#but i definitely side-eye people who say that bc i'm like hmm did it really get eaten or are you just lying bc you didn't want to answer

[hood-ex]

oh i apologize if this is a weird question but i was wondering if you got my (really long) dickhelena ask from a few days ago? no need to respond to it!! i just wanted to make sure my asks are getting sent because in the past tumblr has glitched for me and the receiver never got my questions in their inbox :/ but again no pressure to reply to it ahaha, thank you!

I did receive it! My problem is that I'll either see stuff in my inbox at like 4 in the morning and then I completely forget about it as I go about my day, or I start to respond to a post, draft it, and then it leaves my mind entirely bc it's not directly in front of me anymore.

But no yeah definitely received it! It made me want to read the book you took the excerpts from so I could respond in a more thorough manner, but again, just completely forgot about it.

[namtanlovesfilm]

GMMTV randomized shipping wheel

so I couldn't sleep bc I had a uni interview lol, so I thought "why not put the 100 current gmmtv actors on a randomized wheel to create random pairings that I can in turn rate & judge?" so,,, um... here we go 😅

here are the 10 first ships that were created, if you like this I'll make a part 2 bc it's too much fun:

LOUIS X ARM

honestly I don't think it would be a bad ship per say bc arm has proved with friend zone & never too late that he's a great actor who honestly should get more roles, and louis is also pretty solid & gets along with everyone, so... this is not a crazy idea in my eyes but also this would be a very unexpected ship so idk, 6/10

NAMTAN X MOOK

so here's the thing, I'm so desperate for gl I'd be down for ANY wlw pairing lmao 😆 also namtan & mook are both very good actresses so I'm sure they'd do amazing! my only issue is that they do look very similar & in general couples are more interesting visually if they kinda are opposites, but also queer people often date their lookalikes so it wouldn't be too crazy lol, 7/10

JUNIOR X CHIMON

hmm... I don't really see this lol. I think junior has tried doing bl many times before joining gmmtv & he's not that good in romantic settings imo (though I might be biased bc one of his bl roles was him faking a ship with yoon in the graduate where he looked like such an awkward hetero lol.) but the thing is, chimon also kinda has that vibe? I think he's definitely gotten better but the straight vibes are still poking through for chimon imo, so him & junior together would be too much. but honestly if they were given the chance I can also see them completely surprise me so I'll give them 4/10

THOR X GUNSMILE

bro 💀 this is the weirdest pairing ever lmao, first of all I've always struggled to see gunsmile doing bl, like I think it would require the exact right pairing for him to do great at it & not look awkward, so thor?? noooope! I liked thor in the warp effect but he gives too much hetero vibes for me once again, so him & gunsmile would literally make the straightest bl couple ever lmao 1/10

AJ X PRIGKHING

I love them both so much so I can see it! as an ajploy shipper, obviously they wouldn't be my ultimate pairing, but prikhing is adorable & I think they'd make the cutest little side pairing, 8/10

AOU X LUKE

........... actually? 👀 I don't mind this. like my first thought was "wtf" but then I imagined them next to each other & I think their height/size difference would be cute! I also think aou is a very good actor who has impressed me a lot in all the roles I've seen him in! as for luke, I'm gonna be honest I don't really see him doing bl & he needs to work on his acting, but I've seen stranger things happen in this fandom so never say never :') 6.5/10

WIN X TITLE

now, once again, my first thought was "wtf 💀", but then I removed win from his status as incredibly famous & placed him back right before 2gether aired, and? honestly that ship could work? I imagine them in an aepete from love by chance type of innocent relationship, and I think physically they'd be a good looking ship together. though I can't imagine their chemistry or acting together so I'll give them a 6/10

(also why did title fucking SNAP with this pic omg)

NICKY X MIX

💀💀💀😆😆😆 nah bro THIS is the worst pairing I've ever heard of lmaoooo 😭 mix could've chemistry with anyone but nicky??? doing bl??? I could maybe envision him as a side ship with his bff leo but HELL NO 😭 bless nicky he's a comedic icon but nope, 0/10

LEO X LUKE

listen idk why that wheel is obsessed with luke but NOPE. like I can't imagine these two even PRETENDING to like each other, like... it's just too random atp 💀 maybe as a comedic side side side side SIDE ship, but overall, 2/10

VICTOR X FLUKE GAWIN

LMAOOOOOOO 😭 like I can't see this ship at all but tell me why I would 10000% prefer this ship to gawinkrist 😭 5/10

[sungtaro]

hi hi I'm the aspiring teume anon from earlier 🐇 hmm honestly I've just seen them around for so long and they seem so goofy (aka my fave thing abt groups) so I can't help but wanting to know them more.

I do think I have a few songs of them saved that I sometime listen to. lemme check- oh rightt I love darari and jikjin but that's basic of me and I do have boy as well that I listen to occasionally that I also like!

and ofc the thing that help me the most to get into a group is them just catching my eyes 👀👀 but yeah im not sure yet. usually I can guess my bias pretty fast just from looking at them but I'm not sure bc they're all cute 🥺 but maybe (definitely not for sure yes actually it is) hyunsuk and yoshi caught my eye a lil more (I remember esp when watching performance vids a few times).

hhhh who knew I have sm to say abt them, I would love to hear what/who u love most and also like if u have any recommendations like ur fave songs or vids of them (not necessarily what u think I'd like but what u like, I think for me seeing someone love their ults makes me fall hard for them too)

Sorry this turned out so long I was rambling. Hope u have a good day/night!🩷🩷

yaaay this is so exciting 🫶🏻 jikjin and darari are so valid i rly think that comeback got a lot of people's attention bc it was so strong! hyunsuk and yoshi are such a pair, i feel like if you bias one you kind of end up biasing the other 😂 they're both really soft and sweet but yoshi is also lowkey playful / an unexpected menace haha. this will be long so i'll put my ramblings under the cut 🤩

there is sooo much i love about trejo but i think a major thing is that i actually love their entire discography, like i do not think they have a single bad song. i'm mainly a b-side enthusiast (u, volkno, come to me, darari rock remix, be with me ...) but my favorite title has always been 'i love you' which is what initially got me into them; i saw the music video and it felt like it was tailored to my tastes with the bright colors, aesthetic sets and the more refreshing concept, they just looked like they were having so much fun. after that, it was over for me lol i watched everything i could get my hands on, including all of treasure map, which i always recommend to new teumes if you have time to just watch from the beginning because you really get to know them and see how much their relationships grow over time. but if i had to recommend just a couple episodes my favorite of all time is 30-31 it is PEAK treasure silly chaos. sadly, we did lose 2 members this last year but mashiho and yedam are back on instagram and working on their own projects so we're all just waiting to see what they'll do next, and supporting the group as a 10 piece!

i love that the members who are interested in it have opportunities to be part of the writing and production; and ones who aren't ready for that at the official album level still get chances to practice on their own. y/g may give me a headache 99% of the time but it's clear that they foster their idols as artists and i really appreciate that. asahi especially does a lot w this, he's behind 'orange' and 'thank you' ; and rap line also does quite a bit of writing, i rly think volkno is some of their absolute best work and you can hear how much influence they pull from iconic artists. treasure in particular is also first and foremost a performance team - so the focus was to have a balanced lineup that can really put on a show. hands down this group is top of 4th gen performancewise, their stage presence and command is INSANE especially given that they had a pandemic debut. i highly recommend checking out any of their end of year show stages if you haven't - even their early ones - but particularly 2022 mama , & their GDA performance is of all the songs you have saved !

as for my favorite members, i think everyone knows jaehyuk has my heart but actually my first treasure ult is jihoon 💖 i could talk about them for a zillion years so i won't go on that rant in this response lol but i do love all the members and i think what i really like about large groups (and why i keep ending up stanning them lol) is that you get to see a lot of different relationship dynamics, it's i think a lot harder to fake a 'we're all best friends' narrative in a big group and i appreciate that because i don't buy that all (or even most) groups are all best friends lol it's not realistic. i'd rather see a group that works well as a team and treasure is definitely that, they see themselves that way and you can tell by how they treat each other and work together that there's a ton of love and respect and yes, a lot of real friendships there. and they ARE goofy hehe. anyways ... i think that's a good start LOL i hope it is i really just kind of went into rant mode so i hope i didn't bore you and that you might find some helpful stuff in here 🥰

[cigarettes-can-solve-everything]

my opinions about all the peaky women

• polly gray

is the woman i respect the entire serie. she speaks wise words, knows how to handle, strong woman, can see your future with one eye. you don't want to fight with her she always find a way to win. however she will be in fight with herself in s6 for whos side she wil choose i believe she will be strong in this period. definitely she is a mother that everyone needs in life. love her respect her.

• ada shelby

at first i didn't like her in the beginning. she was in my eyes to obsessed with freddie that she forgets herself. but later she learns how to deal with it and became to a wise grown woman. perfectly has the best glow up than anyone. can say whatever to tommy and she is not afraid of it. fearless queen we stan.

• grace burgess

probably everyones favourite woman for tommy. what i like from her was her singing. quit remember me on tangled when she was singing in the pub. is smart to bc she found where the guns were. and she was the only one who could put a smile on tommys face. but i didn't like how she went married to another one while she is still in love with him. thats literally an exile she did to herself. but i shouldn't forget the fact she saved him so yeah i love her but not so much like everyone does.

• may carleton

the cutest of the cutest. literally did anything wrong except only loving tommy. she was the first i stanned. you can't say anything bad about her. she loved him even he said that he loved grace. i think that was real love. maybe i wrote 100000 tweets about she should must come in s6. but sadly after watching antonys interview i don't think they will put may back. sorry for the may stans. we can say there was a horse girl that came and went with style.

• tatiana petrovna

never understand why y'all love her. had i seen different scenes than you or are we watching the same serie? doubt in myself. never liked her. hmm she is a psycho the fact she used tommy when he was in the sadness of graces dead. yes i'm always here for strong woman but not in this way. but uh her mother seems the same so i can't blame her to much. y'all probably will hate me after this tweet.

• lizzie stark

i'ld like she divorce tommy and marry me. i'ld give everything she deserves. tommy don't deserve her. he is still in with grace and he doesn't see lizzies patienceful love. maybe john would treat her better if they married i could see that john literally loved her. but yeah she made a mistake but she learned about it and is now the queen of the shelbys. lizzies story is more like in real life. maybe thats why she is mostly acurated character to me. and i kinda want that she takes over the company bc why not. polly, ada and lizzie could do it. s6 could be a woman season and i hope anthony will give us this serve. for the ones who still refuse; its called lizzie supremacy people its lizzie world and you just live in it.

• jessie eden

the underrated woman of all. i do not love her but don't hate her. actually don't know what i should feel about her. all what i love from her is her voice nothing more. maybe if she had more screentime i'ld love her. she is cute but can't make it in the top category of the peaky woman.

• esme shelby

however it was first a forced marriage i think esme and john really loved each other. the cutest baby face she own. cute but stubborn to listen to tommy. don't have much to say more about her.

• linda shelby

is definitely a bitch. i still confused if she is good for arthur or not. maybe arthur doesn't deserve her bc she wanted arthur to be good. but she self isn't that angel. uhhh....

• gina gray

uhmm i can't say anything bc anya playing her. but she is an interesting character and something in me saids she uses michael so im so excited what her steps are. i need more to see what she is about to doing. all we know she is a danger for the shelbys. can't wait to s6.

[sapphicscholar]

Adored your post w/head scratching as a fight ender. Could you do a short with this idea for one of your pairings/groupings? Maybe Supercorp (thought I'm not sure what they'd fight about?) Maybe Kara tells Alex it works and she tries it with Director Sanvers on one of her gfs is just like o_O wat are you doing?

Hi, dear, I posted your chapter on AO3 here!

[Refers to this post: https://sapphicscholarwrites.tumblr.com/post/165150100055/catanacomics-times-i-want-you-to-scratch-my]

A/N: Because last time T on AO3 pointed out that I should let my girlfriend’s prompts skip the line (and she admitted that this anonymous prompt was actually hers submitted while I was down in the gym)…you get this fluffy fic faster than usual bc apparently I’m whipped (and may or may not have been promised head scratches in return for a fast turnaround)

So…the promised smutty chapter is coming in just a day or two, but that one required rewatching JDT’s “Pony” dance a few times…for research, obviously for research (very professional and such)

Chapter Text

“Your feet are so cold,” Kara huffed as Alex wriggled her toes under Kara’s legs. The cold didn’t affect her, but she wouldn’t be a good little sister if she didn’t complain.

“Shh, you’re a human furnace. Just warm them up for one minute?”

“Ugh, fine,” Kara relented, stealing back the carton of ice cream from Alex in retaliation. Now that they were caught up on Homeland she could devote all of her attention to finding the brownie bites still left in the carton. “So how are the girlfriends?” she asked between mouthfuls of chewy brownie.

“Good, good. All the performance evaluations at the DEO are due next week, so Lucy’s been a little…snippy recently. But it’s fine; we know it’ll be over soon enough.”

“Oh gosh, you know what is, like, a guaranteed way to end fights with your girlfriend?”

“Wait, are you admitting that you and Lena fight?” Alex gasped. Kara always gave her such shit for how much she and Maggie and Lucy bickered. It was, for the most part, fairly good-natured, their own way of showing each other that they cared without being overly sentimental about it. But next to Kara and Lena, who seemed to play the part of the perfect, well-mannered couple…well, the contrast became a bit obvious.

“I wouldn’t call it fighting…”

“But you just did.”

“Hmm, I’m choosing to remove myself from this narrative.”

Rolling her eyes, Alex figured she might as well forge ahead: “Did you fight about kale? Did you tell her you got her a green juice and then hand her a mint chocolate chip ice cream shake again?”

“That was one time!” Kara huffed. “How was I supposed to know someone would be excited about drinking something made of kale and broccoli and cucumbers?” She shuddered at the memory of being forced to try one. Lena might have been able to get her to enjoy sweet potato fries, but the rest was a step too far.

“Yes, yes, so are you going to tell me about this miracle cure for fighting or will I only learn after three easy payments of $29.99?”

“You’re so funny,” Kara deadpanned. “But since you’re my sister…I guess I can tell you even though you’re rude.”

“You love me.”

“Despite the rudeness.”

“Definitely because of it.”

“This is why you bicker so much with your girlfriends.”

“Eh,” Alex shrugged. “We work.”

“Yes, yes, you’re all very cute together, even with the sarcastic comments and short jokes.”

“Thank you. Now tell me your magic trick.”

“Head scratches.”

“Excuse me? They’re not dogs.”

“I’m not suggesting you scratch their ears, Alex,” Kara huffed. “C’mon, remember when I was first getting used to being close to people and you would tickle my back?”

“Yeah, I’m not saying it’s not nice! I’m just saying, it’s something you do when you’re already all in a good mood together, like if you’re cuddling to watch a movie or go to bed or something.” Alex shook her head at just how far she’d come. If someone asked her a year or two ago where her life might be today, her answer would probably have involved a lot about the DEO, a few references to time spent with Kara, maybe some of Kara’s friends too. But to think that she’d have a girlfriend? That she’d have two girlfriends? That she would have learned to not simply tolerate intimacy but to crave it, even in the most banal of circumstances—a simple touch of hands while walking down the street, an arm looped around her waist while she poured her coffee, two quick kisses before they all headed out each morning for dangerous jobs—well, that would have been simply unthinkable.

“No, I get it, but trust me, it works! It was like a pause button or something. We were sitting next to each other, and she was a bit annoyed because I maybe…well, it doesn’t matter.”

“What’d you do?” Alex asked, narrowing her eyes as she tried to figure out exactly which of Kara’s guilty looks was playing about her face today. It didn’t look like the “I forgot my strength and broke something expensive look,” especially since Lena was rarely mad about things that were replaceable. It was sort of close to her “I ate the last of something delicious and feel bad because someone was mad but not bad enough to regret my choices” look, but something was…off about it.

“Um, I ripped her bra in half…for the third day in a row.”

“Ah,” Alex sighed, rolling her eyes and feeling rather lucky that the only time she’d had to repair any clothing after sex was once when Maggie had overenthusiastically ripped at a silk blouse, popping off half the buttons. “So she was mad but not that mad.”

“Oh…no, she was pretty mad. Did you know she only wears La Perla? And holy cow, Alex, have you seen how much they charge for a pair of underwear? It’s like…like, they better be made of gold or something! Or bulletproof. Or really comfortable…”

“Okay, okay, so moderately mad,” Alex conceded.

“Anyway, we were sitting next to each other on the couch, and she was venting, and I just leaned over and started running my fingers through her hair because I know she likes it. And suddenly…poof, the conversation just stopped! She sort of closed her eyes and relaxed and it was like she couldn’t even remember why she was mad.”

“And you don’t think that’s…bad for your relationship do you?”

“No, I mean, it’s not like with Mon-El, if that’s what you’re asking. Because I still remember why she was mad, and I know to be better going forward. But I didn’t have to hear the lecture, and I made her happy, so win-win!”

“Huh…I don’t know.”

“Trust me!”

—

And Alex figured it wouldn’t hurt to try Kara’s advice. After all, this was hardly a fight worth having. Lucy was just in a bad mood because several departments were late about turning in their performance reviews, so she’d been stuck at the office far too long after skipping her lunch break for a meeting, and she’d taken it out on her girlfriends, snapping at them for being distracting when she needed to work from home because there “aren’t enough hours in the day, and you two don’t have to be so loud when you make out!”

So Alex slipped in behind Lucy at her desk and apologized in a soft whisper, careful not to disturb her anymore. But while Lucy continued ranting about incompetence and no one letting her get any work done in the office or at home, Alex leaned forward and ran her fingers through Lucy’s hair, scratching lightly the way she knew Lucy liked when she curled up on the couch, her head in Alex’s lap and her hands resting on Maggie’s thighs.

“What the fuck?” Lucy asked, admittedly getting sufficiently distracted to stop muttering about how loud her girlfriends were.

“Um…is this not helping?”

“Helping what? You’re just messing up my hair.”

“Oh, I, uh, I thought it would help you relax…”

“Why would that be?”

“Ooh do mine instead!” Maggie yelled from across the apartment, bouncing slightly on their bed as she grinned at Alex. “If she doesn’t appreciate it, she shouldn’t get to enjoy your magic hands.”

“I didn’t say I don’t enjoy Alex’s hands,” Lucy huffed, “but they were a surprise.”

“Yeah, right, sorry,” Alex mumbled, quickly extracting her hands and going back over to the bedroom where Maggie had now sprawled across the bed face-down, her shirt hiked up so that Alex could tickle her back. “One sec, okay?” Alex whispered to Maggie, pulling out her phone and sending a quick text to Kara: “Your trick does NOT work!”

She was too frustrated to reply when Kara sent back: “Works like a charm whenever Lena is mad. I’m sticking by it. Maybe you did it wrong?”

—

The following Sunday, after the performance reviews had finally all been submitted and Lucy had gotten to sleep in late two days in a row, things felt like they were finally back to normal—at least close enough to normal that Alex was looking forward to having Kara and Lena over for brunch, rather than dreading how much time Lucy would lose with it.

But, of course, she should have suspected that things were going too well. And she absolutely should have recognized the mischievous glint in Lena’s eyes when she turned to look at the Danvers sisters sitting side-by-side on one side of the table. “So,” she began, a smirk playing about her lips, “I hear you two have some trick for soothing your girlfriends. Care to share with the class?”

“What’s this, Danvers?” Maggie asked, not even bothering to hide her grin.

“I don’t have any tricks,” Alex huffed. “Kara does.”

“Way to throw me under the bus!” Kara pouted.

“It’d hurt the bus more than it’d hurt you,” Alex countered.

“So what is it the great Kara Danvers does to put Lena in a good mood?” Maggie asked, looking at the blushing blonde.

“I mean, I think we all know the answer to that one…” Lucy trailed off, figuring she would stay on her best manners and not point out the obvious today.

“It’s not that! No, I just…first of all, how do you know?” Kara asked, turning to look at Lena.

“You literally texted Alex about a magic trick that you do whenever I’m angry.”

“Oh.” Kara fidgeted, playing with her glasses and trying to look innocent. “It’s nothing really…it’s just, you know, when you’re mad, sometimes it helps if I scratch your head.”

“Oh my god, is that what you were doing?” Lucy asked with a laugh, thinking back to how startled Alex had been when she called her out on it.

“Maybe…”

“Ooh, try it on me next!” Maggie called out, raising her hand up and volunteering.

“You’re not mad?” Alex checked. She’d worried a bit that it might sound deceitful. “Any of you?” She turned to look at Lena.

“No,” Lena assured her. “It’s part of being in a relationship. You figure out the little, easy ways to put your partner in a better mood, and they end up being the easiest ways to end the fights that don’t matter as much.”

“Wait…what do you do for me?” Kara asked suddenly looking curious.

Lena just laughed and shook her head. “A good magician never reveals her tricks.”

While they were cleaning up, though, Maggie sidled up to Lena at the sink. “It’s food, right?”

“Duh.”

[artlessictoan]

Also, Smoke Into The Sand w/ 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15! OoO As a side-note I haven't read this yet (SHAME ON ME BC I WANNA) and i'm SUPER interested in it!

asdfjskdjskdjfsk this is gonna get long fukc

What inspired you to write the fic this way?

my main goal with sits was to make it read like an old myth or storybook, an old tale that would be passed down for generations, the majority of the fic is written in that style exactly, but the overall story definitely is (and it does come through a bit more in how the backstory is told and some of the more important scenes)

that said, the main narrative is written much more slice-of-life-y, one of my biggest inspirations for this fic is the manga monogatari (bride’s story), it’s a really nice series that explores the daily life of people in various areas along the silk road, it has that simple, everyday life feel that i love and really wanted to write into sits! that’s where the random details about desert living and the tribe’s lifestyle come in (warning for anyone who might want to check out mono though: it does have an arranged marriage between a 20 yr old woman and a 12 yr old boy, it’s being played as a more platonic/familial relationship thus far but i can totally understand why it would put people off, so just a heads-up before anyone jumps in)

What scene did you first put down?

the first scene i actually started writing was the very first scene! but the very first scene, the one that spawned this entire fic i haven’t actually gotten to yet, it’s gonna be v near the end and i’m dying to finally reveal it because it’s gonna be Big.. but i shalln’t spoil it here, just something for my readers to look forwards to

What’s your favorite line of narration?

ok so like i said i’m shit at remembering any of what i write and it’s a bit more than just a line but fuck it:

Gaara froze, in fact, everything did. The soft whistling ofthe wind cut off into eerie silence, the constantly shifting sand stopped witha suddenness that was entirely unnatural, Naruto glanced away for a second andsaw that some grains were being held in the air, perfectly still. He turned hisgaze back to the spirit before him, his expression hadn’t changed at all, hewas still glaring, but his eyes were unfocussed, like they weren’t reallylooking at him.

Naruto was too scared to move, to speak; hecould only stare and pray that he hadn’t just sealed his own death warrant.

What’s your favorite line of dialogue?

again, not a line, but i really love this exchange between nart and ameno so effing much:

“So mature… You’re growing up too fast, how am I ever goingto keep up?” she asked, mostly to herself judging from the distant look on herface.

He slowly drew his hand back once her face wasdry and gave her a confused look. “You won’t have to; I’ll just carry you withme.

What part was hardest to write?

well i might just be saying this cause it’s the most recent struggle i faced (among many) but the chapter six reALLY killed me. trying to find the right way to describe the exhaustion and constant fear took many, many weeks and i’m still not sure i really nailed it (hopefully something i’ll be able to fix in the next chap)

What makes this fic special or different from all your other fics?

other than being the first multi-chap fic i’ve ever written, this is actually one of my oldest fic ideas ever, seriously it’s been kicking around in my head for a good five years or so now so there’s that

it also happens to contain basically All of my Special Interests; naruto, deserts, nomadic culture, boring minutia, swords.... honestly the only thing it’s missing is cats (though i’m sure i can find some way to work them in too..)

and, honestly, this is kinda my magnum opus? or at least that’s how i’ve always thought of it, i had actually planned to not start writing it until i’d already done a few other fics because i wanted to make sure my writing skill was at its best before starting such an ambitious fic.. yeah that didn’t happen, but i think that’s actually worked out alright, jumping in with a harder fic right at the start of my writing ‘career’ has been a bit of a crash-course and taught me a heck of a lot, i still think it’s gonna be one of the best things i ever write though. it just has a very special place in my heart

Where did the title come from?

well tbh i’m kinda shit at titles, so i usually just hunt through the first chap looking for any particularly poetic-sounding line that would work (though in this case it does have a nice little easter egg, since in arab folklore jinn are made of smoke!)

Did any real people or events inspire any part of it?

hmm not really? the whole thing is meant to be very fantastical and unreal (despite all the slice-of-life stuff), the only real-world insp comes from my research into bedouin lifestyle and such

What do you like best about this fic?

gaara! i mean ofc i like him in anything but this version of gaa - silent, detached, barely human, incredibly complex - is one of my faves and he’s really fun to write, we’ll be finding out more about him as the fic goes on and when we do it’ll make his actions before now both more understandable and less at the same time (he’s quite the paradox)

What do you like least about this fic?

the inconsistency. i feel like i must’ve gone through about ten different writing styles throughout the course of it and it bothers me that i haven’t quite got that storybook feel i was always aiming for, i’ll probably do a rewrite when i’ve got more experience under my belt and try to make the whole thing a bit more cohesive

What music did you listen to, if any, to get in the mood for writing this story? Or if you didn’t listen to anything, what do you think readers should listen to to accompany us while reading?

as with btc, i mostly listen to soundtracks, since songs with lyrics really distract me when writing, since i like to try and match the music i listen to to the setting/tone of what i’m writing i try to listen to classical middle-eastern music (though i’ve had a hard time finding many albums of just instrumental stuff, if anyone has any recs i’d love you forever!)

in addition to that there’s the soundtracks of Journey, Bastion, Dreamfall Chapters and the Prince of Persia games and for instrumental artists i really like Break of Reality and Tina Guo for sits insp!

Is there anything you wanted readers to learn from reading this fic?What did you learn from writing this fic?

hmm, well i’d love it if people learned a bit more about the cultures i’m writing about (and i’d like to learn more of that too tbh, i’m still finding out new things that i actually got wrong earlier on in the fic), maybe even get interested enough to go looking for more info themselves, because there’s a lot of stuff that i simply won’t be able to go into much detail about

as for myself, well ^that and also it’s just been a rEALLY good experience in so many small ways - writing longer fics, writing in general, character interaction, introspection, action, plotting, description, suspense, mystery..... i could go on but yeah, basically it’s helped me grow as an author in Every Single Way and i’m sure it’ll help ever more before it’s done!