#fun fact this has been in my drafts since.... like end of may..... oops

[meamiki]

my friend and i have this ongoing bit on stream where we are going to shave the king bald...... yeah........

((there are actually two ongoing bits with the king. but i do not think anyone wants me to illustrate the second one. including myself. perhaps i am a coward and that is okay. i will not be elaborating at this time. SAFSADASDAS))

[riddlegecko]

My brain is void of any questions as of right now, so this is kinda basic (sorry!) but what is one interesting fact about each of your OCs?

Oooohoho, yeah. These guys have some History, so this'll be fun. Putting this one under a cut.

Francesca "Frankie" Falkenrath

The reasoning behind her name is because I created her as the unisex protagonist of a musical idea I had when I was 15/16. I was looking at a list of gender neutral names, saw and liked the name Frankie, looked through surnames starting with "f" bc I wanted the name to be alliterative, found the surname "Falkenrath" in a list of German last names, and picked it bc it essentially means "council of falcons" which is badass as hell. By the time I made her into a non-unisex character, I'd gotten so attached to the name that I ended up keeping it.

Damien Hall

(Fair warning, a lot of this trivia is gonna be name-based) I originally came up the name "Damien Hall" for the male lead of a musical I came up with after seeing Phantom of the Opera in Cleveland when I was 14. He was an angel that guarded over a massive cemetery and used this big church bell to calm restless spirits, and he ended up falling in love with a recently orphaned girl whose singing also calmed spirits. I ended up passing the name around a lot of stories before finally using it for my favorite veterinarian boy <3

Det. Shiloh Hawthorne

Y'know how I said I originally created Frankie for a musical idea I had? Shiloh also originated from that idea. Basically, the plot would've been about Frankie being murdered, acting as the narrator while her boyfriend (then named Elliot) tried to solve her murder, on top of having her own subplot about coming to terms with her death. Helping Frankie do that would've been Shiloh, then simply known as "The Reaper". He wasn't a detective back then, he was an agent of the Grim Reaper. Also, he had a crush on Frankie, but I nixed that bc ehhhhhh... I ended up working that "used to be a Reaper in a previous draft of the story" detail into his backstory, making him a Reaper-turned-detective.

Det. Chester "Chess" Murdoch

Probably the oldest character here in terms of when I created them! I've had this dude around since I was 10-11 years old! Back then, I wanted to be an animator, and I had an idea for a cartoon called "Chess and Alfie". It was about a human detective named Chess who solved cases alongside his talking tuxedo cat Alfie. Obviously, Alfie was eventually replaced with his twin sister Abby, though that happened way later. I don't remember what his last name was back then, so I just gave him the surname Murdoch bc it sounded cool.

Det. Abigail "Abby" Murdoch

Again, I created Abby looooong after Chess, ironic considering she's the older sibling in-story. I vaguely remember writing that Chess and Alfie-era Chess had an older sister, but that was such a long time ago that I could be misremembering.

Victoria Waterford

Not the most interesting fact, but those of y'all who were here when I first introduced these characters may remember that she was originally a baker instead of a hairdresser!

Robin Barrows

Was originally the protagonist of a different story idea I once had called "Trackside Town", about a girl trying to find her abducted parents in a mysterious, run-down city inhabited by monsters. Their last name was "O'Malley" back then, I ended up changing it to "Barrows" because I had the Clock Tower series of games on the brain at the time.

Xavier Lewis-Hall

He came about a bit later than some of the other characters. Like, pre-Mary Ann and Lucille, but still sometime after the original 8. I'd been requesting asks abt my then-recently-introduced-to-tumblr characters, and somebody (I believe it was @cutter-kirby ?) sent in an ask about which of my characters would tell/fall for the updog joke. I mentioned that Damien would tell it to "one of his kid cousins". Then I came up with the name "Xavier" for the oldest of said kid cousins for a post about how Frankie and Damien met, and I ended up liking him so much that I made him a fully-fledged character.

Jason Fitzpatrick

His name was originally "Freddie Fitzpatrick", and he was the husband of the main character of another musical idea I had (of which there were clearly a lot), simply entitled "Claire". Unlike the Jason we know now, Freddie was a sweetheart who loved his wife a whole lot. After reusing the "Fitzpatrick" name for this story, I changed his first name to "Jason" bc that was the name of one of my bullies in my last year of public school. Also bonus fact, I'm pretty sure that "Claire" musical is indirectly the reason I ended up dream-casting Lauren Lopez as Frankie, because I had also dream-casted the titular character of Claire as Lauren. Once I ditched the Claire idea, I ended up merging a lot of her character into Frankie, so uh,,, yeah,,,

Christina Baxter

...I honestly don't have much in the way of facts about her. Oops.

Skylar Fitzpatrick

His "seeing and talking to ghosts" thing was originally part of Robin's character. Skylar was created to flesh out Jason a bit more, and I gave him the seer traits instead bc I needed a way to justify his presence in the story. Though admittedly, his existence has had me struggling to figure out Robin's role in the story for ages now.

Hunter Luzzatto

Hunter's an odd case bc he technically has two different origins. His name came from the Trackside Town story that Robin was originally from, but the character concept (originally named Parker) came from an early draft of Frankie and Shiloh's origin (then called "Who Killed Frankie Falkenrath?"). I had an idea where the band of that show would also be characters in the show, and proto-Hunter was the guitarist of the band. He was a lot less antagonistic then, being more of an active ally to Frankie and proto-Shiloh.

Mary Ann Fleisher

So, you remember how I named Paul and Emma's landlord in DTfiles "Ernie Fleischer"? Believe it or not, Ernie was created a few months before Mary Ann. I just used a different spelling of his last name for Mary Ann bc hey why not?

Lucille Dagwood

Fun little trivia for you HoHF fans, her first name was originally "Harriet". I changed it bc I already had a ghost character with an H name, and I'd already long since established Hunter's character at that point. I decided I'd rather change the name of this new character than the one of an already established character.

[the-last-airbadger]

My 2020

Hey y’all. So 2020 happened. That was a thing. Apparently. I know for a lot of people this year was uhm… pretty shit… but it was still a year that happened so it’s time for my annual reflection post (probably the only time I still post about myself on tumblr lol) and maybe we might even find some good things that happened this year!

 The Beginning of 2020 vs Now

So, a lot has changed since the start of the year. A pandemic happened, for one. I can’t believe that a year ago I could still go to class every day and see my friends and now I’m pretty much stuck at home every day. The year started out pretty normal and then march happened and well, you all know what happened next. The worst part about the pandemic for me personally was probably the fact that I barely see my friends anymore and I can’t go to class every day. Some people may not think that not going to class is that bad, but I really enjoyed university more than I ever enjoyed school and I was really happy going there every day, and I was already sad I’d only have 4 to 5 years to spend there, so when that period got even shorter it made me kinda sad.

On the other hand, I do think that mentally I’m in a much better place than I was last year around this time. Being home this much really gave me time to reflect and work on my issues, and because my sister was stuck in our house for a couple of weeks I got to talk to her a lot which really helped me feel better. I think in general my entire family (my brother, sister and mom) have become a lot more open with each other which I think is great! I guess quarantine can have some benefits.

 The Best Things about 2020

Okay, here’s is where we’re going to get even more positive and go over all the good things that happened (to me) this year! To be honest, most of the year was a bit of a blur so I probably will forget quite a bit, but I’m going to give this a try anyway. At the start of the year (when things were still normal) I was super excited to get into the next semester, as the one before had,,, kinda sucked, and those 6 weeks of class I had at the start of the year were really great. I remember me and my friends having a competition of who could get mentioned the most in our teacher’s powerpoint presentation so those classes were always interesting. I also finally got to dye my hair for the first time with the help of my friends. I’ve been wanting to do that for so long, and I’m so happy I finally got to do it! I even know how to do it myself now, and my hair hasn’t been brown since the start of march! Then, at the start of march, my dad and stepmother moved away and I permanently moved in with my mom. Before, I used to live with both my mom and my dad and I got really really sick of switching houses every week, so to finally live in one house and have all my stuff in one place was a bit of a relief to me, and I’m still really happy with it. After that, things become a bit blurry. I remember that at the start of quarantine in … April? I watched Sex Education or the first time, which is now not only one of my favourite shows ever, but also taught me a lot and helped me with some of the issues I was dealing with. We’ll skip over the subsequent sexuality crisis I had (I think I might actually be straight??), and skip straight to the summer, when I started watching I-Land. I watched every episode as it aired live, and because of this show my Fridays really became the highlight of the week. I don’t think I’ve ever been so invested in a survival show XD. The rest of the year was mostly just me spending time with myself. It got a bit lonely sometimes, but I also don’t think I’ve ever written as much as I have this year, and my drawing has significantly improved (if I may say so myself)! Especially towards the end of the year, when I started making a planning every day to prevent myself from wasting away all my time on youtube, I got super productive, and I wrote a lot, and made a lot of art, and I really felt good. I even started (gasp) working out. Yeah I know. Shocking right.

There was also a lot of good music that was released this year, and, to close this section on a great note, through one of my classes I finally found a group of friends to play D&D with! We haven’t actually played yet, but we will, and I’m so excited to play the game and get to know these people more! They all seem really kind!

 My Resolutions for 2020?

Now, here’s the part where we check whether I actually reached all the goals I set myself for 2020. As usual, I have no idea what my resolutions were, so I honestly have no idea how I did. Let’s see, shall we?

Express my feelings more (as in I get really awkward in any sappy or mushy situation but I would like to be able to tell people I appreciate them without cringing) – UHM way to attack me on the very first resolution jeez. I did get more open with my family but I still can’t tell people I care about them without cringing so this is a fail lol

Again, learn to depend less on other people’s opinion and trust my own – I’ve been working on it, I think I’ve gotten a bit better? So win?

Get my sleeping schedule back on track – did that! It’s a bit whacky again now because of the holidays, but October and November were a big success regarding this resolution

WRITE MORE. This time I’ll make some concrete goals: Either I’ll get my story’s first draft done, or I’ll write 100 pages on a single project – okay, so here’s the thing. I don’t think I did any of these particular things, however this time I am 100% sure I wrote a lot more than the past years. I cannot count all the files and pages and notes I have now, but I wrote a lot, so I’m counting this as a win

I want to try NaNoWriMo (not necessarily in November, but at some point) – yeah, didn’t do that oops

I want to read a lot again but maybe not as much as this year because I want to focus on writing too. 40 books? – 49 books babey

Read all my current unread books (Aru Shah 2, Skullduggery Pleasant 9, Gemina, The Mistborn Trilogy and Call Down The Hawk) and finish my reread of Heroes of Olympus and the Raven Cycle) – Did all of these except Skullduggery Pleasant 9 (the start was so boring I decided not to read it all) and The Mistborn Trilogy (I am about halfway through the first book I think?) so I’m counting this as half a win

Finally read a book by V.E. Schwab (I’ve been wanting to try one of her books for ages) – Did that! Read a whole trilogy. It was good but not as great as I expected them to be. I think my expectations were too high though

Finish Playing Twilight Princess (I promised my brother) – Did that! I’m really proud of myself and so is my brother

Go. Swimming. Seriously. It’s scandalous that I still haven’t done that after waiting so long to be able to – IT’S BEEN 5 YEARS SINCE I LAST WENT SWIMMING WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME. I did buy new swimshorts but I still haven’t actually used them… shame on me

Try to worry less about school and not overwork myself – kinda?

Maybe try another drawing challenge somewhere this summer? I haven’t done any of those in a while and I feel like my art needs more attention – okay, so I didn’t do that, but I did at the start of the year make the resolution to make portrait/photoshoot-like drawings for my 8 main oc’s, and I did actually manage to finish that, and they are some of the best drawings I’ve ever made, so though I haven’t actually done a challenge specifically, I did do something

I want to try a 24 hour readathon – Yeah, didn’t do that oops

I kinda want to learn a piano piece as well, but I already have so many hobbies I want to focus on so I don’t know if I’ll have the time ☹ – yeah my dad sold our piano so… fail XD

 Expectations for 2021

Now, after last year I think it’s safe to say we can never really know what to expect. But! I’m going to guess anyway because it’ll be really fun to see next year whether I got anything right.

The first thing that I think will probably happen this year (if I don’t majorly mess anything up) is I’ll be writing my thesis next semester, and then in the summer I’ll get my bachelor’s degree. Honestly I can’t believe how fricking fast those 3 years went, but I guess I’ll just have to roll with it lol. Corona vaccinations will also probably start happening next year, and hopefully this will mean that going outside and seeing my friends will be possible again next year – at least a lot more than it was this year. I hope 2021 will be the year of hanging out with friends and getting to live a little again. Maybe even get to go to class. That would be great.

On to more minor – but no less exciting – things, 2021 will probably bring us a new season of Sex Education! I’m sooo excited for that holy shit. And, in a similar vein, I have high hopes for kpop releases now that SHINee is finally back, and it looks like Haseul is also returning to LOONA! 2021 will also be the year in which ENHYPEN makes their first comeback, and some of the other I-LAND contestants will also make their debut, and there might even be a new season of I-LAND as well in the summer? So there’s a lot of things to look forward to. Oh, and I almost forgot, Dan Howell’s book will be released in May, and there will be a new Grishaverse book, and the Shadow and Bone show will start airing, which I am really curious about. Again, lots of things to look forward to!

 2021 Resolutions

I’m not feeling as ambitious as I was last year, but there are a couple of things I want to try and do, so let’s jump into the resolutions!

I just came up with this today, but I think I want to try and build a bit of a skincare routine? The skin on my nose is kinda flakey, and I think it couldn’t hurt to try and take better care of my skin

Keep up with my daily workouts. I want to work out every day, except when I’m at my dad’s or when it’s a special day, like Christmas or something.

Be able to do either 50 push-ups on my knees, 25 normal push-ups, or both

GO SWIMMING

Keep up with planning daily! It’s a really good way to balance all of my 3195 hobbies and it helps me to not get stressed about school

Write (almost) every day. I need to make it a habit

Draw at least once a week, every other day if possible

Go outside at least once a week. That doesn’t seem very hard but with corona I did not realise how little I go outside if I am not forced to. Sometimes I spend 3 weeks without going out and I don’t even notice it. That can’t be good for me lol

Try to make healthier food choices. Maybe follow the lunch meal plan of the guy whose workout videos I follow.

Get my bachelor’s degree

Grow a beard. I’m getting closer… I know I’m getting closer…

Meet with my frIENDS and give them the alBUMS I have for them

Be more careful with my money, maybe even save a bit of money

Spend less time on social media

Read more educational books

I think that’s it! I can’t think of anything else right now so these will have to do. I wish that 2021 will treat all of you much better than whatever mess 2020 was! Happy 2021!

Last year’s post: (x)

@the-official-pentacorn @asiandutchgirl

[liamtsullivan]

-- && guests may mistake me as ( andy biersack ), but really i am ( liam sullivan + cis male + he/him ) and my DOB is ( 12/28/93 ). i am applying for the ( banquet manager ) position as part of the EHP and would like to live in suite ( #203 ). i should be hired because i am ( + loyal, charismatic, driven ), but i can also be ( - distracted, opinionated, pushy ) at times. personally, i like to ( watch documentaries, play poker, get tattoos ) when off the clock, but that won’t interfere with work. thank you for your consideration!

ooc;; it’s ya girl kay again, i’m so so sorry adfjlaksfj. this is liam, he’s a brain baby of mine that i played a little while ago and he’s been haunting me since i stopped playing him so here he is to be a part of y’all’s lives. hopefully you dig him, if not......... well that’s fine, too. can’t make you do anything, i’m not your mom unless you’re card; go to your room, card.

TW’s: Mentions of prostitution. Abortion. Drug use, drug addiction, drug overdose, & drug related death.

fast facts / personality details;;

( i put these first this time because the background is A Lot on this one okay )

has a rather protective and care-giving nature mixed in with his excellent work ethic and drive.

loves when guests ask for the manager and he gets to come out and see how much they didn’t expect the manager to be a 6′4″ beanpole with neck tattoos.

lives by the ideal “put your money where your mouth is” ; also just like, be genuine and up front with him in general, like he’s not an asshole, but also he knows how to deal with assholes, so let that be said

has a five year old german shepherd named Roxy that he rescued from shelter overflow when she was only a six month old puppy; Roxy still thinks that she is a small lap dog despite being a Big Girl

still wears the ring that his mom gave him for his eighteenth birthday every day, despite the issues that they had, and despite her being gone now.

has his nose pierced and his lip pierced, though the lip ring he takes out for stretches of time; the nose ring is always in, though.

absolutely covered in tattoos, in case that wasn’t already painfully obvious. he loves getting them and yes, still has room for more, will continue to get them probably forever.

prefers brown liquor over pretty much any other alcohol, though he’s not opposed to a good draft every once in a while

listens to more classical music than anyone would ever probably expect of him; that being said he also listens to a lot of classic rock and, naturally, a dose of pop punk, too, for fun.

he likes listening to true crime podcasts and watching various true crime / serial killer documentaries; criminal minds is also his favorite show. so like don’t piss him off, i guess ajdkfljasdklf

smokes cigarettes like he’s a motherfucking chimney; says he’s working on quitting, has yet to actually start that process.

generally just a supportive person; if Liam cares about you in any capacity - even if it’s just because you work together - you’ll know it. he likes to help the people around him, try to steer them in the right direction, offer them advice.

he’s not a shy person, in fact he’s rather social, and while there’s a dry humored joke or a sarcastic toy here and there, he’s a pretty genuinely nice dude. despite the things that he’s seen and been through in his life, he’s worked really hard to stay optimistic, and driven throughout and so far he’s been very successful at that.

dresses rather nice / got that business casual look down with the short-sleeved button ups or the long-sleeved ones with the sleeves rolled for work purposes. however, outside of work it's like a cat and his wardrobe were in a trash bag together. lots of black, and dark earthy colors, too. the duality of man.

background / life story;;

Liam Travis Sullivan was born and raised in Las Vegas, Nevada, where his mother, Stephanie Sullivan, was an escort / call girl on The Strip.

Stephanie getting pregnant was a tremendous ‘oops,’ but she kept the baby anyway. The baby’s father was a client who had a wife and kids already, so he paid Stephanie a whole lot of money to stay quiet and out of contact with him. This money allowed for her to take time off from working to be able to have Liam and take care of him for a bit.

Liam really was Stephanie’s whole world once he was born; the best thing that she ever did, as she so often told him through the years.

Liam never knew his father, but he put two and two together once he was old enough to understand what it was that his mom did.

Liam was three years old when Stephanie finally returned to working on The Strip. He was left in the care of some of Steph’s other ‘working girl’ friends on the nights she happened to be working.

He got very accustomed to spending his time around females, having a heavy female influence in his life as he grew up -whether that particular female influence was always the best or not. It led to his respect for women, though, and his ability to feel very comfortable around them, even from a young age.

When Liam was six years old, Stephanie ended up pregnant again. However, this time she ended up actually having an abortion. Liam only knew about it because his mother rambled about it to him in an overemotional drunken state. She told him that “he was her good boy and all that she needed.”

Working The Strip -as notorious a place as it was- and making the money that she did left Steph open to a lot of drinking and drug use.

At eight years old, Liam found a stash of his mother’s cocaine in their bathroom. This earned a distressed meltdown from Steph about him staying away from that sort of stuff because it was bad. Though, as a developing child gaining understanding of the world around him, that proved to confuse Liam because he didn’t understand why his mommy had it and was doing it if it were so bad.

Liam was ten years old the first time that his mom overdosed. This instance just involved going to the hospital to get her stomach pumped and spend the night on a fluid IV, but it was still terrifying for the boy at the time.

Stephanie struggled with drug abuse for most of Liam’s life. Living where they did facilitated it so easily and also made any getting caught up in the law with it rare -it was Vegas, after all, not to mention Stephanie was in sex work, so the law wasn't always looking out for her anyway.

Right before Liam was about to start high school, the young teenager -already having had to do so much growing up so early and so fast- took it upon himself to give his mother an intervention of sorts. He told her that if she was going to keep taking time with her away from him that he was going to run away, figure life, out himself, even if he did end up in the foster system or something. He pleaded with her that he didn’t want to lose her, that he wanted her there for all the things his life could still have in store for him. Ultimately, after many tears and a lot of convincing, Steph let her fourteen year old son flush her drug stash and they made a very rushed plan to finally get out of Vegas.

Moving to California was really good for the both of them for a while. Being in a new place meant starting fresh, moving forward. Stephanie didn’t know anyone she could get drugs from; between that, the support of her son, and finding help at local NA meetings, she managed through the withdrawal and the struggling. She got a stable, more normal job, working at a sports bar -bartending and waiting tables.

Liam easily adjusted to the change of environment. He practically thrived in Los Angeles. Before he knew it, he had friends, got into playing football at his high school, was losing his virginity. Fast-paced and unconventional were ways that Liam was used to living his life, so getting into things like physical relationships with girls, despite how young he was in reality, felt normal to him in all his adjusting.

Things stayed going really well for pretty much the whole first year they were in LA. Liam did well in school, got a part time job to help his mom out. Steph ended up picking up a second job to stay busy and keep money coming in. They were good, they were better than they had been, and they had each other.

The summer before Liam’s junior year of high school, he caught his mom using again. Evidently it had been going on for a few months already at that point, and because of how busy he was with school, friends, and work, he had caught on late. Stephanie argued with him on the matter, told him that it wasn’t his business to worry about, among other unexpectedly harsh things. It was the first real, legitimate fight he ever really had with his mom, at least the first one that really mattered.

With too much riding on his focus on school and football -given he had since come up with the goal to go to a good college, to make something of himself and do good things- Liam shut himself off from his mom for a little while. They lived together, came and went about their lives, but they spoke minimally, Liam didn’t fight more with her despite knowing that she was still using at the time. It was very odd for him, to have any sort of bad energy between him and his mom -it was so rare, it had always been just the two of them. He decided, though, that he had to focus on himself and his future.

Senior year came with the promise of scholarships, multiple college scouts having their eyes on him, more than one girl interested in dating him, a wide friend circle, a basic car he had been able to buy for himself, and a growing savings account. Liam was doing great, he was on the right track, focused. Stephanie, however, had downward spiraled. Her using had gotten out of hand to the point of losing both of her jobs, having to get a new one in a setting that was dangerously close to the things she had been doing in Vegas -a strip club.

It wasn’t until Liam’s Winter Formal that year -Stephanie deep into her continued cocaine addiction- that something changed. He was in his suit, getting ready to leave to go pick up his date when his path crossed with Stephanie’s. Upon finding out where her son was heading, who he was going with, the friends he was meeting -details she hadn’t been knowledgeable on for some time at this point- the woman burst into tears. She sobbed apologies to her son, begged him to forgive her for missing out on his life, made promises to him that she would get better for him -promises Liam tried not to take to heart; he had learned.

They did get Stephanie into a rehabilitation clinic shortly after the holidays. She had to sober up a little bit and once again Liam shouldered the responsibility of getting rid of the drugs that she had in their apartment. He spent two months alone in their apartment while his mom worked through her issues, sobered up fully, came back to him. It was an exhausting couple of months for him, trying to be a self sufficient adult in an apartment that had to have things paid for in it, while also juggling school and football, but he managed.

Stephanie came home a different woman than she left, and upon getting a more functional version of his mother back, Liam had the tiniest glint of hope that maybe things would be okay again. Graduation was looming, and he had a few different schools that were more than willing to offer him full ride football scholarships to their universities. Notre Dame, Duke, UCLA, among other state-based colleges all had eyes on him. It was something he could finally talk to his mom about.

While Stephanie encouraged him to follow his heart, follow wherever his dreams were gonna take him, Liam couldn’t shake the idea of being far from home -or, in particular, being far from where she was. Things were so fragile with her and her addiction, it was so much more possible for something bad to happen and him to have absolutely no idea about it if he went far away. So despite the incredible opportunities he could have had elsewhere, he chose to accept to scholarship from UCLA out of all the schools who chose him.

Going to college, let alone such a prestigious and well known state school like UCLA was like something out of a fairytale for Liam. Looking back on what his life had been up to the point of graduating high school and moving on to bigger things, he was amazed at what he had accomplished. Given the healthy and sober way that his mother still was at the time of his high school graduation, she, too, made it a point to make sure he knew how amazed and proud she was of him.

College wasn’t quite as easy for him as high school was, but that just drove Liam to work even harder. He wasn’t going to waste the opportunity he was given. He was double majoring in business and marketing; even though he had little idea what sort of business he wanted to be a part of, he knew that he wanted something for himself, something that could do good, give back in some way shape or form. Those subjects would do a lot to help him get there, he knew that much.

Stephanie stayed sober for most of Liam’s college experience, after the help of going to rehab, and the continued going to NA meetings. He popped back to the apartment every now and again -having moved into campus living during the semesters- and that helped her, too. Things seemed really good for quite some time, but having the other shoe drop once again unfortunately didn’t come as too terribly much of a shock to Liam. She had been getting involved with some guy she knew from work, they’d been sleeping together, and what Liam didn’t know is that they frequently went out for drinks. Drinking slowly but surely progressed into getting high together; something easy for Stephanie to fall into, particularly because of her habit, but also because of the familiarity of the circumstances -it was awfully similar to when she was working on The Strip and would get wasted with clients.

Liam was in his last semester of college, just about three months shy of graduating with his bachelor’s degree. It was a huge deal for him, it was something that he wasn’t going to give up for anything in the world. Still, he made it a point to help his mother after she called him absolutely high out of her mind and apologizing to him while he was pulling an all-nighter on an assignment one night. He didn’t ask many questions, just the basics, and he looked into a place himself -a rehab center that was further away, lengthier and more in depth with their programs. Before, they had gone with what was convenient, facility-wise, but he wasn’t going to make that mistake twice. If his mother needed more special attention, he was going to get her to that.

Getting his degree was a gift, a blessing he in reality never thought would be his. While his mom was still in rehab at the time of his graduation -Liam insisted that she not leave treatment just to come to the ceremony- she still wrote to him consistently, sent him a congratulations card right around the day of the ceremony. Liam was in a position in his life that awed him in a way, ready to take on the world.

Pursuing the concept of his own business sort of took a back seat; having just gotten his degree, it wasn't like Liam could immediately leap into much, not to mention he didn't have the funds. He had been working and saving all through college - served, cooked, and bartended at a grand total of six different restaurants in Los Angeles by the time he graduated - but on top of any business itself being expensive, school itself was expensive, too.

By the time Liam was twenty-four years old, he was managing two bars, and co-managing a restaurant out in Los Angeles. He was living on his own, keeping tabs on his mother sporadically, but mostly working toward a goal for a business of his own. He was teetering between a pub of sorts, or a burlesque club - two wildly different ideas, but both with the same idea in mind; somewhere entertaining but somewhere that also provided a sense of community, somewhere he could give jobs to people that needed them - perhaps that was inclined to women, from his subconscious protection of his mother, but that was beside the point.

A coworker of his at one of the bars he was the bar manager of ended up being who presented a move out of Los Angeles to him. There was potentially more business opportunity somewhere out of that location, out of the state of California, even. Chicago was brought to the table, this friend having heard of a program that offered employee housing at a luxury hotel. Liam was apprehensive about the Malnati at first, given he didn't want to have to start on a bottom rung in terms of his job once again. As it turned out, however, there was a management position that was generally up his alley. Seeking opportunity and further growth wherever he could find it, Liam made the move to Chicago.

Things between him and his mom had been more distant over the year since he graduated college, and in his move to Chicago, he couldn't say he was surprised to end up hearing about things getting bad again for his mom. It was a moment of true growing up for Liam, realizing that he had to be responsible for himself, he had to do what he needed to do, he couldn't carry his mom anymore. If she didn't want to get better and stay better, he couldn't be the one derailing his life to continue to try to make her do so.

That first year of him living in Chicago, working as the banquet manager at the Malnati, his mom overdosed for the last time. It was unexpected in the same way that it wasn't; Liam went through a brief period of a numb sort of grieving - he was of course sad to have lost his mom, to have to come to terms with the fact that he'd never get to see or speak to her again. He also, though, had to face the fact that as dark and upsetting as the circumstances were, they were out of his hand, they were not his responsibility. He mourned his mother as she deserved, and he went on with his life; because deep down he knew that she would want that for him, anyway.

Liam has been living in Chicago and working as the Malnati's banquet manager for the last nearly-three years now. He oversees more than just a restaurant and a bar now, and it's expanded his career experience in ways that he is very thankful for. It's a little bit on the backburner once again, but definitely not forgotten, that he intends to have his own business some day. Perhaps more than one, even. He loves the organization and the hard work and dedication that go into leading - whether that be a kitchen or a bar or an event. He likes to be supportive as much as a leader - Liam wants to see his team succeed; if there's slack that needs to be picked up and he can help, he will. He's not going to bark orders and call it a day, that's not what he's about, that's not what he considers his job. He's got a good head on his shoulders, and a good work ethic, and he likes doing what he does.

wanted connections;;

IT’S TIME ONCE AGAIN FOR ME TO FAIL AT THESE LMFAO

Liam in his job oversees chefs, bartenders, servers, room service runners, and musicians, so like we got a whooooole lineup of connections to be had there; he’s their boss yeah, but as I’ve said like a million times now he’s really active in trying to help his team succeed. he’ll help out on the bar and running food and covering breaks or callouts or whatever, so like there’s a lot of good potential relationships to be had there.

other managers bc we love seniority adfjlkasdfjk no i’m just kidding, but still we love some manager pals why not

idk i think it’d be really funny to have someone who’s like intimidated by him simply because of the way that he looks and he’s like look i’m really not that bad i just like tattoos a lot okay lmAO

a casual hookup here or there is chill; he’s not super into the fwb thing? like he’ll stay friends after a hookup if the other person is cool with it, but as an ongoing thing it just gets too complicated for his liking.

pet parent friends; his girl Roxy is a friendly giant baby and he adores her, bring him some parent friends and her some dog friends

tattoo pals of some variety?? even if it’s just him constantly encouraging people to go get tattoos, or talking them through processes? going with them for moral support because he barely even feels it when he gets tattoos now?? who knows

honestly we been knew i’m up to just talking shit out and winging it a lot of the time too so just hit me up if you wanna figure some stuff out with this inked up beanpole okay? okay ily.

[tempo-takoyaki]

I wanna ask!! 1) Of all the fics you’ve written, which one your favorite and why? 7) Who was your favorite character to write in your fav fic, Love List, & Can You Hear the Sea? 8) Which usually came first, the title or the fic? 10) What are some facts readers may not know about your fav fic, Love List, & Can You Hear the Sea? 11) This isn't in the question list, but if you don't mind, who's your fav in your monster AU??

Wow that will be long ! Okay here I go !

1) Of all the fics you’ve written, which is your favorite and why?

Tricky question. Currently my fav one is actually one I still haven’t finished. So I’m going to choose the closest to it in the ones I posted which is “Sing me a song about a happy Goodbye”. It had been a while since I wanted to write Something similar to “Can You Hear The Sea?” and “1cm per month” and Something about Isabella and Ray’s relationship that had this kind of… “It seems alright but it’s not” feeling. Btw I actually wrote the whole fic listening to celtic music!

I do love each of my fics very much since I only post those I really like (I have a bunch of unused drafts in my phone and computer) so it is a though choice… Also I need to choose something other than “Love List” which is the most self-indulgent fic for me. I really have a lot of fun writing it. 

7) Who was your favorite character to write in “Sing me a song about a happy Goodbye”, “Love List” and “Can You Hear The Sea?” ?

I loved writing Isabella as in Sing Me a Song about a Happy Goodbye. (Which is nice since she is the focus)

In Love List, Barbara is SUPER FUN to write. She has to have this kind of seductive but absolute dumbass energy while being super horny at the same time it is hilarious. (Good thing again she is the protagonist) 

For Can You Hear The Sea? I would say Carol. It’s kind of biased since I had to imagine her whole personality since she currently is a toddler so of course I made her act how I wanted and not how the character would be. But I still really like the little story I made for her and her teenage crush on Ray. (In all the other stories I want to make her appear in she still is very close to him)

8) Which usually came first, the title or the fic?

It’s very specific for each one so I’ll make a small summary.

Can You Hear The Sea? : The title came first (though I still had some part of the plot in mind) and actually comes from two things ! The first one is a movie (and novel) called Umi Ga Kikoeru (Ocean waves) that I had watched with my father before writing it and it stucked in my mind (though the scenario has absolutely NOTHING to do with what happens in Can You Hear The Sea?) and the second one is L’Etranger (The Outsider) by Albert Camus, I studied the book in class before writing the fic and it was my main inspiration for it. There’s a recurrent theme in the book which is the sea and how it reminds of good things. the writing style is what inspired me for the way I write in Can You Hear the Sea?.

1cm per month : The title first definitely ! (since the title directed every part of the fic) Like Can You Hear The Sea? The title comes from another japanese movie called 5cm per seconds (which is the time a cherry blossom’s petal takes to fall on the ground). Again I just thought it sounded cool.

Magia and Another Heaven : The songs inspired me the titles. So the titles came first.

Caster’s Master, Let’s Play Werewolves! and Sing Me a Song about a Happy Goodbye : I needed a title. The fic came first (for most of them I had a completely different title written in my drafts, I even changed the last one a hundred times)

Yellow Tulip : I wanted flower language. I needed to find which flower. Boom. Title. But the plot came first. So fic first surprisingly.

Love List : This fic is pure self-indulgent and I wanted a title that sounded cool. And Love List came immediatly into my mind… But fic first anyway. (I actually wrote it in a draft on my phone where the input title was the serie’s one because Love List was intended to be a one-shot… oops)

Pretty? No, Cute. : Fic first surprisingly. The fic was originally called Princess, but then the last dialogue came out. And I was like… Nah.

At which point did you though it was a good idea? : Fic first. The title is me talking to myself. (But I have no regrets)

10) What are some facts readers may not know about Sing Me a Song About a Happy Goodbye, Love List, & Can You Hear the Sea?

Here I go ! (It’s long)

Sing me a song about a happy Goodbye

It was supposed to be a multi-chapter fic that was an alternate universe to Can You Hear The Sea? Where Ray and Norman stayed with Emma.

The story is set in Europe ! I didn’t specify the country but for me it was in England. 

Ray was supposed to get a girlfriend who came from Glory Bell. She was a few years older than him and was about to accept to become a Mama when she was sent to the human world with the others. She is not particularly pretty but very cute.

It’s not because Isabella was a “number” that she couldn’t get a job, but because she was a “mama”. 

All other facts are kept for the sequel with Norman POV. ;)

Love List 

I... uh… was just horny… but not too much… huh… I needed girls and sexual tension okay?! I was in a phase when I really wanted a girlfriend so I decided that I should help myself by writing this fic. Now this phase is kind of gone (lie, I still want a girlfriend but there’s school), hence why I haven’t wrote much.

Norman was supposed to be a COMPLETE ASS in this fic at first (I even wrote some of those parts). He was manipulative, possessive and jelaous as hell. Then I thought : “Norman is a gentleman. Norman wouldn’t do that.” And I re-wrote him so that he is the nice and helpeful dude he is now.

I never, and won’t, I think, published a whole dialogue between Norman and Barbara when he is forced (because of her puppy eyes) to explain to her how two girls have sex. (one of the reasons why I changed his characterization, that scene was too funny for him to be an ass)

I literally drew EVERY scene before writing them! I have sketches for all of them!

Can You Hear The Sea?

I drew most of the scenes before writing them.

“Actually, I think I would have preferred you two being dead.” is the first real replica I had thought about in the whole fic. It’s in my very first drafts. Though back then it was written as a simple “I hate you two”, followed by a “I know” from Ray.

I knew the end since writing chapter 1, but I didn’t know what would exactly be in the middle (I just thought : I want to write that, and that, and that... And we will see how it goes)

One of the cut scenes is Emma cutting her hair in front if Phil at the beach before telling him that she won’t leave him alone anymore.

A whole part of the plot that was cut was Emma’s alcoholism as well as her having her first time (understand here : sex) with her best friend at the time who was a delinquant boy, and the only person who would dare approach her. There was no feeling, and it actually was pretty lame, like a first time. 

SHELLY IS A FREAKING GYARU

Except Phil, most of the GF kids who have the legal age to work works in the family restaurant where Emma herself used to work before her illness forced her to quit. The manager loves them.

Carol’s past is light compared to the other GF kids… But it still used to be hard enough for her that she attempted suicide a year before Ray and Norman came back (yes, 12, like Ray). When she meets Ray, she is actually coming out of a heavy depression that lasted during most of her childhood.

To answer an unanswered question “Why 8 years?” Fufufu... I needed Phil to be 16. That’s it. That’s the reason. 

There was supposed to be an epilogue, and then I thought that an open end was cool.

11) This isn't in the question list, but if you don't mind, who's your fav in your monster AU??

I’m going to guess that you are talking about their monster’s type and how well I thought it would fit them. There’s two, Nat, who is a Tengu (because of their long noses) and Barbara who is a Wendigo (her design is a mess but God I’m proud of that one).

As for who in terms of how they act with their monster nature… Yuugo. Because… huh… Look up “Tanuki” in google. You will understand. *snorts like a dumb teenager* You will understand.

Thank you for all the question ! (^^)/

[sweet-star-cookie]

For the ask thing: 15 and 22

HELLO I ALMOST FORGOT TO POST THIS OOPSI’m so sorry I wrote way too much again RIIIIIP

15. An OC that is hard to draw / write / RP

Hmm… that’s an interesting one! Drawing mycharacters consistently isn’t as hard for me as itused to be since I finished art school and gotmy skills up, but that doesn’t mean I don’t havea hard time! As for writing, I find villains moredifficult to write in general, because I’m muchbetter at creating protagonists instead. Theideologies and general demeanour of a “goodguy” come more naturally to me, but I do enjoythe challenge of trying to write a good villain! Ironically however, I have one character who has given me trouble in both aspects before, and that would be Snowy here (I love my owl son though fgfdghsdga). 

His design (aside from his armour) has changed quite a bit over time, because of both style development and the fact that he ages throughout his story. Getting his face right was the biggest challenge at first, as the original version of him ended up very close to other characters I’d made at the time. Theimage you see here is the one I am satisfied with as far as his aged up versions are concerned,but it’s all very much in development still.

Speaking of which, writing him is another interesting challenge. A character like Cassie iscloser to what you’d think a typical young fantasy adventure protagonist would be: upbeat,colourful, extroverted, a go-getter. Snowy, on the other hand, is much more reserved, level-headed and methodical. That’s not to say that I’d want Snowy to be any different though, andthat’s also not to say that he isn’t motivated either. The challenge comes in understanding howhe would react to certain things, including his motivations. He shares the “silent sufferer” trait that I have whenexperiencing trauma, but he does not possess the same rampant anxiety as I do, so I oftenhave to re-write scenes based on that. He’s not one to immediately panic or have extreme emotional reactions to things, at least not on the outside.

His backstory shaped this in him; he grew up knowing it was best to keep his head down andwork through the pain, but that gets much harder for him to do later on as the stakes gethigher. Even the strongest warrior can only deal with so much when people’s lives are in peril 9times out of 10, much less a young recruit like Snowy. He may not have rampant anxiety, but he does have rampant heroism like hisfather, finding a problem to solve wherever he goes, whether he can solve it or not. But unlikePrince Arvais, he doesn’t do it for the sake of flourish or fame, and therefore doesn’t care muchfor the spotlight. His inherent desire to help does wear on him as he learns of the realities ofbeing a knight, and his wings carry a lot more societal weight than he first realized. I can definitely relate to certain aspects of this setup, but if I were in this situation I would react very differently, and that’s what I have to consider with Snowy’s character.

Another challenge comes in not making him boring either. As I said earlier, having a morereserved character doesn’t always lend itself as easily to an interesting protagonist, but I knowit can be done. It is possible that the other characters with more outward personalities mightseem more interesting than Snowy anyway, but as long as I still give him a well-developed andwell-rounded character, he should do just fine. ;u; I want to do him justice as best I can, even if it requires more re-writes than usual.

22. An OC you didn’t expect to love

Honestly I love all of my OCs by default, but there is one that I wasn’t expecting to getattached to as much as I did, and that would be my boy Scorpio here. :D

I already loved him for his design and concepts of course, but the more I developed hisbackstory in relation to Ophiuchus and his dynamic with Cassie, I ended up making him a moresignificant character than he was in earlier drafts of the story. I am a sucker for the “edgelordmeets the cinnamon roll” dynamic and his slow transition from reluctant mentor to protectivefather/older brother with Cassie is so fun to write. :’D

He’s actually a bit hard to write too, as, like Snowy, I have to really think about how he wouldreact to certain things with a more reserved personality. But in Scorpio’s case, the contrast in personality between him and Cassie lends itself to a lot of good character moments, especiallywhen she can break down his walls a bit and show the lesser-known parts of his personality.Scorpio’s actually a bit of a prankster when in the right mood, so you can be sure he andCassie bond over that once she gets to know him (probably pranking Aries like Capricorn does,or Libra like Gemini does).

I also love writing the initial encounter stuff too, so I think having both is really what made mefall in love with Scorpio’s character as a whole. How he reacts to meeting Cassie does tie intohis connection with Ophiuchus, but that isn’t apparent until much later. Both Cassie’s Starglassand the one that Ophiuchus had give off the same “aura”, so before Scorpio even sees Cassiehe assumes hostility, sensing its presence. But on first impression, one assumes that Scorpiois hostile simply because that’s who he is, a stone-faced scorpion with a deadly glare and evendeadlier weapons. Taking one look at him would give anyone that impression, and Cassie isunderstandably terrified of him at first. This is amplified even further when she finds out he isher mentor, and thus the dynamic begins.

I really enjoyed the idea of Scorpio mentoring Cassie, as that gives Scorpio’s backstory acyclical nature. Ophiuchus was once Scorpio’s mentor, so having a similar job passed to himwith something as important as the Starglass, you can bet Scorpio’s got some extra baggagewhen it comes to that. Scorpio is also on the younger end of the spectrum in terms of agecompared to the rest of the zodiac (in his 20s, I’d say), so even he has some learning to dowhen it comes to teaching others. His zodiac companion, Scutum, was initially assigned to himas a sort of mentor in his early days as a sign as well, and it wasn’t all smooth sailing either.Despite his cool demeanour, Scorpio’s origins paint him as a lot more volatile than one mightthink. Though in the timeline of this story, that volatility only really shows in moments of trueperil, which is definitely present in the final climax. I’ve been fleshing out that part again lately,so it’ll be cool to have it come to light eventually. :’D

[alo-piss-trancy]

Hello, you have been identified as An Awesome Writer™! Congrats, you rock! So that all of your readers can shower you with some extra love today, please tell us your favorite five (or as many as you want) stories of yours and why you like them and then send this to another five fic authors you think deserve this title! ❤

Gee, I wonder who this could be from? c; (Thank you so much I love you!)

Okay so I’m doing seven because as you all know from my zillion ships and characters I’ve written for/screamed about, I’m incapable of picking a specific favourite lmao. But it’s still less than half my fics so it’s fine. Also none of these are ranked, I enjoyed them all equally tbh. (Forgive my lack of heart emojis RIP, I’m on desktop for this one)The Troubles Rain Can Bring (Pers/ona 5) : Of course I have to bring this one up, since it’s the one I consider my first legit omo fic (Jade was my first foray, but since it’s unfinished and I picked a dead fandom specifically so I had less chances of getting mean comments, I consider it more of a practice run). This was my first time writing for a very active and current fandom, so it was really intimidating, but I was also really excited to participate in creating for a game I was so passionate about! Also that fic was just a total labour of self-indulgence and love (excuse for fluff with my otp? combining all my fav tropes? Gratuitous Akira Suffering? Including the others for fun towards the end? I was in hog heaven!) While I definitely can find parts where I could improve the writing now, I still love it for all of the effort I put into it, and I got such a lovely response that made me feel really welcome on ao3, the omo tag on tumblr, and in the p/5 fandom! It’s kind of nostalgic for me, even if it was only written like a year and a half ago, haha.All Bottled Up (Dang/anRonpa: THH) : I’m just really proud of this fic, and I had so much fun writing it! I think it’s probably one of the few fics I’ve written that was a completely smooth ride of inspiration and fun from start to finish, without any hitches in the writing process or me getting bogged down with other projects. Seriously I think I hammered the entire thing out in like a week or two lmao. I love Naegiri so much, and the idea was a treat to work with even if it’s some of the most cliché omo scenarios, it was just a nice relaxing bit of indulgence! Also I got to dig into Kirigiri’s character, which I didn’t get to do in my other fic of her (since that one was so short and oddly styled). My favourite bit was probably getting to mess with the drawbacks of her gloves/hand injuries, and of course those fluffy bits with Naegi! Getting Your Feet Wet (Pers/ona 5) : This one, hoo boy. Definitely one of my longest fics, and while at the time when I posted it I kind of hated half the stuff in it (just because I had been nitpicking it for so long lmao), now that time has gone by I can genuinely say I love it and it’s probably one I’m proudest of. Not only was it my first full dive into snut (and I’d like to think it isn’t too shabby), but I got to work with a rarepair that I’ve been intrigued by, with two of my fav npcs from the game! So fun times all around! It was great to imagine how Sae might have changed and opened up since the game’s ending, and what Tae could do to help draw her out of that strict shell while still making her feel secure and comfortable. Also I got to include pet/p.lay which is something I’d been dying to write since I started that account, so bonus points for that! And I got a way better response than I was expecting, so that was nice!A Sinking Ship (Pers/ona 5) : ((Okay I swear I still plan to update the other half of this one someday soon, I literally have the draft halfway done I just haven’t been able to get it finished to the level I want.)) Anyways, I have a soft spot for this one because 1. It’s Makoto, and you all know how much I adore her, 2. I finally got to write some legit palace battling and shenanigans, which I really enjoyed and want to include more of in future projects, 3. I literally put so much detail into this one, from the setting descriptions to the dialogue and going out of my way to include the entire team interacting with her instead of just one or two chars, and I’m giving myself a fat pat on the back for that. And then throwing in actual anxiety and plot issues instead of just making her desperate for the sake of it, which may have been ambitious (hence why it’s kind of on a cliffhanger right now while I finish the comfort half), but I really just wanted her to have one of my best fics possible because Makoto deserves the best (of the worst suffering oops sorry bby). Also did I mention The Shumako Bridal Carry scene? That was absolutely necessary to include okay? Also there’s gonna be quality Shumako bonding in the second chapter so I’m biased to love this in advance. Basically I love this one specifically because it’s my own self-indulgent bullshit, which is kind of every fic I write but this is definitely one of The Most Indulgent. I also consider this one my very best omo fic in terms of the actual omo writing/content, even if it’s long AF, because at least you’re getting desperation and wetting for pretty much the entire thing, even when other stuff’s going on around it. So yeah I guess if you don’t mind a cliffhanger ending (for now) and have a decent knowledge of p/5, this is the one I recommend reading!Conundrums Lead to Collapse (Doc/tor Who - 13th Doc/tor) : I really liked writing this one because of the whump, actually. I rarely have excuses to injure characters for Even Worse Omo Suffering/Comfort, so the fact that I could write based on a canon injury was the perfect excuse! Also I’m just weak for the 13th Doctor so I’m always down for omo of her, but it was also a fun excuse to explore her character. We hadn’t gotten to see her angry or broken down at the time it aired, so I enjoyed getting to play around with how things affect her when she does finally lose the positive attitude and confidence, and bringing a character as powerful (and semi immortal I guess) as The Doctor to the floor was just a fun exercise. Also it’s kind of hard to find whump fics focused on female characters that don’t involve a certain kind of violence (or just female whump in general actually), so I just really enjoyed using all of the fandom tropes I’ve read over the years in those fics to create something for those of us who wanted it the other way around! I would also like to say this one gave me the excuse for Found Family Coddling, everyone comforts and helps her towards the end which is perfect for my fluff-craving heart after all of the angst.Holding More than Cards (Ka/kegurui Compulsive Gambler) : Oh boy, I’ll be honest the reason I love this is purely because it’s pretty much the only fic for this pairing that I’ve found for my tastes and I had to make it myself dang it (They basically had a whole two episodes where Midari creamed herself for Yumeko and they had that scene where they held each other’s faces staring into their eyes, HOW is no one jumping on this ship??? There’s literally 5 fics total on ao3 I’m not joking). I really enjoyed getting to dig into Midari’s characterization for this one, especially since I had such a tiny bit of canon to go off of and had to set it after the anime’s s1 developments. I got to write Yumeko being a dom and dropping her cheerful attitude too, which was really satisfying. Also while this doesn’t have full on snut in it, it was the closest I’d come at the time, so that was an interesting challenge. This was a rare chance to indulge in unhealthy ships too (bc literally every ship in that show is unhealthy on some level lmao) so that was entertaining to try and navigate.Capture the Fly with Nectar Sweet (The Ch/illing Adventures of Sabrin/a) : I just posted this one recently but I’m adding it anyways, because I had an absolute blast working on it. It’s so starkly different from anything I usually write, because you all know I love close friendships and found family and all that quality fluff and caring. But instead this one was me staring at my laptop thinking of how I want to tell this character to go to hell, except that would be pointless because that’s literally where she came from. I really got to stretch my wings outside my comfort zone and dig around in the dark, manipulative side for a while, and it was so much fun to study one of my favourite villains (anti-hero? she’s such a mysterious mess idk how to classify her) and her relationship with Sabrina. I also got to attempt writing desperation from the outsider’s perspective instead of the victim’s, and while I feel like I definitely still have room to improve with that, it was a nice break from the way I usually write my omo fics. I also got to shift around my writing style for this one, using words like ‘betwixt’ (which I love but never get to use lol) and using a bunch of metaphors and similes to showcase how Madam views Sabrina. This is probably the fic that makes it obvious that Language Arts was my favourite subject in school and that I’m Extra when it comes to predator/prey comparisons lmao. (Note: Please read the tags on this one, the Dead Dove: Do Not Eat warning applies here.)

I actually don’t know who else to send this to that I haven’t already, since like half the omo tag has vanished and I’m blanking on usernames, so if any of y'all are reading this post and you write fics: consider this me asking you to do it so I can hear about your fics! :D

[tired-writeblr]

My first chapter

Sup dudes!

Some of you seem interested in my current wip, so I thought ‘what the heck, let them read some of it.’ Please bear in mind that it is the very first draft, and is by no means even near perfect, but I think it has some moments that shine through, and I hope you enjoy!

It was a relatively average night for a country village. There was a spot of rain, but the kind of rain that struggles to make a person even slightly damp, rain so light it’s almost as if it apologises for each little drop that hits. “Oops, I’m awfully sorry” the rain might say “I really hope I didn’t make a mark.” It’s awfully polite rain. The village, though small, had everything a person could need (as long as that person was a medieval peasant). It had some stalls to purchase goods, farms to work, a Blacksmith's shop, and the two most important buildings, that would remain a vital necessity for every Christian town, city and village for centuries; a place to worship, and a place to get drunk afterwards.

Candle light could be seen glowing in the church, even though it was in fact completely empty. The tavern, on the other hand, was packed. Of course, this shouldn’t be a surprise; drinking is a lot more fun than praying, even the priest and monks agreed. Hell, at a time when even drinking the water would probably kill you, getting drunk was one of the few pleasures people had. And since the water was likely to give you a minor case of death, it was much safer to drink wine and mead, and so getting drunk was just a daily fact of life. The tavern was quite large, with plenty of wooden stools and wooden tables, most of which were occupied by drunken men and women (and some drunken children). The owner, a large bald man with a crooked nose, light brown skin, and a very welcoming smile, was behind the counter serving people drinks, whilst his two daughters, Camilla and Magdalena, were running about carrying food and collecting the tankards. Camilla was a large woman, with her father's smile, a broad nose, long black hair in a bun, and brown eyes. Magdalena was thin, and had her father's crooked nose, but unlike her sister had brown hair in a long plait. Both were beautiful in their own way, and both were often the victim of unwanted advances from some of the non-local male patrons, which often didn't end well as Magdalena had a hell of a right hook, and Camilla often used it as an opportunity to pick the man's pocket.

The tavern was often a noisy place. That night was no exception. And one table a drunken coachman was telling tales no sober person would believe, but the men and women at his table were not sober and took him at his word. At the bar itself sat a large drunken monk with a big walrus moustache. He was one of those people that would be incredibly forgettable if it weren't for one single feature. For this monk it was his moustache. It was so memorable that people simply called him Friar Moustache, which he believed to be a term of endearment, but was in fact because not a soul in the village knew his actual name, not even the priest (who was at this point sat next to Friar Moustache resting his head on the bar, drunkenly mumbling incoherently). Friar Moustache was leading a choir of drunken men singing a popular drinking song. There were a lot of harrumph's and ho's, and a great deal of crude language and descriptions of various lewd acts. The only one more enthusiastic about the song than Friar Moustache was an old man, possibly in his early to mid sixties, known to the villagers as Ser Malcolm the White. He looked a bit like a mid-sized bear. Well more accurately, a mid-sized, shaved, pink, alcoholic bear wearing an almost shoulder length curly white wig, with a scruffy white goatee, a wrinkled face, and tired eyes. His accent was surprisingly similar to the modern Glaswegian accent. He had once been a knight who fought for glory and honour and place in the history books, but he never won any of those things. All he did achieve was reaching a ripe old age, and now the only fight he had was the one to get out of bed each morning, which was getting harder every day.

On a table near the back of the tavern sat a young man just holding a tankard. His skin was pale, his eyes were wide, and tired looking. He gazed ahead of him as if he were staring into the abyss itself. This young man was an unfortunate peasant by the name of Glenn, and earlier that day he had died, which, as it usually does for most people, was causing him a great deal of distress. Now, many may think ‘well, he doesn’t seem that dead, he seems pretty alive.’ And those who do think that would be correct. He was in fact very much alive.  

***

“Don’t worry, I got this this” Glenn had said to the huntsman, as the boar began charging and he attempted to pull back the drawstring on his longbow.  He most certainly did not. You see, longbows require a great deal of upper body strength, which weedy, little Glenn didn’t actually possess. Why he had been given a bow by his father, it’s hard to tell. Perhaps his father hated him, which actually seems quite likely; he did have several more capable siblings. He managed to pull the bowstring back only a little before releasing, causing the arrow to travel only a couple of feet in a downward arch until it landed on the ground in front of him, seconds before the boar collided with him, knocking him to the ground. It would have actually been a little funny if he weren’t about to die. The huntsman tried to stab the beast with, but he missed, and the boar itself narrowly missed him. He immediately decided the best course of action was to run away before he was killed horribly. The beast chased him off a little before turning back towards Glenn. By this point he had managed to get to his feet, but his head was still spinning, and he was very unsteady on his feet.

The boar looked more like a monster than anything else now. It looked almost the size of a cow, with huge sword length tusks either side of its incredibly large snout. Of course, it was not in fact that size, or even especially monstrous. It was an average boar, but in his panicked, and dizzy state, his imagination had gone mad. It didn't help that he had never actually seen a living boar this close before, so he had no memory to compare it to. He attempted to stagger away, with little success. He stumbled just as the beast charged at him again, and this time was immediately gored by the creature’s tusks. It was a rather unpleasant sight, huge gashes into the poor man’s flesh from the beast’s tusks. Spaghetti sauce or blood gushed out of the wound, covering his shirt. It was probably blood. Either way, it would stain. The world around him began to dim, and the last thing he saw was the bloody beast wandering off back into the forest.

Okay, so it wasn’t the last thing he saw. Not long after, he awoke to find himself still in the forest, and caught a glimpse of the beast’s backside as it wandered off. For a second he froze and held his breath, but when he was sure the boar wasn’t going to charge again, he sat up, and touched him side. He found two large, deep gashes from the boar's tusks on his right hand side that should have killed him as far as he was aware, but there was no blood. He stood up, and looked back to where he had been lying. His eye widened.

“Holy mother of god!” he screamed, on the edge of tears. Lying there, at his feet, was him. Well, more accurately, his body. Even more accurately, his very bloody body, with the exact same wounds he had. He stood there, staring at his own corpse for a while, sobbing in a very gross, ugly fashion.

He was disturbed from his silent mourning by the sounds of loud slurping. He turned to see a skeleton in a large black hooded cloak, and bright blue fluffy bunny slippers, drinking something from a ceramic mug covered in little colourful fish. The being was reading a newspaper (of course, Glenn had no idea what a newspaper was, as they wouldn’t be a thing for a few more centuries, he was also mostly illiterate, so it just looked like a piece of paper with squiggles one – which is all any newspaper or book is really) and hadn’t noticed him. He coughed a little to get the being’s attention, with no success. Whatever they were reading in the paper, they were engrossed in it. The being took another large, loud sip from his fish mug, and spoke. “Hmm, four down, five letters, unpleasantly bitter” said the being in an almost ethereal, other worldly voice. The being reached to put their mug down on a table that wasn’t there. The mug fell to the ground, and smashed. The being looked up from his paper, and down at the broken mug, then looked at Glenn, then back at the mug, then back to Glenn.

Now, without an actual face the being couldn’t really provide any facial expression that would suggest just how annoyed they were, but they were incredibly annoyed, and would have scowled at Glenn if possible, which it wasn't (no eyebrows). They were so annoyed that they gave off this feeling of deep, intense annoyance, that even the dimmest of people could pick up.  

“Oh great” said the being sarcastically “another dead mortal, just what I wanted.” Glenn shuffled awkwardly and didn’t say anything. He tried to avoid making eye contact. He didn’t want to make the skeletal being even angrier by saying something stupid. It did not work.

“I was happily doing my crossword, drinking my coffee, but you just had to die, didn’t you?” continued the being, slowly becoming less sarcastic, and more openly angry about having been disturbed “bloody mortals, I hate this damned job.” At this, Glenn was confused.

“What job?” he inquired

“Oh for goodness sake, are you really that dim? Must I explain everything?” replied the being

Glenn shrugged and nodded awkwardly.

"It might help a bit" he said.

The being groaned at this and would have grimaced if they could have.

“Very well. I am Death, claimer of souls, destroyer of worlds, and you died” said Death reluctantly “I’m here for your soul blah, blah blah, take you to the afterlife and all that crap so you can be judged by some jumped up little prick” Glenn just stood there, slightly stunned by the fact that he was talking to death, but also a little underwhelmed. He expected more from Death, though he couldn’t tell you exactly he expected. He definitely would have preferred someone nicer.

“That it?” he said after a few moments of silence.

“I’ve been doing this for a while buddy, and honestly I can’t be arsed with this” replied Death tiredly. They stood in silence for a few minutes. Glenn wasn’t sure what to say to an immortal cosmic entity. Death was beginning to think they should have listened to their mother and become a butcher (though in a way, being the grim reaper isn’t all that much different to being a butcher, at least, that was what they had said to her).

“So, mister Death, sir” began Glenn ending the awkward silence.

“Now listen here mate” said Death, interrupting the recently dead person “I am a skeletal cosmic freaking entity that exists outside of space and time, I really do not have the time for the restrictive genders of you mortals”

“Oh, right, sorry” responded the recently deceased Glenn “you could be a bit nicer about it though, I have just died!.” He gestured to his still warm body, that was lying in a pool of his own blood (or spaghetti sauce, though probably blood), and was being pecked at by a bird that looked a bit like a raven, though since Glenn knew nothing about birds, especially ravens, he wasn’t entirely certain.

“Mate, shut up” said Death “damned mortals!”

“But what now though?” asked Glenn, ignoring Death, “do I go with you? Or am I stuck here?”

“Honestly, I don’t care mate, do what you want” replied Death exasperatedly “I just want to go back to my crossword, but now I have to deal with all the sodding paper work!”

“Could you just let me go back to being alive?”

“Not likely, I mean look” Death said as he pointed at the corpse being pecked at what may or may not have been a raven “you are pretty obviously dead.”

“Oh, right” responded Glenn gloomily “I understand.”

“Although” began Death craftily

“Although what?”

“You could just be mostly dead”

“How can I be mostly dead?” asked Glenn confused by the whole situation

“Well, you personally are obviously properly dead, but sometimes people are a little bit alive, and in those circumstances, I can let them go back to being alive”

“Okay!” responded Glenn excitedly.

“And thankfully there is no paperwork because you were alive” continued Death happily, using his skeletal fingers to do air quotes around the word alive “plus I don’t have to deal with you anymore, so go on back.” Glenn nodded and followed Death’s orders. He lay down on top of his body, and closed his eyes. He took a deep breath, and then winced in pain. His eyes shot open, and he sat up, covered in his own blood, shirt ruined, glad about not having to be dead, but understandably still rather shaken by the whole experiences.

“Oh, by the way, don’t die again anytime soon, because if you do I’ll make you regret it” said Death threateningly before grabbing his newspaper and disappearing.

***

"Helloo, anyone home" said a woman's voice startling Glenn a bit, causing him to drop him his empty tankard. It was Camilla.

"Ah bollocks" exclaimed Glenn

"Watch your language Glenn" responded Camilla feigning offence

"Sorry, I was someplace else" explained Glenn

"No worries sweetie" she said reassuringly "is everything okay? You look like death." Glenn reached for his side. His shirt was still a little damp with his spaghetti sauce, I mean, blood. It was probably some sort of health and safety violation for him to be in the tavern, but they didn't have health and safety, which explains a great many things about the period, like why there were so many things that could end your life prematurely.

"Its...err...I'm fine?" he replied, though it came out as if he were asking a question.

"Oh, that's great sweetie" said Camilla, completely uninterested, she wasn't really paying attention. The tavern was busy and Glenn was one of those people who you could easily forget about. She grabbed his tankard and got back to work.

The singing had all but come to an end, even Ser Malcolm had stopped. The only one still singing, if you could call slurring most of the words and forgetting the other ones singing, was Friar Moustache. He was swaying a little one his stool and swinging his arm about, seemingly forgetting he was still holding a half full mug of mead. His big finish came, and he leant back on his stool and toppled over, flinging his mug into the air, which quickly came crashing down onto the head of another drunken patron.

"oi, Wheresh me drink gone?" slurred Friar Moustache "were in me han!"

He struggled to get back up onto his feet. Camilla walked quickly over to see what the commotion, and bent down. "Let me help you Friar" said Camilla. He smiled at her a great big stupid drunken grin.

"Yur a riight goodun" he replied taking her hand and letting her pull him up.

"You need to go home Friar" said the owner in a thick Lancashire accent from behind the counter "You've had a bit much mate."

“Iamsickofyourshit,” Moustache said, his words tumbling from his mouth in a rush of barely distinguishable syllables. The owner nodded to his daughter, and a couple of his larger, more sober patrons, who grabbed the drunken holy man, and tried to escort him calmly out.

“Gerroff me!” he said as he wobbled “I’m ash sober ash ‘m gonna git. And there nuffink - wait wait wait - nuffink you can do ‘boutit.” He shook free of their grasp, and ambled back to the bar without so much as hiccup in their direction. The owner was much less polite after the first attempt.

"Just carry him out" he ordered a couple of patrons.

"Gerroff! I'm a man o cloth" objected Friar Moustache "I'ma have words with god if ya don't gerroff." They ignored him, and carried him through the tavern, whilst the other patrons simply ignored what was pretty average for a Sunday evening.

They carried him through the door and dropped him on the ground. "Sorry Friar" said one of the men who had been carrying him. The friar rolled over and struggled to get up, but refused to any offer of help from those who had just chucked him out.

"Itsh fine, gerroff" he said "I can do it meself." The men looked at one another, shrugged and went back inside. The friar climbed back onto his feet and stumbled forward. He grabbed a wooden hitching post for support. He clung there, slack-jawed and slumped over, for a long time before he began staggering away from the tavern towards the church. He was planning to have a bit of holy wine before heading to bed. It was dark, and the polite rain had become proper rain. He was drunkenly mumbling angrily to himself about having been thrown out of the tavern. He was insistent that he wasn't that drunk, even though he was barely able to stand, or string a sentence together.

As he approached the midway point between the tavern and the church he noticed a very bright, almost blinding light out of the corner of his eye. He turned¸ squinted, and walked towards the light.

"Whasis? Whas goin on?" he exclaimed, though still slurring his words "Lord is tha you?"

Friar Moustache walked into the light, and fell backwards with a loud 'oof'

"Watch where you're going, drunk prick!" yelled a feminine voice, coming from the light, as it seemed to float round the friar and wandered towards the edge of the village. Moustache sat there for a minute, his mouth agape, shocked. After a few minutes of watching the light float away, he drunkenly climbed up onto his feet, looked towards the church, then at the tavern, then at the church again, made the sign of the cross, then staggered back towards the tavern.

[creideamhgradochas]

Thanks to the lovely @whostheblondegirlwriting for taking the time to answer these! Get to know more about lovely E, go give her a follow and then show her some love!

These questions are from this list. You should check it out, there’s 50 questions all together and they’d be great to ask your favorite fic writer!

*Disclaimer from E, herself: If you’re looking for some sage-like writery advice...keep lookin’. You won’t find it here. This whole fic writing endeavor is an adventure in “[shrugs] We’ll see what happens”. Behold! An odyssey of half-assed, one line inspo. Marvel at the absolute appalling lack of plotting and vision. Tremble at the underwhelming realization that “Huh. I could do better than that”. In short, at least you don’t pay money for this, right?

1) How old were you when you first starting writing fan-fiction?

I have no idea, honestly. I signed up for AO3 to actually share it though in September 2015 when I was 36. So we’ll go with that.

2) Do you prefer writing OC’s or reader inserts? Explain your answer.

I think I have done more reader inserts than OC, counting all the tumblr oneshots. But you can actually create something substantial with an OC. An OC makes you work. I prefer them.

3) What is your favorite genre to write for?

I don’t know if I’ve done enough variety to have a fav, honestly.

4) If you had to delete one of your stories and never speak of it again, which would it be and why?

I wouldn’t. They’re all mine and I’m proud of each of them, no matter how popular (or maybe I should say, unpopular) they are/were.

5) When is your preferred time to write?

Whenever I have the time! I’m not picky, because time is very hard to come by with my job anymore and the fact that my husband doesn’t know I write. Morning, noon, or night for me. It can be hard to sneak it in and still get everything else done.

6) Where do you take your inspiration from?

I don’t have a good answer for this and I’m laughing to myself thinking I should have one. Lol An idea comes up and I write it. That’s it. Shameful, I know.

7) In your Back to One series, what’s your favorite scene that you wrote?

Oh, damn. Uhhh...I think I liked Sebastian fumbling through his confession to Lily in Montauk. But I also probably had the most fun with the “champagne incident” because it was for my tumblr-lifemate,  @ceebeetumbles.

8) Have you ever amended a story due to criticisms you’ve received after posting it?

Nope. It is what it is. You can’t please everyone and I don’t try. As long as I like it, it’s good enough. It’s not like anyone’s paying me for this, anyway. Lol

9) Who is your favorite character to write for? Why?

Hmm. Right now, I’d have to say Jack Rollins, because he preoccupies so much of my writing lately. Besides his own fic, he’s also featuring in an AU for Echo that’s in draft. Considering he had two lines in Winter Soldier, I’m very proud of the interest and love my Jack gets.

10) Who is your least favorite character to write for? Why?

Chris Evans, for right now. Only because he has been less than inspirational for some time due to his relative inactivity and, uh, [ahem] some personal choices he made. But I’m optimistic he’ll come back.

11) How did you come up with the title for the Back to One series?

The main character, Lily, goes through some personal and professional ups and downs as an actress. The phrase “back to one” is a direction for actors to go back to their first mark, so I thought it was fitting, as Lily would hopefully get things right, find her best self again, and have a fresh start as she meets different situations and opportunities in her story.

12) How did you come up with the idea for the Back to One series?

I thought I’d write a Sebastian Stan fic and figured a good match for him (and someone to help drive the story) would be an actress. But then I considered an OC like Lily could have more angles to write and it became really an OC fic that features Sebastian Stan. Oops.

13) Do you have any abandoned WIP’s? What made you abandon them?

I haven’t ever abandoned a fic. I refuse to give up on A Touch Up and do write a line or two here and there, just nowhere near the volume I need to publish a full chapter like I used to. It ended up on the shelf because Chris Evans got so boring after Civil War premiered and the fic is literally built on what he was doing in his everyday life. I also have a personal distaste for Jenny Slate and I guess you could say his decision to date her made me doubt the version of him I’d created in ATU, which is a problem when your fic is paired so purposefully around the assumptions I/we all had made by that time about him.

14) Are there any stories that you’ve written that you’d really love to do a sequel to?

I’m doing it. Echo was my pet project and, though it has my smallest following for a WIP, I had enough demand/interest for the story to be told from another character’s perspective that Jack Rollins and the STRIKE Series were born. There’ll be some unexpected things along the way in that series that I hope those fans/readers enjoy.

15) Are there any stories that you wished you’d ended differently?

No. I’ve only ended a couple fics (Echo and Kindness). Everything else is still a WIP or open ended series that publishes oneshots every once in awhile. The rest of my work is basically oneshots.

16) Tell me about another writer(s) who you admire? What is it about them that you admire?

Don’t laugh at me when I say I admire anyone who puts their work out there, even if it’s just a paragraph long imagine only on tumblr. It takes a lot of nerve, no matter what level your work is at or how big the scope. I’ve seen some good, bad, and ugly fic floating around, but I see value in it all and love seeing experience/determination help the writer evolve.

We ain’t all Hemingways or Shakespeares. And that’s okay. Some of the best writers don’t have thousands of followers and get hundreds of notes (but deserve them). And some of the behemoths out there aren’t necessarily turning out mind blowing fic, either. It’s a crapshoot and fandom can be fickle (if not downright confusing af).

17) Do you have a story that you look back on and cringe when you reread it?

Not at all. If it posts, I’m happy with it.

18) Do you prefer listening to music when you’re writing or do you need silence?

Either is fine. I probably write more in quiet, though, because my husband works 3rd shift, so I’m mindful not to disturb him.

19) Have you ever cried whilst writing a story?

No. Closest I could say to giving me my own feels was when I wrote The Death of Brock Rumlow (when it existed as part of the original Echo plot).

20) Which part of your Back to One series was the hardest to write?

I’m happy to say I don’t think there’s been a hard part to write for Back To One, or any of my fics. I’ve enjoyed every minute of it!

21) Do you make a general outline for your stories or do you just go with the flow?

Nope. No outlines or plans. I pretty much just sit down and write. If inspiration doesn’t hit, I’ll switch to a different WIP. If I have an idea for a line or scene I might make a note for later (maybe just a few words to point me in the right direction/remind me, or a line or two of dialogue), but once I get to it, I usually just write it out at once.

22) What is something you wished you’d known before you started posting fan-fiction?

How little time I’d have down the road for it. Maybe I wouldn’t have run such long WIPs/fics at a time. It feels like it’s been 100 years since I had time to open requests and I had to abandon a weekly posting schedule for 3 WIPs earlier this year because I just don’t have the time to manage the volume I used to anymore.

23) Do you have a story that you feel doesn’t get as much love as you’d like?

OMG yes! Echo and its companion fic, Jack Rollins (and I’ll probably say the same for the au/the STRIKE series). At this point, I can confidently say the following for Echo didn’t carry over to Jack Rollins, but I knew both were niche fics in the beginning anyway. I’m grateful for the attention Echo got, but it was such a labor of love, I’d have liked to see it do better. I may only have several regular readers for Jack Rollins commenting or reblogging, but those few readers and myself are the ones I wrote it for, and that I’ll keep posting it for until it’s finished, regardless of how tiny the readership because I love it.  

24) In contrast to 23 is there a story which gets lots of love which you kinda eye roll at?

Not in an “oh, geez. Not that again” way. More like a “oh, stop. I can’t believe you guys like it that much” kind of humbled eye roll.

25) Are any of your characters based on real people?

Obviously the celebrities like Chris Evans and Sebastian Stan, technically yeah. I have no doubt that some of my own ticks, experiences, etc have made it into a character or plot, or things from people I know or have come across. Things you don’t necessarily draw lines between on purpose but maybe catch on to later, sure.

26) What’s the biggest compliment you’ve gotten?

Any of the comments or messages from people who say they cried, laughed out loud in public, got way too giddy, or held their breath because of something I wrote.  They make me so happy, just to see someone got so lost or involved in a moment means I did a good job. Having someone say they reread a fic (or are reading for the X time) is a hell of a compliment, too.

27) What’s the harshest criticism you’ve gotten?

It was about A touch Up and how I had given the reader insert character, or implied, too much description (ex. noting that POC don’t blush as often as this girl did, when I wrote it as that feeling in the cheeks anyone can experience to convey her nervousness/embarrassment/etc at those points in the story so people maybe shared that sense as they read, not that she frequently ran around with a noticeable flush) and that, although I may not have said it outright, things like that apparently had made her so that she was obviously white. That ruined it for the commenter, despite there not actually being that much said about appearance in the story.

28) Do you share your story ideas with anyone else or do you keep them close to your chest?

Rarely. @ceebeetumbles gets a snippet of a chapter thrown at her once in a very blue moon, if I want to be sure something isn’t too cliché or generally awful. Lol But there’s a chance she’s reading along with the fic, so I may not send the whole chapter. I don’t plot per se or collaborate with anyone though.

29) Do people know you write fan-fiction?

Just the lovely people who’ve visited me on Tumblr or AO3.

30) What’s you favorite minor character you’ve written?

It’s a toss up between Frank Grillo’s appearance in A Touch Up and Jack Rollins or Eric Mickelson in Echo. I’m also a little fond of Drew Madison in Back To One.

31) What spurs you on during the writing process?

That I told you I’d post an update to a WIP, promised a drabble, or set a deadline that a request would be done by. So, really just my self-imposed “schedule”.

32) What’s your favorite trope to write?

I don’t really have one.

33) Can you remember the first fic you read? What was it about?

Nnnope. Lol

34) If you could write only angst, fluff or smut for the rest of your writing life, which would it be and why?

It’s a toss up between angst and fluff. They both come pretty easily. Honestly, smut is exhausting to write and I do so little of it because I don’t want it to be repetitive. Fluff is always fun. But, man...the possibilities with angst are pretty limitless, so maybe I’d lean a little more that way.

[a-salty-alto]

Tony Stark, Served Well Done

[A/N]: This is my fill for the “Hansel and Gretel” square on my Fairytale Bingo card. It was interesting to write, because I don’t usually write full AUs, much less in first person. I hope you like it!

Tony

I always knew this is how I was going to die.

Now you might be thinking Oh, Tony, you’re being hyperbolic, “eaten by a witch” is a weirdly specific way to go, there’s no way you could have expected it.

Yeah well, I’m not.

Ever since I stepped foot in this school I’ve known something like this was going to happen.

Okay, let me backup.

Hi, my name’s Tony Stark, soon to be dinner.

I’m a junior at Shield Highschool. Now, most people in town who don’t go here think that we’re just a bunch of stuck up genius snobs who get away with whatever we want.

That’s not true.

Well, the genius part is true, obviously, I go here. And so does Bruce, and Sam, and Natasha’s scarily good with computers and of course Jan and Bobbi- and I’m getting off topic.

Anyway we’re all actually a group of barely-functioning hot messes. If it isn’t exams, it’s school clubs, homework, the fact that none of us get enough sleep because we have to get up ass-early in the morning to get here on time, everyone’s got something to worry about here. We don’t have time to be stuck-up.

My current worry is the large boiling vat I’m dangling over.

Right, right, moving on. So, as Principal Coulson will tell you, if you’re in the mood for ten minutes of him waxing poetic about what the school,  Shield High was built on top of a potter’s field, which is a mass grave for unmarked bodies.

So yeah, school’s literally built on top of a pile of dead bodies of spirits that are probably pissed they never got a proper burial.

The first time I heard that little tidbit, my immediate thought was “some idiot is going to bring a Ouija board here and get us all killed.” It was joke, but I still called it.

So, it was after school, and I was hanging out with the D&D club that my friends and I formed with the help of the BEST PHYSICS TEACHER EVER, Mr. Yinsen, when suddenly the lights went out, a draft picked up through the school an an unearthly screech ripped through the building.

It was pitch black, so, naturally, we pulled out our phones to have some sort of light.

Natasha put her phone to her ear.

It couldn’t have rang more than once before she took it away again and shook her head.

“I don’t have any signal.”

At that, everyone else immediately started checking their phones too.

“No wifi,” Jan announced.

“Landline isn’t working either” Mr. Yinsen sighed

“This can only mean good things.” Clint muttered.

“Why don’t we take a look around?” Steve said, because he’s a giant innocent puppy dog who’s probably never actually seen a horror movie.

“Are you crazy?” Sam practically screeched. “No.”

“Rogers, what are you a, dumbass? This whole scenario screams demon attack.” Rhodey added..

“C’mon don’t we at least want to be in a room with actual, you know, windows? It’s only 3:30 in the afternoon, even if it’s cloudy, it’ll be more light than in here.” Brucie Bear suggested. It seemed like a good point. Mr. Yinsen’s room doesn’t have any windows, which makes the room darker. Even if we did walk into a monster movie, a you’d think a better lit room would have to help right?

WRONG! Oh so wrong, because as it turned out the sky had become, as Clint so eloquently put it, “a fucking bloodbath of hatred and death.”

Instead of the soft gray clouds and light snowfall that would be expected this time of year, the clouds were a hard black, and the sky was a deep crimson occasionally split in two by the crack of thunder and a lightning strike.

Like any sane person, we immediately tried to nope the fuck outta there, but the windows weren’t opening up and it took us exactly 5 minutes to realize we were very lost. In the school most of us have been attending for a little over 2 years at this point.

“Well, fuck.” I announced, because really, what else was there to say? I’m not sure if anyone else had noticed it, but the speakers which usually pumped terrible jazz music through the halls instead were playing a heaving breathing sound. I didn’t really feel like pointing it out to anyone at that moment, though.

“So. What do we do?” Clint panted.

Steve immediately took charge. I don’t remember what he said exactly, I may have been too busy staring at him as he got that stubborn look in his eyes and went into full protective mode and his eyebrows scrunched up just so and UuuuuggGgGHHhhhhhh.

Okay, so I might have a slight crush on Steve. You don’t get to make fun of it, I’m about to be boiled.

Anyway so, I wasn’t exactly paying attention but I got paired up with Natasha. I have this habit of aggressively hoarding snacks in my backpack, so I gave some to each of the pairs. In theory we’d each head in a different direction and follow the food trails back to where we started.

As Natasha and I made our way up the stairs and somehow ended up in the basement, we heard moaning. Immediately we shared a look and then ran after the voice. Who did we find but none other than Justin Hammer.

Now, Justin is a prick, but even he didn’t deserve the sorry state we’d found him in. He was pale, clutching his arm, and he had a black eye.

“Stark. Romanoff,” he grunted, as if the words hurt to say.

“Yeah, it’s us.” I helped him up and slung his arm over my shoulder.

“Justin, do you know what’s going on here?” Natasha asked taking his other arm. We shared a silent look and agreed that we should take him back to the meeting point.

“I was playing Ouija.” he said.

A few hours ago neither of us would have believed we were having this conversation, but now, the evidence was kind of hard to refute.

“Aren’t you not supposed to do that alone?” I said. “Or in a place where people are buried?

“Justin, what kind of  spirit did you summon?” Natasha asked at the same time.

Yeah, Nat was probably asking better questions than I was. I decided to leave the interrogation to her.

“A witch,” Justin whispered.

“And what does she want?”

“Him.” Justin said shifting his head in my direction.

“Wait, I’m sorry, what?” I yelped.

“When I summoned her, she wanted to eat my soul, but I knew you’d be here with your nerd club, and she said she wouldn’t eat me if I got you for her.”

“Shit.” Natasha said,  and we dropped Justin like a sack of potatoes.

It was too late though. High cackling laughter erupted from around us. Suddenly, an invisible force knocked me into a wall, and everything went dark.

*

When i came too again, i found myself in my current predicament, tied up and dangling upside-down over a vat.

“More sage.” A voice from the shadows called out, and a very grumpy Natasha was pushed in the direction of the pot.

“Hey! Leave her alone!” i yelled. I like to think I was somewhat intimidating.

The witch just laughed though, and practically glided over to me. I don’t know what she looks like other than she wears a dark robe with the hood covering her face.

“Ah, Iron Man, I’m glad to see you’re awake.”  She said, placing a bony hand to my cheek. “This is such a lovely little universe that buffoon called me to. You Avengers all have the same delicious spirit, but none of the pesky toys or skills.”

“I’m sorry, it might be the blood rushing to my head, but that doesn’t make any sense.” I bit back. Avengers? What was she going on about? “And if you just want to eat my soul, why do you need the pots and spices.”

The witch laughed again. “Oh, I want you to suffer. You’ve all wronged me, but you, Tony Stark sealed me away, so you get to feel being cooked alive. Your friends’ punishment is getting to watch.”

With that, she glided back to her corner, silently watching the two of us.

“So, Nat. Don’t suppose you can convince her I’m not fat enough to eat?

***

Steve

This isn’t good. I’m back at the meeting place, and Rhodey, Jan, Clint, Bruce, Sam and Mr. Yinsen have all made it back, but Tony and Natasha are nowhere to be found. Sometimes I wish I wasn’t an artist, because I can picture very clearly what it might be like to find the two of them ripped apart by whatever was causing this.

The school has seemingly become its own dimension. The hallways send you to completely different floors, the walls randomly become soft like flesh, and strange voices everywhere. Creepy didn’t even begin to describe it.

Not only that, the school was empty aside from the eight D&D club members and Mr. Yinsen. No other teachers, students from other clubs, or any janitors or security guards could be found.

I’m completely out of my depth when it comes to occult stuff like this. I wish Thor wasn’t out of town for family business, he’d know what to do. His brother practically lives and breathes this kind of stuff.

“How long has it been?” I ask absently while pacing the hall.

“30 seconds since you last asked, so about 5 minutes since we our agreed rendezvous time.” Bruce says. Oops. I stop and realize the others are watching me. I’m probably worrying them.

“Ok, let’s just go look for them. They did leave a trail.” Sam points out. “Either we’ll find them at the end or bump into them as they head back.”

Right. That sounds smart, why didn’t I think of that.

“Okay,” I say, “but let’s stick together, I don’t want to lose anyone else.”

With that, everyone in the group nods and we head off after Nat and Tony’s trail. We travel in relative silence, everyone’s concern is palpable.

We eventually make it to the end of the trail in the basement, where our missing friends are nowhere to be found.

“Shit.” Rhodey curses. I feel like punching a wall, but I swallow my frustrations.

“Let’s keep going. See if we can find any sign of them.” I say. It sounds like something the leader would say, which I guess I am.

We scour the basement looking for any signs of our friends, but find nothing. At least until Clint literally trips over Justin Hammer.

The guy’s unconscious, and pale in a way that doesn’t look healthy.

Immediately, Mr. Yinsen kneels down next to him and checks him over.

“He’s breathing, but it’s shallow. He needs medical attention.” The teacher’s gaze is stern. “James, Janet, and I found the Nurse’s office while we were searching. I’ll take him there.”

“I can go with you” Bruce offers, but Mr. Yinsen holds up a hand. “No, I want you all to stay together. Find the others, then meet us back at the rendezvous point in a hour.”

“Right,” Steve nods. As we watch their teacher take off with Justin in his arms, I can’t help feeling worried.

And by that I mean I’m screaming internally.

Right. Stay calm Steve. You’re in charge. You gotta at least hide your worry.

I stick up my head, and move onward.

Eventually, we find ourselves in the boiler room, and we hear voices. I motion to the others to be quiet as we sneak through. The voices stop as we enter a room, and see Nat, with her leg chained to the wall and Tony...

Tony’s being strung upside down over a large pot.

Ok. Weird, but could be worse.

"Ah, it seems the rest have arrived." A chilling  voice says from somewhere in the room. Clint and Sam scream and grab hold of eachother, but I stand my ground

"Who are you,” I definitely don’t stammer, “what are you doing to Tony and Nat?"

I actually manage to not screech when the terrifying lady appears right behind me and puts a bony hand on my shoulder. Yay me, I’m so proud of myself.

"I only wish for you all to suffer, and for his to be especially painful, and delicious." she whispers, and suddenly Tony screams as he starts dropping closer and closer to the pot.

With instincts I didn't even know I have, I grab the circular lid from a nearby garbage can and throw it.

It whizzes past Tony's head, bounces off of the wall, then another, and finally hits the lady in the face, knocking her down, and stopping Tony's descent.

I guess I meant to do that.

"Um right. Okay. She needs to be focused to do her magic. Clint, you and Jan help Nat, everybody else keep the lady busy. I’m going to get Tony down.” The others all nod and get back to work.

Rushing over to the pot, the first thing I do is try to tip it over.

“Steve.” Tony says.

It's really heavy, but Tony’s counting on me.

“Steve.”

I can’t let him down.

“Steve! It’s still on fire doesn’t that hurt?”

I look down and realize that there’s a fire lit under the cauldron and yeah, it is really hot.

But not as hot as it probably should be. Still, I jerk away.

I look at my hands and yeah, they're a little burnt but not something I can’t deal with. They’re already healing in a few places anyway.

“Oh.”

“Yeah, try snuffing out the fire first.” Tony says, misinterpretting my shock. Suddenly the rope drops some more and Tony screams again.  

That weird muscle spasm that let me throw the garbage can lid causes me to jump into the air, do a flip, and catch the rope dropping Tony.

I land balanced on the cauldron, and pull Tony into my arms.

“Impressive Cap, when did you start taking acrobatics?”

“I don’t know and- Cap?” Tony’s never called me that before and Tony looks just as confused as I do.

“Uh, just ignore me. I’m not sure how long I was upside down. Probably just woozy from all the blood rushing to my head. Anyway,” and Tony looks up at me and gives a little smile, “Thanks for the save.”

I can feel my face turning beet red. I try to tug on the rope that’s holding Tony, but it doesn’t budge. Looks like I’ll just have to carry Tony while the others deal with the witch.

It’s fine. This is fine.

I can just feel my face turning beet red.

Damn it massive crush on Tony, I thought we had an agreement where you wouldn’t do this to me anymore.

I try to focus on the others fighting the witch.

Looks like Clint and Jan have gotten Nat out, and they’ve all joined in the fight.

The Avengers are all on the defensive though. We don’t have anything that will actually hurt her, and most of us can’t survive more than one direct lightning blast. I mean none of us can, we’re all humans, what am I talking about?

“Yo, Wicked Witch!” Tony shouts. Oh god Tony please don’t antagonize the angry magic lady when we’re standing over a boiling pot of water.

Still, the witch turns to us and growls.

“You!”

“Yeah, guess you didn’t get me after all. Can’t even beat me when I don’t have my toys?” He mocks.

The witch howls and lunges towards us. Somehow I know the exact moment I need to jump to make sure she smacks face first into her own cauldron.

Her screams as she boils are going to haunt my nightmares for the rest of my life.

She finally stops, and a blinding flash of light envelops all of us. A split second later, Tony’s untied, the cauldron’s gone, and Tony is suddenly really heavy.

I put him down on the ground as the others come over to us, clearly very confused.

“So, what just happened?” Clint asks, “I mean I’ve always been awesome but I don’t think I’m usually able to dodge lightning for that long.”

“It’s almost like we were actually that thing she was talking about? The Avengers?” Tony asks, turning to Nat, who gives a nod.

“Yeah. The reason the witch wanted to eat Tony was because another version of him sealed her away with alternate versions of us. Apparently in another life, we’re superheroes.” She explains.

Superheroes, huh?

“So we accidently absorbed our other selves’ superhero skills? Is that even possible?” Rhodey asks, and Sam just shrugs.

“We just fought a witch, and didn’t die. I think it’s definitely something more than just dumb luck.”

“Cooooooool. We have to try that again some time!” Jan squeals. “I want to design all our outfits.”

Everyone laughs and starts to leave, but Tony hangs back.

“Something wrong, Tony?” I ask.

“Um yeah, I just wanted to give you something better. To thank you properly.”

“What-” And suddenly I’m cut off by Tony giving me a kiss on the cheek and running off after the others.

So today, I got transported to a weird alternate dimension, my friend/crush nearly got boiled alive, I got proxy superpowers, and my crush just kissed me.

Weird day.

Not a bad one though, so I start chasing after Tony.

[azoraahai]

tbh i can’t remember everyone who tagged me in this but thank you so much because i love doings these! idk if everyone has done this but im tagging @httpscoot @thetenthdoctorscompanion @missjanuarylily and anyone who feels like doing this!

WHICH OC MOST REFLECTS YOU? oh thats definitely ryder! we both can be selfish at times and not think about consequences in complicated situations, but we also are very protective and understanding.

WHICH OC HAS A STORYLINE SO DARK IT MAKES YOU FEEL GUILTY? isla!! i feel so bad because her entire family was murdered in one night and she blames herself for it like its so heartbreaking.

HOW DO YOU NAME YOUR OC’S? honestly i go on google, type in “female character names yahoo answers” and find names through there. sometimes i ask my friends for help or a name would just pop into my mind and i work with it.

WHICH OC DO YOU WRITE MOST FOR? at the moment, ryder and drew. im writing a little bit for reece but it’s not my main priority atm.

WHAT DO YOU LIKE MAKING MOST: POSTERS, AESTHETICS, GIFS, PLAYLISTS, MANIPS, ETC? i love making gifs!! it makes me so happy to see my ocs come to life and interact with characters in the fandom that their in and with my friends ocs as well!

DO YOU HAVE AN OC THAT’S FOR A SUPER OBSCURE FANDOM? um i don’t think so? i have an oc for red queen but i may not write for her anymore because im not feeling it.

WHAT ARE SOME FUN FACTS ABOUT YOUR OC’S? ryder is a lowkey marvel fan, drew likes star trek more than star wars, reece knows all the words to “bohemian rhapsody”, and alex has photographic memory

I DARE YOU TO SPOIL A HUGE PLOT POINT IN YOUR CURRENT STORY (ONLY IF YOU WANT, I’M SERIOUS ONLY IF YOU WANT) ryder dies at the end of the first part of warrior’s exile (oops)

WHAT’S YOUR FAVORITE FANDOM TO WRITE OC’S FOR? i really love writing in the spn and tw fandoms because i feel like i can be very creative with those shows and i love tying my ideas into the original storyline of the shows.

DID SOMEONE IN YOUR LIFE INSPIRE A CERTAIN OC? my minor oc levi james in warrior’s exile is lowkey inspired by my brother. they are still two different people but i choose some keys qualities out of my brother and placed them into levi.

HOW DO YOU CHOOSE A FACECLAIMS FOR YOUR OC’S? i honestly choose whoever has really good gifs and someone who i picture working really well in the fandom or with the love interest

IS THERE A SPECIFIC SONG THAT FITS ONE OF YOUR OC’S SO WELL IT’S INSANE? uh i’m checking my spotify rn. soldier by fleurie works really well with isla and ryder so im gonna go with that

WHERE DO YOU MAINLY POST YOUR FICS? mostly wattpad and sometimes on ff.net. my wp user is electraheart- and ff.net is elctraheart

DO ANY OF YOUR STORIES HAVE POLYAMOROUS RELATIONSHIPS? alex sort of does i guess. she has a thing with ward in s1 but her love interest is mainly lincoln. oh and quinn (a tw oc i haven’t introduced yet) has a friends with benefits relationship with jackson but later ends up with isaac.

DO YOU HAVE ANY QUEER OC’S? i have a lot of bi-sexuals, one pan-sexual, and one asexual!

DO YOU HAVE ANY POC OC’S? isla is poc and i have a few poc faceclaims in mind for upcoming plot bunnies

IS THERE A COMMON TRAIT ALL YOUR OC’S SHARE? all of them suffer with losing someone close to them. not necessarily death but its more of a relationship/friendship with someone. and they all go through development as well because i’m not a huge fan of static characters.

IS THERE AN OC YOU’VE NEVER POSTED ANYTHING FOR? YES! my babies velma, quinn, nancy, deirdre, and amara are sitting in my drafts at the moment but i cant post any of them since i don’t have a gifset introducing the oc which is so complicated.

HAVE YOU EVER HAD A DREAM WHERE ONE OF YOUR OC’S WAS IN IT? i had one for ryder and dean which was really sad and i think i had one with drew but i cant remember

WHAT IS SOMETHING YOU’VE BEEN DYING TO TELL SOMEONE ABOUT CONCERNING A FIC OR AN OC? one thing that sticks out to me the most is that i have one oc where they say the big “i love you” first to their love interest because i normally don’t do that (idk why honestly) but it feels better for this oc to say it first.

[mitchellmarnthews]

Alec Martinez ~ Waiting for you

Had a lot of fun writing this one and was inspired by the song so I may have got a little carried away oops! Hope you like it! Requests are open so send me some inspiration please!!

Requested: Yes

“Can you do an Alec Martinez imagine based on the song "if it means a lot to you" by a day to remember. You can end it whatever direction you want but I've always loved the song request stories”

Warnings: Not really, angsty

For @penaltyboximagines who has given me some great advice and been really helpful!!

Bold is song lyrics

As you looked into his eyes you couldn't help but think back to how you had gotten into this mess in the first place.

Those big brown eyes had captured your heart at only 16 and you knew the first time you stared into them that you were screwed. Just like every other teen romance movie, you and Alec had first met when he accidentally bumped into you in the hallway at school. His cheeky smile had made you feel different than ever before. It made you feel like you were floating, giddy and for once in you life, happy.

Quick greetings in the hallway as you passed each other turned to him walking you to class, then home, even though he lived in the opposite direction to you. The more time you spent together, the more infatuated you became with the quiet brown haired boy.

The day he asked you out for the first time was like a fairy tale and as the two of you grew closer, you couldn't help but fall more and more in love with him.

Ofcourse this wasn't a movie, and as reality set in and you became two separated from one another; Alec became focused solely on hockey and his upcoming draft day, and you determined to be accepted into law school; you found it harder and harder to make time for each other and so you decided to end your relationship and follow your own pathways.

Skip forward 10 years, and after a coincidental meeting on a train, you two were reunited and had been together officially for almost a year now. Ofcourse, the path of true love never did run smoothly and it seemed as though there was something determined to keep you two apart.

"I don't know what you want me to say, Alec. I can't do this anymore. You know you can't give me what I need." The tears silently dripped down your face as you spoke into the phone.

"Y/N, I don't understand. I thought everything was okay between us, hell, I thought we were both happy. Where has all this come from?"

As you looked at his confused and hurt face on your phone, you felt a pang in your heart. It was absolutely killing you to do this to him but it had all just become too much for you to handle.

"I just... it's so hard being out here all alone when you're gone for weeks at a time and I barely get to see you. I moved out here with you because you asked me to, but I just didn't think it would be like this. I left all my family behind and moved here to be with you and I don't know if I made the right decision after all." You timidly replied to him, your voice becoming a whisper as you muttered the last few words.

"Look I know I asked a lot of you to move out to LA with me but I already lost you once and I wasn't letting it happen again. It was fate or some crap like that, that brought us together again and I'll be dammed if I let you go now. It was the biggest mistake of my life."

It was clear he was having as hard a time as you were with this whole situation but you just didn't know what else there was you could do anymore.

"Alec, I don't know, this is so hard for me, you have to understand that." You pleaded with him.

"I know it is and I'm sorry that I'm always away but it's my job, what I love and travelling a lot is something I have to put up with because of that. You're not the first girlfriend or wife that has had to deal with it, some of the guys don't get to see their own kids for weeks at a time, Y/N."

"Oh so just because we don't have children it's okay? I just have to deal with the fact I never see you? Really Alec I thought better of you. Maybe this was the wrong decision coming out here, listening to you, and us getting back together."

At this point you were frustrated at the situation and annoyed by Alec's words.

"I'm not saying that, Y/N and you know it. All I'm saying is that some people have it a lot harder than we do and we should appreciate what we have!"

You were shocked at his sudden outburst and you could tell immediately he noticed the change in your face.

"Look I'm sorry for shouting, but I just... If you can wait till I get home, then I swear to you that we can make this last. Please don't give up on us, I can't lose you again."

His choked off sob broke your heart and you knew you were crying again. It hurt you to see him this upset, knowing you had caused it.

"Alec.. baby, I'm sorry, I know this is hard for you too. I just miss you so much and I feel like it's been ages since I've seen your face in person, felt your arms around my waist, kissed you. I love you so much, please know that."

"I know it's been ages and I can't wait to get home and pull you into my arms. Only two more days babe, I promise, them I'm all yours."

Those big brown eyes bore deep into your own and right there and then you remembered why you had fallen in love with him in the first place. His love and affection for you. You couldn't bare the thought of not being with him. You too were determined to make this last.

Reaching up to touch his face on the phone screen you smiled softly at him.

"Only two more days." You whispered to him, willing yourself not to cry.

"I love you so much, Y/N. Always."

"I love you too. Always."

Hope that was okay! Let me know if you want an imagine! Also now have a masterlist so just click on the link in my bio! Thankyou :))

[gryffnwing-blog]

On Metamorphosis 2.0, and the state of Magic the Gathering.

Woo Nelly. Did we get some announcements today. Of course I’m talking about the article title Metamorphosis 2.0.  While everyone is talking about the news, I want to break it down in a few ways. The Good, the Bad, and the Unsettling. I’m talking about this in terms of being a consumer, and as a future LGS owner. I also want to cover the state of the game as a whole. Now before I talk about the game itself. Please note, I haven’t played the Standard format since Jeskai Ascendancy combo was a thing. So about two-three years since I last played standard. I do keep up with the conversations, and in fact take a look at a set as a whole for the Standard format.

Where are we in the game of Magic the Gathering? To put it bluntly, we’re lost. We went from a very low powered sets; i.e Theros, and power creep slowly built up with the Khans of Tarkir block. Then we hit a snag, Battle of Zendikar. Our first two set block. For Standard, the block was moderately received. Where modern got trampled by Eldrazi. Then followed Shadows Over Innistrad. Here we got a few decks that became popular, due to the block itself. Finally we come to Kaladesh, which added some cards to our previous decks. Shadows had Black Green  Delirium, which then added AetherWorks Marvel. Marvel becoming it’s own deck. Delerium also got a card in Smugglers Copter. 

These are things that make good game design. By that I mean, you can have two completely different sets, that can add, or improve previous choices made for past products. Now I will not say Copter was healthy for the game, but I will say the idea of a card that could help fuel the Graveyard, in a block that had no Graveyard theme, but helps out a previous block. That’s good (should have costed 3 mana and crew 3, but I digress). Before Aether Revolts release, we had roughly four decks that were in the top decks to play in Standard. They were, Blue/white flicker, Black/ Green Delirium, Black/ Green counters, Aetherworks Marvel, and the beginnings of Vehicles. Suddenly we got our first Standard Banning since Jace the Mindsculptor. Three cards in Emrakul the Promised end, Smugglers Copter, and Reflector mage. The first two were quite strong, and in the case of Emrakul, un-fun. Something about taking over an opponents turn equates to un-fun. The matter of Copter was to slow down the Delirium decks, and Reflector Mage was preemptive. That word, preemptive should stand out. Finally, Aether Revolt was being spoiled, and what we got was this: 

A combo piece, similar to that of a banned modern combo; Splinter Twin. Guardian paired with Saheeli Rai made a turn four win. The moment this was spoiled, Saheeli went from a $5-$7 card, to a $20+ over night. Many players, myself included were happy for a combo deck in Standard, but dumbfounded as to how this slipped through R&D. At this time we had a single deck now dominating Standard, in Vehicles, and it seemed like the Combo would be the answer. Well then two decks became dominate. Mardu vehicles, because Aether Revolt gave them more fuel, and now the Saheeli Combo. Standard for a lack of a better term was shit. Local FMN’s were dying. I say this as a person who was drafting at the time, and playing Commander while event’s were firing at the time...or mis-firing. Now yes, Drafts can make a store a bit more money than Standard, and it moves product. Though local FNMs, especially Standard ones bring in a crowd of people who either A), don’t like draft, B) may not be able to afford the $10-$15 weekly price, or  C) measure someones skill and the hopes of improving for larger scale events. If standard isn’t doing well, the store does indeed suffer. Less people show up, which means less product moves and sales hinder.  Come to the Amonkhet ban&restricted update. Everyone was bracing for the Saheeli ban, among other cards. We didn’t get it. Collectors and players sighed a bit of relief. The investments they made were safe, but the game would suffer. Come three days later, and there was an addendum. Guardian was banned, I mean that’s better than banning the Mythic rare, right? Well not really. Saheeli tanked in price, and trust was lost. Banning cards always hurts moral, but the issue was that it should have happened on the day of the announcement. Not after. All this time we went from a 18 month rotation back to the original two year rotation. So players were in fact furious that for two years, we’d have Saheeli combo. This was another decision that Wizards went back on. It seems each new change they were introducing they were taking a step back on. Come to today. Amonkhet has been out for a few months, there are decks that have been made from the block itself. This in turn is due to said bannings. Now here is the issue, Amonkhet’s power level is much lower than the previous two blocks. What does this mean? Power creep is normal, and yes, to balance things out we would want other sets to either have a lower power creep, or stay on the curve. The issue is, when a set cannot carry itself, it fails in design, play-ability, and fun. Which translates to slow selling, and loss of profits. Now let us talk about today’s news, Metamorphosis 2.0. “Finally!” The first change is to the block’s themselves. Well, we don’t have blocks. Blocks went from three sets done over the course of a year, to two sets which made two blocks a year. Now with the two-block paradigm we had a large set and a small set. The large set containing roughly 280 cards, and the small set to around 190-ish. With each set being a large set, we are not given information on if these sets will be larger the current large sets. This also means for story purposes, that more than one set could indeed be tied to one story. Where with the current block paradigm, they are connected through the Gatewatch. Onto the Gatewatch. I personally have a love/ hate relationship with these characters. Now moving forward, they will have less Planeswalker cards. I mean I’m now said that I won’t be able to run a deck with 4 different Nissa’s, 3 different Gideon’s, and 3 different Chandra’s. While they will still have a connection, it will mostly be story. Which is great. Some sets we might have one or two, and other sets none. This leads to more creative Planeswalker cards being made. The next things to bring up is the Master pieces. These helped sets sell. These premium cards made for packs and boxes to sell, but upon Amonkhet, the hype for them diminished. Mostly due to hard to read font, and Amonkhet’s lack of cohesiveness. They will be in sets that make sense. My take on that is maybe once a year. A set should be able to carry itself on it’s own cards, and not on the chance of pulling a $100+ card. Though now I worry. The idea was behnd Masterpieces was to increase the purchase of sets, to make Standard cheaper. Let’s see how this affects the market in later sets. The Return of corsets. Ok as a player and as someone involved with LGS’ I was lost when the announced the removal of Coresets. Orignally corsets were just reprints, and upon the release of the M20 series, they started adding in new cards. Both to have older players buy in, and give newer players a chance to get some good classics. When Magic Origins was released, that was the “final” corset. With I believe all new cards only, and the beginning of each Gatewatch members story. We felt the hit of the lack of reprints. Though Wizard’s did say to us that going forward reprints would be in sets that needed them. I have no recollection of seeing much needed reprints in a recent standard set. Let’s talk about the Good :)

- Larger sets are more defined, and if we stay on worlds for much longer, we have mechanics that could overlap.  - There is the same amount of sets to a year, but more cards.

- While the Gatewatch is meant to connect the players to the worlds, having the same amount of characters as cards is annoying. We now have the ability to see new and interesting characters and card designs.

- We now have a dedicated team to working on Standard. I hope this translates to “Less to zero bannings” - While Master pieces are not leaving, they are going to worked upon and improved. Let’s talk about the Bad :(

- Less master pieces might mean standard prices going up.

- Coresets returning while good for reprints could cause speculators to drive prices up for cards not getting a reprint.

Let’s talk about the unsettling @.@

- This is yet another huge change in the past year. It seems as though Wizards keeps retracting anything they do. This causes players, and LGS’s to lose faith in that they’re being told.

- While we have a new Play test team, will other formats be ignored? I say this, knowing that they design for Standard and Sealed.  - Again I’m going to talk about Master Pieces. Upon the announcement for Amonkhet, we were told that moving forward each block would have them. Because of how poorly received Amonkhet’s Invocations were, they are now saying that they are taking a step back. They work two years in “advance”, and numerous time have mentioned to us that they have marketing tools that let them know what players want. Well then, how did the Invocations happen? Why tell us last year that we are getting them all the time, and then after one failure go “oops, we take it back”. - Coresets returning is great, but again we were told that consumers and stores didn’t like them. Now all of a sudden they’re back? Decisions this big need a few years to look at, especially when telling your audience that “Well you’ve been telling us this whole time.”  - Does this mean rotation will end up changing again? That’s a question that worries me. As always, thanks for reading. What do you think about these changes? What do you think could be done to improve Magic as a whole? Do you love or hate how Magic is at the moment? Until the next article. Gryffnwing~

[yahoo-puck-daddy-blog]

Conspiracies, Milbury on Subban and Kovalchuk's return (Puck Daddy Countdown)

LOS ANGELES, CA – JANUARY 29: P.K. Subban #76 of the Nashville Predators poses for a portrait prior to the 2017 Honda NHL All-Star Game at Staples Center on January 29, 2017 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images)

(In which Ryan Lambert takes a look at some of the biggest issues and stories in the NHL, and counts them down.)

8. It’s time for some Game 3-ry!

Who could have known that the “Alex Ovechkin tried to kill Ron Hainsey with a polonium-laced flubbed one-timer” would have been only the tip of the iceberg?

Yeah, like the “I’m With Her” crew who can’t stop tweeting about or devoting their nightly MSNBC shows to Russian involvement in the U.S. election, Pittsburgh sports writers seem to have gone off the deep end with their hate of Ovechkin.

Who knows how deep the rabbit hole goes? Rob Rossi, a writer for Upgruv (pron. “oop-gruv”) suggests that Ovechkin, not content with putting Hainsey on the shelf, also conspired with Matt Niskanen, Barry Trotz, the saucer people and the reverse vampires to try to murder Sidney Crosby as well. And wouldn’t you know it, it worked!!!!!!!!

Like Rossi, Pittsburgh homers I mean reporters including Josh Yohe and Kevin Gorman have reason to believe may be a boogeyman or boogeymen at work, and yinz are blind if yinz can’t see it.

What sort of Kompromat Ovechkin may have on Niskanen, who used to be Crosby’s teammate for pete’s sake, has on these guys to make them focus in on playing a physical game against Crosby we may never know. Maybe it was video of how bad Niskanen was on the man advantage in the first two games (a.k.a. The PP Tape) but until we get some more concrete evidence, we just can’t be sure.

Certainly, now that Crosby is potentially out for the series in what was absolutely not in any way an unfortunate accident that results from one guy trying very hard to dispossess arguably the best player in the world of the puck, in a prime scoring area, and another being in the same general area for the unfortunate aftermath.

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And certainly certainly, a guy like Rossi would never have written apologia on behalf of Nice Guy Matt Cooke a year after he effectively ended Marc Savard’s career and tried to do the same to Ryan McDonagh. No, absolutely not. 

7. The Selke ceiling

Speaking of poor Sid Crosby, NBC had a really great video package at the beginning of Monday’s Game 3 in which it showed how good Crosby is at literally everything to do with hockey. And it got me thinking: Crosby really ought to have a Selke on his shelf by now, right?

Like, he’s probably going to have to wait a few more years since he’s still scoring by the bucketload, but if you’re going to tell me he’s not one of the four or five best defensive players alive, that says to me you’re not paying a lot of attention to this sport.

And yet, the highest he’s ever finished in Selke voting was last season, when he ended up seventh. My theory: It’s because he had only 85 points in 80 games. Which for him is incredibly bad, the lowest points-per-game of his career.

The thing with the Selke is that there is now, seemingly, a ceiling for how many points you can score before you were too good offensively to have been considered good defensively. Which is dumb as hell, of course. But people don’t want to accept that you can be elite at both ends of the ice.

I looked it up and the median Selke winner in the cap era had 27 goals and 70 points. And those were the heyday of Crosby and Malkin going off and racking up 100-plus points, so by comparison he must have been doing something to have fallen behind the pack. Also, you have to be a center, but you already knew that.

So who’s the guy, statistically, who’s most likely to win the Selke this year? Kesler’s closest to both those numbers, and given how bad the media wanted to name him MVP of the series for matching up against Connor McDavid (and only kinda getting caved in), I bet his 22-36-58 goes a long way.

Then again, he’s up against three-time winner Patrice Bergeron, so that has to come into the discussion as well. And Bergeron will probably win for lack of a better option.

But seriously, Crosby.

6. That Zaitsev contract

It’s not very good. I don’t get the seven years. I don’t get the $4.5 million. Statistically he scans like a No. 4/5 defenseman who got thrown into a bigger role than he actually earned, and the fact that he’ll be 26 in October doesn’t portend good things for the second half of this contract.

As much as the Leafs have earned a rep for making smart moves, they still give out some dumb contracts. And yeah, maybe they’re trying to goad Las Vegas into taking a youngish D who’s signed relatively cheap and for term, but why would you risk that?

I dunno, I just feel like Babcock has his blindspots and defenders like Zaitsev is very firmly within that blindspot. Maybe if, one day, he starts getting used as an expensive-but-good No. 4/5 instead of a not-good-enough No. 2, things work out okay. But right now? Pass.

5. Walkin’ it back

Mike Milbury’s comments about P.K. Subban dancing in pre-games drew a lot of ire, and understandably so. Mike Milbury is a loudmouth clod that every hockey fan who has to suffer through his NBC diatribes cannot stand. P.K. Subban is a mostly beloved guy who should be a huge star in this league, except they have a problem with his, uhh, let’s call it “pizzazz.”

So when Milbury got a chance to walk all that back with Joe Rexrode, would you believe he actually said even more dumbass stuff?

“The game is supposed to be fun and I’m glad that P.K. Subban is part of the game,” Milbury said, lyingly. “I’m glad he’s a personality. I think it’s wonderful that he has that kind of approach. At the risk of repeating myself, the only question was, does that distracting kind of behavior impact anyone else? I’m just asking the question.”

Well jeez Mike, you’re one of these “all that matters are wins” people, right? Well check the goddamn record. If his dancing were a problem or a distraction or anything else, we might have heard about it by now. But everyone likes Subban except old white clowns (to use Milbury’s word) no one can stand or wants to see on TV or ever hear from. I wonder why that is.

Interestingly, Milbury had nothing to say about the Rangers doing this that same weekend:

I’m not sure the Rangers know what sport they’re playing today pic.twitter.com/USeOwLwxf6

— Pete Blackburn (@PeteBlackburn) April 29, 2017

A coincidence, I’m very sure.

4. Shopping Drouin

Rumors have been swirling for a little while now that the Tampa Bay Lightning might use this good season from embattled young star-in-the-making Jonathan Drouin as leverage to acquire someone who helps them more immediately — perhaps on the blue line.

That would make a lot of sense and be a boon to a Lightning team that needed a little defensive help last night. But man, if you can trade Drouin for someone who can, like, make sure half the team doesn’t spend 35-plus games on the LTIR, that would help even more.

3. The expansion-draft-slash-awards show

Oh man, this is going to make the NHL Awards watchable. Maybe. Hopefully.

But honestly, as a guy who has to write about the NHL Awards every year, if it saves me from watching even one more torturous “comedy” “sketch,” this will all have been worth it.

2. Ilya Kovalchuk coming back

Saw the rumors where Ilya Kovalchuk is considering a return to the NHL and teams are interested.

Why wouldn’t they be? He had 78 points in 60 KHL games last season, placing him second in the league in scoring. That’s about the kind of production, more or less, that Alex Radulov had before he came back to the NHL and was a super-useful player for the Canadiens.

If Radulov is seen as proof of concept here, then the suitors will line up.

HOWEVER! There’s a big difference here: Radulov spent this season as a 30-year-old. And Kovalchuk just turned 34. One wonders, then, what kind of money or term Kovalchuk wants, and how long he’s going to be worth that contract, whatever it is.

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Teams should absolutely be interested. Kovalchuk’s game isn’t exactly predicated on getting up and down the ice quickly, and it’s hard to imagine he’s got the kind of miles on his body that most 34-year-olds do (thanks to the KHL’s larger rinks, less hitting and shot-blocking, etc. as well as his own playing style) but still, 34 is old as hell.

1. This year’s draft lottery

As someone who was delighted every time the stupid Oilers won another draft lottery, the fact that Vegas is picking sixth and the top three goes New Jersey, Philly, Dallas is — to me — delightful beyond words. At least, y’know, since the Oilers couldn’t win it again.

(Not ranked this week: The thinking behind the Kucherov controversy.

A true highlight of every summer is when Eastern European players go back to their home countries and give too-honest-for-North-Americans interviews about the past season.

It’s nice that they do it because it’s nice to have that unfiltered thinking out there, but I really don’t get why they do it, since all it does is lead local beat writers to basically beg them to walk back those comments. Like that ages-old Alex Semin interview on Puck Daddy where he said he didn’t think Crosby was that good, all it does is lead to PR nightmares for NHL teams and probably gets guys good and yelled at. So it’s just strange these things continue.

Blessings to the players for doing it, but if it were me I wouldn’t want to field the extra six phone calls such an interview leads to.) 

Ryan Lambert is a Puck Daddy columnist. His email is here and his Twitter is here.

(All statistics via Corsica unless otherwise noted.)

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