#i have like 3 threads and 2 of them are w/ the same partner my liFE

[allastoredeer]

Discussing fandom and its trends is one of my favorite things 🤓 I hope you don't mind me sharing some of the pseudotheories and pseudoanalyses I've seen before (to me they're all fun and I don't think they should be taken 100% seriously, please no one be offended)

1 The name of the boat that goes first is the favorite.

Quite funny in my opinion and from what I have seen it is not necessarily false, but many times it is that putting it differently sounds *wrong*, especially when they are combinations of the name

(Although after seeing that apparently apple radio and radioapple are not the same now I need an explanation of what radiosilent is as opposed to radiostatic)

2 The sub is The favorite

The first time I saw this was in a SW comment thread with a Chinese reader who was commenting with the author about top/Bottom preferences for the language and commented on this theory. They said that the Bottom gets all the love and since you want your favorite character to be adored that's why you write it like that

3 you project yourself into the Bottom

This came from another fandom, things got heated and toxic and a common accusation from a ship is that half the ship "had no personality" and they were using it to project themselves into a relationship whith the top

Personally I think they are all true to some extent, but I also see them as renunciationist and I myself am not without my own prejudices.

Part of the problem is that in relationships m/m and w/w, they continue to be written as one part a hairy-chested alpha male and the other part a blushing, submissive (and I have a weakness for ABO bulbs but there the problem is worse). In the case of radioapple Alastor has been reduced to his ego and need for control (so he could never let go. And is there something strangely allosexual about the way they write it?) and Lucifer to his depression (so he needs to be adored... And the truth is, I do think 3 applies here)

With what we see, I think that Lucifer has no problem being at the bottom, but his preference is at the top, even bordering on the Dom.Lucifer has insecurity and depression but he also knows he is powerful and we see him being authoritarian even if he later recants.He seems to be the type who would enjoy being the one to give pleasure to his partner, but I also don't see him giving up control easily when there are already so many things in his life out of control.Lucifer doesn't want someone to come in and take control by emptying his head, he wants something he can control and show exactly how good he is at it.

Alastor, on the other hand (this is where my prejudice comes in): what does he gain by being the top? Some kind of power play? Because I feel like Alastor can find that high without involving genital play.How ace (and probably aroace and almost certainly on the gray or demi side for most fics to work) Alastor would need something more to really get involved like that, which is why I feel like the top Alastor fics almost always feel too Allo for my taste, he just fucks like anyone else.When Alastor is the Bottom the writer gives him a little more nuance.

So that's my two cents to the discussion 🙃

Honestly, I think you're on point with most of these. (I too would like to know the difference between radiosilence and radiostatic - i see a lot of different names pop up for Alastor/Vox, whether its reciprocal or unrequited, and I can't keep up with it. I think radiosilence means the attraction is one-side? Maybe?? I think??

I can see the logic behind people having their fav be the bottom because they want them to feel loved and adored. I, too, am guilty of this. It also probably helps that the top is usually depicted as doing most of work LOL (Bringing Doms and Subs into this, there are a lot of fics that explore sub-drop, usually with their fav character--which I totally get--but it'd be interesting to read more fics that explore dom-drop too).

Personally, I've never felt any real attraction towards the characters I like, so I've never projected myself as a bottom or top through a pairing to be with one of the character. I project my insecurities and life experiences on them 🤓☝️ LMAO same basic concept, just a different shades But characterXreader fics/posts are super popular! So, I see that one too.

Part of the problem is that in relationships m/m and w/w, they continue to be written as one part a hairy-chested alpha male and the other part a blushing, submissive (and I have a weakness for ABO bulbs but there the problem is worse). In the case of radioapple Alastor has been reduced to his ego and need for control (so he could never let go. And is there something strangely allosexual about the way they write it?) and Lucifer to his depression (so he needs to be adored... And the truth is, I do think 3 applies here)

Very much agreed. I enjoy Omegaverse fics too, but it's one of those fanfic tropes that I'm picky about. It needs to be written a certain way for me to really enjoy it.

I don't know, just the default that one person has to be dominate and the other has to submissive never sat right with me. For a long time, I was super squicked out by even the thought of being in a relationship because of this. I'm a small person, most people are taller than me, and I'm pretty thin, so the mental assumption that I'd have to be "the submissive one," considering that's what almost always happens in these depicted relationships, made me feel so much anger, anxiety, and discomfort. I hated the thought that that's what would be expected of me. (Personal lore drop: considering I also grew up in a hyper-religious, extremely patriarchal town, the expectation felt 10x worse and 100x more real. I dreaded getting older and starting romantic/sexual relationships).

Also, yes, with a lot of top!Alastor content I've seen, there is something very strangely allosexual about it. Or, at least that's how it comes off to me. Asexuality is a spectrum, so there's no "perfect" way to be ace, it's just...there's just something about it that feels very allosexual, and maybe why I keep shying away from it. It squicks me out a bit, ngl.

People keep saying they see Lucifer as a switch, and funnily enough, it was actually confirmed by Vivenne Mendrano that he canonically is a switch! Of course, if people want to see him exclusively as a bottom or top, that's fair. You do you, boo. We're here to have a good time. But I'm very happy with his canon sexuality, so that's where I keep him. I can see him as a sub and a dom, too.

I also see Lucifer as the type who enjoys giving his partner pleasure! Be it bottoming, topping, subbing, or domming. He'll try out kinks and position and role-play, because I headcanon him and Lilith having a very healthy, very explorative sex-life. They were freaks in the sheets, and they tried all the new, crazy shit sinners brought with them into Hell.

I keep Alastor exclusively as a bottom, though. Some of it is because I see him being kind of grossed out with the idea of a part of him going into someone else (hello self projection!) but I also see him generally being sex-indifferent. Like, he'll have sex, and he'll enjoy it, but it's not something he typically seeks out for himself. Maybe once in a way, when he's in the ✨mood✨ he'll initiate. If his partner wants sex and he doesn't, he's not forcing himself. If his partner wants sex and he's kind of just vibing--not feeling horny, but not really against it either--yeah, he'll have sex. It's not like he's getting nothing out of it, he still feels and enjoys the pleasure in the act, even if he's generally indifferent towards doing it.

If he's comfortable with it he'll even indulge their kinks (and indulge his own 😉 not all kinks have to be sexual, afterall. And even if his are, that is still valid and does not take away from his sexuality because aces can still have sexual kinks 🫵 I'm looking at you, people who assume aces can't have sexual desires). (I also gave Alastor a power kink 😏 because I think he'd be into his partner displaying immense amounts of power. It doesn't even have to be directed at him. He'll watch his boo destroy a city block and then fuck them later because that was hawt.)

A lot of it could also be because he feels too allo for me when he is written as a top. Lol "he fucks like everyone else," is a very good way to put it 😂 When he bottoms, it feels like he's written with more of his ace-identity in mind, which I love!

But also, I like Alastor being a bottom just because. I vibe with it. 'Nuff said.

Thank you for your two cents!

[elizmanderson]

queerness in The Remarkable Retirement of Edna Fisher

book description

when you’re an old woman armed with nothing but gumption and knitting needles, stopping a sorcerer from wiping out an entire dragon-fighting organization is a tall order. no one understands why 83-year-old Edna Fisher is the Chosen One, destined to save the Knights from a dragon-riding sorcerer bent on their destruction. after all, Edna has never handled a magical weapon, faced down a dragon, or cast a spell. and everyone knows the Council of Wizards always chooses a teenager—like the vengeful girl ready to snatch Edna’s destiny from under her nose.

still, Edna leaps at the chance to leave the nursing home. with a son long dead in the Knights’ service, she’s determined to save dragon-fighters like him & ensure other mothers don’t suffer the same loss she did. but as Edna learns about the abuse in the ranks & the sorcerer’s history, she questions if it’s really the sorcerer that needs stopping—or the Knights she’s trying to save.

find it here

okay let's talk about queerness in this book

did a thread on twitter in which I said "cishet" five hundred thousand times so will probably get banned lmao but anyway I wanted to share it here too

especially since it's late in Pride Month and I have yet to post anything anywhere about it BEING Pride Month and me being queer and my books being queer, bc I've been burnt out af. so what energy I've had has gone toward planning and writing

anyway

I say "queerness in" rather than "queer characters in" because I want to talk about queerness in the book more broadly, not least bc I'm a queer creator & this is a queer book, but I've had a lot of impostor syndrome about both those things.

I figured out I was queer later in life & am a woman-presenting person w/a male-presenting partner. I've questioned my gender & sexuality repeatedly & ID'd differently over time, which is why I like "queer." I don't have to re-explain myself a dozen times. I'm queer. that's that.

but having figured out my queerness later, and having a relationship that presents as cishet, it took a long time for me to overcome feelings of ~not being queer enough~ (and sometimes I still struggle with them).

similarly, my MC is an apparently* cishet woman, unlike the MCs of many books that appear on queer book lists at this time of year. just like I took a long time to start really engaging with my community bc I worried I wasn't ~queer enough,~ for a long time, I didn't call this a queer book bc I worried it wasn't ~queer enough~. if people asked if the book was queer, I'd reply with a laundry list of explicitly queer characters rather than saying yes

fuck that though lmao. this is a queer book. let me count the ways

1. found family

as found family is so important to many queer people - by connecting us to our community, by welcoming us when bio family casts us off - found family is central to REMARKABLE RETIREMENT. while there are queer romantic arcs, the found family is the most important relationship in the book.

2. queer labels

some characters get explicit labels. Benjamin is gay. Clem is ace. queer labels are important bc they give us the ability to describe our identities and experiences! however...

3. undefined queerness

while labels are important, queerness isn't about fitting into new boxes. it's about smashing the boxes apart.

even if characters don't have specific labels applied on-page, they're queer. they don't need to claim a specific label for that to be true.*

*caveat that some media avoids using labels to pander to queer audiences w/implied queerness without ~alienating~ cishets by stating "this character is Not Cishet"**

that's not what I mean

I mean e.g. in OFMD queerness is inherent even if WORDS like queer/ace/etc aren't used. OMitB is another example (specifically Mabel) and Good Omens is yet another.

**caveat to my caveat that some media is queer-coded & avoids queer labels rather than being explicitly queer because network execs or whoever won't allow explicit queerness.

this is not the fault of the creators. sometimes it can be hard to tell the difference.

but anyway.

in REMARKABLE RETIREMENT, several queer characters are queer without using specific labels.

in some cases this is bc it doesn't come up or isn't important to them to express in the moment. like Clem is bi, but she's not worried about being bi. she's worried about being ace, because she's still kind of questioning that about herself, and she's worried it might cause problems down the road if her crush is >:[ about her not wanting to have sex. so she uses the word "ace" to describe herself in this scene but not "bi," even though she's both.

in other cases it's bc they don't have the language. Kiernan's sense of attraction and desire is described in a way that seems graysexual or demisexual (or both), and Red's sense of desire is described in a way that seems ace-spec, but neither of them use those terms, because neither of them know those terms. despite the lack of terminology, many ace readers have identified multiple ace characters based on description or experience. the lack of a specific label doesn't make those characters less queer.

similarly, some characters have not yet had this realization about themselves. which leads us to...

4. questioning

okay, back to my first asterisk of the post.

Edna is by all appearances an old cishet woman.

for most of the story, that's how she seems. that's what SHE thinks, even. she's a cishet old grandma adopting every queer young person she can find.

BUT THEN

Clem explains aceness to her

and Edna has a brief crisis bc wait a minute this sounds like her??

ultimately, Edna has too much to worry about right now to spend time questioning whether, at the age of 83, she might be somewhere on the ace spectrum

so it doesn't come up again

but that moment of crisis is THERE, & that too is queer

5. queernormativity*

I write queernorm worlds, largely bc I viscerally hate coming out lmao

it doesn't mean everyone's a queer scholar

like Clem has to explain "ace" to Edna, bc Edna thinks blankly of a deck of cards & doesn't understand what that has to do with sex

but it DOES mean queer folks get to just be and do

*caveat that this is not remotely to imply that a story is less queer if its world ISN'T queernorm

it's just a way in which MY story is queer

6. all the queer characters

not gonna do a list (even though my original idea for Pride Month when I was young and optimistic and thought I'd have energy to do it way back when was a list of queer characters), but virtually every character in this book is queer in one way or another

on twitter this is where I ended because 6 seemed like a good number for Pride since June is the sixth month, but tumblr gets a bonus

7. the author is queer

happy pride, buy my queer book

[frozcnlight]

Name / Alias : Socke Are you over 18? : Yes / No

  – W R I T I N G –

Are you selective about who you write with? : No (anyone) / Semi (most people) / Yes (some people) / Highly (few people) / Private (mutuals only).

Are you selective about who you follow? : No (anyone) / Semi (most people) / Yes (some people) / Highly (few people).

If your muse is canon, how much do you adhere to canon? : Not at all / A little /Some / Mostly/ Strictly / Not Applicable. (Muse is an OC ♥)

What post lengths do you write? : One-Liners /Single-Para / Multi-Para / Novella/ All of the aforementioned

Do you use icons and/or GIFS? : No/ Gifs / Icons / Yes / Sometimes.

Do you write on other platforms? : No / Yes (Sock note: Discord and sometimes I find myself trying on twitter again-)

What level of plots do you write? : Unplotted / Open-Ended Plots / Semi-Plotted / Fully Plotted Epics / All of the aforementioned

How quickly do you usually respond to threads? : Very Slow (more than a month) / Slow (3-4 weeks) / Average (1-2 weeks) / Fast (less than one week) / Very Fast (less than three days) (all of them-)

What types of themes do you like? : Adventure / Romance / Fluff / Angst / Violence / Tragedy / Domestic / Family / All of the aforementioned

What genres do you like? : ( Feel free to add! ) High Fantasy / Supernatural / Science Fiction / Historical / Horror / Comedy / Romantic / Drama / Action / Smut / Adventure / Espionage / Dark / Emotional / All of the aforementioned

Are there any themes you’re uncomfortable writing on your blog? : (Not triggers) No / Yes / Sometimes

Do you have any triggers? Yes How do you request it tagged? They are in my rules c: and if I see an untagged picture of those, I just ask nicely in the DMs again, because its absolutely normal that people cannot remember all the triggers of their mutuals ♥

  – S H I P P I N G –

What types of relationships are you open to? : Romantic / Platonic / Enemies / Rivals / Familial / All of the aforementioned

What types of pre-established relationships are you open to? : Romantic / Platonic / Enemies/ Rivals / Familial / All of the aforementioned (Sock note: Depends on how much I know and write with the other mun though!)

Do you have OTPs? : No / Chemistry Only / Yes 

Do you have NOTPS? : No / Yes 

What is your muse’s sexual orientation? : Heterosexual / Heteroflexible / Bisexual / Pansexual / Homoflexible / Homosexual / Demisexual / Sapiosexual / Asexual / Still trying to figure it out / Depends on the muse/verse you’re asking

What is your muse’s romantic orientation? : Heteroromantic / Heteroflexible / Biromantic / Homoflexible / Homoromantic / Panromantic / Demiromantic / Sapioromantic / Aromantic / Still trying to figure it out / Depends on the muse/verse you’re asking

Are you comfortable writing smut? : No / Selectively / Yes 

How early in a relationship do you ship romantically? : Autoship / During plotting / After a couple IC interactions / Several IC interactions / Slow burn / Plot dependent / Never (Sock note: it honestly depends tbh, with friends I'm more open and quicker with ships than with people I don't know at all, as I'm comfortable enough with them to talk about it/plot about it c:)

Are you open to toxic ships? : No / Selectively / Yes / I am not sure we have gotta talk about it first.

Are you open to problematic ships? : No / Selectively / Yes / I am not sure  (Sock note: Same here, mostly with people I'm honestly comfortable with-)

Are you open to polyamory shipping? : No / Selectively (really depends on the writing partner (Socke: Same here)) / Yes / I am not sure 

Are you an exclusive shipper? : Never / Sometimes / Yes  (Sock note: It depends on the platform tbh)

Does crack shipping ever happen? : Nope / Yes / depends (Sock note: Crack shipping can bring out such nice ships actually, its insane)

tagged by: @crimsontwins (dankäääh ♥)

tagging: @diverse-hearts-ocs (any blogs tbh), @xwindboundxmagic, @fallesto, @eternalstarlights, @dreadbornesaint

[apircteslife]

Name / Alias : AJ

Are you over 18? : Yes / No

  – W R I T I N G –

Are you selective about who you write with? : No (anyone) / Semi (most people) / Yes (some people) / Highly (few people) / Private (mutuals only). --

Are you selective about who you follow? : No (anyone) / Semi (most people) / Yes (some people) / Highly (few people). (big things are there has to be a rules page and indication that mun is over 18+)

If your muse is canon, how much do you adhere to canon? : Not at all / A little /Some / Mostly / Strictly / Not Applicable.

What post lengths do you write? : One-Liners /Single-Para / Multi-Para / Novella/ All of the aforementioned (I try to write the same as my partner)

Do you use icons and/or GIFS? : No/ Gifs / Icons / Yes / Sometimes. (I have banners for each of my muses, I love them too much to add extra icons and gifs to the threads)

Do you write on other platforms? : No / Yes (I used to mess around on discord but then gave up)

What level of plots do you write? : Unplotted / Open-Ended Plots / Semi-Plotted / Fully Plotted Epics / All of the aforementioned

How quickly do you usually respond to threads? : Very Slow (more than a month) / Slow (3-4 weeks) / Average (1-2 weeks) / Fast (less than one week) / Very Fast (less than three days) (depends on my muse and also my mental health)

What types of themes do you like? : Adventure / Romance / Fluff / Angst / Violence / Tragedy / Domestic / Family / All of the aforementioned (Angst is a big favourite)

What genres do you like? : ( Feel free to add! ) High Fantasy / Supernatural / Science Fiction / Historical / Horror / Comedy / Romantic / Drama / Action / Smut / Adventure / Espionage / Dark / Emotional / All of the aforementioned

Are there any themes you’re uncomfortable writing on your blog? : (Not triggers) No / Yes / Sometimes (this will depend on how comfortable I am with the other mun)

Do you have any triggers? How do you request it tagged? : No / Yes (Doing both because I do have some triggers but I don't often trigger...)

  – S H I P P I N G –

What types of relationships are you open to? : Romantic / Platonic / Familial / All of the aforementioned

What types of pre-established relationships are you open to? : Romantic / Platonic / Familial / All of the aforementioned

Do you have OTPs? : No / Chemistry Only / Yes (I have read many fanfics that influence my OTP's)

Do you have NOTPS? : No / Yes  (Admittedly I have some characters that I'm solely faithful to, so if the muns dislike a ship with their particular muse, I will also tend not to ship them too)

What is your muse’s sexual orientation? : Heterosexual / Heteroflexible / Bisexual / Pansexual / Homoflexible / Homosexual / Demisexual / Sapiosexual / Asexual / Still trying to figure it out / Depends on the muse you’re asking (Most of my babes are far from heterosexual)

What is your muse’s romantic orientation? : Heteroromantic / Heteroflexible / Biromantic / Homoflexible / Homoromantic / Panromantic / Demiromantic / Sapioromantic / Aromantic / Still trying to figure it out / Depends on the muse you’re asking

Are you comfortable writing smut? : No / Selectively / Yes 

How early in a relationship do you ship romantically? : Autoship / During plotting / After a couple IC interactions / Several IC interactions / Slow burn / Plot dependent / Never (usually pretty easy to ship with if I can see the chemistry. But sometimes I also tend to jump in for the hell of it)

Are you open to toxic ships? : No / Selectively / Yes / I am not sure 

Are you open to problematic ships? : No / Selectively / Yes / I am not sure 

Are you open to polyamory shipping? : No / Selectively / Yes / I am not sure (extremely selective and have to have a very good connection with the mun)

Are you an exclusive shipper? : Never / Sometimes / Yes (One particular muse that refuses to ship outside of the one he's in is Harry)

Does crack shipping ever happen? : Nope / Yes!!!! / depends

Tagged by: @sirensofthefiveseas and @3katanas

tagging: @seaoftheworst @acourtcfmuses, @lovehungered and anyone who wants to steal it

[runes-menagerie]

Name / Alias : Rune (she/her)

Are you over 18? :Yes / No

  – W R I T I N G –

Are you selective about who you write with? : No (anyone) / Semi (most people) / Yes (some people) / Highly (few people) / Private (mutuals only). --

Are you selective about who you follow? : No (anyone) / Semi (most people) / Yes (some people) / Highly (few people).

If your muse is canon, how much do you adhere to canon? : Not at all / A little / Some / Mostly / Strictly / Not Applicable.

What post lengths do you write? : One-Liners / Single-Para / Multi-Para / Novella / All of the aforementioned.

Do you use icons and/or GIFS? : No / Gifs / Icons / Yes / Sometimes.

Do you write on other platforms? :No / Yes  ( I have discord and rp there with select partners.)

What level of plots do you write? : Unplotted / Open-Ended Plots / Semi-Plotted / Fully Plotted Epics / All of the aforementioned (I like to have a vague plot or at least a starting theme/idea)

How quickly do you usually respond to threads? :Very Slow (more than a month) / Slow (3-4 weeks) / Average (1-2 weeks) / Fast (less than one week) / Very Fast (less than three days) (sometimes I don't have muse for a thread so I might not reply or if I know that my partner is slower then I might delay to give them more time.)

What types of themes do you like? : Adventure / Romance / Fluff / Angst / Violence / Tragedy / Domestic / Family / All of the aforementioned (I don't write violence often although it certainly comes up, usually before a fluff/romance scene :P)

What genres do you like? : ( Feel free to add! ) High Fantasy / Supernatural / Science Fiction / Historical / Horror / Comedy / Romantic / Drama / Action / Smut / Adventure / Espionage / Dark / Emotional / All of the aforementioned

Are there any themes you’re uncomfortable writing on your blog? : (Not triggers) No / Yes / Sometimes

Do you have any triggers? How do you request it tagged? : Highly descriptive gore gets to me. Gorey stuff happening in a thread is fine, it's just when it's graphically described that it can get to me. I have no tagging requests, I only ask that it be discussed before it comes up in thread.

  – S H I P P I N G –

What types of relationships are you open to? : Romantic / Platonic / Familial / All of the aforementioned

What types of pre-established relationships are you open to? : Romantic / Platonic / Familial / All of the aforementioned (plotting is required for any pre-established relationships.)

Do you have OTPs? : No / Chemistry Only / Yes (I do but I'm not strict or fussy with them.)

Do you have NOTPS? : No / Yes (it's kinda an -ish. It's not really for the fandoms I write in but any ship that includes a character that is a minor)

What is your muse’s sexual orientation? : Heterosexual / Heteroflexible / Bisexual / Pansexual / Homoflexible / Homosexual / Demisexual / Sapiosexual / Asexual / Still trying to figure it out / Depends on the muse you’re asking (It very much depends on the muse in question but in general if there's chemistry then there's sexual attraction.)

What is your muse’s romantic orientation? : Heteroromantic / Heteroflexible / Biromantic / Homoflexible / Homoromantic / Panromantic / Demiromantic / Sapioromantic / Aromantic / Still trying to figure it out / Depends on the muse you’re asking . (Same applies from above.)

Are you comfortable writing smut? : No / Selectively / Yes (I am perfectly comfortable writing smut but I'm selective about whom I write it with due to bad past experiences.)

How early in a relationship do you ship romantically? : Autoship / During plotting / After a couple IC interactions / Several IC interactions / Slow burn / Plot dependent / Never (it honestly depends, sometimes muses just click and sometimes it takes a while)

Are you open to toxic ships? : No / Selectively / Yes / I am not sure (Only with extensive plotting and discussion and probably not for a first thread)

Are you open to problematic ships? : No / Selectively / Yes / I am not sure (Define problematic.)

Are you open to polyamory shipping? : No / Selectively / Yes / I am not sure (I am open to it and have written it a few times. Probably not for a first thread and I would like to have worked with each of the muses involved prior to doing a poly thread)

Are you an exclusive shipper? : Never / Sometimes / Yes (Not really no. I have partners I've worked with for years and those threads have influence my muses but I've never seen the appeal in being exclusive.)

Does crack shipping ever happen? : Nope / Yes / depends (tentatively yes since I honestly can't remember if it's happened or not at this moment. I'm open to it though if it does happen)

Tagged by: Stolen @faerunscursed

tagging: @lostxndbroken, @pyramultimuse, @zigg--muses, anyone else who wants to steal

[izzysarchivedblogs]

special verse tag drop. mostly my ship verses.

closed -> not open for outside interaction, besides some anon asks about this verse semi-open -> open to some outside interaction, asks, and anons about this verse open -> open verse for interaction and requesting single ship -> this verse is single ship, meaning only one romantic ship for the character w/ another character established, but may be an open verse for other interaction. this will only be from my end / the case for my end / not expected the same from my partner. this is just for me.

verse; clint barton; who shares your burdens (mrtonystark) // a mostly closed verse in which most of 616 is canon, and look y'all have seen the 1200+ note thread. @mr-tony-stark and i go ham on plotting and writing. so i just wanted a verse tag, and like if anons wanted to ask clint questions in that verse, i'd accept them, but otherwise it's a closed verse. but i am absolutely in love with ironhawk and how much, we write and plot together <3 i love you <3

verse; clint barton; how many more chances can i have with you (biitchcakes) // a semi-open verse, in which Clint is in a relationships with @biitchcakes - look, i just wanna gush about what Aurora and I have plotted, like I have already outlined the 2 major breakups and 1 break, and the 4 times that Clint and Jess are fools who get back together. It's relatively canon divergent in 616 event, and like y'all, Clint and Jess' West Coast Era is amazing, also Leftovers we need to write Leftovers . . . and the way i could write a netflix tv show about their west coast era, and then civil war 2 but make it more government vs. heroes and make it sad for clintjess.

verse; clint barton; entangled to a loser like me (crisispider) // a semi-open verse, in which Clint is in a relationship with @crisispider - incorporates both 616 and spiderverse events into the fold, and clint and peter are absolutely just two golden retriever boyfriends together.

verse; clint barton; how can i watch you fade (crisispider) // a closed verse with @crisispider, in which i mess around with hawkeye: blindspot concept, and really just here to torture peter and mel

verse; clint barton; to boldly go (ss; crisispider) // an open, single ship (on my end) STAR TREK AU, i have a whole write up for Clint's Star Trek au, and I've considered this verse single ship w/ Mel's Peter; but otherwise it's very open to interaction and being requested. Clint's just your unhinged helmsman who sows chaos into all of starfleet/the federation :) [ here is the written up verse information to read ]

verse; linda carter; to heal across the stars (thefleetsfinest) // an open, single ship (on my end only) STAR TREK AU, for Linda Carter, whom is now a cardiac surgeon aboard the Enterprise. On my side, not Mel's side, I am only writing one romantic ship in the Star Trek setting/au and that's with Mel's @thefleetsfinest. Very dedicated woman to medicine and well-being of the crew. [ verse write up pending ]

verse; pepper potts; captain of her own (uss unreliable) // an open star trek au verse, in which Pepper hot off the heels of being the infamous Captain Tony Stark's first officer (of which there's is many rumors surrounding him), has been promoted and now is Captain Potts of the USS Unreliable. . . . her first officer being Steve Rogers (@liibertysdream) of whom is a former captain himself (rumors surrounding him as well, oh no pepper what are you doing). She was communications and command before hand, with prior goals of managing a starbase or colony, now being made Captain of a ship.

[valentineradio]

RULES & REGULATIONS

DO NOT INTERACT / BEFORE YOU FOLLOW

1. pedophilia/incest/etc roleplay accounts are not welcome on this blog.

2. the author of this blog is queer, as are many of the muses here. if you take issue with that, this probably isn’t the blog for you.

3. erp/smut exclusive accounts please don’t follow or interact with me. i don’t mind seeing smut on my dash, but for any of my roleplays i ask that intimate scenes fade to black.

4. please don’t use nicknames for me, especially not the name val; you may also see me use other names on some of my sideblogs, and those are always okay to use no matter which name i have listed.

5. this blog and all my sideblogs are 21+ only. i will make case by case exceptions for those that are 20, but i’m personally not comfortable roleplaying with teenagers.

FAQ

activity : low-medium activity can be expected, typically spiking on weekends. i’m auDHD and have a full time job, so replies can take time. i ask that you be patient with me. i also tend to disappear for a while, often up to several months. i will come back, but understand that this isn't ideal so i completely understand if you end our rp during that time, please just shoot me a dm to let me know so that i don't respond by accident when i return!

communication : feel free to bug me about replies! i’m super forgetful so i appreciate a reminder here and there :3 just don’t get overzealous! i also LOVE talking about our muses, plotting, headcanons, etc, so please never be afraid to reach out. unless i have roleplayed with you for a while, or i feel the roleplay would benefit from it, i won't be doing discord rp. i get overwhelmed by it a lot easier and feel i am able to keep my threads more manageable on tumblr.

etiquette : no god-modding! my muses are my muses and yours are yours. in general i would prefer you let me know/we discuss any major events that take place in the roleplay before they happen. i am comfortable roleplaying a variety of more mature / triggering topics, however, again, i would appreciate a discussion before they are brought into the roleplay.

memes : if we don’t have an already pre-existing dynamic btwn two muses , i would greatly appreciate you reaching out to plot with me before sending in a meme. i am new to using memes for roleplays, but i want to get used to them, so please don’t be afraid to !!!! i just greatly prefer plotted threads and ask that my partners respect that :) it doesn’t need to be anything fancy or in depth if plotting isn’t your thing! i just like to get the basics hammered out before beginning a thread.

responses : my rule with regards to reply length has always been to write a response that i can respond to. the length doesn’t matter to me as much as the content itself. i myself write incredibly variable responses ranging from a few sentences to 5+ paragraphs, and typically try to return the same effort my partner is putting in. i mostly likely will not be using gifs / icons , just because i’m not used to it , not all of my characters have fcs , and not all of my fcs have good content for gifs / icons . i might use them on a case by case basis , but don’t expect it from me .

faceclaims : i don’t have any banned fcs so to speak , however if they are a known bigot or predator i will not write against them . my own fcs are just to give an idea of what my muses look like , but is not necessarily an identical match in terms of style , certain aspects of their appearance ( eg. tattoos ) , personality , etc .

reblogs : idc if you reblog memes / plots from me , but i will say i am terribly forgetful so i typically veer away from following blogs w strict reblog from the source rules ( i do make exceptions if i feel we wld be good partners ) . if you are okay with that and still want to plot smth / be mutuals just reach out and let me know !

[mellowdisco-a]

sorry about not being on here and only coming on to rb edits and fcs dksfhj i’ve been taking some time away to try and figure out what i should do w this blog because while i do love all of the threads and dynamics i currently have (and i do mean this with my whole ass chest and heart), i’ve been feeling bad about some stuff... 

like there are drafts i haven’t touched in 1-2 months that i’m not even sure if i should still tackle. most of my partners are fast-paced and i worry they feel like i’m not the partner for them and just don’t want to say it 😭 ik some ppl have expiry dates and have probably already considered them dropped so i’m at an awkward point where i don’t know what to do. i also have a lot of insecurities when it comes to my writing and stance with people that adds to it

most of this is just a Me problem too honestly... i find it hard to communicate and feel insecure about our threads if we aren’t close or if we don’t interact much ooc, if someone stops replying to me ooc i start to worry i’ve done something wrong so it puts me off from replying to threads which i’m 100% aware is honestly SO dumb and unfair. i never blame anyone but myself for this and it’s something i should and have been trying to work on.

because i’ve always been aware of these insecurities, my initial idea for this blog was to keep it private and friends only, but at the same time i want to meet more people and don’t want to close off potential new partners 😔 so i was never really strict w that rule. 

i want people i can rave about our muses / ships with when we’re feeling musey while still being able to talk about other stuff. bc that’s really only why i’m here. no weird vibes just pure pals who talk and write sometimes<3 i feel like everyone but me has Those Partners while i’m just floating here like pennywise’s red balloon...

maybe this blog needs a big clean up overall, idk. i’m thinking of moving (again... i know) and taking w me the people who are genuinely still interested in writing whether it be w our existing stuff or new ones. or... just disappear quietly and start completely fresh on a new blog w new muses (those i have long term stuff with, we could either continue on d.iscord or on a private sideblog)

if you do end up reading all of that mess, i’m sorry dsfksjfgf i’d love some opinions on what you think i should do... or maybe a show of hands who here would genuinely still like to write together? that might help me w my decision-making but if not, pls just scroll past this post and move on with your day<3 i know this is really awkward so i’ll just assume you didn’t see this post, no hard feelings!

[ofgentleresolve]

1-5 for the multimuse asks. :)

the only multimuse ferre is successfully running ( multimuse/blogs asks prompt w/ @lovepurposed )

1. Which muse(s) is/are your favourite(s)?

that is such an unfair question to ask because i know for a fact i wouldn't?? write a muse here or on my other two single muse blogs if i didn't really really love them :'D i'll say that some i do have soft spots for just because of the history i share with them:

mana has been with me since i started rping on tumblr back in 2015 so when i look at her now i'm very proud of how she's grown and where she'll go next.

lam is a bit more personal to me as i put a bit more of myself into his character/backstory than in other cases....but also i love him bc he's responsible and dumb in the same breath jsdflksjfl

that and patrick (myungdae too by extension :'D )- i didn't expect to get so attached to him ( although I do have to thank alex for that too :'D ) and to know that he's getting the attention and connections i couldn't even have dreamt of when i initially made him makes me so much more grateful to my partners <3

2. Which muse(s) do you wish had more interactions?

at the moment ga-ram since he's my newest muse and i haven't quite been able to explore him yet...but i'm also always happy to give myungdae and lam more friends too. pls donate ur muses i'll give them tea and cookies 🥺

3. Which muse(s) do you currently have most muse for?

rn it's myungdae ( bc i like pain ) and i wanna get through some of his asks and threads, but i also do usually have a lot of muse for calum and suki too!!

4. Name a muse you have written in the past. What was your favourite thing about this muse?

hm...darren evans aka in her original conception, mana's older brother; however i demoted him to being her 2nd cousin jskdfljskdljf so really his name is darren huynh.

see i was shit when it came to developing muses back then, so i don't actually have a clear idea of who he was supposed to be back then of him. nowadays though, i will say he has good intentions...just isn't the best at reading the room :/

5. Name a muse you wish to write in the future. What’s your favourite thing about this muse?

see i don't really have a clear concept of a new muse atm and i'm pretty content with what i have rn...that being said, i was thinking?? about the concept of a muse with angel blood and the way her wings would appear would be hella awesome!!

[marshmallow-phd]

Healing Touch

Part of The Untamed - EXO Wolf Universe

Genre: Wolf!AU

Pairing: Yixing x Reader

Summary: Medical school abroad was the last line on your to-do list before starting the rest of your life. Everything was going according to plan. Everything, that is, until tragedy strikes your campus. In the wake of a professor’s untimely death, you’re partnered with the cute boy with a breathtaking smile in the newly combined labs. You find yourself unable to resist the dimples and shy glances, but his life is here with no plans of leaving. Will you continue on as planned or will you accept the hand that Fate had dealt you?

Part: 1 I 2 I 3 I 4 I 5 I 6 I 7 I 8 I 9 I 10 I Final

**

The door to the bathroom slammed behind Yixing as he plastered his back against the cinderblock wall. The bathroom was empty, thank goodness. His heart was pounding, beating in rhythm to the pawing of the wolf. It growled at him to go back, to find you and claim you. He fought against it. Barely. 

All this time you had been here, on this campus, and he never even knew it. How many times had he come close to almost running into you? Almost had a class with you? How many times had he walked into the student union or a lab or any other classroom and missed you by mere seconds? Having met you now, under these circumstances – it almost felt like Fate was taunting him.

Sliding down to the floor, Yixing let his head fall back against the paint-flaking stone. A small smirk tugged at his mouth. He’d found you. Like a flower blooming for the first time… you were beautiful. Your smiles had been small but stunning. When your hair fell like a waterfall hiding your face, his fingers twitched to push it behind your ear. Yixing had found girls pretty before, but you – you were fascinating. Like seeing a close up picture of a new planet a million lightyears away for the first time. As quiet as you were, he was determined to flip over the stones and discover what lied underneath.

Elation soon gave way to worry, though. Now that the first step was done, he had to proceed with caution. He didn’t want to scare you off or come on too strong. Knowing himself, he could get too excited and push you too far before you were ready. 

And then there were the headaches. And the lost time. He needed to find the cause of it. He needed to understand what was happening to him. Because the last thing he would want is to hurt you.

Pushing himself back up to his feet, he went over to the sink and turn the cold water on blast. He cupped some of the water in his palm and cooled off heat radiating from his neck. Icy droplets rolled down his back and over his shoulders. It helped, sparingly. He gave a single glance in the mirror before turning off the water and walking out of the bathroom.

He knew that going to his next class would be a useless action. Paying attention was out of the question. There were ways that he could catch up in his spare time. Right now, he needed to be in a place where he was both surrounded by people (to keep himself in check), and yet alone for his thoughts. So, he headed for the student union. The buzzing of a hundred conversations hit him as soon as he stepped through the doors. None of them were clear, too intermixed to be deciphered. Perfect. Now he just need to find an empty table in a corner and-

“Hey, Yixing!”

Yixing blinked, searching around for the one who had called his name.

Baekhyun was standing up in his seat, waving an arm back and forth to get Yixing’s attention. The latter sighed. Maybe this was better. Maybe being alone wasn’t a good idea after all.

Sitting with Baekyun was Chanyeol, Jongin, Sehun, and Kyungsoo. Jongdae, Yixing knew, was in class. However, Minseok was usually with them. He must have been somewhere off with his mate. A quick surge of jealous struck through Yixing’s veins, but he tampered it down quickly. Soon enough he would be there, too. Soon enough.

Careful to keep his face as neutral as his facial muscles would allow, Yixing headed over to the others, dragging a free chair over from a nearby table.

“Playing hooky?” Baekhyun teased.

“Just didn’t feel like going to class.” It wasn’t a complete lie. Nor the complete truth. The statement fell somewhere in the middle. Like most things he said these days. 

“Are you sweating, hyung?” Sehun asked from the other side of the table.

Chanyeol sniffed several times. “You still smell like your body wash. Is everything okay?”

Jongin pointed at him. “Your collar’s wet.”

Yixing shifted in his seat. Was it too early to tell them? Was it news that he should share with Junmyeon first? He knew he would end up going to Minseok at some point. Who better to go with for advice than the one person who’s lived through it already? Maybe even Ji Yeon might have a few words of wisdom for him. All five of his brothers were staring at him, waiting for an explanation, fictitious or otherwise, for this out-of-character behavior.

“She’s in my new class.”

“Who is?” Chanyeol asked.

Yixing didn’t reply right away. The words were sticking to the tip of his tongue like fly paper. Maybe he should just say “never mind” and go on with his day. This wasn’t the right setting to share this information. He shouldn’t have said anything. He should have waited until he got back to the farmhouse. He should have discussed this with Junmyeon and Minseok first. As much as he loved Baekhyun, he had a feeling this news would get back to the rest of the pack before he had a chance to tell them himself. Would Jongdae start to avoid him, too?

Before he had a chance to backtrack, Kyungsoo caught on. “Ah. You mean, her, don’t you?”

Yixing swallowed, the muscles in his throat contracting, making the motion difficult. Slowly, almost like a fishing bobber in the water, he nodded.

Letting out an exasperated scoff, Baekhyun hunched down in his seat. “This feels way too fast. I thought we would have time after Minseok until the next one.” He straightened up before leaning in close to Yixing. “Are you sure it’s your mate? Are you sure you just don’t think she’s really pretty?”

Yixing shook his head. “Minseok is right. The feeling is different. And immediate. It’s her.”

“Well, better you than me.”

“But think of the nice excuse it would give you to break up with Daisy?” Chanyeol teased.

“Who said I wanted to break up with her?”

“You did,” Kyungsoo deadpanned. “Last night.”

Baekhyun feigned being taken aback. “W-well, that was last night. I changed my mind. This morning.”

“I hope your mate gives you hell,”Jongin laughed. He turned to Yixing. “Is she pretty?”

Yixing didn’t dare fight the grin spreading across his face. He nodded eagerly. “Yes. Very. Very pretty.”

“So, you gonna tell Junmyeon?” Baekhyun asked.

“Of course. I will tonight. Back at the house.”

“At least we’ll get to see this play out more. I feel like we missed the good stuff with Minseok.”

“It’s not a movie for your entertainment,” Kyungsoo scolded.

Baekhyun simply shrugged, turning his attention back to the food in front of him. He’d gotten his teasing out of the way. Oddly enough, Yixing was feeling a little lighter. He hadn’t kept the secret long at all, but that was what a pack was for. They were there to keep you steady and to lean on when things grew tough. He could go to them for advice – well, some of them. Others were good for a laugh and help ease any weight that was baring him down. Each member had his strength, for which he was grateful. Three additional faces appeared, stopping him for a moment. But then Baekhyun started imitated one of his professors and Yixing was pulled away from the past and back to the present.

However, even as he smiled and laughed along with the others, one thing refused to leave him: Would you be safe? With his current… predicament, he worried about you. If anything were to happen to you – especially because of him – he would never be able to forgive himself.

Silently, he vowed that he would put an end to this rogue wolf – no matter who it was.  

**

Perhaps walking wasn’t the best idea at the moment. It was chillier today; a cold front having moved in from somewhere out west overnight. The jacket you wore was thin, the wind sliding through the threads with more ease than water through a drain. But it seemed silly to take the bus with such a short distance between your apartment and the university campus. Certainly not worth the anxiety it would create.

Yes. It was good to walk. Good to get the exercise. And by the time you make it to the courtyard, you would be used to the cold. For now, you zipped the closure up to your chin and tucked your arms in as close to your chest as possible.

The campus felt like a ghost town when you arrived. Most of the students were taking refuge in the buildings, hiding from the wind between the walls decorated with tutoring flyers and motivational posters. Part of you thought to maybe do the same, to cut through the buildings to get a relief from the depressing weather, but that would take you longer. None of the buildings were straight shots. You could endure it. Or else, you could end up as another frozen statue on the grounds that would occasionally get covered in toilet paper or streamers by pranking students. At least you would actually look like something if that were to happen. Most of the artwork was of the abstract kind.

Not that that was a bad thing. Most of it was quite interesting. But it gave you a headache, turning and twisting your head to look at the statue from a new angle, the picture changing each time. You preferred less complicated, more obvious art. Old portraits or watercolor landscapes were the sections of the art museum you spent the majority of your time in. It didn’t need to be complicated to be art, in your opinion. Every new artist was trying to “say something”, which was fine. It was their art and they were allowed to do with it as they saw fit. You were just the kind of boring person who liked a pretty picture, no added thinking required.

Yes. Boring, indeed.

“(y/n)!”

You stopped walking, confused as to who could be calling your name. Glancing over your shoulder, you saw the new boy from your human physiology class – Yixing. He was jogging up to you, cutting through the grass, not caring if the canvas fabric of his Converse ended up soaked. He was huffing only the slightest bit when he came to a stop beside you. The tiny corners of his lips were slightly turned upward. You’d only met him a few days ago. How could he be seemingly elated to see you? 

“Hi.”

He wasn’t the least bit discouraged by your steely reception. “Are you on your way to class?” He pointed in the direction of the science building. You nodded. Lying would make you have to take a weird, long way to the classroom and even then, you couldn’t guarantee that he wouldn’t see you in the hall. Besides, after your first class you would be seeing him again, at the same table. “Can I walk with you?”

Those five little words sent a surge through your brain, frying the motherboard and sending you into disfunction. Why did he want to walk with you? Pound, pound, pound your heart was going in your ears. He was smiling broader now as he waited for your answer. Surely, there were better available options in girls to walk to class.

“Why?”

Your hand nearly snapped up to your forehead. Where! ‘Where is your class’ was the question you were meaning to ask. But your brain was too focused on why he was asking you that the signals got crossed somewhere and the wrong thing came out.

The smile faded. “Oh, um… I just saw you and thought that maybe if we were headed in the same direction….” He cringed, his hand reaching behind his head to scratch nervously at his scalp.

“Sure,” you said without giving yourself a prior warning.

The smile snapped back into place. “Okay. Great.”

Neither of you moved. You were sure that part of the idea of “walking to class together” included actually moving your feet, but you didn’t start heading towards the building. Yixing didn’t budge either. He kept smiling at you.

A sudden burst of icy wind picked up. The gust bit right through your jacket, causing you to shiver somewhat violently. Your teeth were still chattering even as it died down again.

“Are you cold?” Yixing asked worriedly.

“No, I’m fi-”

He ignored you as he slipped his bag off his shoulders and removed his much heavier bomber jacket. He draped the jacket over your shoulders and replaced his bag. Now he was left in only a black T-shirt, but he seemed unaffected by the cold. Not even goosebumps gave away if he was uncomfortable or not. “I hope that’s better.”

You were hit with an overwhelming pine scent. Normally you hated the smell. It reminded you of those old car air fresheners that would hang from the rearview mirror. But this particular type… it was a struggle not to breathe in deeper. You didn’t want to come off as weird.

Or, weirder that you already were.

“Thanks,” you said shyly, unable to meet his eye. “We, um, we should probably start… walking.”

“Yeah, yeah. You’re right.”

The two of you finally headed for the science building. You each stepped in rhythm with the other, falling into the pattern with such a natural ease that it made you curious. Your nerves were on high alert around him, but not in a way that made you scared of him. Not the “he’s going to kill me” kind of nervous. Just… on edge. You weren’t sure why he was interested in you – whether platonically or something else, you hadn’t figured out yet. You weren’t the typical college student in your experiences. Anxiety over social gatherings tended to limit your outings. Not that you minded. You needed to keep up the good grades to get into the university you wanted and the extra time spent studying helped. Your family was your main social outlet, but you didn’t see anything wrong with that.

The bad thing was, you knew how your family reacted and came to decisions in most cases. That sense of familiarity was lost when it came to other people, so you never were quite sure how to read them.

“What’s your first class?” Yixing asked as the building came into view.

“Organic chemistry,” you replied. Not your best subject, if you had to admit it. Biology was more your strong suit. “What about you?”

Yes. Good counter question. A natural one to ask. Right?

A dusty pink bloomed on his cheeks. “Psychology.”

You frowned. Those classes weren’t held in the science building. Those types of classes were the rest of the therapeutic college – several buildings away. Pointing to the doors that the two of you were now stopped in front of, you said, “Then why-”

“I saw you and wanted to say hi.”

Okay, like stated earlier, you weren’t the best at reading strangers. But you could almost feel your aunt nudging you with her shoulder in her cheeky fashion. And you would have to agree with her, it did feel like there was an air of flirtation underneath the innocent sentence.

“You wanted to say ‘hi’?” you repeated

He scrunched up his shoulders guilty. “Yeah. I thought that – since we’re going to be partners for the rest of the semester – that it wouldn’t hurt to get to know each other?” His eyes flickered down to the cement and then back up at you. “Is that alright?”

That simple movement made your heart flutter. “I guess so.”

Not the exact answer he was hoping for, judging by his reaction. He released his breath through his nose and nodded, his lips puckering a small amount. “Okay. I’ll see you in class.” You weren’t given a chance to respond before he stepped around you and headed off.

Now you were the one who felt guilty.

All through class, you struggled to absorb the material more than usual. You felt like a jerk to someone who was only trying to be nice.

No. Nice wasn’t the right word to use. Polite seemed too small a word as well. His interest in getting to know you seemed genuine, sincere. You were the one quick to pull away. You couldn’t help it. And you had immediately regretted it, wishing you could rewind and try a different response. Yixing made you more nervous that usual, which only overloaded your brain even more.

By the end of class, you’d settled on apologizing. You’d practice the speech over and over again in your mind to make sure that it made sense and conveyed what you were sorry for. And hopefully didn’t create a bigger mess.

Since you were right around the corner, you made it to human physiology early. You took your time taking out your supplies and lined them up on your side of the table. Every few seconds your eyes would flicker to the door in eager anticipation. The students who flowed in were never him. Oh. Goodness. Had you made him so upset that he’d decided to skip class altogether rather than sit next to you?

That fear subsided when you saw him walk into view of the open door. A shorter boy was with him. They were chatting in a friendly manner in the hallway, smiling and laughing occasionally. Yixing didn’t seem to still be upset from your earlier send off.

The shorter one, wearing a backwards cap and t-shirt despite the cold (were males really that immune to dropping temperatures?), glanced into the classroom and made eye contact with you. He whispered something to Yixing, who in turn snuck a peek of his own. He nodded to the shorter boy. The latter nodded as well. He patted Yixing on the shoulder and then left.

Oh, wonderful. Now what had you done?

Your entire speech went diving out the window as Yixing walked into classroom and sat down in his seat.

“Hey,” he greeted, throwing you off even more with a smile.

You lifted your hand and gave a rather pathetic wave. “Hi.”

“Did you have fun in chemistry?” he asked. Everything about his mannerisms reflected his earlier legitimate interest. It was almost as if the parting earlier had only been a bad dream in your head and instead had ended amicably, with no signs of awkwardness.

You were starting to relax. That was another odd thing about Yixing. Though your nervous system was on the fritz, you also felt at ease, almost. Already, you were finding appropriate and - dare you say - charming responses to his inquires and jests. “As much fun as one can with unstable molecules.”

“Better the molecules be unstable rather than the professor.”

You laughed, using your hand to cover the sound and wide mouthed expression that came along with it. Yixing dipped his head to hide a proud grin of his own. The professor walked in at that moment. You scolded yourself for not going through your speech before class had started. Yixing had distracted you. It might feel as needed now, but you still felt the urge to say the words. 

And that distraction was continuing on through the period.

He wasn’t doing anything in particular, besides simply existing. Occasionally while taking notes or flipping the pages of the textbook, his elbow would bump into yours. You would mouth “sorry” before dropping your eyes down to the paper. He never looked like he was annoyed or bothered by it. At one point, you wondered if he was doing it on purpose.

Like the last time, Professor Jiang assigned the review questions at the end of the chapter to be completed during the final fifteen minutes. It took you almost that entire time to figure out the answers. You had to keep flipping back through the chapter and skim the passages to find them. You were definitely going to have to make a note to review this later if any of it was going to stick.  

“Are you done?” Yixing asked once he saw that your pencil was down.

“Yeah.” Your confidence in your answers wasn’t as high as last time. To your surprise, though, your answers were more or less the same as Yixing’s. Maybe something did get absorbed during the lecture. 

Taking your paper, he shuffled it on top of his to show you that he would once again turn it in for you. A pattern was beginning to form, but you didn’t want to read into it too deeply. 

Okay. It was now or never. Although, you’d forgotten large chunks of your speech, you were going to go through with it.

“Yixing?” You barely made it above a whisper, but he heard you anyway.

“Hm?”

“I just wanted to say that I was sorry. About earlier. I didn’t mean to make it look like I was trying to be rude or that I wasn’t appreciative of your….” You lost the word you were going to say. The others that you grasped on to made you cringe. Niceness? Politeness? Pity? Thankfully, Yixing didn’t need you to finish.

“It’s alright. I’m not upset. I realize that I might have come on too strongly.”

“No, no, you didn’t.”

“No, I’m sure I did. Next time, if you like walking alone, you can tell me to go away.”

You didn’t like the idea of telling him to go away. You actually kind of liked him walking you to class, now that you’d had time to reflect back on it. The gesture gave you the same vibe that teen romances had given you in high school; a strange fluttering that usually only existed in daydreams.

You weren’t sure how to respond, so you gave a silent reply in the form of a small smile. Yixing took it as a good sign like you meant it to be. Then you remembered the piece of clothing you still had of his. You started to sleep out of the sleeves, but Yixing stopped you.

“Keep it. It’s not going to get any warmer today.”

You could feel your face exploding with heat. What did that mean, exactly? Obviously, you understood the direct context, but was there another meaning behind his kind intention? Whispers erupted behind you before you could really think it through. You peeked over your shoulder to see two girls staring at you as they spoke softly to each other. Their volume was too low for you to make out what they were saying, but their eyes said enough. A few flickers toward Yixing and it was easy to interpret: they were trying to figure out why someone like him was acting this way towards you.

Curious as to what had stolen your attention, Yixing looked back at the girls as well. At their continued whispering, he narrowed his eyes and then shifted his stool closer to you. It felt… protective, almost possessive. Not in a way that made you want to lean away. It was more like he was silently standing up for you. The girls immediately snapped their mouths closed and pulled out their phones. Yixing caught your eye one more time, making you smile. Professor Jiang called time on the period and you found yourself very unwilling to move from that spot. And, it seemed, neither was Yixing.

**

Yixing ran through the trees with pure giddiness and elation flowing through his fur.

Things couldn’t have gone better this past week and a half. You were opening up to him more, talking to him without long pauses in between and letting him walk you to classes, even if they were in the opposite direction of his own. You hadn’t given him his jacket back, but he took that as a wonderful thing. He wouldn’t have taken it back anyway. There were still things that you were holding onto, things that you hadn’t let slip in your conversations. That hardly deterred him. It would take time. These things didn’t just happen. Eventually you would let him in all the way and he would show you his true self. It was only a matter of-

Yixing stopped. Out of nowhere, his vision had blurred, blackspots covering bits of the forest. He wavered from side to side as he tried to regain his footing. The tree shifted back and forth like a teeter-totter. He pushed himself forward. He needed to get back to the house. But only a few steps and his head exploded with pain. He whimpered and, after a minute or so, he fell to the ground and the blackness took over.

[demon-blood-youths]

things I like my rp partners to know.

I like to be called: Mun, Demonblood-mun, Dani, Dan, and Ni

one thing you should know about me: I write a lot, rp a lot and I draw my icons a lot. Not to mention, I replied fast and I can switch between muses. It means I get excited and get into zone for my muse in specific thread takes over as I channel their thoughts and actions in the reply as I write. It can either be fast or it take time ( due to work over the weekdays ) Sometimes..I make grammar mistakes while I write but I make sure to correct them right away before or after posting the reply. 

thing you should know about rping with my character(s): I rp a lot of characters in one thread. Depending on the thread, I can rp up to 2-3 when it comes to interacting with new partners. For partners who are mutuals with me for a long time, that number grows to a total from 4 to 12 if requested. I make sure to ask what’s the limit so I can make someone comfortable. Also! My muses are ( sometimes...unapologetic ) they can be impulsive, rude, cocky, brash, recklessness but like the same, they can be kind, considerate, smart and other things. Plus, my characters are flawed and I like when my muses and my rp partners’ muses have dynamics with each other either it’s negative and positive, it can be compelling! 

Joy to work with: I like adventures and I want my partners to experience adventures whenever we rp! It can be a peaceful slice of life, comedic, action or horror. ( Heck...even angst ). Plus I like doing crazy and always ask fellow rp partners if they want to add anything into the plot. I also down in going with the flow and liking surprises.

first language: english

-----

age range: under 13  |  14–17 | 18–22 | 23–25 | 26–29 | 30+ | 40+ | 70+ am

I okay with nsfw?: yes | no | some nsfw (very rarely smut wise)

my favorite/most common thing to rp is: angst | fluff | smut | crack | action | plots | AUs | violence | darker themes | canon character

rp friendly?: yes DEFINITELY | no | ( To canon & ocs )

rp blog: does contain ooc posts (Not all the time, only comes to questions or Munday memes involving me.) | doesn’t contain ooc posts | occasionally contains ooc

tagged by: @virusvirtue  ( Thanks for tagging me! ^w^ )

Tagging: @multitudcxfmuscs @barnabunny @the-silver-peahen-residence @vischys @anapproachingstorm @viopolis @electricea  @militibus-ex-umbra @veneficium-of-thorns @underworldofmuses @mandysxmuses and anyone who wants to do it.

[sentofight]

———  BASICS! ♡

NAME! ♡ -  Faty

PRONOUNS! ♡ -  she / her

ZODIAC SIGN! ♡ -   Pspspspisces

TAKEN OR SINGLE! ♡ -  A single moogle

———  THREE  FACTS! ♡

1! ♡  -   I find watches fascinating. I still have my four old watches which i wore when i was a kid..like twenty years ish ago haha. i like collecting them when i can. i legit can’t go out of my house without wearing a watch or my left wrist will feel so weird;; like there is something supposed to be there and it’s not there.

2! ♡ -   Still playing O.ctopath and R.une Factory 4 welp. i’m sorry i am slow. i still can’t get around to finish w/ild arms 5 ... depresso noises.

3! ♡ -   uh... i suck at promo-ing my own ocs;; like i love them i want ppl to write with them but i chicken out every time i chose a canon character for interaction and i just...weep in a corner. i wish i had a little bit more confidence in my own ocs; im sorry guys you deserve better than this;;...and i kind of give up on some ocs because of that same problem;

———  EXPERIENCE! ♡

PLATFORMS USED! ♡ -   f/acebook for a tiny bit. old s/kype man. d/iscord and now mainly on dumblr.

———  MUSE  PREFERENCE! ♡

FEMALE, MALE OR NONBINARY! ♡ - male & female. I have zero confidence in writing nonbinary to not write inaccurate/ stereotype things. 

MULTI OR SINGLE! ♡ -     Multi muses blog / and i have a chrom blog, single muse blog. though if this is about shipping, then depend on the muse. some of my muses are locked to single because i either can’t see them being with someone else, or a new partner didn’t present themselves to them. 

FLUFF / ANGST / SMUT! ♡ -     My cursed hands always go for angst...sadly. I love fluff when it comes in the right time. soft and gentle to ease things after making my muse& my partner muse sad lmao. Smut...not too much. only, and only with partners i am so close to. nowadays i dont want to write it at all unless i know you, know you. for the peace of my mind. i really like action oriented threads! i wish i can do more but i know these take a lot of time and energy from me and from my writing partner so i dont ask for them a lot;;; but when i have one i will do my best to learn and write something nice.

PLOT / MEMES! ♡ -     both my dude. i love plotting and memes. with plotting we can see the beginning and somewhat the end of a potential thread then we can wing the heck out of it in the middle lol. i love memes. send me memes. memes are a great way to break the ice. just send some and let me do some magic pew pew kupo. magic i mean think of a good way to answer so if you want to move it to a thread you can have a chance to reply sklfjsd 

———

TAGGED BY! ♡ -  @rhyra (tysm!!)

TAGGING! ♡ - uuh i am late... but you guys if you have not done this by now @pieman1112​ , @abyssal-tide​ , @psychcdelica​ , @cadcnce​ , @riftdancer​ , @katsubou​ , @azotas​ , @specialgels​ , and u snag it

[thoseofgreatambition]

DEAR GEORGE || DIAGON ALLEY

chapter 1 || ten miles farther

chapter 2 || gred and feorge

chapter 3 || diagon alley

description: There was never a doubt in Gwendolyn’s mind that one day she’d be famous. One day she would be known through the United Kingdom as the most skilled Healer. However, she never would have thought that those things would start today. 

warnings: none 

pairing: george x oc

wordcount: 4K

“I need you to get to work, Gwendolyn.”

Gwen’s brown eyes flickered up from George’s letter towards her father. “I will in a second, Dad.” When George said that he’d write her immediately that night, she hadn’t truly thought that he would. Not that she considered him a liar, but it was exceedingly rare that a patient of hers actually took her advice right away. Usually they continued on in their own way for a while before realizing they needed to listen to her.

Good on him, Gwen thought, he’ll be falling asleep easier if he follows all my advice.

“Gwendolyn!” her father’s voice was sharper this time, and Gwen set down the letter with a scowl.

“Alright Dad!”

She loved her father, she did, but having your father as your boss could be a huge pain in the ass sometimes. Once he retired she’d get to run the shop the way she wanted, which was one of the few things that helped her handle the little moments like this.

They were truly lucky their dream was the same, to open up a chain of apothecaries in their family name. If it weren’t for that Gwen was sure there would be much more clashing between the two of them.

With a small huff, she set down the letter carefully next to the cauldron, cautiously eyeing her father who worked across from her. Something was going on. She couldn’t put her finger on it, but there was a certain sharpness to her father that wasn’t quite normal.

Granted, most would say her father was already quite edgy, but something seemed new.

Most children would be more deferential to their fathers, however after working so closely with him, Gwen couldn’t help but see him as more of a business partner than a father. She supposed that would seem sad to most people, but it was what she knew.

Besides, it was quite nice to say she was her father’s business partner, rather than she worked in the store. She’d be taking over soon after all.

Gwen’s knife made quick work of the mandrake root, and she didn’t bother to watch what she was doing as she looked up to speak with her father. She’d done this thousands of times after all. “What’s going on?”

If she was feeling cheeky she’d call him Afon, but today didn’t seem to be the day for that.

“I’m not retiring.”

Gwen’s knife fell with a loud clang onto the floor, as she looked at her father absolutely gobsmacked. She didn’t bother to hide the fact that her heart felt like it was falling straight out of her chest.

He wasn’t retiring? That had been the plan! No, that was what he’d promised her. He’d do what his father did and retire before she turned twenty three, so she could take her turn at the helm. Afon would work behind the scenes, coordinating orders and small things, but it would be Gwendolyn who was the front. She would be in charge, it would be her store.

Gwen had to lean forward a bit, her hands rooting her to the table as her knees began to tremble ever so slightly. It wasn’t often that she had to face her ambition head on like this, but now the part of her that had dreamed for so long of proving herself to be the one that would put the family name on the map was roaring about how unfair it was that she was losing her chance.

For a long moment, Gwen couldn’t speak. Her throat seemed too dry, too tight to really force out any words. The ground seemed ready to tilt itself until it was over her head. Finally, under her father’s expectant and ever so slightly concerned gaze, she managed to choke out a single word.

“Why?”

“Don’t panic Gwendy.” It was rare now that he called her that, but Afon whipped it out when his daughter seemed particularly upset over something. He gestured to the knife on the floor that she’d dropped. “You’ll still get your chance, sooner than you think. I found us a storefront in Diagon Alley. I’ll be leading this shop, and you’ll go and run the new one.”

Relief flooded her like a tidal wave, tears of relief pricked at her eyes. “Dammit dad.” Gwen pinched the bridge of her nose, and took a long breath with her eyes closed. “Couldn’t have worded that better instead of scaring the hell out of me?”. Determined to hide the fact she’d almost cried, Gwen picked up the knife and resumed her chopping, fixing a scowl towards her father.

“Sorry about that.” Looking towards Afon it was easy to see that he didn’t seem terribly sorry. He looked rather proud of himself actually. “I figured you’d like the surprise better. You’ll be running the bigger store Gwendolyn. Think about it.”

Slowly, she stopped her chopping and allowed the thought to settle into her. She’d been teased, even by her Slytherin classmates for her ambition. For saying she’d be the best healer in all of Britain. If she hadn’t been consistently top of her class for potions, she reckoned Professor Snape would have mocked her too.  

Her family did fairly well in Wales, and many of the wizards and witches in the country came to see them for healing or potions. Diagon Alley would be an entirely different situation. She would be in charge of a shop in the most frequented center in the wizarding United Kingdom. It wouldn’t just be the Welsh, it would be everyone.

“Did you tell Gwendy the good news?” Ada couldn’t help but beam as she walked into the workroom, sitting down across from her daughter with a wink.

Afon kissed his wife’s temple before continuing to stir his potion, “I was just telling her, love.” His eyes twinkled in amusement as the implications of everything appeared to just now be hitting their daughter. “She’s still processing it, I believe.”

Gwen could hear her parents switch the conversation to bookkeeping, and their profits for the month. Vaguely, she was aware that she’d added the mandrake root and was now stirring her potion, but her brow was still furrowed as she thought about what all of this meant.

They’d always talked about opening another shop, it was the goal after all, but Gwen hadn’t thought it would be this soon. She’d always assumed it was something she’d have to do, a torch she’d have to pass onto her children.

Now was her chance though.

“Which store front in Diagon Alley are we using?”

She’d interrupted them, Gwen realized too late after she spoke. Her mother smiled with a small roll of her eyes—Ada was far too used to her family’s priorities at this point to be bothered with things like this. “It’s catty corner to that joke shop…” Ada had been to Diagon Alley quite a few times when Gwen had been going to Hogwarts, but that new joke shop had gone up right when Gwen had graduated. As such, Ada had only seen it once. She looked for her husband for assistance with the name.

“Weasley’s Wizard Wheezes.” He tried not to chuckle at the look on his daughter’s face. “Would you like to go see it now? I’ve already got the keys. You’ll be able to see your flat above the shop, that should be nice.”

Briefly, Gwen wondered how long this had been going on for her father to have already scouted out a location, and apparently bought the damn thing to have keys. At the moment though it was a bit too hard to find words. Instead, Gwen nodded dumbly and accepted the keys from her father without comment.

Still deep in thought, Gwen excused herself from the room, pausing at the threshold to look back at her cauldron, “The potion—“

“Go, we’ll take care of it.” Afon waved her off, seemingly quite pleased at pulling the rug out from under the daughter. He knew the chance of their shop taking off laid on her shoulders, and he was very happy to give her the chance to do show her skill.

Gwen threaded her finger through the key ring, trying to sort her thoughts. As the seconds passed the shock faded into giddiness. This truly was going to be her shot at greatness. In a rush now she shoved on a jacket and heaved her bag over her shoulder before apparating into the middle of Diagon Alley. She glanced to her left, staring upwards at the large statue of George (or Fred?) that stood in front of their shop. Before the war, he would raise his hat and lower it, but now he seemed to be stuck halfway through the motion, staring blankly at something too far away for Gwen to see.

She tried to ignore the shudder that ran up her back, there was something disturbing about the giant man. With the windows of the shop boarded up, and the alley much less alive now that so many shops had closed, he seemed less like a promise of joy within Weasley’s Wizard Wheezes, and more of a reminder of times gone by.

It was with a very conscious shake of her head that Gwen was able to tear herself away from looking at the silent giant and turn towards her new shop. The key slid into the keyhole with a bit of wiggling, and with her heart pounding in her ears, the Slytherin took her first step into what would be her home.

The light filtered in through the large windows adjacent to the street, lighting up the particles of dust that danced as the air stirred. The floorboards were painted black, with footprints littering the space. Gwen was able to trace some unknown persons path through her store, and saw that they led towards a black staircase that was attached to the back wall of the store. She followed the path of the stairs up to a trap door that was about twenty feet above the ground.

Presumably, that would be the entrance to her flat.

Gwen let out a long breath that she didn’t know she was holding. Her footsteps further into the store seemed to break the spell that she was under, and with a flick of her wand she shut the door behind her. There was quite a bit of black in the store, the shelves that lined the tall walls were all black as well, and with closer inspection she could see small nicks in the paint that revealed the wood underneath was actually a light maple color.

The walls were painted a light dusty blue, and Gwen could already guess her father would suggest they paint them a shade of green.

This seemed a nice color palette though. She’d be keeping it.

She turned her attention back to the wall of windows that faced the street, the shop was absolutely flooded with light. The shop itself was two stories tall, with one wall completely made with windows, and the other three covered completely with shelves. The stairs in the back had a landing on the second story, with a catwalk wrapped around the three walls with shelves so customers could peruse at their leisure.  

There was plenty of room for inventory, Gwen thought, before noticing a small door in the back of the shop behind the counter. She ran her hand over the smooth wood of the countertop, digging her finger pads into a nick on the corner.

Gwen paused before opening the door, unsure of what caused the hesitation. There was something special about going to a place the first time. They said first impressions were the most important, but Gwen would argue that the difference between what you expected a place to look like and what it actually looked like was the most important.

She wanted to savor it.

Finally, Gwen rested her hand on the brass doorknob, taking in the cold feel of the metal before turning the knob.

She was met with a narrow staircase that led down towards the work room. Briefly Gwen was reminded of her time spent in the potion dungeons back in Hogwarts. There were three little windows to supply light to the dark space, and judging by the dried wax on the floor, the rest of the light was to be supplied by candles. Briefly Gwen felt a surge of fear of running the shop by herself, this would need a lot of inventory, and she couldn’t imagine supplying it all by herself.

Perhaps she could hire someone else to work with her.

Did Victoria have a job? Maybe she could be roped into the family business.

Gwen shrugged off the anxiety and apparated to the flat upstairs, unsure of what she’d find. She wasn’t sure what she expected, but it wasn’t this. The walls were half painted, either left in the original plaster white, or the same blue from downstairs. The floors were unfinished, in the maple wood that was painted black in the shop.

It was a small apartment, the kitchen bled into an open space that Gwen assumed was supposed to either be a dining area or a den. There was an open door across the room from the kitchen, and upon closer inspection it seemed to be a bedroom. It was a good enough size, no bigger or smaller than the one in her home now.

She let out a hefty sigh before settling down on the floor, her back against the wall. Gwen didn’t mind the dust that turned her black work pants grey. For an unknown amount of time, she simply let all of the events of the day set in before digging through her bag and fishing out a piece of parchment and a quill. Now was a good of time as ever to respond to George’s letter. Probably better actually, once she got home her father would set her straight to work.

Hello George,

Hello,

Hey,

George,

You’ll never guess where I’m writing from. The empty building catty corner from yours. My father just told me today, it’s where we’ll be opening the second shop. You and I will be neighbors soon. It ought to make writing to each other a bit more interesting, don’t you think?

Sorry if the writing is a bit messy, I’m sitting on the floor writing this at the moment, there’s no furniture in the flat yet.

I really hope you slept well last night. I’m glad to see that you took my advice and actually wrote a letter, you’re already a better patient than most of the ones back in Wales.

I’m sorry the potion tastes like piss, but to be fair Weasley, were you expecting butterbeer?

If it doesn’t work though, I’ll try and find you a better tasting one.

It’s good to hear that Fred’s doing better, and to be perfectly frank, how you’re feeling sounds normal. Many of the caretakers I see tend to invest themselves wholeheartedly into their roles, and when they no longer need to take care of someone, can feel a bit lost. I don’t have a potion for mixed feelings, but once I move into Diagon Alley we can grab a drink. It ought to help the same.

You’re good men for making Concentrating Candies. Already sounds like something useful. They’d probably be quite helpful for students, especially when it comes to a History of Magic.

Let me know about that Quidditch game, that sounds like it’ll be quite fun. Though I hope you and Fred don’t hit me with bludgers again. I’ll spike your potion if that happens, George.

Was it hard to open up a shop?

Of course it was, that’s a stupid question. I know it took a long time to make all of inventory, and to scout out the location, along with coming up with business models.

I didn’t know about this second shop until today. I was working on a potion at the (old) shop when Dad dropped the bomb on me. He said he wasn’t retiring and let me have a small heart attack before telling me it was because we were opening up a new shop here in Diagon Alley.

Truthfully, I’m a little nervous.

Well scared is more appropriate. A good kind of scared. Like when you get onto the Hogwarts Express and wonder what the next year is going to be like.

Was this what it was like for you? I always wondered how you two did it at seventeen.

Though I suppose you two had the benefit of months of planning to prepare yourselves. Dad did all of that by himself.

I hope I don’t sound ungrateful. This is more than I could have ever dreamed for. All I hoped for when I was in Hogwarts was to take over the old shop one day, and figured that it would be my children who got to open the new shops.

People from all around the United Kingdom coming to my shop though? It’s an amazing prospect. I can’t wipe the grin off of my face. If you saw me now you’d think I’d have eaten one of your candies. This is everything I knew would happen one day decades from now, landing in my lap today. Outstanding.

I hope a response before the day is up is quick enough for you. Truth be told I’m half tempted to apparate up to your flat and drop off this letter, but I’d hate to be rude and barge in like that. I’ll send it by owl.

Keep taking the potion! I’m glad it made you tired the first night, and I expect to hear how well you slept with your next letter. You have to keep up with the medication though, don’t just assume you can go off because you start to sleep well. A lot of people make that mistake, and it always ends poorly.

Don’t worry about me hiding away in Wales anymore. It seems like within the next few months I’ll be a Londener like you. Won’t that be fun?

Sleep well.

--Gwen

Lacking a candle to seal the letter with wax, Gwen scrunched up her face in a frown before simply folding it up. She could seal it when she got home she supposed. Briefly she wondered how her father would take to her using the family owl presumably every day until she moved out.

Perhaps this was the time to purchase an owl of her own.

With a shrug she lifted herself off of the floor and dusted herself off the best she could. Apparating back to Wales was the easiest way home, but Gwen didn’t quite trust herself to do it twice in one day. She’d hardly passed the exam after all. The floo at the Leaky Cauldron would have to do.

That goal in mind, Gwen trudged downstairs and out of the shop, locking up behind her. Spinning around to walk onto the street, she bumped into a rather tall man. “Goodness! I’m sorry—“ she cut herself off, taking in the shock of red hair and cane in the man’s hand. “Oh, Fred. Sorry about that again. Did I hurt you?”

“Don’t worry. I’m rather tough.” Fred flashed Gwen a smile, before looking at the building she just left. “Let me guess, checking out the real estate?”

Gwen nodded with a laugh, “You could say that, we’ll be opening up our new shop here. We’ll be neighbors soon.” She resisted the urge to look him up and down like she would a new patient. People who didn’t come looking for medical advice hardly appreciated it after all.

If he was a patient, she’d have him on a pain management potion and something to ease joint stiffness. That would ease the pause in his gate and hopefully wean him off the cane. Just guessing from his original injury, she’d assume that his back probably bothered him, and there was some head trauma. More potions to ease any problems from that.

“Well I’ll be damned.” Fred eyed the shop in surprise, he hadn’t expected his joke to actually be true. True to his nature, a grin spread across his face. “This ought to be fun then, I expect you to be healing Georgie and I whenever we have an accident in the shop now.”

Gwen couldn’t help but laugh, knowing very well that joke would probably become true very soon. “I wouldn’t expect anything less.” The thought of George brought the letter she’d just written to the forefront of her mind. She fumbled through her bag, ignoring the slightly confused yet very amused look on Fred’s face.

He eyed the letter she withdrew from her bag with interest. Fred adjusted his weight on the cane, shifting uncomfortably. Most days he could manage fine, but as it got colder his joints began to ache. Regardless, his jokester nature couldn’t be contained. “Are you an owl now? Am I keeping you from flying off to your next delivery?” Fred stepped back a bit out of Gwen’s path, giving her a good natured smile as he bowed a bit before gesturing with his cane. “How very rude of me.”

“Actually, I was hoping you’d be the owl. This is for George. He wrote me a letter last night and this is my reply.” Gwen tidied up the folds of her letter, frowning a bit at how sloppy her handwriting looked from her writing on the floor. “I’m sorry to put you out, but could you pass this along to him?” It made more sense to have Fred do it after all, than to go all the way back to Wales, send an owl, and wait for a response.

It was hard not to smirk, but Fred tried his best. He’d have to tease George about this later. “He mentioned writing you a letter last night. I’m glad you responded with such enthusiasm.”

Gwen raised an eyebrow at Fred’s tone, and let out a very small sigh. She should have known that there’d be some teasing for this request. It was Fred after all.

Everything was in good fun after all.

“He’s my friend. Just like you are—I’d respond just as quick if it was you Fred.”

Fred couldn’t help but grin, he could see where this was going. Just like George to lean into something like exchanging letters every day. “Is that a promise Birdie?”

“Birdie?” Gwen had been called quite a few things in her days. Gwendy. Gwendolyn. Gwen. Chaser. That Slytherin. Birdie hadn’t made the list quite yet. “Why Birdie?”

Carefully, Fred slipped the letter into his coat’s inside pocket, patting his chest where it now laid. Despite his teasing he’d take good care of something meant for his brother. “You’re an owl, aren’t you? So you’re Birdie.” He winced a bit, it was hard to stay on his feet for this long in one place.

If he said that he was in pain and needed to leave, Fred knew that Gwen of all people would understand. She was a healer for Merlin’s sake.

However, there was a thing called Gryffindor pride, and Fred wasn’t about to admit that he couldn’t stay on his feet for very long.

Gwen noticed as he leaned more heavily onto the cane, and noted the white knuckle grip he had on the silver handle. “Well, this Birdie does have to fly off to Wales.” She couldn’t be for sure that he was in pain, but in her experience as a healer, she reckoned it was pretty likely. Either way, it was probably safer to politely excuse herself so Fred could get on his way.

She patted Fred on the shoulder and gave him a smile, “Thank you again for sending along my letter. I’ll come by around soon, we should all grab a drink. I’ll see you later Fred!”

“Bye bye, Birdie.” Fred watched Gwen trudge towards the Leaky Cauldron, a thoughtful smile on his face despite the pain he was feeling. If Lee was there, or hell, even Ron, Fred would have made a bet that by Christmas, the letters between Gwen and George would turn into love letters.

Instead he let out a small chuckle, made his way down the street, and gave the letter in his pocket one last pat for safe keeping.

tag list: @harrysweasleys @geeksareunique @insearchofnewdreams @notstandingstill-imlyinginwait @lumos-barnes @thatfuckingliardavidtennant @slytherinqween @xinyourdreamsx @skiving-snackboxess @wildfire-whizbangs @dwarfwizard-from-panem @diary-of-an-onliner @answer-the-sirens @woakiees @black-widow-fangirl @theheirofnightandday @summerstardust @whysoseriouspadfoot @chocok22 @myhopesareanchoredinyou @siriusblackisme @illusivedaydreamer @zeeneee @writingwitchly @wolfpotter12 @obsessedwithrandomthings @carolinesbookworld @shadowsinger11 @pit-and-the-pen @summer-writes @peachesandpinks @ickle-ronniekins @gweaslvy @alpinewinchester @parker-potters

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[zoe-dinh]

Shameless Media: A Start-up's Guide To Digital Stakeholder Engagement

OVERVIEW

Today’s businesses exist in a world where everything is rapidly changing. How organisations communicate with stakeholders, and vice versa, have been transformed by the digital age.

Not only are stakeholders powerful and tech-savvy, thanks to digital media, they now also have direct contact with companies and organisations 24/7 (Ozer 2020).

Companies therefore are much more accountable for their conduct and value (Tench & Yeomans 2017). This can either play to their advantage, or hinder it in a critical way.

As such, businesses need to foster relationships with stakeholders by leveraging the power of digital media. The goal is to have a community of people who support the organisation, who resonates with the brand’s value and message.

An example of modern organisations championing this is Shameless Media. Utilising digital media, Shameless engages with their stakeholders through strategic branding and content marketing.

How can we capture people’s hearts and minds in an attention economy? Let’s learn from this millennial start-up.

CASE STUDY: SHAMELESS MEDIA

Profile

Shameless Media (SM) is a millennial gen Z’s destination for all things digital content. Operated in Melbourne by a team of five young women, the company was founded in 2019 by writers Zara McDonald and Michelle Andrews.

Although relatively young, the podcast venture has accumulated a consumer base of over 20 million listeners, plus a growing community of 220,000+ followers across Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn. SM also recently created a brand-new agency for content creators and influencers, The Sana Agency.

Stakeholders

Since its inception, the podcast has not had a single episode that has not been sponsored (Forbes 2021). More notably, Shameless listenership is overwhelmingly 94.7% women in their 20s (Gillezeau 2021).

SM's key stakeholder groups thus include:

1. Consumers: audiences, readers, listeners; and

2. Sponsors: collaborators, business partners.

Current digital operations

PLATFORMS

1. Podcast

At first glance: Eye-catching cover. Good tag line (“The pop culture podcast for smart people who love dumb stuff”). Almost always seen in the Top Charts.

My thoughts: I was surprised to discover how new the podcast is. Its popularity, large growing number of listeners and content quality make Shameless seem a lot more established.

Open and honest, the hosts are not afraid to let audience knows where they stand on critical issues (feminism, politics, climate change etc.). New episodes are regularly scheduled which is good for audience retention.

As a consumer, I am drawn to the show/company for their seeming authenticity and relatability. Not to mention the well-balanced research that allows audience to form their own opinions without being spoon-fed. 10/10 recommend.

2. Website

At first glance: Layout is easy to look at. Visually appealing. All relevant info seems to be there.

My thoughts: Nice design, but not as much interactivity as I would have liked. When I tried looking for more information on the founders and organisation, something like an About Us section for example, there was none. Neither was there any resource or material on the business side of things (annual reports or data analytics or anything of the sorts).

One may excuse this considering the age of the organisation. However, I believe SM might benefit from a website update or revamp. It will certainly be helpful for those like me who are curious, who do research on the firm and would therefore like more access to information.

3. Instagram

At first glance: Quite large following. Relatively high audience engagement. Content layout not my personal taste, but appealing overall.

My thoughts: Shameless has great social media presence, especially on Instagram. The company made good efforts in interacting with followers. There are the ‘Your say Fridays’, polls and Q&A every other day on Stories. Users regularly comment on posts (memes, podcast updates & announcement), and many get replies from admin.

Overall, Shameless is doing very well with social media engagement and audience interactions.

4. Facebook

At first glance: Not much to see/do as this is a private group. Nice cover image though.

My thoughts: Large community of readers of nearly 34,000 members. The group has been active since 2019. While discussion threads cannot be publicly viewed, those interested in the content can find related episodes on the Shameless podcast.

Over on Instagram, there are links in bio to the book-selling site for each month’s pick. Makes me wonder whether or not these are affiliate links.

5. LinkedIn

At first glance: Small-to-medium sized following. Appealing visuals, though not too much information.

My thoughts: I have seen the Shameless LinkedIn profile before, but has only started following them recently. The account is not too active, the latest post was from a few months ago. Perhaps this is because the content that circulates on LinkedIn often revolves around business culture, not the usual focus by SM. Most of the posts thus far are general announcement and job openings.

In the future, SM might be benefit from a more active LinkedIn page, so as to not only attract new audience and potential talents, but also to establish their presence more firmly among competitors in the corporate world.

DIGITAL STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT

The corporate brand is constantly being co-created by organisation with their stakeholders. Dialogical communication is said to enhance this along with corporate reputation (Gundolf et al. 2018; Ozer 2020; Rosenberg & Seager 2017).

In reality, what might this look like?

From tactics to dialogic communication in digital media, let’s look at how SM has been engaging with stakeholders.

Dialogical communication in digital media

Tactics

Potential areas of improvement

Lack of strategy

Upscaling the business

Other types of content, especially video

CONCLUSION

So far, leveraging social media has helped Shameless achieve their goal and stay true to their brand. “Win their niche, core audience, nurture specific community of mostly young working women” (Gillezeau 2021).

The company’s success is in no small way thanks to the relationship they have with their audience. SM has intimate understandings of what the audience wants, and are able to deliver it.

This is in large part due to the founders being in the same demographics as their audience. As McDonald put it, “[W]e wanted to tap into a younger demographic that we thought were generally being ignored by mainstream media” (Forbes 2021), which explains the company slogan.

“We make content for ourselves, our mates, and you”.

Branding and content wise, SM is doing a good job capitalising on the trends, particularly with interactive content, content marketing, and online content communities (Clark-Keane 2021; Thomson 2019).

Yet, it is also important to note the fortunate position SM finds themselves in. As a millennial start-up, they are already advantaged by having skills in digital media and technologies.

Nonetheless, through forces of strategic digital communication, Shameless Media has been successfully engaging with their stakeholders through a combination of clever branding and content marketing.

---

REFERENCES

Clark-Keane, C. 2021, ‘7 Content Marketing Trends to Watch in 2021’, Wordstream, https://www.wordstream.com/blog/ws/2020/11/23/content-marketing-trends

Forbes, T. 2021, ‘How I Do It: Shameless Media’s Zara McDonald and Michelle Andrews on building their empire’, Fashion Journal, https://fashionjournal.com.au/life/how-i-do-it-shameless-media/

Gillezeau, N. 2021, ‘Shameless Media: The podcast start-up that’s rejecting big offers’, Australian Financial Review, https://www.afr.com/companies/media-and-marketing/how-they-built-it-shameless-media-20210330-p57fbu

Gundolf, K., Jaouen, A. & Gast, J. 2018, ‘Motives for strategic alliances in cultural and creative industries’, Creative Innovation Management, vol. 27, pp. 148-160, DOI: 10.1111/caim.12255

Johnston, J. & Rowney, K. 2019, ‘Social networks’, Media Strategies: Managing Content, Platforms and Relationships, Taylor & Francis, Sydney, pp. 75-103.

Kim, K. 2021, ‘How to make sure you’re marketing to Gen Z the right way’, Sprout Social, https://sproutsocial.com/insights/marketing-to-gen-z/

Ozer, D. 2020, ‘Organisations’ use of social media from the perspective of dialogical communications and marketing-oriented public relations’, In B.O. Aydin, S. Gurbuz & O, Dugan (eds.), Public Relations in the Networked Publics, Peter Lang, Frankfurt, pp. 211-235.

Rosenberg, M. & Seager, P. H. 2017, ‘The Big Picture: Four Trend that Change Everything’, Managing Media Businesses, Retrieved from ProQuest EBook Central, DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-52021-6_1

Smart Insights 2020, ‘7 ways to reach and influence millennials using social media marketing’, https://www.smartinsights.com/social-media-marketing/social-media-strategy/7-ways-to-reach-millennials-through-social-media-marketing/

Tench, R. & Yeomans, L. 2017, ‘Exploring Public Relations’, Global Strategic Communication, Pearson Education, Harlow, Available from: ProQuest EBook Central (14 August 2021).

Thomson, C. 2019, ‘Top Marketing Trends For 2020’, Forbes, https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbesagencycouncil/2019/10/03/top-marketing-trends-for-2020/#6889ba113d5d

-END-

[apffee]

My Thoughts Rewatching TGWDLM and Black Friday:

*btw the section for tgwdlm is much shorter than the one for black friday because it’s less new so more people have already said almost all there is to say about it i guess*

The Guy Who Didn’t Like Musicals: - in the first scene the same phone rings about 32/33 times wow (i counted) - when charlotte is talking about sam singing in the shower, let it out plays real quiet and it's cool - i’ve always wondered what emma was gonna say before join us and die, and to me it seemed like she was gonna talk about paul’s crush on her and maybe reject him (she was acting remorseful, like she was sorry for being about to hurt his feelings maybe), idk if anyone tweeted nick lang about this yet but i wanna know - emma seems to jinx herself every time she says "we made it" or along those lines, like in the helicopter she says "we got outta there!" and before inevitable she says "paul! we made it!" - fuck nora :)

***

Black Friday: - the sniggles deserve betterrrr also lauren sniggle <3 - mnfnmggghfht them <3 paulkinsss <3 - silent night playing while we enjoy paulkins - "oH SHIT A BABY" - emma has beanies shopping bags so she either still works there and brought snacks or she just went there with paul idk - paul like "it's christmas time in hatchetfield isn't that fun" and im having flashbacks - i love paul's awkwardness but emma, he's your boyfriend ok (ok? ok. ok.) - emma copying bae like - how does lauren turn into an entirely different person with emma and linda ik it's acting but I CAN'T ENVISION THEM TOGETHER AS THE SAME PERSON - if i think about videos and streams of lauren, it seems like emma's personality is kinda similar to lauren's own personality huh - i think this part with emma and paul is so funny not just cause them and their wonderful delivery but also cause the paulkins content is more condensed in smaller amounts of time since they aren't the protagonists anymore, so it's more funny at once, while tgwdlm is probably more funny in total but it's more spread out - i love emma’s adorable laugh snort thing when tom tells her about the surprise it's so lovable <3 - tom just getting in emma's face when he says "he was sledding. WITH HIS MOTHER" ;-; - they just sneak off while tom sings like - what if emma has a different hairstyle in each musical? anyway lauren is so pretty no matter what her hairstyle is but her hair looks even more amazing down in general, i should probably stop now or i'll keep rambling on about lauren - but like lauren and jon are so cool i'm just more attracted to lauren in general but they're probably my two favourite starkid and YES I AM BIASED, SO WHAT? - tom teleports to the parking lot of the mall during what tim wants - tom: what tim want? tim: JUST ASK ME WHAT I WANT - why does linda look over when sherman says "omg its becky barnes" like u just spoke to her and hate her guts lmao why do u care -adore me plays when linda belittles becky bout stanley -webby: hey hannah do the thing ethan's doing with his hands hannah: *does it and gets scolded* webby: *wHeEEeEzeee* - paul in wdywp "i want what everyone wants, money, a partner, kids someday, maybe.." and linda talking to wiley "i want what everyone wants, to be loved" - linda is holding one of her boots, why did one come off? the camera doesn't show below her waist while she's talking to wiley so idk - lauren lopez as jingle the elf doing a bugette voice is attractive as hell - tom: "i'd do anything for him" me: awwww thats sweet! tom: "even if it means pounding the guts outta some little twerp!" me: :/ - what would happen if tom managed to give the doll to tim? tom: take this doll son. tim: i don't want that lmao? tom: W-WHAT? tim: i want u but ur distant and sad now :c tom: :'o - sHE'S hEaVY! D: - do ya think it's a coincidence that wiley AND xander call the president the nickname howie? maybe xanders dead and this is a fake idk lol - the sniggles are still cute in made in america (especially lauren sniggle) and lauren looks so good with her hair like that actually her hair always looks good why DOES HER HAIR ALWAYS LOOK SO GOOD AND HER NOSE AND (this is just a rant about lauren now whoops) - at 1:42:55 when wiggly is talking to john the "look what happens nightmare time" riff (i think its a riff) plays hmmmmm; also someone else mentioned how the light in not your seed is green, so i think grace chasity (yeah apparently it’s chasity) is the connecting thread in all these things and since she is likely the protag in npmd its probably important. oh also maybe grace and jane are connected somehow? idk just trying to think of stuff that could be in npmd - when wiggly gasps after his hiccup laugh thing it's so uncomfortable and creepy i love it good job jon! - you have pOonies?? - i threw em in the FUCKING TRASH! - you killed the pOoNIES! -"she can go on her own" NO LEX HANNAH NEEDS YOU ;o; -lex: reach? like this? *gun flies towards her and smacks her in the nose* ARGH! - lex: patiently waiting for tom to finish singing - i remember something about either the song a meteor hits or just the wiggly jingle scratch track or something being to the tune of if i fail you, so thats cool - jon is so damn feral as gary and it's wonderful i'm having so much fun - gerald's such a good dramatic device - she's drunk AGAIN? what would you know about becky being drunk linda? im imagining drunk becky and linda talking in a bar idk how else linda would know about that eh - behold the wonderful shriek of lauren lopez - i can sing the range of adore me and califorMIA since im an alto and yet lauren can do her high octaves as well as my own comfotable octave she's just destroying the song wiggle and my belief in what singing ability i have with her TALENT!!! - *obnoxious laugh* bECkY BaRNeS! - lets just appreciate jon and lauren sneaking off stage and doing a quick change into their paul and emma outfits in like 40 SECONDS WHAT also everyone else saying their lines slower so they had more time to quick change - "taaahm?" (i love lauren's midwestern accent) - emma and tom never got to talk about jane :'( but also her grateful little smile when he says it and ghfighdfisdfskh emma and paul <3 - why does emma always want to go to hidgens tho lmao like how trustworthy is he really? aw but i guess emma doesn't have anyone else in hatchetfield except paul and jane's family :'( - PAUL SMILING AT EMMA TO COMFORT HER AWWWWWW I LOVE THEM SO MUCH (2:14:02) like i don't mind about how well lauren and jon know each other because their acting is so good that it gets me so invested in paulkins <333333333333333 - i wanna see the paulkins hug D:< i can just see emma in her cute ass bobble beanie hat thing coming over and then the camera pans away WHY - i love that at the end everyone's just squinting at the sky in confusion and paul's just doing a bug-eye face of shock like O-O - ok at the end of tgwdlm it was sad and scary that emma was still in character and screaming for help but i'm just imagining as everyone bows in a line emma just screaming and staggering around again even though this is black friday and it would be really weird but my brain's also weird - tim died alone in the car :( - fuck nora

[yhtaejoon]

hi! this is chey, i was here close to opening with kim1 (kim joonwoo), but i got really busy with a new job and accidentally dipped. i’m so so sorry for that! anyway, here’s taejoon’s unfinished info page & his pinterest board. this is rushed so it’s probably gonna be messy??? idk. we’re all in this together. hmu on discord if that’s your thing --- pepper#4940

full name is kang taejoon, but he has no affiliation with the kang family. he’s actually filling the role of daebak8! i checked the last names to make sure he didn’t have the same one as one of the families but alas, my pea-brain still failed me.

on that note, he’s a tiktoker born in 2000. started on vine in 2012, but didn’t actually get serious about his online presence until 2014-ish and IMMEDIATELY started lying about his life because what else is a fourteen year old gonna do online?

lied about his age, his hobbies, his family, his experiences, etc. he just really, really wanted to seem interesting, and hey! it worked! he eventually fooled thousands of people into thinking he’s someone worth their time. chased trends like crazy, kept in close touch with his “fanbase”, picked up sponsorships all while keeping his ACTUAL life completely secret basically. got very comfortable with lying.

he was always pretty obsessed with the attention because he lost his popularity when he stopped playing soccer (f’s in the chat for the former athlete side of him) & getting money from promoting brands was good, too, bc while his family isn’t necessarily lower class, they could still use some help. plus he needed cash to buy anime merch.

flash forward to 2020. he graduated high school in early 2019, still has no desire to go to college or get a “real” job. he has it made rn living in the daebak house and creating online content still. living the life.

except not really because how fulfilling can it honestly be to watch thousands of people becoming fond of ur fake persona? he still lies a ton, has begun to feel like no one will ever like him for who he actually is bc it’s quite disappointing in comparison to the always ON persona he shows. 

his tiktok user name is “beetlejoon” which is a play on beetlejuice if you couldn’t tell dshbfvds.

he speaks english really well from a mix of classes when he was young, growing up online and trying to appeal to westerners, and watching a ton of western shows/films. he does kind of have an accent but for the most part.... a lot of ppl who only know him online assume he lives in america/is from america.

the rumor about him buying views/followers is definitely true. he’s not losing popularity or anything, he just wants to look even more relevant than he actually is.

cries himself to sleep like every night but you’d NEVER guess. he’s super funny when he’s around people, knows what people want and will do anything he can to blend in and make everyone like him. needs that validation so bad. life of the party.

flirts a lot for no other reason than he can and he likes the validation of people flirting back! but his love life is hectic and always disappointing. on one hand, he knows a ton of his followers are delusional w the idea that they can be with him and he doesn’t wanna lose followers by being Unavailable. on the other hand, can’t risk being too close with anyone and them finding out nothing he says is true. heehee.

he follows whatever trends are in at the moment, so he owns a ton of dumb shit that will never be practical/clothes he’ll never wear in public/probably has dumb tattoos he got impulsively.

his trademark thing (that he stole Obviously) is a broken heart that he draws on his cheekbone Every Single Day. probably claims that it’s a tattoo just to fuck with his followers but there’s those odd times when it’s not there and everyone’s confused.

wears all black usually, lots of chains, leather, platform boots, dangly earrings, but he’s not the kind of guy your parents worn you about. he couldn’t be scary if he tried. he’s CLEARLY just a tiktok e-boy. he’s more like the lowlife your parents compare you to to make you feel better about how slow your life is moving.

while we’re talking about parents.... his gave up on him when he moved into the daebak house. he tries to give them money and support them but they won’t have it. decline his calls. don’t write him back. they think he’s mad embarrassing which is... fair. his tiktok presence is definitely questionable

likes to be funny and make people laugh, but he actually cannot take anything seriously even if he tries. this definitely gets on peoples’ nerves, has probably ended some good friendships/relationships/whatever else. sometimes he can lighten the mood if it’s dark but most of the time it just pisses people off bc it seems like he doesn’t care/doesn’t understand.

idk what else to say but if you’ve read this far and you like music, two songs that i heavily associate with taejoon are cotton candy by yungblud and lowkey as hell by waterparks. listen to them if you want... or don’t.

i don’t have a plots page put together yet, but here are some vague ideas i have:

(0/2) --- past tinder dates whom he lied to about his age and it came out somehow </3 maybe he tried to take them to a bar and he got caught with a fake id. maybe they went snooping and found out none of his info adds up. either way, the dates were short-lived and they probably clowned him pretty hard.

(0/?) --- fans of his tiktok page.

(0/?) --- alternatively, people who know of his tiktok page and think it’s dumb.

(0/1) --- another influencer who is jealous of his following, thinks he doesn’t deserve it.

(0/1) --- another influencer who “beefs” with him online so they both get more views.

(0/1) --- another influencer he collabs with a lot, even if their content is completely different. they’re friends, so might as well piggyback of each other’s popularity!

(0/1) --- close friend who makes frequent appearances on his tiktok, usually for relationship trends bc he doesn’t have an actual partner to film them with. usually acting like clowns, clearly faking but his fans still think it might be real. 

(0/1) --- someone he hooked up with at one (or more) of the daebaek house parties and ghosted afterwards. completely acts like he doesn’t know them. oops.

(0/?) --- friends to do dumb shit with. he’s impulsive and just hates to be alone (especially when doing stuff that might get him in trouble) so you could say these are his accomplices. if he wants to do things he’ll regret, they’re always in!

(0/?) --- some mellow friends who balance out his chaos.

(0/1) --- the one (1) friend he got matching tattoos with on impulse. probably something really stupid. the one thread that holds their friendship together when they fight.

(0/1) --- someone who holds themselves to really high standards, takes life seriously. thinks they’re better than taejoon and doesn’t hesitate to show it.

(0/1) --- ex partner who broke up with taejoon because (1) he wouldn’t stop lying to them, (2) he still claimed to be single online and (3) he just cracked jokes when they tried to talk out their problems, wouldn’t really listen. probably hate him now but he’s really sorry. please accept these (cheap, probably wilting) apology flowers.

i want every plot. all of them. anything u can throw at me! but if i kept typing ideas out, i’d be at this forever and we really can’t have that. so just hit me up if any of these catch your attention or if you’ve got anything you think he’d fit!