#i really like how you write her dialogue and i think you balance the nasty parts of her personality really well with the charming parts

[casualhedonists]

My girlfriend (ohstardew) started gushing about this story one day and I asked for the link because I was curious, and I can’t tell the amount of times we’ve chatted about it since as I’ve read through it to catch up. I wanted to share my thoughts in a comment so:

— Your writing is stellar. I can’t say this enough, it’s full of tension and drive, well-paced and with dialogue that feels like it is covering two layers at once. You embody need and lust with such a deft hand. — The power play in part 3 leading into their heated exchange, my god, the tension between them, the back and forth. You get the emotional beats down so well in this, this slow build heightening towards what we inevitably want to happen (even though I was biting my hand expecting it) — The start of part 4 with Snow was excellent hook to get me jumping into the story with bated breath and excitement. The way the reader raises the stakes, never easing up on the barbs and jabs and little daggers thrown his way, riling him up, oh it’s so good. — “Because I think you like chasing me.” This hits so hard and it’s such a good thematic statement of their dynamic. — The scene where she’s in his room showering and using his cologne… It’s such a small thing but it definitely is up there in my favorite parts of this whole story. — ok wait sorry for the full quote but “You faltered, if only for a few moments. Your pride wavering as you heard the want drip from his voice, still getting used to his eyes skating across your skin” (and its entire paragraph) is such good prose. I re-read it several times to savour it fully. The toxic jealousy that begins running at full steam ahead from this scene too, how it draws them closer into this messy spiral! Delicious. — It’d be remiss to not talk about the sex but the rising tension and climax it’s so good my brain kind of short-circuits. Getting Snow to snap and do it was such a deliciously long tease, the excitement paying off in the long run. (Sidebar but the warnings are good, thank you.) — The world-building and details you infuse into this makes it come alive so well. I cannot overstate how much it adds to the story, and how vividly it jumps off the screen because of that. It makes the reader-character feel more fleshed out and realized as an actual character anchored in the world, and had me hooked from the first chapter. There’s something to her that makes me root for her to get the one-up on Snow at times, even though I KNOW. That’s the power of your writing! — When she finds the drawer.. It felt like everything fell out from underneath her, in the most tantalizing and thrilling way possible. The heel turn in his treatment, the fury and rage and power oozing from him as he becomes so mean and nasty, it’s amazing. The sheer humiliation of how he treats her and yet she reacts the way she does!!!! (I think you did great navigating that dubcon scene fwiw. Really well balanced.) — You navigate smut and all its physical intricacies, the shame and want, the lust and filth, with pinpoint precision. I was re-reading trying to pick out a specific moment I liked the most, and really, all of it is so good it’s hard to choose. But the way you write Snow paying so much attention to the clit is top-tier. I keep lingering on that detail each time I read a scene, because it’s so perfect. It hits in all the right ways.

Finally, I appreciate all you do with this story. I could wait months if necessary, as long as you get the time you need to comfortably write. Thank you so much for sharing this.

best. ask. EVER.

oh my god. i absolutely was squealing reading this, i was so excited for your comment (your gf told me you were reading the fic despite it not being your usual go to pairing and so i was equally nervous and excited!! i know you’re a fellow writer too so i was anticipating your thoughts all the more) what an utter delight to wake up to.

i’m so beyond happy you enjoyed the fic so much, honestly can’t begin to describe how happy it made me reading through your thoughts!! and pls don’t apologise for quoting me back bc that’s my absolute favorite thing to see, best feedback imo is seeing which parts stuck out to people!! esp when the coincide with the parts i myself really loved writing.

chapter three is probably my favorite i can’t lie. she’s my little baby, i’m so proud of the dialogue there bc it’s something i used to struggle a lot with in the past so it was a benchmark of sorts! i’m so happy you enjoyed the prose as well as the little details. i love world building and sometimes wonder if it’s too much so i’m extra glad i stuck to my guns here.

hearing encouragement on the smut aspect too is like. THE best compliment, bc this is my first time posting smut, let alone a whole series full. so i love hearing what you enjoyed and i’ll absolutely be taking that into account going forward as i navigate the final chapter!! also so happy you liked the dubcon scene, your gf might have mentioned i was anxious as all hell working my way around that but ultimately im v happy with how it turned out.

again, thank you so so much for such a fleshed out comment, it means more than you could possibly know. as i’m sure you know being a fellow writer the process can really tire you out leaving you sort of numb to the content you’ve written, at a certain point while editing i start to question if any of it is even Good, but comments like yours really cement in why i do this and why i stick it out 🤍🤍🤍🤍

[kyogre-blue]

Oh, huh. what bugged me abt that isn't that they couldn't - after all the alliance HAS been in constant conflict ever since they decided to hunt down the Abundance - it was that, out in the whole wide universe...how the hell is the xianzhou the ONLY ONES who care abt a planet being destroyed? like rlly? yes, maybe in a cosmic scale there's multiple planets dying, but he's asking people for help, not the universe! ugh. can't they set up an intergalactic donations box or something?

well, companion quests are like... genshin story quests/hangout events, except w at least two playable characters talking to each other, but idk what you consider relevant context to main missions if you're skipping dialogue. ik Yanqing has a bit of an arc abt learning moves from jingliu and he meets jingliu in the companion quest > adapts jingliu's moves in mq boss fight (in a blink and you'll miss it line that wasn't at all clear but there you go) > succesfully replicates her move in climax of Finest Duel (II), so it may seem to come out of nowhere if you don't do it. like it's definitely not one of the better companion quests, you could just watch the cutscenes and get the idea, but it's one of the most relevant ones. Do you count trailblaze continuance as main story, or...?

The animations Ichor of Two Dragons and A Flash are much cooler than what actually went down in the luofu so I can dream lmao. But for real, who wrote those? They should actually write in the game. They know how to set up a climax, for one.

Characterwise you won't care, but fandom liked to characterise yanqing as a brat and a punching bag until he finally got a W in recent quests and I'm sick and tired of it so...

intro in mq as fighting prodigy who hits his first major roadblock (aka loses badly three times in a row to legendary fighters, one in his cq and two in mq. he's unfortunately infamous for this) > gets his insecurities aired out against his will, we learn that he has lost all his confidence and is desperate to prove himself > trying to balance acceptance of his limits with knowledge that they don't define him, compare and contrast w a new child prodigy chara who IS actually immature so we can see his growth.

Anyways I don't want to start more live service games so between geshin and hsr I honestly like hsr more. gl w your sunday and aventurine pulls!

Hm, well...

There was one thing I noticed, and that is how the game says "no one helps others out of the goodness of their hearts" in almost the exact same words over and over again.

I think I saw it first in Wardance, where it seemed to be part of Topaz explaining her section away as just teaching Belobog an important life lesson, that they can't keep relying on the MC to solve their problems and/or support them. They have to stand up on their own because the universe is a big, scary place full of nasty, powerful organizations (like... the IPC, presumably).

But this is also repeated at least twice in Belobog, whenever we try to say that we're here to deal with the Stellaron. Everyone immediately goes "oh, just because you're nice?? sus, we don't believe you, you're obviously lying."

And then, it has also already been brought up again in Luofu (I'm still on the first act). "Oh, you're here to deal with the Stellaron? Like you always do on multiple worlds, as we've heard since we know about the Astral Express already? Sus, no one does things out of principles, you're lying."

So at the very least, the writers really love having the altruism of the main crew questioned.

But they probably also just generally believe that people are extremely selfish and will not do anything without benefit to them, so asking strangers for help is pointless and Igor was wasting his time. The correct answer was always just to go home and die fighting for his country.

(You can even tie in how the entire plot of Luofu is kicked off by Elio deciding that they need to make sure the Luofu owes the Express a huge favor, so that can be cashed in during a future battle for the sake of the universe. Because you see, the Luofu wouldn't do shit during this massive future conflict of galactic scale, where we are presumably on the side of all life and civilization, without first owing us a personal favor.)

Realistically, they're not that wrong, but I find it annoying to have this be treated as a legitimate point of distrust so often.

As for me, I..... probably still like Genshin way more. The writing is bad for both, both don't let you skip, but Genshin has way more to do.

[luaspersona]

rid 😳 what 😳 is 😳 this

explain it to me so i can know EXACTLY what i need to look for in other stories, cus omg i was crying 😭

i’ve never read such a cute and sexy seokjin, like really, how were you able to compose him so well? his interactions with hobi, him cooking and being all lovely and then suddenly he’s licking cupcake off her chest like 🗣

and then he goes on to say

Seokjin wouldn’t admit it out loud, but sometimes Hoseok’s duality scared him.

as if his own duality here isn’t concerning for my health!!! this man istg

the first scene of him and hobi just talking and teasing each other was so sweet and it made me miss jin so much omfg😩 my heart is all warmed up because of it now

also, hobi is in my bias line so i couldn’t really help falling in love with him being all drunk and sleepy while still trying to wash the mushrooms for jin like 🔪😠 so freaking cute, i’ll lowkey pretend i’m siyeon, thank you

an oh boy, i love me a man who can cook, but he actually did a three course meal? not that i would pass on the nasty but oh girl you can’t just let that go to waste babe, a hufflepuff could never 😭

now onto the smut

that’s it, thank you for coming to my ted talk 🫡

lol just kidding.

but damn if that wasn't super freaking sexy 😩 the way you wrote and lead on everything and when he licked cupcake off her chest?????? girl i wasn’t ready in the slightest and i’m UNWELL

their dialogue during it, him asking for consent, she asking him to fuck 👏🏽 her 👏🏽 mouth 👏🏽 in the name of all of us mortals 

not to mention he going down on her later?? after he came?? wth, honestly, fictional gryffindor seokjin that cooks and it’s sweet and pines over his best friend and eats her out to make sure she comes after him will be my epitaph🙏🏽

but rid, for real? i wanted to say how mesmerized i am by your writing. i think you are able to hold our attention with such eloquence without ever getting dull or too fast or something. you have an amazing control of information too: you now how to give us enough descriptions and background so we are contextualized in the scenes, but you never let it overtake the dialogue or the action per say, it’s all really balanced.

beside that, i loved the way you changed to the reader’s perspective to let us know how she was taking jin’s gesture and how she also had feelings for him, it made everything so special and nice to follow! and if you did all that and showed all that skill in a pwp i honestly can’t wait (although i must say i’m pretty scared too) to read your other works. i’m slow to read everything, but you can surely expect me to come for you 🏃🏽‍♀️

all because of you | ksj (m)

Summary: They say food is the ultimate way to someone’s heart. It would be a shame if Seokjin didn’t at least try to confirm this belief.

pairing: Seokjin x female reader

genre: fantasy, f2l, HP!au; fluff, smut

word count: 8.3k

warnings: hobi is drunk and a dork; explicit sexual content: oral (f. & m. receiving), mouth fucking, rough blowjob, cum play, orgasm denial, dom!seokjin, big dick!seokjin, food play kinda, penetrative sex, fingering, creampie, soft sex turns rough, squirting, unprotected sex (be careful !!); one small harmless mention of pot :)) not a lot of hp references tbh, u could honestly read it w/o the universe knowledge, too!

a/n: omg i cannot !!! believe that my lovely, talented baby @hoebii​ and i have only two fics in this series lefffttt !!! and this one’s for the true maknae of our favourite group, one of the sweetest, sassiest, most caring and chaotic people in this world; i hope mr. worldwide handsome gets all the happiness he deserves and we adore him and love him to the moon and back <3 happy birthday, jin 🥺 <3

credits: thank u @jjksblackgf​ & @joyfulhopelox​ for beta’ing this on such short notice, u two own our heart <333

DISCLAIMER: we changed the HP canon slightly due to the nsfw nature of this fic: in that sense, all characters are adults, even if the original story suggests otherwise!

⁂ part of the amortentia chronicles

MASTERLIST | WIPs

“So, how’s it going with your girl?”

With a light flinch of his body, Seokjin broke out of his constant daydream when Hoseok blurted out the question curiously, shamelessly – it was an inquiry that the older man had been fearing for weeks and months now, and it seemed like doom had finally arrived.

Tired eyes blinked and his teeth took his lower lip captive, faux confusion taking over his features as he asked, “Who?”

“That again,” Hoseok chimed with a laugh as he shook his head in amusement, “so you’re really gonna pretend like your friendship with her isn’t a big deal at all, huh?” 

A brief pause settled between the men, and when Seokjin decided to play mute further, Hoseok’s expression grew unimpressed before he continued, “For someone who calls himself World Wide Handsome, you’re a real coward.”

Keep reading

[oleasters]

{ I love your portrayal!! It's so fitting. Every extra little detail you add in her mannerisms or her appearance really gives me a pleasant surprise. also your onblog humor makes me smile! }

i’m here to keep you on your toes with my Edgy Headcanons™ babey...hghkj;h thank you so much ; _ ; at least SOMEONE appreciates my shitposts

[peachchanvidel]

Hey! You mentioned you have headcanons about Kanto and Toph giving Lin The Talk. Would love to hear them if you're willing to share!

So, this could be a bit messy. Perhaps I can get some sort of order into it while writing. But probably not :"D

I also hope that some parts aren't too out of character (?) if that's possible. Honestly? I'm super nervous about this thing >< And I forgot like 90% of the dialogues I had in mind while writing this or just died in shame. And I probably adjusted so much, I'm not sure anymore what of my initial ideas is even left so things worked out.

The rough outline would be:

Toph is blunt (how could she not),

Kanto would love to avoid the whole thing, but knows he has to step in (and he isn't the type to ask others to step in instead *cough* Katara *cough*) and he will try to read guidebooks/scrolls on how to do this right, what if he missed something about the more girl-specific things? He also tries the flower and bee analogies but I'm not sure which insects to use here. (bumble fly? scorpion bee?)

Lin is too much her mother's child to be shocked and I hc her very curious: meaning she managed to read books about it (probably found Kanto's he didn't hide too well). She wants to know more, but some information is just nasty. And she isn't fond of having that conversation with her parents. Ewwww.

So she watches her parents struggle (and how much they struggle…) but she suffers, too:

"EWW, MOM, NO. That's disgusting! Don't make me imagine that?!''

"Why would anybody do that, sounds painful… wait, how big would that thing be…? What. HELL NO."

"DAD, WHAT… THAT DOESN'T MAKE SENSE! I can never look at flowers again if you continue this!"

also "*hides her face because she isn't sure if she should cry, laugh or groan in despair*"

[L: "So all of this nonsense just to tell me how babies are made. And that it's incredibly painful."

T: "Having them is painful, making them feels pretty good."

K: "Don't tell her that!"

T: "Just telling the truth." *shrugs* "She'll find out soon enough"

L: "…"

T: "And the baby making itself takes only a few minutes anyway."

L: "Mom, stop…"

T: "Listen, badgermole… you'll start to understand this when you fall in love. Or feel… needs. Sometimes you'll even just think somebody is kinda… hot?"

L: "...Can I go to my room, now…?"

K: *wants to leave as well*

T:  "And we can't miss the chance to teach you before you do something you perhaps don't understand…"

L: "Just say 'No'..."]

and at some point decides to work on her interrogation skills (spoiler: they suck).

When the point of appropriate age and serious relationships come up Lin sees her chance, looks Kanto in the eye (it's no use with Toph after all) and deadpans: "Ah…! So I was planned?" 

She knows she was born before her parents were even engaged, so why not imply why they couldn't keep their pants on until they were married. 

Kanto is actually getting more serious now:

After a heavy sigh he tells her that he is aware, that she isn't too interested in that whole thing just yet, but that's why they talk now and not when it's 'too late'. And they try to teach it their own way and not just give her some scroll to learn from, so she knows she can come to them if something's up they haven't discussed yet. They want her to be prepared.

And yes, they weren't planning on having a child back then, but they were certainly old enough to handle it. So even if they weren't peak role models here considering what they are preaching right now, that's not really an issue and it's certainly not a reason to judge anybody or be smug about. And he hopes she isn't implying that they regret something here. At this point Lin actually feels sorry for overstepping and apologizes but even Toph was one step away from trying to mediate now. 

Kanto continues that he wants to trust her, that he knows it will sometimes be difficult to resist, like it happened between him and Toph, but he hopes that she will know better in most cases and that she knows how far she can go and who she should trust and that a 'No' can sometimes be a very good test of character for the other party. (With every sentence he looks more worried and troubled and sounds less angry, but frustrated.)

But he still is her father and he will set certain boundaries while she is a minor, even if she feels ready, to keep her safe. 

And no matter how old she is, he will always look out for her (and no matter how awful her judgement was in retrospect). And she can always come to them, and will always get their support.

Later he adds that 'as soon as it's necessary' Toph will have to see a healer with her so she learns about contraceptives and will be able to use them. And he will only get involved in that if she wants him to. And here he is so obviously uncomfortable with the whole situation and how his emotions got the better of him.

[Later when Lin is in her room again:

T: "Oh come on, Hotshot, do you want to protect her until she is 30?" *pats his back*

K: "YES..! … …. …. ~No. I know I can't..."

T: "She'll do fine… you did good. Speech was a bit long though."

K: "You could have helped a bit."

T: "Naah… and your flower metaphors were adorable. Very girly."

K: "And you sounded like an anatomy scroll! Or a pro-bending commentator."

T: *looks proud* We are a good team! You really needed to be balanced out at some points!

K: "...!" *pouts* *after all he wanted to weaken HER blows*

Then they both start laughing, because the whole thing was so damn awkward.

Lin shouting out of her room: "THAT WAS NOT FUNNY AT ALL!"]

If Lin has siblings they had to wait in their respective rooms during the whole ordeal and are very confused what they have missed. "Lin, what did you talk about! I want to know, too" "No, you really don't..." "Are you in trouble?" "No...?" "Hmm... MOOOOOM...! Did Lin do smth bad?" (Oh well, they love each other, but also drive each other nuts lol)

[thoughtsofanexcitedspacechild]

Writing Tips (Pt. 3): Writing Believable and shippable relationships in literature.

Hello friends! First of all, let me say a HUGE thank you for the support on the Kataang post! I worked really hard on it and it means so much to me all the little notes you give it and reblog it! I know it’s not at a huge number of notes, but I like knowing that people took time to read through the endless rant and reblog it! I’m planning on doing another full analysis on Zutara and why specifically it doesn’t work. I’ll make it respectful though as I know that a lot of Kataang fans are REALLY defensive and anti-zutara. I promise I’m not one of those people, and believe that no matter who you ship, your opinions on fictional characters are your opinions and you are FULLY entitled to ship and like whatever you want (as long as it’s not incest or a huge age gap. PLEASE don’t ship that stuff lol. U nasty mfs know who u are.) Speaking of ships, let’s talk about writing them. Writing ships for movies, books, shows, etc. can be surprisingly hard. Writing characters themselves can be hard enough as it is, but writing a pair of characters that fit together like a puzzle piece can feel impossible. Nevertheless, I’m here to make that process a little bit easier. When I’m trying to set up a relationship that’s going to happen, here are some things that I keep in mind to make sure that I and the audience of my writing  ship the characters I have end up together. 

DISCLAIMER before I get a’rantin: I am by NO means telling you how or what to write and am by NO means a professional writer of any sorts. I’m doing this mostly because I write a lot and speak from my own personal experiences with writing and because these are just the things that I found work best when writing my own stories. I also read and analyze a lot of others work on my own personal time, and these are just the details that I pick up on that I find makes a piece of writing effective. With that in mind, remember that writing is and art form, and the beauty of that is that there’s no one right way to do it. Ever. You can read the same thing as another person and interpret it in a completely different and unique way. 

1. Complementary Characters usually work out best. 

This is more than the classic “opposite’s attract” theory, and characters don’t necessarily have to be opposite to be complementary. Some things to think about when thinking of and writing complementary characters:

-Complementary doesn’t necessarily mean complete opposite in every single way. Often times I find it much more helpful to have characters share a common interest in hobbies, upbringing, childhood trauma (that one’s a bit overdone these days), etc. so that they’re not butting heads all the time. Just like yin and yang, theres a bit of darkness in the light and vice versa. To keep the balance harmonious, you can’t have characters be polar opposites and have no common ground. That leads to what many people consider a toxic ship, and will either lead to an unrealistic balance that inevitably leads your characters to be fighting all the time. 

-Keeping common interests in mind, often times the paces where character’s contrast is in their personalities. (Shy and bold, heart and head, bubbly and brooding, quiet and gregarious, etc.) Different personalities often are able to balance each other out and hold each other accountable for their weaknesses.

-Going off of that, one character’s strength is another’s weakness, and all traits are both. A character’s empathy can lead them to be loved by many, but may cause them to starve themselves and drain their cup so there’s none left to take care of themselves. A character’s logic may lend them top of class or calm in stressful situations, but can lead them to be insensitive to others and even their own emotions. Your characters should balance each other out and work well together, and part of this is helping each other grow from their weakness. 

-This one isn't as important, but what I also find super compelling, especially in film and tv shows is when the authors/writers deliberately choose to give the characters complementary color palettes. (I dove more into this on my Kataang analysis so go read that if you’re super interested.) If the character’s look ascetically pleasing together, it makes shipping them a whole lot easier. Focus on orange and blue, yellow and purple, red and green, and any variation of those colors together. 

2. Buildup

Often times one of the biggest critiques of ships that just don’t work out is that there’s not enough buildup or foundation to have a romantic relationship. It seems obvious, but if you’re going to have them end up together, there’s going to need to be some buildup or else the entire relationship will feel wrong and contrived no matter how pleasant you make it. 

Some tips for increasing and establishing buildup:

-Have your otp spend time together as friends first. I personally find that the healthiest and most successful ships are friends before they’re lovers. This is why Kataang specifically works so well, but Korrasami, Romionie, and Liesel and Rudy from the Book Thief are all good examples. If you observe these ships, all of these characters spend time together as friends first. Korra and Asami were able to bond and become friends over a toxic guy (cough cough MAKO) and eventually developed feelings for one another. Ron and Hermione weren’t romantically interested in other people and were friends until they started seeing other people and found out they liked each other. Liesel and Rudy were best friends before anything else and Liesel didn’t realize her feelings until it was too late. 

-Time together. When your otp spends time together, make sure that whatever time is being spent together is time that they both enjoy. No, the activity itself doesn’t have to be enjoyable to both characters, but the time spent together should be. If the characters really aren’t enjoying the time spent together, then it’s never gonna work out. I’ll use the ship that I’m writing as an example. Currently, I’m in the process of writing a third atlas series and we’ll use my characters Liang and Hana. (Yea I used my own name for one of my characters. I think it suits her bc she’s basically my clone, just, she’s the avatar. I’m going to change both of their names once I do more research and can find culturally and historically accurate names.) Liang REALLY loves pro-bending matches. Hana, not so much. She still goes with him to see matches and attends his matches when she can. On the flip side, Hana really loves going to her favorite tea shop. Liang vastly prefers a strong cup of coffee, but he goes with her anyways. Why would they choose to do something that they don’t necessarily like? Because that’s more quality time spent with each other and doing something for the other person. 

3. Romantic Gestures

Going off of my last point, we have the art of romantic gestures. These can range to things anywhere from a hug, to an elaborate firework display, to a locket with both of their pictures in it. Make sure that the romantic gestures are there! It’s gotta be clear that both characters are thinking about one another and consciously choose to do something for the other person. Here are some fun ways to do it:

-Remembering a gift the other character wanted. This one’s cliche but it works, because often times the best way to show affection is through physical gifts and objects. Think coffee from a favorite shop, handwritten notes, that piece of clothing the other has been eyeing, etc. 

-~symbolism~ *add chime here* By that I mean have an object to symbolize their relationship with, like Korrasami’s iconic hair pin or Liesel’s book that Rudy retrieved for her. This way, the readers not only have a visual representation of their favorite ships, but the object can physically link characters together and make a vague relationship full cannon. (I know for sure that someday when I get a tattoo, I want the hairpin tattooed on my wrist, ankle or side of my body.) 

-PDAs. Works best in film and visual stuff, but still applies for everything. I’m talking cuddles, kisses, falling asleep in each other’s arms, the whole shebang. I mean how much clearer can you make it than a pda?

-Love languages. Each person loves in their own unique way. Have characters figure out and learn each other’s love language. It really shows and adds a whole other layer to the cake. This one can make a ship that feels a little bland have more depth and realism, because in the real world, healthy relationships are formed and aided by learning and applying each other’s love language. 

4. Dialogue. This one can be hard to master, but once you do, it’s a breeze. First off, I recommend getting all your ideas out, and editing. DON’T EDIT AS YOU GO! This is often tedious and super annoying, so get everything out first, and go from there once you have a decent amount to work with. Dialogue is tricky, because dialogue in and of itself is meant to communicate and express feelings. Here are some tips and steps to at least get a start: 

a. Know EXACTLY how your characters feel about one another, and make that evident through communication. It seems obvious (again) but this really helps and I find that putting myself in the character’s shoes for a second and really thinking about it helps to decide exactly what they would say in a given situation, especially if the scene you’re writing involves confrontation about feelings for one another. 

b. Dialogue is more than just talking. Body language, tone, facial expressions, etc. are all part of dialogue too and are SUPER important! In the real world, humans communicate through more than just words, and sometimes a playful grin, grimace, crossed arms, or pout is much more effective than a character outright saying something. 

c. Once you’ve written the dialogue out, be concise and smart about your dialogue and pare it down as much as you can. Often times, adding too much dialogue can make a scene boring and flat. Use your words sparingly! The purpose of writing is to covey a story or message and often times this can be done effectively with less words rather than more. The main point in dialogue itself is to provide necessary context and information. Otherwise, don’t use it.

d. Make sure the conversation is two sided. This (say it with me now) SEEMS OBVIOUS, but make sure that both people are talking/communicating. it’s a conversation, not a speech. (Unless it is a speech or declaration of some sort.)

Before I go: A QUICK (Long) PSA ON TOXIC SHIPS: 

The concept of a toxic ship is very common in a lot of literature. Often times writers choose to include elements that may be toxic to heighten romantic tension in a story. While I do recognize that this sometimes may be a stylistic choice, there are MUCH better and effective ways to create tension that having something be toxic. Toxic relationships in my opinion share one purpose, and that is to establish a relationship’s toxicity and ineffectiveness. I don’t recommend writing these into a story unless it’s an obstacle for your characters to overcome, and having a character forgive the toxic actions of another character and still end up with them isn’t the right move because it completely disregards and diminishes the effects of what happened previously.

One of the best examples I can think of is Reylo from the new sw trilogy. I did touch on this briefly in a couple of my earlier posts (The Effect Of Modern Day SW characters and My Tips for Writing (In General) which I highly suggest you go read bc they both took me a bit of time and state the purpose more in depth) but I think I’ll quick reiterate and say that it wasn’t a good choice on the writer’s part to have some of the dialogue be so intense and vicious and then have them end up together. I still like the idea of Ben Solo and Rey together and ship them together out of cannon, but in cannon, it’s the perfect example of an ineffective ship. There was little to no build up, the dialogue was often spiteful and sharp, and it escalated a bit too quickly. I would’ve liked to see more of Ben Solo (NOT Kylo) and him feeling sorry for and repenting for the bad that he’s done before he and Rey end up together. Yes, we’re all suckers for the enemies to lovers trope, but PLEASE make sure to filter out the toxins before boarding your ships and watching them sail. 

That’s it for now! I hope this helps a little when writing shippable characters! I’m always free to rant to and to critique. I’m going to start posting as much as I can, because these guides help me too! Check out my other ones if you’d like to know tips for writing in general and I made another one on how to write characters. 

[septiembrre]

Every even number for get to be mine.

OH MY GOD, THIS IS OVERWHELMING!!!! But, I’m going to do it anyway because I LOVE Get to Be Mine. This story is everything to me -- like it is seriously my most favorite daydream -- and I need to get over myself and write the next chapter. I’m just a little intimidated about what I want to get done and stalling because of it. 

Which scene was your favorite to write in Get To Be Mine?

I love writing all the Beth/Rio scenes confrontations. Oh god, I just went to go to pull a quote and now here’s this too-long thing:

“Oh my god. Don’t be—” her voice lowers to a whisper, even though there’s no one around to overhear, “—indecent.”

“You started it.”

“I was talking about actual muffins.”

Rio’s still snickering as he asks, “What else you got?”

“Well, again you said had said our first date was at a bar? Where were you going with that?” Well, she knows. Half of their interactions have been at a bar, his bars. The other half on park benches and picnic tables.

“Oh yeah, your old story. One-night stand—excuse me, day stand. I fucked you on top of your blueberry pancakes? I mean that’s not exactly appropriate for our future company, either.”

It’s an admission of his own.

In a kind of distant, disassociating way, she can acknowledge that Rio’s point tally has just superseded hers by a million. There will never be hope of point recovery. She really doesn’t have the emotional energy to finish this conversation. So, it just comes out.

“He told you?”

“Yeah.” Rio bites his lip, nodding. Her eyes can’t help but zero in, even while experiencing unprecedented levels of distress. She tries to summon her strength as Rio says, “Good story, though.”

I’m obsessed with writing this shit. Their scenes are getting WAY out of hand. The above is only a rather tiny fraction of an absurdly long scene. Thanks to everyone who sits through reading this monster.

I also am enjoying branching out a bit and writing the Ruby+Annie+Beth interactions, Beth+Marjorie and Beth+her kids. It will come as a surprise to no one but I love writing Beth in relation to other women. 

If you could change anything in Get To Be Mine, what would it be?

Lol, I’d re-write the whole first fucking chapter and give it a much more realistic timeline. 

I also started this fic without having plotted much of it. I was sure at the time it would be a three-parter (jajajaja as if!). It wasn’t until @foxmagpie prodded me with many helpful, gracious questions that I finally was pushed to more fully outline GTBM and well, now it’s fully plotted. 

I try not to be too hard on myself for it but I worry folks won’t be able to get past the first chapter, and I do wish I would have realized that outlines are my friends and totally accessible to me before I did. But, it’s okay! I’ve learned now at least.

Which scenes did you cut, and which were added in Get To Be Mine?

Lollll, the issue with Get To Be Mine is that I have absolutely no control and really struggle with cutting anything from it -- especially dialogue. Idk, I’m the type of person to have three-hour-long conversations on the phone with my friends and all of this is exactly how I’ve ended up with these hideously long conversations in the fic but, it is what it is. The dialougue makes me so happy. 

Hm... I’m trying to think of a juicier detail. I did almost cut this Ruby+Beth+Annie scene I ended up enjoying a ton. 

"And that was two years ago,” Beth adds. “Before all the nasty, terrible stuff. We don’t even know if he’s ever, you know…” Her mouth opens making what she’s sure are ridiculous configurations as she flounders, “ —cared.”

Annie’s jaw hangs open for a moment. Then she pulls it together and addresses Ruby first, “Okay, I love my sister, so stop trying to guilt me. Maybe what they need is to finally fuck again and get over whatever this is.” Ruby raises her eyebrows, considering Annie’s point but with a formidable amount of hesitation, as Beth splutters indignantly again.

Annie turns to her sister. “And Beth, I know homeboy has been super shady about his feelings but he has them.” Beth shakes her head, but Annie nods adamantly back at her. “They are in there somewhere because, bizarrely, we are all still alive.”

She pauses to knock on the wooden surface of the worktable, and murmurs a quick, Rest in peace, Lucy. Ruby crosses herself. For a second, Beth’s stomach plummets, and fuzzy words for an old prayer tug at her brain. She curls her fingers around the edge of the table to steady herself, focusing on the sturdy wood top as she processes what Annie said. Somehow despite the grief and all of the terrible things, it feeds the kernel of warmth inside of her.

“Is he the ideal romantic prospect? Nope, definitely not.” Annie’s lips pop and enunciate the ‘puh’.  Beth marvels at how her little sister can always find room for irreverence. “And no matter how this fake-dating sitch goes, I have to make it clear that you are not allowed to become his wife-in-crime or whatever. But, maybe you guys can go through the motions—” Annie thrusts a little with her hips, rocking on the stool. “Bone, y’know.”

Which came first, the title or the fic?

The fic! 

I had been thinking about a fake-dating Beth/Rio premise for months. Then, a fake dating prompt was listed in the GG Ficathon last May so I claimed it as a way to get myself to finally write this out. I had never written anything longer than 4k or a multi-chapter and at the time I was really scared to claim what I had then imagined would be a three-parter. I had never thought I could ever outline something, much less pull together multiple arcs or incorporate themes. 

*laughs nervously* Technically, I still haven’t but I’m on my way. And, GTBM won’t be perfect when it’s all done but it’s so much fun. I love it. It’s my 2020 comfort puzzle. 

What are some facts readers may not know about Get To Be Mine?

I don’t know if this will truly surprise anyone but I am really loving exploring:

- Beth intentionally parenting and thinking through how to be closer to her children

- Beth’s friendship with Ruby, and her relationship with Annie

- Beth finding her footing in independence

- Beth building a new friendship with Marjorie, a legitimate cool person who is not part of the PTA crew/Beth’s old bubble. 

- Beth being pushed to think about her own grief from her childhood and her compartmentalization of her mother’s death through witnessing the Vandenberg siblings grieve their own mother who passed at a more natural time in life. 

- Beth low-key exploring more about her own pleasure aka masturbating in the peace and quiet of her new apartment. Hahahaha. I worry about her and how much stress I give her in my fics, and try to balance it with moments of respite, too. 

ANYWAY! Thanks, everyone for coming to my rant about Get To Be Mine. Always down to talk meta about it. 

[ficswithluv]

Hello hello it’s me again. For this week’s theme, I’d like to recommend:

“This Tiny Space” by Miss @ubemango!!!

Now, listen. You know how this fandom seems to collectively agree that Yoongi is the MOST HUSBAND out of all the 7 members? We always scream “YOONGI HUSBAND” because of this... aggressively domestic energy he exudes?

He’s capable. Trustworthy. Reliable. Dependable. In possession of endless knowledge of things that seem trivial, but VERY MUCH helpful in day-to-day life. An AMAZING cook. Good with his hands *winks* (no, but really. He’s pretty much the boys’ handyman around the house). Quick thinker. More than knows his stuff when it comes to architecture and interior design. Oh, also, he wants to be close to his future kids.

Oh, yeah. A husband, indeed.

Now. What if I tell you that miss @ubemango here created a UNIVERSE where THAT Min Yoongi, with ALL of those husbandly qualities, EXISTS AS A HAPPILY MARRIED SOFTWARE ENGINEER WITH AN AMAZINGLY ADORABLE 3-YEAR-OLD BABY NAMED MIN SOONBOK??

Oh. Yes, yes she did. Miss @ubemango DID that. And boy, did she DO that splendidly. Perfectly splendid.

Combine that concept of Yoongi with her superb writing. Good lord, we have a LITERAL goldmine here.

Let me break it down to you to further prove my point:

1). Masterful storytelling. Here’s an example from a scene where OC (a.k.a reader, a.k.a Yoongi’s wife) gives Soonbok, their baby girl, a bath.

She does so without a word, grabbing the floating toys and placing them inside the plastic container. Thanking her softly, you give her a final rinse before draining the tub and toweling her off. She hates this part the most—it gets too cold too fast, and she’d gained the habit of running off naked into Yoongi’s arms when she was 2-years-old, prompting an especially exhausting goose chase around the room to get her into her clothes—so you dry her off as fast as you can, Soonbok’s tiny body shivering already, chanting: “Go, go, go!”

It’s not long before she’s in her pyjamas and bounding off to her daddy as you dry off the floor. It’s not nearly as wet as you’d anticipated, pride blooming in your chest as you think wistfully about how much older your daughter is getting: she didn’t even need to “clean up, clean up” the puddles on the tiles.

Now you tell me. If all of that diction or exposition or whatever is called is not impressive, then I don’t know what is.

2). WITTY, HUMOROUS, REALISTIC AND NATURAL-SOUNDING DIALOGUE. I must say, this is probably Miss @ubemango’s strongest quality. Her dialogue is TOP-NOTCH. Here’s an example (taken from a scene where Yoongi and his wife are out on a date):

Yoongi’s glaring. “Stop.”

“I don’t like the peas.”

“So that automatically means I like them?”

“No because you vowed that you would do anything for me and quite frankly eating my peas is a lot more tame than–you know. In sickness and in health, all that.” You flick another one of the mushy boogers into his Alfredo sauce with an ignorance Yoongi doesn’t hide his disdain for.

“Are you drunk?”

Your teeth are probably stained red at this point. You smile like you hope they are. “Perhaps.”

“You had a glass,” Yoongi says with disbelief.

“Well you were in the washroom longer than you thought you were, my genius.”

“Remind me not to shit at the Cheesecake Factory then.”

NOW I DONT KNOW ABOUT YOU, BUT THAT LEGIT SOUNDS LIKE SOMETHING YOU’D HEAR IN REAL LIFE. OR BETTER YET, A GENUINELY HILARIOUS COMEDIC TV SHOW. STILTED DIALOGUE WHO? MISS @ubemango SURE DOESNT KNOW THEM!

3). Nasty smut that pulls at your heartstrings. Example (taken from a scene where Yoongi “celebrates” his birthday with his wife *winks*)

It’s quick, like a flash of something sweet and you’re panting and sweating where Yoongi’s body meets yours. He still hasn’t pulled out. “Think this might be number two?”

You freeze. “You–really?”

You know he doesn’t want you to see but you feel him grin. “Yeah.”

And talks about trying again weren’t uncommon but they definitely weren’t put into action intentionally. You thought he was gonna come down your throat this morning. You’re trying not to cry. “T-Then–yeah–yeah, I hope so.” Yoongi turns your chin with a soiled finger. “Happy birthday.”

Now he’s beaming. “You make me the man I am today.”

And now you’re really crying. But he takes it in stride with a laugh and a tear of his, too.

Not gonna lie to you, the first time I read that scene I went from all ~sweaty~ to tearing up in nanoseconds. Yoongi’s THAT in love with his wife, and miss @ubemango delivered that emotion perfectly. Which brings me to my next point:

4). “SHOW, NOT TELL”. Lord, do I LOVE how miss @ubemango’s writing is the literal embodiment of that phrase. Example (taken from a scene where Yoongi tries His Absolute Best to make Soonbok finish her dinner):

“I know it looks gross but I really need you to eat this.”

Soonbok lifts her nose up. “No daddy.”

“But it tastes so good.” As good as steamed broccoli can get, and this far into dinner means it’s cold and extra unappetizing in Soonbok’s judgmental radar. Yoongi doesn’t look stressed but you think he’d rather pull his teeth. “Look, daddy will eat some. See?”

Even with his dramatic munching Soonbok looks unamused. “No!”

“Baby.”

“No daddy. No! I ‘on’t want it.”

You can’t tell me you didn’t feel joy from reading that.

5). BABY EXPERT. You love kids? Or, you love reading about kids? Then you’re going to LOVE This Tiny Space. Why, you ask? Because Miss @ubemango is somewhat of an expert when it comes to depicting babies/toddlers. Example (taken from a scene where baby Soonbok takes her first steps)

Soonbok’s not standing yet but she’s getting there. There’s spit running down her chin. Intervening with the bib might take her out of the determination that’s gotten through in her little body, though. You feel Yoongi freeze when she straightens up. “Mmmmmm!”

“Oh my god,” Yoongi says. “Do you think–”

Lala’s probably watching too. Soonbok bounces a little bit, squealing till she’s forced to take a step because she moved too hard to maintain what little balance her knees have. The stroller squeaks with the next step. You sit up with beckoning hands. “Can you come here, babes?”

She swerves hard at your call. Invigorated the way she gets when mommy and daddy are paying attention, and she giggles into a fall before getting up just as quick. She’s still trembling but she takes faster steps now. Yoongi snorts. “Look at her legs.”

You know. It’s waddling at best, and the uneven beat of her chunky legs is so cute you coo. “Oh my baby is walking. Come here!”

Honestly, this story was what incited my baby fever. Why can’t I marry this Yoongi and give birth to this particular baby? I hate my life.

Alright, so, that was getting WAY too long so I’m just going to end it right here. Nobody is going to read this unnecessarily long essay because it’s supposed to be a recommendation, but oh well. If I can convince even 1 person to give this universe a read, then my work here is done.

Also, PLEASE NOTE that Miss @ubemango gets A LOT of asks/headcanons about this universe on her blog, so be sure to check them out as well!!! She’s also written quite a lot of drabbles from this universe that she has yet to include in her masterlist, so be sure to check them out as well because I believe she at least has them tagged!!

TRUST ME WHEN I SAY YOU WILL FALL IN LOVE WITH THIS UNIVERSE. THE MIN FAMILY OF THIS UNIVERSE. GO CHECK OUT THEIR SHENANIGANS!!!!

Hi! Thank you for the rec, we’ll add it to our masterlist!

-Admin Bee

[killmebutneverinsultme2]

Rules for mobile (Pinned Post)

The Code

Success. I’ve sufficiently pestered the wench to make me a blog, much to the cost of a certain behorned mischief god whose presence I must share. Follow the rules below, and there’ll be smooth sailin’, savvy?

This be an exceptionally selective blog. I was me mun’s first ever muse yonks back and I’ve pestered her into writing me again, BUT, she’s horribly pressed for time. Partners will likely be very few, else ones doubling up with Loki’s. Anyone is welcome to approach and enquire, but she and I will be leaning toward those either from me own universe or crossovers with which she’s highly familiar and characters in whom she’s especially interested. Ye have been warned.

Replies are like to be slow, up to a few weeks at most.

Partners must be 18+. Various themes of an adult nature may be found here. Sexual things will be tagged ‘#filthy pirate’ with whatever level/variety of sin I deem them. More details below.

Behave. There shall be no rudeness, no passive aggression, no hate, no censorship or generally being a twit. Do I make meself clear?

The Code - Extended (below the cut)

Hi, guys. I’m Pirate (oddly known as this long before I made Jack a tumblr). Here are my more detailed rules and guidelines for writing with me on this blog, though the absolute basics are at the top as, honestly, it’s never easy to remember everyone’s requirements.

Jack is a sideblog. If you’re being followed by a benevolentgodloki that means I’m following you back. I don’t need us to be mutuals (both following each other) for us to write together, but there is a greater chance of us having a partnership if we’re letting each other know we’re interested.

How I Roll

I note myself as ‘highly selective’. This isn’t to be an elitist bugger, it’s because we all only have a limited amount of time we can put in. I want to write what I enjoy with people I enjoy. I am married with two attention-seeking cats, two jobs, a slow-brewing intended writing career and a video game addiction.

Asks/Memes - I will usually answer these no matter who they are from but I may or may not turn them into a thread I intend to keep. Some memes are very much designed to be something that continues so context can be key. If you would like to know in advance whether I intend to answer and/or keep something, please do pop me a message and I will be kind and honest.

My Threads - While Jack’s blog is still exciting and new, I’m being a bit all over the place with who and what I reply to depending on which way Jack’s.. compass.. is pointing. I do have a rolling turn order that I adhere to (to the point that I can genuinely tell you who is next at any given moment) but it’s all piled in with Loki’s threads, meaning I can take a few weeks to get round everything. Every partner gets one of their threads answered within that ‘round’ and then I go round again. However, when I’m really into something/finding something easy to pop back, I treat myself to spamming certain threads or partners at my whim. I use rpthreadtracker.com to maintain what I have. 

I will remind partners of threads that have not been replied to for more than three months. If I do not do this, I have either forgotten/lost it myself, I’m not too fussed about keeping it at that stage, or you were absent for a long period of time. 

My Style - I will write in both past or present tense depending on partner preference. My default is past but I like either. Please kick me if I screw up and write the wrong one. I prefer using regular size font but I will make mine small on replies to people who use the smaller so that it looks neat. I will often match partners’ lengths and some formatting details e.g. bolding dialogue, but I struggle with doing novella-length posts for reasons below.

I have a bugbear to admit about role-play. What we call splicing. A good half of my partners write this way so I’m not about to tell everyone to stop but if you’re someone who does this, you will occasionally run into some frustrations when writing with me. ‘Splicing’ is when you retrospectively write dialogue or actions as having previously happened during your partner’s last post. These things are fine when they’re passive i.e. your character muttered them, thought them or you were writing what your character was doing at the time because that’s pretty much essential. The trouble comes usually when my characters talk a lot/ask rhetorical questions and partners choose to answer every single one despite the fact my character carried on talking. I know it’s an ass that I have talkative muses and you really want to respond to every point/get a word in, but putting words and actions into the past effectively godmods my muse into accepting they happened. If you feel your muse would have full-on interjected midway through their ramble, please ask me to edit my post/stop it at that point. Otherwise if you do prefer to splice, my muse will only respond to whatever it is your character did or said last in their post. This is one of the reasons I can’t write novella, because often there is only so much you can write before you’re stepping into the territory of changing what went before and not allowing your partner to do anything about it.

TL;DR don’t ever worry about your post being too short for me. If it’s one sentence long but it’s because something fast-paced is happening, I won’t be miffed.

Shipping! - no not that kind of ship, Jack. I love shipping. Ships all around. Let’s face it, romance can be one of the most exciting reasons we bother writing. I am open to a lot of ships for Jack, practically all of them. Yes, even that one. I will do downright nasty, toxic, horrible stuff, savvy? It’s fiction and Jack is a great indulgence for bad things happening to him as much as good. That said, of course don’t force something on him without prior agreement between us. Well, I mean, your muse can try and accost him and see what he does, just don’t expect him to definitely reciprocate. Jack and I are bi/pansexual. We’re open to everything. I will admit a heavy lean toward m/m but, that said, Jack is extremely fond of the ladies, more so than Loki. I am very into Sparrington especially.

Not Safe For Ye Olde Work

Sliding down from the above topic, I enjoy the occasional smutting. It is not a requirement from my partners. In fact, I’m warming very much to fading to black depending on the context/mood/if things feel a bit repetitive. I do feel a touch more comfortable with partners who don’t need that boundary but as I’ve recently figured ‘if it needs a cut, then it’s smut’ I know when to skip on.

Saucy material will go under cuts/Read More’s and be tagged as mentioned above with ‘filthy pirate’. Additional tags will be based on the citrus scale: ‘lime’ for general grabbing, ‘lemon’ for full on sexual content and ‘grapefruit’ if things get extra kinky. I will tag things such as ‘rape tw’ or ‘noncon tw’ or ‘dubcon tw’ where necessary. Please blacklist any or all of these at your leisure, or search them if you fancy :U I do NOT tag these as ‘ns.fw’ because tumblr just completely hides them from being searchable which is useless for my partners.

OC’s - Due to my time constraints I am extremely picky when it comes to OC’s. This is a good fandom for well-thought-out muses and I know firsthand how hard it is to make headway as an OC in the RP world. However, I also understand that for people like me, I want to dip in on this site to mostly play with the characters and worlds I’m really absorbed in and ship my weaselly black guts out. Some people have more time than others to really give your OCs the time and love they deserve. Unless I’ve played with you a long time and I really like the cut of your and your muse’s jib, it’s very unlikely I���ll bite. Apologies! The same goes for crossover muses from fandoms I’m unfamiliar with, but I will let you know if that’s the case.

Limits

Threads - I don’t have a strict limit on how many to have per person but please bear in mind that the more of these you have with me the longer it will take me to get to a particular one (unless I’m spamming it back and forth). This is more a mun/muse context how many I accept.

Exclusives/mains - I don’t do these although I may consider having a maximum of 3 or 4 of one muse depending on activity levels and to ensure plots don’t get mixed up or attention feel unfairly balanced.

Triggers/squicks - I don’t like body horror e.g. graphic detail of squishy bits having bad things happen to them. I’m writing a pirate so there’s absolutely allowed to be elements of torture/violence, just don’t stab him in the eye or chop bits off him. One torture-related thing sends me into a complete freakout which I’ll discuss with partners if we’re doing a thread of that ilk as needed. Kink-wise I’m not into mpreg, A/B/O or infantilism or toilet things. Just ask me/Jack if you’re after something XD

Who I Am/What I Need From You

Being yourself is the most important thing and I promise I am not a scary person (usually). We’re only human and it’s natural that we’ll get along better with some rather than others. This is more to give you a gist of the sort of person I am and who I gel with best.

So I’m a shy hermit at the best of times. I’m trying to be better at engaging and enthusing with partners over our threads because I realise more than ever this does keep things alive and make for a more enjoyable experience. I’m not always great at it. I work best with people who are patient and don’t worry too much on what I think of them and their writing, with people who are happy to keep threads going for the longhaul rather than keep dropping everything before I’ve had the time to get to the next post, and most especially people who accept that fiction =/= reality. I do need a certain level of quality, which doesn’t always mean perfect grammar, but it must be coherent, fun and creative. I like a relaxed approach, sharing mutual enjoyment in silly fantasy world sandboxes as escapism from (and exploration of) this complicated world we live in.

If you managed to read all of this, have a drink (even if it’s water). You’re a diamond. 

Pirate xxx

[salvatoreschool]

Legacies' Chris Wood Talks Kai's Return and That Malivore Twist

[Warning: The following contains spoilers for the latest episode of Legacies, "Kai Parker Screwed Us." Read at your own risk!]

Kai Parker (Chris Wood) is back, and honestly, it was everything we ever hoped for and more! In the first part of Legacies' two-part guest star arc for Wood, Kai was back to his usual tricks, lying, stealing, and manipulating people all with a smile on his face. We even got another short musical number from him!

Most of Thursday's episode, "Kai Parker Screwed Us," focused on Josie's (Kaylee Bryant) reluctant partnership with Kai, who appeared to be on Team Gemini so long as it got him out of his prison world. Unfortunately, Josie broke the cardinal rule of dealing with Kai Parker — never believe a word that comes out of his mouth.

While Alaric (Matthew Davis) was paying for past sins regarding the students he expelled from the Salvatore School and sent to the prison world, and Lizzie (Jenny Boyd) was having a very Klaroline-esque date with Sebastian (Thomas Doherty), Josie was faced with a pretty impossible decision. In order to escape the prison world, Josie had to shatter the Mora Miserium hourglass to become powerful enough to create a door back to the real world without an ascendant — all before Kai took a swan dive into the Malivore pit in a bid to escape himself, thus erasing himself (and the knowledge of how to escape) from her memory.

The craziest part? Kai fell right into the Malivore pit in the prison world and popped back out in the real world, ready to wreak havoc on Mystic Falls again! TV Guide talked to Chris Wood about reprising his fan-favorite character and got the scoop on what's next on Kai's agenda in part two. Read on.

What was it like stepping back into Kai's shoes again after all this time?

Chris Wood: Honestly, it was so great. I can't say I was scared to go back, but there was a part of me that was wondering how hard was going to be the drop back in because it's been a considerable amount of time. And when I first played this character, it was 2014 or something? It feels like forever ago, and I guess it has been a lot of years. So there was, not a hesitation, but there was the question mark. Like, is this going to be smooth to drop back in? And honestly, that's where the writing comes in so handy. I feel like, thankfully having Brett [Matthews] still around and obviously Julie [Plec], and then Thomas [Brandon], one of the new writers watched a few episodes [of The Vampire Diaries] and very quickly got a hang of what Kai's like. The dialogue helps so much because as soon as there's those nasty one liners, it just kind of drops you right back to Kai Parker. It was so fun, honestly. It was a breath of fresh air for me to get to play him again.

Kai and Josie had such an awesome back-and-forth dynamic in this episode, so what was the funnest part of finding that relationship with Kaylee Bryant?

Wood: Oh, it was so fun. Working Kaylee was a blast. I loved how Kaylee plays sort of the assessment of Kai. She definitely had the fear and the distance, but then you see her also so furious at him. I think what was fun to play in those scenes was her balancing her distance and her anger with how to navigate dealing with him because obviously she knows all the stories and she's heard nothing but how horrible he is and not to trust him, but then he sort of presented her with these alternative facts. She's like, "Wait a second, I think maybe I actually do have to work with him to figure this out." That was so fun to play with Kaylee, and she's just a great actor and a fun person to be around.

And where do we go from here now that Kai has essentially been unleashed on the world again?

Wood: He sure has, yeah. He's definitely ready to create havoc at a moment's notice. I don't know how easy it will be to get rid of him now that he's in whatever state he's in. He always has a plan, it always involves killing people, and it's never good when he's around. So, I would expect that the heroes have some trouble to deal with.

I know you probably can't see too much, but did you get to share scenes with any other Legacies kids in next week's episode?

Wood: I did, yeah. And I don't want to spoil too much, but the first episode was really just Kai and Josie, really. Kai's next episode, he encounters some other characters and he also uses a tactic that we've never really seen him use before. And it's very fun and kind of silly, but a bunch of people who don't actually know what he looks like but have heard stories might not see him walk in somewhere and know who he is right off the bat. So, he kind of uses that to his advantage in a very entertaining way.

We've asked Jenny Boyd and Kaylee Bryant which twin they thought was more like Kai, but now that you've had some experience with them, which do you think has more Kai in them?

Wood: Just purely from a hands-on standpoint of working with Kaylee so much in this episode, I would say probably Josie right now. And when she's got that dark thing going on, obviously, the soullessness is something that she would share with her uncle when she's in that place. I think they've done a nice job on the show of kind of presenting them both with possible elements of Kai and keeping that sort of up in the air if somebody's gonna get a little too much of Uncle Kai in their blood. I would say Josie just because I saw elements of her craftiness, and you can see when she's gone dark that things aren't great for people. So that's my vote.

Legacies airs Thursdays at 9/8c on The CW.

[davidlratliffstories]

Decided to write a set of quick scenes from some dialogue prompts I found.

promptsforthestrugglingauthor:

The morning after the battle, her brain held nothing more than fog and regret. She pressed her fingers against the hot tin of her cup, hoping to find its usual comfort, but instead barely registered its burn.

She had lost friends. Allies. And she was beginning to think her faith would be next.

The sun creeped up over the horizon, illuminating the broken buildings and shattered tombs around her. Its golden rays glistened in the blackening pools of the corpse riddled ground. Talia’s nose scrunched up knowing that soon the chilled night air would fade and the stench would grow even less tolerable.

She just sat there, her back pressed against what remained of an old grave marker as she clung to her trusty tin cup filled with a hot, bitter drink. She stared out into the ruins trying to think, but found the fog of war still clouding her mind. The heat of the cup all but seared her fingers as she squeezed it hard, seeking the usual comfort from the burn, but barely registering the pain.

So many allies, so many friends fell here. She saw them cut down one by one. She felt the heat of their blood spray across her face. They were still there, laid out on the battlefield.

Was it really worth it? She stood up against those she saw as evil. She defended that which she believed to be true and right. Yet she did so by betraying and slaughtering her own people. Could the gods really look down and give her praise for this bloody deed?

promptsforthestrugglingauthor:

“Well, I admit this isn’t how I thought this would turn out,” A said to B as the jail cell slammed shut in front of them.

With a sudden clang and click, the cell’s iron door slammed shut in front of them, locking in place. Maric and Valen looked over the open wing of the prison as the guard wandered off about his other duties. The sound of hoots and jeers echoed from all around.

“Well,” Valen chirped, “this is not how I imagined things going.”

Maric turned to him slowly, “Oh really, because I thought it went just swimmingly. Especially the part where you decided to expose yourself on the stand In front of the entire jury.”

“That was an accident.”

write-it-motherfuckers:

“What’s your most precious memory?”

“.....Honestly? That time when we sat in that shitty little car park late at night, eating those disgusting chips from the petrol station with the broken sign.”

“.....Seriously? Why?”

“Because that was the first time I ever saw you smile for real.”

All was silent that night as they sat huddled together along the shore. The chill waters tickled their feet, left bare in the sand, and the not too distant, yellow street lamps bathed the scene in a gentle light. Mark would normally have some music playing on his phone, but it just didn’t feel right, not now.

Sarah squeezed his arm. “Do you have a memory so dear to you that you never want to lose it?”

“What?”

“Mine is of my grandfather. He raised horses.” She pushed herself closer to him. “My parents told me never to go near them, that I would get hurt. But Papaw thought otherwise.

“He would take me out to the stables where I would feed them carrots and help brush their coats. He even got a little pony and a saddle just for me so we could go riding together. We did too, every chance we had.”

She chuckled, “My parents weren’t too happy about it when they found out. But he talked them into letting it go.” She nuzzled her head against his shoulder and looked up at him. “What about you?”

Glancing down, he let out a sigh. “Truthfully?”

She hummed a confirmation.

“It was not long after we first met. I still had that old junker and we were sitting on the hood in that parking lot. We shared a bag of those nasty ketchup chips from that gas station with the broken sign.”

“Seriously?” she laughed. “Why that one?”

“It was the first time I ever saw you smile. Like really, truly smile. Just like you did a moment ago when you were talking about your grandfather. You were talking about him then too.”

She moved his arm up over her shoulders as she buried her head in his chest. “I always wanted to start a ranch of my own and raise horses like he did. I wanted to start a family there and we would all go riding every day. We would gallop across the open fields in the warm sun and stop to picnic on the side of a hill overlooking the trees. I always wanted that. It was all I could ever think about.”

He squeezed her close, feeling her tremble as she cried. “Yeah. I really like the sound of that.”

They fell silent again as Mark looked far up above the rolling waters. The flaming orb streaked the sky with its red glare, growing ever larger as it plummeted toward them. It would not be long now.

@awriterslifeforme:

“What did one wave say to the other?”

“I swear, if you make one more ocean related pun, I will murder you on this island and say you died in the shipwreck.”

“...well someone’s salty.”

Maric and Valen lied down on the warm sands of the small island. No boat, no food, no water, and not even enough material in the patch of greenery nearby to make a shelter. They just lied there hoping for someone to happen by.

“Ah-ha, I have another.”

“I swear by all that is holy, Valen,” Maric stated flatly, “if you make one more sea pun I will drag you out there and hold you under until the bubbles stop.”

“Well, you don’t need to be salty about it.”

Valen bolted away as Maric suddenly raised up next to him.

multiwhump:

"L-Let's go again," Protagonist's barely healed lips splits open again as they force the words out of their sore throat.

Antagonist raises an eyebrow, expression dull, "Excuse me?"

"What? You- you think I can't fuckin' take it? You think-" Protagonist coughs and Antagonist can hear a few drops of blood splatter on the ground in front of them. Their nose wrinkles, but Protagonist does not look deterred, "You think I'm weak? I can h-h-handle you."

It was hard to watch. The lad had some spirit to him, that was true, but he lacked the strength and skills to hold his own in so much as a simple tussle in the school yard. Now he was facing down the Dark Lord of the Wastes and losing, badly.

He never even drew his sword on the lad. With just another empty, back-handed strike, he put him back to the ground. Yet, even with his lip split and his nose angled, he dragged himself back up time after time.

“Again,” he choked out.

The Dark Lord looked down at him as he asked with a sigh, “Haven’t you had enough?”

“I can take it.” He coughed suddenly and a spray of blood spattered the ground as he swooned. Planting his sword in the ground, he balanced himself again.

The Dark Lord cringed at the sight. “This is the hero I came to see? Pathetic.”

“No,” he stammered, “I can take you. I will prove to you that I am not weak.”

[rachelthompsonauthor]

Hi, everyone! It’s time to venture back out into the world which is a little scary, right? That’s where we are in Northern California – like turtles starting to stick our heads out just a little bit. We’re starting to visit family, actually going to the grocery store, and getting haircuts for everyone – a good thing since we’re all looking a bit like muppets.

Though with the latest numbers in California, who knows where we’re headed. It’s terrifying. Masks, masks, masks, wash, wash, wash.

In case you missed the last two installments of my blog posts, you can catch up by clicking here for week one and here for week two.

This week I’m thrilled to share an insider look into the mind of author Barbara Delinsky, who just dropped her latest hot read, A Week At The Shore, which immediately hit the New York Times bestseller list – her twenty-third novel to do so.

Both Pip and I enjoyed A Week At The Shore immensely.

Full disclosure: Barbara is one of my BadRedhead Media clients (and I’m supremely grateful for that!). I handle her social media, street team, blog and book review optimization, and a good deal of her book promotion.

After finishing the book (which I loved), I had a few questions for Barbara about her writing style, so I emailed them to her and she was kind enough to respond.

A Week At The Shore by Barbara Delinsky Interview

Q: I notice you don’t only use ‘she said’ for dialogue, which I personally love, though as I’m sure you know well, it’s a DEBATE.

A: I’ve actually spent a lot of time thinking about this. I don’t use half as many other words (“she exclaimed,” “she intoned,” or “she declared”) as much as I used to. Yes, there’s something to be said for simple and real. That said, the constant monotony of “she said” gets boring, so I try to find a comfortable balance. This actually ties in with your next question.

Sometimes, the sub for “she said” can express emotion, as in “she cried,” or “she dare say,” or “she whispered.” So it does add something. Still, though, not quite the “show, not tell” rule (see more on that below).  

Q: Also, the ‘show, not tell’ rule regarding feelings. You sometimes say what emotions Mallory {Ed. the main character} feels (at times). If I wrote that in my creative writing classes, my teacher would’ve jumped out a window, yet it works. Again, love. All this ‘do this, not that’ advice can be confusing for writers, regardless of genre, myself included.

A: Yes, it does work at times, at least, for me. But then, I never took a creative writing class, so maybe I just don’t know how to show rather than tell. Here, too, I think you have to be guided by common sense. If by “show,” you mean having a character “start to huff and puff,” to show upset, rather than simply to “cry in alarm,” I’d opt for the simpler.  

The image of huffing and puffing will distract the reader from what you’re saying. IMHO, the “show, not tell” rule applies to larger things, like rather than saying “her husband could be nasty,” saying something like, “her husband could see her scrubbing the dinner dishes and tell her she was made for this.” So, it’s really giving an example of what you’re saying in summary. Does that make sense?

Q: Yes, absolutely. Also, you write about the past in the present tense – I do this with memoir and blog posts, and prefer to read books or even blog posts/articles written this way. It’s more immediate. When I work with writers in my workshops, they tend to write in the past tense. I haven’t read all of your other books, so I wonder if you do this with all your books?

A: I’m actually not even aware of writing about the past in the present tense, unless it’s a bonafide flashback, in which case it would be in the present. I’ve been experimenting with different tenses book to book. My last book, BEFORE AND AGAIN, was in the first-person past tense, A WEEK AT THE SHORE is in first person present tense.  

The latter took some getting used to. And it’s possible that I botched the flashback tenses simply because I’m not ultra-experienced with first-person present. My editor didn’t catch or change anything, though. I agree with you. There is an immediacy to first-person present tense that is nice. That said, the new book I’ve started is in first-person past tense.

Q: Basic skills – I get it. This is how new writers learn. You aren’t new (after writing hundreds of books and stories), so you break rules – is that it?

A: I’m not “schooled” in writing, so I don’t know I’m breaking the rules!!

Q: You’re so skilled, Barbara. Your characters are intricate and layered. This book is a CLASS in writing. Do you ever think about young writers reading your work and learning from you?

A: You are too kind, Rachel. Seriously. I’m just muddling along, basically doing what works for me as a reader, since I have no formal training. Truly. Now I’m just enjoying it.

Barbara has written a few articles for me on my biz site about breaking the writing rules, which I hope you’ll read. She’s a true writer’s writer. I hope you’ll read her books and articles. She’s also an avid reader herself and does weekly book reviews on her blog.

What I’m Reading Now

I’m now reading the third book in the Discovery of Witches series, The Book of Life, and it’s fabulous, just like the others in this series. I’m not going to spoil it for you if you haven’t read these. Harkness is a wonderful writer, and she weaves history, passionate love, and the supernatural together in a way that carries you into other worlds. Even though it’s vampires, witches, and demons, it’s not glowy, corny vampires and evil witches on broomsticks. Harkness’ stories are wholly imaginative.

When I found out Sundance made the first book into a series, I paid for the app ($5.99/month – totally worth it) and watched the entire series in one day. SO GREAT. Perfectly cast, well-acted, leaving me yearning for more. I’m now re-watching it.

What Else I’m Watching

I never did see Being John Malkovich so I watched it with my daughter. Weird flick. Good, but super weird. Definitely takes the, ’15 minutes of fame,’ motto and turns it on its head. Speaking of heads, I’ve never seen such horrible hair in any movie.

Have you seen it? What are your thoughts?

Space Force just came out on Netflix and it’s hilarious. If you’re super conservative, you may not like it, so beware (though they poke fun at both parties). If you can laugh at the ridiculousness of government, please watch. Carrell is great, as usual, and the relationship dynamics are brilliant (and there’s John Malkovich again – great, as usual).

Vanderpump Rules I mentioned previously that this is the one reality show I watch with my 20-year-old daughter, Anya, and we watched the reunion shows – all three of them. I know, ridiculous. Jax is such a joke (his blatant homophobia disgusts me, though he says he supports gays – what?), Jax and Brittany together are just ugh, and Max makes me want to vomit (breaking news – he just got fired – ha!).

And honestly, could Vanderpump be any more white? We’ve been saying this for years.

SO much has happened since last week – wowzers. They’ve fired four people as of this writing for making racist remarks. Either the show will be retooled or canceled. I’m sad to see the epitome of white-girl whiteness Stassi gone – she was at least honest about her privilege. What do you think?

I’d be pretty much done with this show if it wasn’t for my daughter begging me to watch with her (we do watch movies and other shows as well). I’m glad Pumpy fired their asses, otherwise, I’d be done DONE.

Compassion

What’s missing from most reality shows is compassion, which is why I don’t enjoy watching them. We see (and hear, loudly and repeatedly) the negativity, toxicity, and the worst in people because that’s what the editors and producers know will keep viewers coming back – drama.

There are flashes of compassion, e.g., when dealing with the death of a loved one, coming out, infidelity, or mental health issues. I appreciate when Bravo, for example, handles these issues well. I don’t appreciate it when they have not – and they have not in many cases. An overall lack of compassion appears to be missing from many of these people’s lives; however, using The Four Agreements, that’s an assumption on my part; we don’t see behind the scenes or when the cameras are off.

I do have compassion for the casts of these shows who have decided money is worth more than their privacy. They are adults making decisions about their lives, and all that comes with it, as any celebrity does. Now, they’re dealing with the fallout.

“Make good choices!” as Jamie Lee Curtis’s mom in Freaky Friday admonishes a young Lindsay Lohan’s Anna (and we all know how that turned out). Oh, Lindsay. Honestly, she’s such a product of dysfunction, it’s truly sad, but that’s a whole other post.

If only people would listen to their Hollywood movie mothers…

Products Supporting Black Lives Matter

In no particular order, here’s what I’ve bought and am loving:

YUBI: The original fingertip makeup brush is amazing. Worth every penny. How did I not know about this?

Pat McGrath Real Makeup: I’m a sucker for a great eye shadow palette. McGrath’s are pricey but fab-u-lous. Why so spendy? All her products are highly-pigmented so you don’t need much; they’ll last a good long time. Here’s the one I purchased on Amazon. For when, ya know, I actually have somewhere to venture out to.

Body Butter Lady: Lip stuff and of course, body butter. Affordable, smells amazing, and will last a good, long, time.

LipBar: Lips for days, tons of colors and textures to suit anyone.

LipSlut: Awesome colors, and 50% of all proceeds go to support women and children’s charities all the time. Right now, they’re supporting Black Lives Matters. 50% towards charity, 100% against tyranny. Cruelty-free, Vegan.

Their newest shade, F*ck Trump on pre-order, will support civil rights organizations specifically targeted by the Trump organization – I mean, administration. Oopsies.

Here is my current personal selection (F*ck Kavanaugh is a favorite – a pretty brownish-red that wears well):

  ***

So that’s it for this week. Would love your feedback on COVID-19, books, movies, shows, makeup, racism, or whatever you want to discuss. Thanks for stopping by!

Read more about Rachel’s experiences in the award-winning book, Broken Pieces.

She goes into more detail about living with PTSD and realizing the effects of how being a survivor affected her life in

Broken Places, available in print everywhere!

        The post Venture Out Of Quarantine With Me appeared first on Rachel Thompson.

via Rachel Thompson

[nadziejastar]

It's funny that Organization Rehash was somehow more treacherous than the first one when part of the idea behind Xehanort putting his heart into all of them was to get around that problem

I know! The way the Seekers of Darkness were handled pissed me off so much! Most of them were ruined. The whole point of Xemnas completing Kingdom Hearts was to put Xehanort’s heart and mind into all the original members so that they had no free will. They would literally become another Xehanort. Being a Nobody was not enough to Nort someone. KH3 got around this in the most lazy way possible by saying that they all just joined the True Organization by choice. How lucky for Xehanort, right? This is a relevant post I’ve done about this subject. I’m actually surprised I haven’t seen more people complaining about this egregious plot hole. I brought it up before on a different forum and some fans would just make the dumbest excuses, I swear. “Saïx only had a small piece of Xehanort’s heart in him!” (LOL.)

Ok, so what difference did it even make then? Why did it even matter that he, along with Xigbar, had yellow eyes and pointy ears all along? Weren’t they supposed to be different from the other members? Also, what’s the point of vessels being “raw material” for the X-Blade? Why was Xehanort conducting mind control experiments? Why go to such lengths to show Axel grieving about how much his best friend had changed, if Xehanort’s heart had literally no significant influence on him? God, even Xemnas was treated more respectfully than Saïx was because of this. I actually liked his dialogue at the end about how being human must take incredible strength. It was one of the most memorable lines in the game for me.

How did Xion ever become a Seeker of Darkness? Her switching sides was laughably easy. Roxas and Xion’s dialogue was just so atrocious. I was embarrassed while watching all the scenes with them. Also, if Saïx was supposed to be the one who brought back Roxas and Xion, why are we supposed to take pleasure in his boss fight again? It was treated like Roxas and Xion were getting revenge and it was supposed to be enjoyable to clobber him. Then Roxas and Xion felt pity for him afterwards. And Roxas even acknowledged that he knew Saïx helped to bring him back before their fight. How did he even know that? Well, because his dialogue was written so that the audience could know. Since all of this was shoehorned in at the last minute, Saïx’s redemption happened off-screen. So Roxas had to fill us in on why he was there. It was all so forced, just like the Subject X info dump. 

The game totally wanted to have its cake and eat it, too. They wanted Saïx to betray Xehanort so he could be Lea’s innocent ice cream-loving childhood friend in the epilogue (which was his intended role in the ending all along). But they still wanted to treat him like a villain for Roxas and Xion to clobber. The problem is that both of those things clash very badly. They’re not compatible with each other in the slightest. You can’t do both. His redemption didn’t feel convincing at all because of this. And his scene at the clock tower just made it seem like he had no excuse for his actions from the previous games. Why the hell is he all friendly NOW when he was previously trying to kill Axel? 

I did see a lot of complaints about how all the villains got “redeemed” at the end. They spent the whole game being evil, then they act all nice to Sora after they’re beaten? Why? Well, it was extremely obvious to me that they were supposed to be possessed.

Their actions would have made perfect sense if Xehanort had simply been controlling them the whole time. Then of course they’d be grateful to Sora for releasing them. A big pillar of darkness gets expelled from them after they’re defeated, then they act totally different. Gee, I wonder why? Larxene actually acted confused after she was beaten. She did NOT act like she was in control of herself prior to this.

Furthermore, once she became aware of herself, she was horrified. She looked like she felt violated. Like she had something done to her without her knowledge or consent. I don’t think for a second that Larxene signed up to be a Seeker of Darkness.

I also found it interesting that she spoke as if she weren’t already that geezer’s heart tank. Once Xehanort’s heart is implanted, it’s supposed to gradually take over the person’s heart. Maybe Sora just needed to defeat members like Larxene, Marluxia, and Luxord. They’d go back to normal afterwards because they were not Norted for that long. They had yellow eyes, but their ears weren’t even pointy.

I also think they became vessels by being turned into Nobodies again, so it made sense that they faded away after their battle. They’d be recompleted. But Terra and Isa were supposed to be different. They needed to have the power of waking used on them because their hearts were lost like a decade ago. And neither of them were Norted as Nobodies, either. Saïx shouldn’t have faded away after his battle.

Marluxia also did not act like he was aware of himself beforehand.

He also said his heart was remembering how to feel. I’m sure he was supposed to have a different backstory than what he has now to explain this.

He was all grateful to Sora after being defeated. This makes absolutely NO sense whatsoever unless he was being totally controlled.

Luxord and Sora were acting like old pals after their battle. Luxord never seemed like a bad guy, anyways. He gave Sora a wild card and then said he’d like to play a game with him. I think Marluxia, Larxene, and Luxord were done a tremendous disservice by making it so that they were self-aware for the whole game. But Isa by far came out the worst because of this. He was utterly decimated beyond repair. His whole character revolved around being possessed. That was THE most important thing about him. It was the ONLY thing that could excuse his actions and allow Lea and Isa to go back to being inseparable right after the final battle. Since he was possessed, they didn’t hold back making him as nasty as possible. Now it’s biting them in the ass.

Braig joined Xehanort to wield a Keyblade. And he actually doesn’t fade away after his defeat like the others. I don’t think that was a coincidence. It’s probably because he became Norted as a human. He wasn’t a Nobody during his boss battle. 

I’m also 100% sure it wasn’t a coincidence that he just happened to “pretend” to commit suicide after his defeat. That was no doubt the original end planned for Braig ever since Days and BBS. He was always haunted by the things he did. I think he was especially haunted by what he did to Isa, which was why he always had such a bone to pick with Saïx. If he was a Nobody, then his suicide wouldn’t have even mattered because he’d just be recompleted afterwards, anyways. Sora and Riku’s reaction only made sense if he was fully human when he fell off that ledge.

I will never ever forgive KH3 for its treatment of Isa (and Lea, since Isa was a HUGE part of his character). I’m still heartbroken and angry over it. Isa was treated like a plot device—he only mattered because he brought Lea’s REAL best friends Roxas and Xion back. He wasn’t treated like he mattered as an individual character. He didn’t get a real backstory that showed his pain, how he became Norted or his close relationship with Lea. All this did was make me hate Roxas and Xion in KH3, even though I really liked them in 358/2 Days. It was just so unfair that they got ALL the spotlight at Isa’s expense.

It was always, always implied that Axel had a VERY sad backstory. He was NEVER EVER comic relief. Not at all. He was the most serious character. His canon backstory was a joke for how poorly it explains his behavior in Days and KH2. He was actually an apprentice all along? And suddenly the only thing that mattered to him was two kids that the story went out if its way to show never even came CLOSE to understanding him? 

Not his REAL best friend who became an organization member alongside him and who would understand his suffering? It was heavily implied they were both lab rats. I couldn’t believe Lea even blamed Isa for getting Norted. And apparently all Saïx had to do was admit he was jealous and things are instantly patched up between them? God, it was such a slap in the face as a fan. I felt personally insulted by Isa’s “redemption”.

Now, it was obvious that they tried to limit the amount of physical contact Lea showed Saïx after his defeat. And they also tried to limit the amount of genuine emotion they were allowed to show at all times. This happened on the clock tower, too. Lea wasn’t allowed to cry for his friend. And even when Saïx admitted he was jealous, he HAD to follow it up with something snarky. He wasn’t allowed to bond with Lea in a genuine manner. I noticed all of this right away. It made me laugh to see how stilted their interactions were.

Apparently Saïx was putting on an “act” the whole time because he was afraid to show his true feelings, I guess? They’re just gonna write off all of his past deeds that way, instead of him being ya know…Norted? Wow. And to top it all off, they tried to make Lea and Isa’s whole relationship revolve around some stupid random girl, which pissed me off so freaking much. It definitely came across like KH3 was extremely paranoid that they might seem gay. So they did everything possible to make their relationship lack genuine emotion and intimacy, destroying it in the process. The handling of their subplot went against all the most important themes of the series. It was utterly pathetic.

And yet Lea was still holding Saïx in his arms. And it was still pretty intimate from a physical perspective. In fact, Lea shows more intimacy with Saïx in this one single scene than Axel had with Roxas in all of their moments put together. Guess that’s why they had to throw in all the other stuff. To “balance out” more tender moments like this. 

The way Lea smiled at him is how I always imagined he would look once he finally rescued Isa. They said “See you” (”Mata na” in Japanese) to each other in a pretty intense and personal way. Especially in the Japanese version. Saïx said it so softly he almost whispered it to Lea. This was obviously something pertaining to their original backstory. 

Roxas said “Mata na” to Axel when he was going back to Sora in KH2FM. This made Axel cry. “Mata na” had a LOOOOT more meaning to Axel than it did to Roxas. You see, Roxas was saying it in a casual way, like most would say it. See you later. It was as simple as that. But I think “Mata na” was Lea and Isa’s way of saying they’d see each other again in the next life. Just more evidence that Axel was really crying because he wanted to see Isa and was remembering their promise. Roxas really couldn’t fill the void of Isa. That was the impression I got from that scene.

People probably would have been very accepting of Lea having strong feelings for Isa. But I think Square/Disney were terrified people would be grossed out if Axel had those same feelings for Saïx. KH3 just sent very conflicting messages due to this identity crisis. Lea was holding his arms out like he could still feel him there after he faded away. It looked VERY similar to when Xion faded away in Roxas’s arms. This demonstrated that Lea had extremely powerful feelings for Isa. The thing is, this was never properly SHOWN in the story. There was all of this implied intimacy between them, but it wasn’t able to be explored in-depth after BBSV2 got axed. And so, KH3 wasn’t allowed to show them being too close because there wasn’t enough time to properly differentiate Isa from Saïx. 

And this ruined their relationship. We saw almost nothing to understand why Lea would feel so attached to Saïx or why Isa changed so much since they were kids. All we saw was Saïx being evil and a very short scene of them as kids in BBS trying to sneak into the castle. The audience has little reason to care about this relationship or empathize with Lea’s affections for Isa. They didn’t get enough development. There was no way that Saïx was written as Axel’s best friend if THIS was how the resolution was going to be handled. Their story was incomplete. The way it was handled in KH3 was a complete and utter joke. 

[wheatbeats]

I ended up rewatching all of RWBY Volume 3 tonight (sort of by accident honestly) and, as someone who hasn’t rewatched any earlier volumes since Volume 3 finished, here are some assorted thoughts:

I remember a lot of us feeling cautious about the team switching over to Maya for Volume 4 and beyond, but looking back at Volume 3, probably the best that Poser could do, I think it was the right call. The character models, the expressive animation, the BACKGROUNDS, are all so much better now than they used to be. The look of Poser has its charm but I think overall we’re far better off with Maya.

Putting aside the inherent issues of making the only committed revolutionary fighter in the series an abusive murderous ex, the major thorn of Adam’s characterization remains his first interaction with Cinder in episode 7. The rest is decently well laid; from Blake telling the team about how someone close to her changed, to Adam’s reaction to Blake leaving during the events of the Black Trailer (also in episode 7). It’s not pretty or polished but it fits well enough, except for that one scene. It kind of shoots his whole arc in the foot. Also Adam’s voice actor has done a much better job with his nasty, creepy dialogue than he ever has with his noble freedom fighter dialogue and I think that deserves recognition.

Speaking of which as a whole episode 7 is really good the structure and pacing feels really unique for a RWBY episode. I don’t think they made another quite like it until The Lost Fable in S6.

This whole season is really good at moving its camera, and I’m tempted to lay that credit with Monty Oum. There are lots of interesting shots of characters’ legs (that sounds weird but both Cinder and Ironwood have great shots of a room framed between their feet from behind), and I still love how when Qrow is first introduced at the Crow Bar the camera wobbles drunkenly with him when he stands up. It adds a level of engagement that the animation quality might have otherwise robbed.

Speaking of Qrow, this volume is his introduction and it struck me how, even though he’s always been a bit of an immature bastard, in V3 he still very much feels like an adult, and Team RWBY very much feel like children. I’m used to V6 Qrow, who whines like a baby and is generally useless. The dynamic has shifted so much and I think that’s genuinely intentional so good job, CRWBY.

This is a bit of a nitpick but why is Ironwood the one to tell Yang that she’s disqualified after she blasts Mercury’s knee? That’d be like if I cheated at a high school track meet and Obama shows up to kick me out; Ironwood is a head of state from a different country and the headmaster of NEITHER of the schools involved in the fight. Why is he here?

It’s sort of odd watching this season lay groundwork for worldbuilding that’s already been retconned away. Ozpin’s gang leading Pyrrha through the vault for the first time really make it seem like the Maidens are the be-all end-all of magical power in the land, and that their little troupe was made solely to protect them. Now Maidens are just a small cog in the machine, shoved to the back burner in recent episodes in favor of the relics. I know that RWBY’s worldbuilding has almost always been “go off of what we told you last and forget everything before that”, but it feels oddly disconnected to see the ghost of the original plan peeking through in the earlier volumes.

Also it’s really odd seeing Ozpin on screen I kind of forgot that he used to have a body that isn’t Oscar.

There’s a bit of heartache seeing Pyrrha again, once my favorite character. Her journey in this season might still be the best season-long arc RWBY ever told, and while I still yearn for the reality where she lives and we get to see the fallout of everything she went through, her sacrifice in the finale is still one of the most genuine emotional moments in this entire series and I’ll always applaud that.

In connection to Pyrrha’s arc, this season has the Perfect amount of Jaune used in the best possible way, and I wish he could always be like this. Jaune in V3 is kinda funny, pretty brave, and very sweet and heartfelt. He and Pyrrha talking alone in episode 8 is still one of my favorite moments of the whole show. Jaune is at his best when he’s a loving and supportive friend, not a hero or a leading man, and I hope the series is finally starting to understand that.

As a whole the entire Battle of Beacon is really fucking impressive. For one thing, it’s LONG, about 45 minutes of one big conflict, and it balances the bits and pieces between Ruby vs. Torchwick, Ozpin and Pyrrha vs. Cinder, and Blake vs. Adam really well. The editing is top notch and the score is incredible, and there are some amazing moments of choreography (Ruby vs. Neo and Torchwick is still one of my favorite fights in the series). The whole thing manages to stay pretty breathless and exciting all the way through and I hope that RoosterTeeth can craft another finale this thrilling for Volume 7 and/or something later.

The end of Heroes and Monsters is harrowing, to put it simply. Seeing Pyrrha screaming in pain in the aura transfer machine, Amber being shot suddenly without warning, Blake getting stabbed, and Yang losing an arm all in quick succession is a huge fucking gut punch, made all the harsher by the music choice (that... music box style music they put on haunts my dreams, damn you Alex Abraham and Jeff Williams). 

It’s sort of refreshing to see Ruby Rose herself in such a central role this season. They got better at putting her in focus in V6 but she’s still sharing the spotlight with a solid 10-12 other major characters. In V3 Ruby spends a lot of time alone, doing important things for the plot. I kind of miss that.

Also, Ruby collapsing into tears and then numb shock when she sees Penny die? Excellent content, it breaks my heart, I wish we could see important emotional moments and reactions like that from Ruby all the time.

Torchwick is fucking incredible and I’m so salty he’s gone. He still has maybe the best vocal performance in the entire series and his monologue right before his death is my pick for the best ever string of dialogue from a series that’s historically had problems writing it. I really hope they pull a Hannibal Choi from Pacific Rim and bring him back later, if only to see how hilariously outclassed he is by the newer, bad-er villains. Normally that sort of thing would bug me from a narrative perspective but I love Torchwick so much that I’m literally begging for him to return. Please RT hear my prayer.

When it Falls is the best OP song and Divide is the best ED song of the series and you absolutely CAN fight me on this maybe I can finally put my music degree to use

[fanficcritiques]

‘My Inner Life’ - Fanfic Commentary Part 1

Sometime in the late 90′s, early 00′s, the internet was graced with a Legend of Zelda fanfic that would become the stuff of infamous legend. A fanfic largely serving the purpose of the author’s wish fulfillment indulgence, its reputation of having contained things like “tiger sex” and a possible watersports kink continue to precede it even to this day, some 20-odd years later. 

As with a lot of online fan media and history, this story has long captured my attention and imagination. It’s difficult to say why exactly, as I don’t believe there is anything in this story that makes it especially unique in today’s landscape of fics, nor is there anything I find especially outrageous (at least by modern day standards). I suspect it’s due to the fact that said fic actually has a lot of potential and, therefore, becomes a draw for inspiration in its own way. 

Recently I chose to revisit this fic, somewhat in the spirit of ‘MSTing’ (a sort of commentary style that endeavors to be mocking in the spirit of humor). However, I wanted to approach this commentary with a more balanced view, no derisiveness, and overall, as if I was leaving editor’s notes for how the story might be improved. I believe we’ve moved past the era of making fun of fan works and insulting their creators, and for good reason, but I don’t think that means we can’t continue to study and comment on them. 

Before I continue on with the commentary I wanted to make it clear that this story has a special place in my heart, that I have endeavored to show both respect and consideration for the work itself and the author behind it in the notes I’ve made along the way. I realize there are elements of the ridiculous about this fic, but my goal is to show respect in my constructive criticism and I would appreciate that anyone who comments along does the same.  

I want to also add that I haven’t focused too much on spelling, grammar, or general construction errors this time around. This commentary focuses more on the plot, characterization, dialogue, things of that nature. 

So, without further ado...My Inner Life Part 1, prologue and author’s notes. My commentary is in italics and parentheses.  

Author’s notes: Hello. Thanks for choosing to read my story. As you might know I have become a major Zelda fan in the last year. Ever since I played OoT I have grown a fond interest in Link. I started to notice that after I got really into it, I found that I have a strange gift. A gift to Lucid Dream. I started having dreams about Hyrule, and about Link. In a Lucid Dream you can control your dreams. The dreams became very real, kinda like a second life, and almost every night I would have another. Starting from where the last left off. Even to this day I still have them. I find that they help me get through life. I know this may sound queer, but for me the dreams sure help me out. I have shared this story with many other people and so far all has liked it. Now as you read this it is told from my perspective or first person view.

(Some people choose to criticize LinksQueen for not understanding what lucid dreaming is, but given my own research, I think she’s actually right; lucid dreaming is, simply, an awareness while dreaming that one is, in fact, dreaming, and may be able to gain some control over the events that take place. It’s entirely possible she could return to her subconscious every night and make up this story as she went along. However, my theory has always been that some measure of self awareness dictated she needed to have a scapegoat of sorts to explain away the weirdness of what happens in this story. With the blame of a ‘dream’ -albeit one she can control- being to blame for what goes on here, responsibility falls from her shoulders. No, it doesn’t particularly make sense, but I feel that’s probably where she was coming from)

You will find that it is very detailed since I remember it all very clearly to this day. The story takes place after OoT. Nothing after that ever happens. No Majora's Mask. No LttP, or even Oracle of Ages and Seasons. And there is no love relation between Link and Zelda, Link and Ruto, Link and Malon or Link and Saria. Because of my feelings about Link, the person that he gets involved with in this story is myself or actually is my persona. A persona is for those of you who need to know, a representation of ones personality, or in dictionary terms is, (Persona) n. In biology, same as person. So for all you future readers, this story is based on Jenna, a char that is a representation of my personality.

(Again, she’s gotten a lot of flack over the years for this note of choosing to ignore Link’s possible chemistry with the flanking female characters, but I don’t think this is worth criticizing her for. It’s her fanfic, she has the right to disregard, rewrite what she pleases. Why else does fanfic exist if not for that purpose? I also don’t think it’s worth coming after her for writing herself a self-insert, wish fulfillment fantasy character to live vicariously through. Fanfic exists for a reason. It’s more...how this placeholder is written that deserves some amount of further inspection, but we’ll get to that in a moment) 

But if you think this might be too queer then you shouldn't read this. THIS IS NOT THE TYPE OF STORY FOR THOSE OF YOU THAT DISLIKE, OR CANNOT HANDLE SUCH MATERAL AS THE CONTEXT OF THIS STORY. But if you seriously believe you can handle the content of this story, then read on. If your squeamish about sex, then you should not read this, since this story is a REAL LEMON and there is a lot of that, heavily detailed. (Between Link and I that is) Especially during the bonding ceremony. There is also some blood content and strong adult language. So if that’s too much then you should turn back now.

(Responsible and thoughtful of her to put warnings, though I do believe she should’ve also warned for the slight watersports kink that happens in said Bonding Ceremony. It might have saved her some trouble along the road, anyway, as it wouldn’t have come as an interesting surprise to the reader in later chapters. Maybe she didn’t want to spoil it? But anyway, I’m putting one now; urine drinking happens- and no, I’m not being intentionally judgmental about it, I know there are real, consenting adults out there who enjoy that sort of play and as long as one is being safe I don’t think it deserves any ridiculing, but it IS the sort of thing that I would consider ‘not everyone’s cup of tea’ and worth warning about in advance)  

Now I have not finished it as of yet. I have to catch up, since the last dream I had was just after Link and I had the blessing ceremony for our twins.(Our 3rd and 4th kids) Right now there is about 100-150 pgs worth. I'm expecting it to reach at least 300-350 probably even more. I will try to up date as often as possible. I hope that some of you like this. I do not mind sharing it. But please understand that this is very PRECIOUS to me, as well as Link. So like I said, if the content of this story sounds, too queer to you, TURN BACK NOW! But to all who wish to continue, happy reading. Thanks,

~*~ Link’s Queen ~*~

Rated R for strong adult language, sex, violence and blood content.

AGAIN AS A FINAL WARNING: THIS STORY CONTAINS HEAVY SEX, ABULT LANGUAGE AND TALKS ABOUT MY PERSONAL ENCOUNTER WITH LINK. THIS STORY IS BASED ON DREAMS, DREAMS ABOUT MY LIFE WITH HIM. IF YOU FIND THE CONTENT OF THIS STORY TO BE OFFENSEVE, QUEER, OR PLAIN OUT OFF THE WALL, THEN DO NOT READ ON!!!!!!! I HAVE GOTTEN WAY TO MANY FLAMES ABOUT THE CONTENT OF THIS STORY WHEN I HAVE PLACED SEVERAL WARNINGS!!!! I WILL NOT ACCECPT ANY MORE FLAMES, RAMBLINGS, CUSSING OR EXCESSIVE LASHING OUT ABOUT THE CHAR JENNA, OR REVIEWS ABOUT THE CONTENT OF THIS STORY, EXCESSIVE LASHING OUT, VICIOUS ATTACKS AGAINST MY PERSONALITY, OR NON-MATURE CONSTRUCTIVE CRITISIM!!! ANY REVIEWS SUBMITTED THAT DO NOT FOLLOW THE ABOUVE GUIDLINES, WILL BE DELETED IMMEDIATELY! THESE WARNINGS ARE NOT THERE TO LOOK PRETTY, THE AUTHORS PLACE WARNINGS FOR A REASON!!! IT IS TO TELL YOU WHAT THE CONTENT OF THE STORY IS SO THAT IF THE READER FINDS THE CONTENT OF THE STORY OFFENSIVE, THEY WILL NOT READ ON!!! MANY AUTHORS HAVE BEEN COMPLAINING ABOUT UNWANTED, EXCESSIVE, VIOLENT AND JUST PLAIN NASTY REVIEWS THAT HAVE BEEN SUBMITTED BY READERS ABOUT THEIR STORIES, CAUSING FANFICTION TO GRANT AUTHORS THE ABILITY TO DELETE UNWANTED REVIEWS AND BLOCK CERTAIN READERS!! I WILL SAY THIS FOR MYSELF AND FOR ALL AUTHORS ON FANFICTION. NO AUTHOR TWISTS YOUR ARM OR HOLDS YOU AT GUN POINT OR FORCES YOU IN ANY WAY SHAPE OR FORM TO READ THEIR STORIES!! ALL READERS HAVE THE RIGHT NOT TO READ A CERTAIN STORY!!! IT IS YOUR RESOPONSIBILITY TO READ THE WARNINGS AND DECIDE FOR YOUSELF IF THE CONTENT OF THE STORY IS OFFENSIVE TO YOU, AND TO MAKE THE CHOICE TO READ ON OR NOT!!! AND IT ALSO IS THE READERS RESPONSIBILITY TO TAKE RESPONSIBILITY ON HOW THEY HANDLE THENSELVES WHEN LEAVING A REVIEW FOR AN AUTHOR!! LEAVING A REVIEW THAT IS VIOLENT IN NATURE ONLY MAKES YOU THE READER LOOK BAD, AND IS VERY IMMATURE. IF  ALL US HERE ARE SUPPOSED TO BE ADULTS, WELL THEN, LETS CONDUCTIVE OURSELVES LIKE ADULTS AND NOT LIKE LITTLE KIDS! I ONLY EXPECT THE VIOLENT LASHING OUT AND VICIOUS ATTACKS TO COME FROM TEENANGERS, NOT ADULTS! IF YOU PEOPLE REALLY ARE ADULTS THAT ARE CONDUCTING YOURSELVES IN THE MANORS I DECRIBED ABOVE, YOU PEOPLE REALLY ARE SCARING ME!

IT’S A DAMN SHAME TO KNOW THAT THERE ARE ADULTS OUT THERE WHO CANNOT CONDUCTIVE THEMSELVES IN THE SIMPLEST MANORS THEIR PARENTS HAVE TAUGHT THEM! ALSO LEAVING MALICIOUS REVIEWS IS ALSO A SIGN OF LOW SELF-ESTEEM. IF ALL YOU PEOPLE KNOW HOW DO IS ATTACK SOMEONE VICIOUSLY, IT’S A SIGN OF SELFISHNESS AND NO RESPECT FOR ONES-SELF! I SUGGEST TO ALL READERS WHO ARE THINKING ABOUT LEAVING A MALICIOUS REVIEW FOR ME, PLEASE GET A HOBBY AND LEARN TO CONTROL YOUR ANGER, BECAUSE YOUR ONLY HURTING YOURSELF, NOT ME! ALSO LEAVING A NASTY REVIEW ONLY MAKES YOU LOOK STUPID, NOT ME!

I FIND IT VERY RIDICULOUS THAT I HAD TO LEAVE A WARNING THIS LONG, BUT IT IS BECAUSE OF THE VERY IMMATURE READERS THAT HAVE SUBMITTED NASTY CHILDISH REVIEWS!

AGAIN, PLEASE READ THE ABOVE CONTEXT BEFORE READING ON!!!!

(It’s at this point that Link’s Queen obviously reached the end of her patience with scathing reviews and felt her only line of defense was putting yet another note about the content of the story, albeit a rather didactic one...entirely in caps lock. But I get it, I do, and I think she does have a good point in that the plot and themes of the story are made clear from the outset -apart from the watersports, mind, but I already addressed that- and that there is nothing about this particular fanfic that warrants cruelty in the comments. Of course, this was published during a less conscientious time for the internet, a time when I also was in the infancy of my writing and received reviews of similar ilk lmao. It still doesn’t make it okay, nor does it make any of the threats or insults that came after okay either, but that’s kind of why I’m writing this commentary now)  

Furthermore, I have realized that this story needs some heavy grammar corrections, and that the plot needs some work. Also under the advisement of my friend who had just recently completed two literature classes, has stated the reasons why people had classified Jenna as a “Mary Sue” char and labeled her as “flat”. She has come to the conclusion that most people do not know or understand Jenna’s history, so she has advised me to create an origin story to explain about her history before she met Link. That way she will become more rounded and give people a reason to care about her. It was never in my intentions to create Jenna as a “Mary Sue” char or to make her conceited, because I’m not really like that. Jenna is a persona char, one that resembles my personality while this story is being told from her perspective. This story is not something that I pulled out of my head like my drawings, it came from my dreams. So I understand that revising this story is going to be hard work and will take time. Since this story is being told in the exact, or close to exact order it happened in the dreams, changing how fast Link and Jenna marry isn’t going to be easy. Even changing how fast they have sex and revising the Lemon parts also won’t be so easy to do. But I’m currently in the process of revising this story, also I have received a college grammar book from my friend and I will be investing in a Beta-Reader. I’m also considering taking to literature classes at JC to help boost my writing skills. But now I say this, if you people, the reviewers really have the intentions to help me, them please do it positively and like a mature adult. I’m telling you that it is a proven fact that negative motivation NEVER motivates someone to change. It never has and it never will. I’m pretty sure your parents have taught you that people only respond to positive motivation and not negative.

(We’ll start with the beginning of this paragraph. I don’t think the issue with Jenna, as a character, was ever that she was conceited. In fact, she might have been more well-rounded and interesting if she had been conceited; moreover, I think the weakness in her as an OC is that she doesn’t really have much of a personality to speak of at all. Jenna is defined by her relationship with Link, some attributes that are thrown out as afterthoughts within the dialogue and have no real bearing on the plot (at some point she is characterized as “spiritual” though we are never given any evidence, before or after, that correlates to her being a particularly spiritual person at all). She is a traveling merchant when the story begins, though that fails to carry over anything worth noting. She’s an orphan and has been without her parents for a good bit of her childhood- again, this fails to provide any character attributes, issues or consequences at all, much less anything that affects the story in any real way apart from giving her some sympathy from the King and leading him to more or less adopt her, at least when she’s in Hyrule. A backstory means very little if it has no effect on the development of the plot or character.

She also mentions the dreams here again, cementing my aforementioned theory in the line “this story is not something that I pulled out of my head like my drawings, it came from my dreams” as dreams, here, are being used as an excuse for why the story is the way it is and why it cannot, apparently, be easily changed. But again, I would assert that the main issue is not really in how fast Link and Jenna have sex and get married, but rather in the lack of character Jenna has, the lack of insight given to the reader about why Link and Jenna like each other, why that lead to them falling in love. I understand that this story is wish fulfillment first and foremost and in such a fantasy story it’s a given that the placeholder character will win the heart of their affections, but not providing any real relationship growth or insight can leave readers feeling out in the cold, so to speak. We don’t know Jenna as a character, we don’t know why she and Link should fall in love so completely. We need to see it. 

But anyway, good on her at the time for wanting to better herself with further education, I hope she was able to achieve that.) 

I’m not close-minded, I NEVER have been. I have always been open to other people’s thoughts and opinions, its when its done in an inappropriate manner that I turn my nose at it and look away. People have to understand that when you’re an adult, you need to conduct yourself like one and learn how to address other people like one. You cannot just act childish when you come across something that you DO NOT approve of, you’re only making yourself look bad and that can affect you later on in life. Acting childish and ranting and raving is something I’d expect a little kid would do when he doesn’t get his way. When an adult acts childish over stupid things, that’s looked down upon, and considered to be unhealthy. I have seen far too many reviews left for me where the reviewers are just ranting and raving like little kids over this story because they do not like it. It is only making them look stupid and is very unhealthy. I fear that these people have some serious emotional problems if they get that upset over a story. People in control of their emotions and have also obtained some sort of common sense, NEVER let little things get them all riled up. It is very sad when one that is supposed to be an adult, cannot handle them like one. I was NEVER angry with the reviewers not liking the story, it’s how they handled themselves when leaving me the reviews. Getting riled up, ranting and raving, screaming and spitting nails over this story is what has caused me to get upset, not the fact that they didn’t like it.

Also as a side note, I NEVER physically hurt ANYONE with this story. I got one reviewer that said. “Oh God please stop writing, your hurting everyone.” Now I want to know where I physically touched that person. I want to know how I’m twisting anyone’s arms to read this. I have never done anything of the sort in any way, shape or form and I DO NOT appreciate being accused of that! If you’re emotionally hurt over this, its your fault not mine. I’m sorry if it did, but I have placed several warnings describing the content of this story and if you know what it contains and you do not like this type of material, then why are you reading it? I do not appreciate getting accused for other people’s actions. It is your choice as the reader to read the content of this story and it is not my fault if it upsets you when you knew from the gecko what it contained. So please DO NOT flame me about it.

I also feel like a schoolteacher teaching a bunch of little kids. And I find that this really wasn’t necessary and shouldn’t have had to come to this, but it is very hard when your reviewers have forgotten how to conduct themselves like adults.

If you honestly think that being malicious is a good thing and that you’re not wrong in doing so, well then your blinded by your own selfish pride. People with common sense learn how to take responsibility for themselves and are able to admit when their wrong. I have found that many of the reviewers that have left me malicious reviews honestly believe that its appropriate behavior for an adult. When it really is that they are too self-absorbed in themselves to admit their wrong. Again that results from selfish pride. One to scared to admit in front of others that they just might be wrong. Also, how can any of you hold any right to call Jenna conceited when in reality, your contradicting yourself by being conceited as well? Being conceited is again selfish pride and being self-absorbed. And yes, it is and always will be a fact that most of the reviewers have been conceited and very contradictive. Please DO NOT leave me a review that only contradicts what you are trying to preach. You should in reality, take your own advice.

Again I find it very ridiculous that this had to be as long as it is, but it is due to the fact that people not conducting themselves appropriately. Also if I do receive any more malicious reviews, with screaming, spitting nails or ranting and raving over this story because you do not like it then are to self-absorbed to admit that acting like that is wrong, well then you have proven my point! All of this is very self-explanatory!

 Now PLEASE DO NOT READ ON if you DO NOT plan on leaving me a review appropriately!

(She more or less repeats points she already made here, but again, I agree. The summary and numerous warnings should have clued people in to the fact that this was going to be a fantasy, wish fulfillment, placeholder type story and to expect the kind of thing that goes on therein. It also shouldn’t have given anyone free reign to be cruel or leave threatening reviews, etc)

Prologue

    Dreams come in many forms. Some good, some bad, some very realistic, even ones that feels very real. A dream may come to us from happy events, or even stem from bad events in our lives. Some come to us as a pleasure dream and some come as nightmares. Some become vague memories after time, while some stay very rich in our minds. This is a story about a dream that I had. A dream that became more dreams. A dream that would end one night then resumes the next. It became like a second life. Ever since I became a Zelda fan, I grew an interest in Link. I thought of him as the perfect man. One that you could not find of this world. I thought of him as a man that should have been. The more that he attracted my attention the more I became more attracted to him.  I felt like there was a connection between him and me. Then he became a part of me, and after that I fell deeply in love with him.

     I know that may sound queer to you but love is a mysterious thing and should not be taken lightly. Love is a very strong emotion, an emotion that should be treasured. Love comes from the heart, but when it takes hold, it’s got you. I quite don't understand it myself, but I do know that when I first laid my eyes upon Link I fell in love with him. My heart just told me it was right. Told me he was the one, the one I had been searching for. Ever since then I have felt that it was destiny that has brought me to him. Even in my mind it feels the same. I don't consider myself any different from anyone else. Though I have love for someone that is not really there, he will always remain very real to me inside my heart and in my mind. Even to this day I still love him. He has kept me very happy. He has made me happy when I was sad. He has made me feel stronger about myself. He has even taken care of me in ways that no one else can. Even though I have feelings for him, I'm not any different from the rest of you. I will always hold him close to me in my heart. He is still on my mind and I still have dreams. The connection stills remains strong, and the dreams very real.

     I lived an entire life with Link in Hyrule. All stemming from a series of dreams. Dreams that I want to have. Dreams that I make happen. From the first day I met him, to the birth of our first child, to even the days when Link and I prepared our family in the event that Gannon should return. This book is based on my inner life. A second life lived in a far away land in another time line in another dimension. A tale of love, passion, despair and hope. I enjoyed my inner life. I looked forward to going to sleep to it every night. And I look forward to ones that will come, because LOVE WILL NEVER DIE.

(Again, this is one of the points of the story that the writer gets a lot of flack for, but I think it’s pretty harmless to project on a fictional character and use their likeness to fill a sense of loneliness. Nothing wrong with it, and I’m not here to judge. I think we all probably did something similar at a point in our lives- I used to privately pretend Legolas was my boyfriend when I was like 10 or 11, so yknow, glass houses!!!) 

[sims3morgans]

Siblings Interview Tag

I was tagged by @dreamsongsims​ Thank you! It was fun to write dialogue for Olwyn and Bethan, I’ve not done that before because of the style of my blog. I got a little bit carried away, hope you enjoy!

Tagging: @simcatcher​

Interview under the cut...

The following is part of the transcript of an interview with the Morgan Sisters, following the publication of Olwyn Morgan’s second book. Under her pseudonym Octavia Morrigan, Olwyn has had incredible success but has until refused all calls for media interviews. She agreed to this one for International Sisters Day so long as her sister Bethan could join us.

1. Which one of you is the older sibling?

Bethan: That would be Olwyn.

Interviewer: Do you remember a time before Bethan came along Olwyn?

Olwyn: I do, but only just. My earliest memory is watching my parents renew their vows when I was a toddler. After that I hadn’t long aged up into a child when Bethan was born – so I haven’t got many memories without her.”

2. What do you like about your sibling?

Interviewer: Bethan, would you like to start?

Bethan: Sure. Okay so the first thing you need to know about Olwyn is she’s kind. And patient. I’ve seen that my whole life, she’s been the perfect big sister, balancing me out – I’m a little more abrupt I guess.  But as I’ve got older I’ve seen she’s got a wicked streak too. She kept her success as an author a secret but played with us by buying expensive presents… I knew my prom dress was hella expensive but I couldn’t prove it! Oh yeah, so she’s generous too.

Interviewer: And you Olwyn?

Olwyn: Bethan is patient in her own way too. When we were children she tried  hard to help me out of my shell, I was so shy you see. What I really admire in her though is the way she feels things so deeply. I can remove myself form my feelings a bit, but Bethan really feels whatever she’s feeling. Love, hate, loyalty… it’s wonderful.

3. What annoys you about your sibling?

//Bethan glances at Olwyn, she’s grinning.//

Bethan: Olwyn?

Olwyn: Bethan can be a bit… well sometimes she….

Bethan: I’m a bit much!

Olwyn, smiling: Exactly. When a family friend was living with us, back when we lived in Bridgeport.

Bethan: That ****.

Olwyn: Bethan! You see? Well sometimes she feels things so deeply she actually makes the situation worse. A***** (name redacted) was being unpleasant to me personally, but the three of us shared a room. The smart thing to do was to swallow our feelings so we could rub along in those small quarters – Bethan took against him and created an atmosphere.

//Bethan rolls her eyes and leans back in her chair.//

Bethan: A***** (name redacted) was a ****. Whatever. You know what annoys me about you Olwyn? You’re too easy going. You forgive people, and let them walk all over you. If I ever see A***** again, he won’t know what’s hit him.

4. Describe your sibling(s) with three adjectives.

Bethan: Olwyn is serene, kind, and unaccountably humble.

//Olwyn appears touched, her hand on her chest.//

Olwyn: Thank you. I would say that Bethan is earnest, adaptable and loyal.

5. What is your sibling’s/siblings’ biggest talent(s)?

Bethan: Oh that’s easy, she’s an amazing author! I loved her work even before I knew she was the one writing it.

Olwyn: Thank you Bethan, it was quite tough listening to you speculate about the plot for the sequel, you had it all so wrong! But anyway.  Bethan’s biggest talent is her ability to see the diamond in the rough. She does it at work, finding scrap to turn into art, but also in people. She’s see’s inside people instinctively, and often brings out the best in them just by being herself.

//Bethan’s mouth drops open.//

Bethan: I… Olwyn. I… that’s beautiful.

//Olwyn shrugs.//

Olwyn: It’s what you do.

6. What is your sibling(s) really bad at?

Olwyn: Bethan can’t always see very far ahead. She lives in the moment you know? She can be so fixated on doing what she’s doing the consequences escape her.

Bethan: Oh so you’re bringing up the swimming thing again…

Olwyn: I…

Bethan: Okay, I swam too far out into Bridgeport River. I was having fun!

Olwyn: Bethan it’s all water under the bridge.

//Bethan pauses, then grins.//

Bethan: That was terrible. Right, okay so Olwyn is really bad at gardening. Mum and Dad, their whole livelihood is gardening and Olwyn’s been trying to help them since she was a kid but they’ve never had the heart to tell her how bad she is at it!

Olwyn: They all look the same! How you can tell a shoot from a weed…

7. Do you have nicknames for each other?

Bethan: No not really. We don’t do that in our family I guess. Olwyn would you..?

Olwyn: Yes I agree. Both our names are quite short so we’ve not needed to shorten them further, and silly nicknames… no – it’s not for us.

8. What’s one thing you can do that your sibling(s) can’t?

Olwyn: Bethan’s not really at home in the kitchen. I can cook quite well, I do a nice ratatouille. Which is just as well we eat a lot of vegetables. We were quite poor for a long time you see, sometimes we only had the vegetables we’d grown ourselves to eat, for weeks at a time. You learn to make the most of what you have.

Bethan: I paint – I don’t know if Olwyn’s ever picked up a paintbrush! I did a few for her side of the bedroom because she was going to be satisfied with bare walls.

9. Did you get along when you were younger?

Bethan: We did. We’re fairly different Sims, but we got along very well.

Olwyn: We had to I think. Our bedroom in Bridgeport was so small… any arguments could have got nasty. Maybe being so different was our saving grace, less conflict?

10. What is your funniest childhood memory of your sibling?

Olwyn: Bethan was a treasure trove of funny moments, I think she put it on a bit to lighten tension. When we were both children, she had this signature pratfall off the climbing frame at school – cracked me up every time!

Bethan: Looking back, there’s loads of moments where Olwyn was being really funny but in her understated way you know? I think for me it’s when we were both teens and we had this really nasty teacher for music class. Neither of us are musical, so she was pretty mean to us. Olwyn would insist in smiling sweetly and saying “See you next Tuesday” to her after every lesson. Cracked us all up, because we weren’t sure whether the good girl Olwyn knew what she was saying! Mrs Bridey wasn’t sure either – her eyes would bug out!

Olwyn: Oh I definitely knew what I was saying.

11. Are you closer now or when you were younger?

Bethan: Physically obviously we were closer when we were younger. Not living together does limit things! I miss Olwyn’s cooking, and chatting over breakfast… but we’re still close.

Olwyn: I think we have that kind of relationship where you might not see each other for a couple of weeks, but when you do it’s like you’ve never been apart. We’re not brittle, we’re sisters and friends and no amount of time apart could change that. We’re young adults now, and making our own lives, and we’re confident enough in our relationship to give each other the space to do that.

Bethan: Ugh, Olwyn you always say things so nice!”

Olwyn: I am a wordsmith Bethan!

12. Did you compete with each other?

Bethan: Nope.

Olwyn: No, not really. We built each other up.

13. Which one of you is more likely to turn out like your mum or dad?

Olwyn: Well neither of us is particularly interested in vegetables…

Bethan: Olwyn! She means like, emotionally and stuff.”

Olwyn: Oh of course. Well we’ve both inherited a strong sense of family being important from them. Of sticking together, and helping each other out. Financially, emotionally, we’re a team.

Bethan: Right. Olwyn’s got it in one – family is more important than anything. Than money, than fame… it’s everything.

14. Which one is most likely to have a big family?

Both at the same time: “Bethan.” “Olwyn.”

//The sisters look at each other, both surprised by the others answer.//

Interviewer: Hmm, moving on…

15. What is one thing about your sibling(s) that has changed as you’ve gotten older?

Olwyn: Bethan where’s her hair down sometimes now. It’s been in a ponytail since she was old enough to reach behind her head to tie it up! But I guess she’s also more secure in herself. You seemed to want to prove yourself when we were younger Bethan, you still have drive and ambition but the edge to it has softened.

//Bethan nods.//

Bethan: I guess I can see that. I was desperate to help the family with our finances, then I was desperate to make a connection with a boy – any boy! I think the urgency wore off both those things, and I was much happier for it.

And you Olwyn, I think you’ve found your niche. In Bridgeport you never really fit in anywhere, but here in Appaloosa Plains you’ve found friends and  - oh I dunno. You just really seem to belong here.”

16. Who’s better at math?

Olwyn: Bethan.

Bethan: Yep, definitely me.

17. Who is more pessimistic and who is more optimistic?

Bethan: We’re both optimists, but it comes out differently I think. Olwyn finds the silver lining in any situation, so is happy to sit in it even if it’s actually not that great. I look at a situation and look for ways to make things better, or move things along at least.

18. Is there anything you don’t like doing together?

Olwyn: I don’t think we’ve ever gone drinking together, I’m not sure if it’s because Bethan and I don’t want to or just haven’t…

Bethan: Hey that’s right! And a lot of our friends overlap. Weird.

19. Which one of you do you think will get married first?

Olwyn: Bethan, things are looking pretty serious with her and Calvin..?

Bethan: I’m not sure we’re there yet!

Olwyn: Bethan, you have matching tattoos.

Bethan: Yes but… well he hasn’t asked. And I don’t plan to. Getting married is just so – I mean I love him but… It’s so public! You’ll probably get swept off your feet and marry someone within a season while Calvin and I are still figuring things out.

20. Lastly, how often do you argue?

Olwyn: Not often.

Bethan: Only about the big things, we don’t stress the small stuff. We get that from our dad, he’s pretty easy going.

Olwyn: Whereas mum...

Both laugh