#debating whether or not to tag everybody

[thesmallmeggles]

Credit to @psychangels for this Tiermaker list

//Image Description: a Tiermaker list. Top row box reads "What's Your Body Count?" + Logo.

Second row box reads: Assumes You're Talking About Lovers. In Category: Peppermint, Macaron, and Mimosa

Third row box reads: Assumes You're Talking About Murder. In Category: QA-1MIL, Kale, and Rekka

Fourth row box reads: "I Only Have One Body?" In Category: Chai, CNMN, and Korsica

Fifth row box reads: Says "30" But Doesn't Elaborate. In Category: Zanzo and Roxanne

Last row bow reads: *Confused Shape Shifter Noises* In Category: Roquefort//

[neoluca]

My year in review!! I tried to do a lot of different things this year, and I feel like I drew a lot more than in previous years 💛 I hope you'll all stay tuned for next year as well :3

Template made by HaruRyomaru86 on deviantart: (x)

id also like to invite @loupgawou @pinksthetics @staryanna @skunkes @aishashopkeeper @synthaphone @illegaltruffle @boredchanty to do the same if you haven't already!! id really love to see everything you've all done as well 🥰 (and if you have done one already link me to it please!!!)

[elisysd]

3. Wonder why you took a risk on a broken heart you cannot fix

Masterlist - Previously - Next

Chapter soundtrack: Purple Irises - Gwen Stefani, Blake Shelton 

Another DNF. On a track he loved and had witnessed him achieving great performances. But now, being out after not even a corner, it was painful. He knew he couldn’t have done anything to avoid it but still, it was a bitter feeling. And a feeling that didn’t go away when he saw you waiting for him, your mic ready. He hadn’t talked to you ever since that day at the restaurant, didn’t ask for your number, didn’t ask for your social media, didn’t ask for anything and a part of him regretted it. Kind of. He had promised to show you not everyone was untrustworthy but didn’t even think to ask for a means to contact you. He knew it was stupid but he hated empty promises. He was man of his word and to think he could let you down like everybody else was unsettling for him. 

He moved to you, Silvia by his side and gulped, bracing himself for a petty question that surprisingly didn’t come through.

“A very sad day for you Charles, can you tell us what happened with Lance?”

“I don’t know, I haven’t been able to watch the images yet but I guess he thought he had space and clearly, it was not the case.”

“Two DNF in three races, it’s not the start of the season you hoped it would be. What are your plans for now?”

“See what went wrong and try to learn from it with the team. That’s the best we can do and we will come back stronger next time.”

“Thank you Charles.”

As she was cutting her microphone he saw you looking at him.

“I’m sorry about the race. Truly.”

“No teasing this time?” he asked, surprised.

“I’m not a heartless monster.” you replied as Silvia pushed him to go talk to other media.

The meeting with her team went nice. They talked a bit about race, debriefing each other's interventions of the day and looked at what they should have done better. You were happy when Marion told you that you had improved, your questions sharper and more precise, and happy, you had decided to wander the paddock in search of new information or to meet interesting new people. That is something you’ve always liked to do, hanging out somewhere to get the atmosphere and to have conversations with people who could provide you with new enlightenments about contracts, performances or any changes inside the teams. You had learned it while being in New-York, during one of your internships while you were covering  basketball games where your boss had told you to let your ears wander. A few words that you were clinging onto. Near the Mercedes hospitality, you had not expected to run into Mick who was coming out of it, a bottle of water in his hands. Out of habits you smiled at him, giving him a little nod which he took as an invitation to talk to you.

“Hey! I saw you around, right? The new interviewer for French TV?”

“That should be me, yes. Y/N, nice to meet you.” you greet him.

You found it surprisingly easy to talk to Mick. The discussion flowed, laughter could be heard from the other side of the paddock and soon the sun was setting. He was friendly, caring, and offered her to sit somewhere so they didn’t have to stand in the middle of the way.

“You know, I’m going to a bowling place tonight with some friends. Do you want to tag along?”

“I don’t know. I’m not sure it’s very professional of me.” 

“No pressure, of course. The offer stands but we all need to let go from time to time.” he added, winking at you before leaving.

You spent another half an hour debating with yourself on whether or not you should go. You could use some friends for sure, and Mick is not a bad guy, you know it.  He doesn’t have any hidden agenda behind his kindness, he just genuinely wants to get to know you and be your friend. And you saw how some journalists are buddy-buddy with the drivers, including in your own team. So why couldn’t you? You took a deep breath and decided that for once, you would have fun. And it had been a while since you had gone to a bowling area. You quickly went back to your hotel room to change into more comfortable clothes and you met Mick there. You recognised Esteban there as well and you were not surprised, you knew the two drivers were closed. 

You had fun. More fun than what you expected coming here. You sucked at bowling but it didn’t stop you from laughing. You also enjoyed Esteban’s calm confidence and how laid back he was. You told him you felt sorry about his crash with Pierre, Alpine could have realized something amazing out there.

“I know, I’m gutted. It’s not the start of the season we hoped it would be, for sure. But the season is long, so we have time to improve.”

“I’m sure it will keep on being better, Esteban. Trust your team.” Mick said, coming to them, a grin on his face. He sat down next to you before turning his head in your direction. “I’m glad you decided to come. I wasn’t sure you would.”

“I’m happy I did, it’s been a while since I’ve felt this relaxed.” you confessed. “I don’t have many friends, I’m not good at making connections.”

“Well you have us, now.” Mick shrugged.

“Aren’t you afraid that I’ll betray you?”

“Do you intend to?”

“No.” you admitted after a few seconds.

“Then it’s all good.” he smiled.

“You trust people easily, you know. A little too easily.”

“A few years ago, I wasn’t like that. I was doubting everyone and everything. I thought people only wanted to be around me because of my dad and not because of me. And then I decided to stop caring because usually those people end up leaving at the first obstacle. It’s better to give people a chance than being closed off. My friends are basically my second family, my home away from home. I’m a family guy, it’s tough for me to be away from them, so that’s why my friends are so important.”

“I’m not that close to my family.” you confessed and your heart wrenched at the thought.

“Because of your job?”

“That and I made a few mistakes in the past that really altered our relationship. And a lot of regrets, mostly about my brother. When you’re halfway across the world, it’s tough to be there when he needs you most. I should have been there for him.”

“It’s never too late to fix things.”

You gave him a sad smile and a shrug. You don’t want to bother him with your complicated family’s stories. And frankly, you don’t want to think about them.

“I understand you know, the regrets. I have so many when I think about my dad. I’ve never told him I loved him enough,  I should have told him everyday. I even regret things that are so far ahead in the future, like my wedding, my first kid… I often think about how he won’t be completely there to see all of that.” he bitterly said. 

“At least he is there. Even if it’s not how you want it.”

“I guess.”

When you ended up leaving, after this very heartfelt conversation, you felt somehow relieved. Maybe he was right, you didn’t have to assume the worst about people. You took your phone out of your pocket and looked at your lock screen. A picture of you and your brother. You smiled tenderly, you missed him. 

Coming back to Paris and to your flat felt weird after such magical weeks. The gloomy weather made you regret the sun on your skin and you definitely didn’t miss the messy public transportation. Your days were filled with preparing the next races, organizing a few livestreams here and there where you invited fans to talk about the first few races of the season. And thanks to your connection at Alpine and the good relationship you had started to build with the drivers you even managed to get an interview from Pierre where you get to talk about his first weeks in his new team. It had been a nice and chill discussion more than an interview and you were happy to see that people had liked the concept and hoped you would keep it going with other people.

Despite how happy you were feeling about your week, it had still been a busy one and you couldn’t wait to go home and hop in your shower to relax before going out again to meet your best friend in a nice parisian restaurant. You arrived earlier than her and got to your table as the waiter gave you the menu and asked if you wanted to drink something. You ordered a Martini and started to wait for her, scrolling on your phone to pass the time. But as if fate had decided to play with you tonight, right when you decided to lift your chin, you saw him entering the restaurant. Charles Leclerc. And in good company if you could judge by the brunette walking right behind him. A date you thought to yourself. You unconsciously sat further down in your seat in hope he wouldn’t recognise you. You couldn’t help but give him little glances, your curiosity getting the best out of you. It didn’t last long, though, as your friend soon arrived and Charles wasn’t in your mind anymore.

“You have so many things to tell me and I have so many questions for you!”

You laughed. She has always been your number one supporter no matter what you were going through in your life. You didn’t expect anything else from her. Happily, you told her everything, even the slightest detail.

“So, who is the hottest? And is there anyone who is single?” she whispered to you as if you were both part of a gigantic conspiracy.

“I don’t know, I don’t really think about it. And I don’t have the mental space for that.”

She knew what you were implying. She knew all too well. She put a hand on yours and squeezed it gently before diverting the discussion to a lighter topic. The conversation flowed until your friend received a call. She quickly apologized to take it in a quieter space and came back a few minutes later, biting her lip, visibly worried.

“I got a call from my mom… my grandmother fell at home and she hit her head. She is at the hospital… I’m sorry I have to cut our dinner short, but…”

“Dont. I understand. Go.” you reassured her as she threw her arms around you and kissed your cheek before making her way out.

He was fed up. Clearly, he was not having the time of his life. The girl right in front of him had been sent by Ferrari and Silvia in another attempt to set him up with someone. No pressure, she had told him, she just wanted him to meet her and who knows? Maybe they would hit it off. And if it wasn’t the case, then she would leave him alone. For now. So he had agreed, a few weeks of peace seemed like a good option.

But he was bored out of his mind. The girl, who seemed nice, he had nothing against her, was agreeing to everything he was saying and was waiting for him to hold the conversation. He hated that. He needed someone who could challenge him, someone who didn’t care about who he was and clearly the brunette in front of him wasn’t what he wanted. They weren’t even at the main course that she had already mentioned the growth of her following and the new opportunities being seen with him would bring her, if they decided to date. He hated it. And he didn’t intend to spend one more minute in her presence. When the waiter came to take their order, he looked him straight in the eyes.

“You know, come to think of it, I’m not hungry. Can I have the bill instead?”

He knew it was a dick move, and if his mother would hear of it she would most certainly give him an earful. But it would still be more enjoyable than sitting there. He apologized, quickly made sure that the girl knew he had no interest in going out with her another day and made his way out to pay. That’s when he noticed you, alone, sipping on your drink. He could laugh. Out of all places, he had to cross your path. As if acting on their own, his feet carried him to your table.

“Fancy, seeing you here.” he said, making you look up. He expected to see a surprised look on your face but it wasn’t the case. You didn’t take your eyes off of him, making him slightly uncomfortable. “What are you doing here, all alone? A date who hasn’t shown up?”

“I was supposed to meet my friend but she couldn’t stay for long, an emergency came up. So here I am, sipping my drink, alone. It’s okay. I’m enjoying my very own company. And that very tasteful assortment of pastries. I most likely won’t be able to eat that alone, though.” you shrugged, putting a piece of chocolate cake in your mouth.

“You know, I’m in a mood for sweet… care to share?”

You were about to offer him to sit with you when he quickly recalled that his date was still there.

“Actually, would you mind getting a doggy bag and going elsewhere to eat? I kind of want to get the hell out of here.”

“Your date wasn’t that good, I assume then.” you said as a matter of fact.

“How did you…”

“I have eyes. I saw you.”

“You saw me…” he repeated, wiggling his eyebrows.

“I was facing the door.”

And suddenly he felt stupid about trying to see a deeper meaning in her words than what she intended to.

Out of the restaurant, they both wandered along the docks, enjoying the fresh air and the almost empty streets, the bag of cakes between them as they were sharing in a natural way. Almost as if they had done it all their life. Charles told her all about his very bad date and enjoyed making her laugh.

“Glad to see my very poor and inexistent love life is entertaining.” he smiled.

“It really is. I mean, look at you. You have the fame, the money, the good looks you could have anyone you wanted and here you are, having the exact same issues as us common people.”

“Believe it or not, but dating has become harder and harder the more famous I become. Whatever that means. We are all searching for the same thing, at the end of the day and famous or not. We want someone to complete us. Someone we feel good with.”

“Yeah, it’s not easy to find.”

“Clearly not.”

They kept walking in silence, enjoying each other’s company.

“I’m shocked you don’t try to pry or snoop around. You could ask so many questions about the season and try to get insides… but you don’t. Why?”

“I’m outside of my job hours. Right now, I’m just Y/N and not Y/N the very insufferable journalist. And you hate my questions, it’s me who should be shocked that you want to hear them.”

“I don’t hate them, I just don’t understand why I seem to be the only one to be on the receiving end of your bluntness. Every freaking time.” he defended himself.

You let out a sigh.

“They are legitimate questions and they are always validated by the team before being asked, if something was out of line they would tell me and I wouldn’t ask them.” you simply said.

Charles felt that there must be something else, something she wasn’t saying but they didn’t know each other well enough for him to dare ask her. From the corner of his eye, he saw her repressing a yawn.

“It’s late, do you need someone to drive you back home safely?” he asked.

“No.” she immediately said. “I mean, it’s kind of you, really. This whole hour talking felt nice but I’m not sure it’s something that should have happened. I know I can make friends with drivers, and some journalists do it, but I don't think I can, personally. That’s just not how it works for me. It would make my job harder and I need a clear mind to focus.” you tried to explain, perfectly aware of how hypocritical you sound.

“Do you say the same things to all drivers or do I receive special treatment?”

You opened and closed your mouth. You didn’t want to lie to him and somehow he read it in your eyes that it’s not that you didn’t want to have friends among the drivers. You just didn’t want to be his friend. And somehow it hurt more than what he expected.

Author's note: Happy first GP of the season! To celebrate it, here's the new chapter! I hope you liked it.

Don't hesitate to leave a comment or an ask, as well as reblogging and leaving a like. Besides the fact that I absolutely love to read you, it helps a lot for the story to find its audience. I also have a taglist for this story, so if you want to be added so you never miss a chapter, let me know.

If you wanna be part of the taglist, let me know.

Taglist: @itsjustkhaos @thirstylion @cmleitora @charizznorizz @sltwins @boherahpsody @herondalism

[swiftllama]

September Compliments ☀️🔍

[Compliments Masterlist]

Hey guys! Back for another month! A month of a lot of small compliments sprinkled throughout this time around, but we still got quite a few full-on great complimentary moments. One in particular was very special 🥰

So let's get into it...

September 2023

Thinking OUTSIDE The Box (Herd Mentality)

Right off the bat, first day of the month, we got a Games video, and this video actually started off a theme throughout this month. The boys were in quite a few videos where they were playing games this month and were either competing against or working as a team so we got a lot of them complimenting each other on a job well down, plus the bestie-ism was shining through :-

Q: 'Name a brand beginning with an A’

Anthony: "I went to clothing for some reason."

lan: "Oh then I know what you did then."

Anthony: "Do you?'

lan: "You went to clothing.”

~

Anthony: "I put American Eagle. I'm thinking mall culture."

lan: [nodding] “I was thinking- I actually thought you'd either put American Eagle or All Saints."

-

Q: 'Name an animal beginning with a P’

lan: "I'm giggling [at his answer]."

Anthony: "I think I know why you're giggling.”

~

lan: "I put p**sy!"

Anthony: "I knnnew."

-

Anthony: "Did you [lan] just win?"

lan: "Oh!'

Anthony: "That's a win!" [cheering and clapping] "Yoooo! Because the nose [lan's answer for that round] knows!'

-

Q: 'Out of all the animals in the world, which is the cutest?'

lan: "I said cat."

Anthony: "I said kitten."

[everyone debating whether it counts as the same animal]

Anthony: "Also Ian," [shows him his card] "I wrote cat and crossed it out. I almost wrote it."

-

Q: 'Who is the toughest Disney princess?'

lan: "I did, I think her name is Merida?"

Anthony: "I put the one from Brave."

lan: "Oh!"

Anthony: "Yeah!"

I actually made a post of this moment because it was so cute! How excited they were they had the same answer and also Anthony's little tap dance when he realises 😊

l also loved Angela pointing it out :-

Angela: "Wait, that was so cool that you both said that really random one."

Chanse: "That is fun. Yeah."

Anthony: "Yeah."

lan: "She's tough."

Anthony: "But isn't she- she's like an archer."

Angela: "Sure, but like nobody talks about that movie."

Jackie: "I thought of it too, but I was like 'That's too much of a deep cut.'"

What did I say about the bestie-ism shining through? 🥰

-

lan: "Hey everybody. Here's a good one, Anthony I feel like you and I are gonna be aligned on this one."

Q: 'Name a rapper'

~

lan: "I said Drake."

Anthony: "I wrote Snoop Dogg."

So obviously not the same answer but very cute how lan thought they would be on the same wavelength and he gives the reason as to why he thought that :-

lan: "So Anthony and I played a, we played a fun little game yesterday, where we went on Spotify and we were trying to guess who were the top artists, because it ranks them-"

Literally awing out loud! the fact they were just playing that game together, it wasn't for a video or anything, just something they were doing together in their free time 🥹

Bonus - HELP! I became an NPC!

So this next moment doesn't really fall under the 'compliment' umbrella, but it is something that has become a sub-genre of these posts - is the 'daddy’ thing. Yep, you guessed it folks, Anthony was at it once again. Although, like in the 'You Posted That' episode, he's switching it up and now he's referring to himself as 'daddy’ :-

Anthony: [face appearing as if through a phone screen like in the main sketch]

lan: [pretends to put his fingers up Anthony's nose and then into his mouth]

Anthony: "Ooooh, daddy like."

Why are they like this 🤦‍♀️

Also I think @lilac-hecox & @only-frann summed up a perfect description of this Compliments Series :-

Hope you guys don't mind me tagging you, but this is literally what this series is 😄

Anyways, that was just a jokey little one, but as I said, it's now a 'thing' of these posts so I couldn't not include it.

Moving on...

We Already Regret This Embarrassing Photoshoot ft. Smosh

The boys went back on Good Mythical Morning for the first time in almost 8 years, and although this time around we didn't get any frosting foot massages or Titanic re-enactments there was a few compliment-adjacent moments :-

Link: [talking about the photo they had to re-create] "And lan, I gotta give it to you, man. You remembered a lot."

Anthony: "He did! The glasses. The shirt."

-

Anthony: "I'm feeling good about that one [their photo]."

lan: "I'm feeling good."

And then we got one of their high-five/hand-grip moments that they do a lot.

-

[lan and Anthony announced as the winners]

Anthony: "Yeeeah!'

Another high-five, of course

Anthony: "Yeah! Let's go!'

They just absolutely live for congratulating each other on anything and everything now and it's very sweet. And there's more to come!

Food Battle 2011 - Flashback w/ Smosh

As they're rewatching Food Battle 2011, lan points out in one of the shots how his cross-country team photo can be seen in the background :-

Anthony: "That's you lined up with all the cross-country... pals.

Oop was that jealous!anthony shining through a little there 🫢

lan: [laughs] "Pals."

Anthony: "Backlit. Looking epic."

So again, just another small little compliment, but lan's cross-country/running is brought up again and praised/complimented by Anthony in...

HELP! I became an NPC! Watch Party

[discussing how American sports are confusing]

Anthony: "I feel like Smosh and sports just don't mix in my brain."

lan: [laughs] “What sport do you think that aligns the most with Smosh?"

They go through multiple silly suggestions between the two of them and ones they read from the chat, before lan suggests :-

lan: “I feel like, and it's probably just because I did it, but cross-country. Smosh is cross-country."

Anthony: "Just cause you're part of Smosh and you did it?"

lan: "And you just keep going, and you just keep going. Just keep running."

Anthony: "Is that how you felt doing Smosh even when I left?"

lan: “Yeah. Like just gotta keep going. Just one more mile. One more mile."

Oh lan 🥺 I just had to pause to react to that before I get to the complimentary part of this conversation, but that's so sad. But also a perfect description of what I imagine it was like for him during those times when Anthony was gone. Having to remind himself to just keep going and pushing forward regardless.

Anthony: "What was your longest run?"

lan: "I did a marathon."

Anthony: “Yeah, I remember you ran past my street and I woke up bright and early, and I was like [pretends to be half asleep and waves].”

lan: [smiling] “Yeah, yeah I did."

Anthony: "How long was that run?"

lan: "26.2 miles."

Anthony: "Daaaamm, I didn't know [the] marathon was 26.2 miles, shiiiit.”

lan: “Yeah, and I averaged a little under an 8 minute mile.”

Anthony: “That is not bad. For 20 times 26?! That's good!"

So couple things to cover here!

1. Anthony waking up early to catch lan run by his street so he could wave to him CAN YOU HEAR ME CRYING 😭 that's the cutest thing ever!

2. Anthony saying how good of a time lan got in the marathon is so sweet. I live for Anthony bigging him up 🥹

Anthony's Birthday

This next lot I'd call complimentary-by-extension. Anthony's birthday rolled around and in typical lan fashion this was the birthday tweet we got from him :-

Oh lan, wouldn't expect anything else from you 😅

Thought that was going to be it but then Mr. Padilla came through for us! And this was the particularly special moment I mentioned in the beginning of this post. He made the post linked in the main header of this section, thanking everyone for the birthday wishes and said how it had been Mykie and his anniversary the week previous and how she took him to the Grand Canyon. The post was all photos of the two of them, but in amongst it all, he included this gem :-

lan 💛

Isn't this just the softest thing.

I mean...

1. We finally get to see lan interacting with Anthony's dogs 🙌 Also the fact you can tell how comfortable they must be around him given the fact she's laying on his chest quite content which means lan is around them often enough to have that bond with them 🥹

2. The fact they spent Anthony's birthday together after so many years of birthdays unshared & it also makes Ian's tweet funnier, like him being next to Anthony, realising people are probably expecting him to publicly wish him 'happy birthday’, him writing the most basic tweet with a low-quality gif, posting it, and then going right back to hanging out with Anthony 😆

Aaaaand…...

3. Probably the softest thing about this, and where I'm going to get a bit emotional writing/thinking about it because I have a lot of feelings about it, is the fact Anthony included that photo of lan within his birthday/anniversary post. It's just so unbelievably soft. I cannot get over it. There was was no mention of lan in the caption or anywhere else, it was all photos of Anthony and Mykie, but within it, this one little candid shot of lan. It's so special. And says a lot without explicitly saying anything at all. It's just like, 'here's a post of things that matter to me.’ I like to imagine Anthony choosing the photos for that post, and even with it being a birthday/anniversary post, he still made the conscious decision to include that photo of lan. Something he didn't need to do, the photo wasn't relevant to the post, and yet, he included it anyways. He wants people to know that's how he spent his birthday, with the people he loves most - he couldn't not include that photo of lan. And I think it comes back around to the fact he's just so happy to have lan in his life again and he'll take every opportunity to say/show it. I can picture him sitting there looking at lan laying on his floor across from him, his dog on lan's chest, and his heart just feeling so full and happy at the fact he has his best friend with him again when a year ago he didn't think this would ever be a reality for him again. It's just so, so special ❤️

Finishing off Anthony's birthday was something that came a few days after :-

Anthony's response to lan's birthday tweet ☺️

What I also love about this, is the fact that lan never tagged Anthony in his tweet and given it was a few days later that Anthony responded and by that point the tweet would have been buried in his timeline, and also that Anthony barely uses Twitter. Knowing all these things it's very likely that Anthony searched for lan's account for him to see that tweet 🥰

POKEMON ROOMMATE BATTLE Watch Party

In the BTS for the POKEMON ROOMMATE BATTLE sketch lan keeps getting distracted playing Pokémon for the whole shoot, eventually getting the gameboy taken off of him by Erin 😅 In this livestream they're watching the sketch and Anthony says :-

[scene where 'lazy lan' is sitting in the beanbag playing Pokémon not wanting to move]

Anthony: “This is actually what you were like on set that day cause you were just playing Pokémon the whole day."

lan: "Oh yeah, so we rented that prop from like a prop house."

Anthony: “The gameboy."

lan: "The gameboy. And it was working - it was full battery, Pokémon Red was in it, and I booted it up and was like ‘There's no way. No. No’. and I was just straight up playing Pokémon on and it was-"

Anthony: "Was it everything you remembered?"

lan: "It was sick, dude. It was fun. I was having fun. I was getting really distracted and it was not good for the shoot. But I think I got my Charmander to like level 11 or 12."

Anthony: "Yeah, you nailed it."

Just a cute little compliment I felt should be included 🙂 But sticking with the Pokémon theme, it leads me on to the next compliment...

‘I Choose You' Smosh Hat

Anthony posted this Instagram promoting the Smosh Pokémon-style hat they released as merch, but what stood out to a lot of us is his choice of the first photo + the caption :-

THE IMPLICATIONS! Him crowning lan with the hat and him saying ‘I choose you' 🥹 It reminds me of something I covered in my first Compliments post - the section covering the Smoshcast with Anthony and Shayne saying how they came back together and "choose to be best friends again" 💛🖤

Our Actual Worst Puns (Puns of Anarchy)

Another round of games and compliment-adjacent moments :-

Ian: [handing the cards out]

Anthony: "Oh, look at you. You're providing for your family.”

Just found this moment cute, Anthony referring to them as a family 🥹

[Jackie chooses Anthony's card and he reveals it's his]

Jackie: "I take it back."

Anthony: “I'm also 'Hand Solo' though, so [the other card Jackie was going to pick]?

Arasha: "I'm so pissed [because Anthony is winning]."

Ian: "Wow. Anthony's cleaning up” [claps]

-

[Round Category: Baby Boomers]

Ian's card -' A Whole New World' changed to 'A new video of an old, white person freaking out’

Anthony: [picks Jackie's card] “That was good. Although, I will say, I know this was yours, lan [from his handwriting]. That was an adventure, man. I appreciate that."

This isn't the only time the handwriting thing is brought up in the video :-

Keith: "Dude, where's my car?' turns into, 'Dude, where's my car? Oh wait, I can't drive?’ By far the best one, lan. And I know this came from you."

Anthony: "I know it came from lan too, cause I can see the handwriting."

Why is Anthony being able recognise Ian's handwriting so cute. He just knows him so well ☺️

One other moment I loved from this video was something I already made a post about here. Of Jackie referring to them as 'best friends' and Anthony laughing the hardest at his answer firing shots at lan, again, bestie-ism shining through 😄

Joycon HIDE AND SEEK (Everybody 1, 2, Switch)

Last one of the month! This video was full of so many great moments - two lanthony piggybacks, so many bestie moments, and them just being overly cute the whole time 🥰

And also many moments of them complimenting each other on doing well in the games. So many that I decided to compile a little video. Enjoy! :-

And that was it for September!

Hope you all enjoyed and I shall see you next time ❤️

[clanwarrior-tumbly]

can i request jealous mark (tmc) and a highly oblivious reader oneshot? he’s showing signs he jealous badly and y/n doesn’t seem to notice

Ngl I was heavily debating on whether to have Cesar be human/alive or his alternate, but....I don't see much of human ces so I went with that!

..........

Mark wasn't the most extroverted person, and certainly not experienced in dating whatsoever.

It took him ages to work up the ability to ask you out on a date...and even longer for you to realize he didn't mean that as "a friend". You genuinely thought he wanted to hangout like you did every other day.

But thanks to Cesar's intervention, that confusion was quickly cleared up before the end of the night, sparing you both from feelings of rejection and awkwardness.

Only then you realized "oh shit, we were actually on a date" and reassured him that you genuinely liked him back, offering to take him out next time to make up for your oblivious behavior.

He was a forgiving guy, so he accepted it, and from there on the relationship grew.

Of course, he sometimes struggled to express his emotions. At the end of the day, he still felt like that loner kid who always clung to his notebooks and the cross necklace he never left home without..unsure of what he should be doing now that he had a partner. He'd worry about whether he was doing the right things, so he'd often turn to Cesar for further advice.

You usually initiated most the romantic gestures, which he'd sometimes try to mimic. For instance, you'd write positive messages and his favorite psalms on sticky notes to leave in his locker; and the next day, he left notes in yours.

It was sweet, and you reassured him you appreciated them.

On the weekends, Cesar continued hanging out with you both, often tagging along as a wingman for dates. Obviously you weren't going to keep the two from being best friends, so you didn't mind it at all as long as he didn't feel like a third wheel.

However as time went on, Mark slowly began to notice that the man who helped him confess to you...

Was also the same guy he started becoming jealous of.

He could see how often Cesar's jokes made you laugh, or when his friendly teasing caused you to playfully slap his shoulder, unable to hide the grin on your face.

And for some reason..it stung.

Sure, he was one of the popular kids, the most charismatic, the guy everybody in school wanted to be friends with. This was how he always acted around him and you.

But to Mark, it felt like a thorn was permanently stuck in his side, wishing he was the one who made you laugh and joke around the most.

It was easy for Cesar, yet difficult for him somehow.

Some nights, he'd lie awake wondering what he could do differently...or if you're better off dating him instead.

Of course he wasn't going to tell you this and tried pushing down those envious feelings, thinking they'll go away in their own.

Yet it only got worse after the Alternates became more of a prevalent threat.

Stricter curfews were set in place throughout several counties, and more people were urged to stay inside their homes and keep their television usage down to a minimum.

This meant that you, Mark, and Cesar spent a lot more time together, staying at each other's homes and never leaving a single person alone for too long. If you absolutely had to go out, it'll be as a group.

For tonight, though, you were all spending it at Mark's place, trying to find ways to pass the time.

Cesar, being not too concerned about the Alternates, suggested watching a horror movie, popping the VHS into the cassette player while you got some popcorn before joining him on the sofa. You liked the idea and believed it to be a good escape from reality.

Mark, on the other hand, thought you two lost your minds.

"Did you guys just..forget that entire broadcast?" He bluntly asked when you invited him over. "We shouldn't even be having the TV on..let alone a scary movie. Turn it off."

"Mark, relax. It's fine." Cesar waved his hand, brushing off his friend's concerns. "It's a cheesy monster movie. Nothing's gonna crawl out of the TV and get us."

The brunette just frowned back at him, not liking how close he was to you yet being unable to do anything about it. "You don't know that."

"Just c'mon over here, dude." He sighed, noticing that your gaze was fixated on the screen, watching the monster stalk its first victim. "Who else is gonna protect [y/n] when the scariest part-?"

As if on cue, the shrill scream of the victim and the monster's horrific roars startled you. It made you jump and instinctively cling to the closest person.

Who happened to be Cesar.

Moments later, you realized your mistake and immediately shuffled away, bashful as he laughed at your reaction. "S-Sorry. That just..really got me. I didn't expect that!"

"It's all good. Now Mark, you can-"

However, when you both looked at Mark, you could see he was fuming, as though on the verge of screaming in rage. But then he closed his eyes and took several deep breaths, before mumbling something under his breath.

"What's up, hun?" You tilted your head, wondering what was wrong.

"I said I'm going to bed. You and Torres can do whatever the hell you want. I'm done trying."

"Wait, we can find another movie!" You tried calling out to him, but your words fell on deaf ears as he stormed out of the living room, disappearing down the corridor.

Seconds later you heard the door slam shut, and Cesar became tense, feeling his heart drop.

He was only trying to help Mark become a more confident boyfriend, but it seems he just made things ten times worse. He never called him by his last name unless he was extremely pissed off.

Maybe he went too far.

"You should go talk to him.."

"About what?" You looked at him, confused. "Is he mad we didn't listen to the broadcast?"

"...I feel like it's more than that."

Although your friend sounded quite vague, you decided to take his advice and leave for Mark's bedroom, telling him that he can keep the movie going.

After you reached your boyfriend's door, you knocked a few times, stepping back as it swung open and revealed an angry-looking Mark. But upon seeing you, his gaze softened. "Why aren't you with Cesar?"

"I was worried about you." You pointed out.

"...really? I'm surprised." He averted his eyes, swallowing the lump in his throat.

"Can we just talk? I wanna know what I did wrong."

He was silent for a moment, forgetting that you were very dense and didn't see the obvious signs.

But he invited you inside, and after shutting the door you sat down on the bed together. Mark was still quiet as he tried to figure out what to say, wringing his hands together in an anxious manner.

You, on the other hand, decided to list out everything that could've possibly upset him this much. No matter what, you're not leaving until you wrestle the truth out of him.

"If..it's about us not listening to the broadcast-"

"No..no..it's..not that. I want us to stay safe but..that's not why I left. It's a stupid reason, now that I think about it..." He rubbed the back of his neck.

"Did it...have anything to do with Cesar?"

Finally, you hit the nail on the head.

Thank god.

Mark was eventually able to admit how much he disliked the closeness you two shared even though it was Cesar who pushed him to ask you out. It was hard for him not to sound like a possessive asshole, but he felt like that's the impression he was getting when he saw your frown.

Great. Now you're probably gonna argue with him about much he was overreacting and how he didn't need to storm off like a child.

But instead, you hugged him..much to his shock.

"I'm so, so sorry, hun. I..I never even noticed until now." You pulled away and looked at him, feeling guilty that you never realized this. "But you know I'll always choose you over him, right? I'm sure he didn't mean to act that way."

"I know, I know. It's how he is." He sighed, his shoulders slightly relaxing. "I just...I wish I could be as confident as him. I hate being so uptight and paranoid all the time...and when I see him making the better jokes and moves, I.....l-like I said, it's stupid-"

"It's not stupid. I promise." You took one of his hands into yours, squeezing it gently. "I'll admit, it's kinda cute seeing you get jealous. I never thought you had that in you."

A blush formed on his face. "....m-me neither. So..are you sure that-?"

"Mark. I love you, and you alone. Cesar's a funny guy, but you're protective, polite, and honest. And I admire that. You don't have to be like him or anybody else, okay?" Smiling, you kissed him on the cheek. "We can go watch something else if you want, or if you wanna stay here."

"No, I'll..go watch that movie with you. But I'm gonna be the one protecting you from now on." He huffed, gaining some newfound confidence.

You just chuckled softly, taking his hands and pulling him up to his feet.

"Now that's the Mark I know and love."

[jayteacups]

my stance on ships & shipping culture - a quick note

(please read before interacting!)

I'm seeing discourse in the AOT Tumblr niche ramp up once again (what would the AOT fandom be without harassment and discourse /s), so I want to put up this quick note to be linked in my pinned navigation post. Therefore, from now on, if someone sends an ask about ship discourse, it'll be clear whether or not they've read this post. Therefore that'll make it easier for me to see who respects my boundaries and who is and isn't worth my time.

This blog is primarily a Levi x Reader-insert/OC-insert/Self-ship blog. If you have a problem with this, save us both the time and energy, and just block me. If you harass me or anyone else who enjoys this type of harmless content, I will block you. This is not up for debate.

However, I am also a multi-shipper. You'll occasionally find that I reblog fanworks of Eruri, Levihan, Rivetra, Levifar etc, and that I tag all ship content so you can filter out the ones you may not like. I’m not a ‘proshipper’ though; for example, you won’t find any reblogs of fanworks involving a veteran character being with a recruit character in a romantic or sexual sense. However, I will never harass anybody for shipping a ship that I don't like, so I expect everyone from every corner of the fandom to return that same courtesy.

So please do not bring me into any ship discourse, I’m not interested in entertaining pointless debates over ships. I do not and never will condone harassment over people's opinions on fictional ships.

If somebody doesn't ship your OTP, or they ship something you personally do not like, that doesn't mean you have the moral high ground over them, and that certainly doesn't mean you can falsely accuse people of awful things or leave anonymous death threats in people's inboxes. Additionally, it's okay for your OTP to be fanon. The canon/fanon status of a ship doesn't make it better or worse than another ship. The sooner people accept this instead of twisting canon to suit a false narrative, the better. On that note, please don't send me long-winded, unsolicited asks about how a fanon pairing is 'actually canon if you read the subtext' whilst quoting 'facts' with no or incorrect sources. Let canon be canon and fanon be fanon. There's a difference, and a reason why they have separate labels. I'm not saying that you can't have a different interpretation of canon or the subtext, but I'm saying that not everybody will agree with you, and it doesn't automatically make your opinion the right or 'true' one.

I should also point out that the actions of a few bad apples is not representative of an entire ship community. For example, I have seen some people falsely assume the entire Eruri community are toxic based on the recent anons harassing Levi-centric blogs. This simply isn't true. The majority of shippers are very chill, but the toxic minority just happens to be the loudest. Let's not make assumptions about Eruri shippers or insult their OTP, because I have seen a few people do this in response to seeing the harassment, which I find incredibly hypocritical and unhelpful. Don't lose sight of the bigger picture - which is that we're all fans of the same thing and we all want to have fun in whatever way appeals to us.

Fandom is supposed to be fun, and I believe you should be focusing your energy on what you like rather than what you don't. Personally I think it's strange that these weirdo anons and harassers spend so much time and energy harassing people who don't ship their OTP, rather than using that time and energy to support creators who make fanworks of their OTP, or even creating some fanworks themselves. They care more about making other people miserable rather than fostering a positive community around their ships, and that is something I absolutely do not support or condone.

If you've read everything and have reached the end of this post, thank you for your time. If you fundamentally disagree with my stance, fine, but don't debate me on it. I've made it clear I won't change my mind on it, and you probably won't either, so I suggest you block me instead of starting a futile argument.

[newathens]

please write the book. or at least a in-depth post bcs i’m deeply curious.

so like I’ll go on and on for a second cause i need to get it off my chest because im so upset right now but know that im saying this through a lens of mental illness and pessimism and i don’t think u should take it as valid cause it’s borderline mean. im sure if i was more ‘healed’ or whatever i wouldn’t think like this but anyway

i don’t think we as a society are striving for weight loss anymore i think we as a society are striving for beauty. and i say this well aware of the current weight loss renaissance we’re in right now.

here’s the thing. u don’t need to be skinny to be pretty. there are bigger women who are drop dead gorgeous. but the thing is u have to have the right face and shape to pull off being bigger. and everybody gets so caught up in losing weight because that’s what’s drilled into us when in reality a decent chunk of people don’t need to do that. i have a theory that everyone has a size that they look best at and skinny is not that size for everyone. Sometimes, skinny looks worse

and there isn’t even just skinny or fat. there’s skinny, lean, muscular, athletic, defined, soft, pudgy, boxy, etc etc etc

And from what i have observed people get stuck on going after one body type when actually there are certain things that society has deemed unattractive across all body types and that’s where the problems come up. Highly desirable traits right now are a toned lower abdomen, a defined jawline, high brows, the cute upward curved nose but those i would view as stereotypical beauty at this point. Like Botox beauty

In my view, a heart shape face can get away with a soft jawline, hooked noses should not be touched, if you’re midsize a small apron belly is totally fine because most of the time it’s all complimenting that specific type of beauty category you are in. And sometimes fucking with that makes you look worse

for example, myself, i feel i am a mixture of all undesirable traits. My jaw is not defined, and i have an apron belly, and yes i am a bigger girl but im the WRONG type of bigger girl. Society likes a bigger girl that has a flatter tummy. She doesn’t have to be an hourglass shape, but her stomach definitely isn’t sagging. I refer to these ideal bigger girls as hidden muscle fat. She’s fat, but due to the muscle she has a shape that is an echo of lean

And i know i said wrong type of bigger girl but im actually going to contradict and say that you also can be a bigger with with a flat but and an apron belly, as long as that is the shape that compliments your specific body. Because there are women that have everything i have who are also drop dead gorgeous. And to me there’s like no debating this, i can tell within like a minute whether a body type is meant for someone or not that’s how much im analyzing 24/7

like im not gonna tell a bigger girl with evenly distributed fat and a heart shaped face to lose weight because she’s brilliant as is. She’s fitting the standard of one of many different beauty categories. im not going to tell a midsize girl who is in the perfect position to tone up to lose weight, because making herself skinnier may make her look worse in the long run actually

i feel like what we’ve always done is say get smaller and u will look better. Well no, that’s actually not the case. This explanation is a mess but are u getting weird way my mind works

i assumed u were curious abt my tags but i can always go on about body image and society separately another time

[poetrywise]

Life, sort of

I can't access Twitter lately, so I thought mb I should try to be more active here. Yes, I know I said it before, but my VPN hasn't been working for weeks and I kind of miss people. I miss life, in general. For the past nearly 2 years, life has been hell in my country: mass arrests, toxic propaganda, army drafts, idiotic laws, silencing the media and public opinion, to say nothing of the horror we have been inflicting on another country. I don't know about most people but I do feel ashamed and depressed, even though I am, have always been, and always will be staunchly anti-war. Seriously, how have people not learnt to solve their disagreements in a less insane way over the course of our history?

Today, yet another "great" news: LGBT is now considered an extremist organization. They've done all they could to torment queer people short of criminalizing queerness itself. They keep promoting so-called "traditional" values, debating whether women should be allowed access to higher education (I kid you not, this is us in the 21st century) and abortion, all the while wasting 40% of the budget on war; in the meantime, all their beloved "traditional" families live in poverty and find their social support cut. You can get 7, 15, 30 years in prison for changing price tags in a supermarket to anti-war statements, staging an anti-war play, digging into government corruption. Children are being force-fed "patriotic" claptrap at school. Bloggers get fined, arrested or forced to leave the country because they fear for their safety. Life here is a cruel joke.

I know that I personally have little reason to complain, since I haven't been arrested (yet), nor have any of my loved ones. But it doesn't mean I don't get panic attacks (I had them before, I've been seeing a therapist for 6 years, and this situation IS derailing my progress) or fear for the future. My personal future feels ruined too: I can't travel, I can't see my BFF who lives abroad, I can't get paid for my stories even if I do manage to publish them (I write in English and have had 4 stories published in America, but we can neither send, nor accept payment from abroad lately). All this feels so small compared to what other people go through, in both our countries, but it's big to ME. I can't look into the future with any kind of hope because I don't want to live in the country that makes its people and another nation suffer. (Don't get me started on actual things our politicians say, like: Well, if smb drops a nuke on us, it'll be fine, as long as it's not on the capital. [FYI, I live in the capital, but it doesn't mean turning the rest of the country into a nuclear wasteland is fine by me. WUT EVEN!])

Everyone hates my country. We deserve it. I hate my own inability to change that but I'm neither brave, nor smart enough to do anything. When it all started, I tried writing letters to politicians, but this ain't America, nb listens to the people here. The only reply I got was smth like: Well, the West is threatening us, we must defend ourselves, so STFU. Idk what bizarre illusionland these ppl live in. Last time I checked WE were threatening everybody. Including ourselves.

What's the point of this TL;DR? Idk. To speak out in some way, I guess. Like I said, my VPN isn't working, and I can't access Twitter, which is my usual platform for whining XD I'll try to post smth more positive some time. Among other platforms that don't work without VPN are: Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, Goodreads, AO3, various torrent sites, BBC sites, many kinds of Western media, and probably a hell of a load more I don't know about. I admire the reporters who are still publishing the truth. It's impossible to hide it from the people these days, but unfortunately, most people just watch TV, which spouts disgusting lies and propaganda.

Nostalgia is a fashionable thing lately, and here's my two cents: I loved the late 90s - early 2000s. Yes, we had problems then too. Like financial crises and local wars. But we had freedom of speech, independent news, we at least tried to respect human rights, we could travel, we had cultural exchanges, foreign tourists, and nb hated us more than any other country. I wasn't ashamed to admit where I was from. I never felt I'd be stuck in a totalitarian state because surely, surely we'd learned! We'd been through it and it wouldn't repeat again. But I guess "all of this has happened before, and all of this will happen again" is a very true saying. I'm so tired. I'm sure I'm not the only one, but I do feel very alone whenever I read the news. I'm lucky in the sense that my family at least shares my opinion, but on a grand scale? I don't know if any meaningful change can be achieved when we can't even form proper opposition: a few parties/organizations both here and abroad are usually at each other's throats instead of working together. So yeah, I'm tired, disappointed, depressed, and idk what else to say.

Wow, hope I don't get arrested for this XD

[juicycoutureheaux]

When it’s over Chapter 11

“Alma Y Cuerpo”

It’s been a while since I’ve updated “when it’s over” on Tumblr, I didn’t know if this story had many readers on here. I’ve got 17 chapters on Ao3, I’ll work on updating the chapters without spamming the tags here. The other chapters can be found here

The next couple of weeks were spent on leave, Anna’s body slowly catching up with her mind.

She had received news, in a sterile BSAA clinic that Walden had exposed her to the Mold where it entered her bloodstream. After her initial life saving procedures to stop the mold from spreading further, the medical staff conducted a CT scan on her brain to see if the mold had moved to her brain.

She was lucky, there weren’t any masses found in her brain, but she would have to go back for scans and tests twice a year.

Doctor Williams, who was an internationally recognized scientist and medical doctor, assured her she wasn’t contagious and she could live a normal life, with few modifications.

He even hypothesized that the infection is what saved her life.

The news was devestating. She was struggling with a condition now, that had little research about it and she couldn’t even tell her best friend.

After she was released from the hospital she was cleared to go back to her apartment she shared with Lavish.

The apartment didn’t have the same warmth as it did before.

It felt like the ghost of who she used to be, was haunting the apartment.

The weird thing about having a near death experience and seeing loved ones that have passed on, is that everyday you’re reminded of it.

Every time she stepped into the shared living space she expected her mother and husband to be there, but they were absent.

She also longed to receive a message from Bunny. She would have accepted anything; a feather, butterfly or cardinal. Maybe, an unfortunate, yet comical series of events that only she could orchestrate in the afterlife.

It was like radio silence coming from the other side of this existence. As the days passed on, Anna felt more empty; it was like a part of her died when Walden tried to end her life.

And maybe it did.

She had experienced actual pain before, but nothing compared to the betrayal of a friend. She had betrayed her friend, by not being able to keep her safe. She had died a horrible death for nothing. It was selfish, but there were nights she wished she had been the one to die instead. It only made sense, she was the one who vowed to risk her life for the safety of others, not Bunny; yet, here she was laying down on the cold floor of her bedroom alone.

It was Saturday night, Lavish was at the club performing.

They held a week-long celebration of life for the late Bunny while Anna was still in the hospital. Her murder reverberated through the community and seemed to bring everybody closer together. The bar was busier than ever and Lavish was reaping the benefits.

Lavish would come home, plentiful cash tips in hand at sunrise, but there was always something sad in her eyes.

“I don’t know how much longer I can do this without my friend.” She would say. Anna would just sit there and listen while Lavish would talk through her guilt.

Sure, they were doing better than ever, but Bunny wasn’t here to see it. It was almost like she was some sacrificial lamb. Anna didn’t even want to think about it, it’s not like she could talk about what Walden confessed to her. This was the first time she really couldn’t talk about something with Lavish and it was killing her.

Anna decided the pain was beginning to be too much to bear and she got off the cold floor and decided to do something about it.

She was going to Redfield’s house; before she could realize what she was doing she was standing on the porch of Alpha’s home.

She was debating whether or not to knock on the door, or to turn around with her tail between her legs but fate had other plans.

The distinct sound of a lock being undone and the door creaking open filled Anna’s ears.

Chris stood there in a plain, gray tee that accentuated his muscular chest and arms. He looked at the woman with the slightest bit of confusion and curiosity.

“Anna, what are you doing here? I didn’t expect to see you for a couple more weeks.”

Anna’s breath hitched in her throat. “I made a mistake, I should really be leaving, I’m sorry for disturbing you.” She went to leave but she felt a large hand gently, yet firmly grab her wrist.

Anna looked up to meet Chris’ concerned gaze.

“You made the drive out here for a reason. Why don’t you come inside, even if it’s just for a minute.” He reasoned with her.

She bit her lip with indecisiveness and let him guide her through the threshold of the doorway.

Out of habit she gently removed her shoes at the front door before stepping further into Chris’ neat home. Her bare feet were cold on the hardwood floors.

“Why don’t you have a seat on the couch?” Chris suggested.

Her movements were automatic as she sat on the plush couch. She instinctively sat at the edge of the couch and propped herself up against the armrest.

Chris came back in with a bottle of whiskey and two glasses. He sat them down on the coffee table and sat at the other end of the couch Anna was on.

“Soooo….” He started off by pouring the dark liquid into the glass and offering it to her. She took it and watched as he poured some for himself.

She stared into her glass swirling the dark amber-y liquid, watching it change in color as it moved around the glass. She decided it was only fair for her to break the silence.

“I’m so used to always initiating cheers before I drink.” She said awkwardly.

“Considering you showed up looking helpless on my doorstep, I’m guessing you’re not in the mood to cheer for anything.” Chris said flatly.

“You would be absolutely correct.” She announced the last two words bitterly. Then, without giving it a second thought she threw back the whiskey in one take. She put her glass firmly on the coffee table. The warmth from the alcohol swirling in her belly.

“Right on.” Chris said and did the same.

“I came here to talk about the incident.” She said shakily, the liquid courage starting to numb her a little bit.

Chris stared at her sympathetically, he was silent, but his body language said that he was listening.

“Walden told me some things… some awful things. I can’t get them out of my head. I have nightmares almost every night.”

“He almost killed you Anna.” He sighed, pouring himself another shot and did the same for her. “You trusted him, and he tried to murder you.” The thought of Walden leading Anna into that lab alone, if Chris had just been five minutes late, or hadn’t even thought to look for her, Anna would have been dead.

Anna looked at Chris intently. “That’s not even the worst part.” She felt the sadness and guilt build up in her chest. She drank some more of the burning liquid to numb the pain. “I killed her.” She said out weakly.

Chris instinctively moved closely to her. He put his hand on her shoulder. “Killed who, Anna?”

Bunny’s face flashed in her mind. She thought of how scared she was in her final moments and how Anna was completely to blame. She began to cry in her hands.

Chris pulled into her an embrace and began to rub her back. She couldn’t tell if it was the alcohol or the fact she had kept the awful secret to herself for weeks, but she felt comfortable enough to cry into his chest.

When she had calmed down a little bit, Chris loosened his embrace on her.

“Walden killed Bunny because of me.” She managed out.

“Anna, it's not your fault.”

“But it is!” Anna sobbed. “She’s gone, it should have been me, why couldn’t he just have killed me?”

Chris tensed his jaw. He remembered the Arklay incident. The feelings of guilt flooding back to him. His comrades dead because of his selfish leader; and Chris, left alive to suffer.

“I should never have involved anyone else in my life when I moved here. I knew the risk! I knew there were bad people out there like Walden, I just never thought it would be him! Bunny is dead because I was selfish, I just wanted friends so badly, I felt like she really understood me and now she’s gone.”

“She’s dead because some selfish asshole wanted to hurt you Anna. And he succeeded.”

Anna began to spiral. “It’s not just Bunny Chris-“ she raised her voice a little. “If I hadn’t pushed Michael so hard, if I hadn’t been so adamant about starting a family. Maybe if I had just stopped demanding so much he wouldn’t have felt the need to advance his career so fast, he wasn’t even supposed to be there the day he died.”

She breathed shakily, moving her hand through her hair. “But I insisted he go, I wanted him to be the first one there to make the best impression.” She started to sob again.

Chris breathed in. He remembered the guilt that he still carried with him, with Jill. She wasn’t supposed to be there with Spencer either, but she insisted. He remembered saying to him that it was “their fight”.

He regrets letting her go everyday.

Chris decided to speak. “You know, I bet he didn’t think you were pressuring him.”

She looked up at him, her usual spritely features marred with tears and red blotches.

“You…think that?”

“Of course I do, the way you talk about him, he seemed like a good man, but you’re also a good woman.” He planted his hand on her thigh assuringly.

The warmth of his hand on her thigh made her weak, but his words made her weaker.

“I bet you were so good to him. I bet everyday you gave him something to smile about.”

She sniffled starting to feel like she could talk to

Him without sobbing.

“Everytime he was sick, I would go to the grocery store and get his favorite fruit, because I know it would make him feel better.” She laughed at the memory. “I demanded he lay in bed, because he was always moving; even when he was sick.”

She grimaced and looked down at her feet.

“I really miss the life I had.”

Chris gave her an understanding look.

“You know I think about that all the time. I dream about the life I had before all this bio terrorism mess.”

Anna quickly snapped her head up. “Chris, I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to seem ungrateful.”

Chris held her tight again. “You don’t sound ungrateful, you sound human.”

She leaned her head into his chest. “Did you ever want a family Chris? Did you ever think you’d get married, have kids?”

Chris hadn’t dwelled on the thoughts he had while living in Raccoon City. Working at the RPD, sure he was immature, but he saw how happy Barry and Kathy were. He was a womanizer, but he always thought he’d find the right girl to settle down with and have a couple of kids.

When he met Jill, he was convinced it was her. She was beautiful, smart and tough as hell; she didn’t take any shit from the guys at the station. Then the incident happened, he was so hellbent on avenging his dead friends he forgot about the ones who were still alive.

He abandoned Jill in Raccoon City where she needed him most, he had even abandoned Claire.

What kind of man was he?

He decided to answer truthfully. “I did, I don’t think I deserve it anymore.”

It was Anna’s turn to comfort Chris.

“Chris, I think you’d be an amazing husband and an even better dad.” She said sincerely.

He shifted uncomfortably. He decided to switch the subject back to Anna.

“Did Walden do anything else to you, Anna?” He said cautiously, making sure he didn’t offend her or bring up traumatic memories too soon.

She grabbed the glass bottle and poured them more, she knew she needed to slow down, but she couldn’t stop herself.

“I can’t remember much of what happened honestly,” she sipped the alcohol this time, taking time to taste the bitterness of it. “I remember he threatened my family, that’s why I went with him. He wanted to inject me with something…” she trailed off. She hadn’t thought of the events since her recovery in the hospital, she suddenly felt panicked.

“He…he… exposed me to the mold, Chris.”

Chris’ eyes widened. Anna buried her face into her hands.

“Is this the first time you’ve talked about it with somebody?”

“Yes.” She sobbed a little bit.

He laughed humorlessly, lost for words. “Well, you haven't been neutralized, so you must be okay.” He tried to say lightly.

“It’s in my bloodstream but I’m not contagious. They tried some experimental drug on me so it wouldn’t spread. It wasn’t very pleasant as you can imagine.”

“Anna, I’m so sorry. I knew you had been exposed, I just wasn’t aware of how bad it actually was.”

“Do you think I’m a monster? That I’m like Lucas?” She asked sharply.

Chris looked at her incredulously. “You’re nowhere near that crazy bastard. You will never be like him.”

“You’re the only person I’ve told, I don’t know if anyone else knows.”

“They don’t.” He said assuringly. “I won’t tell either. Your secret is safe with me.” He smiled at her.

Anna nodded, her eyes still unfocused, mind in some far off place. Chris recognized that stare, he had seen it too many times. It genuinely made him angry that Walden, and the connections had caused her so much pain.

“So you and Micheal wanted kids?.” He asked casually, trying to lighten the subject.

For the first time tonight, Anna genuinely smiled. “I wanted them so bad.” She said. “We tried so hard to conceive. The doctors told us our only hope was IVF, my body was having trouble ovulating.” She blinked quickly and made a grimace.

“I’m sorry that was TMI.” She laughed awkwardly.

“No it isn’t.” Chris laughed with her.

Her face fell a little bit. “It was expensive, but I wanted a baby so bad, I just wanted to be a mom. Michael would have done anything to make it happen and he did.” Her face fell again.

“It just wasn’t meant to be.” She took another shot of the whiskey. Her body was getting warmer, she knew she needed to stop, but didn’t want to.

“You don’t know that,” Chris said reassuringly. “You’re still so young.”

“Yeah, well, I think God has other plans for my life.” She said. “They advised me at the clinic if I were to conceive they would have a chance of having the infection. You know that means.”

Chris nodded. He did. Terrorists were manufacturing BOWS in labs. If word spread that a human was producing super humans naturally, Anna and her children would be in extreme danger.

Anna stood up quickly, “Well I’ve wasted enough of your time tonight Chris, I should get going,” she stumbled slightly before Chris firmly seated her into the couch again.

The mood started to shift to a lighter tone.

“I think you’ve had too much to drink, missy.” He said in a playful tone. “You should stay here until you sober up. I’ll let your roommate know where you are.”

“Do you know their phome number?”

“Oh I got Daniel’s number while you were in the Hospital. He was listed as your emergency contact.”

Anna looked at him confused. “He lets you call him Daniel?” She glared at him. “Have you guys been texting behind my back?”

He smirked. “Maybe.”

She flopped her back into the couch dramatically and put a pillow over her face. Chris smirked at her overracting.

He sat down next to her again. “Alright, he’s aware you’re staying over.”

“Great.” Anna said through the pillow which muffled her response. She took the pillow off her face. “Soooo… since we’re in a talking mood tonight,” she said, starting to blush. “Should we talk about that kiss we had in Canada?”

Chris blinked at her, genuinely shocked. The kiss had been on his mind for weeks. He thought she would never bring it up, he was worried he had forced himself onto her. Obviously he knew now the feeling was mutual.

“What about it?” He asked, trying to cover up his shock.

“Well, do you have feelings for me Chris, because I definitely think I have them for you.”

Instead of answering verbally, Chris decided to do what any hot blooded man would do. He kissed her passionately.

It was comfortable and romantic, it was like they had just picked up where they ended in Canada. Anna decided to break the Kiss.

“I’ll take that as a yes?” She giggled.

“Yes.” He said, going in to nibble at the sensitive skin on her neck.

She instinctively let out a moan. It had been so long since she had been touched like this, she missed it. She also felt slight guilt of being with another man.

She tried to shake it off, remembering her fever dream. Would Michael really be okay with her having a relationship with another man?

Chris sensed her demeanor change. “Are you okay? We don’t have to keep going.”

She smiled up at him and kissed him again, rougher this time. The liquor was doing things to her body, she felt like her belly was on fire and she could smell Chris’ natural scent, which only made her more aroused.

Chris picked up on her neediness and began to paw at her breasts through her clothes. Impatiently, she ripped her shirt and bra off. She wanted to feel his calloused hands on her bare breasts.

“You want this bad, don’t you baby?”

“I’ve wanted you since Dulvey, Chris.”

“You’re such a bad girl making me wait that long. We have a lot of lost time to make up for.” He said roughly pulling her hips up to align with his. She could feel his erection on her thigh.

Although Chris was in his 40s, he was rock hard and had no problem getting “it up” for her. The size of what she felt excited her, but also made her nervous. It had been years since she had been fucked. Would she be any good still?

Chris began to play with the waistband of her shorts. She lifted up her hips and removed them exposing her panties.

She suddenly felt self conscious. “Why don’t you take your shirt off honey?” She said playing with his shirt.

Chris responded enthusiastically by taking off his shirt. “That good enough sweetheart?”

She smirked. “Definitely.” She began to gently rub his muscular chest. “Chris, you’ve got an amazing body.” She began to stroke his hair and move her hands from his head, down to his neck and stop at his shoulders. She couldn’t help but squeeze his biceps.

“Mmm, you’re driving me crazy baby.” He said as he pressed body against hers again. He let his hand drift down below her waist, touching the thin fabric of her panties.

She shuddered at his touch. She kissed him again to affirm she wanted him to continue. She bucked her hips up to him and moaned in pleasure when he moved her panties to the side to gently stroke her most sensitive place.

“Mmm Chris, please don’t stop it feels so good,” she moaned into his ear.

He responded by inserting a finger into her tight entrance. She gasped at the sensation of a thick finger inside of her.

“God baby, your pussy is so tight.” He began to pump his finger in and out of her while rubbing her clit. “It’s a shame I’m going to stretch it out.”

Anna and Michael hardly exchanged dirty talk when they had sex. The two of them would say the occasional dirty thing and then giggle. They were so young and inexperienced when they married.

Chris was proving to be the exact opposite. The way he touched her body, he had probably been with several women, and he didn’t hold back with expressing his dirty thoughts.

She started to blush a deep red. Chris used his free hand to caress her face. “Is this your first time since…?”

Anna nodded sheepishly.

“I’ll take good care of you baby, don't worry.”

Chris began to kiss down her abdomen to her pelvis. He pulled down the thin fabric of her panties and revealed her pussy.

She began to sit up to protest what was about to happen when Chris placed a firm hand on her abdomen, keeping her in place.

He spread her thighs apart and put his head between her thighs and began to lick her clit mercilessly.

Anna was not the type to receive oral sex, sure her husband had tried it, but she was so self conscious it was never enjoyable.

With Chris it was different. He was assertive, Of course she didn’t feel pressured to do anything she didn’t want to do, but he was making sure to push her limits.

“Chris, it’s so much,” she began to writhe underneath him. He didn’t slow down, but instead he entered two of his thick fingers into her pussy.

She couldn’t contain the erotic noises of her pleasure. She thanked god he lived in a home and not an apartment. She was loud and knew that if people were nearby they were hearing her react to Chris’ unique set of skills.

Her body began to tremble as the increasing waves of pleasure ran over her body. Just as she was about to climax Chris withdrew himself from her.

She lifted herself, face flushed and looked at Chris with confusion and slight embarrassment.

“Did I do something wrong?” She stammered out.

Chris kissed her reassuringly. “You’re doing everything right sweetheart.”

He began to undo his pants and she couldn’t help but stare.

“You wanna help me get these pants off so I can fuck your little pussy quicker?”

Anna giggled and instinctively looked away. He was so comfortable with her. She wish she could return the same confidence.

Never the procrastinator, Chris guided her hands to the waist of his pants. She followed his lead and began to undo his belt buckle. She pulled down his pants and his thick cock sprung out.

She was hesitant at first, but she gently took Chris’ member in her mouth and began to suck his cock.

Chris began to play with her hair gently, moving it out of her face and holding it in a ponytail.

“God you look so beautiful sucking my cock. It’s like your mouth was made for me.”

Ever the people pleaser Anna began moving faster, attempting to take more of him into her mouth. It was a challenge but she was up to it.

Chris rubbed Anna’s shoulder warmly. “Baby, I don’t want to cum just yet.”

Anna understood and moved away from his cock. She kissed up his chest, to his neck to meet his mouth. He buried his fingers in her hair, completely dominating the kiss.

When they came up for air, Chris gently picked her up.

Anna looked at him a little confused.

“I don’t want our first time together to be on a couch.”

She smiled at him and held on to his neck as he carried her into his bedroom. He gently laid her down on the bed and looked into her eyes.

“Are you sure you want this?”

“Of course.”

That’s all he needed. Chris spread her legs at the knees as he positioned himself between her. “This okay?”

Anna nodded positioning her hands on his biceps again.

He grabbed her hips and brought them to align with his. He began to tease her a little bit by rubbing the tip of his cock against her clit and wet entrance.

“Chris, please.” She whined out.

“Chris, please what?” He chided her. He wanted her to beg for it.

“Chris please…I want you inside of me.” She said sheepishly.

Chris smirked, “You are such a sweet girl.” He kissed her cheek.

He grabbed knees by the backs, and pressed them to as far as they would go so she was completely helpless tohim.

“All that training paid off babygirl. You’re so flexible.”

He began to enter her, little by little, Anna began to clutch his arms digging her nails into him.

“That’s right baby, you’re taking my cock so well.”

Chris eventually managed to get his cock inside of her right entrance, completely filling her up. He began to thrust into her, the head of his cock grazing her cervix with each thrust.

Anna couldn’t help but yelp with each thrust. He was being rough with her, but she was enjoying it.

When she was married sex was sweet, it was never erotic like this. Chris was completely dominating her and enveloping her entire body. He was commanding every sense she had

She felt Chris’ thrusts become deeper and faster. She knew he was close. She let herself relax so she could ride out the waves of her own orgasm. Chris bit down on her neck as he came.

Chris collapsed into her as soon as he finished. They shared a long kiss and he pulled out of her. She suddenly felt very empty,

The post coital clarity hit her hard.

She quickly ran into the bathroom before Chris could question her. She immediately turned on the shower and got in.

She felt Chris’ cum leak out of her.

In that moment she felt so dirty, that she didn’t even make him wear protection, that she was so easy she’d just let anyone fuck her.

Overwhelmed with emotion and hormones she began to cry.

She felt so guilty for sleeping with Chris. He was so good in bed, but they had no real relationship. She just slept with him out of pure carnal attraction. She was torn out of her thoughts when she heard a gentle knock at the door.

“Can I come in, Anna?”’

She quickly turned off the shower and wrapped a towel around her. She opened the door. Chris stood there with a concerned look.

“I heard you crying.”

She felt awful. “Chris, I just um, I don’t know, I think it’s all the hormones or something. I just haven’t been right that’s all.”

Chris brought her in for an embrace. “Was I too rough?”

Anna stroked his muscular chest. “No, it was perfect, honestly it was too perfect.” She pulled away.

“Then why were you crying?”

She took a shaky breath. “Because I know we can’t continue like this Chris. I feel like I’m just a hookup to you.”

“A hookup? Are you serious?”

“It’s really okay, I understand. I’m just not used to this.”

“Anna, you’re not just some hookup, you mean so much more to me.”

She felt overwhelmed.

“Is this really going to work? I feel like I have so many complicated feelings for you.” She leaned into his chest.

“All we can do is try.” He hugged her back and stroked her soft hair. He knew the risks of sleeping with her, he felt himself falling for her as well. He vowed mentally to take care of her. Whatever it took.

They ended up making love a second time that night and fell asleep in each other's arms.

For the first time, in a long time the pair hadn’t had the nightmares that kept them awake at night.

[cwarscars-a]

Hey bro i heard you like 🔥 so c'maaan gimmie your salt maaaan

Send me a “ 🔥 “ for an unpopular opinion.

(( gonna preface this by saying - if any of my moot moots are one side or the other, or consider themselves such - i got no beef with you. you're my homies, my real ones, my ride or dies; im open-minded to hearing your opinions. jus' dont send me any anon nastiness, ill cry REAL tears ))

honestly? i can't stand the black and white thinking in the rpc & fanfic communities as a whole. the whole pro-shipper/anti-shipper debate is extremely tiresome to apparently anyone who believes in nuance & grey situations.

like, on one side - you have people who will and do persecute people for the fucked up ships that they write. on the other, you have people who preach fiction is fiction and will willingly ignore the genuinly problematic people who take advantage of the notion of 'pro-shipping' in order to write their extreme fetishes ( ala, pedophilia / beastiality ).

i have always been anti-censorship. i always will be. i watch extreme cinema and read extreme manga / comics. nothing phases me. there are films that disturb me ( salo will /always/ make my uncomfy ) and obviously things i wont touch with a ten foot barge pole ( anything with kids / animals ) but for the most part, i'm very chill when it comes to what people want to write. i believe people should be honest about their kinks, preferences and things they wish to write.

if your partner is willing, it's consensual and tagged or under a read more. i have zero issues with it. but -

i have gotten sent hate before from 'pro-shippers' for stating my stance on anybody who wants to write smut with kids. literal hate for stating i'm against pedophilia. ( and im not talking about a 17 yr old being sexually active, im talking, like - literal children being sexualised ) like, what? i've been called purity police and all kinds of shit. like, me? purity police???? the bitch whose favourite comic is crossed and favourite manga, ichi the killer. LOL

my whole issue with the debate and the censorship / arguments in the rpc is that, it feels as though you HAVE to be one side or the other. you can't have a nuanced opinion, you can't understand that sometimes - there is a place for certain content, despite how extreme it is.

everybody is allowed a preference. you're allowed to be upset, offended, afraid, disgusted by or whatever else from x subject. every single individual is different and it's what makes us all beautiful. and i feel people need to really understand this. you can write extreme content but don't expect people to like it. on the other hand, if you don't like x content - don't attack someone for writing that content.

i just feel that there's wrong on both sides and i wish people would actually talk about the subject instead of throwing around attacks at each other. ultimately, whether anybody likes it or not - what you're writing is a footnote in the grand scheme of literature. you're writing on tumblr with your buddies and you're here to have fun.

if you wanna write an extreme sex scene with your consenting friends, go for it. if you don't want to write smut or you can't stand a certain ship, that is totally fine, too.

it's okay! both sides can be right without being aggressive or nasty.

like said, i would never label myself 'pro-ship' or any of that shit because i don't agree with that stance. i believe that there is a place for all content in all media in some, way, shape or form. i believe that rp is a slippery slope because it's a hobby that involves partners and is sociable. you have to please those around you and must understand that you can't wave around fetishes without a potential backlash. i agree people should write what they want, but i don't agree that there is a place for ( for example ) smut involving kids or animals. especially in the rpc. i've seen people 'joke' before about writing a pedo purely for exploration & to get a reaction. i can't imagine a more unenjoyable, questionable, horrific kind of thing to write in rp ( hell, even in media...that sort of character burns out and leaves creators depressed a/f).

i just wish people would talk, understand, and be open-minded. and - think about the bigger picture, too.

is this thing going to ride with you when you're offline?

probably not. so be respectful, have fun and just chill~

[apatheticlexicographer]

okay, unless any other roaches feel like crawling out from where they're nesting in our tag's ventillation, i'd like for this to be my last direct interaction with this situation on here.

i haven't been hugely vocal about it on tumblr, but i've been quite active behind the scenes on discord during this whole mess. i was the person who took the screenshot of the now-deleted blog that prompted a fair amount of discourse and the revelation that two less active skittles squad members were pr0shippers (yes, they have been banned). i think a screenshot of one of my discord messages was also knocking around on here.

to paraphrase something i already said on discord, in a slightly more eloquent form:

the fact that some people have tried to defend the accounts being referred to as p3dophil3s and pr0shippers is bleakly funny. the people coming after vry yesterday were almost all adults, and while the majority of them meant well they were outside of the situation. the people coming after the pr0shippers are either minors who have interacted with them directly or people from the skittles squad server who have seen many screenshots of their past behaviour on tumblr and in other servers.

i do not question the motives of the vast majority of people who have spoken about the situation, regardless of their side in it. as i stated in my previous, equally obnoxiously wordy post, it's clear to me that aside from the pr0shippers everybody here is concerned about the safety of minors in our community. however, if your intention is to "protect the kids," please listen to what we say.

most of the adults in the community are absolutely fine. they seem like lovely people from the interactions myself and other minors have had with them. even if they aren't they have presented no behaviour to us that suggests otherwise, and if they ever did they would be swiftly removed from the server and blocked by us on tumblr. we've done this multiple times over the last couple of days. there's no need to be suspicious simply because adults interact with us.

some of the adults in the community (and people who say that they're minors; whether you believe them is up to you) are, to put it bluntly, fucking creeps. we know them when we see them. we block them, and we share the warnings on the server so that others can block them too. if one of us makes a post saying that an account is a p3dophil3 or a pr0shipper, this is information sourced not only from their own actions, but from how they make us feel. that is to say: creeped out as hell.

the point of callouts like this isn't to categorize people as a certain label of fucked up, the point is to express the fact that we, as the minors who are supposed to be protected here, are made extremely uncomfortable by these people and their actions. if your response to that is to debate the definition of a p3dophil3 or a pr0shipper or to argue over the morality of depicting teen sexuality then the you aren't just missing the point, you're actively repelling it.

these people make us extremely uncomfortable. their words and actions make us feel disgusted and victimized. their presence and behaviour, regardless of what dictionary definition it best matches, makes the community feel like an unsafe space to minors.

please, if you see somebody getting called out by a minor over p3dophilic or pr0shipping behaviour, block them. or don't, it's your internet experience, you get to police it however you want. just don't try and defend them to us. it will not change the fact that their actions have made us feel unsafe.

this isn't directed at anyone in particular on here. it's in vague response to some things i've seen said, but i have no idea what the bulk of the discourse or public opinion looks like on tumblr. it's more of a general appeal.

if you value our safety, value our opinions on what people and behaviours are threatening it. thank you.

[butwhatifidothis]

Omg, really that guy again!?, when you recommended that fic "Everybody leaves eventually" he putted a comment, wtf.

*sigh*

I tried, right. Didn't ever pay attention to this guy, never responded to his numerous replies, reblogs, asks, or mentions to me, trying to debunk or "debate" me. I only ever mention anything of him outright when he initially made that GameFAQs thread about me (which has since been deleted, funny that) and when he was actively gloating about harassing two people off of tumblr - one of those people happening to be a friend of mine.

I've been debating back and forth about whether to block him or not - I know it's gonna do jack and shit, considering his whole schtick is how effectively he manages to slime his way around blocks anyway, and blocking him would be giving him any attention more than what I was doing before. Plus I've literally never blocked anyone before, on Tumblr or anywhere else, so I have no idea if it'd even hypothetically work even if this guy wasn't known for evading them. And I thought, since he'd finally stopped incessantly trying to get me to engage with him, that maybe he finally took a chill pill and finally learned to stay in his lane.

But now I'm saying fuck it. I finally blocked R/axis - and that R/engor guy too, since I know they're buddy-buddy.

I made a post about 17 hours ago, 5:44 PM CST, that was mostly me recommending fics that I liked and thought deserved a bit more attention. R/axis, barely 20 fucking minutes later, leaves a comment:

He's not even subtle about how he came to the fic from coming from my post recommending it. And here he is, trying to fucking "um achktually" and debate someone who, for all I know, has literally nothing to do with anything regarding discourse. This fic doesn't even have 1000 hits, is tagged "Villain Edelgard von Hresvelg" and "this is very Edelgard negative" so you know from the gate that Edelgard isn't gonna get sugar shoved up her ass like the fandom is overwhelmingly eager to do in 99% of the fics she's in anyway, has no claims of trying to be ~meta~ like Cap'n's does, but lo and fucking behold, here this fucker is, probably thinking he's *~casting his pearls before the swine~* when in reality it's more like him shitting on the floor.

Since I know you're just going to evade my block of you, R/axis, and you're definitely going to read this somehow - maybe you'll have one of your buds screenshot this and send it to you, maybe you have another browser open on another account that isn't blocked by me - here's a heads up: don't fucking do this. Or, I guess I should say stop fucking doing this.

This fic has Hubert leaving Edelgard under any circumstances - the author fucking knows what they're writing isn't exactly a 1-to-1 match to canon. They do not need - and almost certainly do not want - you sticking your head through their door with your finger up and ready to wag at them for not being in-line with canon. This person has no influence in the fandom from what I can see, their fic is barely talked about or even known at all, and they make no attempts at saying that this is their genuine view on the game (and in fact straight up say in their comments that this is just what they wanted to see from these characters, which obviously means they know what they're writing isn't in these characters).

They don't want to debate you R/axis. No one wants to debate you R/axis. Shut the fuck up already.

And to the author of the fic: in the slightest chance that you ever read this, I'm sorry that I'd gotten some asshole stinking up your comment section. I never encourage people to leave unkind or otherwise "debatey" comments on any works, even ones I don't like, and I'm sorry that my recommending your fic did just that. Your fic is a really interesting AU idea and just a joy to read through, and it doesn't deserve some Reddit dick trying to "prove you wrong" about a damn-near two-year-old fic. Hope you're having a great day

[isnt-it-pretty]

any advice for someone who never wrote a fanfic before?

Writing is a skill like any other. You wouldn't expect to pick up a flute and know how to play, would you? So no matter what, just keep writing.

Beyond that, here's a few pieces of general writing advice:

- Make sure your dialogue formatting is correct. A new paragraph every time a new person speaks, proper quotation marks, etc.

- Remember your tense. If you're writing in past tense, make sure everything is in past tense. The same applies if you're writing in present tense. It's an easy mistake to make, but people will notice.

- Don't use physical descriptors in place of nouns. Like this:

"Dialogue dialogue," the raven haired man said.

It's one of the quickest ways to turn people off your work. Use pronouns or the character's name unless the reader doesn't know the character's name. Sometimes you can get away with character relationships, ("blah blah," his father said), but use them sparingly.

- In a similar vein, just use 'said.' Words like whispered, shouted, etc., should be used for emphasis, not for regular dialogue.

- Don't learn to write from reading fics. You can tell when somebody does because they use all the tropes common to fanfiction, but honestly, those aren't very good (we've had passionate debates in my discord server about whether "golden orbs" or "the bluette said" is a greater sin. There is still no agreement.)

- Run your work through Grammarly. Copy and paste it into Grammarly's word processor since that works better than their google docs extension. Even the free Grammarly will help you a lot with little grammar things you don't notice. I know it picks up typos and such for me all the time.

- Personally, I suggest checking out some nonfiction writing books too. I'm fond of Stein on Writing by Sol Stein, and The Story Graph by Shawn Coney, but most people never do that, and they write fic just fine.

- Depending on the topic you plan on writing, research. I'm serious; the number of stories I've read that just toss in a deaf character because the author likes the headcanon is insane. If you want to deal with topics like disability or social issues, you need to research.

- If you post on ao3, learn the tagging system and use it properly. For example, "/" is romantic, and "&" is platonic. In general, don't use both for the same two characters.

- This is an excellent master list of writing advice by tumblr user she-who-fights-and-writes. Not all of it will apply to fic writing, but the basics are the same.

None writing but still important things:

- You'll never be happy if you compare your work to others. You can look at your pieces all day and wonder why they don't sound right or feel right or why it isn't like your favourite fic author, and it won't to make a difference.

- Coming off that, jealousy is a natural part of being involved in a skill-based community, but don't let it sour your friendships or make you bitter. I've seen it happen, and it makes everybody involved feel shitty. Meet people with kindness and move on, even if you think they don't deserve their popularity.

- Make friends! Fandom is a community. Authors should make friends with each other and with their readers. They should participate in the community by leaving comments on fics, reblogging art on social media, etc. This is supposed to be fun, so let it be.

- It is illegal to earn money off fan works. Don't mention anything to do with money on ao3. Don't link a kofi, paypal, say a work was a commission, etc. It breaks the terms of service.

- Just be kind and have fun.

[unityghost]

Applied Knowledge

Some more Post-Asmodeus Sabriel Feels content (part 31) for those who are still inclined to read, even if Supernatural is over. I’ll have to find a way to organize and tag this stuff on here; Archive of Our Own has it all organized chronologically. Thanks if you’ve stuck around up until this point! I don’t plan on stopping any time soon.

Logic told Gabriel that there was no reason to expect a linear recovery, and yet he found himself expecting it to work that way no matter the dictates of rational thinking.

The relationship between his near-humanity and his somewhat-angelness was a constant source of confusion to Gabriel - and everybody around him - but it seemed that Sam had recently come to the conclusion that a working knowledge of human biology might be helpful in the short term.

“When you breathe in,” he explained, “It activates the sympathetic nervous system. Gets your adrenaline going a little. So - ”

“I have no sympathy for my nervous system,” Gabriel interjected.

“ - the important part,” Sam went on, ignoring the comment he’d probably expected, “Is to focus on your exhalation, which initiates something different - other hormones - to calm you down. So it’s best to take that nice and slow. That's your parasympathetic nervous system.”

“Activate parachute, got it. Free-falling becomes smooth coasting through a cloudless summer sky.”

“If that’s what helps you remember it,” said Sam, “Then yes, Gabriel. Pull open the parachute.”

“Listen," Gabriel told him, "I’m pretty sure we’ve talked about deep breathing before, and I suck at it.”

“I thought it might help to get more specific about what happens when you do it, so that you know why it’s helpful. It helped me to learn about that. A lot happens to the human body when it gets like …” He gestured vaguely to what was in front of him: Gabriel, still trembling from the taste of a nightmare at the back of his throat as sweat coursed down his neck and both fists spontaneously clenched and unclenched against the tangled blankets. “This.”

“Well, it’s a good thing I don’t have a human body, then,” Gabriel replied. “Otherwise I might be a mess.”

Sam tried to smile. “Do you - ”

“No. No, I don’t really want to talk about it. I’m sorry for getting you out of bed. It’s just that I thought - ” Gabriel shook his head and looked down at the bedcovers clutched between his fingers. “I was so freakin’ tired when I fell asleep that I was dreaming about being tired, Sam. Kept trying to get up off the floor of that cell and find you, but Asmodeus wouldn’t let me, and I was too exhausted to pull myself to my feet.”

Sam nodded. Perhaps there was more physiology to be expounded upon with regard to the liminal space before waking waking, the crack in between that allowed for bewildered shouts for assistance, but Sam was tactful enough to withhold any further lectures.

“So I thought,” Gabriel continued, determined to complete his explanation, “That Asmodeus was in the room. I really did.”

He looked around. He couldn’t help it. He knew it was foolish, but it seemed even more foolish not to check.

Sam frowned at him.

“I was admiring the architecture,” Gabriel offered. “I’ve grown excruciatingly fond of this glamorized speakeasy you call a home.”

“Okay. I guess that's ... good. You want anything? Water, maybe?”

Gabriel turned his gaze downward again, debating whether to ask Sam to shift his weight so that Gabriel could properly pull the covers over himself. He decided against it: if he asked Sam to move, Sam might either take offense or understand the request to mean “leave and shut the door behind you.”

“Christmas crackers!” Gabriel hissed, pounding a fist against his own knee.

Sam looked horrified. “What are you doing? Gabriel, what's wrong?"

“I - ” Gabriel tried to remember what Sam had said about breathing - parachutes, right - and tried to exhale, then realized he couldn’t exhale without first exciting himself by inhaling, and came to the conclusion that the entire process was a self-defeating hoax. “I understand exactly what’s going on.”

“What? Going on with what?” When Gabriel didn’t answer, Sam pressed: “Has something been hurting, and you just figured it out, or - ”

“Geez, you really are in doctor mode tonight, aren’t you? I meant I know that I’m not in danger.”

Sam furrowed his brow. "Is that not good?"

“What isn’t good is that I’ve known that for months now!”

“I’m still not - ”

“What use is there in trying to convince myself that Asmodeus is gone when I still feel like he’s next to me or waiting for me or on top of me or - I’m starting to wonder if it’s worth the amount of effort I put into it every day!”

“I don’t think it’s that weird that you’d have a hard time finding common ground between what you know and what you feel,” said Sam.

“I didn’t say it was weird. I said it was pointless. Unless maybe I’m not trying hard enough; but man - I’ve been giving this everything I have in me.”

“It really hasn’t been that long, you know,” Sam reminded him. “You were in Hell for a lot longer than you’ve been with us.”

“So it’s going to take another truckload of centuries to bridge the gaping maw between what you’ve taught me and what he did to me?”

Sam spoke carefully. “I didn’t mean that. I was just trying to say that if you really want to focus on being rational, you’ve gotta factor in that imbalance. The time you spent in prison versus the time you’d had without Asmodeus manhandling you - that’s not a fair fight, so try not to be so rough on yourself about it.”

“Except,” Gabriel pointed out, feeling his chest tighten against Sam's audacious refusal to acknowledge Gabriel’s failure, “There was no gap when I had him breathing down my neck. I knew I was in danger and I felt that way, too. It wasn’t unreasonable to be cowering on the floor. Things are different now - I know there’s nothing to be afraid of, but my whole alarm system has short-circuited.”

“Yeah,” said Sam. “That’s usually how it works.”

Gabriel clenched his jaw and mangled the sheets in his fists again. “This isn’t funny.”

“What? Of course not. I know that.”

“Then stop talking to me like I’m a cute idiot, Sam. I don’t care how typical any of my behavior is; I want it to stop and you’re hearing something completely different. Just because you’ve got the knowledge and wisdom to smile and nod like I’m learning to walk for the first time - ‘Oh, look at this; it’s okay, we know he’ll stop falling even if he doesn’t know that yet’ - doesn’t make this any less exhausting for me.”

Sam looked bewildered. “I wasn’t laughing at you. I was trying to help. To remind you that - ”

“Shut up, okay? I know. I know. And that’s what makes it so difficult.”

“I just thought it might help you to know you’re not out of the ordinary for feeling the way you do - you know? I figure it’d only make me feel worse if I thought I was the only person to get stuck in the middle of what I knew was true and what I felt was real. I feel that way all the time. I’m not trying to preach to you. Or laugh at you. Why would I do that? I’m hardly in a position to brag about healthy recovery, am I?”

“Now you’re pleading!” Gabriel snapped. “I don’t want to feel like I hurt your feelings in addition to everything else!”

“Look,” Sam pleaded, because he was guilty of exactly that, “You and I are on a level playing field.”

“It sounds like you think you’re better than me.”

“Why would you even - I don’t think that at all, Gabriel.”

Gabriel pounded his knees again, thinking about the nightmare still sitting inside of him, exactly as real as the pain that resulted from hitting himself. “Well, you are, so maybe I shouldn't bitch about it.”

“Don’t be ridiculous.” Sam reached out and caught Gabriel’s fist before he could repeat the childish self-beating, the goal of which Gabriel felt might become clearer with each blow. “I wasn’t trying to prove anything. Maybe I said it the wrong way, but I really, really, truly, honestly meant that it’s normal to feel stuck like this. To know what’s the matter with you, to know what’s real, and to feel something totally opposite. I feel that way every day, Gabriel. And I definitely wasn’t trying to make light of it. If it came across that way then I’m sorry. I really am.”

“Oh, don’t be.” Gabriel tried to extricate his fist and Sam let him go. He thought about hitting himself again, but it seemed ungracious after Sam had made the choice to trust him with his own hands.

Sam’s voice softened. “Listen, Gabriel: you really need to sleep. I think that’s part of what’s got you so on edge.”

Gabriel almost said, Oh, is the baby getting cranky again? Let’s put him down for his nap but instead replied, “Or maybe it’s the quality of the sleep itself. I mean, if nightmares were the only issue, that’d make sense - I could figure that out. Maybe. But it’s the fact that my whole body is just flooded with the stuff.”

“That ... um ... feeling you get?” Sam asked.

Gabriel understood his hesitance, knew that Sam had never been able to comprehend what this “feeling” was - but perhaps that was simply due to Gabriel’s ineloquence. He had used adjectives like “dark” and “warped” to describe the tang that this feeling cast upon the world, had tried to articulate the deeply visceral flavor of ethereal horror that wrenched him out of the present and cradled him in the greasy jaws of memory.

Words, however, could not give shape to this feeling, even when Gabriel drew upon all his lifetimes of speech and his countless languages to try and force the feeling's essence into description. Yet it could not be coerced into the confines of vocabulary; it could only be felt, and only disgorged in the small horrible ways with which his near-mortal body was familiar: sweating; trembling; desperate, incessant vomiting when the terror would not abate.

In fact, Gabriel was convinced that this dark, otherworldly sensation probably was suggestive of neurosis unique to him. After all, Sam had never assured him of its normalcy. Maybe it was particular to angels, although he wasn’t sure he wanted to question Castiel about it. More likely, it was a symptom of the grotesque wrongness that had metastasized in Gabriel the moment Asmodeus first laid hands on him.

“Hey.” Sam touched his arm. “You all right?”

“Yes,” Gabriel answered hoarsely. “But that isn’t how I feel.”

“Nightmare still on your mind?”

“No. I … I don’t know.” Gabriel licked his lips. “Maybe I don’t really understand as much as I like to believe I do. Sam - ” He tried to meet Sam’s eyes but Sam was still clutching his arm. He didn’t mind if Sam touched him, or if Sam wanted to make eye contact, but in general Gabriel wasn’t willing to do both at the same time. “You don’t think I’m disgusting, right?”

“What? No. Of course not.”

“Okay, but I do. I think that I’m disgusting, and I also feel like I’m disgusting. Like - in the way that maggots crawling over a decomposing body is disgusting. It’s not the corpse’s fault for rotting and it’s not the bugs’ fault that they feed on it. It’s just disgusting for what it is.”

Sam recoiled, and Gabriel jerked his head up. I was right.

Sam’s features had taken on the flush of anger. “I don’t like that at all.”

“Neither do I! What, you think I was just spouting a poetic monologue? It’s what I see, Sam. It’s what I feel.”

“But that’s just … Jesus. You’re not like that. That’s a horrible thing to say about yourself.”

“Then I’m sorry I said it! Look, you’re proving my point!”

“That’s just such a - look - ” Sam closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

“Pull the parachute, Sam,” said Gabriel, trying to ignore how fast his heart was pounding in response to the irritation in Sam’s face.

Sam opened his eyes. “Gabriel, I know you feel like you’re tainted or - or just bad, or whatever, but I hate to hear you talk about yourself like that.”

“Well, how am I supposed to believe it isn’t true? Based on what happened to me in Hell, I’m probably not that far off.”

“You are, though.”

“I’m not, though.”

Sam stood up.

Gabriel scrambled backward, slamming into the wall and toppling the pillow from the lip of the mattress to the floor. He had a split second’s regret - I could have used that for protection - and then several moments of quiet waiting, moments in which he was not sure what he did, moments in which he heard nothing and saw only darkness.

Then he heard his name, repeated gently over and over; he remembered where he was, and realized - with a spasm of humiliation - that what had felt like minutes probably had not been more than a few seconds. Both arms were thrown over his head as a makeshift shield - a fortress that had never proven effective against his attackers.

With arthritic slowness, Gabriel unfolded himself.

“It’s okay,” Sam whispered. “It’s okay. There we go. It’s okay. It’s all right, Gabriel; it’s all right.”

Gabriel nodded. He did not look at Sam.

Sam held out a hand, uncertain. “I’m sorry. I got a little - ”

“It’s fine.” But Gabriel was suddenly overtaken by such a violent urge to cry that he lay back down, bereft of the pillow, and turned away. “I just - ”

Sam waited.

“I forgot to activate my parachute,” Gabriel finished, and crushed his teeth together against a sob that jerked out of him like a seizure.

“Ah - ” Sam sounded shocked and unsure. “Oh man. I’m sorry.”

Gabriel knew that he was. It would only serve to make Sam feel worse if Gabriel were to vocally lament that he was terrified of giving voice to his deepest despair lest Sam lash out. Even if it was due to helplessness or to fury toward Asmodeus, Gabriel couldn’t handle that level of fire in Sam.

"Here, let's just - let me, um - " Sam tucked the blankets around Gabriel's shoulders, taking caution not to actually touch him. Gabriel had come to suspect that Sam felt most at ease in conveying affection, remorse, and protectiveness through some sort of physical contact. Gabriel often made this challenging for Sam. In fact, he reflected as he felt Sam draw away, why should he feel entitled to refuse Sam the small comfort of touching him when Gabriel was the one at fault for misinterpreting a benign gesture of frustration - especially given that the gesture was in response to Gabriel’s complaining about his poor self-image?

“Listen,” Sam said quietly. “Listen, Gabe - I won’t leave, but I’m gonna give you a couple minutes to calm down. I’m here, but I’m not going to hurt you, Gabriel.”

In the aftermath of the imagined assault, Gabriel was shaking. He listened to his own ragged breathing as he would have listened to a familiar much-hated song that played only because he was too unintelligent to find the appropriate dial to turn it off, while somebody else was forced to pretend it didn’t grate on their nerves and politely wait for the closing notes.

After a few moments, the surge of fear began to soften and the bedroom grew more solid to him. He debated the benefits and disadvantages of trying to halt his tears. Ultimately, he decided, it wasn’t a question of positives and negatives: there was simply not much use in pretending that Sam would have judged him after seeing it happen so often. The impulse to stoicism was there, as it always was - a costume with no remaining elasticity.

“I know,” Gabriel muttered into the damp sheet.

“Huh?”

He turned over, looking up at Sam. “I know that you’re not gonna do anything to try and mess with me. I really - I do. I know that.”

“That’s good.”

“If I could show you as much, I would. Instead you’ve got me whining about my self-indulgent hatred of - ” But Gabriel stopped, afraid to annoy Sam with additional descriptions of (as he’d considered saying) “this cosmic garbage that’s only ever been good for playtime in Hell.”

"That's all right," said Sam, although he looked pale and haunted. "Don't worry about it, Gabriel. Really. Just take it easy."

“You can touch me,” Gabriel offered. “If you - I’m sorry.”

Sam shook his head. “You don’t gotta make anything up to me, Gabriel.”

“I don’t want to get in trouble.” Gabriel gave a tight, nervous laugh. “If you want to, you can.”

“No. No, it's okay. Wait - if I say no, are you going to take that to mean I just think you’re gross?”

“I'm not sure."

“All right. Okay. Well, what do you want?” When Gabriel tensed - he loathed the question, abhorred the word - Sam corrected himself: “What do you need right now?”

“I’m not sure," Gabriel repeated. "I just know I’m sorry for freaking out.”

“Come on, you didn’t do anything wrong. Look, you know me pretty well, I think - and - well, hearing stuff like that can be rough because I want to change it. That’s all. It’s not your fault Asmodeus was such a piece of work.”

“I need to be more careful.” Gabriel smiled, fitfully, feeling delusional and uneven. He didn’t know whether he wanted to come across as serious. “One of these days you might actually get real pissed off. And whatever happens, I’ll have to take responsibility for not being able to control myself.”

Sam’s eye twitched. “Don’t say things like that.”

“Fine. I won’t. I’ll think them, but I won’t say them.” Gabriel was beginning to wonder if he was being difficult on purpose. “I don’t want to upset you; I don’t want to make you angry at anyone; I don’t want to make you sad when I’m afraid of you.”

“Stop.” Helplessly, Sam reached out and grabbed his hand. “You can say whatever you like, Gabriel. I just wish I could help.”

“Hey, you are helping. Like I mentioned, I at least know where I am. I know I’m not actually in danger.”

Sam gave a tired smile. “That isn’t what you just said.”

“Well - then I’m not sure what’s wrong with me. There are things I do know, and things I should know. Maybe I’ve actually lost my whole-ass mind. I believe you, I think. I believe you don’t want to hurt me. I just don’t - I guess I figure that might change.”

“But why?”

“Why wouldn’t it?”

“Because it’s me, Gabriel. It's Sam. It's not Asmodeus.”

"Yes! And yet here we are!"

Sam gripped his hand more firmly. “But that’s okay.”

“It really isn’t. I need to be able to connect the dots better. For my sake, maybe, but for yours too. I need to understand things better. I need to be able to apply what I learn. Looks like I’m screwing up both parts of that process.”

“You need more time. Maybe a lot more time.”

“I’ve had time!"

“Some. Like I said, you had a whole lot more time with him than you’ve had with any of us.”

“I just - ah - I - ” Gabriel wiped his eyes. “I’d just really like it to stop. I could do without the nightmares and without being scared of you or anyone else. And without feeling like a diseased animal stinking up the place. I hate it. I want it to end. I’m confused about what to believe and what to feel and how to act. I don’t want to hurt you and I don’t want you to hurt me but I - but I’m this thing, this nauseating, awful thing that he - that - and I can’t keep doing this because it’s too much for me. I can’t handle it. I can’t handle knowing it’ll probably take another eon before I’m not running away from you, and by then you won’t even be here. And I can’t handle thinking about that, either. I just want it to stop. All of it. I can’t do this." He shivered and tried to remember to breathe.

"I know," Sam murmured. "It's okay. I get it. But you're gonna be okay. I'm here."

"You - " Gabriel shuddered again, feeling sick and exhausted and still plagued by the grotesque haze of nightmares. "You can touch me."

Sam squeezed his hand.

“No,” Gabriel said, “I mean - ”

Sam eased him closer, into a gentle hug that felt undeserved but not frightening.

Gabriel took a deep breath, came close to making a remark about parachutes, and decided he had better not speak.

Since escaping, Gabriel had had instances in which he'd seriously doubted his own intellect. Surely he had simply not been clever enough to break free from Asmodeus; surely only a truly dimwitted being would have gotten so lost in the post-infernal labyrinth between knowledge and experience.

Despite this uncertainty, he didn't believe that he was stupid enough to miss what seemed obvious: the safety he felt in an embrace like this was instinctual. Perhaps it was a rudimentary form of applied knowledge. At least in this moment, there was no need to berate himself into common sense - not when the privilege of a warm embrace, however unmerited, felt quite different from anything else.

[muppetjackrackham]

ELVIS AND AUSTIN!ELVIS ASK GAME: 🦁 EDITION

(courtesy of @aconflagrationofmyown​)

Technically I was tagged to do this almost a week ago and then I Forgor about it sooooooo. No time like the present tho! Especially considering it’s apparently Elvis Presley Day (everybody say thank you @loving-elvis​). I was tagged by @mymamalife and @lindszeppelin (ty lovies!) and I’m not sure who all has already done this so anyone who hasn’t done it yet and wants to do it just say I tagged you 

Let’s start off gently shall we? Because this most definitely devolves into thirsty madness later, you’ve been warned…and also, we are all at various stages in the Elvis fandom, some of us have been suckling the gospel of EP from birth, others just had their sexual awakening with the 2022 movie, and then there’s the ones among us with frickin’ doctorates on the man. All are welcome, it keeps us colorful. Feel free to pick and chose which of these you want to answer.

When and what was your first exposure to Elvis Presley?

This is probably a very common answer (especially for younger Elvis fans like myself) but in terms of what I can actually remember? Lilo and Stitch! I’m sure I probably heard my parents listening to Elvis growing up (we have a veritable fuck ton of Elvis CDs lying around the house, including every film, every special and all of his gospel albums AND the Viva Elvis soundtrack from the Cirque du Soleil show, which is very good if you’ve never heard it) but Lilo and Stitch is when I actually remembered hearing it.

And what was your first impression?  

Catchy stuff. I remember being very fond of Stuck On You for some incredibly specific reason. As an adult, however, Lilo laying on the floor listening to Heartbreak Hotel is probably my favourite (and very relatable). But I didn’t really think about him beyond that until much later in life.

Lace shirts or jumpsuits?

In terms of what I would wear? Lace shirts. In terms of what Elvis would wear? Both honestly. One fits the love I have for the pretty boy aesthetic and the other has an element of camp to it, which fits the love I have for camp and kitsch. He manages to look good in both (and just about everything inbetween) and that’s incredibly unfair because I don’t think I could ever pull off a jumpsuit.

You can steal one of Elvis/Austin’s outfits, what’s it going to be?

Again, in terms of what I would wear? The Trouble outfit. 100%. I’m a big fan of Green Day and from the minute I saw it I started calling it the American Idiot outfit, which has led to very interesting debate in my household as to whether or not Billie Joe Armstrong based THE American Idiot outfit off of Elvis, which I think would be VERY interesting if he did, considering the nature of who Elvis was, especially when he was starting out. The image- and subsequent outcry as a result of- a young rock n’ roll rebel rauser from the 1950s and what it means to be a punk musician (particularly an American punk musician, and definitely THOSE American punk musicians) are actually quite similar, at least to me. Putting my own comfort aside, however, I’d say the pink suit lace shirt combo from the hayride. I’ve been obsessed with it ever since. Unless there’s something Elvis actually wore that had lions on it. Comfort or no, I’d wear it because I have an image to maintain. (Honourable mention: the tiger jumpsuit. Rawr)

C’mon, we know you’ve been watching/reading old interviews and random footage of the man, so what’s your favorite random Elvis quote?

During the ‘68 comeback special where he curls his lip and says “I got news for you, baby: I did 29 pictures like that!” while making fun of how much he curled his lip.

Did you find Austin Butler’s lips distracting despite them being in a movie about the King of plush upper lips? (Be honest now)  

Well I do NOW. 

In all honesty I was actually probably more distracted by his eyes. Anytime I see a gif of Austin kissing someone, however, I am most definitely thinking about his lips.

What’s an aspect of Elvis’ character you wish more people appreciated?

I think there is a lot to be said about Elvis’ faith honestly. His gospel albums genuinely moved me to tears and, shockingly, are what won him the three Grammys he has. 14 nominations throughout his career and he won all three for his gospel albums. His version of Amazing Grace is one of the best versions I’ve ever heard. I think, although I didn’t know him personally, but I think there was something very genuine about Elvis’ faith, which isn’t always the case for someone as famous as he was. I hope it gave him some semblance of peace whenever he needed it most.

You meet Col. Tom Parker for the first time, forewarned with the knowledge of what a scumbag he is, what do you do?

A. Nothing. You’re a coward who doesn’t care about abused golden-hearted men B. You give the Colonel a stern telling off C. You encourage Elvis to leave him and break the contract  E. You slap a legal document against that fat suit and declare “Mrs. Claus is bringing you a lawsuit!” F. You waste no time with formalities, it’s a letter opener to the juggler for that piece of trash

I know how hard it is to try and accept that someone close to you is abusing you or taking advantage of you, and it’s especially hard to do on your own. I think it’s not unreasonable to think that, if Elvis had been able to get out from under the Colonel’s thumb, he might have lived longer, or at the very least had better quality of life before he died.

What was your favorite aspect/scene from the Elvis 2022 movie?

God it’s hard to pick just one thing. There’s so many things I love about this movie in particular. I think it might actually be my favourite Baz Lurhman film to date (which is impressive because I fucking love Moulin Rouge), and as much as I love Austin’s performance, it’s not the only thing that really stands out to me. Everything about this movie is magical. The cinematography. The sound design. The costumes. The sets. But if you’re really going to make me pick just one.......as much as I love Trouble (and believe me, I do. Especially after watching King Creole), I might have to go with the introduction to the Vegas Years with the way Baz builds up the orchestration to the Vegas rendition of That’s Alright Mama. I had chills the first time I saw it and I about had chills every subsequent time I saw it. The way it not only builds anticipation, but builds the very track itself? Genuinely inspired imo, even for Baz.

You can choose only one song or piece of media to convince someone to become an Elvis fan, what is it going to be?

If I Can Dream, and the context surrounding it. The 68′ Comeback Special is renowned for a reason, but If I Can Dream is something else altogether, because it’s not just a brilliant performance. It’s a brilliant performance that means something. It actually reminds me of U2′s Super Bowl halftime show in that way (and it’s my favourite halftime show as a result). If I Can Dream came at a time where the nation was particularly divisive, and it is genuinely one of the most moving- and heartfelt- performances I’ve ever seen. 

How many children would you give Elvis Presley from your own -or theoretical- womb? (listen to the beast in ya, your feminism won’t serve you here)

Due to a multitude of reasons I’ll say one or two. We’d adopt. 

Where are you hanging out with EP, his bedroom with the teddy bears, Club Handy, his private jet or Graceland?

Graceland. Especially the jungle room. I never knew what it looked like as a kid so whenever someone mentioned it I always pictured the tackiest looking room with fake vines and forest wallpaper and animal heads...only to then find out it’s actually very tasteful and warm and quite gorgeous actually. I think I would spend a lot of time in that room honestly.

What is the peak Elvis era? (Warning, this says an awful lot about you…)

Late ‘60s early ‘70s. Elvis had always been a sex symbol, but the raw, unrefined sex appeal of the ‘68 Comeback Special had me in a grip. He was no longer that young boyish rebel of the mid to late ‘50s, and after many years and failed attempts at the kind of film career I wish I- and Elvis himself- had gotten to see, Elvis had finally returned to his roots as a musician, and a rock n’ roll musician at that. There was a maturity to his sound that I really loved.

How long have you been an Austin Butler fan (be honest now, God is watching)

Radicalized June 24th 2022, but now I’m in it for the long haul. God help you all when that biker movie comes out. Also Dune. ESPECIALLY Dune.  As much as I actually liked the 1984 version, it is an absolute injustice to Feyd Rautha, and I know Austin has the range to play the nastiest little space twink I know and love. 

However if they make him bald I will quit my job and go full time in the walls of Denis Villeneuve’s house.

What kind of Elvis chick are you? A 1950’s prospective wife material that he’s already sampled, a 1960’s film set fling, or a Vegas torrid backstage affair?

Hmmmmmmm. I was a drama kid growing up so of the three I’m gonna say film set fling. 

Is Austin Butler an honorary southerner now? Answer options:

A. Hell no, California can keep his sweet cheeks B. Hell yes, he’s practically been possessed by the soul of the King of the South  

Pick your poison in the fan-fiction realm: angst, fluff, smut, fluffy smut, angsty fluff, angsty smut? Or is reading about Elvis Presley an acknowledged health hazard?

Angst. I fucking love to suffer (and I like to drag everyone else down with me. Just ask any of my friends). And it’s not just fanfiction, either. My favorite show right now is literally Succession.

Spit or swallow for this man? (And if you don’t understand this question move right along)

ABSOLUTELY NOT

but also if you’re really going to make me choose.......spit.

Would Gladys approve of you? Take your above answer into consideration.

Honestly? I’m not sure. I think I’m the kind of person that would try to conform to her expectations to an unhealthy degree, but in terms of my feelings for Elvis? I want to hope that she would appreciate the sincerity. 

Which of Elvis’ cars is your favorite?

Not the pink Cadillac, but the purple one! 

What are your odds for besting this man at karate?

Well I DID watch The Karate Kid so less than none probably (Sorry Ralph). Unless I’m in Eagle Fang. Then maybe one or two. That being said, I would love to see a fight between Elvis and Terry Silver. I’m getting an ABSURD amount of satisfaction at the thought of Elvis beating the shit out of Terry Silver. I would point and laugh for hours on end. 

If you could meet Elvis and have enough composure to tell him something, what would it be?

A hug. Some words of encouragement. If Elvis truly felt like he never made a film he could be proud of I’d tell him that I loved him in King Creole. Maybe offer to say a prayer for him if it would bring him even some small semblance of peace.

What’s a hobby or pastime of yours you wish you could share with Elvis/Austin!Elvis?

I love making playlists because I listen to a shit ton of music. Getting to listen to new music with Elvis and be able to make playlists together just sounds so cozy to me honestly.

What’s the Elvis 2022 quote you’ve been mumbling to yourself ever since you heard it?

EIGHT HUNDRED SHOWS. YOU DON’T HAVE A GODDAMN PASSPORT YOU SON OF A BITCH.

What are your top 3 go-to Elvis songs?

Where Could I Go But To The Lord, Heartbreak Hotel and Polk Salad Annie 🐊

If you could spare him one tragedy what would it be?

Addiction. 

Is there a modern artist that sorta scratches for you the itch that Elvis’ absence leaves?

I can’t say there is one when it comes to Elvis. The absolute closest in terms of Elvis specifically is, for me, getting to listen to Austin Butler, but that’s about it. The more I’ve come to learn about who Elvis was and appreciate the magnitude of his loss, the less of an answer I have. 

How did you react at the end of the movie when In the Ghetto started to play?

A. I got up and fixed a snack because I have no soul B. I left feeling alarmingly horny C. I was impressed but didn’t realize how affected I was until days later when it was still with me D. I cried buckets they had to bring in a mop E. I may have appeared emotionless but in fact my soul was leaving my body and I don’t think it’s returned quite yet

If you’ve got a favorite gif or photo insert it here and bless us all

[hobbitsetal]

I saw your post on the entertainment debate floating around, and read the tags, so I was wondering if you did end up writing a post on storytelling and God?

Not a separate post as such, but I had a few under my "art faith and media" tag that probably qualify!

But for you, dear anon, let me go off just a bit because I'm procrastinating editing and this is a worthy writing project.

What has storytelling to do with God, first and foremost? I would argue He is the original Storyteller, that the Bible is the story of humanity's quest to understand and follow this Great Being Who reveals Himself to us in many ways and through various means.

Jesus taught through parables, in the tradition of various Jewish rabbis, as a Jewish rabbi Himself. God affirmed and continued the human yen for storytelling while He walked this earth with us. I find that eminently lovely.

The first followers of Christ were charged to go and spread the news of what God had done--charged to become storytellers and forth-tellers. Storytelling itself was changed by the presence of God. I've seen a post on Tumblr talking about the old story form of a man who loses his lover to death. The Greek myths end with him losing her forever. The stories post-Jesus end with him recovering her. Take that one with a grain of salt--I am no scholar and I can't find the post again--but it's a beautiful thought.

So, do we now go on to tell you to write stories with good Christian morals?

Absolutely not. If you set out to write a moral, you'll probably bore everybody. Write a good story and your own values will filter into it. Art is terrifyingly revelatory. I've laughed with my husband before over how various life changes and events and struggles seep into my characters and storytelling, whether I want them to or not.

And that brings me to what one might consider the heart of storytelling: knowledge and understanding. Those who read more widely are, apparently, more empathetic. Reading puts us in the shoes of others, in other situations and other worlds. Reading humanizes other people to us, and that is a valuable weapon against selfishness.

Storytelling gives us a safe way to work through questions and struggles. Some scholars apparently believe that the books of Job and Jonah don't describe historical events, but are records of the ancients Jews grappling with the problem of pain and with the idea of a God Who is willing to embrace even our worst enemies.

Storytelling gives us a medium to examine our world in a way that removes it from us just a bit, just enough to study issues with a little more breathing room. What makes a god? What is worth fighting for or dying for? How does one determine right and wrong when everything seems uncertain and you don't know who's lying?

What does hope look like in the face of great darkness? Read The Lord of the Rings. What might God's love look like in another world, in another place? Read C.S. Lewis's The Chronicles of Narnia, or his Space Trilogy. Is morality contingent on gods? What is the responsibility of those in power to defend against oppression, racism, abuse of power? Read Terry Pratchett's Discworld.

You don't need to agree with everything you read. I adore Pratchett, but he was an atheist and it shows in his writings, and I am very much a theist to my core. Nonetheless, he makes important observations about human nature and right and wrong.

If you read through a Christian lens--that is, through the mindset that there is a God, that He cares about us, and that objective right and wrong exist--everything you read has the potential to teach you important things.

Why am I talking so much about reading? Because I'm a writer, and reading is what I think of first. Movies, tv shows, podcasts, oral stories--all qualify equally as storytelling. I think art--paintings or web comics or whatever else you would like to name--can be storytelling. They all have the potential to move someone emotionally, to point them to insights about humanity, to provoke the imagination.

Storytelling, then, is a way to understand ourselves and the world around us better, both as it is and as it relates to God. Storytelling is a reflection of the Great Creator, the original Storyteller, the One Who knows us most intimately and perfectly...the One Who created us for joy.

Embrace imagination, my friend. It is created by God.