#because I'm the one who made this for the sole purpose of calling myself out

[icantwithstormandsilence]

I completely agree with you. While I haven't read To Kill a Mockingbird(I haven't read a lot of classics), I really love seeing how other people perceive the world so I do think authors should be given a chance to show their perspective and understanding of how they see the people around them being brutalized solely based on their race and the people who do the brutalizing.

Yes, the N-word is undeniably offensive, but its inclusion in the book isn’t gratuitous; it serves a purpose.

The reason why many people were displeased by the author of Storm & Silence using a slur was because his stories rarely address racism. Seeing how Karim, a man from India, was one of the main reoccurring character, I had hoped there might've been some heavy topic surrounding how people treat(I know it's a Wattpad book but still👀). Yes people called him a brute, savage, made him sleep in the stable, etc. but as an Indian myself, I have heard how many English people treated Indians. I guess because Karim was Rikkard's bodyguard no one dared to say anything too much.

The use of the n word felt out of place and unnecessary in this series. I'm sure people would've still been outraged about it even if the author constantly addressed it. I also feel people would not have liked it if he constantly addressed it because "it's too political for a Wattpad book". Either way the author would've been seen as the bad guy because people always feel the need to put some sort of blame onto to someone😅.

When he addressed why he used the slur, he said it was for historical accuracy. That made me angry because even if he says he wants historical accuracy, there are many times where his writing contradicts that.

I wonder, does your stance apply only to works on Wattpad, or does it extend to all forms of literature?

I'm honestly not sure how I feel about this. Like I said in the beginning, authors should be allowed to express their view(they should also be aware that there will be criticism no matter what), but there definitely is a difference with stories published on Wattpad.

While it's a platform that allows anyone to publish, it is very much a social media. Many people are able to interact with each other, which includes the author. If you publish on Wattpad, you are most definitely more exposed to other peoples opinions. Other readers also get easy and instant access to these opinions.

Something you might find offensive is not something that will offend others. But once you express that it offended you and others see that, they get offended for you. Eventually it becomes a hate-train where they berate the author saying "you have offended this one person so you are bad". It was probably never purposeful on the authors side, but once people form an opinion of the author, it stays.

I understand that Wattpad allows authors creative liberties and is positioned more as entertainment than as a critical engagement with historical issues. And that's what you disagree with? That Wattpad authors may not always intend to educate or provoke critical thought, whereas canonical literature often seeks to do that?

I'm not much of a writer, but I grew up reading on Wattpad and learned to write as I pleased. It definitely taught me to improve my imagination and creativity. To many young people who read original stories on these platforms are sure to think of these stories as more than just entertainment, but because others see it as a silly and unprofessional platform, it discourages the readers from engaging with it as anything but entertainment. I find it annoying because I've read many original stories that I really loved and wanted my friends to read it too.

I come from a somewhat conservative religious community and there was a lot a things I didn't know about the world. I've only interacted with my classmates and family for most of my childhood and having access to Wattpad other than just published physical books, which I could only discuss with few people, I got to see more and learn more. If I didn't have Wattpad, I don't think I would be as open-minded as I am today.

Many authors publish on Wattpad with the intention of sharing their stories and in many ways they teach a lot of people something new.

I understand the desire to protect young readers from harm, but I worry that in shielding them from uncomfortable realities, we’re doing more harm than good.

I agree with this too. Currently, the US is in the process of getting many books banned for the most dumbest reasons. They always find some reason to remove books from the shelves saying "It's to protect the children". I've read a lot of uncomfortable topics when I was young but it also taught me somewhat of how the world works. If we're not exposed to these stories, no one will learn how to interact with other people or why some people feel the way they do about certain topics.

Thank you for sharing your thoughts. It was nice to understand how differently you saw that situation. I hadn't given it much thought because I wasn't aware of it until I read about it on tumblr. I saw how many people were outraged and I understood them too. I guess I agreed with them because I didn't fully understand why it hurt them and wanted to support their feelings😅.

One thing I'll never get over is how Storm & Silence could've easily been so much better if Rob Their(the author) wasn't afraid to actually write a compelling story.

Don't get me wrong, I adore the whole concept of '19 year old Victorian girl dresses up as a man to get a job'. But it's just so poorly written that I think about all the ways the story could be better when I'm in the bus going home from college.

I mean, that's how it is with books, they will be criticized no matter how good or how bad it may be. But then again, this is a Wattpad book. You can never expect too much from a Wattpad book. Every character feels very two dimensional after the first book that every other book after that is just plain fan-service.

The first book is genuinely good, except for the hyper feminist way Lilly is written to be. The author doesn't even bother to add conflict between any of the characters. The ONLY conflict that we ever get is Lilly arguing with Rikkard how she's capable of anything even if she's a women in every single book. It keeps going on and on like this that it just gets boring.

And the way Lilly's intelligence is suppressed makes me mad too. Like in book 3, she literally deciphers a map to find the treasure, but god forbid she recognizes her fiancé's(whether she likes him or not) initials on the waste disposal file and connect the dots on how he and her previous guy(I forgot his name) might've just disappeared. That right there could've been a good conflict. She recognizes the initials, realizes what Rikkard might've done, get angry and argue about not wanting him to interfere with it, then having to find an escape from her next fiancé and choosing to go out of town with Rikkard against her will instead of telling him why bcs she doesn't want a new waste disposal file.

Not to be mean, but the author is a man. At the end of the day, the way female characters are written by men will never be realistic. I know there might be real people out there like Lilly, but the way her "inner feminist"(I hate when she kept saying 'mY iNneR FemIniSt iS prOtEstiNg' stfu) is written truly makes me want to pull my hair out. It will never be same as writing a story from a women's perspective when you already know what it's like. I'm not saying that men are incapable of understanding the female experience, I'm saying that it's stupid and annoying when a man pretends he does.

Also the lack of historical accuracy boils my blood. Rob claims to have done thorough research on every historical details yet somehow Lilly and Rikkard goes on top of the Statue of Liberty despite the story taking place around 1840 and the statue starting its construction in 1876.

SNS was the last and final original story I've read on Wattpad. I really wish I could go back and keep myself away from that app and read an actual book. But it's the only place I could go to when I lost my sanity. Let me know how you feel about the book. I know there's barely anyone in the fandom, but please tell me your perspective.

P.S. can someone tell me where Rob used the slur. I read about many people talking about it but I cannot remember or recognize where it is.

[frau-wilhelm-klink]

[tai0miemi]

For you, my favorite moralists♡

Caution! The topic of dark content, transophobia (as it seems to some), double standards and hypocrisy

English is not my native language, I express myself as best I can, OK?

This post is dedicated to all the freaking moralists who, because of fake characters, bully real writers and people who read what they like.

Are you worried that a child/teenager will see inc*st/r*pe topics, but for some reason you think it's okay not to put tags in works where there are trans people?

The authors of dark content set an age limit in bold text, write a bunch of tags and warnings so that your delicate brain does not deteriorate, at the same time as the authors writing about trans!reader × character or trance!character does not put anything at all most often.

I'm tired of you. I don't want to read the work and in the middle realize that a female reader has a d*ck. I don't want to read a work where a biologically male character turns out to have a vag*na. PUT IT DOWN. FUCKING. TAGS. So that people can just block you and not read it.

I'm not opposed to your writing, I just don't like it and that's okay. We're all different people and we like different things. However, I am fed up with moralists that in every tag that they do not like they make a tragedy of universal scale and then humiliate the authors who write it while they do not care about such a topic with trances. Seriously? Do you think that if a child sees these works, then it's ok? If you're against it, then you're fucking hypocrites. Leave the authors of dark content alone.

And here's another thing. I really "like" when they write "mention of female anatomy" in job warnings. Hmm, I wonder who it is? I don't even know if this creature is called a WOMAN. And leave your comments about the sex change, an artificial hole between the legs is not a biological vag*na, OK?

Do not write comments, do not like or reblog. This post was made with the sole purpose of attracting attention and adding kirosine to the fire♡

UPD: Thank you all for promoting the discussion, thanks to you, as many people as possible will see the post!

UPD2: You can call me transophobic all you want, but your brain missed the point of this post. No matter what you say, you have no right to poison other people just because you personally don't like something. Trans people is a specially chosen topic so that you can look at yourself from the outside, how stupid you sound from the outside. Congratulations you got caught :P

UPD3: For fans of protecting trans people: Do you think that no one has an injury related to this? Maybe a person made a sex change and regretted it, maybe someone was raped by a trans person and for them this is content that they want to avoid. However, you protect some, and wish death to others.

You are shifting responsibility for the crimes to the authors. Much more innocent things can encourage a person to commit crimes.

I sincerely believe that no matter what dirt a person writes, if it does not go beyond fan fiction, then everything is fine. The harassment of authors is much worse than any violence in literature!!

[meanbossart]

Ask Compilation: Advice, influences and Misc.

Apologies for taking so long on some of these, admittedly I'm much more likely to entirely forget about asks that are about me and my interests 💃 Thank you for all the questions regardless! And thank you specially to everyone who just drops nice messages into my inbox out of kindness.

I'm brazillian and a native portuguese speaker!

I'll probably return to twitter eventually, but a) I hate that place and b) It didn't make much sense to me to turn it into a BG3 account out of the blue. I am considering making an Instagram or a new twitter just to have more places where people can follow in case they don't care for tumblr, but it's just been a very busy year so far and so that's kind of low on the list of priorities. If I ever do that I'll be sure to announce it here. Have a nice day yourself!

Sorry to hear that! I've gotten a few messages before about this issue, and the problem is that since I am myself not from the US, my options are also limited :( a lot of patreon alternatives don't work for me because they either don't go through paypal, take insane currency conversion fees, or just straight up block me from signing up.

Speak for yourself, I just assume everyone I speak to online has committed some sort of atrocious crime until proven otherwise. Except for me - of course. I have never done anything bad in my life.

I still have a lot to learn! But I will basically use whatever works for me at the moment, as well as make a sincere effort to learn about musculature and anatomy so I can understand those components and how they move, instead of only knowing what they look like when still - that's how you get better at drawing from memory. Volume mostly comes from coloring and understanding light, which is it's own beast but can very much be learned from similar reference materials and observing it IRL!

My favorite places to get reference are medical diagrams, weird pictures I take of myself, 3D software (often Virt-a-mate) and questionably phrased image google searches.

My favorite artists are Jason Shawn Alexander and Sean Murphy, but I'm not sure how much of it reflects in my art nowadays! I generally seek to pick up techniques from artists rather than to emulate style.

Honestly I love that you guys generally do the thing he would hate the most: take him very non-seriously LOL

I've been in a real Chelsea Wolfe and Amyl And The Sniffers kick lately! But usually you'll also find me listening to stuff like Boy Harsher, Swans, FWF, JK Flesh Lingua Ignota, Nick Cave, David Bowie, and so on. Music for the weird gays, basically.

I went insane and wrote a 23-chapter-long-and-still-ongoing fic in like four months. But also - I'm not that good, I'm just shamelessly pretentious LOL

Hm. That's a good question, but I'm not really sure. Sincerely not trying to be a edgier-than-thou here (in fact, this has made me a little self conscious at one time or another) but a lot of art that I don't mean to be horror-y in nature at all has been associated with the genre. So perhaps I don't know what I'm doing either, LOL.

I think just leaning on making things look slightly "wrong" or "ugly" on purpose is the way, but I also find that if you just seek to depict people as they are instead of idealized versions of themselves, you will arrive at that either way.

Thank you for reading! Honestly, I'm guilty of having not read much at all since I was in my late teens, and the style I'm employing for ANE is very different from the things I would call "influential" for me, or even that I used to enjoy reading at all before. I read a lot of Chuck Palahniuk as a youth (and, no slight to people who do like him still, but nowadays I'm not sure why I ever did. His stories don't speak to me at all anymore) as well a lot of weird experimental lit that I didn't even care to remember the name of. My last book stint from one or two years ago was composed solely of historical and medical literature, and last year I got really into Cormac Mcarthy thanks to the internet.

So, all in all, I'm absolutely all over the place LOL if you put a gun to my head and told me to list my favorite books, I'd say The Indifferent Stars Above and Blood Meridian.

(Consider the reading portion of the question to have been answered above) I really really liked Beau is Afraid and think it's a really great "horror" movie. Sue me.

[jae-bummer]

Am I Too Much?

Request: hi hi i hope ur having a great day! can i possibly request a #5 with svt seungkwan or a #6 with svt jeonghan? thank u!

Prompt:

6) "If you do that one more time, I don't think I'll be able to control myself."

Prompt list can be found HERE.

Pairing: Svt Jeonghan x Reader

Genre: Fluff/Steamy

.

The morning shone grey through the large windows bordering the bulk of the living room you had crashed in last night. You had woken with a start, immediately grabbing your phone and checking the time. 4 AM, perfect, just what you were aiming for.

Sitting up and yawning, you wrapped a blanket around your shoulders and began to trudge toward the kitchen. Your sole purpose this morning was to make a cake for Vernon and DK. The boys had been so busy over the past month that no one had even been able to stop for a breath and do a proper celebration. Granted, today likely wouldn't be a proper celebration either seeing as how everyone had early schedules, but you were determined to do something. They were both incredibly special and caring friends, and you wanted to recognize that.

Flipping up the light switch, you let out a small squeak. Sitting on the island in the kitchen was a steaming, hot cup of coffee. It was even in the mug you tended to favorite but thought no one had noticed.

"What?" you muttered, walking farther into the room. After really looking around, you observed that not only was there a cup of coffee prepared, but all of the ingredients/tools you would need were set out as well.

Had a kitchen fairy come in the night to assist you with your noble task?

Sidling up to the counter, you picked up the mug and relished the feeling of having something warm between your fingers. You closed your eyes before sniffing the blend and sighing.

"I used the Brazilian beans we picked up on tour," a sleepy voice croaked from the hallway.

Spinning slowly, careful not to spill your coffee, you locked eyes with a thoroughly sleep deprived Jeonghan.

"Why are you awake?" you asked, furrowing your brow. You knew Jeonghan, and you knew he valued his sleep above most things.

"When I was coming in last night, I heard you talking to Coups about your plans for this morning," he said calmly. You now noticed he held a cup in between his palms as well. "I thought about how happy it would make the members, but it made me sad to think about you up so early doing things all alone."

"Jeonghan," you pouted. Motioning to the stool pulled up to the counter, you draped the blanket that was on your shoulders on its seat. "Please sit."

"I said it made me sad, I didn't say it made me want to stay," he said, a smirk quirking at the corner of his lips.

"Alright, welp. Just go back to sleep then."

"Well, I'm awake now," he said, rolling his eyes and moving toward the stool you had just offered.

"Like that's stopped you before?" you asked, situating yourself in front of the ingredients. You set your cup down and began cracking eggs. "I don't want to put you out."

Picking up on your sarcasm, Jeonghan narrowed his eyes. "Being your assistant sounds like a charitable compromise."

"A charitable compromise," you scoffed. "How kind!"

"I thought so," he sighed, evidently pleased with himself.

"Even though you're a brat." You began to dump the mix into the bowl. "I really do appreciate you getting up and doing this."

"Do you though?" he mused. "Because calling someone who helped you a brat doesn't quite hold the sentiment you're going for."

"Yoon Jeonghan," you said, trying to school your features. "You are the ray of sun on this grey morning. Thank you, thank you, from the bottom of my heart."

"I suppose that'll do," he smiled, taking a long sip of what you thought was tea. "But would a little more sincerity kill you?"

"I am going to kill you if you do not stop harassing me," you grumbled, pointing the mixing spoon in his direction.

"Harassment is such a strong word, Y/N," he hummed. "In this house, we call it constructive criticism."

You let out an unexpected laugh. "Has anyone ever told you that you're too much?"

"What do you mean? I'm a joy," he grinned. "Now tell me, what exactly are you making?"

"Just a chocolate box mix," you sighed. "I don't really have time to go all Great British Bakeoff this morning."

Now that all the ingredients were added, all that was left was to stir. You did so quietly for a few minutes before realizing that Jeonghan had stopped talking. Assuming he may have started to nap on the counter instead, you looked up, surprised to find him watching what you were doing.

Looking back down, you ran a finger along the edge of the batter before popping it into your mouth. It had been ages since you had cake of any kind, let alone batter. Pulling your hand away, you let out a small sigh before closing your eyes and smiling.

"If you do that one more time, I don't think I'll be able to control myself."

Opening your eyes instantly, they darted in alarm to Jeonghan. Sure, Jeonghan had always playfully flirted with you, but that was just your relationship. He had never made a comment like that before.

He looked smug as you searched his face. It was hard to gauge how serious he was and what exactly he meant by the statement.

"I-uh," you stumbled, attempting to come up with a suitable response.

Before any words managed to escape, Jeonghan slid from his chair and began slowly sauntering over to you. Maintaining eye contact the entire time, he walked to the side of the counter, cementing you to the spot.

Ever so slowly he looked down, sticking his finger into the bowl too, and pulling it out, now covered in batter.

"I'm trying to cut out sugar," he whispered, putting his finger into his mouth.

Your heart dropped to your toes. He was fucking with you.

"Jeonghan," you groaned, reaching up and rubbing your forehead.

He pulled his digit from his mouth with a pop and grinned. "Yes?"

You just shook your head, grabbing a hold of the mixing spoon and placing it in your mouth as you reached for the cake pans. Moving them in front of you, you pulled out the wooden spoon and tossed it into the sink. You looked casually over to Jeonghan who had put all of his attention suddenly on your mouth.

"Why are you looking at me like that?"

"You've...you've got," he hummed, furrowing his brows.

Chocolate. Right.

Reaching up self-consciously, you swiped at either corner of your mouth. "Did I get it?"

"Stay still," he directed, walking over to where you were standing. Turning your back to the counter, you watched as Jeonghan positioned himself in front of you. "Right there."

Reaching up with his thumb, you felt his soft finger brush against the edge of your mouth, an area certain you had wiped before.

Your lips popped open in a combination of horror and arousal. You felt like you were in a drama as Jeonghan noted the chocolate now transferred to his finger before placing it in his mouth. Afterwards, he leaned forward, setting his palms against the counter on either side of you. "Am I still "too much"?"

"Yes," you muttered, feeling your face turn hot.

"Why?" he asked, tilting his head, his eyes dancing with mischief.

"Because you're being ridiculous," you said, your words barely a whisper.

"Ridiculously attractive?" he hummed. "Ridiculously charming? Please, finish your sentence."

"It is far too early in the morning for this," you groaned, closing your eyes. When you opened them again, you immediately attempted to move backwards but were halted by the counter. Jeonghan had moved his face only a hair's breadth away from yours.

"I don't think so," he whispered, placing a soft, ghost of a kiss on your lips. Leaning back slightly, he waited to see your reaction.

You reached up, moving your fingertips along your bottom lip, unsure of what had just occurred. Heat flooded your body as you realized, whatever it was, you liked it.

Seeing the recognition on your face made Jeonghan smile. This time when he moved forward, you weren't taken aback.

Throwing most of his body weight against you as he enclosed you against the island, his lips were quick to find yours again. Pressing into the kiss, you felt surrounded by all things Jeonghan. His scent, his taste; your senses were overloaded in the best way. His kisses were lazy, lacking any urgency or need. He knew he already had you and you weren't going anywhere.

Moving your hand to his jaw, you faltered for a moment, pressing gently on his face to push him away. "Jeonghan," you said softly against his lips. It took another try before your words caught his full focus.

"Hm?" he whimpered, moving from your mouth and to the tiny spot underneath your ear.

"The cake," you said regretfully. "We have to finish the cake."

"You can finish the cake," he hummed, taking your hips and spinning you around. His mouth was on your neck again. "I can assist from behind."

"Jeonghan!" you giggled.

"Alright," he muttered moving his face away from your body, but still holding tight to your hips. "How long does it need to bake for?"

"I dunno, like twenty-five minutes?" you guessed, having already thrown the box away.

"Do I have to spell it out for you?" he said, amusement tinting his words. "Hurry and put the cakes in the oven so I can have a full twenty-five minutes of your lips."

You laughed. "And after that?"

"They'll still eat it if it burns a little."

[sojourner-between-worlds]

Not so long ago, another Christian on here shared an article about the "problems" with the Chosen. Now, I fully believe and support thinking critically about the media we consume, especially for something depicting the life of Christ. That being said, I'd like to offer some thoughts of my own about some of the most commonly cited "problems" with the series. (I ended up referencing the above article in most points, but almost all of them I have see elsewhere as well. That article was just an easy frame of reference.) I'm not here to convince anyone to watch it; I'd just like to offer an alternate perspective for anyone who is willing to listen and think critically.

As a disclaimer: no, this show is not flawless. It's a flawed show made by flawed people doing their best. There are times I take issue with it myself. There are valid criticisms. The ones below are, quite simply, ones that I believe are not.

Buckle up; this is going to be a long one.

1.Mormon Influence I can't believe I still have to explain this one, but I still see it listed as a reason not to watch, so here we go: VidAngel/ Angel Studios Mormon ties had no more bearing on the series content for being the streaming distributor than CBS currently does for being allowed to broadcast it. When a company solely has distribution rights, that does NOT mean they are making content decisions. The only time a distributor would have say on content is if they are partnered, which usually means they are paying for production in some way. Angel Studios never gave a penny towards production (this is the largest crowd-funded series to date, remember? They have no studio backing). They never had any influence. And, oh yeah, as of May 2024, they were deemed to be in breach of contract and now the Chosen no longer has any ties to the company. No influence. Got it? Good. Then we can move on.

2."What does your heart tell you?" (This one could be included in point 4, but I've seen it so often it gets its own, haha.) Okay, this one? This one I agree was not a good writing choice. However. I think this one needs a little more thought rather than taking it at knee-jerk. Yes, the heart is deceitfully wicked and cannot be trusted. But there's some nuance here that I think gets left behind when well-meaning people call out the series for this line. The heart, as referred to in Proverbs, is the will of man. The heart, in pop culture, is often synonymous with emotions. Within the context of the scene, its very clear that the second meaning is the one intended. Now, I will say "feelings are fickle" until the day I die (because they are) because they can't always be trusted to reflect the truth. Again, however. Feelings do exist to tell us things. That is literally their purpose. Not always accurately reflecting the truth of something doesn't change their purpose. And that is what the writers were going for in this scene: the emotional weight of the truth Nicodemus has found. Could they have probably found a less controversial way to convey this? Yeah, maybe. But I can say that this wasn't intended to be the Disney "follow your heart" mumbo-jumbo it constantly gets written off as.

3.A Hearsay Gospel This point was taken directly from the referenced article. I'm choosing to address it not because it's a popular "problem" but because it's actually one I'd never seen before and I think it shows a gross misunderstanding of the inspiration of the Gospels and Scripture as a whole. This point posited that it's unbiblical to show Matthew and John taking notes because it undermines the Spirit-led inspiration of their writings. Except that it doesn't. The Greek word used when talking about this is more literally translated "God-breathed." Which is not the same as "God-dictated." If it were the latter (and what the writer of said article implied), then there would only be one Gospel account. That would be all we need because everything would be in it. Or, if there were still four Gospels (given that they were written with different intended audiences), they would all sound the same and have the exact same details about shared recorded events. But they don't. Because God didn't tell them, verbatim, what to write down. This is why there is variety yet harmony. This is why each writer has a distinct voice in the way they wrote. Because God didn't dictate; He led. There is a difference.

There is also the matter of the Gospel of Mark. Many scholars believe that Mark may have used Matthew's Gospel as a reference when he wrote his own because it shares so much in terms of content (93% of Mark can be found in the others). Does that make it less inspired? The obvious answer is "no" (or it wouldn't still be in our modern Bibles).

The episode most criticized for this point was s2 ep3, where a woman runs past Matthew and he desperately calls after her, "Healed you of what?" Therefore making it something he didn't personally witness that he wrote down. But here's the problem with this: that entire episode is based on one single verse from the book of Matthew: 4:24. Which, if you look it up, says only that Jesus healed many people. As any writer can tell you, not every note makes it into the final draft. Provided something like that did historically happen and provided Matthew did write it down, that doesn't mean everything he took notes on would have been in the completed manuscript later. Therefore: no hearsay.

Bottom line: what made it into their Gospels is still being presented as things they personally witnessed, and taking notes doesn't detract from being led to write or from being led what to include.

4.Unscriptural Script There are several points under this one, so we'll take them one at a time. --"House" vs "Business". This one is, once again, directly from the aforementioned article, but I wanted to address it briefly anyway. This is in reference to Jesus, at age 12, staying and teaching in the temple when his family had already started home. The author claims that "the Bible says, 'Be about my Father's business'" and claims that saying "in the house of my father" (as the show does) is Catholic-inspired and unbiblical. I don't know about the Catholic-inspired part, but I can say that it depends what translation of the Bible you're looking at. KJV uses the business wording. ESV and HCSB both use the house wording. (And if you want to mince accuracy, ESV and HCSB are both more literal than KJV/NKJV.) Unless you take only one translation as being the True Translation, then you can't say the line they went with is unbiblical.

-- Apparently certain things demean Christ, such as him practicing his Sermon on the Mount as opposed to it "being inspired" (see point 3 for the rebuttal of the second part). Except it doesn't. Because Jesus was also very human. Which people tend to forget when talking about this point specifically. It's wrong to have him practice what to say specifically. It's wrong to show him with a sense of humor. It's wrong to [fill in the blank; there are many of these]. Most of them amount to "it's a sin to be human." There are a lot of things that are a direct result of the Original Sin that are not, of themselves, sinful. It's not sinful to say something in a way people don't understand (so he practices to make sure people will understand what he means). It's not sinful to be nostalgic (its an acknowledgement of things that were good in the past). It's not sinful to show Mother Mary supporting Him (we all need earthly support in the form of other people; this is literally one of the purposes of the church!). Every single thing I've ever heard anyone say is "demeaning" is actually just portraying Him as every bit the human He became.

-- The first "arrest". Quintus wanted to talk to Him. He wasn't charged with anything. He wasn't imprisoned. Quintus gave Him a warning and let Him go. This does not contradict Jesus declaring it was not yet His time because it wasn't. He wasn't arrested. I don't know how many more ways I can say this.

-- "Nathanael couldn't have been a drunk because Jesus said there was no guile in him." Except the definition of "without guile" is not "sinless". The definition of guile is "deceit, cunning, hypocrisy or dishonesty in thought or deed" and many modern translations use the word "deceit" in that verse instead. Jesus is saying that he is honest and not a hypocrite. There's nothing about drinking in there at all. I'm not trying to call out this author specifically, but when I say that it's important to understand what words mean, this is exactly what I'm talking about.

-- John the Baptist. One of the points I've seen repeatedly is that it's sacrilegious for Peter to call him "Creepy John". I have to ask if these people understand that Peter called him that in anger and before he met Jesus. After that, it's a running joke along the lines of "remember when you didn't believe me" from Andrew. This is peak sibling behavior. That's all I can say about that.

-- "Matthew couldn't have been autistic because it's not in the Bible/ it didn't exist back them/ etc." I haven't seen this one in a long while, and I made a whole post about this way-back-when, but it bares repeating. The word "autistic" doesn't appear in the Bible in part because the word wasn't even coined until the 1900s. I don't know what else to tell you on that front. Since I've already made a post about this, all I'm going to say here is that it's important representation that is made all the clearly by the overwhelmingly positive response it received from autistic fans. Jesus called all sorts, the outcasts of society, the lowest of the low. And, yes, He calls autistics, too. If there's a problem here, that's all on you, buddy.

5. The Music This particular writer pointed out this lyric specifically: "Got no trouble with the mess you've been" and quite frankly I'm having hard time understand the problem with it because he doesn't come out and say it. It is, in fact, a completely true statement. God is not put off by our messes. We don't have to fix ourselves before coming to Him. Its also worth pointing out the past tense here: been. As in, He calls you out of your mess. You don't stay there. So I have no idea what the supposed problem here is; I only know that it's not one.

In general, I don't have a problem with people not liking certain styles of music. I do take issue, however, when anyone tries to assign morality to a style. Music is amoral. It can be used in immoral ways, just like anything else can be, but music itself does not have a morality. It doesn't have "mystic undertones"; it is in a style that you yourself associate with mysticism. If you don't care for the style, that's fine, but don't assign it a morality it doesn't have.

.

.

Know of something I missed? I certainly didn't cover every controversy so let me know and I'll let you know what I think of it!

[ac-19]

Secrets - S. Carter (Full Metal)

Summary: you and Full Metal have a secret that almost gets out to the wrong people.

My eyes landed on him the second I stepped into the bar with Stella. I had gone out for a girl's night with Stella, and somehow, we still ended up at the Bulkhead. The Alpha guys and some of the Bravo guys were gathered around a table while Sonny and Clay were shooting darts. 

"What are you drinking?"

I broke eye contact with him and turned towards Stella and shruggred.

"Surprise me. I'm gonna go use the washroom."

She nodded.

"Sure thing." 

I made my way to the bathroom swinging my hips a little more than necessary just because I could feel his eyes burning a hole in my back. 

We had this friends with benefits thing going on for about a year and a half now and I had to admit to myself that I never cut it off because somewhere between the blow off steam after a long mission sex and the you should keep some things at my place I fell in love with him, but we were on the same team so if anybody ever found out we'd be screwed. 

I quickly did my thing in the bathroom and freshened up my makeup best I could with the few products I had in my purse before stepping outside. 

"You shouldn't of wore that dress." 

I smirked to myself as I stopped walking not looking back at him. 

"Why not?" 

"Because all I want to do right now is rip it off you."

I smiled. I knew this dress was his favorite and it was the sole purpose I wore it out tonight hoping to see him because I knew we'd probably end up at Bulkhead. 

"What if I told you I'm not wearing any underwear." 

"You're killing me woman."

"There you are. I thought you died in the bathroom."

I chuckled as I looked over at Stella.

"Just ran into Metal." 

She chuckled.

"Hi Metal. Let's go (Y/N) we gotta go dance." 

I chuckled as I looked back at Scott.

"It was nice to see you Metal." 

Stella grabbed onto my forearm and pulled me away and I gave Scott a wink before I turned around and let Stella drag me towards the makeshift dance floor. 

"I'm surprised you and Metal never hooked up." 

I nervously chuckled as I looked at Stella.

"What?" 

"What are you two doing here?" 

Stella let go of my arm and diverted her attention to Clay and I smiled at my brother. 

"You okay? You look a little flustered." 

I nodded at Sonny. If he ever found about Scott and I, I think he'd lose his mind especially given the 11 year age gap and that he's my team leader. 

"Yeah just had a bit too much to drink." 

Sonny nodded. 

"Ok then. Were heading out."

I nodded. 

"You guys are a bunch of buzzkills." 

Clay chuckled. 

"Yeah maybe you two should leave too." 

We both shook our heads.

"No way." 

"Ok, call us if you need a ride."

I nodded and grabbed Stella's hand as our favorite song came on.

"Let's go dance." 

Stella gave Clay a quick kiss and we headed towards the dance floor. We danced for a while alone until some young green team guys joined us. One guy had a particular interest in me and I technically wasn't taken so I danced with him not paying attention to Scott who was giving the poor kid a death glare. 

There was no way I was leaving with this guy. He was nowhere near my type, and honestly, I was dancing with him mostly to make Scott jealous, which I knew was a dangerous game. 

We danced together for a while and it wasnt until he flipped me around and wrapped his arm around my waist and pulled me to him so my back was flush against his chest that I became uncomfortable. It wasn't only the fact that I actually wasn't wearing underwear but that it felt so wrong to have another guy's arm wrapped around me like that. I noticed out of the corner of my eye, Scott walk to the bar and take his card out. 

"I'm gonna go get myself a drink."

He leaned into my ear and I sucked in a breath.

"Oh come on, we should leave. Go back to my place." 

My heart rate picked up as he tightened his grip on my waist. Stella had went off towards the bathroom and Scott was heading towards the door not paying much attention to me. I ran towards gun fire for a living and I had never felt so vulnerable in my life than in that moment.

"Let go of me."

"Oh come on baby girl, we're just having fun." 

"You heard her. Let go man." 

He turned his head towards his friend and I was thankful for that small distraction.

"Stay out of this Fred." 

I took that opportunity and grabbed onto his arm and bent down slightly and flipped him over my shoulder, his back landing on the hardwood floor with a hard thud. 

"Shit. Go (Y/L/N). That will teach you not to mess with a Tier 1 operator kid." 

I looked back at one of my teammates and smirked. 

"You're a seal?" 

I turned my attention back to the young guy who had propped himself up on his elbows.

"Doesn't matter, you shouldn't be doing that to any girl. You're disgusting." 

I shook my head as I gathered my things, paid for my tab and walked off towards the door hoping to be able to catch Scott outside.

I looked around as I walked out of the Bulkhead and saw Scott making his way down the street. I jogged after him and sighed.

"Scott, wait." 

He didn't stop walking and I sighed. 

"Fulll Metal!" 

That didn't make him stop either. 

"Scott Carter I am in love with you."

Scott stopped walking and I felt my heart pounding in my chest as he turned around to face me. I stopped jogging and took a deep breath.

"You can't say that after you were just in there all over another guy."

"He meant nothing. I was just trying to make you jealous. I so desperately wish that I could do those things with you." 

"We knew what getting together meant. We're on the same team (Y/N). I'm your team leader for god sake. If this would ever get out it would ruin both our careers." 

"Are you saying you want to end this?" 

"No I'm saying I'm in love with you too and it took everything in me not to go kill that guy you were dancing with." 

"So what now?"

Metal shook his head as he took two steps towards me and put his hands on my hips and pulled me to him before he planted his lips on mine. I let myself melt in his touch and brought my hand up to the back of his neck.

"I knew it!"

We quickly pulled away from each other and I turned around to face Stella. 

"You can't tell anyone. Especially not Clay."

"Well maybe you two shouldn't be sucking faces outside the Bulkhead where most of your teammates drink."

I closed my eyes as I heard Clay's voice.

"You alone?"

"Yeah."

"Look I'm not gonna tell anyone, but Sonny is gonna flip out if he ever finds out about this."

I nodded as I opened my eyes and looked up at Scott. 

"Thanks man."

"Never saw anything. Just came to pick up Stella that's all. Let's go babe."

Stella smiled as she walked over to Clay.

"Get it girl."

I smiled as I watched her and Clay walk off. I trusted Clay that he wasn't going to say anything so I wasn't too worried. 

"I'll take you home."

"You know what? I think I'm gonna go back inside and finish my dance."

Scott shook his head as he wrapped his arm around my shoulder. 

"You're my girl, you remember that."

I smiled as I leaned my head against his shoulder as we started walking over to his truck.  

"Maybe you should take me back to your place and show me just how much you mean that."

"You don't have to ask me twice baby. I've wanted to rip that dress off you since you walked into the Bulkhead."

[shellxrls]

babe r u okay we haven’t seen you for ages :/

SORRY NONNIE. i feel like i shld do a clarification post cuz i've gotten a few asks and i feel kinda bad for leaving u guys in the dark 😭. i've just been putting this off cuz i've been tired and stressed coupled with other reasons (that i'll explain) that make me not want to publicly interact on this blog:

recently i've noticed such a large uprise in hate on this app (ranging from pro-israel/anti-palestine posts to mutuals outside of my fandoms being called aggressive slurs to ppl within the obx fandom consistently expressing opinions of dislike and resentment to authors for simply writing what they want) - also largely made up of anon asks with the foundation of racial or sexuality based hate (which i won't go into depth ab but ppl definitely pick and choose who to send hate to based on those factors - pisses me the fuck off more than anything bcuz i don't come on this app to be bombarded with racism and reminders of my racial perception in this world, regardless of whether its directed at me or mutuals).

another thing, (which ik has been said forever but continues to remain important), the lack of support and interaction for/with writers on this app is definitely very discouraging. i no longer feel supported by the community i've created and the truth is i need that interaction to keep writing and engage my motivation otherwise i feel like what i'm doing on this app is pointless.

no one logs onto this app to listen to me rant ab personal issues, and so i wont' go into extensive detail - but i've consistently used tumblr to escape my personal life, and the burdens and stress that come with. ofc i'm a writer, but wayyy beyond that this is intended to be my safe space where i can enjoy and simply be myself and let go of personal stress as well as interact happily w like-minded ppl. due to this, i've made an effort to take time out of my own life and duties to write and to interact because of the community. recently however i find myself more and more anxious to even open the app and look at my notifs, and whenever i do open the app i make myself feel bad by comparing myself to other writers - which is completely normal occasionally, but at this point its not as easy to shake considering all the factors listed above. its unfortunate to say but it simply hasn't felt worth it to be on this app and interact for while now for me.

before anyone says i'm being too sensitive or its my sole purpose to write - pls remember that this is entirely my blog, i can choose what my motivations are for being on this app and its not a stretch to kindly ask for more in terms of stopping hate and simply being more supportive if u do genuinely like an author and their works.

ultimately i've been both a fan/reader and a writer on this app for multiple years atp, i can understand both perspectives but i've honestly never felt this disconnected and upset ab a blog before. I understand that not everyone is to blame, and i'm sorry to those who've been kind & active supporters, but my public interactions have been limited and may continue to be bcuz i feel v unsure & stagnant atm.

the only 'exception' to this is my mutuals, i love them all obv and their works, & so i'm continuing to interact w them as per normal, and so i am active on the app & i'm definitely not entirely gone by any means. if anything i just need a few more days to reconsider, but we'll see.

[archiveikemen]

"Mobius Chord" Main Story Prologue: Chapter 7

This is a fan-made translation solely for entertainment purposes with no guaranteed perfection; expect mistakes, grammatical errors, and some creative liberties. All original content and media used belong to +ONE by Ikemen Series and KansaiTV. Please support the game by buying their stories and playing their games.

Read this before interacting

— And so, the day of the “Autumn Gathering” party finally came. 

(All the tasks I was assigned are complete.)

I was glad I could relax and enjoy myself today, thanks to the thorough preparation work I had done up till yesterday. 

I also managed to take a look at the school’s hidden gem, the party hall that was rarely ever accessible.

Despite it being in a corner of the literature faculty's block, I enjoyed looking at it because of my love for history. 

(Maybe I’ll just show my face for a bit and then head home.)

My headaches and tinnitus had worsened over the past week, so I didn't feel like I could stay for long.!

(Honestly, I almost didn’t want to come, but I promised Hijiri-kun that I would.) 

(Still, I really wish these symptoms would just disappear already…) 

???: Oh, excuse me. Got a moment? 

???: … 

Koto: Y-yes? 

I was surprised to hear someone approach me out of the blue. 

I looked up to see two unfamiliar men glancing around the area. 

???: We’re a little lost. Can you tell us where the big hall is?

Koto: Oh, uhh…

(It’s not hard to give them directions, but they don’t look like they’re supposed to be here…) 

“Big hall” wasn't actually the official name for today’s venue. 

But anyone associated with the college would know what it referred to and those two definitely didn't, which was why I was hesitant to give them an immediate answer. 

???: I asked a few people already, but no one would tell me for some reason. 

???: It felt kind of cold. But you look very soft and fluffy, so I thought you’d help me. 

Koto: S-soft and fluffy?

???: It’s one of Yuhi’s unique expressions. He means you look like a kind person. 

Yuhi¹: You’re a kind person too, Soma~ thanks for translating★

(Umm… w-what should I do with Yuhi-san and Soma-san?) 

They don't seem like bad people, but they’re still outsiders…

Just as I was unsure of what to do— 

Shina: Ahh, damn! I finally found you two! I said to wait for me at the front gate, didn't I? 

Yuhi: Minato! Wow, my saviour! My throat feels dry, where’s the vending machine~? 

Soma¹: This is how carefree Yuhi is. It’s easier to find him when there’s someone with him than when he’s alone.  

¹ I'm using "Yuhi" and "Soma" in this part of the chapter because I decided to follow what MC calls the character i.e. whether they're on a first name or last name basis as the stories are written from MC's POV. So if MC refers to the character by their last name, like with Go Miyamoto for example, I'll use "Miyamoto: ...". Later on in the chapter, MC will refer to Yuhi and Soma by their last times, so I'll switch to using "Kakihara: ..." and "Kuga: ...".

Shina: Yeah, having someone as tall as Soma next to him would make him more easily findable… but that’s beside the point! 

Shina: First of all, wait at the agreed meeting spot! Don’t wander off on your own! That’s because Yuhi’s like a kite with its string cut. 

Koto: Uhhh, excuse me?

Shina-san, who was usually calm and collected, was showing a more human-like side to him… 

Is this really the same guy? It had me wondering, but I still waved my hand at him anyway. 

Shina: Koto-chan! Sorry, so you're the lady these guys were bothering, huh. 

Yuhi: We weren't bothering her~ you completely misunderstood. 

Soma: It seems that he thought it’d be fine because she’s soft and fluffy. 

Shina: Did I not tell you guys to behave…!? 

Koto: Uhh, Shina-san. Do you know them?

Shina: Oh, yeah. This cat-like one is Yuhi Kakihara, and this big dog is Soma Kuga. They’re my friends. 

(That was a really candid introduction…! 

Kuga: Minato called us his friends. Been a long time since I last heard that. 

Kakihara: Yeah—! We’re more than just regular friends, we're best buds! So since you’re also Minato’s friend, you’re our buddy too! 

Koto: Buddy? 

Kakihara: Yeah! We’re— 

Shina: Shut it!! 

Shina-san panicked and slapped a hand over Yuhi-san’s mouth. 

But I was sure of it by now. 

Koto: Shina-san. … You’re in a band with Sui-kun and the other two, aren't you?

[papermint-airplane]

Eleanor: Whoa whoa whoa, what do you mean 'who is Aiden'?! He's the Bachelor! You know, the whole reason we're competing in the first place?!

Angela: Surely you can't be serious!

Rose: I am serious! 🤭 And don't call me--

Viridia: IF YOU FINISH THAT SENTENCE, I WILL END YOU MYSELF.

Eleanor: Gaaaaaaah, I hate you people.

Angela: Then I guess I need you to explain a lot more than the murder attempt because if you aren't competing for Aiden's heart -- the alleged premise of the show -- what are you competing for?

Rose: I. keep. TELLING YOU! I want to WIN! 😠

Angela: Yes, but win what?!

Rose: Uggggh, you're so dense, it physically hurts. 😩

Viridia: STOP TALKING IN CIRCLES AND JUST EXPLAIN SOMETHING FOR ONCE!

Rose: Haven't you ever heard the expression 'winning isn't everything, it's the only thing'? 🙄

Angela: Yeah, I've heard toxic Little League coaches say that to crying seven year olds. And?

Rose: Seriously?! It's the principle I've based my entire life on! It's my mantra! My raison d'être! 👿

Viridia: WATCH OUT, SHE'S GOING FRENCH AGAIN.

Angel: So the whole reason you snuck back into the house, disguised yourself as a mime, sloppily painted your blue stripes purple, tried to kill Angela, and potentially scarred Aiden for life was...because of an expression everyone uses ironically?

Rose: It's not ironic to me, dammit! It's my sole purpose in life! Everyone knows that, even the Watcher! And she...she used it against me. 😓 She promised me that if I made the competition interesting for her, she'd let me back into the house.

Eleanor: Wait. What?! Say that again.

Rose: When I broke into her control room, she made me an offer: I'd get to come back and compete again as long as I did something to shake up the status quo. She was getting bored of you idiots. 🥱

Angel: I-I can't believe this.

Bailey: I know what you mean...

Angel: One of us got to meet the Watcher in person and it wasn't me.

Rose: Look, Angel, if it makes you feel any better, she's not what you think. She's...crazy. 😦

Bailey: High praise coming from you.

Rose: And not only that, she seriously doesn't know how 'Earth reality shows' as she calls them work because holy shit, this whole thing has been one clusterfuck from the beginning. 🙄 She says it's a Bachelor-type dating show but she's run the whole thing like a survival show with the challenges and eliminations. I mean half of us haven't even met this Arwin-or-whatever, let alone been on a date with him. What sense does that make?! 😵

Aiden: It's Aiden. I'm Aiden!

Eleanor: You're right. I thought this whole thing was shoddily arranged but I've never seen any reality dating shows. For all I knew, this is how they're supposed to be.

Rose: Well I've seen hundreds of them, and believe me, this is not how they're supposed to be. Arlo is supposed to spend time with all of us one-on-one, not be shoved into a pod by himself ninety percent of the time. 😣 I don't know how they do shows like this back on her planet but it's not how we do it on Earth. 👽

Eleanor: On...her...planet? The Watcher is an alien?

Rose: Well duh. 😑 You couldn't tell? Why do you think she abducted us all at the casting call? She had to get us on more familiar turf.

Angel: That doesn't make any sense. The Watcher can't be an alien. She's an eternal extra-dimensional being of pure benevolence.

Viridia: WILL YOU SHUT UP ABOUT YOUR RELIGION, ALREADY?! CLEARLY SOMETHING ELSE IS GOING ON.

Eleanor: I knew it, we really are in the Lunar Lakes moon settlement. I could tell from the trees. But...why are we the only Sims here?

Rose: I don't know and I don't care. 🤨

Wow. You really exposed me to everyone, huh, Rose?

Rose: You exposed yourself! You should have just let me win from the jump and I wouldn't have had to tell everyone what I knew. 😖

I guess it really is a good thing I didn't tell you the whole plan, then, huh? Otherwise you'd have run your mouth to Aiden.

Rose: Yeah yeah, Argyle or whoever-the-fuck. Well, I held up my end of the bargain. You're going to call this whole thing off and just announce me the winner, riiiiight? 🤤

Why would I do that?

Rose: Because...I made things interesting for you, like we agreed on. 😕

Then why am I still bored?

Rose: I-- 😶

You haven't won anything, Rose. You're still the same loser you were when you walked into this place on the first day. And that's all you'll ever be.

Rose: ...

Nothing to say to that?

Rose: I am going to kick. your. ass. 😡

[Beginning] [Previous] [Next]

[stheresya]

The heroines of both The Grisha Trilogy and The Red Shoes (1948) respectively kinda share the same conflict, despite the stories being set in very different universes with its own circumstances. One is a story set in a 19th century russian-esque fantasy world, the other is set in the ballet world of 1940s UK. Both stories feature female characters who have a special skill/ability which is deemed an essence of their very being, who then become entangled with a scheming older man that elevates their abilities to its full potential, but meanwhile these girls also fall in love with a seemingly good guy, a love that inevitably prunes their abilities. And so they must decide between having love but devoid of their essence, or exploring their essence to its full potential but without love.

“It isn’t something separate from you,” Baghra snapped. “[…] Do you ask your heart to beat or your lungs to breathe? Your power serves you because that is its purpose, because it cannot help but serve you.” (Ch. 13, Shadow and Bone)

- Why do you want to dance? - Why do you want to live? - I don't know exactly why but… I must. - That's my answer too. (The Red Shoes)

What differentiates the stories, other than the environment where they're set, is how each of them deal with this conflict. In TGT this conflict is felt most by the reader than by the heroine herself. The paths that are presented to Alina are embodied by her childhood sweetheart and an older powerful man who ignites her in various ways, both men form a love triangle with Alina where they compete for her, even if each man wants her for very different purposes. Alina knows this but she refuses to grapple with a decision, she already know head-on that Mal is the one, and she mostly just tries to navigate both of these contradictory aspects: the grisha/saint identity as well as her normie boyfriend, despite being constantly warned that this would not be a feasible on the long run.

But in TRS, however, the conflict is deeply felt by the main character as well as the viewer. Also, and this is very important, there isn't really a love triangle in the movie. The main character is divided between her boyfriend and her mentor, who doesn't seem to harbor genuine romantic feelings for Vicky even though he still feels something that borders on obsession for her due to her talent (some people, like myself, interpret this as his own twisted form of romantic love, but I'm going here with what's clearly shown in the movie). The mentor is a bit similar to the Darkling personality-wise. He is a man who has renounced love altogether and lives solely for his job (or as he calls it: his "religion", which is ballet), and he expects his prima-ballerinas to do the same. So when he learns that Vicky has fallen in love with his composer he goes mad and lashes out on both of them, which causes Vicky to readily stand by her boyfriend. But of course things don't stop there as she constantly second-guessing her decision, even when her man tries to deliver on the happiness that he's promised her. The movie is constantly asking us: is it fair to give up your dreams for the sake of love? can you truly be fulfilled in your dream when you have no love?

But why am I making these connections? I suppose because watching this movie made me realize that these sorts of conflicts can never really lead to a happy ending. It's the perfect conflict for a tragedy. I guess one can write an ending where the conflict is resolved by just having the character be allowed to have both. But in my opinion it feels a disingenuous and coward choice to just take the conflict away, without having to face it.

And that's why both The Grisha Trilogy and The Red Shoes end in tragedy. The difference is that the latter is honest in its tragedy, while the former tries to paint the situation as... not exactly happy, but still hopeful, maybe bittersweet, but ultimately ok. It's ok because it was "fair", it was punishment for her "greediness" (she wasn't greedy). Another thing that I think The Red Shoes does better is allowing for the heroine choose. The ending of the movie, albeit sad, is entirely Vicky's choice. The Grisha trilogy doesn't go that way. Instead it does the RS equivalent of having Alina suffer a permanent injury that makes her unable to go on pointe, thus killing her career as a ballet dancer, and then Alina has to settle with her boyfriend after all, living as a shell of herself where she not longer has her essence, and she's not even allowed her own name anymore. But it's ok! she has her (unsupportive) man with her!

So long story short, there is no possible scenario where Alina could've had a happy ending. But we as readers could've a more fulfilling end if only the story were more honest about the ending it was writing. Alina died in every way except physically. It's not a happy ending in any way.

[its-stayville-forever]

This is,

Something.

This might be me telling how much I love a fic, or how much I appreciate and adore a person's writing, might be a declaration of love to she who makes people feel things, might be me explaining why I was sobbing my heart out as I was reading this form of art that is Echoes of Love. (My keyboard finished the name for me, it's that used on my tab help)

This is for @astraystayyh .

How I found it.

I have actually found this beauty by accident, as in her and Echoes of Love. Being new to Tumblr and by not having used it for such a long time, I simply typed in 'stray kids' and this came up, and I want to thank the lord for doing so, because this has quite literally changed the trajectory of my life. As in, my standards for writing have increased and reached the skies.

Why it is so important for me.

Now important would be literally an understatement.

I have this habit of imagining things that I read, and in so many, so many, instances this fic has had me in a chokehold. Like I had to physically isolate myself from this story because of the effect it had on me.

This is not a normal fic, it is anything but ordinary. This fic was written so intricately, it has so much detail, metaphors, simile, and quotes used in it. This is how books should be written, this is how fics and stories really should be written. Because if you can make a person cry through the feelings you have portrayed in a book, what more do you want from life? What more must an author seek in life than to make one muffle their cries because it was too loud for the walls surrounding them and all this because of a few words? No no no, these aren't just a few words. These are feelings. This is what a person feels after being projected to pain, misery and utter suffering and oh Sahar, oh Sahar you wrote it oh so beautifully!

You could ask the few people that I call my friends about this story, about how I physically couldn't stop thinking and talking and telling people about this piece that should be exhibited in a museum and no, no I'm not exaggerating. This is not exaggeration. This is me speaking facts for what it truly is. I can't not talk about something so beautiful, I physically can't.

How?

How. How. How.

This question ran marathons through my head because as a mere human being (and not a writing god like Sahar is) I just can't grasp how a person writes so deeply. How. She did this before in Invisible Threads (once again my tab finished the name for me 😭). And she's going to do it again and again and again. Because she writes like it's breathing. She writes like her hands, her talented fingers were made for this sole purpose. She writes like she'll die if she stops writing. She writes for people to feel, for people's feelings to be felt by others. I can't understand, I just can't understand, how beautiful, how magnificent, how stunning her soul is. How exquisite must she be that she wrote not a hundred not three, not even a few thousands but 25.8k words and effortlessly mastered through the whole thing.

Talent. Right here, talent. (Please apply for Oxford they'll be happy to have you, rest assured)

She was indeed, created to create.

I wish her the best and only the best. Because she does only the best, and deserves only the best. I am not the best with my words and so they never do justice to her writing. So I compel you, go read Echoes of Love, read Invisible Thread, and live your best life.

-your biggest fan. (Adopt me please)

[allwaswell16]

✨ Twenty Questions for Fic Writers ✨

I was tagged by @reminiscingintherain to do this (thanks Roni!) and I loved reading her answers to these!

How many works do you have on ao3?

105

2. What's your total ao3 word count?

1,083,820

3. What fandoms do you write for?

One Direction and Harry Potter (Drarry)

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

I Didn't Fall For You (You Fucking Tripped Me) 3,949 (ooh getting close to the next thousand. I have an anon who comes and asks me for more of this fic every time I get a milestone # on this one, so I'll maybe be talking to you again soon, anon lol)

That's How I Know 3,443

Consequences 2,631

If I Loved You Less 2,387

Waiting 1,803

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

Yes! I do! Every single one! I get pretty anxious if I don't answer them fairly quickly to be honest. Sometimes I get behind, but not by more than usually a month or so. I really loved getting a response from writers to my comments especially when I first started reading in fandom. To be fair, I left a lot of unhinged comments lol. They probably stood out a little. But I loved having that connection to a writer, so I try to have it in return with anyone reading my fics.

6. What is a fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

For You I'd Bleed Myself Dry

I don't write unhappy endings, so this isn't exactly an unhappy ending. But it's a turning vampire fic so. Becoming the undead is angsty-ish, right?

7. What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

Until (series)

Probably this one because they end up having two weddings in the time stamp lol They're ridiculous and I love them.

8. Do you get hate on fics?

Not very often that I can think of. I can only think of it happening once off the top of my head and it was someone who hadn't even read the fic so.

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

I doooo! I wouldn't say I love writing it, but I write it when the story seems to go there. I am not really a pwp writer though, and I haven't written fics where the main point is the smut. And the only reason for that is because I just haven't had an idea that called for that!

10. Do you write crossovers? What's the craziest one you've written?

I've written a couple of Potter Direction ficlets. But probably the weirder ones are the Louis/Rob Pattinson ones lol. The weirdest of those is probably: Interview with the vampire

I'm also writing a Peaky Blinders crossover right now actually.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

I have, unfortunately. I ended up making a Wattpad account for the sole purpose of reporting my stolen fics.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Yes, I allow translations so there's a bunch out there now.

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

Wine Not?

I have! Once! It was a giant group of us lol I made some great friends from writing that fic! And actually @taggiecb and I just started talking about writing a mystery fic, but who knows if we'll ever write it

14. What's your all-time favourite ship?

OOF. I am a great lover of ships hence my running a rare pair fic fest. There's really something about Draco/Harry or Louis/Nick Grimshaw...I guess the enemies to lovers vibes of it all. The bickering. The drama. sighhh so good.

But I don't know that I can really say that I love any more than my OG Louis/Harry.

15. What's a wip you want to finish, but doubt you ever will?

I am NOT linking it. But I have an unfinished wip out there on ao3 that haunts me. If I ever can figure out what to do with it, I'll finish it.

16. What are your writing strengths?

Maybe humor as evidenced by my more popular fics, I guess. Dialogue maybe just because I find that easy to write. taggiecb is always having to tell me to add more of what the characters are thinking because all I want to write is them talking lol

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

Some of the things I've worked on specifically over the years are: writing meaningful smut, writing more vivid sensory details, and having strong characters.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic?

I probably wouldn't. I have a vague memory of using another language once. Italian? I'm pretty sure I set a fic in Rome and had a bit of Italian in it. But I had an Italian friend translate that bit for me. So I'd say have a native speaker help with that.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

As Roni said in her answer...technically I wrote Bill/Ted fic with a childhood friend when we were little kids but we had no idea we were writing fanfiction. Purposely written fic would be One Direction.

20. Favourite fic you've written?

Hmmm this is hard. It changes on a whim but maybe Consequences because it probably has the best plot I've ever written. But I don't reread this one because it brings back weird memories for me. Like I dreamed up the plot twistyness on the way to my pulmonologist and immunologist appointments FUN TIMES. So in a way it reminds me of when I was very sick. Whomp. Okay now I've brought down the mood. Let me try and steer this in another direction...I love both If I Loved You Less and Ace of Spades because they are set during the Regency era and I have just now realized they both involve a kidnapping. Read the first one if you want Louis to be kidnapped and Ace if you want Harry to be kidnapped. THAT DID NOT HELP THE MOOD IM SORRY

I'll tag: @kingsofeverything @disgruntledkittenface @voulezloux @tommokat @loveislarryislove @alwaysxlarrie @larry-hiatus and anyone else who wants to do this just say I tagged you!

[ohifonlyx33]

I'm really sorry if I sound negative, I just need to voice some of my thoughts on how Malina was written at the end before I can content myself with the rest of the season....

because even though I hear what people are saying about "choice" ...I just can't make it fully make sense...

Mal's ability to track is based on Morozova's magic bloodline. and his special link to Alina allows him to hear a buzz in the back of his head when he's holding her hand or searching for her. But what has that got to do with them falling in love???

By all means, question it (preferably before the "Vows We Could Keep" scene, please). But for goodness sake, come to the right conclusion.

'Cause I just don't buy this idea that they can't tell if what they have is real or not... and neither did they in the book. Certainly not Malyan "you were meant for more than I can give you so say goodnight and send me away before I kiss you senseless" Oretsev who drove himself mad loving Alina from a distance, loving her even against all hope of a future together. And certainly not Alina "none of it mattered if Mal was dead" Starkov who loved him more than any amount of power he could offer her.

In the book they knew that they forged their own bond based on YEARS of history together and several life-changing events too. Their relationship wasn't just some easy thing.... it took them being forcibly split up, coming near death several times, and having to imagine never seeing each other again for them to finally admit what they felt out loud... they had to use human communication, writing letters and pining for years, to work out what they meant to each other after being scared to say it... So yes, they earned their relationship.

But yes, they also accepted that fate brought them together and were glad of that. They didn't deny that they were always destined to meet, but it just followed naturally in their minds that if and when they met, of course, they would inevitably fall in love--because they love each other so much now that how could they not love each other then? And yet... they both acknowledge that they would be different people without each other and their love story would look different... but still they can't imagine a lifetime in which they meet and don't fall in love.

At the point when Mal looses his Tracking Ability, the loss is not enough for him to question if their friendship and love and sacrifice for one another was only destiny because he'd already confirmed that their love was not a product of their magical link. Just like Alina's magical link to The Darkling couldn't make her love him, it could only call or draw her to him, even when she actually hated him. In the same way, Mal and Alina could have grown up enemies or rivals always orbiting one another but never actually caring for one another. It was their understanding... They genuinely cared about each other. They formed a true friendship and fell in love.

The way we know it's not because of magic is because the love they share was never contingent solely on a warm fuzzy tingly feeling when they were near. Summoning sunlight and tracking amplifiers does not equate to falling in love.

If being the sun summoner and the firebird is what brought them together, what was it that kept Mal from just running away with her once they were together? What was it that made Mal admire her strength and leadership even if it meant she needed to marry a prince and keep him at a distance? He saw her needs, her duty, her destiny and took himself out of the picture thinking it would be best for her. That's not an act of ~magic drawing them together... that's selfless, sacrificial love.... which is kinda their WHOLE THING and the whole reason they are endgame. Because sacrificial love is stronger than cruel greed and power any day. That's what Malina is about. Choosing love over power.

So even though I understand Mal having some kind of identity crisis about what his purpose is without his tracking ability, and even though I like the idea of "I choose you" at least as much as "you are my destiny" ...I don't like when the show has him suggest that their shared destiny in finding each other somehow also negates their free will in the matter of falling in love. They already chose one another... They already fought for each other over and over again. And not because of ~magic.

And that small but somehow massive shift in the narrative is the one thing I really struggle to get behind... because it's like the writers are conceding that there was a problem with the way the book was written when there never was.

[kresnikcest]

OWG2 - His Scar

Short story from the Official World Guidance. Like always, machine translation, but thanks again to @lastthroes for looking over it in... May. of last year. Yeah I totally forgot about this one, but I really liked it!

Notes:

Rideaux is just kinda rude all the time but English isn't as efficient with conveying formality/politeness registers :(

onzoushi is an old term for “the son of a distinguished family" or "the son of a noble”, because Julius is the son of the CEO. I would probably localise it as "the heir" (of Spirius or the Kresnik clan or the Bakur family) but Rideaux uses it as a vocative term and English kinda lacks in words for that. So I went for a royalty thing instead and just had him be "your Highness" sarcastically.

This is set in Primia 4293, so one year after the pasta thing. Julius is 16, Rideaux is 17.

* = I can't quite figure this sentence out but I just made a guess...

The idea of a "time at which you become aware of things around you" is ridiculous. Humans are already aware of everything around them from the moment of their birth.

Most people just can’t remember it.

My proof of that? I’m proof, myself. I remember everything since the moment I was born.

I didn’t care for the treasured platinum watch I was born with, but the ticking of its gears was proof that I was alive.

The funny thing is, the real proof that I was alive, my heart, was defective and fragile.

I remember the look on my parents' faces back then when they found out. I remember it very clearly, they looked like they’d been told the worst of jokes.

The "slapstick comedy" that followed was what society would call "the time at which you become aware of things around you"... Eh, ten years later, that story isn't worth a single Gald.

My point is, "the time at which you become aware of things around you" is just a way to say you have a bad memory.

Or perhaps I'm the one who’s special? Unfortunately, someone else is already proof of that. Julius Wi Bakur-- Oops, isn't he Will Kresnik now? He gets mad if you call him by his old name, so I get it wrong on purpose.

I remember his case, it seems he and that silver pocketwatch of his were welcomed with open arms by his father.

In addition to being a direct descendant of the ancient Kresnik line, he’s also the son of the powerful family that leads the Spirius Corporation. Not only that, he possesses a powerful Chromatus, so he’s an heir with high expectations.

I sound jealous? Ha, like I’d ever admit to that! That’s--

Bang!

"Found you, Rideaux. We have a mission."

Suddenly, there’s a kick to my back from the sole of a shoe, right against my new tailored suit!

There is only one person is stupid enough to treat me like this.

"Don't mess around like that, Julius! Do you know how much this suit cost?"

"Do I know?” he asks flatly. “I know you have a bad taste in fashion."

At least it’s better-looking than those fake glasses you wear that hide what you really think! You just suddenly started wearing them for some reason. Are you worried about that horrible expression in your eyes? Hmph, don’t tell me you met a girl?

"It's a two-person mission. Hurry up and get ready."

Tch, he has this attitude despite being a year younger than me. He's always been like this. Know-it-all bastard.

"Wow, am I babysitting the prince of Spirius today?"

"I'm the one babysitting you, the seventeen year old who won't calm down."

Look who’s talking! What happened to the guy who, until last year, was just like me?

"I don't want to be bossed around by the prince. "Back then" I killed 150 more people than*--"

"How many times do I have to tell you until you'll understand? Don't call me that,” he interrupts in a cold voice.

Oh, how long has it been since you last spoke like that? It sends chills down my spine. Good.

"My bad, your Highness~!" I say, draping my arm around his shoulder overly familiarly and giving him a special smile.

But Julius only pulls and turns away to face the newly-installed communication terminal instead.

"... The Fractured Dimension is No. F41BF. Here are the details."

He starts reading out the data displayed on it. The glare of light on his glasses hides his expression.

Hey, you can’t possibly be ignoring me! How disappointing. Do you want to be a good little boy now? If this were the you from just a while ago... Whatever. It's a win for the me of the present. It'll make it easier to do this damned job.

"Depth: 209. Deviation: 0.05. The rift is located in Trigleph."

"209 with a deviation of 0.05? That’s gonna be annoying."

These values are provided by Spirius Corporation's prided spacetime radar, Kudlak's Claw. To put it kindly, the smaller the deviation, the more similar it is to the Prime Dimension, and the harder it is to find the Divergence Catalyst. In addition, the high depth indicates that only certain people can enter it. People like us.

I close my eyes, and search for the spacetime coordinates in my mind. It's a feeling only those who have a Chromatus can understand, but it's like extending your mind out like a tentacle and connecting to the Fractured Dimension's entry point. Or like catching a fish on a hook. Hehe, fishing is a boring hobby, though I've never tried it.

Okay, I've got it! 

Suddenly, Julius, in level 2 Chromatus, disappears without another word. He really isn’t a team player, is he? No wonder he has no friends.

I spit at the place where he just stood, then leap into the target dimension.

.

A silver-haired woman peers past the big shopping bag of tomatoes and pasta in her arms, clearly cautious of something. Her face has been casually covered up by a hat and scarf, and she’s conscious of anyone following her. However, her ability is still that of an amateur.

It’s my second day in this Fractured Dimension. I've been searching repeatedly for information, and on the outskirts of downtown Trigleph, I’ve found the possible host of the Divergence Catalyst.

Claudia Il Kresnik. A woman who has already died in the Prime Dimension.

Even though she’s dressed plainly, she’s very beautiful. I’m guessing she’s around thirty... three? I'm quite confident in that estimate. I'm pretty confident in guessing women's ages. Maybe I should verify that before destroying this world.

Regardless, it seems like I found the Catalyst before Julius did.

It might be called a two-person mission, but we’ve always operated like this. Teamwork? Don’t make me laugh. Just thinking of working alongside someone as unsociable as him makes me feel sick.

Spirius' goal is for us to compete and strive to be stronger than the other. If they didn't plan on that, I don’t think they would have put the two of us together, when we’re so incompatible.

The most important thing for the both of us is to show proof of "one’s usefulness". It is, quite literally, a matter of life and death. 

Claudia finishes her shopping and heads for the slums. I follow at a distance. Any closer, and I’ll be able to tell if she’s the Divergence Catalyst, but in such a crowded place, “disposing” of her might be surprisingly difficult. The last time I went on a rampage with Julius, we went all out until it drew the attention of the military itself. It was fun, but--

Still walking, the woman enters a crumbled ruin of an apartment building.

I follow her stealthily, hiding my presence. At first glance, it seems like there’s no one else here. But, once up the stairs, I can hear a strange humming of song. Damn, someone else is here. How annoying.

Claudia, who has been frowning, suddenly stops in her tracks at the sound and gives a joyful smile, before quickening her pace up the stairs.

She knocks at the door of Room 302 in an odd pattern, possibly as a signal to the person inside the room. The humming stops. I need to act now, it’ll be annoying to deal with more people. In a single move, I draw a surgical knife and close the distance between us.

At the same moment that Claudia sees me and her face freezes in fear, the door opens. A kid, with the same silver hair as her, peeks his face out of the door. I think he’s about the same age as I was when I had my aspyrix surgery…? It doesn’t matter.

"Mommy?"

At that very moment, the Divergence Catalyst in the child shows itself.

"Oh, so you’re the one?" I say.

"Ludger, run!" the woman screams.

She draws a knife and stabs towards me. For an amateur, she’s quite fast. I back away a step.

"I won't let you have him! He's... He's just a child!"

Claudia pushes the child behind her, protecting him, glaring at me with burning eyes. Ah right, that’s what the eyes of a parent should look like, no? As a reward, I kick her in the stomach. She screams in pain.

"Mom!"

The mother falls to the ground, curling into herself and holding her stomach, and this time, it’s the boy who protects his mother. Good, it's almost like they’re following a script. Mother and son will be skewered through together. It’s just a shame I won’t be able to know if my age estimates were right. My Level 2 Chromatus activates–

A sword presses at my throat.

"Stop it, Rideaux."

Julius stands behind me, a daunting presence, cold as steel.

"...Stealing my win, your Highness?"

Julius says nothing.

"Mom, hold on!"

The kid takes the opportunity to try and hide his mother, who’s crouched on the floor of the room. The voice of one who won't give up, and the desperate look on his face fill me with an overwhelming, irrational anger.

"Oh no you don’t!"

Minding the blade to my neck, I turn and jab my elbow into Julius' face.

"Gah!"

My blood splatters into the air, along with Julius' horrible glasses. Serves him right!

With Julius dealt with, I draw my surgical knives on Claudia.

"You'll regret that, you damn brat!"

In a screech of metal, my surgical knives are cut in halves with just one strike of Julius' sword. The severed ends fly into the air. What?! Julius’ Chromatus--

"Level 3?!"

Slam! The kid pushes his mother into the room and closes the door.

"I won't let you..."

Julius' dark eyes pierce through me, eyes that I remember fondly, tinged with despair. Yes, just like that! 

"You were the one who said it. ‘Everything will be destroyed anyway, so we have the freedom to do anything we want.’ Right? " I say cheerfully.

His eyes grow darker. That's right, don't forget, those are your-- those are the eyes of the Kresnik clan!

"Ahahaha! You should enjoy yourself, your Highness! Why don’t we get the two of them together and start with the mother, then save the boy for last--"

Julius punches me and my cheek explodes with pain. Ow! 

That’s good, though, isn’t it…? This is how it's supposed to be, don't you understand, Julius?

Julius punches me again.

You, who should have everything, have the same eyes that I do.

Julius punches me again.

How happy this makes me… Well, you'll never know, but…

Julius punches me again.

… Aren't you going overboard? My aspyrixis organs are rather delicate...

Julius punches me again.

Oh well… If I die, they'll just make you the "bridge" instead...

In my fading consciousness, I hear him saying something.

"I know. That's why... for Ludger... I will..."

Then there is the sound of the door being kicked in.

.

When I come to and open my eyes, it’s raining.

In the ruin of the apartment building's hallway corridor, the rain blows in from the broken window, and Julius' glasses that I'd knocked off of him are wet on the floor next to me. I myself am drenched, in either blood or rain. It doesn’t matter which. My body moves sluggishly.

I lay there, unsightly spread-eagle. Bruises, lacerations, and fractured bones. I’m ragged, but seemingly alive. However, just like the Prime Dimension and a Fractured one, it’s hard to tell the difference between the living world and the dead.

"We have confirmed the destruction of the target Fractured Dimension. Please submit your report by tomorrow."

A response from headquarters? I can only turn my head slightly. There, standing with a communication device, is Julius.

Destruction complete, huh? Of course. In a case like that, it's basically impossible to fail.

And yet, the left side of Julius' forehead, around his eyebrow, has been sliced deep. A stream of blood runs all the way to his chest, dyeing it red. The guy who beat me up couldn’t handle those lousy amateurs?!

"You've got to be kidding me!" I want to yell, but then I notice his cheeks are wet with something that isn't blood.

"I... no matter how many times... for you..."

There is only the sound of rain. Then, Julius looks up to the sky, and with a sad, shaking voice, murmurs like a prayer:

"But, I don't want anyone else to know what I did... Please forgive... your liar of a brother."

No way!

What the hell do you want forgiveness for?! We’re the ones forced to carry the burden of this godforsaken destiny, we're the ones who are forced to use this cursed power, we’re the ones who should be getting an apology!

But, Julius' eyes are already fixated on something different than mine.

"Hahaha... in the end... even you..."

As I sneer at him, something lukewarm trails down my cheek. I don’t know if it's rain or blood. I raise my injured arm, and smash his fallen glasses to pieces.

.

The following is an data excerpt from the Department of Dimensional Affairs:

Fractured Dimension No. F41BF

Specifications: Depth=209   Deviation=0.05   Rift=Trigleph

Destroyed in the year Primia 4293.

Agents in charge: Julius Will Kresnik/Rideaux Zek Rugievit

Divergence Catalyst: Claudia Il Kresnik (33 years old, female)

Reported by: Julius Will Kresnik

[parkminijiminie]

So should we start a support group for the grieving jikookers? Lol I'm kidding. I liked to believe I was fairly skeptical in my view of jikook but I should've known my delusional side would take over hence here I was convinced jikook were a thing and now feeling sad about the possibility of being wrong all along. But same as you and some anons, I already had doubts for a long time now especially this year and the infamous video and everything else after like the lack of a public birthday post are just the nail in the coffin. I still do have some wishful thinking that we could still be proven otherwise, it's my delulu jikook heart speaking, but I know I will view everything jikook from now on with more skepticism than ever (hopefully I succeed lol). It's kind of funny (and I know many level-headed jikookers will say "I told you so") that now that I'm more open to being wrong about jikook, that many of the things that made me believe they were a thing are easier to give a platonic explanation to. Maybe I'm now in the acceptance stage of grief lol but also with a bit of myself left in the denial stage where I still feel like reasoning out why jikook can still be a thing even if evidence seems to say otherwise. I know I'm being dramatic and it really shouldn't be a big deal, it's just shipping as others may say, but anyhow, thanks for allowing all these opinions in your blog.

It is me who is thankful for your messages. My sole purpose here is to discuss with someone all of these things. So, really, thank you!

I wouldn't necessarily call the lack of a bday post "the last nail in the coffin" because with real people shipping, you honestly never know what may come up and from where. Let's just say this is one more thing stacked on the "Jikook friendship" pile. As always, I will keep on supporting them individually and as a pair and see where life will take us. Shipping can be a lot of fun, but real people shipping can become dangerous, in the sense that these are real human beings and projecting one's wishful thinking on them can lead to negative emotions for both sides easily. It is good to stay somewhat removed when talking about the relationship of real people for your well-being. Trying to stay objective is the best course, although it can be hard, as the more you want to believe something, the easier it is to believe it (confirmation bias).