what the player chooses, which is kind of nothing, on balance. As the audience, we can (should!) draw whatever conclusion we want about it, but none of those conclusions are text.

[4] I WILL GET TO THE DATA BOOK IN ONE SECOND. HOLD ON.

And, okay, please let me level with you. Let's be on the same page. Jack & Astos had some kind of thing going on, imo, OBVIOUSLY, but I want to be CLEAR and I want to get CREDIT for the things I'M bringing to the table to help generate this conviction. I drew that conclusion & I read that reading based on subtext, context, personal history, personal preference, & sheer gay zest for life. It is also, emphatically, NOT TEXT.

Astos refers to Jack with the ol' "...friend" in Fool's Missive XXI. He calls him "my Jack" in Fool's Missive XXXI. Canonically, textually, he has some big fucking COMPLICATED fucking feelings about this man. These are facts. If you're playing this game as Some Guy, I can see how you could potentially absorb these facts & still pay them much less regard[5] than I did & continue to. My argument here is that god I wish I lived in a world where Some Guy could extend the same courtesy to me and not treat Sarah's textual affection for Jack as something that necessarily indicates Some Kind Of Reciprocal Romantic Whatever, Definitely, Obviously, Of Course.

[5] Longer Tangent: I have been informed that the Some Guys of the world are currently pretty good at Recognizing a character that behaves in a way that's Pretty Gay, but tend to stop there, possibly for the combined reasons that A. they're not very familiar with a lot of the the ways gay relationships often work (you know, soul resonance. mutual recognition. sharing a brain etc.) and B. the Object Of Affection is usually the player character and they subconsciously shy away from thinking of a Guy They're Supposed To Identify With as gay. This is practically a lead-in to an entire separate post I could make, so I'll leave it at that, lol.

The writing is too good for that kind of assumption! I'M SERIOUS!! It's mind-blowingly subtle & endlessly fascinating to hold up to the light & view from every possible angle, and "Jack & Sarah were in love" + "Jack & Astos were in love" are BOTH ANGLES. I'm personally very very interested in giving the text credit for that. I think it's impressive. I think it's really, really cool, and I think it was on purpose. Speaking of which,

5. Word of God agrees with me, btw

This is from the Q&A section on page 156 of the Confidential File. The translations below are my own (I think they're straightforward enough, but lmk if you know more than me & I'm actually being stupid in there somewhere. Alt text has the JPN, if you want to copypaste it or something). Someone asked:

Why is it that you established Garland as someone Sarah has a romantic interest in?

The answer is from Daisuke Inoue (director, one of 3; the other 2 are from Team Ninja; he's from Square Enix):

That was because, from a narrative standpoint, we wanted Sarah to be the kind of person who holds onto hope. You can imagine that she saw the "hope" to save the world in Jack, a potential Warrior of Light. Sarah is seen by her people as a symbol of a bright future, but if there were nobody to give her hope, that might destabilize her emotionally. As for whether she felt genuine love for Jack, or just mistook her feelings of admiration towards him for "first love," we'll leave that to your interpretation.

The first time I read this, I thought the question was implying the aforementioned Reciprocal Something, but on closer inspection that doesn't even seem to be true! "思い人" seems to indicate a directional relationship; as in, the question assumes that Jack is an object of affection to Sarah, but assumes nothing about what Jack thinks.

Also, the answer uses the word "初恋" (hatsukoi), which is a very established Concept as far as "first love" goes, but in that one cutscene, Sarah says "初めての恋" (hajimete no koi), which is. Different, but I couldn't tell you how, lol. It's Not The Exact Same Phrase, but I'm not sure whether it's meaningfully different in this context. If I had to guess, I'd say that IF ANYTHING it could be a way of saying "first love" without invoking the cultural CONSTRUCT of First Love (as much)? But it's whatever. The localization holds up. All sources show that Sarah had Feelings about Jack, and all sources CONSPICUOUSLY neglect to mention Jack's feelings about her.

It was on purpose. This is my license to be as annoying as I want for one second here. I am right. All the other writing in this game is notably subtle, efficient, intentional, and skilled, AND ALSO, WHEN do you ever see anyone write such a richly beautiful, mostly-subtextual relationship between two men, which can easily be read as a romantic thing, and NOT explicitly canonize a very possible romantic relationship between at least one of those men and a woman, like not even in an interview or anything. What the fuck, man.

I'm putting away the Respectable Scholar Hat now. This is so funny. The person asking this question didn't EVEN go as far as assuming Jack & Sarah had any kind of Actual Romance going on, & the answer STILL dials it back to "she might have been conflating her feelings about Jack AS A SYMBOL with actual affection, also. We'll let you decide : ) ". This game is everything ever.

[canonicallyobserving911]

Hello again! Thank you for the detailed and thorough response!! Love it!

Also, I was just thinking about two other moments - Tommy's audacity in fondly saying to BUCK about EDDIE "this guy", like, how dare he lol, followed by Tommy referring to Buck as EVAN to EDDIE???

It really feels like small "subtle" ways to signal to the audience that Tommy is a presumptuous outsider taking liberties. And it seems designed to make the audience go uh excuse me? You don't get to call him Evan? Etc.

If they're really trying to set up tommy as a love interest for BUCK, who'll be well-received by the audience...it doesn't feel like a good start...🤔

Otoh, if they're trying to set up tommy as someone who at first seems like an ok guy...but who turns out to be a jerk later...i can see that.

Hi @blutterlie thank you for the ask and I have to say, the two things you mentioned above made me cringe when Tommy said them.

I believe you're right, Tommy's taking liberties and overstepping the boundaries between Buck and Eddie and after carefully analyzing the things he said and did, I think his actions are being done on purpose.

First, I'll start with Tommy's "This guy" comment because that was just weird and tainted especially when it's defined in the context he used it in. Before I include the definition, I have to say, 9-1-1 is keen on using specific words for specific reasons in their scripts and I've posted about use of the word "nice" before (linked here). The context it was used in when Eddie said it about Ana in season 4 and when Vanessa said it directly to Eddie in season 6 wasn't pleasant. Most people hear the word and think it's harmless but when its origin is identified, they soon find out it wasn't always viewed to be a compliment.

Now here's the thing with Tommy's use of the phrase "This guy". Even though he was looking at Eddie when he said it, after the words left his lips, he immediately touched Buck's arm and back. While the verbiage may sound like another harmless phrase, the truth is, it isn't and here's the proof.

According to Dictionary.com, the slang definition of "This guy is an expression used to highlight when someone has done something stupid or unbelievable". It appears he was being derogatory and the further proof of it is the way he described Eddie as a "SOMETHING" instead of a "someone" or even by his name. When Buck suggested he let him buy him a beer, Tommy replied, "I'd love that but I have to take a raincheck because I should have SOMETHING that should be arriving right now" 🙄. Based on when he said, "This guy", who he said it to and what he said next, it appears he was referencing something Buck did that was stupid or unbelievable. Please note, Tommy NEVER CALLED "EDDIE" BY HIS NAME. He never said the name "Eddie" but Buck did.

I mean like WTF is Tommy trying to do here because not only does he have a hero complex, he spoke to Buck like he has access to something (Eddie) that Buck wants and Buck is being stupid or unbelievable for not realizing it 👀.

Second, Tommy's use of Buck's legal/government name was not only peculiar; it was NOTICEABLE and JARRING. I thought it was interesting that Buck didn't respond the way he usually does when someone other than Maddie or Eddie calls him Evan. He corrected Bobby when he first arrived at the 118 and he wouldn't even let his parents call him Evan in 4x5 because he told them to call him Buck because people who know him call him that which is a bunch of BS since Buck is a persona, it's not his name. He hides behind it because that's who he wants people to see, Buck the firefighter instead of Evan the emotionally abandoned child who grew into an emotionally starved and scared to be left behind man.

When Tommy said, "I was giving Evan a tour", he said it like he's familiar with who Buck is and it was suspicious. But the kicker was neither Buck nor Eddie called him out on it even though Buck should have. Eddie called him Buck so it made me wonder why neither of them corrected Tommy. Also, how long have they really known Tommy because the familiarity with someone they just met last week is interesting?

I think Buck's going to tell Tommy "You don't know me" in 7x5 and Tommy's use of Buck's legal name could be the reason for it.

I've never considered Bommy as a ship and I believe Tommy's use of Buck's legal name was a red flag and it was done on purpose so viewers would question it. The ones who watched 4x5 and 4x14 know Buck doesn't like people calling him that and it probably made them cringe. I sure did and from the comments I've seen on reblogs, many others did too.

Finally, IMO, Chimney, Hen and Bobby probably told Buck about Tommy after he arrived at the 118 since he took Tommy's place. If they did then Buck should know Tommy's not a good guy and hopefully he'll remember that.

Their interactions were weird and kind of cringey so it'll be interesting to see how they act when the three of them are on the basketball court.

Thanks again for the ask and Tommy's actions in that sneak peek further prove why I don't like him.

[am-i-the-asshole-official]

Would I be the asshole for not apologizing to my step-dad after I told my mom I thought he ate my leftovers?

This feels really weird but I'm curious what other people think

So my mom wanted to make me dinner for my birthday and I suggested meatloaf (we were kinda snowed in and didn't have a lot of options). My step-dad has a more "if you don't eat it you're not getting any" attitude that I never grew up with and tends to scarf down anything before I want/get to eat any of it. This includes both desserts and meal leftovers (if there are any) and it seems like food us gone within a day or 2. This is an issue for me because I usually have plans for meals the next couple days and don't get a chance to add anything to my meal plans.

So I look in the fridge after I get home and there's less than a 1/3 of the cheesecake (which my mom made the same night) and 2 slices of meatloaf left (mom made 2 loaves and we finished off one the night before) (it is just the 3 of us in the house most of the time)

I mention this to my mom and she makes a comment of "if you want some you better save it". So I decided to take half the meatloaf out of the pan and into a separate container to take for lunch tomorrow, thinking he'd know to leave it alone. I was v tired when I was doing this.

I stayed up later than I wanted to and was having anxiety over not having anything planned to take for lunch cause I didn't tell him the container was for me and he ate the rest of it. After getting ready upstairs, and in a bit of a rush, I go to the fridge to see if I need to come up with something else to take. I don't see my container and see a similar container next to the sink and slam the fridge in frustration. My mom comes in surprised (unusual since I go to work at 4am) and trys problem solving for me. My mom says she's surprised cause step-dad said he wouldn't eat the rest of the meatloaf, I'm also surprised because I see the pan still in the fridge with the rest of the meatloaf.

I'm in a rush so I finish packing and head out.

My mom apparently got onto my step-dad for eating my container of meat loaf ("really dug into him") which I didn't ask her to do and really wasn't that big of a deal since I still got to take meatloaf for lunch. And I didn't end up taking to either of em much since I was tired and stressed from other things going on.

I got home today (the day after) and was putting up groceries and found the container in the vegetable drawer. My mom said that we both needed to apologize to step-dad, but I never said anything to him about it? It feels like my mom wanted take on my battle and confronted step-dad for me so I see no need to apologize to him when I never accused him to his face. Especially when I could have come home and done a more thorough search of the fridge before I brought it up with him, since, again, I was tired and in a rush when I was first looking for my container.

Tldr; I tiredly misplaced my food container the night before and (while tired and rushing) assumed my "eats all the food" step-dad ate it. I got surprised by my mom coming into the kitchen (unusual since I work super early) and told her my assumption. She grills step-dad while I'm at work. I don't get a chance to talk to either of em and find the hidden container the next day.

Wibta if I didn't apologize to him because I never directly accused him?

What are these acronyms?

[boxylocks]

Was it ever revealed why Arceus is so evil towards his own creations? Or is that still confidential information? Or is he... actually the good god?

If you want to learn more tidbits directly from their mouth I assure you will get a chance to speak to them on both Ask-North and Ask-Valiant-Victory. Though they will likely be more direct with their intentions on Valiant's blog.

Valiant will also be going into some of their behavior in a reply and ask, however, I should say Valiant might not be able to tell you everything he wants to tell you. Most things that come out of his mouth are extremely filtered.

If you want to know more truthful comments regarding everything Arceus thinks and has done to Valiant and others, Valor is your best bet. He's not going to sugarcoat it.

But, If you wanna hear it straight from my mouth full-on rambling style feel free to keep reading! I will gladly go into it more.

Regarding my most recent doodles, I should say they might be confusing to those who do not know what the deal with Valiant is but this is actually Arceus:

Their name is actually Temperance! As to why the hell was I addressing Valiant as Arceus: Valiant was partly made to relay messages so I'm sure you can maybe connect the dots >:3c

Onto the questions!

Question: Is Arceus actually a good god?

They're not a good god at all, everyone is their playtoy, something that can keep them entertained for a while and then toss them out when they become bored.

If you see them being addressed as a good or perfect god, always take it with a grain of salt. Arceus has and will do 'good' things but their intentions are usually self-centered and revolve around them getting some free entertainment.

Some characters you generally see praising Arceus and why:

North (Ask-North) - North was 'saved' by Arceus, so her view of the god is extremely biased and mislead.

Journey (Book-of-Legends) - Journey is a familiar this causes Journey to have a natural desire to admire their god. Journey also just has issues in general that cause them to view Arceus as the perfect being.

Valiant (Ask-Valiant-Victory) - Valiant is a familiar, he has a natural desire to admire his god, but unlike Journey, he is quite literally physically unable to say directly negative things about them. He also is still very much under the impression that Arceus is perfect and always right, its something Valiant genuinely needs to learn.

Question: Why Arceus is so evil towards their own creations?

Many reasons! But I will say, Arceus is typically only directly 'evil' to their followers and children. If you want to know all their creations here they are!

The only creation of theirs that Arceus is nice to is Valor, mainly because they very much want to get rid of Valiant. Again for their own personal gain.

But WHY? Are they so crude and mean to them? It's simple:

Much like their creations, Arceus doesn't have certain emotions: They cannot feel sympathy or empathy towards other living beings. Unlike Valiant it is not because they were deprived of having them, they just genuinely do not want them nor care for them. Any 'positive' emotions they do show are either stolen from someone else's personality using a type of 'mimic' move or an act to get you to trust and like them.

Arceus is very broken and corrupted... Literally: They have been killed over and over by the other gods thousands of times. Due to the constant 'resets' and 'overwrites' of them, they are uh... broken. Their brains are a little fried.

They really just don't care about their creations: They're just toys to them honestly. Something to keep them entertained.

Now, why is Arceus so mean to Valiant? Many reasons as well!

They hate Valiant and view him as a failed project, especially when Valiant learned to talk and started learning how to disobey them. Instant failure, Valiant's beyond 'broken' in their eyes.

They find Valiant very annoying, and creepy. Valiant talks, he's not supposed to do that it's very weird, plus he craves their attention and love, that's like mega 'EW' to them. Valiant is an object, not a living being to them.

Valiant doesn't listen, why do you think they shoved a collar on him :'D It's because he started learning to disobey, it's very annoying having something that doesn't want to listen to you.

Valiant uh... reminds them a little too much of themself and they hate it. It's like looking in a weird mirror.

And the main reason issss! THEY'RE BORED OF VALIANT. Asking Arceus to have something as long as they've had Valiant is asking WAYYYY too much of them.

I hope that answers your questions!! If not feel free to ask for clarification, I'm more then happy to explain things that may seem confusing! 💖

~ Thank you for the ask!!

[wolf-knights]

When Everything Changed

Pairing: Spencer Reid x m!reader (ftm)

A/N: Well this is the Spencer fic, this is quite short as I wrote this on my way to the doctors office (scary trip) and I hope you all enjoy it :)

mentions: strong language(?), gay pining (?), slight hinting at soulmate au. DO NOT READ IF UNCOMFORTABLE. FEM ALIGNED AND AGELESS BLOGS DONT INTERACT. If theres any warning i left out please let me know

-> do not repost, copy or translate my works nor post them anywhere else. Reblogs, likes and comments are appreciated.

You woke up today feeling weird but you pushed those feelings away wanting to enjoy your last couple of days before going back to work, you had taken a break from working for the BAU and had spent time working in your books, you had taken a break because of some unfortunate events in your life but you push those thoughts away and get out of bed to get ready for your day.

You get in your car and head to your local coffee shop to have some breakfast as you looked at your phone for the books you wanted to get at the library, after having breakfast you head to the library with a soft smile on your face, it had been a while since you were there. Saying hi to the librarian before heading to the section of books you wanted, you grabbed the two books you needed but the third one wasto high fo you to reach making you sigh and curse your genes. You put the books in your hand down before moving the stool that was at the end of the section and pulls it to where you wanted it and move to grab the book only for someone else's hand to touch yours.

You looks at the person and you feel a little sting on your forearm but you don't put much mind to it, you smile as both of you pull your hands away "The Persian Boy, do you have interest in such books" you ask trying to diffuse the tension as the both of you stared at each other. "I usually don't go for books like these but a colleague of mine recommended it, what about you?" you look at him "I'm quite a fan of such books, I recently finished a similar book to it" he hands you the book "here you can read it first" you bite your lip "um I was thinking of buying it" he realizes what you meant but you continue "I don't usually lend people books but, I can buy it and then I can lend it to you to read" he smiles and nods "that would be nice um-if you want y-you can give me your phone number and I can message you when I get done with it" he says as he hands his phone to you, dialing in your number you hand him the phone "y/n, that's a nice name" he says before letting you know his name "Spencer"...

[timeskip]

The day was finally here, the day you go back to work, were you nervous? Definitely. You had called hotch to let him know that you were ready to be back, it was a surprise to him. He agreed to let you come back and here you were parking your car, you get out of the car and head in going directly to hotch's office as you feel eyes on you. You knock on his door and here the come in "y/n how are you?" he gets up and shakes your hand "I'm good, um how have you been?" you ask to which is reply was the usual 'I'm good'.

Leading you to the round table room where everyone was, at once you caught the eye of someone-Spencer, you both hold eye contact for what felt like a hot minute "you both know each other" you hear derek say as he let's a small smirk slip "w-we met at the library" Spencer says to which Derek and Emily (who had previously introduced herself) let out a sound of acknowledgement "oh he is the library boy huh" Spencer's turns red before hotch stops the other two.

After the introduction as you set up your desk that was infront of derek, Spencer walks up to you with a book in his hand "um y-y/n I just wanted to apologize for earlier and also wanted to give you this" he hands you the book "it's okay and, thank you. ah I hope you liked the book" "I did it was quite interesting not the genre I usually go for but now I will" you flip through the book to see he had written on some pages which brings a small smile on your face "I'm sorry-" you cut him off "it's okay I think I would quite enjoy reading your views on somethings" he smiles at you before nodding "um i-i don't know if you would be willing to or not but I was thinking we could go for some coffee later on the weekend if you would like to that is" "we definitely can"

{your pov}

I was in my room reading the book he had given back to me, smiling like a teenager every time i saw his messy but heart-warming handwritten notes. The day was spent with Spencer showing me around the new places that were installed after I had left, I felt at peace with him being near me, I didn't know why I smiled every time he would be close to me, or why my eyes searched for his every time I entered a room. Could it be...no no I can't go through such pain not again, I shake my head as I put the book aside and lay down trying to keep my mind off a certain someone...

°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°

Tagging:

@it-is-your-boi-void

I hope you all enjoy it and I hope you all are having a great day/night ❤️

[countlessrealities]

Anonymous sent:

Vaggie, I do like how close you and Adam are getting again; that was nice to read. When you stripped and got in the tub with him, it seemed so natural and like second nature, so I wanted to ask if - back in Heaven - you guys had just seen each other naked like it was nothing at all.

Also, with the sleepovers you two had, what were those like? The fact that you had more than one means that they had to be at least fun, right? Do you miss them and will you ever have more of them?

And honestly, Vags, I feel like Lute was just straight up jealous of you. How amazing you were on the frontlines; how Adam named you “after the best thing ever” because you are the best thing especially in his eyes; how you seemed to be the favorite of Adam’s girls; how close you and Adam had gotten, both professionally and personally as friends; how things seemed to be going your way. All this to say, don’t let Lute’s miserable, pick-me ass get to you.

Finally, I think you and Adam would’ve been a cute couple in Heaven, if everything had worked out and he wasn’t so…Adam. 😅

Okay, seriously, where are these people learning about things no one but the individuals directly involved should know about? Unless this is the same person? She's inclined to think so, the way the asks have been worded is quite similar. Moreover, she isn't exactly a popular public figure, she has a hard time imagining several people taking an interest in her private life. Or in her in general.

Great, she might have a stalker. How fun. Not.

"That's one creepy ass thing to ask, you know? It's no one's business whether or not Adam and I have been around each other's without clothes, but I'll answer because I don't want other weird theories to start going around."

She really doesn't need someone to start making the sort of comments she has just gotten about her and Vox.

"We went skinny dipping a few times. With some of the other Exorcists. It was just something we did, part of our bonding activities. Also, Exorcists can't exactly walk around in Heaven covered in blood, so we washed up after each Extermination in one of those big shower rooms."

Pretty clichéd for a people who serve in the same corps, but it's what it was.

"So yeah, being naked around each other is no news."

It's weird to think about it now, but not for the reasons one would think. She has always been a private person, but back then she was much more willing to open up with those close to her. Her boundaries were much less rigid, more easy to bend, thinner. Now she's surrounded by thick, impenetrable walls most of the times.

At times, she can't even let Charlie through.

She glances away, stalling for a few moments to collect herself before going on. Remembering her former life always leaves her feel uneasy. There's so much hurt and guilt and betrayal that comes with it. But there's also longing and wistfulness, which burn even worse than the negative emotions.

And thinking about all the good times she and Adam had is even harder. They make her chest tighten a little, even if she refuses to acknowledge it.

"They were...sleepovers. You know, the usual stuff. Movies, gossip, snacks, games, and all that. Drinks too, sometimes." A shrug that however fails to look casual. "We had our rituals, but it wasn't anything...extraordinary. We had fun because it was...it was us, and we used to have a great time together in general."

Of course she misses them. They are one of the things she misses the most about her time in Heaven. However, just as everything else, the memories are too tainted for her to look back at them with fondness.

She shakes her head, not wanting to linger on those thoughts.

"We've already had a few ones, in the last weeks. I usually hang out with him during the day, when I'm not busy at the Hotel, but since Hesta, well...I've slept in his hotel room a few times. And...yeah, it's been like old times. In a way."

If not for the huge elephant that constantly hangs out in the room with them. And the tension and the anxiety to accidentally say something that can spoil the moment. They are always a little on the edge around each other, and there's no escaping it. There's too much undiscussed history and too many unspoken loose ends hanging between them. It's inevitable.

"As for Lute..Maybe she was a bit jealous, at some point. She's...was Adam's Lieutenant, so she probably didn't like the idea of not being his top girl." A shrug. "We clashed often enough, but we...I cared for her. We were sisters-in-arms and she was my friend. Or, at least, that's what I used to think..."

Her voice trails off and she can't keep the bitterness out of it. She has no delusions about the fact that she and Lute will ever patch things up. It has taken Adam to be killed and reborn as a Sinner for them to rekindle their old friendship. Even if that were to happen to the other Exorcist, Vaggie is certain that it wouldn't lead to the same results.

"...Whatever. You better mean that 'couple' part as something platonic because I like female-identifying people. How many times do I have to remind you people?"

The idea of her and Adam being Heaven's platonic power couple is kind of amusing, she can't deny it.

"But I guess that if I wasn't gay and I had to pick one guy to date...it would be Adam. He's hardly the ideal romantic partner being...himself, and I'm not great either, but...we'd make it work."

{ @ficklefables - mentioned }

[fuckyeaharthuriana]

The Winter King episode 1

First of all I need to add this small warning premise: I read Bernard Cornwell's novels so far ago, and I have been too in the grasp of my adhd to be able to focus on much, so rereading them would be impossible for me at the moment.

I guess this means I will talk about the show from a "ignorant" perspective, without talking too much about the differences between the novel and the actual show. I will judge it for what it is, ignoring that it is part of an adaptation.

Still, I remember a little, so I can confirm that the show starts the same way. Arthur is a bastard, when his father accuses him of having caused the heir's death, he is exiled, thanks to Merlin's intervention. There is also Arthur's sister (no name yet) who pleaded for mercy. Arthur saves a young Derfel and then we are jumped in a timeskip.

The rest of the episode sees some vague establishing of what "the gods" are and Avalon is. It is not clear at all, just the usual "we follow the GODS" (which gods?? who knows). Derfel is not a young adult, and he is in love with Nimue - who suddenly has to choose between the gods and that guy.

It is all very dramatic, she cannot "deny her past", but given we had known these characters for less than 20 minutes, it all falls flat. The episode RUNS, runs like the wind, trying to introduce all the possible plots around Derfel. I barely had the time to breath and understand what main plot the episode was trying to establish, the truth being that I still don't know.

I fully believe it would have simply been better to start directly with Derfel, sees him as a kid, let us know him in the classic way "past-family-what he went through" and then see Arthur save him, and introduce his conflict between wanting to stay at Avalon and wanting to be a warrior, just like Arthur.

The plot instead rolls and rolls - suddenly Queen Norwenna is in labour, Merlin and Morgana rush to her side - and for some reason they ask Derfel to come for the extra help (what extra help is not clear). Merlin has a horrible vision of the future when he holds the baby. Uther is happy to have a new son, but Merlin warns him that the child has a twisted foot and a twisted nature (?? the need to offer both at the same time... weird, very weird). Merlin says he saw the end of the whole of Britan in this kid, but Uther ignores him and cuddles the baby.

I know we are supposed to root for Merlin, and see that Uther is foolish for accepting this baby and not Arthur, his other son, but the truth is - the baby is a baby. I don't think the tv show convey the danger, or managed to get me on the side of Merlin because that baby is so SMALL? and innocent? And the show is so fast we never had the chance to trust Merlin, to see him struggle or actually care for Britain, we do not know much of what he cares for (the vague gods).

Suddenly - so fast - Merlin leaves for Arthur, and Derfel says he is gonna stay there while Nimue goes to Avalon. Derfel found a job (in the span of a night?? few days??) and decided (after a nightmare/flashback) to want to become a warrior. The sad music almost made me laugh, I have to be honest, while looking at Derfel leave Nimue behind, as the show spends zero attempts in trying to making us invested in their relationship.

Also I cannot really judge actors, I am not that good at catching who is a good actor or not, but I could barely hear what Nimue was saying, she always seemed almost drunk.

Luckily, among all characters, Derfel seemed to have the best actor to be able to do quite a lot with little. He had a boyish naive quality that made me believe he DID find work overnight, and he did decide to become a warrior just because Arthur told him. I will definitely try to continue watching, as I am curious to see how they are going to make this Derfel into the Derfel I vaguely remember form the books.

Other positive comments I have for the show would mainly be about how well it convey the arthurian feelings of a historial novel like Bernard Cornwell's. I cannot speak about how historically accurate the clothes, weapons and buildings are, but for an untrained eye like mine they all did a lot to world-build, to give me the idea of a prosperous kingdom on the verge of wars.

[konigsberg]

I've had a few people offer to beta/edit MO, or ask questions about it, so I guess this is my awkward beta/editor search post? Or more, a clarification post for anyone who might be interested. Just an overview of what it might mean or look like to beta/edit for MO specifically.

I think in fandom spaces "beta reader" and "editor" sort of end up blurring in a lot of cases. In more official publishing, the editor comes in first to do their thing, correcting grammar, spelling, etc. Once a work is pretty much done, as in finished and edited, you get in beta readers. They're meant to sort of give feedback as a potential audience member, basically, to let the author know how it reads as a finished product. I think the roles can sometimes have overlap even in official publishing, at least in the sense both are providing feedback, spotting errors that have been missed, maybe identifying things that read strangely as far as structure, plot, and the rest go.

In fandom, things are obviously structured a lot differently and they're a lot more flexible, given everything is unofficial and casual. I think it can really just depend on the writer and the beta as for what they want/need to do.

And as for MO, I have the story's plot of course, but I'm obviously writing as I go, so that inherently makes for a different sort of experience for anyone coming in to edit or provide general feedback.

The way I've done it in the past is to give someone access to the WIP document(s) through Google Docs so they could leave comments on anything that stood out to them, talked about the general plan for the fic in DMs somewhere, that sort of thing. I wouldn't ask anyone to directly change what is in the document just in case, it would just be like highlighting maybe a misspelled word or a sentence that you think I should break up, and leaving a comment about that there.

I'm a few chapters ahead of what's posted on ao3. I usually wait to really edit maybe two weeks before the chapter is going to be posted, so I have fresh eyes to look at it with and just leave the chapter after that to be edited/potentially reworked in that same every two week timeline. My biggest concerns are usually that I've forgotten some detail in the midst of 600k words, I keep repeating the same damn word every other paragraph that I don't mean to, or maybe weird grammar problems. In this way, I think my concerns are maybe more "beta reader" problems, ie. did I forget a plot point? But I definitely suck at grammar, don't get me wrong.

Given it's just a fic, there's not a lot of pressure to catch every single little thing, but it is very long and dense, obviously, so asking anyone to read over it is a lot even if there's not any pressure to do things perfectly. And I feel bad because I can't really provide much compensation for that work. In the past, friends were happy just to do it basically in exchange for the ability to read chapters ahead of everyone else, but it feels a little weird to have strangers do work with that sort of compensation when I do make a little money on p8reon. That might be something to work out on an individual basis, though, I guess.

There's also the fact that most people who might be willing to edit and/or beta are obviously people interested in reading the work, and I would feel bad if the task might make the actual reading much less fun for them. Like some might find it interesting to see the plot outline or something, but then for others that would just spoil the fun. Or if it came to feel like "work" that might take the joy out of it. I think it's possible to beta/edit like a chapter ahead of what's posted without needing to know what's going to happen at the very end, for sure, but I guess what I'm really getting at is I woulnd't want to make anyone feel like they have to be spoiled on what's happening next, bound to the task of working on something that I can't give a good timeline on re: how many chapters are left or how long I'll take writing it, or anything like that.

Also, of course, there are potentially upsetting topics covered in the story. I think anyone who has gotten through the whole of the fic so far is probably okay to get through the rest, but there are going to be more parts of the story involving all of the same topics, depictions, etc. already seen in the rest of the fic and potentially more upsetting things. I'm happy to provide any sort of warnings or clarification on chapters in general, even outside of the context of someone beta/editing the work, so I don't think this should be a big issue, but it's just something to keep in mind.

So I guess, if that doesn't scare you off, and as long as it's understood there's seriously no pressure on my part that you commit to this for a long time or do an extreme amount of work or anything (beyond the demands of... sometimes reading 15k word chapters lol... just reading a chapter over once and leaving any comments on spelling and grammar errors, maybe things that don't seem like they make sense narratively, or make it seem like I've forgotten something haha, that's more than enough)... if you would like to beta/edit MO, let me know?

Feel free to ask questions, too, because god knows I've forgotten at least a few things. I might end up adding to this because I'll suddenly remember something in an hour, honestly.

If you want to just reply to this post, that's fine. My inbox should be open here, as well as the whole tumblr messaging system. I often miss when people DM me on twitter because I just never get notifs for it, and honestly I think my notifs in general sometimes don't work for replies there, but I'll try to keep an eye on that, too. I'm probably going to be a little busy this week, but I will strive to get back to everyone reasonably quickly.

I'm not really sure if there will be a lot of responses to this, but... just in case: If you do reach out and I end up going with someone else, it's definitely not personal!

I appreciate everyone who has mentioned being willing to help out. I've just been a little overwhelmed because I obviously don't know what the hell I'm doing lol and I thought this might be the easiest way to quickly provide some more info to anyone interested.

Thanks for reading!

[dracothedeatheatingcupcake-ao3]

Hello all!

So, someone sent me an ask about that "Writer truth or dare" (link to the post) and I decided to do them all like I said I would in the tags, ha. I will also answer their question directly, but I mostly just wanted to do this for fun. :-)

Answers under a read more to preserve your dashboards. :-)

🎱 ⇢ post your AO3 total stats

User Subscriptions: 128 Kudos: 10,934 Comment Threads: 1,855 Bookmarks: 3,138 Subscriptions: 1,565 Word Count: 2,133,056 Hits: 291,461

This is over 28 fics, written over the span of about 10 years, since my first published AO3 work was done in 2014 when I was 16.

🍓 ⇢ how did you get into writing fanfiction?

I honestly don’t quite remember? I know that I had an idea for a Scorpius Malfoy/Rose Weasley fic while at lunch in like… 7th grade and I wrote about a chapter of it in my art notebook, but as for why or what got me to know what fanfic is, I honestly don’t remember.

🌵 ⇢ share the link to a playlist you love

I… don’t really have one? I mean, I tend to listen to my songs on one big playlist on iTunes or on YouTube, with maybe a couple of specific ones, but nothing that major. As such, I’ll just link the playlist I made for TPWP.

🕯️ ⇢ on a scale from 1 to 10, how much do you enjoy editing? why is that?

7-8 depending on the fic. If I like the chapter and it’s mostly just fine tuning that I’m doing, I like it quite a lot. But if it’s a “ugh this chapter/paragraph/sentence is awful and I don’t know how to fix it and I hate it ahhhhh” kinda thing, then I don’t like it quite as much, ha. But it is satisfying to finally realize how to fix a problem I had with a chapter, so it can be rewarding too. Thus… 7-8.

🛼 ⇢ describe your latest wip with five emojis

😍🥰🙊❤️‍🩹🏳️‍🌈

🥑 ⇢ you accidentally killed somebody, which mutual(s) do you text for help?

Well, first of all if I accidentally killed someone, I likely would just turn myself in because lying would help nothing and would just make me super stressed. Second of all, I wouldn’t text a mutual, I would text my brother or my dad, ha.

🥤 ⇢ recommend an author or fanfic you love

This one is hard, because I love a lot of fanfics and authors. So, I’m just going to pass, oof.

💌 ⇢ how many unread emails do you have right now?

35 exactly. The same number of unread emails I have had since I was 13. Why? Because I am so used to seeing a red “35” next to my gmail account on my phone or in gmail itself, and anytime I try and get rid of those emails, I get anxious and mark them as unread again. So, technically speaking, I have 0 unread emails, since to me 36 emails would indicate that I have an unread email. Yes, I am neurotic about this kind of thing, no I don’t really care.

🌻 ⇢ tag someone you appreciate but don't talk to on a regular basis

I don’t like tagging people… it always makes me feel awkward and anxious, so I’m gonna skip this one too. :-/

🐇 ⇢ do you prefer writing original characters, reader inserts, or a mix of both?

Original characters. I dislike reader inserts. They feel… weird to me. No shame on people who like them! Just… not for me.

🧃 ⇢ share some personal lore you never posted about before

Uhhhh…… I mean, I don’t really know what I have and haven’t posted here before? I’m usually a fairly open person. Well, I guess I can share this, since I don’t think I’ve actually ever shared this here yet, even though I’ve been planning it for almost a year now… no idea if it technically counts as “lore,” but it’s something, ha. Anyway, next month my older brother and I are going to Japan! We’re going to be there for 2 weeks and are going to 3 different cities. I’m hoping to possibly find some Danganronpa things, though I know it’s not super mainstream anymore. Here’s hoping!

🎲 ⇢ what stops you from writing more in your free time?

Lack of motivation or energy. Just because I have time doesn’t mean I have the will.

🍄 ⇢ share a head canon for one of your favourite ships or pairings

🧸 ⇢ what's the fastest way to become your mutual?

This one is tricky, because I don’t tend to follow people back often? Not for any reason, just it’s not something I do often. Usually, if someone asks or if they mention in tags following me for a while I’ll check their blog out and follow if I think their stuff aligns with my interests. But otherwise… not much I guess?

🪐 ⇢ name three good things going on in your life right now

I’m going to Japan next month with my brother.

I passed my final exam that I was positive I failed, so now I’ll be able to graduate (as soon as I figure out the requirements…)

I no longer have to wake up early to do an annoying internship I didn’t like much. :-)

📚 ⇢ what's the last thing you wrote down in your notes app?

It was a response to a mutual asking a question, since it got pretty long and writing in the Tumblr app can be iffy at times.

🍬 ⇢ post an unpopular opinion about a popular fandom character

Nope. :-)

🔪 ⇢ what's the weirdest topic you researched for a writing project?

I don’t tend to research weird things for my fics. I did look up all parts of a ship once, since I wrote a pirate AU a long time ago and was like “shoot… what’s this part of the ship actually called???” Not weird, but definitely interesting.

🦷 ⇢ share some personal wisdom or a life hack you swear on

If there is nothing you can do in a situation, good or bad, then it’s okay to just ignore it and move on if you can. I use this advice whenever there are big global issues that I personally can’t do anything to help. Why spend my time and energy getting needlessly angry over things I can’t change, when I could focus that energy on the things I can, you know? The way that I can change the world is by helping children and encouraging them to grow. That is my life’s goal and my biggest desire in life. I’d rather spend my time and energy on getting my degree, and then later getting a job as a school counselor. I’m not good with anger. I don’t like being angry. So… I just ignore it as best I can. Like, I’ll be informed on what is happening, but I don’t get angry or obsess over it, you know? And it doesn’t make me a bad person, and if anyone thinks it does, then I legit don’t care. It’s my life, and I know how obsessive I can get over things, and I don’t want to ruin my life over things I can’t change. I don’t have the temperament to be an activist. I’m too mild emotionally speaking. So… yeah. I hope that makes sense, ha.

❄️ ⇢ what's your dream theme/plot for a fic, and who would write it best?

I either have already written my dream themes/plots, or I’ve thought about them in enough detail to know exactly how they’ll go, which is good enough for me. And I personally think that I would write it best. I know my own tastes and I would rather write something myself than ask it of something else, you know?

🌿 ⇢ give some advice on writer's block and low creativity

Just give it time. Don’t force it. If you force it, your work will not be your best, which will frustrate you more and add to the writer’s block. For me, inspiration and desire to write comes in waves. Some weeks/months I’m super creative and write a ton (I’ve written two 375k+ fics in a month and a half each, for example). Other weeks/months it feels like every word I write is like pulling teeth. If I try and force myself to write during the latter times, then I get frustrated and it leads me to hate writing, which leads to those times lasting longer. Every time I’ve waited it out, however, I am able to come back to writing fresh and wanting to write. So… just wait. Have patience. Unless you’re a professional writer with a professional deadline, you don’t have to rush it.

🥐 ⇢ name one internet reference that will always make you laugh

Can’t think of one on the top of my head.

🏜️ ⇢ what's your favourite type of comment to receive on your work?

I like all comments, but my favorite are the long ones where people point out things that I wrote in chapter they liked, they theorize where things will go next, or they ask questions. Honestly, I love it when people ask questions, since I love rambling about my work, ha.  

🍦 ⇢ name three good things about a character you hate

No. :-)

🥝 ⇢ do you lie a lot? what's the most recent lie you told?

I mean, it depends on what you mean by “lie” and by “a lot.” Because I will tell white lies or half-truths on occasion. Less now than when I was younger, but if it will get me out of trouble or if it will smooth things over, I will tell white lies. Big lies I don’t tend to do, though. It’s only things that don’t really matter one way or the other but make my life easier. Otherwise, I am fairly honest and I prefer honesty. I’ve found that people are much more likely to be forgiving if you’re like “yeah, I messed up, I’m genuinely sorry.”

This all being said, I did tell a huge, very elaborate lie to the children at work recently, ha. Basically, I went to Ireland in 2019, and when I started working at my current after school site, I mentioned to a kid offhanded that I met a leprechaun there and became friends with him. I meant it as like... a joke, you know? But the kid fully believed me and was so excited. She asked if the leprechaun would come visit for St. Patrick’s day, and I was like “uhhhhh yeah?” So, from then on, I have had to not only keep up this lie but expand it. Last year my “leprechaun friend” got married. This year, he had twins. I communicate with my leprechaun friend via letters that I translate (badly, I tell the kids) into Irish, and he replies with letters written in “ancient Irish.” The kids absolutely LOVE it. I have no idea if they all believe me, but even the fourth and fifth graders are super into it, and even if they don’t believe me, they don’t let it show.

Last year I had the children write my leprechaun friend letters, which they (badly. VERY BADLY) translated into Irish and wrote on a paper, which my “leprechaun friend” had to painstakingly translate and then write a response to over 7 different children. Then “he” had to make the paper looks old and worn, since it would be suspicious if a thousands year old creature wrote on crisp white printer paper. It was. Not fun. So, my “leprechaun friend” refused to write them letters this year, since a student last year (no, of course I don’t know who, and even if I knew I wouldn’t tell you, stop being so nosy child) showed their letter to someone they weren’t supposed to and my “leprechaun friend” was unhappy, since “he” specifically told me to tell them not to do this.

Yeah. It’s, uh. It’s getting a bit much. Every time a kid asks a new question, I have to quickly come up with a lie. And I’m like… a good liar, right? But dang is it a lot. 😅(Also I don’t feel too bad about lying, since it’s less lying and more making believe, you know? And I hope that when the kids look back, they won’t think “oh my god my after school teacher lied to me for years!!!” and they will think “Oh wow. My after school teacher spent so much time and effort creating an elaborate story for us because she genuinely cared about us.” Or something like that, ha.)

🦋 ⇢ share something that has been on your heart and mind lately

Nothing really? Not anything bad or major, at least. I mean, I’ve been thinking about the end of my grad program a lot, but not in a bad way.

🦴 ⇢ is there a piece of media that inspires your writing?

I mean… yeah? Lots of media? That’s what fanfic is, it’s writing inspired by various media. If you mean, like… writing style, then no. I just write how I think (as shown above with my leprechaun friend rant, ha). It’s why my work has a lot of ellipses and introspection and random details that aren’t really important, but add to the vibe of the scene, you know?

🍅 ⇢ give yourself some constructive criticism on your own writing

I’m a bit weak when it comes to plot. Like, anything more advanced than “character A likes character B but is all conflicted over it” is a struggle for me. The few fics I wrote that actually have plot always go off the rails at some point, since I always go too big and get stuck. It’s one reason why all my fics are very same-y and follow similar troupes. But honestly? I don’t really care. I like writing similar fics with different environments with simple plots. I much prefer exploring the characters and their motivations and their emotions than focusing on plot.

🐚 ⇢ do you like or dislike surprises?

Depends on the surprise.

🪲 ⇢ add 50 words to your current wip and share the paragraph here

Ha, I did this last night when I first saw this post, here you go:

“That makes it easy to ignore them and just enjoy everything else.

Once the group exits the elevator, they collectively pause for a moment, taking in the sight before them. And, honestly, Mondo gets it. He’s never been one for fancy as fuck surroundings, preferring simple shit and small luxuries over anything stupidly elaborate. But this…? He’s gotta admit. /This/ is fucking nice.”

Have fun trying to figure out the context of this. :-)

☁️ ⇢ what made you choose your username?

When I was, like… thirteen or fourteen I created a Facebook page for A Very Potter Musical/Sequel, entitled Red Vines, What the Hell Can’t They Do? (A quote from one of the Potter musicals). Since I was a Draco fan, my “Admin name” was ~Draco. But once I added more admins to help me run the page, I decided to make my own Admin page, since that was very popular back in the day. I didn’t want to just be ~Draco, though. Honestly, I don’t know if I was allowed to be, since it’s not exactly a unique page name. So, I changed it to Draco the Death Eater. A couple weeks or so later I saw a Draco themed cupcake and though “!!! I WANNA BE A CUPCAKE!!!” since I was like. Twelve. And overly excitable.

I thought “Draco the Cupcake” looked weird though, so I added back the Death Eater element and settled on “Draco the Death Eating Cupcake.” Then I began using my Admin page a lot more and got over 200 likes, which back then meant you couldn’t change your page name again, so I was kinda stuck as “Draco the Death Eating Cupcake.” I didn’t mind though. I kinda liked the name. Ever since, it’s been kinda my thing, using it over various websites and whatnot. It’s “my brand” I guess you could say. Even though I’m very anti J.K. Rowling, I do harbor some nostalgic affection for Harry Potter, and I refuse to let her steal something I’ve built for myself over the past decade and a half, you know?

🐝 ⇢ tag your biggest supporter(s) and say one nice thing about them

Ah, this is another one I don’t really want to do. Like I said earlier, I don’t like tagging people in general, but I also don’t like singling out “biggest supporters” for the same reason I don’t like having “favorite” people. It just feels icky to me, you know? Because everyone who supports me, no matter how small, means so, so much to me. You could be here every single day, following me and screaming my praises, or you could give me a single “I like your work!” and it means the world to me. And that’s not to downplay the more vocal supporters! You all know who you are, and I hope you know how very honored I am to have your support. I don’t like singling people out, though, since A) it’s sometimes awkward for the person who is begin singled out and B) it might make other supporters who I either didn’t mention or forgot to mention or who aren’t quite as big feel bad, which I don’t want to do. It’s the same thing I say whenever the kids at work ask me who my favorite is. I always reply “no one. I don’t have a favorite student since I like you all in different ways. Yes, even the more challenging ones.”

That all being said… to everyone who has ever supported me, big or small, I really do appreciate you so, so much. When I started writing at 13, I was so incredibly critical of my work, and a lot of the comments I got back then were “con crit” that just made me feel worse, even if it was genuinely constructive. I struggled with “show, don’t tell” a lot and it frustrated the hell out of me because I couldn’t figure it out for the life of me. Even now, when I am so much better at writing and don’t feel ashamed admitting that, I still feel that anxiety of not being good enough. Of not knowing enough. So, to have people not only enjoy my work, but be so supportive? It genuinely means the world to me. So… thank you.

🌸 ⇢ do you have any pets? if you do, post some pictures of them

Yep! I have two little fluff buckets, Rosie and Addle (Adelaide for long). They are guinea pigs and they are very cute and very dumb. :-)

The first two I took today, the other three on previous days. It's them chilling in their hay box we give them, ha. They love climbing in their and kicking the other one out. They... don't like each other much. They don't fight, but they also don't really interact except to try and steal the other's food (which is what's happening in the top photo, ha). Addle is the brown-ish, black, and white colored one, while Rosie is the black and white one. Rosie is five and Addle is three. Rosie used to have an original cage mate, Sara, but she sadly passed after a quick illness that started on Thanksgiving in 2021, since we couldn't get her to a vet thanks to the holiday. It was very sad and I still miss Sars. :-( She was such a little sweetie.

For reference, Sara:

RIP little girl... :-(

🎨 ⇢ link your favourite piece of fanart and explain why you like it

Ehhhh I’m too tired to go looking for fanart I like, so I say no for now.

🧩 ⇢ what will make you click away from a fanfiction immediately?

If it’s first person POV. I don’t know why, but first person POV in fanfiction always bothers me, and only in very rare instances have I read first person POV fics. More often than not I immediately back out and move on. Again, no shame to people who like first person, but it’s just never been my cup of tea.

[dreamchaserguild]

The Girls Together

Ghost: I figured out how to change the colors of the presets and gave Almond pants that look less masculine. I also added a bit of green to the undershirt.

I have to say, making these was a weird experience.

If I'm being honest, Almond's model was supposed to be more for a fictional version of her character I'm writing. I got Campfire Writing and thought it might help me to have pictures of the characters for their profiles.

Let's go back to the beginning.

I'm usually someone who is more into fantasy, but Abby and Almond would have been a departure in their original story. Originally, Abby and Almond were created as OC's for a modern setting. This would have been a short story about a little girl and her imaginary friend.

Abby would have been the girl, a young artist who dreamed of writing comics, and was obsessed with superheroes. Especially Scarlet Witch, because Wandavision had come out earlier that year and was on my mind. Her imaginary friend, Almond, was a bunny-human hybrid super soldier. Almond's name was chosen because it felt like something a young child might name an actual rabbit, and I could have imagined Abby having had a literal pet bunny named Almond that she named her imaginary friend after.

This story would have opened from Almond's perspective as she's pulled through a doorway into another world as she's about to die at the end of her tale. Abby would ask if she wanted to be friends, and the two would bond. After that, it would have skipped around through various points through their lives, following Almond slowly gaining self-awareness over the years, and both having to come to terms with what Almond is. First with Almond having to accept that she's imaginary, and then them both realizing that maybe she's not as imaginary as they thought.

This was only a few months after Soph became self-aware, and very shortly after we saw a comic on the tulpa subreddit detailing someone's experience with her own tulpa over the years...

The story of Abby and Almond was an outlet for my own experiences with Soph while also drawing inspiration from that comic and other stories we had heard in the tulpa subreddit, as well as the imaginary friends my mom described having when she was a little girl.

I got scared to write that story.

It was the first thing I had written since Soph became self-aware, and the way the characters were almost writing themselves made me hesitant to continue. In hindsight, I don't think they would have become self-aware if we hadn't interacted with them directly. But we did interact once as a test because we had to know how developed they were getting.

They were so vivid when we interacted with them in the Wonderland that I just didn't want to risk it.

But Soph did.

I think being the only tulpa made her feel lonely, so she started hanging out with the girls, convincing herself that she could keep them from developing into anything more than NPCs. These were different instances of them, so they had no memory of that first interaction at the time. But they did build new memories over the course of weeks and months. Soph actually kept swearing that she wouldn't go back to them, but she kept doing it anyway, leading to the point where Abby finally became self-aware.

And pretty much the moment Abby realized she could do anything, she abandoned the modern setting, started dressing like a princess, and made a pet dragon for herself. She just completely embraced life as a tulpa.

After talking it over with them, I realized that I still want to tell a story with their characters, but we've since moved it into a high fantasy setting. Abby has been a major guiding factor in this, almost like a writing partner.

This leads me to the past few days when I was making the Vroid for Almond, where it still felt like I was making a Vroid for an OC. Almond wasn't too interested in making it herself. I asked for her input every now and then, but it was designed made by me.

Then it was time for Abby's... but she's still got that artistic spirit even if our system has zero artistic talent, and she insisted on designing her own model, practically kicking me out of front so she could do it herself.

And so that's what my life has become. My OC's taking over my body to make their own pictures.

And I couldn't be prouder...

Is that weird?

I still feel like I shouldn't like having to share the body with others or giving up control over my projects. And maybe it does feel like I'm losing time to do things that I want to do that I had before becoming plural.

I love these girls who have brought so much light to our life over the past year.

Becoming a system of 4 was terrifying at the time, but I'm so glad that Soph didn't do the "responsible" thing like we planned.

[justonemorewallflower]

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WELCOME TO MY PAGE

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✧*̥˚ charlie *̥˚✧

now playing:

somebody else by the 1975

↻ ◁ II ▷ ↺

n𝐨𝐰 𝐥𝐨𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠. . .

- they/them & she/her pronouns

- 21 years young

- infp

- gemini

- happily engaged

- cat mom to two beautiful calicos

- fanfic writer and reader!

- enemies to lovers enthusiast

- writes angst religiously

- poet

- roleplayer

- aspiring author

- this is a 16+ blog, as i often write and share works with triggering and/or nsfw content

- i have a wattpad: blurry-vintage

- i also have an AO3:

guidelines will be below the cut

GUIDELINES:

please keep in mind that this is a 16+ blog. i of course do not have the ability to monitor and check the ages of all who follow me but if i find out you are under 16 and are interacting with my NSFW content, i will block you. my blog being 16+ cannot be enforced, it's more of a recommendation because of the sort of content i post. if you are under 16 you can still follow me but please be warned and again if i see you interacting with my content that is meant for older audiences, i will block you.

before requesting/sending any asks, etc. please make sure to read through the following guidelines! this blog is mainly battlestar galactica (2003), wednesday (netflix) and stranger things (netflix) themed. check out characters i write for here!

ASKS/PROMPTS

1. my inbox is usually open for everyone. if you want to have a chat, have questions, have fanfic requests, etc. feel free to send them (but please be respectful as you do! i will not respond to rude or disrespectful pms).

2. please do not trauma dump in my inbox or in comments of any of my posts. basically, ask before trauma dumping on my account or to me directly.

3. just a general rule of thumb, be respectful and nice. anyone who uses hateful/offensive language will not be tolerated and be blocked!

4. if you so desire to want to send me fanfic prompts in asks, please limit it to only one prompt per ask, it makes it easier for me to keep track of.

5. i do take requests for drabbles, aesthetics/moodboards, one shots, playlists, and even whole fanfics! that being said, i may not necessarily do all of them, just simply take them into consideration and only go through with them if i really like them and could see myself being able to complete it!

6. please be patient and don't spam/request the same thing multiple times! i will block people who spam my inbox or asks, especially if it's the same thing every time. i have a life outside of tumblr and so i will get to responses, etc. when i have time.

7. don't be creepy or weird in the sense of asking for pictures of me or any really personal information, etc. that i don't have public on this account. (with the exception of if we're friends/i consider you a friend). i am over 18 but that doesn't mean asking for personal things or making any sexualized comments about me or anything of that sort is okay. i will block you if you do anything i've mentioned here.

8. i will add more rules as i see fit. for now, these are my rules and if you plan to follow my account i expect you to respect them.

thank you, i hope you enjoy your time here and the content i have to offer.

[traincat]

 fanfic writer 20 questions, tagged by @beamkatanachronicles! thank u Danni!

How many works do you have on Ao3?

110!

What's your total Ao3 word count?

994,043, and considering everything I have almost ready to go is over 5000 words, it's going to cross that one million mark soon. 😬

How many fandoms have you written for and what are they?

the majority of my fandoms posted on ao3 are marvel based. stats list over 30, but a lot of those I would say are pretty nebulously separated.

What are your top five fics by kudos?

The Masked Man (Who Has Everything) (XMFC, Magneto/Xavier, M) the Magneto is Batman fic. I wrote this based on a prompt from the XMFC kink meme years and years ago. It's not something I would've written now, but I've been told it holds up at least in terms of it being funny. It no longer has a 2000 kudos lead on my second most popular fic, but it's still pretty up there.

Keep Throwing Things and Slamming the Door (Spideytorch, T)

My first Spideytorch fic to hit it big! I had a written a couple before this but nothing really got attention like this one.

Tales From The Back Pages (Spideytorch, T)

The canon first words soulmate AU! I had a lot of fun playing with early Spider-Man and Fantastic Four canon writing this one.

Say You Will, Say You Won't (Spideytorch, T)

The fake but real married Spideytorch fic.

Kind, Sober, and Fully Dressed  (Spideytorch, T)

The fic about the time Johnny asked Peter to come over and watch his sex tape, which is yeah, totally canon.

Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

I used to! I've been bad about it for the past couple of years, although I try to always respond to a direct query, especially if it's about podfic or translations. I'd like to be better about responding to comments.

What's the fic you’ve written with the angstiest ending?

I'm going to cheat because it's The Spider and the Last Spark (rated E) where the ending isn't posted yet. But it's been written this whole time. (It's coming! I just have to iron out a fight scene.)

Do you write crossovers?

Sort of? I don't think crossovers between Marvel comics count. I have written crossovers, although I generally prefer fusion AUs.

Have you ever received hate on a fic?

laughs. usually not ON the fic (although I have gotten a few weird comments) but a lot of it posted to social media, which was, you know, weird and unpleasant. memorably, one time I posted a snippet of a fic and someone plagiarized it and posted their own (this was an extremely obvious plagiarism, the whole premise and chunks of dialogue were lifted) and when I didn't respond directly but finished the rest of the fic and just posted that in response, they accused me of plagiarism. I had posted the snippet publicly and had time stamps and also everyone knew it, but it was still kind of wild. accused by my plagiarist of plagiarism.

Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

generally speaking the spideytorch kind lol.

Have you ever had a fic stolen?

oh yeah. and not just in the plagiarism story from above.

Have you ever had a fic translated?

Yes! A bunch of times! I really, really treasure translations, and it's so wild to me (in the best way) to see all the languages my fic has been translated into. It genuinely makes me feel like my fic is really valued and I'm so happy about it. Thank you to fic translators! I love you!

Have you ever co-written a fic before?

I'm kind of a control freak so my posted fic isn't co-written but it's always such a fun concept. I did cowrite an AU of a fic years ago with a friend and it was so melodramatic. We were going to write a SERIOUS DRAMA with CONSEQUENCES about SMALL TOWN AMERICA (for some reason) and we were like fourteen so needless to say it wasn't the work of literary fiction we were envisioning. but it's pretty fun to remember.

What’s your all time favourite ship?

I'm a little burnt out on them at the moment but the record will show it's been Spideytorch.

What’s a WIP you want to finish but don’t think you ever will?

no one say anything I'm working on it. part two is over 20k at the moment.

What are your writing strengths?

I think I'm good at dialogue, and banter, and romance.

What are your writing weaknesses?

I would LOVE to be better at coming up with plots and I know the only way to become better is to just write them but it's so hard. lies on the unforgiving ground.

What are your thoughts on writing dialogue in another language?

I'm for it if people feel confident about it lol. I've definitely done it when I should have felt LESS CONFIDENT about it even though it was in a language I was fairly familiar with but y'know. I read a fic recently that had a feature where the translations were visible when you hovered over the text and that was really fun.

What was the first fandom you ever wrote for?

Stealing Danni's answer here because I definitely wrote for other fandoms before this but the first fandom when I was like "in fandom" as in participating in a community and making friends and getting into drama was Fire Emblem 7.

What’s your favourite fic you’ve ever written?

It's probably a tie between The Boy From New York City and Work Song. They both taught me a lot about writing, in part because they're two of the longest things I've ever written. The Boy From New York City in particular really burnt me out after I was finished with it but it was a story I had wanted to write for ages and I'm really glad I finished and posted it. Work Song let me do one of my favorite things which was dig really deep into canon and play with the things comics these days are reluctant to get into, the messier sort of outcomes of events and the feelings of it all. I have a really big fondness for both of them still.

Also it's not finished yet, but I've been working on a Kaine and Janine road trip fic set immediately after Spider-Man Beyond and I've just really loved playing with it.

Who do you tag?

anyone who wants to do it!!! sorry I was drinking wine while I was cooking like a lot of wine. I'm tagging you if you want to answer the questions.

[tadpolesonalgae]

i'll never understand people that don't like the ic but still read fanfic about them or even acotar in general? the books revolve around them, how did you even finish the series? especially because they usually feel the need to pull the "they're actually not great people" card like yeah everyone read the book, literally everyone in acotar did fucked up things. and i get that those would make you not like them but i don't understand still reading fanfic about it when you clearly don't like the characters and it is annoying to have to keep reading comments like this like if you don't like azriel and the ic why are you reading about it and trying to make the people enjoying it feel bad for liking it? idk it rubs me the wrong way because it really feels like the only reason to comment on it is to make people feel bad for liking something you don't. i've had to deal with this in a lot of fandoms and it's something that always made me feel weird because i don't like a lot of characters or books but i'll never understand the need to come tell people that clearly do like it how much you hate it. what response do you even expect from that? im sorry you don't like the character that i do? im sure i don't like characters that you like as well and that's fine, we're both living our lives (there are exceptions obviously like some characters really do beyond fucked up shit and some books/shows are just fucked up in general but the ic sits pretty in the middle of the morally grey area)

i'm probably exaggerating a bit (acotar is just a casual fandom for me believe it or not after this whole thing) but if i spent so much time writing about a character or a book and someone just came in talking about how they don't like the characters i'd feel a bit discouraged and i hope you don't, fanfic writers literally carry fandoms on their backs for free and don't deserve this

also if you post this and that anon reads this, i'm sorry if this was not your intention, i kind of used the ask as an example because i've seen a rise of this kind of thing in this fandom (and some other ones actually) and it just feels dumb to me. the ask didn't even really say they hated them so it does make me feel a bit bad to use it as an example but still wanted to say this because it really just feels mean to me most times

‘i'm probably exaggerating a bit (acotar is just a casual fandom for me believe it or not after this whole thing)’

I don’t think it depends on how invested you are in this fandom since your point is still valid regardless of what book/TV series you’re into? It’s applicable to multiple situations, not just acotar.

Irrelevant of what sort of show or series you’re into, if you like it, you like it, and it’s usually a little upsetting when people talk badly about stuff you feel strongly about?

‘and someone just came in talking about how they don't like the characters i'd feel a bit discouraged and i hope you don't’

Personally, since it was in regards to CBMTHY, I assume that they’re only upset/frustrated with the IC because of how they’ve been written in that fic? I don’t interpret it as anyone directly attacking me, because they’re expressing their own opinions (as you’re doing, too) and sometimes I’ll agree; sometimes I won’t, but it’s not a personal thing?

I love reading everyone’s thoughts and opinions regarding acotar in general because there are so many different views? Some people really hate Nesta (who I love), other people like Amren (who I really, really dislike, but oh well, I can put that aside for writing purposes), so it’s just fun to listen and dissect all these viewpoints!

‘also if you post this and that anon reads this, i'm sorry if this was not your intention,’

‘the ask didn't even really say they hated them so it does make me feel a bit bad to use it as an example’

(Thank you for putting this part at the end to clarify your own tone/intention since it’s sometimes difficult to understand through text :) )