#also what do you mean I made 45 posts but only 34 of them were tagged | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

anathemafiction · 3 years ago

Text

I posted 308 times in 2021

232 posts created (75%)

76 posts reblogged (25%)

For every post I created, I reblogged 0.3 posts.

I added 618 tags in 2021

#the golden rose - 249 posts

#asks - 80 posts

#mc - 46 posts

#anonymous - 40 posts

#fanart - 36 posts

#rambles - 36 posts

#alessa - 34 posts

#hadrian - 33 posts

#personal - 32 posts

#progress update - 32 posts

Longest Tag: 129 characters

#i still want to test a few more things and i haven't had as much free time as i wish so i'm expanding the testing phase for a bit

My Top Posts in 2021

I heard back from Hosted Games!

And The Golden Rose's submission has officially been received! I'll admit, I was growing a tiny bit worried about the lack of a reply, thinking that maybe I messed up the submission in some way, so I almost squealed when I saw the email notification. 😄

Next, the game is being sent to Content Review. I reckon this is when they read the Rose and send me back their review along with anything I need to alter - which I hope won't be too much! This is the first time any of my work will be "professionally reviewed" and it is intimidating! But a part of me is also really curious about what they're going to say. Is my work worth publishing? Isn't that the golden question.

There is a bit of a queue, however - which is great, it means a lot of games are coming out! - and the Rose is quite a big game (one million and two hundred thousand words long) so I expect this process will take a while.

In the meanwhile, they sent me some supplementary documents to read and a list of assets they need from me before publication. I'll read everything carefully tomorrow, but I expect to start working on the outline for Book 2 on Monday. The writing itch has been increasingly harder to ignore. I've been doing so much reading lately, it makes me want to grab a pen even more!

So that is all! One more step forward. Patience truly is a virtue, one that I have always struggled with, so of course, life decided to put me to the test once more xD

Have a great rest of the week! 🌹

398 notes • Posted 2021-08-19 22:39:12 GMT

Announcement

Hello, everyone! I've been wanting to make this post for a while, but I wanted to be sure before I shared anything, for only a fool makes the same mistake twice - and this one, in a row.

As you may be aware, I did two weeks of beta testing with close to 45 wonderful testers participating. And the reviews were overwhelmingly positive (seriously, you guys gave me such a boost in confidence 😭). It made me even more eager to share this game with everyone - to read all your thoughts and reactions about it.

However. However, three of those testers said something that cut me deep. Because the hardest criticism to hear is the one that deep down, you agree with. They told me that the ending was lacking. Not because of the content, but because it cut abruptly. It left them wanting for more, but not in the satisfying way you feel after a big, hearty meal. Looking forward to trying more dishes from the same cook. It left them looking for more as in: I am almost full, but something is missing still.

I picked the cut-off point between Book 1 and 2 based on an image I had in my head - a mix of red and blue in a dramatic blaze. But, I realized as I read the reviews of these three testers, that I picked the cut-off point wrong.

It needs more. The book needs one final chapter.

And it is such an easy fix. What would be the beginning of Book 2 is now the end of the first one. So, I left my self-pitying aside and did what I love to do. I wrote! And have thus finished the first draft of Chapter 8 - the new final chapter.

And... I love it. I am in love with it. Chapter 6 was my previous favorite chapter, but this one now takes the cake. It ties the whole book together so much more perfectly, with threads and clues coming united and how did I not realize this sooner? Why did I ever consider releasing the Book as it was before? I cannot stress how important it is to have fresh eyes looking at your work.

Because I have all the answers in my head, everything makes sense to me. So, in my eyes, the first ending would have been perfect - because I had knowledge that, of course, the readers can't have! It seems so simple, but after you work on something alone for so many months, it's so easy to fall into this trap. This is a mistake I am vowing never to commit again.

I am beyond grateful to my testers. They allowed me to craft this first Book into what it should have been all along. So much so that I'm embarrassed now about the whole beta process altogether - for I showed what I now consider an incomplete game to all of these wonderful people.

All of this to say? I need about an extra month/month and a half to truly finish The Golden Rose. I am not done yet, as I have foolishly announced before.

I know this will probably disappoint some of you - and you have every right to feel so. I am really sorry. I've been getting so many messages of support and excitement about the game, and I appreciate them so much. So it's with a very heavy heart that I'm telling you that I need more time.

But, on the bright side, you'll have a longer game and more content to play once it does come out! 95% of the game is DONE - as in, coded and edited and shining. I've fixed all the continuity errors, all the bugs, and while I'm sure some typos have slipped through the cracks, at least the most outrageous ones are corrected too.

The Rose is so close to being ready - I just need to add its finishing touches. And it will be such a better book because of them.

Because I want to be completely transparent, I'll share my to-do list before submitting the game:

Finish the second draft of chapter 8 and the new Epilogue.

Write all the suggestions/expansion of choices from my beta testers.

Put it all into code.

Do one week of extensive playtesting.

Storytelling is one hell of a craft. It's a difficult one, oftentimes, a cruel one too. But it's one that, as long as you practice it, you get better. It may take months and years, it may be so slow, it seems as if you stand perpetually in the same place. But you get better.

I've learned a lot, and I hope to continue learning even more. This was a particularly hard lesson to learn. A hard one to accept. One more chapter. I hope you all can understand.

Have a great week, everyone! And I'll be sharing all the progress I make. I'm so EXCITED to start writing the second draft!!!! 🌹

426 notes • Posted 2021-05-11 16:31:02 GMT

Hadrians heart rate when mc leans against him on the horse

Hadrians heart rate when mc holds his hands afterwards

His back is so straight, it could be made of stone.

Hadrian barely dares to breathe, the only air allowed out is through the tiniest crack in his lips. His face is heating, both from the pressure in his lungs and the intensity of your proximity.

Lord in Heaven.

He shouldn't have invited you to ride with him, but he had to. Billy seemed exhausted, and Hadrian couldn't bear to see you walk. Not after the roughness of the road, not after the bandits and that sword that had come so close to-

Hadrian briefly closes his eyes as you shift in front of him. Your legs on the saddle brush against his tighs, and Lord, he should have just given you Elly. He could have walked, why didn't he think it? But as his fingers tighten on the reigns, a small voice at the back of his head, a treasonous, sinful, undeserving voice whispers that he lies to himself. That he wouldn't have it any other way, now would he? The false decent of man that he is.

"... and beyond, the harbor."

Alessa's voice snaps him out of his thoughts, and Hadrian opens his eyes to the night once again. Tarragona materializes in front of him, the road starting to ascend to the top of a hill.

Hadrian shakes his head. There are more important things to worry about. Like the maps, and this Rafael, and the fact that both you and Alessa kept him in the dark for so long. You don't trust him, he tells himself for the hundredth time. A dark wave starts to spill over his thoughts as Hadrian's eyes darken. You don't trust him, and why should you?

The road is steeper, Elly's hooves struggle for a moment, and you fall back on the saddle. Hadrian doesn't have time to process as a warm weight presses on his chest. It's not sudden but gradual, like the shift of slow-moving sands in the landscape of a desert. You don't clash against him, but melt instead, first your lower back, then your shoulder blades, and then his head is spinning when the back of your skull rests just between his collar bones.

His hands freeze on the reigns, his eyes fly open and if there's sand in his thoughts, there is sand right now in his throat and his ears and his tongue because they all feel numb and rough and Father from above, he can smell your hair and it sends his already spinning thoughts into a violent whirlwind.

He can feel his body locking, and vaguely, between the madness, he can feel you stiffing too. Can feel your hands twisting, can feel you start to lean away-

Hadrian lets out a sharp exhale. He's an idiot, one that you don't trust, but he's not as big an idiot as to let this go. His arms bend, and tentatively, feeling the tips of his ears burn with the fire of a thousand suns, he rests one hand against your stomach. He feels your intake of breath through both his fingertips and his chest, and he smiles, then, when you nuzzle closer still.

Father, you bless me.

His chin rests on top of your head, and Hadrian decides that he's done thinking. You're in his arms, on top of Elly, and the city doesn't look as menacing as before.

"The road eventually drives towards the sea." Alessa's voice cuts through the silence like a knife. She is staring with narrowed eyes. "But we will go east, find our way into the residential district."

His smile doesn't waver. He's done thinking. He can't. Not as his thoughts are made of senses, and those... those can feel nothing beyond you.

- - -

Your arms are wrapped around her, and Alessa does not mean to, but she can feel her spine lose its strength. Even as she rests against you, Alessa tries to keep her composure, tries to keep from making a complete fool of herself.

You hum faintly, the vibrations traveling from your chest and spreading through her back like the quakes following the step of a giant. And your voice tingles against her ear in a lazy rush that nonetheless makes a shiver run down her spine, and Alessa does not mean to. But whatever little distance her pride had forced her to keep disappears as she melts against you.

'Tis such a warm night, and tiredness looms too closely at the edges of her sight, and she did not mean to. But a sigh leaves her parted lips as you tuck her in, your warmth not unpleasant, your closeness much too safe and she is a fool, but Alessa decides then, that for the ride, just for this ride, she will not mind it so.

She will not mind it as the Devil's Bridge comes into view. She will not mind it as Kroner walks through the streets of Tarragona, with shadows on the corners and buildings with too many windows, too many possible hidden eyes. She will not mind it, she commands herself through clenched teeth and restless fingers. She will-

Your hands suddenly envelop her own. Alessa blinks and looks down to see your fingers intertwining with hers, your thumb making little soothing circles against her skin. The leather of the reigns feels too rough as she clenches them tight, as she instinctively locks all her joints and feels adrenaline spike as if she's rushing for combat.

She is too cold, she knows. Too cold because your hands, so comforting, lose their confidence. Alessa can feel your hesitance, and above all, in this short moment, in this ride she did not plan but can never regret, Alessa wishes to reassure you.

So, stiffly, always too stiff, she grabs your hands back and accepts your touch. Your cheek brushes her forehead, and she almost swears she can feel you smiling.

Fool.

But so is she, because Alessa smiles a secret smile as her muscles lose all tension and you intertwine as closely as your hands. Her fingertips find your wrist, and in there, she seeks the soft, faint rhythm of your heart. She cannot feel it on her back, beating through your chest, but Alessa imagines that she does. She imagines the sound pouncing in tandem with the one on your wrist, the vibrations enveloping her in a strange, new reality.

They pull her down, away from her doubts and fears. Away from her worries and thoughts of treasures stolen by bitter former allies.

The inn is right ahead, but Alessa wishes that the road could somehow stretch, that time could slow or even halt altogether. Her skin is too cold, she knows. It always is. But in your hands, she can feel it warm. And in your arms, she can feel herself calm.

And with your breathing in her ears and your pulse in her hands, Alessa lets herself go.

For a while. Just for this ride.

465 notes • Posted 2021-09-07 16:11:56 GMT

Finished The Golden Rose

It is done. The whole game is written, edited, and coded. It took me four more months than I expected - I wanted to have reached this stage before the turn of the year - but then again, I never did anticipate reaching the million-word count.

When I started writing the Rose, the one thing I wanted was to make a game that I would like to have played. And I can say, proudly, that it is. I hope you'll all like it, of course, but at least I managed to meet my very first and most important goal.

Next, it follows the Beta testing. I think I will run it for about two weeks. I am... very nervous about it. The thought of people actually playing the whole game is both terrifying and exhilarating. I'll probably shake when those first reactions arrive 😩.

This is not a call for beta testers! I need to organize myself first. So please, don't send me applications yet!

The ship is not yet quite docked, but firm land is on sight. And what a journey it has been, uh? I hope the week goes amazing to you all! 🌹

595 notes • Posted 2021-04-11 15:48:01 GMT

Submitted The Golden Rose

It is done. The edits are finished, the email is sent, and this project, this passion, this behemoth of an undertaking is thus completed.

I can still barely believe it.

I know there's still road to walk before publication, but right now, I feel like it's out of my hands. The Rose has gained wings, and it flies away from me. And I cannot wait until it's there for you all to see.

I want to thank everyone who walked with me along this journey, either from the very beginning, when we were all still starry-eyed travelers and had no idea how many miles stretched before us. Or those who joined recently, lending me your enthusiasm, making me strengthen my weary spirit.

I know it sounds so cheap and cliche, but I could never have done this without all your support. I mean it. I know the blog has been terribly quiet since I've been 100% focused on finishing Book One, on accomplishing exactly this: submitting the game. But all the likes on my progress update posts, all the comments and reblogs, and the supportive asks. It all meant so much.

I've said before how writing can be so incredibly lonely, but you have all made it that it wasn't. Somehow, by some miracle, it really wasn't.

So, thank you. Thank you so very much.

I'll have a few moments of rest in the shade, allow my blistering feet to heal for a bit. Maybe listen to the wind rustling the tree leaves, and feel its touch on my heated skin. I'll allow myself to close my eyes and watch the sunlight through the thin layer of my eyelids. I'll rest this burden for a while. Just a little while.

Because I've been dreaming of Book 2, and I feel its pull. So I'll take a rest. I'll take a respite. Before straightening up and continue on that road that goes forever forward, chasing the impossible line of the horizon.

Have a great weekend everyone! 🌹

940 notes • Posted 2021-07-30 21:11:54 GMT

Get your Tumblr 2021 Year in Review →

#What a trip down memory land!!#This is fun #Put the posts under the read more because it's a lot of text #Hope it's not annoying^^

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vveakfish · 3 months ago

Text

So i had to do a bit of a pivot in terms of how i would be updating this reading order. The original post seemed to be a little too meaty, and every time i would try to go in and edit it Tumblr would give me an error message.

So i'm going to try to keep each 'part' of the story line in different reblogs, and hopefully that will prevent any future problems with the post's code giving the tumblr editor an aneurysm.

also, a very special thank you @drakkensystem for helping me get this all up to date!! i've been meaning to just sit down and do it for a while, but you made this process so much easier, and i greatly appreciate it <3

Wish I Knew (You Wanted Me) Linear Reading Order (cont...) (chronological) | [table of contents]

Part Two:

Run Away (Take My Hand) [ch 1-11] RA(TMH) [ch 12] | HO(TM) [ch 26-30] HO(TM) [ch 31-35] RA(TMH) [ch 13-21] HO(TM) [ch 41+42] RA(TMH) [ch 22-31] HO(TM) [ch 43] HO(TM) [ch 44-45] | RA(TMH) [32-33] RA(TMH) [ch 34] | HO(TM) [46] HO(TM) [ch 47-49] RA(TMH) [ch 35] HO(TM) [ch 50] | RA(TMH) [ch 36] RA(TMH) [ch 37+38] RA(TMH) [ch 39+40] | HO(TM) [ch 51+52] RA(TMH) [ch 41] HO(TM) [ch 53...]

Alright, you should know the drill by now if you've made it this far. The timeline of these stories can get a little... convoluted, and these guides are here to hopefully make navigating them a little easier.

If you proceed past this point there will be spoilers, so be warned.

PART TWO: Run Away (Take My Hand) [ch 1-4]

I think of this arc 'The Tower.' Like the tarot card. Disaster is looming just out of sight, and despite everyone's best efforts there doesn't seem to be a way to avoid it.

RA(TMH) [ch 5-11]

shit hits the fan

HO(TM) [ch 26-30]

the question is now, how do the Core Four feel about the events of the last week, and what do they do about it?

RA(TMH) [ch 12]

Welcome to the Wilderness. Dick and Wally get out of the city — They need a little time, a bit of space, and above all, they need to talk to each other.

HO(TM) [ch 31-35]

Welcome to Cadmus In their search for distraction the core four (and Roy) find themselves deep underground — in Cadmus' secret underbelly.

HO(TM) [ch 36-40]

Post Cadmus. The immediate danger has passed, but the mystery is far from solved. The JL is involved, but can the Titans and the League work together to figure out what happened below ground?

RA(TMH) [ch 13-18]

"we need to talk" Dick and Wally might be away from the stress of Titans Tower, and Roy, but they still have their issues to work through.

RA(TMH) [ch 19-21]

Things are heating up (smut section <3)

HO(TM) [ch 41 + 42]

Tim finally comes out of his heat haze, and he does not like what he finds

RA(TMH) [ch 22-24]

"we need to talk" Part two, electric boogaloo; feat. surprise special guest ;]

RA(TMH) [ch 25]

flashback: seven months post kidnapping, one month after he and Wally's bond finally broke, Dick ruminates on their failed relationship, and finds himself face to face with Deathstroke. Will this be the worst night of his life, or the start of a brand new chapter? only time will tell.

RA(TMH) [ch 26]

Wally struggles to process the fact that he could have lost Dick forever if it weren't for Deathstroke and Dick's habitual use of coolers as self medication. Very emotional moment for the boys.

RA(TMH) [ch 27]

Dick, Wally, and Grant have dinner together - it goes about as well as you'd expect it to.

RA(TMH) [ch 28-31]

if you thought the boys were done fighting well... sorry lmao. (it gets worked out tho !!! promise!!!) + Dick finds out about the impromptu cadmus mission & he tells wally he needs to go see whats happening back at the manor.

HO(TM) [ch 43]

dick and tim reunion <3 plus field trip to Titans tower

HO(TM) [ch 44-45] | RA(TMH) [32-33]

these both happen at the same time, you can choose which set you'd like to read first :)

RA(TMH) [ch 34] | HO(TM) [46]

these chapters both cover a lot of the same ground. The first half of 46 is in bruce's pov, and ch 34 is that same scene from Dick's POV. the second half of 46 is in Tim's pov and is the beginning of the mind meld to find out what the hell happened beneath cadmus. He, Cassie and Bart are pulled aside separately as J'onn makes sure they are all up to speed about what this telepathic meeting entails. at the same time, Dick is also pulled aside and J'onn expresses his concerns with information he uncovered while sorting through Roy's memories.

HO(TM) [ch 47]

flashback: What happened to Tim after Match nearly strangled him. then Tim attempting to process the memories that were just uncovered + plus the shame and embarrassment that came with having so many people he looks up to see him in such a vulnerable position.

HO(TM) [ch 48 + 49]

GUESS WHO'S BACK !!!!!! YOUR FAVORITE KRYPTONIAN CLONE !!! (well... kinda)

RA(TMH) [ch 35]

Dick and Garth go up to the Watchtower to inform Roy that he is expelled from the Titans, effective immediately. It goes about as well as you'd expect.

HO(TM) [ch 50] | RA(TMH) [ch 36]

Tim, Bart and Cassie bonding time <3 | Wally has to run errands and he's not happy about it (part of these chapters cover some of the same ground, it's your choice which one you'd like to read first)

RA(TMH) [ch 37 + 38]

the boys have been through a lot and they're just trying to figure out how to cope. Who's to say if they're doing it well or not.

RA(TMH) [ch 39 + 40] | HO(TM) [ch 51 + 52]

GALA ARC WAHOOOOOO 39 -> 51 -> 52 | 40 With 52/40 its weird because the scenes jump around a lot. technically the most chronological way to do this would be to read the livestream portion of Tim's chapter, then Wally's chapter in its entirety, then go back and read the second half of tim's chapter. but I think you could read the chapters one by one and still be fine. use your own judgement.

RA(TMH) [ch 41]

Dick and the terrible, horrible, no good very bad day

HO(TM) [ch 53...]

So what's Kon up to?

Wish I Knew (You Wanted Me) Linear reading order (chronological) | [table of contents]

On ao3 the series is already ordered chronolocially, for the most part. But this one is a little more thorough.

I'm going to be throwing not only fic titles at you, but chapter numbers too. This reading order will take you through this narrative from beginning to end, as smoothly as possible.

or thats the goal, anyway.

I'll be updating this as we upload more chapters, meaning this post is a WIP. There are arc descriptions and more detailed chapter orders under the cut, but here's the Bare Bones if you don’t want spoilers:

Prologue:

Why Don't You (Say So) Trade My Tomorrows (For Our Yesterday)

Part One:

Dancing (With Another Man) [ch 1-7] Hold On (To Me) [ch 1-4] D(WAM) [ch 8-10] It Started (With A Whisper) D(WAM) [ch 11-12] HO(TM) [ch 5] D(WAM) [ch 13-22] D(WAM) [ch 23-25] | HO(TM) [ch 6+7] D(WAM) [ch 26-31] D(WAM) [ch 32-38] | HO(TM) [ch 8-12] HO(TM) [ch 13-18] D(WAM) [ch 39-41] D(WAM) [ch 42-44] | HO(TM) [ch 19-22] D(WAM) [ch 45-48] HO(TM) [ch 23-25]

welcome beneath the cut! get comfy, and let me be weird for a bit. This is going to be made up of blurbs about what these different mini ‘arcs’ of the story focus on — as well as trying to lay out chapter by chapter reading orders to the best of my abilities.

And hey! if you (dear reader) have any reading order thoughts of your own, shoot me a comment or a DM

now, lets get into it:

PROLOGUE: Why Don't You (Say So) Trade My Tomorrows (For Our Yesterday)

These two act as a sort of backstory. It gives you a base understanding of what Dick's relationships with Wally and Roy were like, which leads us into

PART ONE: Dancing (With Another Man) [ch 1-7]

this arc sets up the larger conflict of the story, focusing on Dick, Wally, and Roy's reactions to it.

Hold On (To Me) [ch 1-4]

sets up timkon side plot, and shows how the core four are dealing with the main conflict

D(WAM) [ch 8-10] It Started (With A Whisper) D(WAM) [ch 11+12] HO(TM) [ch 5] D(WAM) [ch 13-22]

this seventeen chapter block kicks off the courtship arc which makes up the bulk of the part one plot — tensions are running high, and Dick has big decisions to make.

D(WAM) [ch 23-25] | HO(TM) [ch 6+7]

these two sections show the same events. And there's two potential ways to read them depending on the kind of reading experience you're looking for. Dick's storyline: -> 23, 6, 24, 25, 7 Tim's storyline: -> 6, 24, 25, 7 (+ 23 (optional)) Technically, Dick's story line would be the truly chronological one. You have all the information as soon as it's available to you. Tim's story line, however, makes this chain of events more of a mystery. You still find everything out, there's just more suspense beforehand. chapter 23 (Roy pov) & 7 (Tim pov) cover a lot of the same ground, which is why it would be optional to read 23 after having already read 7. But personally I think there is still something to gained from experiencing the appeal first hand along with Tim's second hand pov. Whether you read both is entirely up to you. Is this convoluted and possibly unnecessary? Yeah, probably, but hey! Have you ever been reading a comic and then had to chase down a tie in issue from another run just to understand what the fuck was happening? Think of it like that. This is superhero comic fanfic, after all.

D(WAM) [ch 26-31]

we'll call this the aftermath. You could read this as is, and it will make sense — in rereading this story in its entirety for this post, however, I've realized there is another potential reading order. 27 (Steph pov) leads directly in from HO(TM) ch 7 so, you could read this arc like this: HO(TM) 7 -> D(WAM) 27, 26, 28-31. Doing this is not necessary to enjoy or understand the story. Technically, it is the more chronological way to read these chapters, but don't worry to hard about this one.

D(WAM) [ch 32-38] | HO(TM) [ch 8-12]

These also happen at the same time, but are completely different scenes. Reading the section from one fic, then reading the section from the next would work perfectly fine. But, lining things up with the stories timeline the 'correct' chronological order is this: -> 32, 8-10, 33-38, 11+12

HO(TM) [ch 13-18]

i call this arc 'the boys are pouting.' basically the whole time Tim and Kon are dealing with their shit(tm), Wally and Dick are being very gay off panel. Dont worry though! we'll get back to them shortly. You could read this arc exactly as it's posted (it alternates between Tim's pov & Kon's) but they are full side plots on their own, so you could read them like this: Tim -> 13, 15, 18 Kon -> 14, 16, 17 This is me being nit-picky at this point, but I'm just writing this all down for the sake of having it all written down.

D(WAM) [ch 39-41]

See! What'd i tell ya

D(WAM) [ch 42-44] | HO(TM) [ch 19-22]

timkon real, not clickbait (42 | 19), (43 | 20), (44 | 21), 22

D(WAM) [ch 45-48] HO(TM) [ch 23-25]

and that is the conclusion to Part One

#WIK(YWM)#fishfic #chronological reading order #this will continue to be updated as we write more #and hopefully tumblr stops giving me issues :\#i'm just so glad to FINALLY have this up to date #its been too long

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snowdice · 3 years ago

Text

Big Bang Editing Story [Day 99]

I started writing this fic while editing my Big Bang story, but am going to continue doing it for other things now that Kill Dear is out. I will write and publish 100 words of the story every time I finish doing whatever task I’m doing. If you’d like to block these proceedings, please feel free to block the tag proofread stories. I will reblog this post with the parts of the story I do today. Edited chapters are linked; everything else I’ve done so far is under the cut.

My Master Post Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8 Part 9 Part 10 Part 11 Part 12 Part 13 Part 14 Part 15 Part 16 Part 17 Part 18 Part 19 Part 20 Part 21 Part 22 Part 23 Part 24 Part 25 Part 26 Part 27 Part 28 Part 29 Part 30 Part 31 Part 32 Part 33 Part 34 Part 35 Part 36 Part 37 Part 38 Part 39 Part 40 Part 41 Part 42 Part 43 Part 44 Part 45 Part 46

Today shall be a short day. I have an appointment later.

Chapter 47 (Logan)

Logan and Virgil had gotten into the habit of having reading lessons in the afternoons 3 times a week. They would sit in the small library near the royal wing for an hour or two and do different things related to increasing Virgil’s literacy.

Logan had started with just teaching him letters, but he’d memorized those long ago at this point. Now, Logan would spend most of the time having him read simpler books out loud and correcting any mistakes he made along the way. Improvement was surprisingly fast, though in truth, Logan hadn’t had any measure for how long it would take a teenager to learn to read and Virgil was quite dedicated.

Usually, their lessons ended with Logan reading a more complicated book while letting him follow along. The last week, they had been reading the library book Virgil had chosen for himself, Into the Mist. It was an interesting book to read to Virgil, though Logan was unsure if it would be as interesting if he were to read it on his own. In truth, it was a good, but rather ordinary fantasy book. Virgil, however, seemed incredibly fascinated by it. He had never heard a high fantasy story before in his life and he was constantly comparing and contrasting things in the book to things he understood in real life as well as asking Logan about them.

It also became clear that Virgil did not quite understand real life fully. He attributed the same amount of awe to hearing the ocean being described as he did to the main character’s climb up the sky to a cloud city in hopes of saving his love interest’s life. In fact, he seemed more in awe of Logan’s explanation of the ocean since it actually existed.

Logan had a sudden intense urge to plan a trip to see an ocean at some point in the future. Lamir was a costal country and its castle sat on top of a cliff that overlooked the sea. It would be easy enough to take a trip to their ally’s country at some point.

“So, cloud mites don’t exist?” Virgil confirmed yet again.

“No,” Logan said. “They don’t. In fact, their existence would go against all magical laws since they are sentient without being alive.”

“But crabs do?” Virgil asked.

“Yes.”

“How?”

“Crabs do not go against the natural order of things,” Logan said.

“But why?” Virgil asked.

“I… don’t understand the question.”

“They don’t have the right number of legs.”

“W-what do you mean by that?” Logan asked, confused.

“Animals can only have an even number of legs on either side.”

“No,” Logan said. Virgil nodded vigorously. “What about beetles? Those have 6 legs. Three on each side.”

“But beetles are bug,” Virgil pointed out.

“Bugs are animals,” Logan argued.

“No, they’re not.”

His face was so serious, and he was so sure, that it was funny. “Bugs are animals,” Logan said.

Virgil seemed confused by this. “But they have 6 legs.”

Logan couldn’t help but laugh at that. “Virgil, what do you think and animal is?”

“Well, I don’t know,” Virgil said, pouting slightly at being laughed at. Logan leaned over to bump their shoulder together which seemed to pacify him. “Cows. Birds. Frogs.”

“I think we need to get you a tutor. You are missing some fundamental building blocks in your education.”

He huffed, peering at the book.

“It’s no fault of your own,” Logan assured. “You are not born with information like that. People were just negligent in teaching you these things.”

Virgil nodded. “That actually reminds me of something.”

“Mmm?” Logan asked.

“There’s something I need to teach you.”

“And what would that be?” Logan asked.

“Survival instincts.”

“What?”

Virgil slammed his hand down on Logan’s desk. “You have no survival instincts,” he declared. “I bet you don’t even know what hemlock tastes like.”

“Isn’t that poisonous.”

“Yes,” Virgil said.

“Then of course I don’t know what it tastes like.”

“Exactly! That’s the problem.”

“I don’t need to know what poison tastes like, Virgil,” Logan said.

“Yes, you do,” Virgil argued. “It’s an important skill.”

“I think your view of what constitutes as an ‘important skill’ may be skewed,” Logan said.

“You’re a prince,” Virgil said. “Knowing about poisons is an important skill for you.”

“It’s really not though.”

“You’re at war,” Virgil reminded, “and they already tried to assassinate your father. Do you think they’re not going to send someone else when your father is alive at winter’s end, and they’ve heard no word from their assassin? Do you think if they realize you’re not easily manipulatable, they won’t come for you too?”

“Well, I mean…” Logan said. “You do have a point there.”

“And you need to learn how to climb things and catch things.”

“Why do I need to know how to catch things?”

“We’ve already had this discussion,” Virgil said. “In case someone throws a knife at you.”

Wait. When had they had that conversation?

“And while we’re on the topic of knives, you need to know how to use a knife effectively.”

“I know how to use a knife,” Logan claimed even though he knew he didn’t know how to use a knife in the way Virgil was talking about.

Virgil, despite having no concept of taxonomic classification, was no fool. “Chopping things for potions doesn’t count,” Virgil said. “I’m talking stabbing lessons. For you and Patton, though to be honest, Patton has an advantage already over you when it comes to using weapons.”

“Why does he…” Logan thought. “Because he managed to get a hit on you with a cookie sheet one time?”

“His reflexes are better,” Virgil said, “as well as his ability to use his environment to his advantage. You’re always completely oblivious about what’s going on around you.”

“Excuse me. I am incredibly observant,” said Logan.

“How many chairs are in the dinning room we walked through to get here two hours ago?” Virgil asked.

Logan thought for a moment. “I’m not sure.”

“Exactly! You walk by them every day and you don’t even know how many chairs there are in that room.”

“I have no idea what that has to do with anything.”

“How would you know if someone tampered with the chairs if you don’t know how many of them there are or their positions.”

“Tampered with the chairs?” Logan asked. “What are you talking about? I filter out unnecessary information. That doesn’t mean I’m unobservant.”

“Yes, it does,” Virgil said. “Plus, half the time you don’t even know where I am when you know I’m in the same room as you,” Virgil said.

“Well, that’s because you climb on top of things and hide in walls!” Logan said. “That’s hardly fair.”

“You mean I’m quiet and good at hiding like… an assassin might be.”

Logan pursed his lips. Virgil tilted his head and smiled at him. “I am plenty observant,” Logan insisted once again.

“Prove it,” Virgil said.

“And how should I do that?” Logan asked. “Beyond simply memorizing the furniture arrangements?”

Virgil shrugged. “I’m sure you’ll get an opportunity soon.”

Logan wished he would have been observant enough in that moment to notice the determined spark in his eyes.

Chapter 48 (Thomas)

Thomas was leaving his office when he ran into his son. Or more accurately, his son almost ran into him. “Is everything alright?” Thomas asked.

“I…” Logan said. His hand came out to grasp Thomas’s shirt sleeve, odd behavior for him at least at this age. He used to do such things when he was very small. “Yes,” he said anyway. “Everything is perfectly fine.” He glanced behind himself down the hall.

Thomas looked at him and then looked down the hallway, concerned by his strange behavior. “Are you sure?” he asked.

“Yes,” Logan said, but he wasn’t letting go of Thomas’s shirt.

“You seem a bit anxious, Logan,” Thomas said.

“I am not,” Logan denied, releasing his shirt. Thomas caught a glimpse of something moving above their heads. The hallway Thomas’s office was in had large pillars along the outer wall that really no one should be able to scale despite there technically being grooves in them. Yet, there Virgil clung to the chapiter of one of them. Even more bewildering, he was gripping a pouch of some kind in his teeth.

They met eyes briefly. Virgil tilted his head at Thomas. Then, he removed one hand from the pillar. How was he up there? He made a motion with his hand that seemed to be telling Thomas to step back.

Thomas looked back at his son. Logan hadn’t noticed Virgil, too busy glancing behind him and not looking up. Thomas looked back up at Virgil and took a big step back. The moment he did, Virgil grabbed the bottom of the pouch with his free hand and let go with his teeth. The pouch flipped upside down dropping its contents right onto Logan’s head.

Logan gave a high-pitched shriek that Thomas didn’t think he’d ever heard from him before. “Virgil!” he yelled, now absolutely soaked.

“Learn to look up,” Virgil said seriously, still clinging to the pillar.

“I hate you,” Logan replied.

“Don’t say things you don’t mean in anger,” Thomas reminded. He was a bit worried Virgil may overreact to Logan saying things like that to him, though he seemed perfectly calm at the moment.

Logan scowled at Thomas. “You’re on his side?! He just dumped water on my head!”

“He needs to be trained to be more observant!” Virgil said.

Logan turned his scowl to Virgil. “Come down here, you intolerable creature! I’m done with your so-called training!”

“And what would you do if I did come down?” Virgil asked while arching an eyebrow, wholly unconcerned. “Quote facts about animals at me?”

Thomas was unsure what about that comment angered Logan, but it apparently did.

“You little…”

“Boys,” Thomas interrupted. “What’s going on here?”

They both immediately started speaking at once, doing their best to talk over each other. Thomas didn’t catch much of either rants except something about ‘training’ and Virgil ‘stalking the halls’ and an “exploding muffin.”

“Okay, okay,” Thomas said, putting a hand up to tell both of them to be quiet. “One at a time. Virgil first.”

“Really?” Logan asked.

“Logan,” Thomas scolded.

He mumbled something under his breath, but he did quiet down.

“Virgil,” Thomas started again. “What’s going on?”

“I’m training him,” Virgil said.

“Training him?” Thomas asked. “Training him for what?”

“For life,” Virgil answered. “He isn’t observant enough.”

“Ah,” Thomas said, still fairly confused. “And how are you training him?”

“Right now, we’re doing situational awareness training,” Virgil said.

“And how does that translate to you dumping water on his head?” Thomas asked.

“He wouldn’t have gotten water on his head if he’d noticed me,” Virgil answered, seriously. Thomas tried not to laugh at the look on his face.

“That is, perhaps true,” Thomas said. “However, dumping water on people’s heads is not nice. Perhaps there is a nicer way to do this training?”

“People trying to kill them won’t be nice,” Virgil said.

“No one is trying to kill Logan,” Thomas said.

Virgil just pursed his lips. “Maybe,” Virgil said. “Not yet.”

Thomas was unsure where this fear had come from. Perhaps he had heard about the successful assassination of Lamir’s late queen. Thomas hadn’t exactly publicized the fact that the queen had been killed and not simply died when he’d returned, but he had told certain people including Logan and Patton. It was possible one of them had let it slip and Virgil had freaked out about it.

“Well,” Thomas said. “It still isn’t nice to ruin someone’s day over a threat that doesn’t exist yet.”

Virgil just huffed at him. He was being surprisingly petulant which actually made Thomas smile just a tad. He’d not even been able to imagine this side of him a month ago. “Why don’t you come down here?” Thomas suggested. “We can talk through the issue and come to a compromise.”

Virgil stared down at him with skeptical eyes.

“Perhaps with tea and cookies?” Thomas suggested.

Virgil tilted his head and slid down the pillar until his feet touched the floor. “What kind of cookies?” he asked.

“We’ll have to see what Helen has made lately,” Thomas said. He turned to Logan and frowned. “You should probably change before you get sick being wet and in the cold.”

Logan nodded and shivered a little bit while rubbing his own arms. Despite the castle being warm, it was no fun to be completely soaked during the winter. Thomas wasn’t even sure if Virgil would have thought to not use freezing cold water. Even with heating elements, the water in the castle could be very cold if you didn’t wait for a bit for it to warm up. Thomas didn’t think Virgil would have thought too far ahead in this ‘training.’

“I’ll take Virgil down to the kitchen and get some tea and cookies for all of us,” Thomas told Logan.

He gave his son a look trying to communicate ‘I’ll talk to him.’ Logan pursed his lips, but nodded, seeming to receive the message.

“Why don’t we meet you in the royal dining room, so the conversation is more private?” Thomas suggested. It would be a much calmer environment than the main dining hall or the kitchens.

“Sure,” Logan agreed, turning to walk off in the direction of the royal wing. The poor thing was huddled in on himself and cold.

Thomas looked over at Virgil and smiled at him softly as Logan left. “Let’s go see what cookies Helen has ready,” he suggested.

Chapter 49 (Virgil)

“So,” King Thomas said as they walked through the halls towards the kitchens. The path to the kitchens from pretty much anywhere in the castle was familiar to Virgil now. Food was abundant in this place and there were no restrictions on Virgil eating it. There were no restrictions on anyone in the castle eating it, unless you counted Patton’s mother insisting people eat a more varied diet than only cookies. Personally, while Virgil did like cookies, he had no complaints over that matter. “You and Logan seem to be having a disagreement,” Thomas continued.

“I’m right,” Virgil insisted, and he was.

However, explaining why Virgil was right to the king was a bit difficult when Virgil was hiding why he knew Logan developing survival instincts was important. It was clear that Virgil did not get his point across correctly because the king laughed slightly.

“Everyone believes they are right during a disagreement,” Thomas said. “I’m sure Logan has his own ideas about who is correct.”

Virgil frowned at him. “I am.”

“Perhaps you are both right,” the king suggested.

“But…”

“You cannot dump water on people’s heads in the castle hallways, Virgil,” the king scolded, but it was a gentle scolding and Virgil forced himself to not climb the wall and disappear. He had a point to make. “Especially not in the winter.”

“He’s the prince,” Virgil argued. “He needs to know how to protect himself in case of danger.”

“That is true,” Thomas conceded. “You are probably correct that we should be making sure the royal family is well protected and can protect themselves. We have been safe for a long time, but there is always a risk.” He seemed contemplative for a moment. “However,” he continued. “The way you are going about it is not correct in my opinion. Clearly, it is not in Logan’s opinion as well.”

“But…”

“You risk making more problems than solving with your strategy,” the king said.

“Like what?” Virgil asked.

“Well,” Thomas said. “Getting someone wet when it’s cold is never a good idea even inside a castle.” Virgil… could agree with that. “You also could accidently ruin something important by getting water on it if you don’t give warning. Even if you are doing something besides pouring water on his head, if you continue to do things to ‘train’ Logan in the same vein, he is likely to become more paranoid than vigilant.”

“What’s the difference?” Virgil asked.

“Being vigilant means you are prepared for danger around every corner. Being paranoid means you are expecting danger around every corner.”

“There doesn’t seem like there’s much of a difference,” Virgil said.

“There is,” said the king, as they pushed through a set of double doors. “Take any of the royal guards,” he gestured subtly at the two people guarding the room to the hall they’d just come from. “If a guard is constantly worried that every little sound is a danger and every new person is an enemy, they will waste all of their energy and time chasing down stray rodents and interrogating maids that decided to walk a different path to their destinations. When real danger does appear, they may be too worn out or distracted to react.”

“However, if the guards are calm and instead of instantly overreacting to every small thing, they make a note of it in case it ends up being something they need to react to later, then they will be prepared to act if there are any actual threats.”

Virgil bit his tongue to stop from mentioning that he’d managed to sneak by the guards to the royal wing the first night he was here. A boy with a cookie sheet had done more against him that King Thomas’s guards.

“That’s why I make sure everyone who works for the castle, especially the guards have not only time off to sleep and eat, but time off for leisure where they are not expected to be hypervigilant.”

“All people need to have a time and place to feel safe, even the ones whose jobs it is to keep others safe. Logan’s job is not the same as the guards who keep the people in this castle physically safe, but he is training to be king. He needs time to perform his duties and to relax between them. Harassing him all day with survival training is not going to help him.”

“People don’t need to feel safe,” Virgil argued. “They need to be safe.”

The king stopped walking and turned to him. Virgil couldn’t help but cringe a bit as the king studied him.

“You haven’t had a chance to feel safe very often in your life, have you?” the king asked.

Virgil shrugged, looking away.

“What would make you feel safe?” Thomas asked.

“Logan being safe,” Virgil said.

“Logan is safe, Virgil,” the king tried to argue.

Virgil scowled. “I don’t trust your guards. Even the best guard won’t be able to help if Logan gets trapped alone with someone. He needs to learn self-defense.”

“Well, I’m already planning to up security in the castle when spring comes. Would me asking if he’d be willing to do self-defense training with someone help?”

He thought about it for a few moments. “Maybe,” he said, lips pursed, “but what if the person you get to teach him isn’t any good at it?” Honestly, Virgil wasn’t sure if he could trust anyone in this entire kingdom to do proper training.

Then again… Prijaznia had been holding its own against Mocnejsi for… Virgil didn’t actually know how long. He just knew that he’d always remembered there being a war going on between them for his entire life. And… while no one had ever actually said it out loud, Prijaznia was probably winning. It’s why Mocnejsi was going for things like assassinations and tricks instead of normal warfare.

Not to mention Prijaznia was less… war torn. Sure, he’d been living in the castle recently, but even in his travel to the castle, people seemed to be a bit better off.

So, maybe there were some people in the kingdom who knew what they were doing when fighting. However, Virgil wasn’t going to trust the king to pick out who should train Logan.

“I’m sure we can find someone who is up to your standards,” the king said, though the curl to his lip seemed to indicate he wasn’t taking Virgil seriously. Of course, as far as he knew, Virgil was just a random kid his friend had befriended, so that was probably fair.

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It was a bit frustrating to not be able to tell Logan’s dad why Virgil was worried or how he knew how to help, but Virgil wouldn’t dare give him even the slightest hint of the truth. He respected the king. He was starting to like the king. Yet, Virgil was not a fool.

The king obviously misinterpreted the disgruntled expression on his face. “Maybe you can also do some of your training,” he said, “but there has to be compromise. You and Logan need to talk about it without fighting before anything goes any further. I can mediate. We’ll talk about what things might be okay and what things are off limits.”

“Okay,” Virgil said, still not happy, but knowing there wasn’t much else he could do.

“Okay,” the king agreed. They were now at the door to the kitchens “Now, let’s get those cookies.”

Chapter 50 (Patton)

Patton was starting to get excited. There had been a small snow storm a couple of weeks before, but since then, the temperature had been on the rise with no sign of more snow on the horizon. It was still a bit chilly, but Patton only really felt the need for a light coat instead of any more extreme winter wear. It was great!

Usually everyone including Patton was relieved as Winter turned to Spring, but this year, Patton had even more of a reason to be happy about it. Virgil had gotten a tiny bit more comfortable going outside over the winter, but he still didn’t like it too much.

Patton could almost feel the change in him as the warmer months drew nearer like a flower getting ready to bloom. He was happier and more energetic. Mr. Deknis was getting things ready to start planting as soon as his seasonal workers started to arrive in the coming weeks. In the meantime, Virgil helped him get ready with a lot of enthusiasm.

It was probably the warmest it had been today. It wasn’t nearly summer, but Patton wouldn’t call it cold. So, while Logan was off doing princely duties in the afternoon, Patton decided to test if it was warm enough now for Virgil to willingly go outside.

Patton found Virgil in Mr. Deknis’s rooms a couple of hours after lunch, figuring he’d be done with whatever task they were doing that day by then. Patton ended up being correct as when Mr. Deknis let him into his living room, Virgil was busy flipping through yet another book of orchids, still trying to decide which he wanted to grow.

“Hi, Virgil,” Patton said, walking into the room with Princess Marisol on his heels. She had been lazing in a sunny spot by a nearby window but had gotten up to follow him as he walked by.

“Hi,” Virgil replied. He closed the book and set it aside.

“I was wondering if you wanted to go to the dovecote with me,” Patton said. “I wanted to send a letter.”

Virgil thought about it for a moment, and Patton would swear he was using some secret weather sensing mechanism in his head to check the weather before saying, “Okay.”

“If you two are going to the dovecote, would you mind taking a letter for me as well?” Mr. Deknis asked.

“Of course,” Patton agreed.

Mr. Deknis turned to grab a sealed letter off his desk. “It’s for my daughter,” Mr. Deknis said. “The handlers should know the right pigeon to give it to.”

Patton nodded and took it.

“You have a daughter?” Virgil asked, sounding more surprised than Patton would have expected.

“Yes, Darlene,” Mr. Deknis said. “I’ve talked about her. I thought I’d mentioned she was my daughter.”

“I didn’t know you could have children.”

The statement clearly rang with truth to Mr. Deknis’s ears, but it didn’t make him look any less confused. “Why would you think that?” he asked.

Patton’s eyes widened as he recalled a conversation from months ago where Virgil had been confused about why Mr. Deknis was allowed to be a gardener when he was a multrum. Patton didn’t know much about how multrums were treated in Mocnejsi, but it hadn’t sounded very nice and Patton could draw some conclusions about why Virgil thought that. The problem of course was that Patton was pretty sure very few people in Prijaznia would be confused about Mr. Deknis being allowed to have a kid.

“You’re old,” Patton blurted before Virgil could say anything more. “Old people can’t have kids.”

These things were not technically lies. Mr. Deknis still looked at him like he’d just sensed Patton saying one though. He frowned and his eyes narrowed a bit. Patton had… never been as good at running around Mr. Deknis’s powers as Logan was.

“Patton,” Mr. Deknis said. “What?”

“You have to forgive Virgil,” Patton said, grabbing Virgil’s arm and tugging on it. Luckily, Virgil followed easily enough. “I’m pretty sure he doesn’t even know how babies are made.”

“That isn’t an argument, Patton.”

“Anyway, we have to go,” Patton said.

Patton pulled Virgil out of Mr. Deknis’s living room and into the hallway. He slammed the door behind them. “Run,” said Patton to Virgil. They ran.

Luckily, Patton was right. Mr. Deknis was old and didn’t seem keen to chase them. However, Patton expected that the conversation was nowhere near over. This, even if it made their behavior even more suspicious, would give Patton time to think of something or, more realistically, talk to Logan and get him to think of something.

The ended up all the way outside the stable before the stopped. Virgil, while fast, was not a distance runner and Patton wasn’t exactly athletic, so they collapsed in an exhausted heap.

“Why did we run?” Virgil asked after a few minutes of rest.

“People from Prijaznia wouldn’t question why a multrum can have a child,” Patton said. “They’re just normal people with some powers. If we’re not careful, he could have figured out you weren’t from here.”

Virgil grimaced. “That’s not good,” he said.

“It’ll be alright,” Patton promised. “We just need to ask Logan what to say. He’s always better at talking circles around Mr. Deknis.”

“He’s in a meeting right now though.”

“Yeah,” Patton said, “but that just means we have to be sneaking for a couple of hours.”

Always one to make something fun out of a not so great situation, Patton glanced over at Virgil. “You’re pretty good at sneaking,” he said. “Why don’t you teach me something about sneaking by helping me sneak into the dovecote.”

“You want to do training?” Virgil asked.

Patton hesitated, having heard about ‘training’ from Logan. “Uh, only this type of training,” Patton said, “and only for this afternoon until we have a chance to talk to Logan.”

“The king told me I could train people if they gave me permission.”

Oh dear.

He seemed invigorated suddenly and popped to his feet even though Patton really would have rather rested for a bit more.

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“The dovecote is the tower that kind of stands on its own on the North side of the castle, right?” Virgil asked.

“Yep,” Patton agreed, “that’s it.”

“Great,” Virgil said. “That will be perfect for climbing lessons.”

Oh dear.

“Er…” Patton said. “Climbing? I thought we could just, you know, sneak through the doors…”

“Using the doors is the first thing they’d suspect,” Virgil argues. “We have to be sneaky.”

“We won’t really be sneaky if I fall and crack my head open on the ground,” Patton muttered.

“That’s why it’s perfect for training!” Virgil said. “There’s a lot of footholds. You won’t fall.”

“You vastly overestimate my upper body strength,” Patton said, but Virgil wasn’t listening. He was just grabbing at Patton’s arm and pulling him North.

“I’ll teach you everything you need to know!” Virgil promised. “First lesson. We need to sneak up to the building. There are bushes that go along the castle walls. We’re going to crawl through those.”

“Okay, I’m not sure if that’s necessary,” Patton said. “If Mr. Deknis finds us, we can just outrun him again.”

“Maybe not,” Virgil agreed, “but it’s good practice, and this is training.”

“Right…” Patton said, but then sighed at the look in Virgil’s eyes. “Fine, lets go get in the bushes.”

Chapter 51 (Logan)

“I see you wore out Patton with that,” Logan said to Virgil. Patton glared at him from where he’d collapsed on Logan’s bedroom floor.

He’d been accosted as soon as he’d gotten out of a meeting earlier in the day by Patton and Virgil as apparently, they’d slipped up in front of Mr. Deknis. Luckily, the conversation had not been nearly as dire as they’d feared. True, most people in Prijaznia wouldn’t question the rights of multrums anymore, but racism was still prevalent in some smaller pockets near the kingdom’s boarders. It was easy enough to explain that Virgil was from an area where prejudice against multrums was prevalent (not a lie) and that Patton, with his sensibilities would panic not wanting Mr. Deknis to realize Virgil’s internalized prejudices and would take him away to explain (also not a lie).

It had been easy enough to provide this explanation to Mr. Deknis and for the man to accept Virgil’s apology for his accidental offensiveness. There’d been a bit of lingering suspicion from the gardener, but nothing that wouldn’t fade with time.

They’d fled back to Logan’s room after that to breathe away from adult supervision which is when Patton had dramatically fallen to the floor.

Apparently, Patton had been Virgil’s newest victim of training. Patton currently had bruises and scrapes from attempting to scale the wall of the dovecote. When Virgil hadn’t been able to get him up that way, they’d taken an alternate route which explained the feathers and… other unpleasant messes now stuck to both of them. That’s why Patton was on the floor and not the furniture.

“Patton has a lot to work on,” Virgil said gravely. His eyes flickered a bit, “but at least he’s willing to work on it.”

Logan shot him a tight-lipped glare. “Go take a shower, Virgil,” he said.

Virgil stuck his tongue out at him in response but did turn and disappear into the next room to take a show.

“And what about you?” Logan asked the figure on the floor. “Are you going to go shower.”

There was a long pause. “I’ a min’te,” he yawned, not opening his eyes.

“Whatever you want,” Logan said. Though, he did sacrifice one pillow from his bed, making Patton lift his head so Logan could slip the pillow under it.

He sat on his bed with a book waiting for Virgil to get out of the shower. He was pretty sure Patton had fallen asleep on the floor by the time the door to the bathroom opened once again. Virgil was in one of the sweaters Logan had given him when he’d first come here despite having new fitted clothes of his own for ever occasion. It still hung off his frame a bit, but not as much as it once had. He yawned softly.

“Tired from your long day of being a menace?” Logan asked idly.

Virgil stopped mid yawn to glare at him.

#proofread stories #not writing

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jamespotterthefirst · 4 years ago

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Open Heart, Book 1, Chapter 13 Retold through social media posts and messages All posts here

Warning: Language and implications of adult activities

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Sent at 6:35 PM Nurses’ group chat named “Tea Spill”

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Received at 7:03 PM From: Rafael Aveiro To: Lilac Allende

_____________________________________________________ Received at 7:46 PM From: Ethan Ramsey To: Lilac Allende

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Voice call from Ethan Ramsey to Lilac Allende at 7:57 PM Duration: 8 minutes

Lilac: Hey. Ethan: Hey. [Long silence] Lilac:... Ethan? Is everything alright? Ethan: I wanted to apologize to you…. For slamming that door in your face. With the news about Naveen… [silence] Ethan: It wasn't my most gallant moment. After you left, I realized you had also received terrible news of your own. You needed me and I wasn't there for you. For that, I'm truly sorry, Lilac. Lilac: Ethan, I don't blame you for being in that state of mind, but thank you for the apology. [Distant chatting and laughing] Bryce: [in the background] The Haupia has arrived! Sienna: Yum! I've always wanted to try it! Jackie: That's store bought and you know it, scalpel jockey. Ethan: Busy? Lilac: No, just my roommates getting dinner ready. [Chatter grows distant. A door closes] Lilac: I'm all yours. [Long silence on Ethan's end] Lilac: Ethan? Ethan: I'm here. You should go be with your friends. Lilac: It's fine. They'll understand— Ethan: I insist, Lilac. I'll be fine. I promise. Lilac: Liar. Ethan: [chuckling] Fine. But I still insist you go and have a good time. Lilac: Can I check on you later? Ethan: You don't have to. Lilac: I want to. And I'll try my best to help you take your mind off everything. Ethan: That sounds… ominous. Lilac: [laughing] You'll have to find out. Ethan: I'm sure I will. Lilac: Bye, Ethan. Ethan: Bye, Rookie.

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Posted at 8:36 PM

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Sent at 11:38 PM From: Lilac Allende To: Ethan Ramsey

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_____________________________________________________ Posted at 5:45 AM

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Interview recorded for official purposes Present: Harper Emery, Elijah Green Time: 8:45 AM

H. Emery: Thank you for seeing me today Dr. Greene. Please come in. I trust you know why I called you into my office today?

E. Greene: If this is about the lunch thief that's been striking for the last few days, then I'm glad it's finally getting addressed.

H. Emery: Lunch...thief?

E. Greene: Someone's been stealing people's lunches from the lounge. It's getting ridiculous.

H. Emery: I… No, Dr. Greene, that particular incident is not why I called this meeting. Although, I will inform the Senior Resident about the issue. I called you today because I want more information on Dr. Lilac Allende.

E. Greene: What about Lilac?

H. Emery: I understand you two are friends?

E. Greene: Yeah, she's a good friend.

H. Emery: Dr. Greene, I'll get straight to the point. I am conducting an investigation to determine Dr. Allende's involvement in the death of Teresa Martinez. Do you know anything about that?

E. Greene: Sorry, Chief Emery. I'd say I know even less about what happened to Mrs. M than you do.

H. Emery: Hmmm. Do you recall the day Mr. Declan Nash visited Edenbrook for a meeting with me?

E. Greene: Yes, ma'am.

H. Emery: You came to me claiming that Dr. Mirani needed immediate help with a VIP patient. But when we got there, there was no Dr. Mirani and no problem. Why did Lilac Allende ask you to get me away from Declan Nash?

E. Greene: Lilac? She had nothing to do with it, I got the idea to rescue you all on my own!

H. Emery: Rescue me?

E. Greene: Dude seemed like a creep. I thought you could use a break.

H. Emery: (Stunned silence) Thank you, Dr. Greene. That was incredibly thoughtful if a bit unorthodox.

H. Emery: However, I ask you to refrain from intervening during any of my future meetings, no matter how distressed you believe me to be.

E. Greene: Loud and clear, Dr. Emery.

H. Emery: What else can you tell me about Dr. Allende?

E. Greene: Lilac's a cool roommate. Living with her is fun when she gets all my pop culture references. Even if she does believe Mean Girls was the best movie ever made and quotes it constantly. She used to live in LA and has all kinds of crazy stories. Do you want to hear about the time she met Samuel L. Jackson?

H. Emery: … No, thank you, Dr. Greene. I think I've heard enough. [End of recording] _____________________________________________________

Sent at 9:01 AM From: Eduardo Ortiz To: Veronica Ortiz

_____________________________________________________

Sent at 9:10 AM Residents’ group chat named “Boston Tea Party”

_____________________________________________________

Sent at 9:16 AM ICU Nurses’ group chat named “kiss our assessment”

_____________________________________________________

Sent at 9:17 AM Interns’ group chat named “Bop to the Top”

_____________________________________________________

Sent at 9:20 AM EMT group chat named “10-04”

_____________________________________________________

Sent at 9: 23 AM Surgeons’ group chat named “Cutting Edge”

_____________________________________________________

Sent at 9:25 AM From: Harper Emery To: Ethan Ramsey Status: Unread

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Sent at 9:25 AM From: Lilac Allende To: Ethan Ramsey Status: read, unanswered

_____________________________________________________

Interview recorded for official purposes Present: Harper Emery, Jackie Varma Time: 10:05 AM

H. Emery: Dr. Varma, thank you for joining me. Do you know why I called you in today?

J. Varma: No idea.

H. Emery: I know you're busy with your caseload so I'll cut to the chase. What is your relationship with Dr. Allende?

J. Varma: We share a bathroom and an internet plan.

H. Emery: You're not friends?

J. Varma: Dr. Emery, I applied here to learn to be the best doctor, not to compete for Edenbrook's Friendship Awards.

H. Emery: I see. So there's nothing else you could tell me about Dr. Allende?

J. Varma: To be honest, she's indistinguishable from my other roommates. They're all distracting loud noise through the wall of my room as I'm trying to study up for my patients. The few times I saw her outside the apartment were a few rounds at Donahue's across the street, when we are all new and in that honeymoon phase. But unless you want to know her drink order, I have nothing.

H. Emery: That won't be necessary.

J. Varma: Is there anything else, Chief Emery?

H. Emery: I suppose not. You may return to your duties. _____________________________________________________

Interview recorded for official purposes Present: Harper Emery, Sienna Trinh Time: 10:25 AM

H. Emery: Good afternoon, Dr. Trinh. Thank you for meeting with me. Please have a seat.

S. Trinh: The pleasure is all mine, Dr. Emery. What can I do for you?

H. Emery: I'd like to talk to you about one of your fellow interns today. People tell me you are close to Lilac Allende.

S. Trinh: We're both dolphins not sharks, so we got along right away.

H. Emery: You're both… what?

S. Trinh: Neither of us are interested in screwing over other interns to get ahead. Lilac's a very moral person.

H. Emery: And how do those morals apply to Dr. Allende's patients?

S. Trinh: She definitely wouldn't screw over a patient either.

H. Emery: Can you say that with absolute certainty?

S. Trinh: Cross my heart and hope to die. I've seen how kind Lilac is in all aspects of her life. But she is the most passionate when it comes to her family, friends, and patients. Lilac has a good heart.

H. Emery: Noted. Thank you, Dr. Trinh. Anything else you'd like to add?

S. Trinh: Yes. I hope you don't mind me asking but… where did you get those earrings? They're gorgeous!

H. Emery: Oh. They were a gift from my mother.

S. Trinh: They're stunning. You look great in them!

H. Emery: Thank you, Dr. Trinh, that's very sweet.

_____________________________________________________

Interview recorded for official purposes Present: Harper Emery, Landry Olsen Time: 10:50 AM

H. Emery: Please come in Dr. Olsen. Take a seat.

H. Emery: Before we begin, it is my duty to let you know our conversation is being recorded for HR and any other parties who might request it in the future.

L.Olsen: ... O-other parties? Like the authorities?

H. Emery: Possibly. Depending on the findings of the investigation. Are you alright, Dr. Olsen?

L.Olsen: I— Shouldn't I have an attorney present, then?

H. Emery: There's no need to lawyer up for this, Dr. Olsen. I only have a few questions about an intern you're in close contact with. Shall we get started?

L.Olsen: Sure.

H. Emery: Dr. Olsen, what is your relationship with Dr. Allende?

L.Olsen: We're roommates.

H. Emery: You're not friends?

L.Olsen: No.

H. Emery: …

L.Olsen: I mean, y-yes. You could say that.

H. Emery: Can you tell me more about Dr. Allende?

L.Olsen: I've rarely seen her these past few weeks. Been studying up for our fellowship competition.

H. Emery: The one Dr. Ramsey used to be in charge of before he quit?

L.Olsen: (long, stunned silence) Dr. Ramsey quit?

H. Emery: That's right. Just a few hours ago.

L.Olsen: Does that mean the diagnostics team—

H. Emery: —will probably be disbanded, yes. Unless Dr. Mirani or Dr. Hirata wish to continue the competition for two spots. Knowing one of them, she will refuse.

L.Olsen: (more silence)

H. Emery: Dr. Olsen, are you certain you're alright?

L.Olsen: Y-yeah.

H. Emery: Given that you live with her, do you know of any involvement she may have had with the death of Teresa Martinez?

L.Olsen: I've already given all the information I have, Dr. Emery.

H. Emery: Very well. Thank you for meeting with me today.

_____________________________________________________

Posted at 11:13 AM

_____________________________________________________

Sent at 3:23 PM Interns’ group chat named “Bop to the Top”

_____________________________________________________

Received at 6:16 PM From: Alan Ramsey To: Ethan Ramsey

_____________________________________________________ Received at 11:10 AM Group chat named “who tf is Martha” Members: Lilac Allende, Sienna Trinh, Elijah Greene, Jackie Varma, Landry Olsen

_____________________________________________________

Posted at 9:00 AM

_____________________________________________________

Posted at 11:58 AM

_____________________________________________________

Posted at 1:14 PM

_____________________________________________________

Posted at 1:39 PM

_____________________________________________________

Posted at 4:49 PM

_____________________________________________________

Sent at 4:55 PM

_____________________________________________________

Posted at 6:16 PM

_____________________________________________________

Posted at 6:30 PM

_____________________________________________________

Posted at the following day at 10:13 AM

_____________________________________________________

Sent at 10:39 AM From: Lilac Allende To: Bryce Lahela

_____________________________________________________

Posted at 12:03 PM

_____________________________________________________

Sent at 12:41 PM From: Bryce Lahela To: Lilac Allende

_____________________________________________________

Posted at 3:56 PM

_____________________________________________________

Published at 5:00 PM

_____________________________________________________

Received at 5:43 PM Nurses’ group chat named “tea spill”

_____________________________________________________

Author’s Note: Thank you if you read this monster.

A few notes:

A HUGE thank you to everyone who read, liked, and/or commented on the last chapter of this. I just realized I never replied. Forgive me. My brain is all over the place these days. I’m trying to be better. I am appreciative forever and ever for all the support you guys have shown me.

The same goes for “Burgundy”. I will absolutely reply to everyone but I realize it’s been a while. I don’t want people to think I’m being rude and ignoring their lovely words of support. Anyway, I ramble.

Regarding this chapter, I decided to add that Ethan x MC steamy texts scene because I was feeling self-indulgent lol. But also because I figured he knew he was leaving Edenbrook the next day after he told Naveen.

MC didn’t sleep with Bryce in the on-call room (even though she does in the actual game for me lol. Couldn’t have her do it after that phone scene with Ethan)

Sorry for any mistakes or typos. Tumblr will not let me edit a massive post full of code like this. It will let me make all the changes and then not save them. Sigh. I expect nothing from this site and I am still let down.

Thank you so much, as always! Everyone has been so lovely to this series and it means the world!

Much love, Bree ____________________________________

*tagging separately because this post is ready to burst with code

#open heart #ethan ramsey #ethan x mc #playchoices #pictagram #My writing

324 notes · View notes

aconstantstateofbladerunner · 4 years ago

Text

101 Open MHA Gen Prompts

I had a very long ask game where people gave me fake titles and I came up with fic ideas to go with them. Multiple people asked to use some of them as prompts, and some of my friends have lately maligned the lack of gen prompts out there, so I decided to compile them all into a single post. Almost all of these are gen, aka not shipping, but you can do what you want I’m not your boss. Everything is free and open to use WITH CREDIT, so have fun with my word vomit.

1. In Dreams I Had the Sun - Being the number one hero isn’t all it’a cracked up to be, Toshinori realizes early on

2. The Chainlink Fence that Held the Ocean - In his new book post-retirement, All Might opens up about his regrets, struggles with mental health, and his issues with the hero system as a whole. The backlash is swift and intense.

3. Welcome to the Loud Silence - After an injury, Izuku is rendered deaf.

4. Water Since Turned Red - After a villain attack nearly kills All Might, the beach where Izuku used to go to find comfort now feels tainted.

5. all scrap left untouched is bound together - A group hero students who failed the provincial license exam for the third time, effectively ending their careers before they start, get together to take revenge on UA’s first years who beat them out.

6. You’ve saved more more times than you know - Times All Might saved people without his powers, just by being a cool, nice dude.

7. No Amount of Tragedy Can Justify Your Actions - A dying All for One tries to justify his centuries of cruelty to an uncaring Toshinori.

8. To Leave a Cage Locked - One for All is conscious and has a will of its own, one that doesn’t always line up with Izuku’s wellbeing.

9. Okay, who let in the Kraken? - Izuku is the reincarnation of an ancient eldritch horror.

10. keep us alive up above - Izuku and Shigaraki get trapped together somewhere. Izuku knows he needs the villain’s help to survive and escape, but the other would rather they both die.

11. The world will revolve around me neither less - The ebbs and flows of AFO’s influence over the years.

12. More Roulette, Not Russian - Kids get their quirks swapped.

13. Patron Saints - Toshinori teaches a class about pre-quirk superhero comic characters and their influence.

14. Don't Come Back - Touya Todoroki’s first few weeks after a severe injury resulted in his father abandoning him.

15. The Blessed and the Fool - Toshinori meets up with a few of his ua classmates after retiring.

16. Not Your Sacrifice - Some of the other kids have started adopting some of Izuku’s self sacrificing habits and the teachers are concerned.

17. Break in the Storm - Villains use a power outage as an opening to break into ua.

18. One Day Those Consequences Will Finally Catch Up - Even though the teachers don’t take her concerns seriously, Inko saves every piece of evidence regarding people hurting her son.

19. a garden in their eyes - Izuku meets a fan who got injured after trying to step into a villain fight, just like he did, and it makes him question some things.

20. what could have been, if not for you - After Inko divorces him, Hisashi’s goes to the press to say All Might stole his wife and son.

21. Promised Misery - All Might finds out the severity of Bakugou’s bullying, and warns him he’s on thin ice with him.

22. Fly Up Higher, Blossom Brighter - Izuku has to write a paper for middle school about being positive, intercut with all the bullshit he has to deal with.

23. Libre Me from Hell - One of Izuku’s new quirks is spiral related.

24. No One to Blame but Yourself - Izuku’s kindness doesn’t extend to murderers, tragic backstory or not.

25. At Its Finest - Izuku accidentally gets involved in a hero commission coverup.

26. A Rising Issue - Izuku starts developing more severe side effects of his injuries. He’s convinced he’s under the influence of a quirk, while the adults thing he’s finally gone too far hurting himself.

27. What you are in the Dark - Izuku usually keeps most of his anger to himself until he can’t.

28. nowhere to go - Inko moves into UA after their home was destroyed.

29. Something Without - My theory about the 2 OFA vestiges that are blurred out is they don’t approve of izuku as a successor. Izuku tries to figure out why.

30. Walking with a Ghost - Toshinori joins the OFA dreams while he’s in a coma. He gets to reunite with nana, and is more open to Izuku about his past and feelings. Part of his starts to wonder if it’s worth waking up, since he will die and join the others eventually.

31. Death By Crying - Izuku is affected by a quirk that will suffocate him if he expresses any emotion.

32. Justice is Subjective - The hero commission gets to Shigaraki before AFO does.

33. Undo / Underdog - Death loop fic. Izuku keeps reliving the day he met all might after being killed by the sludge villain. he has to find a way to break the loop and survive, but he gets s little weaker every time he restarts.

34. Like Wildfire - A rumor that Izuku is All Might’s bio son picks up steam, and the characters have to decide whether to deny it but risk suspicion or play along and add a new layer to the lies protecting one for all.

35. Once Upon A December - All Might and Inko actually met in the past trope.

36. Some Legends Are Told - All Might’s first interview post-retirement.

37. Will The Real Mentor Please Stand Up - Aizawa considers himself the better teacher, but a lot of the kids seem to like All Might more.

38. I don't want the cure, I want the POISON! - Inko is killed in a hit and run, and Izuku becomes desperate to find the killer.

39. I will kill my heart before I dance on stage for these bigots - Izuku is interviewed as a rising star of UA, and the interviewer brings in some of his old bullies because they claimed to be his friends from middle school. Izuku does not play along.

40. Split Ends - A quirk gives Izuku brief visions of what would have happened if he made different decisions.

41. Dreamless Sleep - A One for All dream leaves Izuku with a cryptic half-warning, and he desperately experiments to try and figure out how to trigger the visions to get the rest of it.

42. toxic flowers and pretty blades - Young Inko escapes the constricting life of her cruel wealthy family by becoming a vigilante.

43. The Suns we Orbit - Some of the other teachers believe Izuku is too codependent on Toshinori, and separate them for a time.

44. Submerged - Similar to those buried alive fics only someone’s in a box at the bottom of the ocean.

45. Deprive - Izuku also loses his stomach to an injury, and struggles to adjust to the necessary lifestyle changes.

46. The ashes fall like snow - Post Kamino cleanup.

47. Home will always be here - Inko cares for Izuku after he’s sent home due to “trouble at work study” but he refuses to clarify what that means.

48. Playing Favorites - A look at several times where Izuku was punished, while Bakugou got off scot free.

49. Elusive Dreams - Some kind of training or issue forces the kids to stay away for several consecutive day, and they start losing it.

50. Fracture - Izuku struggles through physical therapy after a severe injury that leaves his hero career in question.

51. Starlight, Starbright - Space cadet au

52. Someone in Your Corner - Gran Torino looking after Nana, Toshi, and finally Izuku through the years.

53. I cast magic missile into the darkness - Generic “the gang plays d&d” fic.

54. One Month At A Time - Izuku breaks a limb, and has to let in heal naturally over the course of several months.

55. Head Above Water - Izuku runs out of his pain meds and can’t get access to more doses for a while, so he has to endure not only the pain, but the withdrawal symptoms.

56. Are you going to leave a path to trace - All Might uses a new strategy to try and get Izuku to be less self sacrificial: what about all the young kids who are going to look up to him?

57. The View from Halfway Down - Izuku realizes that a risky move has just landed him with a potentially life threatening injury, but the fight it still going.

58. The Dust Bites Back - A villain All Might defeated early in his career is back and out for revenge.

59. The Absence of your Worth - Nighteye thinks he’s put together a rock solid case for why izuku isn’t worthy of One for All. All Might’s response is to ask if he has something against quirkless people.

60. Behind the Screens Nobody is Afraid - All Might explains some of the context of his most popular hero videos to Izuku. They are much more tragic than the media has spun them in hindsight.

61. Under the Light of the Moon - Someone gets turned into a werewolf. And I ain’t talking the wattpad piss shit. I’m talking full-on back-breaking monstrous transformations into a bloodthirsty abomination set to Bad Moon Rising.

62. some dreams were made to be broken - Bakugou crosses a line and finally gets expelled.

63. You Say You're Into Closure - Izuku finally beats Bakugou in a one on one fight fair and square, but Bakugou is a sore loser.

64. Something or Someone Missing - AU’s memories of Izuku get wiped, but those closest to him can’t help but feel an absence.

65. Too Little Too Late - Izuku’s father returns to find he’s been replaced.

66. Collecting Dust - Inko goes through the stuff Izuku didn’t take to the dorms.

67. Where the souls of wanderers go - Toshi meets up with a retired hero support group.

68. Fragility of Trust - Suspected traitor au

69. no one answered - Izuku is trapped in a cell in a building that’s collapsing in slow motion due to a quirk.

70. Eye of the Storm - One of the other kids has a panic attack for the first time between public appearances. izuku has never seen from from the outside.

71. To Whom It May Concern - The kids find a mysterious collection of letters from previous students hidden in the ceiling of the classroom. Some are ominous, some are incomprehensible. Aizawa has no answers. They enthusiastically go to try and solve the mystery within, but that excitement quickly diminishes the more they find out.

72. Of Popsicles and Ponytails - All Might gets in a discussion with the other teachers about whether the Clark Kent glasses thing would actually work. All Might bets them it does, so he goes around town with no disguise other than his hair being up, and no one bats an eye.

73. All Men are Not Born Equal - Word gets out to the public that izuku used to be quirkless. Everyone finds out just how deep anti-quirkless sentiments run when some begin to question whether a quirkless kid should be at ua, regardless of whether or not he has a quirk now.

74. Childhood is the kingdom where nobody dies - Something about encountering death in person for the first time being the dividing line between child and adult.

75. Sins of the Father - All for One has had many children over the centuries, and has made numerous attempts to groom them into the ideal heir with several different methods. None of them worked though.

76. Where The Dead Come To Rest - The kids come home after a long, grueling mission where they saw some shit, and are too tired to process what they went through. They take off their gear for plain clothes, then sit in the common room in silence long into the night, not wanting to open themselves up but also not wanting to be alone.

77. Rivalry - Nighteye tries to pit Izuku and Mirio against one another. It goes right over Mirio’s head, but Izuku becomes convinced the other boy is in on Nighteye’s plan to wear him down until he gives up One for All.

78. A Subtle Language - All Might and Nana never said out loud that they loved each other, but little things told them that they did. All Might hopes to pass a similar love down to his own successor. But Izuku is very different than himself as a kid, and he needs to learn a new subtle language of affection.

79. It’s Gone - One for All stops working one day.

80. A Sight For Sore Eyes - All Might looking after Izuku in the aftermath of the second movie.

81. Loose Lips (sink ships) - Bakugou blurts out something about One for All during a rage, so the rest of the class jump on him and Izuku for answers.

82. No Expectations - Word gets out that All Might is going to choose a successor. None of the theories or speculation online resemble Izuku in the slightest.

83. Eden was Only a Garden - Izuku gets hit with a quirk that erases some of his most traumatic memories, but in doing so loses part of who he is.

84. Run it Down - With all Izuku’s new quirks and his incredible skill, some of the other students with similar powers (Iida, Sero, Uraraka) start to feel like izuku is upstaging them. And it affects their friendship.

85. Fool's Gold - Bakugou grows even more jealous of Izuku having One for All, and his relationship with All Might. He thinks that if he could just prove himself to be more worthy, All Might would change his mind and name him his successor. But in reality, he ends up jeopardizing the relationship they already have.

86. somewhere down the road - The final deadline for Nighteye’s predictions passes, and All Might lives. He debates telling Izuku, as even though it would be a weight off the boy’s mind, he doesn’t want to jinx it. He will still die eventually after all.

87. Just For You - All Might has certain rules and boundaries for fan interactions that he completely ignores for Izuku.

88. if these walls could talk (their whispers would be maddening) - Montage of training accidents in a ‘cursed’ ua gym

89. If Only I Could... - Nighteye tells Mirio about One for All, including that he thinks he’s more deserving than Izuku and he plans to pressure him into giving it up. Mirio struggles with the knowledge that his mentor, someone he respected more than anything, only saw him as a replacement for All Might, meanwhile watching Izuku strain under the pressure of that mentor’s impossible expectations.

90. This is a Test Designed to Provoke an Emotional Response - shameless Blade Runner AU

91. Once and for All - Retelling of the Superman story “What’s So Funny About Truth, Justice, and the American Way?” with All Might. Some new heroes use much more aggressive and violent tactics against villains while also upstaging All Might. That, and there general approval from the public cause All Might to question his moral code.

92. Sitting In The Rain - Tsuyu likes to just sit out in the rain sometimes. Not do anything, just sit there. Some friends decide to join her.

93. At Sundown - Mysterious creatures start attacking ua every night. The gang works tirelessly during the day to find the cause and a solution, while defending their school and each other at night.

94. The 1000th time's the charm - Uraraka has been practicing a new move in secret but they just can’t get it right. She wants it to be perfect before showing it off. But one attempt gets her seriously hurt while training alone at night in one of the gyms, and she’s too hurt to get up to the phone to call for help.

95. Sunflower Seeds - All Might attempts to start a garden as a new hobby.

96. What It Means To Be Human - Sun god Toshi starts living among people.

97. Eyes on Me - All Might teaches Izuku some unarmed fighting moves to defend himself from bullies.

98. one remains - Izuku has developed all but one of the quirks he’s slated to, and he has no idea what it will be. Anxiety ensues.

99. Come Back Home - Izuku vanishes from campus and everyone assumes he was kidnapped, but in reality he ran away to try and clear his head after a depressive spiral. He goes by train as far away as he can until he comes to his senses and calls the others.

100. I Won - Izuku accidentally managed to kill Shigaraki during a skirmish, and while everyone around him praises his heroics, he struggles to deal with the fact that he killed someone.

101. Ivory Tower - All Might grapples with how much izuku suffered as a quirkless person, how he could have done more for quirkless rights in his time as a hero, and how now people may not care as much because he’s retired.

Reminder to credit me if you use any of these prompts, and a special thanks to everyone who submitted titles!

#mha #bnha #mha prompts #bnha prompts #mha fanfiction #bnha fanfiction #my hero academia #boku no hero academia #dad might #all might #toshinori yagi #midoriya izuku #deku #bakugou katsuki #aconstantstateoffanfiction

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dayseternal-blog · 4 years ago

Note

If you ever finish answering all of yours awaiting asks...

45 questions for you 👀

https://myaekingheart.tumblr.com/post/650107314353897472/fic-writer-ask-game

Lolllll BADLUCKBREBIS, you are so funny.

Inspiration and Reading Asks:

1. How long ago did you start reading fanfiction? Writing fanfiction?

It looks like I started writing in 2017. I've been reflecting recently on how there are so many regularly active writers now compared to in 2017-2018. It was the tail-end of some of my fave writer's activity within fandom. Utsus was posting less and less. The Tumblr NaruHina fandom seemed to disappear, a whole community of writers left for other things (matchaball, nekomamoru, magmawrites, cherryjutsu, spyder-m, tenney-shoes, eliphya, among others). 2018 was a very quiet year, but! I avidly read katarinahime and bunnyhoodlum's works! In 2019, quirrrky restarted things with NaruHina Week!

2. How do you spend your time when it comes to fanfiction? Are you primarily a fic reader, writer, or a perfect 50/50 split of both?

Recently I’m primarily a reader!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Because there's so many writers now!!!!!!!!

3. Are there any fics that inspired you to write what you do?

Yeah, let’s list them. “A Special Friend” by agitosgirl inspired “Nightdreams. “Medicine” by @grimmjowkurosakidrake inspired “White Lilies. “Torch Song” by @mmmbuttery inspired “About You.” The language in “Unless the World Were to End” by @bunny-hoodlum inspired the language in “That was the plan.” “In Between Drinks” by @peppercornpress inspired “In Between Drinks NH.”

4. Link your three favorite fics right now.

“Operation: Bring Home Naruto” by Dragonwannabe - Rated T, Canon-Divergent, Multi-chapter, Complete. Hinata's been assigned the mission of getting Naruto back home safely after his last dangerous assignment. But can she handle the undercover identity as his girlfriend that she’d been given without revealing her true feelings for him?

“The Mission” by Lunawraythe - Rated M, Canon-Divergent, Multi-chapter, Ongoing. It wasn't that Hinata never expected to work with Naruto, just never on a mission quite like this.

“The Loving Type” by @peppercornpresses - Rated M, Canon-Divergent, Multi-chapter, Ongoing. A few years have passed since the Fourth Shinobi War, in which...Rookie Nine steadily advances in rank. Naruto gets engaged. Hinata leaves Konoha. And Kakashi schemes for days.

5. What are your fanfic pet peeves? Do they have a huge effect on whether or not you decide to read something?

ahhh. I do have quite a few pet peeves. If the fic is Canon-Compliant or Canon-Divergent, I expect Naruto and Hinata to behave like Japanese people. Say what you want, but the Naruto Universe is definitely Japanese in my book. So that means no shoes in the house. Nothing rattles me more than reading Hinata taking her sandals off before climbing into bed. Like, what? she was wearing her outdoor shoes indoors this whole time??

mmm... another pet peeve is when the writer describes Hinata in a kimono, but it sounds like an American Halloween costume, like the slutty version, instead of an actual kimono.

mmm... and the other big pet peeve I have is when it’s Hinata’s first time eating ramen because Naruto is showing her the wonders of ramen. lol. why. how. in what world would a Japanese person make it to their teenage years without ever eating ramen.

I have a bunch of other little pet peeves regarding Japanese culture in fanfics. But in general, it doesn’t stop me from reading the fic if I'm already in the middle of it. I’ll continue reading it and will probably recommend it to other people anyway. If I can tell based on the summary, then it's not for me, and I don't read it. If this makes anyone feel nervous about writing fanfiction, that's not my intention! I would also be happy to be a sensitivity reader if necessary.

6. How do you find new fic to read? Where do you primarily read fanfiction?

I primarily read fanfics on AO3 and ffnet. I find new ones by constantly checking the Hyuuga Hinata/Uzumaki Naruto tag on AO3 or looking into a writer’s favorites list on ffnet.

7. Do you prefer to read short fics or long fics?

Short fics.

8. How often do you reblog/comment on fics that you like?

I reblog pretty often. I don't comment as often as I used to😕 I used to comment on every fic I liked.

9. Tag 3 fic writers you think are underrated/unknown in the fandom/fanfiction community.

Uhh?? Idk. I think recently the writing group here is pretty tight, everyone seems to know everyone.

10. What’s your favorite fandom, pairing, or character to read fic for?

Naruto fandom and NaruHina.

Fanfiction Writing Asks:

11. How do you come up with your fic titles?

I usually take it from words used in the story or from the prompt.

12. Tell the author your favorite fic title of theirs (not the fic, strictly title). Author: what’s your favorite title you’ve come up with and why?

I think...maybe "Tell Me of Forevers" or "Nightdreams." I like those because they aren't taken word-for-word directly from the story, but touch on a theme in the story.

13. Do you outline your fics? How much of a headache would someone get if they just looked at an outline of yours without reading the fic?

Yes, I outline. They wouldn't get a headache, I think. It's usually just a summary.

14. Do you have a personal word minimum that you hold yourself too? Why or why not?

Nope. I didn't know people do that.

15. Tell the author your favorite fic of theirs. What’s your (the author’s) favorite fic you’ve written?

My favorite fic continues to be "It's No Secret."

16. Do you research for your fics? If so, how deep of a rabbit hole have you gone down by accident when researching?

Yes, I do. I've done historical and folktale research for "Little Samurai." I did area/location research for "Last Chance." I did historical research for "About You." I did fairy tale research for "Catskin." I did a ton of astronomy research for "The Cowherd and the Weaver Girl." And I did lighting research for "Inspo." I go pretty deep.

17. How obsessively do you sit and stare at your fic after you’ve just posted and wait for feedback?

I don't. I usually have something else I need to do or I go to bed.

18. Do you have a WIP that you keep telling yourself you’ll eventually get back to, but deep down you know that’s probably a lie?

I actually think I can finish all of mine if I just try.

19. Do you edit your fics after you write them, or do you prefer to just hit post and run (because it’s someone else’s problem now)?

I always edit before posting to AO3. Anything I post directly on Tumblr might not be edited.

20. What’s your favorite part about the fanfiction writing process?

Posting!

21. What’s your least favorite part about the fanfiction writing process?

Starting a new chapter.

22. Do you take fic requests? If so, for what characters and why?

On occasion. If someone sends me a request, I'll think about writing it. Sometimes I do write and post it, sometimes I leave them in my drafts for a better day.

23. What’s your absolute favorite trope to write?

From what I already have posted, probably friends-to-lovers, secret relationship/forbidden love, or high school au. I don't think I have an intentional favorite.

24. What’s a trope that you’d like to never hear about as long as you live, let alone write?

Public humiliation / public degradation.

25. Do you listen to music as you write? If possible, link your writing playlist.

No, not usually.

26. What’s your biggest distraction when writing?

Tumblr feed, all the pictures to scroll through mindlessly.

27. Do you like to give your readers some warning of what might be coming or just slap them in the face with content at random?

lol, whatever is fine.

28. How do you deal with writing pressure (ie: pressure to update, negative comments, deadlines, etc)?

Well, pressure to update is not a big deal to me. I do this for fun, so I don't think I unnecessarily pressure myself too much. With negative comments, I don't get too many of those, and I think I do my best to avoid situations where I might get negative feedback.

29. Have you ever written for an exchange or event of some kind? Which one(s)? Did you enjoy it?

Yeah, I like the events. My favorite was NH2020, the year-long one last year. I also enjoyed the Secret Santa last year since @badluckbrebis was my giftee.

30. Post a snippet from your current WIP without context - no more than 300 words.

haha😈

Ecstasy slides through his veins, blooming over his mind, cocooning him in pleasant sensations, cum shooting out in eager twitches against hot, milking flesh.

31. Of the characters you write for, which is your favorite? Has that choice been swayed at all by your followers/readers’ reactions to certain ones?

Naruto Uzumaki, always.

32. Copy and paste your top three favorite lines/jokes/sentences you’ve ever written. What fics do they come from?

Top 3 faves in order:

That was the plan: "She shifts in his arms, and cloth and cleavage come pillowing up to his face, and he’s certain that she’s scooped from the same puffy stuff his adolescent daydreams were made of."

Tell Me of Forevers: "What he wouldn’t do to inspire every blush, every smile of hers for an eternity when such moments already only speak “forever” to him."

White Lilies: "Whether at his feet, in his eyes, ears, mind, if not reaching his heart, she never landed anywhere. (It’s okay.)"

I consider "White Lilies" to have my technically best writing, so it was kind of hard to choose just one line from that fic! But I decided that one's my favorite line from the whole story.

33. What do you like writing better: one shots or multi-chapter stuff?

One-shots.

34. How much of yourself and your life experiences do you put into your writing? What do you think your readers’ image of you is?

A lot of my life experiences are in my writing. Hmm, I think readers probably think I'm...hmm...either empathetic or really perverted?

35. How much has writing fic changed your life?

I spend a lot less time on real-life social media than before.

36. Are there any fics or fandoms you’re embarrassed to have written or been part of?

I'm kind of embarrassed of "Honeymoon at the Hot Springs" lol. It's fine.

37. Give an update on your current WIP - if you don’t have one, give a sneak peek to a title or idea that you have and would like to write.

My current WIP is that A/B/O fic I started for February Smut Month Prompts: Sweet as Candy or Love Bites. I'm going to title it "Sweet As," and it'll be about how Naruto and Hinata become Alpha/Omega mates. It's really kinky, really smutty, and totally what I would want to read.

38. What does your writing process look like? How chaotic is it on a scale of 1 (very tame) to 10 (you can’t handle this kind of chaos)?

uhh???? a 1?? I've never once thought of my writing process as chaotic. Ahh, then I think of bunnyhoodlum's multiple drafts for the same chapter, and I realize that there exist types of writing processes that I would not be able to handle...

39. What’s something about your writing that you pride yourself on?

My smut.

40. How did you come up with the idea for [x fic]?

41. What’s your most popular fic (with the most notes on tumblr, most hits/kudos on ao3)?

Idk about Tumblr,,, maybe White Lilies got the most attention here. My most popular fic is Nightdreams on AO3.

42. Asker: pick three of the author’s works. Author: rank them 1 (the best) - 3 (the worst) based on whatever criteria you want - this could be something totally random that isn’t quality related (like simply ranking fics based on how many trains appear in them) - have fun!

43. Talk about a positive experience with fanfiction or the fanfiction community that you will always remember.

I will always remember how people congratulated me for finishing White Lilies😭 Also, when peppercornpresses made that FIRST art of my story, I just, I just stared at it all day.

44. Rant about something writing related.

hmmm, I don't feel like ranting about anything. I just recently ranted about my pet peeves above.

45. Fic specific questions - if you have any weird questions about specific works, here’s your shot to ask them!

I did them all! Nice questions.

#anon #*anon*#fic writer ask game #i will send these questions right back at you

20 notes · View notes

emy-loves-you · 4 years ago

Text

Wrong Numbers and Useless Gays (Chapter 7)

Happy Halloween!

Warning: Minor burns

Chapter 6 | Masterlist | Chapter 8

V- (8:04 AM) Happy first day of Halloween!

L- (8:05 AM) Virgil, it’s October 1st. Halloween isn’t for another 30 days.

V- (8:05 AM) We must be celebrating different holidays. Halloween lasts from October 1st to October 31st. For the entire month, you watch cheesy Halloween movies and decorate your home in black, purple, and orange. Spiders and bats become your daily esthetic. There are no exceptions to this rule.

P- (8:06 AM) I have arachnophobia and most of our decorations are green. Is that alright, Kiddo?

V- (8:06 AM) … There is one exception.

L- (8:07 AM) This is preposterous.

R- (8:07 AM) Calm down, Specs. Let our Dark and Stormy Knight have his holiday. We don’t want another incident of Pi Day, do we?

V- (8:08 AM) What happened on Pi Day?

P- (8:08 AM) Logan wanted to spend the day memorizing as many digits of Pi as possible. Roman told him that Pi day was only for baking pies. Logan decided to etch as many digits of pi as he could fit into the crust of a pie before baking it. Sadly, baking isn’t Lolo’s exPIEtise.

R- (8:09 AM) He almost burnt the house down. It was hilarious.

L- (8:09 AM) I will back down from this argument, if only to preserve my dignity. Since you decided to text us at 8 AM, I assume that you have plans to celebrate your “first day of Halloween?”

V- (8:10 AM) Yep. I’ve got my Scooby-Doo VHS tapes, an entire gallon of iced coffee, and enough decorations to cover every square inch of my house. Life is good.

R- (8:11 AM) Wait which tapes?

V- (8:11 AM) Zombie Island, Witch’s Ghost, Alien Invaders, and Cyber Chase. The 4 best Scooby-Doo movies to ever exist.

R- (8:12 AM) Now I REALLY wanna watch Scooby-Doo

V- (8:12 AM) What’s stopping you?

L- (8:12 AM) The desire to have a stable income

R- (8:13 AM) I’m starring as Van Helsing for our theatre’s production of Dracula. I’ve got rehearsals and performances almost every night.

V- (8:13 AM) Sorry. I’ll watch it in your stead.

R- (8:14 AM) Gee, how thoughtful of you

(October 8th)

L- (2:32 PM) Virgil, did you seriously buy MORE chocolates?

V- (2:32 PM) Do you like them?

L- (2:32 PM) That’s not the point.

L- (2:33 PM) This is the 7th set of sweets you’ve sent us in the past 8 weeks. First of all, this is extremely unhealthy. Second of all, how much money have you spent on these? Third of all, you tend to send chocolates specifically when you’re planning something that we disapprove of. So what, pray tell, are you planning this time?

V- (2:34 PM) Wow, I didn’t realize you were keeping track of that.

L- (2:34 PM) I keep track of everything. Quit ignoring the questions.

V- (2:35 PM) Okay. First of all, if they make you happy it doesn’t matter. Second of all, if it makes you happy it doesn’t matter. Third of all, if it makes you happy it doesn’t matter :)

L- (2:35 PM) …

V- (2:35 PM) Besides, you wouldn’t want me to STOP sending you sweets, would you?

L- (2:36 PM) … Curse you and your knowledge of my sweets addiction.

V- (2:36 PM) :)

(October 15th)

L- (5:47 PM) VIRGIL!

V- (5:48 PM) Hm?

L- (5:48 PM) DID YOU SERIOUSLY TP OUR HOUSE?!?!?

V- (5:49 PM) You have no proof

L- (5:50 PM) [*Photo Attachment*]

[The photo is of a door. There is a square of TP taped to the door, the words “VIRGIL WAS TOTALLY NOT HERE” written in sharpie]

V- (5:50 PM) See? I was totally not there.

V- (5:51 PM) And I sent you pre-apology chocolates, so you can’t get mad!

L- (5:52 PM) I CAN STILL GET MAD

V- (5:52 PM) NO YOU WON’T OR I’LL STOP GETTING YOU CHOCOLATES

L- (5:53 PM) YOU WOULDN’T

V- (5:53 PM) TRY ME BITCH

R- (5:55 PM) I don’t know WHAT you did, but Logan called me, screeched your name, and hung up. Keep up the good work, storm cloud ;)

(October 22nd)

V- (3:42 PM) Hey Pat?

P- (3:42 PM) What’s up, Kiddo?

V- (3:42 PM) You bake, right?

P- (3:43 PM) It would be very hard to run a bakery if I couldn’t, Kiddo!

V- (3:43 PM) True

V- (3:43 PM) So what do you do if your cookies catch on fire?

P- (3:43 PM) WHAT

V- (3:44 PM) [*Photo Attachment*]

[The photo is of an oven. The door is open, and inside is a tray of Pillsbury ghost sugar cookies. They are all on fire]

P- (3:44 PM) PUT IT OUT

V- (3:44 PM) HOW

P- (3:45 PM) DON’T YOU HAVE A FIRE EXTINGUISHER?!?!

V- (3:45 PM) WON’T THAT RUIN THE COOKIES?

P- (3:45 PM) THOSE COOKIES ARE GONERS. ACCEPT YOUR LOSS

V- (3:46 PM) [*Photo attachment*]

[The photo is of the same oven. The door is still open, yet the entire inside of the oven is covered in foam]

V- (3:46 PM) Now what?

P- (3:46 PM) First of all, turn off the oven.

V- (3:47 PM) Done

P- (3:47 PM) Okay. Now answer me this: HOW THE FUDGE DID YOU MANAGE TO CATCH PREMADE SUGAR COOKIES ON FIRE???

V- (3:48 PM) I DON’T KNOW! I JUST PUT THEM IN THE OVEN AND SUDDENLY THEY WERE ON FIRE

L- (3:48 PM) Are you alright, Virgil? Did you sustain any burns or other injuries?

P- (3:48 PM) HOLY STARS I SHOULD’VE ASKED! ARE YOU OKAY VIRGIL?

V- (3:49 PM) I’m fine. I burned my wrist but it’s not that bad.

L- (3:49 PM) Will you please send a picture of your injury?

V- (3:49 PM) [*Photo attachment*]

[The photo is of a left hand. The hand is long, slender, and pale. The nails are long and painted black with cat noses and whiskers. The person’s wrist has a minor burn wound, around the size of a golf ball]

L- (3:50 PM) You are correct, Virgil. It appears to be a minor burn, no need to contact the hospital. However, I would greatly appreciate it if you tend to your burn at your earliest convenience.

P- (3:50 PM) Go wrap up that burn, kiddo! Make sure you add burn cream, too!

P- (3:51 PM) AND OH MY GOSH I LOVE YOUR NAILS! They’re PAWsitively PURRfect!

L- (3:51 PM) Please stop

P- (3:52 PM) Alright. Wouldn’t wanna have a CATastrophe, would we?

L- (3:52 PM) Please. I beg of you.

V- (3:53 PM) Okay, all patched up. What do I do about my cookies?

L- (3:53 PM) Make sure your oven has fully cooled down before attempting to clean it.

P- (3:54 PM) AND DON’T DO THAT EVER AGAIN, MISTER!

P- (3:54 PM) You nearly gave me a heart attack!

V- (3:55 PM) Sorry, won’t happen again.

L- (3:55 PM) I assume that this means you will be buying post-apology sweets? I assure you that it is unnecessary, Virgil. Your health and safety are more important than confectionaries.

L- (3:57 PM) Virgil?

L- (3:57 PM) Please refrain from buying more sweets.

L- (3:58 PM) I’ve already gained 3.4 pounds alone from these “Gifts”

V- (3:58 PM) Too late, already bought them

P- (3:58 PM) You don’t have to, Kiddo!

P- (3:59 PM) And Lolo, don’t blame V on your weight gain. I know Ro’s not the only one sneaking whole jars of jelly from the cabinets at night.

L- (3:59 PM) Virgil, how much are you spending on these sweets?

V- (4:00 PM) Would it help if I said that I get a discount since I purchase chocolates almost weekly?

L- (4:00 PM) VIRGIL

V- (4:01 PM) :)

R- (6:58 PM) Why does all the interesting stuff happen while I’m at work?

V- (6:59 PM) Get wrecked Princey

R- (6:59 PM) :(

V- (7:00 PM) Don’t worry I got you sweets too

R- (7:00 PM) :)

(October 24th)

L- (2:32 PM) VIRGIL!

V- (2:33 PM) Did you get your sweets? Send me a pick! I didn’t get to see the end result

P- (2:33 PM) [*Photo Attachment*]

[The photo is of three vases, each of different colors. The light blue vase is filled with tulips made of white chocolate. There are also chocolate-covered straberry and a giant chocolate lollipop with the words “I appreciate you a chocoLOT!” The red vase is filled with milk chocolate roses and another chocolate lollipop that says “Good luck slaying Vampires!” The navy blue vase is the most elaborate (probably just to mess with Logan). It’s filled with dark chocolate tulips AND roses, with a whole jar of crofters nestled into the middle of the bouquet. It’s lollipop reads “Weight and Cost are just #s!”]

P- (2:34 PM) These are ADORABLE, Virgil!

L- (2:34 PM) How much did you spend on this, Virgil?

V- (2:34 PM) Did you not read your lollipop?

V- (2:35 PM) Don’t worry about it, I wouldn’t buy the chocolates if I couldn’t afford them :)

L- (2:35 PM) My digestive system can’t afford them.

V- (2:36 PM) Well I couldn’t give you pre-apology chocolates so I had to give you epic post-apology chocolates.

P- (2:37 PM) Well, I cannot wait to eat these! Seriously, I’ve already eaten half a tulip. And these vases will look so pretty holding ACTUAL flowers! Thank you so much, V! But remember, you don’t have to do this. We don’t need apology sweets!

V- (2:38 PM) I know, but it’s comforting to know that there’s at least ONE way I can interact with you guys beyond texting. I’m sorry that I’m still not comfortable talking face-to-face yet.

P- (2:38 PM) That’s completely fine, Kiddo! Take all the time you need. We’ll be here when you’re ready.

L- (2:39 PM) I agree.Though I still do not see the purpose of excessive spending on our behalf.

R- (2:39 PM) Well I find it extremely thoughtful, storm cloud. I would type an entire ballad of how caring and kind you are, but I must get back to work. I shall speak with you tonight, fair raven.

V- (2:40 PM) Thanks, guys. It means a lot to me.

(October 31st)

L- (10:17 AM) How are you feeling about your “final day of Halloween,” Virgil?

V- (10:18 AM) Incredibly depressed

P- (10:18 AM) Aww. Why’s that, Kiddo?

V- (10:19 AM) You guys know how I travel around with my friends, right?

V- (10:19 AM) Well apparently we have to travel out today. We won’t be back until tomorrow afternoon.

R- (10:20 AM) I’m deeply sorry, my precious stormcloud. If I may ask, why do you have to travel tonight?

V- (10:20 AM) My friends like to go to parties out of town, and I go to make sure they don’t get themselves killed.

P- (10:21 AM) I’m sorry you have to miss Halloween, Kiddo. I know how much you were looking forward to it.

V- (10:22 AM) I’m still gonna wear my costume. Just because I can’t celebrate at home doesn’t mean I can’t celebrate at all.

L- (10:22 AM) What costume have you decided to wear?

V- (10:23 AM) [*Photo attachment*]

[Photo is the bottom half of someone’s face. They’re smiling, with black lipstick and fake Vampire teeth. There’s red liquid running down their chin.]

P- (10:23 AM) That looks FANGtastic, Virgil!

L- (10:23 AM) I hope you have an amenable experience at the party, Virgil.

R- (10:24 AM) I agree! You look amazing and I hope you enjoy the party, storm cloud. Do not worry, I will watch The Nightmare Before Christmas in your stead!

V- (10:25 AM) Wow I feel so grateful

R- (10:25 AM) :)

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

Taglist: @bisexualdisaster106 @self-taught-mess @itawalrus @arodynamic-enby @sanderssides-angst

#sanders sides fic #useless gays #LAMP fic #virgil sanders #roman sanders #logan sanders #patton sanders

49 notes · View notes

stellar-starseed · 4 years ago

Text

Closer Than That

Group: Stray Kids

Pairing: Changbin x fem!reader, Jisung x fem!reader, polyamory

Word Count: 2,979

Summary: Your best friends happen to be 3racha, but Changbin was your closest friend from childhood. When things start to take a different turn in your relationship, you're left wondering which way is up.

Chapter: 4/?

Other Chapters: Ch 1, Ch 2, Ch 3, Ch 4

Warnings: 18+; sexual content, language

Note: this is cross posted on ao3

Chapter 4

You weren’t sure whether or not you should be jumping at the chance to date your best friend. When you were younger you did used to hope it would be you two in the end. Life happened and crushed that thought altogether.

Soon enough you had to grow up and the idea of dating Changbin couldn’t stand up to your grueling adult life. You put it at the back of your mind along with dating in general.

That was until Jisung Han, with all his charm, waltzed in to your life. The first time he saw you he was hitting on you and it took you by surprise. He was generally outgoing you later realized but you had held on to a crush from that day. Changbin didn’t seem to notice, but every chance he got he was dissing Jisung in front of you.

You felt pretty selfish for wanting them both. But in all honesty you really did. Individually they were both incredible guys really, but you couldn’t decide if your life depended on it who you would see yourself with. Each time you made a decision you felt it was wrong. You cared for both of them deeply.

“What am I thinking?” You groan.

You had ignored Changbin’s attempts to hang out for a few days. You did feel kind of bad about it, but each time you did you remembered that hairstylist and the trainee and the barista. Your jaw clenched and you had to pull yourself from your anger.

You woke up one morning to your phone’s text message chime. Trying to reach for your phone, you swipe it to the floor.

“Damnit.” You groan as you push yourself up onto your elbows. You were not ready for the day. You stared at your phone that was too far to reach with a disapproving look.

“Is it even that important?” You lower yourself back into a comfortable position when your phone chimes two more times. “Seriously?”

You kick your covers off and head to the bathroom to wake up a bit. When you check your phone you have a missed call and several text messages. You had a rule that real emergencies allow for multiple calls but only real emergencies, so you put your phone down to take a shower before opening the messages. You had a feeling they weren’t going to put you in a good mood.

Your phone started ringing and you shut your eyes as the water hit your face. Nope. Not now.

“Answer your damn phone!” You couldn’t quite make out what was said but you shut off the water immediately.

“The fuck, bruh?” Chan opened the bathroom door.

“Uhm.” You peak your head out of the shower. “The fuck is right!”

“Why am I dealing with Jisung and now Changbin’s whining? They’re moping and fighting. And Changbin’s pissed at me? Me!”

“Towel?”

“Why don’t you just step out?” Chan smirked at you and leaned his elbow against the towel rack.

“Very funny. I can’t reach it from here.” You reach out your arm.

“Yeah, it’s a shame...” he giggled. You were upset with yourself for finding that cute.

“Okay, don’t hand me the towel. We can do this here. What are you here for?”

“I can’t take their bitching.” He shrugs.

“So, in dramatic Chanie fashion you blow up my phone and storm in here while I’m showering?”

“Well, I didn’t blow up your phone for the record, but yes.” He shrugs. You let out a loud sigh causing him to chuckle again he leans over and grabs your towel. He playfully starts to head out of the room when he sees the look on your face.

“Kidding.” He laughs, handing it to you. He walks out of the bathroom and closes the door behind him. “Also they’re fighting pretty bad. They’ve been getting into wrestling matches that Jeongin is definitely tired of splitting up.”

When you finish getting dressed, you find Chan on the couch with a bowl in hand. You laugh to yourself as he stuffs his face.

“I’m starving.” He shrugs. You roll your eyes and take a seat next to him. He offers you a bite which you gladly take because whatever he has concocted smelled delicious.

“You can make gold from nothing can’t you?”

“Thank you!” He says with a mouth full of food. “No one else agrees.”

You hear a knock at the door and your certain Changbin has come to mope, but Hyunjin stood there with a bag of food.

“Considering the state of these boys I thought you might want to talk.” He says pushing his way past you.

“Hyunjin-ah! I love you.” You wrap your arms around him from behind. “Can you kick Chanie out for me?”

“I heard that!” He called from the front room. You smile back at him and watch Hyunjin unpack the food he brought.

“So, you broke Jisung’s heart. What else is new?”

“I did no such thing!” You gasp. “Does Minho hate me too?” Your tone is softer and a bit defeated.

“Of course not. I mean he’ll probably give you shit, but when doesn’t he?” You nod and take the bowl of food Hyunjin prepared for you to the couch.

“So, how bad is it really?” You lift your head, pushing the food around in your bowl.

“Eat.” Hyunjin ordered.

“Yes ma’am.” You take a bite looking from Hyunjin to Chan wondering when you listened to any of them.

“Well Jisung is convinced that Changbin is sleeping with you just to claim that he got to you first.”

“Excuse me,” Chan chimes in, “I got to you first!”

You look at Hyunjin and feign gagging, causing Hyunjin to laugh with you.

“Joke all you want. We kissed on New Years the first year we met.” Chan crossed his arms over his chest in triumph.

“Does that count as getting to her first?” Hyunjin questioned crossing one leg over the other.

“Hell yeah it does.” Chan started off strong but then he saw your look and immediately toned it down. “I mean if we’re arguing about that sort of childish shit.”

Hyunjin laughed at the two of you. “I remember that.”

“Huh?” You and Chan say simultaneously.

“Jeongin found you two on the terrace that night.” Hyunjin says dramatically and his shoulders shake with laughter.

“Jisung knows doesn’t he?” Your mind momentarily plays the last day you saw Jisung before his attitude change. The day at your apartment where he told you explicitly he doesn’t think you’re a slut. You brush it from your mind. Jisung was definitely acting the opposite right now.

“Ya, I don’t know why you can’t pick one person!” Hyunjin pulls you from your thoughts with his laugh. “There’s always a new flavor of the week with you.”

“That’s true.” You add giggling. Chan pouted at you both. Chan set his bowl on the table in front of him and flopped back on the couch. Slumping over, he laid his head on your shoulder.

After your meal Hyunjin decided to drag Chan back to the dorms. It took some effort to get Chan to leave, but eventually you were left alone again.

You grab your phone and notice the text messages. After taking a deep breath you start looking through them.

09-563:

You can win a gift card! Click the link below.

Scroll

Mom:

You better be taking care of yourself

Scroll

Sammy:

Love you ;) Come see me when you get a chance!

Scroll

Binnie:

07:34 Ya! Haven’t I been punished enough?

You open his messages and scroll to the first message he sent last night.

Binnie:

19:45 I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that shit to Chan. It just felt right to call you my girl...

20:08 I also wanted to piss Chan off and I’m sorry...

20:08 Is this that serious?

23:59 Please don’t ghost me.

23:59 Please stop ghosting me*

02:27 I’m not sure if you’re reading these and not opening them,

but I don’t want to lose you over something stupid.

07:03 Haven’t slept because of this. Will you please just talk to me?

07:28 I’m sorry.

You sighed and backed out of his messages. You weren’t even sure what to say to him. You felt like shit for kicking him out and not speaking to him, but he honestly needs to stop making decisions without consulting you. You noticed you had a text from Jisung.

Jisung

09:49 Hey...

09:50 Can we talk?

Your heart skipped a beat. Who to text first? You start with Jisung and send a simple yes. You send a message to Changbin that turns out to be pretty lengthy. You let him know it’s not fair that he gets to flirt around and then claim you as his a second later.

Jisung responded immediately asking if you could meet at the usual coffee shop down the street from the studio. You were nearly through the roof. You jumped up and got dressed. It was only when you were heading out the door that you suddenly thought of all the ways this could go wrong.

Changbin paced the dorm, glancing at his phone every so often. He promised himself that he wouldn’t text anymore. He had said all he needed to say and anymore would just be pathetic, he told himself.

“Can you do that somewhere else?” Seungmin asked as he watched Changbin pace.

“He’s heart broken.” Felix appears from seemingly out of nowhere. “He refused my hug.” He slightly pouts. Seungmin shook his head.

Changbin suddenly sat on the couch and threw himself into a laying position, he was so frustrated he didn’t know what to do with himself.

“Much better.” Seungmin nods with a smile.

“He’s still sad.” Felix pouts.

“He needs alone time.” Seungmin nods waving Felix along.

Changbin ran his hands through his hair and thought about the fact that he laid his feelings out on the table. He told you and the guys that he wanted more when he said you were his. Your reaction was less than ideal. He was deflated. Then again, he thought, you may have just been upset to be out of the loop.

Changbin sat up. He decided he shouldn’t give you anymore space, he needed to go over there.

“Did you really ask that?” Hyunjin asked. “Never mind I’m sure you did.”

“I feel good about it.” Chan smiles.

“She’s not going to take you up on that. She’s in love I hope you know.” Hyunjin says matter-of-factly. “Oh.”

“Speaking of...” Chan says looking from Changbin to Hyunjin with a knowing look. Hyunjin nods.

“I wouldn’t mess with him.” Jeongin warns as he passes through, eating kimbap.

“Still?” Chan sighs.

“At your own risk.” Seungmin shrugs.

Changbin ignores the conversation and pushes past Seungmin. He pulls on his hat, shrugs into a jacket, and grabs his keys before slipping into his shoes. Changbin is more nervous than he expected heading to see you. It wasn’t normal for him to be nervous around you or about you, but he found these small moments popping up lately.

“Did you know he was in love?” Chan asked Seungmin when he heard the door close.

“It was only obvious. They’re both obvious, and they’re both dumb.” Seungmin says causing Hyunjin to laugh and high five him.

“But I thought she liked Jisung?” Felix pops his head out of the kitchen to join the drama. The guys got silent momentarily and Seungmin looked towards the far couch where Minho sat watching videos on his iPad. Minho chuckled to himself and cooed at the screen.

“Cute!” He said to himself. “What?” Minho whined when everyone sat around him. Chan snatched the iPad.

“Aw, cute!”

“See. Give it-“ he whined again. Chan shook his head and turned it off.

“You know more about this love triangle than the rest of us.” Felix said pulling the couch throw over his shoulders.

“Yeah, and I think she’s in love with Changbinnie.” Hyunjin affirms confidently.

“What if she’s in love with them both?” Minho grabs for his iPad. When Chan holds it out of reach, Minho starts to pout. “Why am I an expert?”

Changbin was just starting the engine when his phone chimed. He rushed to grab it seeing a message from you. His heart skipped a beat. Changbin quickly opened it and his heart fell a bit. He was a little sad to see you were still upset with him.

He had a natural flirtatious nature, but he will admit that he wanted to make you jealous. Changbin picked his moments carefully, he wanted you to see him as irresistible and it backfired. Never did he think you would think he was playing games. He though he was innocently attracting your attention.

Changbin sat in his car for a moment, unable to come up with a response. He still wanted to see you in person. He was determined to fix this. He typed and deleted his text message to you for the sixth time and tossed his phone in the passengers seat. He put the car in to gear and decided to work up his confidence on the drive over.

When he pulled up to your apartment it still took Changbin some time to get out of the car. His attempts at boosting his confidence fell short. He tapped the steering wheel and sighed to himself a few times before he seemingly forced himself to get out.

Changbin wasn’t quite sure what to say when he got there. You hadn’t ever really been mad at him before, not truly. Deep down he knew this wasn’t something that would last forever, but at the moment it sure felt like it and he didn’t want to be without you again.

Jisung tried to stay mad at both of you. He wanted to be mad at Changbin for stealing you from him, but he knew that wasn’t true. He wanted to be mad at you for leading him on but he knew that too wasn’t true.

Jisung wasn’t sure why he was so angry. He should be happy if your happy, but this situation left him feeling left out and unworthy. Not to mention the fact that he beat himself up for never telling you how he felt before this.

Though it had been weeks since he had last seen or spoken to you, he tried to convince himself that he didn’t want to see or speak to you. Jisung eventually started bringing you up without realizing it in conversation. Anytime Changbin would mention it, Jisung would blow up. It took far too long, but Jisung came to the realization that he was being entirely too immature and he truly missed being around you.

You straightened yourself out for the third time and finally entered the coffee shop. You’re so nervous at this point you almost turn around. You suddenly spot Jisung looking directly back at you. It almost startled you, but you moved towards him trying to compose yourself as if this hadn’t been so hard on you.

When you near the table, Jisung stood and walked around to greet you. His voice was soft and he gently leaned in. It was much more awkward than normal, but you were glad to be around him again. His arms wrapped around you gently at first, then he tightened his grip. Your certain he whispers I missed you, but it’s so faint you argue with yourself over it being real.

“Hey.” He says when you both sit down. “I ordered you a matcha latte, I hope that’s okay. I know you said you liked their matcha last time we came, so...”

“Of course it’s fine.” You flash him an appreciative smile. He did know you so well. Jisung had a way of remembering the details. You shift the napkins on the table nervously, not sure what to do with your hands or where to look.

“Hey,” he starts and looks away when your eyes meet. He takes a deep breath and starts again. “So, I just need to tell you I’m sorry.”

He looks in your eyes and you feel that nervous excited feeling rise in your stomach. He fidgets a bit in his seat and you want to comfort him, but you don’t know where to start. He hurt you, and it’s hard to know how to tip toe around his feelings when you aren’t sure what they are.

“It’s okay, Jisungie.” You look down at your hands. “I’m sorry, too.”

“No,” he sits up in his seat, as his hand falls over yours. He seemed to be gaining confidence. “Please, don’t be. You have nothing to be sorry for...” he sighs at himself. It takes him a moment to speak again as he gathers his thoughts.

“I’ve liked you for a long time. As long as I can remember knowing you, really.” Jisung was significantly more calm confessing these feelings to you than he had anticipated. It felt natural. Maybe it only felt that way because he had rehearsed it in his head so many times before this.

You suddenly felt your heart rate picking up. It was nervousness and excitement all rolled in to one and you weren’t quite sure what to do with yourself.

“Do you have feelings for him?” He questioned and after a momentary silence, “be honest.” He added.

You looked him in the eyes and nodded. You didn’t want to say it. You didn’t want to confirm it. But looking in to his eyes you knew you couldn’t lie.

“So, where do we go from here?” He questioned. His eyes caught yours and you felt a bit nervous . His big brown eyes were sincere and you didn’t want to say the wrong thing. You didn’t want to be without him again.

——————————————————————————

Hey, lovely! I hope you enjoyed this. Thanks so much for stopping by💞

(These chapters are so long >.<. )

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austinbaker94 · 4 years ago

Note

Answer All the NSFW questions

Ask me these probing NSFW questions ‘cuz I’m bored

SEXYTIMES EXPERIENCES

1. How many people have you had sex with?

Just 5

2. Can you remember the names of everyone you’ve slept with?

Nope, to be fair i never did get one of the names

3. With whom did you first do the sexytimes? Was it good?

With an ex boyfriend who was at least 7 years older then me, and it was okay. The anti depressants I was on made me pretty numb.

4. What’s the best sex you’ve ever had?

Honestly I’m not sure, there really isn’t a time that was the best just parts of different times that were really good. Like the time a guy ate me out for like a half hour before we went at it.

5. What’s the worst sex you’ve ever had?

The last time an ex and I had sex was the absolute worst, I was hungover as fuck, and there was defiantly a lot of blood. I’ll just leave it at that.

6. Where’s the most unusual place you’ve had sex?

In the middle of my high school football field.

7. Where’s the most unusual place you’ve masturbated?

Parking-lot of the college I was going to in between classes.

8. Have you ever been caught doing the sexytimes?

I don’t think so, there were defiantly times that were supper close though.

9. If you masturbate, when did you start, and how?

I was way too young, and I really don’t remember.

10. Have you ever been caught masturbating?

No, thank god!

LET’S GET PHYSICAL

25. Describe your nipples in too much detail.

lol, smaller kind of pinkish, a little bit of hair around them. Sensitive, they're nipples how much detail can I really give

28. (Penis-owners) Describe the size and shape of your penis. Are you happy with it?

Oh god , It’s okay. It sticks straight out, Id say it was average size, Maybe 7.5″ idk I have checked in a long time, decent girth, not too big.

29. (Penis-owners) Have you tasted your own cum? Did you like it?

Yes, and it honestly tasted like nothing

SEXUAL FANTASY LAND

31. Describe your most unusual/taboo fantasy.

oh man, I really don’t think this is too taboo/unusual but I’d love have a guy ride me while another guy sat on my face and let me eat him out. So basically a three way lol

32. Do you fantasise more about real situations, or imaginary/impossible ones?

More real, the impossible stuff/imaginary stuff just doesn’t really do anything for me.

33. Who’s the oddest person you’ve fantasised about?

There’s defiantly hot older guys out there that were probably someones grandpa but no one really specific.

34. Do you ever find yourself fantasising absent-mindedly, or is it something you do on purpose?

Usually absent-mindedly. I see a hot guy and my brain just goes for it lol.

35. Do you always fantasise while you masturbate?

Yes? pretty sure it’s a must

36. When you fantasise, does it usually lead to masturbation?

No, most of the time I’m in a place or situation where that isn’t possible.

37. Have you ever had sex with someone while fantasising about someone else?

No, I don’t think so. Sometimes My mind will wonder off and i zone out bad.

38. Do you have any celebrity crushes that you fantasise about?

Do pron stars count? lol

39. Have you ever fantasised about something by accident, and felt weird about it after?

Yes, some of my friends have hot dads and honestly that can lead to things feeling awkward.

40. Describe your most sexy fantasy.

I’ll just refer you back to 31

KINKTOWN USA

41. How do you feel about BDSM?

I’ve never tired it but some of it looks like fun.

42. What’s your most unusual kink?

I don’t think i have one :/

43. In an SM context, do you prefer giving pain, or receiving it?

Neither (?) I mean a good smack on the ass is nice but like idk if i want it to hurt more then that.

44. Do you consider yourself to be dominant, submissive, both, or neither?

I’d say submissive, just tell what to do.

45. Describe your most recent bondage experience.

I don’t have one :(

46. In a BDSM context, have you ever referred to anyone as “daddy,” “mommy,” or any similar term?

Nope

47. Do you have a kink for any bodily fluids (pee, saliva, blood, tears, cum, etc.)?

Big no, like cum is kind of a given but the rest of it you can keep to yourself

48. Have you ever revealed a kink to someone and had them react negatively?

Nope

49. Do you have any kinks that you’re ashamed of?

Also no

50. How much money have you spent on equipment for your kinks (toys, whips, chains, etc.)?

I have spent plenty on dildos and cock rings but I couldn’t begin to remember how much it all was.

COME FOR THE QUESTIONS, STAY FOR THE SUBHEADINGS

52. Have you ever come solely from penetration (anal or vaginal)?

Only once and it was the best!

53. Can you have an orgasm without your genitals being touched?

No, wish I could though

54. Describe how you like your genitals to be touched.

Can I say firmly grasp it ?

55. How sensitive are your nipples? Does nipple play turn you on?

Enough that I enjoy nipple play

56. Do you find it easier to orgasm with another person, or through masturbation?

Defiantly masturbation

57. Have you ever had an orgasm that you weren’t expecting?

No but that kinda sounds amazing

58. Do you get off easier from rough contact, or gentle?

Both to be fair

59. What’s the best orgasm you’ve ever had?

i was by myself using a vibrator in my ass and a fleshlight between that and the edging I was doing I’m shocked I didn’t explode

60. Did it take you a while to have your first orgasm, or were you an early starter?

Early starter, I think I was 14 when I really finally had an orgasm

ORAL FIXATION

61. Do you enjoy giving oral sex? Why?

Yes and no, i get to worried I’m doing a bad job, but if a guy wants to face fuck me I’m all for it.

62. What’s your favourite position in which to receive oral?

I really don’t think i have one

63. Describe your oral sex technique.

Lots of tongue, and don’t be afraid to use your hands

64. Do you find it easier to give oral to someone with the same genital configuration as you (eg., you both own vaginas/both own penises), or different?

I’d say the same but I have experienced anything else

65. Describe the worst oral sex you’ve ever received.

I don’t think I’ve hand any bad enough to remember

66. Describe the best oral sex you’ve ever received.

My hands were tied behind my back and I was standing leaning against my dresser and he was just going for it while teasing me

67. Do you ever simulate oral sex while masturbating (sucking on dildos etc.)?

I’ve tried a couple of times but I get distracted if I do that

68. How sensitive is your mouth? Is it an erogenous zone, for you?

I don’t think it is but idk how i’d know that

69. Do you like 69ing?

Yes but we have to laying on our sides not on top one another, i need to freedom laying on your side gives you

70. Can you deep-throat?

I’d like to think so, idk if I’ve sucked anything big enough to go to far down though

EVERYTHING BUTT

71. Do you like it in the butt?

Absolutely!

72. What’s the strangest object you’ve had in your butt?

i made an Ice dildo once so id say that

73. Do you enjoy being rimmed?

OH MY GOD YES!!

74. Can you take a lot in your butt, or just a little?

My biggest is an 11″ dildo (its not super thick) so you tell me

75. Describe your most recent experience with buttsex.

I don’t think I’ve had sex in 2020 yet so there is no recent

76. Do you like doing stuff to other people’s butts?

Sure if they’ll let me

77. (Prostate-owners) Have you ever received a prostate massage?

No, but it sounds amazing!

78. Do you own any buttplugs?

I don’t, thought about getting some though

79. Have you ever had an embarrassing buttsex experience?

No, I’m way to paranoid that something embarrassing is going to happen, so i make I am perfectly clean

80. Have you ever pegged someone (ie., worn a strapon and fucked them in the butt)?

I haven’t but I don’t think I’d need to

SHARING IS CARING

All questions assume you’ve done group sex of some kind

81-90 are all a no lol I’ve never been with more then one person at a time

**BONUS DARES**

91. Post a selfie. 92. Post a naked selfie.

I’ll reblog with one

There is 100 but these were all the ones that were actually NSFW

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pleaserelaxfc · 3 years ago

Text

Mid-week Matches: Week 19.5

I do these write-ups mostly for myself, and I don't think there's many people who even see them, but it would still feel inappropriate to start this week's without first discussing what happened in the league last week. While I have summarized what happened below, if anyone is reading this and hasn't already heard about what has happened, please please go read the original reporting at the Athletic (and if the main article is paywalled, I think I have a couple of guest passes that I can send along if you DM me), as well as follow up reporting at any number of sources - the Washington Post and the New York Times among them.

What has been allowed to happen in the league over many, many years is horrifying. The ways in which teams have protected abusers by getting them out of their immediate environment, while keeping quiet about the reasons why, enabled those abusers to perpetuate their abuse elsewhere in the same league. This is particularly galling in a league where players, who are so often the victims, have so little power - in addition to making very little money, they also have practically no power over their own careers, in terms of moving away from a team where they are either being subjected to abuse or where they could be subject to retaliation if they report on it. It's appalling that it happened in the first place, and it is appalling that so many people with the power to impose consequences simply let it slide.

On Thursday, the Athletic reported that Paul Riley, then the coach of the North Carolina Courage and who had coached for many years in the NWSL and predecessor leagues, had coerced players into having sex with him, had sexually harassed players, had made homophobic and more generally abusive comments towards his players, and had otherwise abused his position of authority routinely over the years. Additionally, the Portland Thorns had been made aware of at least some of the accusations against him when he was the head coach there, had investigated him, and found that there was no evidence of illegal behavior but that he had violated team policy - they sent the NWSL the results of their investigation and released Riley from his position, but did not publicly announce the reasons for doing so, and most NWSL outsiders believed it was due to poor results for the season. Riley was promptly hired by the Western New York Flash, which later became the Courage - the article does not discuss whether the League made any effort to preclude the Flash from making the hire in the first place, whether the Flash ownership had been made aware of Riley's behavior, either by the League or through their own background checks, and what (if any) information the Courage obtained when their purchase of the franchise was effected, but given the existence of the Thorns' report, it seems unlikely that any of the parties were entirely unaware. Several hours after the article was published, the Courage announced that they had fired Riley.

The Athletic's article had reported that earlier this year, when the League implemented an anti-harassment policy for the first time, at least one of the players who had been subjected to some of Riley's worst behavior and who had been involved in the report at the Thorns, Sinead Farrelly, had emailed the League to see whether an investigation had been opened under the new policy, and noting that she had been subject to additional behavior that she had not had the opportunity to discuss at the time. At the time, she received a response that the Thorns investigation was concluded and would not be reopened. However, when the Courage announced Riley's firing, the League released a statement suggesting they were shocked to hear of these allegations and had worked with the Courage to get Riley out. In response to the implication that the League had not been aware of Riley's behavior, Alex Morgan published screenshots of the email exchanges between Farrelly and the League, which rebut any assertion that the League had not been aware (or at least, had not had ample cause and opportunity to make themselves aware) of the abuse. On Friday evening, the Lisa Baird, the Commissioner of the NWSL, as well as Lisa Levine, general counsel of the NWSL, who had been with the League at the time of the Thorns report, resigned following a general outcry at all levels.

On Thursday night, the NWSL Player's Association, which is currently in negotiations regarding a collective bargaining agreement, asked the NWSL to cancel last weekend's games. I'm not sure whether they would have been able to organize a strike if the NWSL had refused - national team players at least are barred from striking in the league - but the NWSL agreed, and those games have been postponed.

Now, for this week - three games will be played on Wednesday, which would have brought all the teams up to 20 games played (originally 21, before last weekend's postponements), except that the Gotham-KC game had to be rescheduled since the minor league baseball team that KC shares its field with made the playoffs and needed the field on the originally-scheduled date.

As things stand:

The Portland Thorns (38 pts) are still at the top of the table, but OL Reign (35) is starting to close in on them a little as well as to separate themselves from the rest of the table, with six points between the Reign and the two teams tied for third place.

On that note, the North Carolina Courage (29) seems to have dropped into the mid-table grouping, which otherwise hasn't changed much - the Chicago Red Stars (29) and the Orlando Pride (28) are still slightly above the Washington Spirit (26), the Houston Dash (26), and NY/NJ Gotham FC (25), with the Dash (based on tiebreaks) and Gotham currently outside playoff position, but games in hand for the lower-positioned teams mean that practically anything can happen within this group.

As of last weekend, KC (11) is officially out of the running for a playoff berth, and while Louisville (17) could technically still pull it off, they are now three full games behind playoff position with only five games remaining in their season.

Current Points/Max Potential:*

Thorns: 38/53

Reign: 35/47

Courage: 29/44

Red Stars: 29/41

Pride: 28/40

Spirit: 26/41

Dash: 26/41

Gotham: 25/43

Louisville: 17/32

KC: 11/26

Potential* end of season, based on overall performance to date:

Top Two: Thorns (48), Reign (42)

Middle Four: Courage (37), Red Stars (35), Pride (34), Gotham (33)

Out of the Playoffs: Dash (33), Spirit (33), Louisville (21), KC (14)

Change from last week: The Red Stars and the Pride have swapped places, but they have been keeping close together for the last several weeks. Otherwise, only the specific numbers have changed.

Potential* end of season, based on recent trends:

Top Two: Thorns (47), Reign (45)

Middle Four: Red Stars (36), Courage (34), Dash (34), Pride (34),

Out of the Playoffs: Spirit (33), Gotham (30), Louisville (18), KC (15)

Change from last week: The exact ordering of the teams in the middle four has been changed, and the expectations for the six teams vying for those four spots have tightened significantly.

Games to be played this Wednesday:

Gotham - Spirit (7:00, CBS Sports)

Courage - Louisville (7:30, Paramount+)

Thorns - Dash (10:00, Paramount+)

Mid-week notes:

First and foremost, Paul Riley of the North Carolina Courage was fired, and the NWSL's commissioner and general counsel both resigned.

It is also now official that Richie Burke of the Washington Spirit has been fired. He is also banned from working with NWSL players in the future. Additionally, the League found that the Spirit did not act in the best interests of the League, and their ownership has been indefinitely suspended from participating in matters of league governance, and has been sent a notice of violation to respond to within fourteen days. (As a side note, I think the Spirit's suspension from League governance is particularly interesting in the context of this week's ousters. I don't think the outcome would have changed, but I do wonder how it would have changed conversations, inside and outside the room.)

In response to a letter from the Spirit players, Steve Baldwin stepped down from his role as CEO and managing partner of the Spirit, leaving Ben Olsen as the head of the organization. This did not sufficiently address the concerns expressed by the players, and they have published an open letter to him, demanding that he sell his interest in the team to Michele Kang.

In connection with the reporting on Paul Riley, it was also revealed (or, confirmed) that Farid Benstiti, who was let go by OL Reign earlier this season, was also "asked to resign" as a result of abusive comments towards players - the Reign had not made that information public until now (although there was widespread speculation due to the fact that he had a history of abusive comments towards players at PSG when he coached there), and, like Riley with the Thorns in 2015, his departure came at a time when the team was significantly underperforming expectations, and could reasonably have been attributed to that.

In happier news, KC has come to an agreement with Sporting Kansas City to use Children's Mercy Park for their regular season games in 2022 - one fewer baseball field!

Notes on the week:

KC have been officially eliminated from playoff contention - with their loss to the Spirit in September, the maximum number of points they could get fell to 26, and with five teams already above that and the two additional teams tied at that number having another game to play between them, there is no way that the playoff threshold will be below 27.

With KC officially eliminated, bottom of the table playoff watch now turns to Louisville - they are already guaranteed to finish behind the Thorns and the Reign. A loss or a draw for Louisville on Wednesday against the Courage would also guarantee that Louisville finishes behind the Courage (in the event of a draw, the Courage has the tiebreak), and a loss for Louisville combined with a win for the Dash would guarantee Louisville to finish behind the Dash at least on tiebreaks (barring a very strange situation with more than two teams in the tiebreak) - while a Louisville loss combined with a Spirit win would also mean Louisville could at best end up tied for points with them, the head-to-head tiebreaker between them is currently even, with one more game to play.

The Thorns were not able to pull off a win against Chicago to officially guarantee themselves a spot in the playoffs in September, but the opportunity is still available to them this week: with a win over the Dash, they would earn 41 points, which is more than is possible for KC, Louisville, or the Pride to achieve, a loss would put the Dash below that threshold as well.

It is again possible that we could have a many-way tie at the end of the week, depending on the results of the various games, this time at 29 points: If the Spirit, Louisville, and the Dash all win, then the Spirit, the Dash, the Courage, and Chicago will all be on 29 points.

I think the Spirit-Gotham game will be the most interesting one of the week, and I'm not just saying that because they are my two favorite teams - it should be the most competitive of the three, and since both teams are on the bubble for the playoffs, the outcome could be important. Assuming last weekend's games do get rescheduled, my guess is that the cutoff for the playoffs will be around 33 points, so the Spirit need at least two wins and a draw in their remaining five games (three wins would get them to 35 points, which will almost certainly be safe), and Gotham need three wins out of their remaining six games. With two games against Louisville and one against KC remaining, in addition to one each against the Pride and the Courage, this is probably not a must-win for Gotham (although a win would probably put them in fairly comfortable position for the playoffs, and they will want a result just to maintain some momentum coming off of their first win in eight games); for the Spirit, with two of their five games being against the Courage and the Reign, and the other two against Louisville and the Dash, this isn't a must-win per se for the Spirit either, but it's much closer for them than for Gotham, and they will at least want to pick up a point here. Another factor of interest is the previous game between the two: Sam Staab got very controversially red-carded less than ten minutes into their only other meeting of the season, and while Washington kept it close, Gotham ultimately won 3-2. The League overturned the red card after the game, but there was nothing to be done about the result for the team, which was surely impacted - the Spirit will be looking for a win here if for no other reason than to make up for their previous (undeserved) defeat.

The Courage-Louisville game looks a little more straightforward on paper - Louisville is one of the bottom two teams in the league, and the Courage were very comfortably in the top two until very recently. However, although Louisville is on a seven-game winless streak of their own, the Courage have only scored once in their last four games (resulting in two draws and two losses), which is extremely unusual. Using the same 33-point threshold, the Courage only need a win and a draw in five games, and with only one of those five coming against a top-two team, they can afford to drop points here, but it will certainly be one of their easier opportunities, and a loss (or even a draw) will give other bubble teams a bit of confidence.

The Thorns will also be expected to win fairly handily over the Dash, although a loss in their last game against Chicago have them looking mortal again, and the Dash can come up with some unexpected results when their players are on top of their game. This isn't really a must-win for the Dash (although last weekend's rescheduled game against KC would have been), but they do have a fairly challenging schedule going forward, with this game and another against the Thorns, as well as one against the Courage in between, and they will need to pick up at least one point from the three - and that's assuming they can win outright in their other two games, against KC and the Spirit.

*These are potentials based on, respectively, taking all remaining points available (assuming last weekend's postponed gamed get rescheduled), matching their points-per-game ratio for the season to date through their remaining games, or on matching their points-per-game ratio for the last five games through the remaining games - they don't take into account tiebreaks or what the actual remainder of the season looks like.

#nwsl

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padfootagain · 4 years ago

Text

Hello everyone! I'm so happy to host a new event for my blog! It has been a while since I made one of these writing events, and I hope you will enjoy it! I've organized it to celebrate my blog hitting 4.7k followers!!! This is unbelievable, tbh, I have no idea what you guys are doing around here, but thank you so much for it anyway!!

So, for the coming weeks, I'll be writing your requests, that you can send me using the prompts I'm proposing in this post, under the cut! I hope you'll have fun!

Carole, what is going on now?

For this event, I'll be answering some prompts! The idea is simple: you choose one of the characters I write for and a few prompts, and I will write a one-shot for the character you have chosen, using the prompts you have chosen. You can also indicate more details that you would like to be included in your request (a specific AU or situation… ). It's super easy, and it makes you choose what I'll write for the next 2 or 3 weeks!

How do we request something?

In order to send a request, all you have to do is send me an ask through my inbox (please, do not use the dms, it is much harder to manage for me and I will probably forget about your request…). You can choose between 1 and 5 prompts amongst the prompts listed below the cut. The prompts are pieces of dialogue, and it will be my job to imagine a scenario where the characters use these lines. Choose also a character. It has to be a character in my masterlist (at the exception of Billy Russo and Regulus Black, their requests are closed). If you're a little shy, don't hesitate to switch on the anon function, I will still accept your request! Please, only ask for one request, because I want to write for as many people as possible.

And that's it! Super easy, isn't it?

A sum up?

In order to get a one-shot:

-Choose a character in my masterlist (except for Billy Russo and Regulus Black, their requests are closed)

-Choose between 1 and 5 prompts that you would like to see appear in your one-shot. There are 100 of them, and they are all gathered below the cut! No need to send me the whole prompt, just send me the number corresponding to your prompts!

-Send me a message through my inbox (no private messages)

-You can only make one request, so choose wisely ;)

-You can ask as an anon if you're a little shy

-I'll be working hard on your request, so a little nice message or at least a 'hello' would be lovely :)

The requests will be open for 48 hours (September 8 – September 10 2020), and they are open beginning… right now! The duration for the opened requests for the event might change, depending on how many requests I receive.

Please, be understanding that there is no way for me to judge if this event will be popular or not. If I receive too many requests, I won't be able to write all of them. I'm sorry if I don't have time to go to your request, please, be understanding if that happens. But maybe I'll have time to write all of them! It is hard for me to judge beforehand.

I hope you have fun with this event, and thank you all again for your support!

The prompts for the event are listed below. For a few of them, they might include several lines. All prompts are given a number, all you have to do is send me the number corresponding to the prompts you want, no need to type the whole thing in the ask.

Have fun!

NB: I have no idea why so many of those give off some serious idiots in love and idiots to lovers energy, but… it happened…

1."KISSES!"

2. "You are too far away."

"I am literally on the couch with you..."

"But are you in my arms? No. See? Too far away."

3. "If you weren't so cute, I would break your legs right now."

4. "Wait… are you jealous?"

5. "Stars and tequila. It's perfect."

"No. Stars, tequila and you. That it perfect."

6."I think I've made a mistake. Very big mistake. The kind that makes me wonder if I should escape to another country..."

7. "I WANT MY COOKIES!!"

8. "Maybe I love you a little too much, and that's why it hurts sometimes."

9. "Does it hurt?"

"Not that... OUCH!"

10. "I can't believe you got punched in the face."

"For you. I got punched in the face for you."

11. "It's dark, and it's late, and I'm cold and I'm drenched with this freaking rain and yet all I can think about is that I love you."

12. "I know you don't love me. It's okay. I will be whatever you want me to be."

13. "You don't need to love me for me to love you, you know? That's not how loving works. It would save us all from a lot of pain if it did."

14. "What do you mean you have a date?"

15. "I propose that we get excessively drunk and then ruin our lives as a consequence. Sounds good?"

16. "I'll always be here for you. Don't you know that by now? That I'll never leave?"

17. "I think we need... to make something explode."

18. "I'm pretty stupid, aren't I?"

19. "Huh... is that my shirt you're wearing?"

20. "I miss you. I hate it. I hate you. I love you."

21. "I'm proud to be with you."

22. "So... huh... are we gonna mention that you've just snogged me or...?"

23. "What do you mean lying to your family about us? What do you mean you need a 'plus one'?"

24. "I have only one thing to say: that is the stupidest idea I've ever heard. Let's do it."

25. "Huh... were you going to... propose?!"

26. "Will you marry me?"

27. "Look... I don't mean to be blunt but... you and me, it's a forever kind of thing. And there's no escape from that."

28. "Fate? Me loving you, you think it's fate? Nah, it's not fate. It's a choice. I choose to love you and to give you everything I own and everything I am every single day. And that's why what we have is true love."

29. "Do you have ANY idea of how worried I was about you?"

30. "I think you've just… puked on my shoes."

31. "I swear, if you die, I'm going to kill you."

32. "You're perfect."

33. "I love you. Do you think you could ever love me too?"

34. "Cuddles, cuddles, cuddles!"

35. "I'm sorry. For everything. I'm not going to ask you to forgive me though, cause I know that I don't deserve it."

36. "Just… shut up and kiss me."

37. "Please… stay."

38. "But if you leave now, what am I going to do with the rest of my life?"

39. "I don't want anything but you."

40. "You deserve so much more than what I can give you."

41. "I wish I did, but I don't deserve you."

42. "You make me so happy, it hurts a little."

43. "What if we don't make it?"

44. "Are you… are you bleeding?"

45. "I… I'm begging you… if you must kill someone, then kill me. But please, please… let him/her go."

46. "I can't lose you."

47. "What do you mean… you're pregnant?"

48. "You are so annoying…"

49. "You're an idiot. I love you."

50. "Don't leave me. Don't ever leave me…"

51. "Well… that was hot."

52. "So… good morning?"

"We're in the same bed. What the fuck are we doing in the same bed?!"

53. "I mean, we don't have a choice… there's only one bed. And I am not sleeping on that dirty carpet."

54. "Us being together, it's a terrible idea."

55. "LOOK! IT'S SNOWING!"

56. "This is the worst Halloween costume I have ever seen."

57. "Promise you'll always love me."

58. "I need your word. Promise me that you'll come back to me."

59. "So… does that mean… farewell?"

60. "I think we’re excellent at making memories.”

61. "Did you… did you sleep with him/her?"

62. "Where are you?"

63. "BECAUSE I LOVE YOU!"

64. "Dear God… I'm surrounded by idiots…"

65. "I don't want you to go with him/her. I want you to choose me instead."

66. "What if we stayed in bed all day?"

67. "You fool! Fear my wrath!"

"Babe, you're threatening me with a broccoli, it is not very convincing."

68. "Karaoke night!"

69. "I am full of surprises!”

“Sadly, yes, you are...”

70. "Dance with me. Please?"

71. "I would do anything to convince you to give me a chance."

72. "I know it's hard. I know that life keeps on getting in the way. But I love you. I love you with my entire being, and I'm willing to fight for you. I'm willing to fight to keep you."

73. "Are you… are you crying?"

74. "Stop stealing my blanket!"

75. "Happy New Year!"

76. "Merry Christmas!"

77. "Is that for me?"

78. "Happy birthday!"

79. "So… is that… a date?"

80. "What do you mean it was a date? It wasn't a date!"

"Of course, it was a date!"

81. "Well… that… was a good kiss…"

82. "I'm a complete moron! I'm an idiot! I am the epitome of stupidity! It took me forever to realize it, but now I see it, and I'll be damned if I let you walk away. Because it took me all that time to realize it, but I love you. I love you so much. It's always been you."

83. "Are you drinking my cocoa?"

84. "Please, just… hold me. Please, hold me close."

85. "I'm cold."

"I'll keep you warm."

"Nice try!"

86. "It hasn't stopped snowing. We're stuck. We're gonna die."

87. "I AM NOT DYING HERE! IN THE MIDDLE OF NOWHERE! WITH YOU!"

"I know that the important information here is that we're gonna die, but I'm very upset that you don't want to do it specifically with me. Why not? I'm a dream!"

88. "Can I try some of your food?"

89. "I should have told you long ago."

"Tell me what?"

"That I love you."

90. "I am not going through a thirty-hours drive with you. There is absolutely no way."

91. "I used to hate you. Then, I simply disliked you. Now, I hate you all over again."

"Well, the feeling is mutual. But maybe it'll change."

92. "I really like you."

"I love you."

93. "Well, if you really were that clever, then you would know that I love you!"

94. "You have fever, you need to drink this. Come on, now."

95. "I just… I feel like I'm truly myself when I'm with you. I want to be myself when I'm with you. So now, if you're scared, don't call it love yet. But whatever you want to call it, it's incredible, and I'm not going to give up on this. I'm not going to give up on us."

96. "You're my home."

97. "Why is summer so hot?! I'm melting!"

98. "Have you ever felt like… memories get attached to a word and they almost change their meanings? Like… whenever someone says 'apple' I think of my grandma's pies, to the point that I almost forget that they're talking about the fruit. Well… your name… it's the same for love. When I think of love, I think of you."

99. "What wish did you make?”

“To spend the rest of my life with you.”

100. "If you only let me spend the rest of my life with you, I'd be happy with that. I don't ask for anything else, really. My life is complete as long as you're in it."

#event #4700 followers #writing prompts #prompts

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d-criss-news · 5 years ago

Text

Royalties Soundtrack Listening Event | Darren Criss Chat (July 7th, 2020)

Darren Criss 18:02:04

wait ha

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Darren Criss 18:02:08

sorry yall

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Darren Criss 18:02:12

this is confusing me of course

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Darren Criss 18:02:29

this is new for me too friends

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Darren Criss 18:02:45

well i'm here but I can't hear shit so gimme a sec

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Darren Criss 18:04:00

well I'll just keep typing here guys

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Darren Criss 18:04:04

bro

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Darren Criss 18:04:07

wilma

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Darren Criss 18:04:15

i'm tryin

Darren Criss 18:04:57

21kxuv372ubcprrbpiefadt6i

What was your favorite song to write for the show?

They each were really fun so that's hard to say but Hate That I Need You surprised the hell outta me

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Darren Criss 18:05:30

bettic72

darren non capisco un cazzo

anchio pero sti cazzi siamo qui

Darren Criss 18:05:49

genevievephillips

point and laugh at darren

yes let's laugh at him

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Darren Criss 18:06:18

2162bkuccm7xje6yfgmuzrnyq

You inspired me to write my own songs 🥺👉🏼👈🏼

thanks for writing the first positive thing I've seen on this. That's wonderful! I hope to hear them!

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Darren Criss 18:06:43

clo :)

i love that we are all grandparents when it comes to this

thank you for using the appropriate WE pronouns ha yeah this shit is confusing

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Darren Criss 18:08:44

zcvmtsgee5mom80oxeesa4v11

Darren how do you deal with stage fright .... i’ve been preforming in front of people for a while and i i still get scared . Does it ever go away ?

i guess it depends on how big the crowd is. everybody's different but I will say any kind of fright means you care, which is a good thing! Also the thing people forget about performing, for the most part, is you can't SEE the audience, most of the time they're in the dark. That's why performing for friends or in a small space where you can see everyone is much more nerve-racking

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Darren Criss 18:08:57

Dana

Darren can we have a royalties tour once rona is over???

wouldn't that be fun!

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Darren Criss 18:09:15

emilybutcher30

darren can you start streaming on twitch please haha i love you

ha can't compete with King Urie man

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Darren Criss 18:10:06

jake2000w

Darren, I know it’s all weird right now, but do you have any idea when we might see Nerdy Prudes Must Die?

what a good question. I have no idea but I've been wanting to see that show for almost as long as I've wanted to make Royalties. The boys have been talking about that one for a while now.

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Darren Criss 18:10:16

jesiqseigle56

Can you like respond .

like yeah

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Darren Criss 18:10:27

abbyforsmark

has Darren even said anything on this?

nope nothing

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Darren Criss 18:12:39

u6iczx4gua0att2g4kd2vdzwe

Did you write each of the songs with the performers in mind or did you cast them afterwards?

great question. Except for "Also You," which was written with Jackie Tohn for Jackie Tohn, we had no idea who would sing each song. I did the demos for almost all of them and then we had to pitch actors/artists to see if they'd be interested... which wasn't as hard (luckily) as seeing if they were AVAILABLE... which many weren't given the short time we had to make the show. Hopefully we can get some of those folks on for the next season IF THEY'LL LET US HAVE ONE!

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Darren Criss 18:13:52

delfi

darren royalties is so good i'm fucking proud of you

thanks for watching it, truly. I know the Quibi thing is strange for people so I appreciate you giving it all a chance : )

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Darren Criss 18:14:04

Caitlyn A :)

if you see this kick your shoes off

I would but no shoes

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Darren Criss 18:14:27

t59glm18dkw84n64l72jcuvpc

come to the uk challenge

god i wish.

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Darren Criss 18:15:39

damn someone said "travel to UK challenge" and I meant to respond "find a vaccine challenge"

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Darren Criss 18:17:08

i can't hear any of these songs but I"m just gonna start saying random shit about them

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Darren Criss 18:17:16

first off, i really wanted a theme song

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Darren Criss 18:17:23

that was a whole thing

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Darren Criss 18:19:18

Had to cut through a lot of red tape to make sure we had that silly song in there. We were already in the middle of post production when I finally got it approved, but it had to be under 15 seconds. I wrote 3 diff versions. So glad it ended up working. Theme songs accomplish so much in such a short period of time. Establishes tone. Gives the audience an almost Pavlovian response to the familiarity of the characters... I'm happy with it

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Darren Criss 18:20:12

also the "doo doo doo" lyrics are meant to sound like "scratch vocals" when songwriters record vocals with temporary gibberish lyrics with the intent of filling them in with real ones later

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Darren Criss 18:22:29

Just That Good was a concept that started the entire 1st season, and it was one of those instant-songs where Nick and Matt told me the title and I immediately had the hook just from those words. That only happens every once in a while and I was so happy it did for that song. The tricky part was writing the rest of it, but the back half of the song with the chorus repeating that one refrain over and over- that was the melody from the get go

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Darren Criss 18:23:08

I'll get back to Break it In, kick your shoes/let your hair, and kong later... i'll just go off on this one

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Darren Criss 18:23:48

so I wanted to nod to the grandeur of everyone's favorite vampire elf, Jared Leto

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Darren Criss 18:24:05

not HIM specifically, but 30 seconds to mars' very BIG music videos

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Darren Criss 18:24:29

i dont jared is a buncha self centered nutcases like our guys in SWITCHBACK JACKET

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Darren Criss 18:24:37

* i don't think Jared...

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Darren Criss 18:25:38

anyway yeah "so much better..." comes from a lot of the 90s alt rock that I grew up on, and the mix of that sound with a bit of electronic production was an effort to contemportize it as much as possible

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Darren Criss 18:26:26

but the rhythm guitar, lots of power chords and high octaves were all harkening to my fave bands like Lit and Eve 6... but put through a strange bizzaro nickleback/creed performance filter

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Darren Criss 18:26:55

"make you come true" is obviously a very salacious play on words

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Darren Criss 18:28:27

so the only way to make it feel earnest is if we made the track itself sexy as possible. A lot of the songs, even without being written, leant themselves to a certain genre just by the title, and this one was kind of a no-brainer. Sexy mid tempo r&b. And I didn't even know we'd get Jordan Fisher to do it- who SMASHED the vocal.

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Darren Criss 18:29:42

lauraacampbell-12

DARREN CHORDS OR LYRICS FIRST WHEN WRITING A SONG?

it's different every time but for this show specifically it's always title/idea first, and then the song comes from there. But that's because we're writing a show, so we have the luxury of getting to write from a specific place. It's much harder to do that in your own life when you just want to pull a title/idea from your own experience of life. I commend people that do that all the time.

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Darren Criss 18:30:06

what's NUTS about prizefighter is...

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Darren Criss 18:30:24

it was originally a song called LONG RANGER that BONNIE MCKEE sang, who I wrote the song with

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Darren Criss 18:30:38

and in the video we had CHRISSY TIEGEN lipsynching

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Darren Criss 18:30:44

it was bananas

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Darren Criss 18:31:26

we ultimately couldn't use the song because of some complicated writers shit- not too dissimilar from the things we explore in our own show, which is just totally ironic.

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Darren Criss 18:32:56

we were so bummed that we couldn't use the song but I'm actually really really happy with PRIZEFIGHTER. I love the song, and I love how it turned out production wise. I love how much of a massive influence latin x rhythms have had across the entire spectrum of mainstream music, so I wanted try my own hand at nodding to it!

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Darren Criss 18:33:08

Lara :)!

Ahhhhh so was that the pilot song you were talking about last week?

that's the one

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Darren Criss 18:33:45

hbz3jctrg5rwwma640hahffvt

You have inspired me to learn piano I already know how to play teanage dream now

you can thank Bonnie Mckee aka Kimmy Kelly for writing that song!

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Darren Criss 18:34:01

ok then there's the k pop song

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Darren Criss 18:34:08

honestly i had no idea where I was gonna start on this one

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Darren Criss 18:34:22

full props to the brilliant CJ Baran who I wrote this song with

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Darren Criss 18:34:39

we were just toying around with very industrial-sounding samples

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Darren Criss 18:35:21

and I started singing Edvard Grieg's "in the hall of the mountain king"

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Darren Criss 18:35:33

and he was the guy that was like YEAH JUST PUT IT IN THERE

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Darren Criss 18:35:46

and i realized, oh yeah, that song is public domain

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Darren Criss 18:35:59

and kinda ties perfectly to the nature of Elia Peck and his songwriting... huh.

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Darren Criss 18:36:05

So we went for it from there.

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Darren Criss 18:36:17

based the lyrics off of what the Neals say in the room.

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Darren Criss 18:36:34

and then just wrote a bunch of ALMOST nonense lyrics about things that you could HATE that you NEED

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Darren Criss 18:36:40

things like available wifi...

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Darren Criss 18:37:01

artistinal mai-tais.... yeah I guess if you really really liked those you could HATE that you NEED them...

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Darren Criss 18:37:04

etc etc

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Darren Criss18:38:16

but the idea was to have Mariam Hale's character hardly do ANYTHING on the track, since she, as the audience sees, doesn't really have much to offer... so we just built it around this huge track with crazy lyrics that just tees up a tag for her to say without even having to sing: I HATE THAT I NEED YOU

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Darren Criss18:38:43

2235n5s2qk5hjsujbhk5ilpva

I have classes in 10 minutes, and I'm not leaving until you dedicate a Royalties song to me.

looks like you're gonna miss calss

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Darren Criss 18:39:09

"calss" ha. which is like "class" but like... different.

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Darren Criss 18:39:32

alrighty PERFECT SONG

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Darren Criss 18:39:38

i really love this song as well

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Darren Criss 18:40:02

the reveal of this song is that they keep talking about this "perfect song" they've written

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Darren Criss 18:40:26

in other words we're teeing up a pretty big expectation of what a perfect song could possibly sound like

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Darren Criss 18:40:36

the reveal of course is that the song itself is in fact just called "perfect song"

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Darren Criss 18:40:43

which is ABOUT a perfect song

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Darren Criss 18:41:07

and about TRYING TO WRITE a perfect song, and how that's not necessary when you have someone that IS the perfect song

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Darren Criss 18:41:20

when we wrapped our heads around that idea, I really loved it

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Darren Criss 18:42:10

you'll notice we reference a lot of incredible songs, almost citing them as perfect songs themselves

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Darren Criss 18:42:14

ain't no mountain high enough

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Darren Criss 18:42:55

of course leonard cohen's seminal Hallelujah

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Darren Criss 18:44:05

and of course Britney's Oops I Did It Again ha ;)

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Darren Criss 18:45:00

the Oops being a layered joke of being annoyed with oneself that they AGAIN unwittingly wrote a lyric for already massive song, but in doing so citing yet ANOTHER already massive song... if that makes any sense

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Darren Criss 18:45:27

sorry for the typos yall i'm moving fast, i'd never let this shit slide if it wasn't a casual chatroom vibe

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Darren Criss 18:46:37

emzlolly1234

Did you know you wanted there to be a romantic thing between pierce and Sara?? :))))

yes that was actually our original "pilot presentation" episode. the one with the song LONE RANGER and Chrissy Tiegen. It was a longer version of what would become episode 7. We THINK it's a romantic thing but you realize that Sara is just playing Pierce to get the song she needs. That was always the premise yes.

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Darren Criss 18:46:51

luzmargotramos

if you reply with a single dot I'd probably die

then I better steer clear of any dots

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Darren Criss 18:47:04

ALSO YOU was an amazing lightning in a bottle moment

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Darren Criss 18:47:09

FULL CREDIT TO JACKIE TOHN

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Darren Criss 18:47:22

i always enjoy giving credit where credit is due

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Darren Criss 18:48:24

and I came in pretty hot for most of the songs- concepts, chords, style... but this one literally was a simple as Jackie Sitting down and just playing "It's you I love but also you and also you and also you."

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Darren Criss 18:48:37

we all just looked at each other going, welp, yup, that's it, jackie you fuckin rule

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Darren Criss 18:49:28

the song would have ended up very differently if she hadn't brought that to the table. the original episode and song was "one true loves" which isn't nearly as good of a gag/title as "also you"

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Darren Criss 18:49:50

i ended up squeezing "one true loves" into the bridge, but of course, kept ALSO YOU as the main event

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Darren Criss 18:50:02

i will say I was also trying to spoof my brother's old band, FREELANCE WHALES a little bit

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Darren Criss 18:50:26

if you guys know the song "generator first floor" where they sing ay ay ay ay ay a lot...

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Darren Criss 18:50:35

... as a lot of bands and songs had featured at the time...

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Darren Criss 18:51:00

i wanted to put them all in one joke. where a band sang not only hey hey hey but ay and EE and AYE and OH and basically all the vowels

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Darren Criss 18:51:10

which was where the joke of,

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Darren Criss 18:51:20

a, e, i, o, and also u

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Darren Criss 18:51:21

came from

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Darren Criss 18:51:32

which i'm particularly proud of

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Darren Criss 18:51:56

ok let's talk about BREAK IT IN

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Darren Criss 18:54:16

lxucxthxrxnx_

I’m a musician myself (not that great lol) what was it like coming up with the melodic side did you play any instruments for the songs?

i played instruments on all the songs except Break It In and I Hate That I Need You, since those were all electronic. That's not to say i played EVERY instrument but I definitely played AN instrument of some kind for the others.

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Darren Criss 18:55:34

as for break it in... anyway... yeah that was a blast. Nick Lang and I collaborated with my buddy Kendo who goes by the artist name KingJet.

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Darren Criss 18:56:54

Kendo has worked on a lot of legit songs in the hip hop space. For each song I wanted to make sure there was a level of authenticity to what we were doing. I didn't wanna SPOOF the songs. I wanted the songs to sound rock solid and that it would be the LYRICAL CONCEPTS that would be the source of satire. So Kendo was a great guiding light to keep the track as authentic as possible.

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Darren Criss 18:59:47

We explained to Kendo the whole joke concept of the song, which is basically just turning the idea of toxic masculinity on its head, and he was on top of it immediately- when we told him that there's this guy that's really concerned that people think he "fucks too soft" he immediately started spitting out lyrics like the hilariously defiant "I'm the KING OF THE HARD FUCK"

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Darren Criss 19:00:35

which just killed me and Nick. It was just so juvenile that it was adorable to me

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Darren Criss 19:00:57

emzlolly1234

Darren you’ve been here for an hour? That’s the length of royalties man xxx

yeah aint it great

Darren Criss 19:02:21

sophie :)

i personally think you should try your hand at writing a drill song, a british genre of rap that centres around rapping unrelated lyrics in front of chicken shops, personally think it has the right tone for the show for a season two

drill would be siq. I mean, opening the incredible pandora's box of UK based hip hop in general is its own magical wormhole of nuance and history and regional culture. it's amazing. i'd really have to do some homework if I wanted to pull that off!

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Darren Criss 19:02:49

cd2gu4ceqx4am9otf9hzwzivs

he’s talking again guys be worried he might write another essay

ok sorry i'll stop

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Darren Criss 19:02:51

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Darren Criss 19:03:03

cd2gu4ceqx4am9otf9hzwzivs

he’s talking again guys be worried he might write another essay

kidding!

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Darren Criss 19:03:39

fsheldens

when darren actually cares about us 🥺

awww i always do! I just wasn't built for internet stuff.

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Darren Criss 19:04:20

alpermehdi

speaking of nick how was it to work with nick??

the best. Nick is one of the best things that has ever happened to me.

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Darren Criss 19:04:51

chloe :)!

what would be ur karaoke song choice from the show?

mighty as kong

—

Darren Criss 19:07:32

isa.kowo

How much music theory goes into your songwriting? And did you learn all of it from playing the violin? In what way does it go into your songs?

all GREAT questions. I mean, music theory isn't something you CONSCIOUSLY employ when writing something, it's just that it really helps to know the rules or music when shaping it and trying to maximize its production. And as a matter of fact, yeah, I DID learn most of it playing violin. But when I was playing violin I was ingesting music from the perspective of a student ingesting information, not as a proactive creator putting anything of my own out into the world.

—

Darren Criss 19:08:07

Honestly I really didn't start UNDERSTANDING music theory until I started writing music for other people, and noticing certain things and chords and shapes had names and that they could be manipulated to accomplish certain things

—

Darren Criss 19:08:35

so most of my academic musical knowledge came in my 20s when I tried to start doing it professionally

—

Darren Criss 19:08:52

Nick

first instrument you ever learnt?

violin

—

Darren Criss 19:09:07

andyruiz080

I'm castin' my love net wide And fillin' every hole in my schedule

ha love that line

—

Darren Criss 19:09:29

missweggy

Darren are you a big queen fan ( the band lol ) 😂

is the pope catholic

—

Darren Criss 19:12:00

ChloeOmelia

Now its available, would you change anything?

jesus so much. but such is the nature of creating stuff. there's a great Hayao Miyazaki quote about always having to make new stuff to escape the woe of all the mistakes you made in your last thing... I mean, that's a bit extreme, I feel like we did the best we could given the circumstance but I totally get where Miyazaki is coming from. And in many ways that's everything we do in life. Do your best, know what you coulda done better and carry on

—

Darren Criss 19:12:36

dj._.quackers

who or what was your biggest inspiration growing up

the beatles. the uk. the 60s.

—

Darren Criss 19:13:02

Astriddd

Your first original song was "Not Alone". I'm right?

no it was actually a song i wrote in the third grade when I got a guitar for Christmas called "Save The Whales"

—

Darren Criss 19:14:29

hiiqsbo9358wvfkcjcsgsu4lb

Darren I need an answer it’s been annoying me for days. So was everyone fucking everyone in Pierces old band or was she just fucking everyone seperately??

ha that's a really great question. I figured she was just fucking everyone individually, which is why the band was so contentious but then again I'd rather let your imagination run wild...

—

Darren Criss 19:15:29

jphxxk5wjnaqnhuv806wmohdt

Darren, I love your taste in music. You should share your personal playlists ... bc everybody needs to know phantom planet 😉

if i actually shared my tastes in music, or actually shared the amount of stuff in my brain at the rate that I want to share, I would never work on or create anything because i would constantly be on the internet and you'd all be over me if you weren't already

—

Darren Criss 19:16:01

But yes, thank you for saying that, I love me my phantom planet oh so very much :)

—

Darren Criss 19:16:18

juli.nuttini

could you please answer me I don't speak English and I'm putting ALL my effort into asking you questions I'm going to cry

wow your english is actually pretty great

—

Darren Criss 19:17:08

I'd like to write a song with Howard Ashman

—

Darren Criss 19:17:23

dancebaby218

Was kick your shoes off inspired by your Hedwig shoes?

nah cuz that shit was actually comfy

—

Darren Criss 19:17:55

12169199549

i skipped my clarinet class because of you for the third time :) what can i say to my teacher?

that Darren says you should have gone to clarinet class!!!

—

Darren Criss 19:18:34

qalektvmexab6gfwibfihwu6b

Could you please answer me. We’ve supported you for years from the uk and we’re staying up for this but it’s totally worth it because you’re amazing!! Molly x

I wish so bad I could go to the UK!

—

Darren Criss 19:20:01

FUCK someone asked about Sam Farrar and I wanted to answer it but it disappeared... Sam is a homie. one of my very first songwriting sessions was with him and a very famous member of the pop universe... who if I get a season two, I'm putting in the show.

—

Darren Criss 19:22:00

9nc1yow3iwnp9p3fs4gcvdnsf

what other instruments would you like to learn in the future?

i just need to spend time trying to get better at the ones I've plateaued with. I feel like I got as good as I'd ever get on the guitar when i was like 19. So I've been trying to get better during the Quarantine. Picked up my violin and dusted off that Vivaldi, started doing drum rudiments on my drum pad, and started learning new licks and scales for guitar. Stuff I never got round to doing.

—

Darren Criss 19:22:27

harefraz

mr. criss sir, what is your top quarantine activity?

playing music

—

Darren Criss 19:23:26

actually lies. top quarantine activity is learning Japanese. 30 minutes a day. And it's been several months. Almost got Hiragana down, still got a few characters I'm questionable with but with any luck I'll start up on Katakana in the next few weeks.

—

Darren Criss 19:23:40

224abi6avvottcsacto7vx46a

What about working with Mark hamill ? Insane right

you said it

—

Darren Criss 19:23:54

t7sxis7855cd329gaa6iyty8v

Any updates on American Buffalo? 🥺👉🏼👈🏼

it's opening next year!

—

Darren Criss 19:24:09

for the record this is really fun I'm enjoying this guys

—

Darren Criss 19:26:26

Rachael

How different is it doing a show like Royalties where you're heavily involved in the creative process compared to other projects you've done in the past?

i'd say night and day but that's an understatement. When I did Glee all I had to do was act in scenes, record songs, and go to dance rehearsal. With Royalties, it's that AND casting, doing pre production, post production, notes, meetings, notes, writing and producing songs, location scouting, blah blah blah lots of the stuff that you don't have to worry about if you're not a creator. But make no mistake I absolutely love it.

—

Darren Criss 19:27:41

Aisha

learn spanish

I'll get there. I already speak a bit of Italian so I wanted the challenge of learning something that didn't use a writing system I already understood.

—

Darren Criss 19:28:23

rosieellenxx_

I take Music Technology as a subject at school and we have to make a whole song with the sole sample of glass breaking...

sounds fun. loads of things you can do with that.

—

Darren Criss 19:28:48

21ynx6niidf2amx5nzilihsga

What are your goals for once quarantine is lifted?

hopefully to feel like I used this very strange time well.

—

Darren Criss 19:29:14

Ok I should probabl get outta here right?

—

Darren Criss 19:29:41

I've talked a lot about mighty as kong in other places

—

Darren Criss 19:30:00

so I'll just leave you with a story about "Let Your Hair Down"

—

Darren Criss 19:30:14

which was the very FIRST song we wrote for the show

—

Darren Criss 19:30:37

I had a meeting with an artist at a dive bar in the middle of the afternoon

—

Darren Criss 19:31:10

let's just say I showed up to that very first writer's session very late

—

Darren Criss 19:31:17

and sober ENOUGH

—

Darren Criss 19:31:41

wktusw4mcjn910r3eq91zg4k5

darren did you watch hamilton??????

duh last night. so fun.

—

Darren Criss 19:32:17

anyway I was so relieved that we left with that song at the end of the day. The intent was always to write two songs with the exact same concepts just with different titles

—

Darren Criss 19:32:50

the chords are the same, just slightly different voicings played on slightly different instruments

—

Darren Criss 19:33:29

and the idea was that whichever song was funnier, or at least whichever song would be more fun to see in a music video... would be the one that Pierce & Sara write

—

Darren Criss 19:34:08

"Kick Your Shoes Off" ended up feeling more like a full music video than "Let Your Hair Down" but I LOVE that first song, and hopefully people get to hear the whole thing on Spotify since you don't get to hear the whole song in the episode

—

Darren Criss 19:34:51

with lines I love like "see my cheekbones, show off my clavicle, I bet you've never seen a ponytail to magical..."

—

Darren Criss 19:35:39

emilybutcher30

i love that u spelled it sara not sarah

thank you. if you don't already know it, check out Ben Folds' "Zak and Sara"

—

Darren Criss 19:36:01

OK i gotta get going

—

Darren Criss 19:36:12

but thanks to everyone from all over the world for joining

—

Darren Criss 19:36:17

i see you and i say hi to you!

—

Darren Criss 19:36:23

happy birthday to all the bday kids!

—

Darren Criss 19:36:33

thank you for spending a little bit of your bday with me

—

Darren Criss 19:36:39

thanks for checking out Royalties

—

Darren Criss 19:36:46

hope you enjoy the music

—

Darren Criss 19:36:53

and hope there gets to be a season 2!!!

—

Darren Criss 19:37:08

xo to all of you. stay safe, stay inspired. - Darren

#darren criss #royalties ost listening event #spotify #royalties #july 2020 #posting as text since it's soooo much easier than posting screencaps #royalties bts

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icedteaandoldlace · 4 years ago

Text

So there’s this “101 Reasons to Ship Snowbarry” video that keeps coming up on my YouTube suggestions. Idgaf about Snowbarry, and I’ve already hit the “not interested” button on similar videos before, but since I can’t seem to get away from video suggestions like this, I’m just gonna watch it and liveblog it, and bet that for every entry on the list, I can come up with a corresponding rebuttal for why Barrisco would make an even better couple. (I’m not gonna comment this ON the video ofc, this is just for my own amusement.)

Click the link above if you want to see the stuff I’ll be responding to, but be forewarned, that video is like, way long, so naturally it follows that this post is gonna be, too.

Additional note: If you are a Snowbarry shipper who has stumbled across this post somehow, now would be the time to stop reading, and also to add the “anti Snowbarry” tag to your filters if you wish to avoid running into posts like this in the future, ‘cause I ain’t interested in engaging in shipping wars.

Anyways, let’s go:

1. "How they met." Cisco woke Barry out of a coma by playing/singing a song about bisexuality, 'nuff said. (Also, part of the purpose of that scene was to introduce Caitlin as the serious, “down to business” one, and Cisco as the warmer, more easygoing one who’s trying to make Barry feel more comfortable.)

2. "They're both scientists." What is Cisco, an Instagram influencer?

3. If Caitlin being Barry’s personal doctor gets her romantic points, then the same should go for Cisco being his personal tailor. Actually, he should get more points, because there’s no moratorium on romantic relationships between tailors and their clients.

4. The way Barry and Cisco gaze into each other's eyes for non-medical purposes. This is too easy.

5. Uh. Cisco being the voice in Barry's ear while he's running, and often the first person he calls out to for help solving a problem.

6. They frequently take hold of each other's hands and shoulders.

7. Cisco comforts Barry while Caitlin tends to his wounds.

8 through 12 is literally just stuff about Caitlin being a doctor, and I don't find this stuff relevant enough to rebut because there's nothing inherently romantic about any of it.

13. "They both have fun together." Yes, Cisco also, the fun having, it happens, lots. Even more, actually.

14. Not really sure what to say for this one. Barry and Cisco noticing when each other is sad and then checking on each other (at Cecile’s baby shower and Barry’s bachelor party, respectively, and also on other occasions), comes to mind. That doesn’t have to do with noticing each other’s lips, per se, but I’ve never thought of either of these SB scenes as moments where Barry was staring at Caitlin’s lips, just as moments where he’s noticing her expression/overall mood, which is something he does with Cisco (and vice versa), too.

15. They all have nerdy hobbies, dude, they're nerds.

16. This one for SB is "she makes Barry drunk on purpose", which, y'know, she did because he wanted to be able to get buzzed, which Cisco has succeeded in helping him do, too (and the drink he made was more effective and longer lasting), but the way this is phrased is kind of suggestive, like Caitlin was doing it to lower his inhibitions (which she totally wasn’t), and uuuuhhhh, don't romanticize that maybe???

17. Cisco put all that tech into Barry's suit, including delivery menus from his favorite restaurants + wrote him an instruction manual, and sped up all his favorite shows so he could catch up on what he missed while he was in the speed force.

18. Barry makes Cisco's (and everyone's) hair fly everywhere when he speeds out of a room, too. Like, this is just basic physics, fam, wyd?

19. Barry also uses his powers to help Cisco. And...literally everyone who needs his help, this is basic superhero stuff, wyd?

20. He is impressed with Cisco, frequently.

21. Just having nicknames? He calls him "bud", "dude", etc., and one time he called him "Cis". (Bonus: Iris and Cisco have called Caitlin "Cait", too, so it’s not just a Ronnie and Barry thing.)

22. Cisco can make anything to help Barry. They're literally top-notch genius scientists, I don't even

23. Obviously they think each other makes great company, they're best friends. All of them.

24. They comfort each other. Again, best friends + Team Flash pep talks are a major staple of the show.

25. He needs Cisco, too.

26. They...they care about...my god, it's like you people have never heard of FRIENDS.

27. Honestly, how many times have we heard Barry tell Cisco he believes in him, or heard Cisco gush about what a great hero Barry is?

28. Helping each other conquer their fears. Yep, that's another one that applies to like, everyone on this show.

29. "They both have experienced loss" IT'S A SUPERHERO SHOW! Also, that's just life. Name one main character on this show who hasn't experienced loss. Nash and Wally have both experienced loss, and I have yet to see anyone ship them.

30. "They both can sing really well." Okay now. This one is true for Barry and Cisco, but uh...Caitlin is literally tone deaf. I'm not being mean, Danielle Panabaker knows good and well that she can't sing, and she has talked about Carlos side-eyeing her when she gets going because she's not good at it. THAT'S OKAY! There's nothing wrong with not being able to sing, but--WHY would you claim that she's good at something that she clearly is not? She wasn't on pitch for a single line of Summer Nights, and she straight up changes keys mid-line in the mockingbird song in that other clip, and just...what even is this entry?!

31. Watching over each other, yeah, another basic staple of being friends and superheroes.

32. "He is always standing behind Caitlin" AND LOOK WHO'S STANDING BESIDE HIM!

33. Remember that time fake Jay "died" and Cisco stayed with Caitlin until she fell asleep? Remember when Dante died and Caitlin slept on Cisco's couch to keep him company? Remember all those times Barry or Cisco were rendered unconscious, and the other stayed by their bedside until they woke up?

34. Basically just a continuation of 33. See above.

35. "Maybe 'okay' will be our 'always'." Hmm, what WOULD Barry and Cisco's "always/okay" be? Probably just calling out each other's names tbh, they do that a lot. Or perhaps, "For real?"

36. Is2g. Being only one call or text away is, again, a staple of the show, considering everyone in it is a close-knit found family and knows there's a very good chance that that call or text might be saying, "I'm in mortal danger, please come save my life at once."

37. Funny, I already pointed out once before (in a different post) the fun parallel of how Caitlin will sometimes go running to whoever her love interest is at the moment, or she'll call out his name, while Cisco is at the same moment running to Barry/calling out for Barry.

Side note: did they really think including Barry's proposal song to Iris would give more weight to their why-to-ship-Snowbarry argument?

38. I mean...Barry kind of carries everyone everywhere. You don't really get to see it, but how the heck else do you explain all the times he whooshes people in and out of places? He can't just drag them, otherwise the soles of their shoes would either wear down fast or catch on fire.

39. Okay, no shade to Barry and Caitlin's friendship, and some of these moments are really great, but generally speaking, their hugs do not compare to the ones that either of them has with Cisco. Also, note the group hug scene, conveniently cut off before Cisco joins in, because unlike the Romione + Harry hug in the Prisoner of Azkaban movie, there's no way to interpret it as a third wheel/cockblocking moment, because the moment Cisco declares it a group hug moment, Barry and Caitlin both agree, and you can see it on their faces that they are delighted, and think that Cisco joining in their hug has just made it even BETTER.

40. Henry gladly accepts a hug from Caitlin, immediately after laughing at Cisco's awkward moment and giving him a fatherly reassuring pat on the shoulder. I think it's safe to say he approves of all of Team Flash.

41. Oh look, another thing Barry and Cisco and multiple other characters do.

Good god, I'm not even halfway through this yet. This is like that time I tried to climb Diamond Head.

42. Ah, superhero poses, yes. That thing that...superheroes...do. Like, all of the ones on this show. And in general.

43. "They begin to resemble each other." They're just white, fam. OH MY GOD, I SOMETIMES TAKE MY SUNGLASSES OFF WITH ONE HAND, TOO! OT3 MUCH????? 😱 Lol what even??

44. How many times throughout this video am I gonna have to repeat that everyone on this show has these moments? Also, speaking in unison with someone because you had prior knowledge of what they were going to say due to yourself or someone else time traveling, is not the same as being in sync with them because you’re close. (He said “Weather Wizard” at the same time as Cisco, too.)

45. Idk what to even say to this one. Like, Iris is obviously the love of Barry's life, and Cisco is obviously his favorite best friend and the person he would be with if he didn’t have Iris.

46. *John Mulaney voice* AND THEN THEY DIDN'T! Seriously, though, both of the people they were trying to get over were perfect for them. I don't have a Barrisco specific rebuttal for this one though.

47. So by this video's logic, that one scene from 4x03 means that Barry, Harry, and Cisco should be a threesome, huh?

48. "I did it because it gave me an excuse to bring him back."

49. .................is this even an argument?

50. They're both good looking people, darling.

51. Wrong, sir. They fight like siblings. Trust me on this one, I have six of them.

52. Trauma response. I'm moving away from Barrisco arguments and just saying the first thing that pops into my head now. But seriously, this is a normal reaction to trauma/loss.

53. *Siiiiiiiiiiiiiiiigh* I'm not even gonna say it this time, you already know.

54. Again, have you people ever had anyone in your life that you cared about, ever? I'm starting to get concerned, honestly. But for the sake of bringing Barrisco back into this, hey, remember that time Barry and Caitlin both got kidnapped on the same night and Cisco was completely beside himself?

55. This is getting out of hand.

56. Pretty sure dating Caitlin didn't even make the list for Barry's reasons to dislike Jay and Julian (also, he liked Ronnie, the guy she loved the most, so...)

57. Judging Barry for being a dumbass + helping an exposed girl out =/= jealousy. Granted, there was some jealousy in that last clip, but not because Iris got the man; it was because Barry was all set to live happily ever after while Caitlin was, y'know, struggling with powers she didn't want and another person living in her head that kept fighting her for control of her body.

58. Refer to season 1 episode 2, wherein Cisco is the person helping Barry from the beginning, and Caitlin asserts that she is on Joe's side when he tells Barry what a stupid and reckless idea trying to be a superhero is.

59 + 60. "Let's bring our boy home." / "Let's go get our girl." Do I need to cite either quote?

61. Again I ask, did a human make this list?

62. Don't make me tap the sign.

63. One word: Elseworlds.

64. If you'll scroll waaaaaaaaaaay up there, I already covered that Barry and Cisco hold hands A LOT.

65. Oooh, I made a meme about this one! Not after watching this video, I just see SBers say this all the time, and it drives me crazy.

I used this in my Snowbarry fandom drama presentation for my squad’s presentation party a while back.

Side note: ~INTERESTING~ how Caitlin being a doctor is ““romantic”” when she’s treating Barry but ““motherly”” when she’s treating Cisco. I can’t even.

66. ......I’m sorry, I’m just not seeing how the dramatic irony of them stating that Killer Frost will never be a problem on Earth-1 is pertinent to shipping them as a couple.

67. Hannibal Bates and Caitlin are perfect for each other? Weird take, but okay. Oh, and there Caitlin is trying to freeze Barry to death. Wasn’t there a point somewhere up there about her never wanting him to get hurt?

Side note: Hey, what’s the name of that guy who saved Barry in this scene?

68. Bruh, that’s just her dynamic with everyone that season.

69. Barry and Iris, Barry and Cisco, Cisco and Caitlin, Cisco and Harry, Caitlin and Killer Frost, Cisco and Killer Frost--just naming some duos that are more iconic than Barry and Caitlin. Again, no shade to their friendship--I really like them as friends!--but the shippers stay making it out to be more than it really is.

I also just have to point out that although Killer Frost was the one who willingly teamed up with Savitar/whom Savitar sought out first, when she comments on their team up and says it’s “Barry and Caitlin together again”, his response is to point out that she’s not Caitlin and he’s not Barry. In contrast, when he takes Cisco against his will and forces him to modify the speed force bazooka, he still refers to Cisco as his best friend.

70. Make up your mind, does Savitar count as Barry in this or not? Because he totally grabbed Caitlin by the throat once.

71. I don’t know how to break this to you, but not enjoying it when someone is in pain is just being normal. (Do I even need to point out Cisco’s empathetic cringing compared to Barry’s looks of mild discomfort, or...?)

At some point this went from being about Barrisco to being about Cisco being the favorite friend to both of them, idk.

72. He. Is. Literally. A. Superhero.

73. Man, what did I JUST say? Also, can we just acknowledge the build up to Crisis on Infinite Earths for a second, wherein Frost very quickly accepts that Barry is supposed to die in order to save everyone else, while Cisco has infinite crises of his own at the idea of having to accept Barry’s death--which, I might add, he never actually does? Neither does Iris, for that matter. They tried to accept it, and they thought they did, but they didn’t really.

74. Oh fuck it, just read 73 again.

75. Okay, what even is this one? Two scenes where they are not present for each other’s “deaths” and thus don’t react to them, meanwhile Cisco is devastated in both of them?

76. Same thing I’ve already said several times before.

77. How many times do I gotta point out that this is a superhero show?

78. Just really trying hard to find enough reasons to make this list 101, huh? (What is Firestorm, chopped liver?)

79. Because violence = chemistry apparently. Wasn’t there another entry about how they can never hurt each other or something?

80. I’m sorry, I can’t hear you over the vibrating hand that shredded Cisco’s heart before either of those scenes happened.

81. It’s like SBers think they’re the only two characters on the entire show.

82. I’m sorry, I can’t hear you over all the other vibrating hands triggering Cisco at least once per season. But sure, Barry and Caitlin are the only two who know suffering.

83. Two words: Flashpoint. Dante. Also, not seeing how this one is romantic.

84. That’s just a Caitlin/Frost thing, fam, it only happened to Barry because he got whammied by Prism, who caused the same effect in everyone else he whammied. (Cisco’s eyes turned purple once when he got hypnotized.)

85. Please. I beg of you. Get friends. Interact with a human person.

Side note: “I trust you” was almost what I put for Barrisco’s “always/okay”.

86. “Don’t call me that. I don’t know you, string bean.” / “I don’t know who you think you are, but around here, people call me Mr. Ramon.” / “The name is Vibe.” (Again, romance where?)

87. Kinda like how Mirror Iris and Mirror Kamilla have slightly dressier tastes than Real Iris and Real Kamilla.

88. ....Anyways, Vibe........

89. The first time because Cisco saved him, the second time because she froze him just enough to fool Grodd, not enough to actually kill him. (Again I say, what is Firestorm?)

90. So romance. Very love. Much relationship.

91. ANYWAYS, CISCO. (And uh, hello, IRIS???? Joe? Harry?)

92. See 88.

93. This one might be a fun ship parallel if Caitlin had actually been involved in Barry’s brain zapping, but instead it’s just like, “here’s two random scenes that are kinda similar in completely insignificant ways”, like the evil clothes thing a few entries back.

94. Another entry that just demonstrates that their one-on-one moments together, while good, just don’t compare to either of their one-on-one moments with Cisco. I can’t be the only person who sees this.

95 + 96 + 97. I can’t muster up enough interest in any of these shows to watch them all the way through. Is this supposed to impress me?

98 + 99 + 100. The only point this proves is that they have multiple ship names. (I thought their evil ship name was Savifrost?)

101. Mm, sorry, sweetheart, Westallen, Barrisco, and Snowstorm all have them beat in this category.

This post really got away from me, at this point idk what I’m even doing, but I went on too long to stop now.

Oh, shit, there’s a bonus round.

Honestly, I fail to see how a lot of these supposedly “match”? But as for the ones that do, that’s just your basic TV aesthetics, I forget the official name for it. They’re matchy-matchy with Cisco in some of those shots, too, because TV matchy color psychology whatever. It’s a whole thing, every TV show and movie does it.

If anyone actually followed along this far, congratulations on your attention span, my brain could never. Idk how to end this post because it strayed so far from my original intent and basically just turned into a Snowbarry Fandom Doesn’t Make Sense Presentation 2.0

You know, I like to try not to generalize and stuff, and I’d like to think that maybe not all SBers are racist and that some people genuinely just like the ship because they think that makes sense or something, but then I look at their reasons for shipping it, and it’s just the dang blandest thing I ever did see, and they have to reach so far when they try to explain why they think they’re the best “couple” on the show and just??? I am the queen of shipping friends who never get together romantically, but Barry and Caitlin just don’t got it, son. Tbh part of the show’s appeal to me is the fact that there’s no threat of Caitlin ever getting with either of her male bffs in that way, because Cisco is like her brother, and getting with Barry just wouldn’t make sense. It just befuddles me to no end that they are such a wildly popular ship and not a rare pair, because the way their relationship is in canon is just exactly the way it should be.

That’s it, I guess. I’ve already invested this much time in this, so I might as well post it.

Also, please don’t anybody try to start anything in the comments section of this video, this fandom has enough drama as it is.

#anti Snowbarry #s6 #(for spoilers)#I used to be indifferent about this ship I swear but the fandom is just so whack at all times that I don't know what to do with myself #mainly regarding their attitude toward Iris/Candice but in all the stuff talked about in this post too

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