#i think they go a bit heavy with the moon imagery tho

[touchlikethesun]

no akiteru spiral tonight (i pinky promise) but this frame has me all twisted up, it's the first time aki and kei have really talked in who knows how long and they're both smiling. they might not be looking at each other, kei might not be ready to fully open up to aki just yet, but he's happy to be talking with his brother again... aki too, oh dear the tsukishima brothers are so important to me <333

[ghost-of-you]

Okay, this may be the longest and craziest analysis I ever did, but under the cut, I will be going into heavy detail about how the complete mess mv has 5sos5 spoilers, easter eggs, whatever you wanna call them.

First I made this post before the album came out and I was focusing on the singles and a longer theory about how the album was gonna go, now I'm just gonna go crazy. I have been thinking about this since the album came out so I'm just gonna do it.

Second I just wanna point out the amount of spinning in the cinematography choices there is in the cm music video and how that alone could be something given the amount of spinning and going in circles imagery there is in the album: "we go around again", "and we're going around again in the emotional blender, "my life is just a carousel spinning around", "hope the world will spin slower", "everything I was spinnin' down the drain", so you know, spinning is something important oskaoskas.

Let's get into it then:

"Run to the east, gotta leave, I need a way out"

I have no geographical proof they were moving east (also I cut most of the clips with them walking around together cuz that was like 30 seconds of the mv sokasoikasok), but I will assume they are for the sake of being right oskaoskas, they are all moving around and they reach the giant mirror and they stop looking up, are they moving east looking for a way out? They could be.

"Take my hand, now and forever, where I stand, just as you're losing yourself again, look in the mirror"

I mean, come on, he's reaching for his reflection, I do not believe this is not on purpose.

I never added mm&i to the discussion before because it was too easy to just put any moment any of them were alone, but if I use the moment they split up and how they are shown walking alone, we have "I did not need your help, now it's just me, myself and I" and I think the way there's 2 mirrored Luke's makes even more sense.

At first, I thought about this as efyts "A darkness that holds me and loves when I bleed, need someone to show me what I couldn’t see" cuz it makes sense, buuuut I like this better thinking about it as emotions and tears. Michael is literally being dragged "fears pulling me down" and that bit also makes me think "violence in the darkness are you seeing what I’m seeing"

Ashton running in place "don’t mind me I’m just feeling kinda broken if you need me I’ll be here with my emotions" it adds up.

I do still like Calum pulling Ashton out for the "A darkness that holds me and loves when I bleed, need someone to show me what I couldn’t see" bit tho, cuz he is pulling Ashton out of the invisible force holding him, showing him another way.

I don't know why I think about this particular shot as much as I do, but it is very interesting to me that while we do see all of them jumping or on the ground, Calum is the only one we see falling.

It could be "Racehorse tripping on the dirt that you got on me" in a more symbolic way, but it could also be "I'm falling for the first time" cuz he's falling and it's the first and only fall of the video splasplapslas

"Lights will guide you, so run like hell"

I mean, they are not running, but the light is guiding them.

"Honey, I can see you when you're reaching out for more"

Ash, Mike and Calum are in the frame while Luke reaches out, COME ON.

I can also take any clip of them having fun at the end of the mv and just go "I got the best friends in this place and I'm holding on" and I like this particularly in the context of the music video because the video begins with them together but are either searching for something or they are very stiff, and in the end they are just vibing. I like that in the context of best friends and the "I see you searching for more but what we have is awesome" energy of the song.

This is what I said when blender came out but I stand by it. But we just can’t keep away when you know me like you do It’s supernatural, got me howling at the moon. Like I said in the beginning there's a lot of spinning in this video, but there's a bit that's just spinning continuously. The spinning bit is when they all get together, they can’t stay away, come on it could make sense, and if you allow me to reach a bit more, let’s focus on only Luke here for a bit. What is that behind him? That’s right, it’s the moon. These are the only shots you can see the moon in the night scenes in the mv, btw. He’s spinning toward the moon. He’s not howling, but that would’ve been weird without context oskaoskaoksoaks. Also, we talked about the colors in this video a lot and something that I can add here too is how the lighting is orange. Orange is what? Yellow and Red. Luke is yellow, Calum is red. Blender is a song that only Luke is singing that is based around the bass. *mic drop*

There also them experiencing the feeling of falling upwards cuz lets face it the name was between 5sos5 and the feeling of falling upwards and they named the ono like that as a compromise.

I can probably keep going, but I'm tired of making gifs sokasokaosk I'll come back if I think of more. If you read this madness please know I love you.

[snarwor]

Fic writer interview

Thanks to @maderilien and @wrennette for the tags!!!!

How many works do you have on AO3?

65

What’s your total AO3 word count?

584,543 (176,175 in 2021 so far!)

How many fandoms have you written for and what are they?

6 fandoms: Star Wars 🚀, Good Omens, Witcher 🐺, Sleeping Beauty (LOL), Triple Frontier, and Assassin’s Creed

What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

how many secrets can you keep? (1484) 🐺

you're my soulmate, put it up my ass (1096) 🐺

moon and old stars (1096) 🚀

to love is to understand (1044) 🐺

shelter you from the storm (961) 🚀

Do you respond to comments, why or why not?

Oooh man you know I used to, each and every one. It got a bit overwhelming when I didn’t do it like every day, but I think I definitely should again.

What’s the fic you’ve written with the angstiest ending?

I don’t do unhappy endings, really, but the one time I tried writing one was this CodyWan reunion turned on its head once

Do you write crossovers? If so what is the craziest one you’ve written?

YES LMAO I love crossovers. I’m working on two super fun kinda-crossovers right now, but my craziest crossover was the Warehouse 13-steampunk-omegaverse-Witcher fic endless wonder that I did for NaNoWriMo 2020! It was so much fun including steampunk and WH13-type jargon. Incredibly indulgent.

Have you ever received hate on a fic?

Ehhhhhh. I had this passive aggressive stalker for awhile. And some folks give unsolicited concrit which is hateful, though not hate as it’s traditionally known. Is it so hard to just say you liked it and move on?

Do you write smut? If so what kind?

😜 oh you know.

Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Once when I was like 13 and still on FFN. They took my Assassins Creed self-insert and literally labeled it as Digimon fic???? It was so weird.

Have you ever had a fic translated?

Nope! Blanket permission tho.

Have you ever co-written a fic before?

Yes, a few times!! It’s always so fun to collab, and getting in the rhythm of creation with another person is always fun. Being able to personally encourage and be encouraged is special.

What’s your all time favorite ship?

The Razor Crest

What’s a WIP that you want to finish but don’t think you ever will?

Hrrrrrrgh moon and old stars. The Assassin’s Creed wip. The wingfic in my drafts maybe. The poor Tusken Din fic that’s never gotten off the ground maybe. I feel like Sisyphus with cookbook of boba fett honestly.

What are your writing strengths?

Dialogue! Poetic description! Introspection and train of thought to support action! Descriptive imagery and extended metaphors! Encouragement and reassurance! HUMOR!

What are your writing weaknesses?

Keeping momentum, commas, I don’t edit as much as I probably should, I often over-plan and under-deliver, and I tense-switch so fucking much hELP

What are your thoughts on writing dialogue in other languages in a fic?

Love it! So long as there’s translations for longer passages, unless the ambiguity of its meaning is intentional. Using bits and pieces of Spanish isn’t going to derail the whole meaning of the fic. Anyone that says otherwise is looking for something to be mad about. Also I’m a conlang whore. I gifted my Hen Linge fic to the conlang supervisor for the Witcher on AO3 because my balls are thick and heavy.

What was the first fandom you wrote for?

Maximum Ride 😱

What’s your favorite fic you’ve written?

moments before the wind was my favorite experience writing. I researched genre conventions I’d never used before and followed a story structure I was unfamiliar with, I pulled a very important through-line for the whole thing, I loved the entire concept through and through, and it’s my longest work to date. Good GOD am I proud of this fic. I respected Tuskens, worldbuilt like a motherfucker, created a villain and then defeated it, got to be creepy and goopy and scary, and then wash it all off at the end of the day! I love that fic so fuckin much.

Full-pressure tagging anyone who wants, AS LONG AS YOU PLEASE MAKE YOUR OWN POST AND DO NOT REBLOG THIS ONE 🤪

[chaosflight]

hello i had an awesomely weird/dark/heavy dream that’s somehow an au of a disney film, if you want to read it, venture below:

so it’s a weird mixture of ‘sleeping beauty’ and ‘beauty and the beast’, but the twist is that it’s not belle, the beauty, who’s asleep.  it’s the beast.  prince adam.  

instead of a benevolent/wise fairy who curses a malevolent and selfish child, it’s a wicked one, a la Maleficent, who curses a decent if spoiled young man to be a monster, his whole kingdom similarly suffering for his brash but uncharacteristic actions.

the kind fairy does show up, tho, and she can see no way to break the spell herself, and has no hope for someone coming to the ruined kingdom or loving the beast for what he is now, at least, not in time.  Maleficent still gave him the curse’s rose and the deadline and the ‘cure’, but only because she believed he would never be able to fulfill the requirements.  So the kind fairy puts his kingdom on pause, more or less asleep, such that time will not pass for them, thus extending the deadline indefinitely.  Maleficent doesn’t care or doesn’t know, if she did, she’d think it’s hilariously awful and would still leave them alone for the rest of the movie, maybe.

so the kind fairy leaves as well to search for a way to break the spell, but leaves the prince and his kingdom with a shared dream, so they can attempt to live some sort of life instead of being dead for what could be forever.

years pass, maybe centuries, maybe only a decade or two.

a wandering girl shows up at the mysterious and enchanted kingdom, seeking shelter from a storm.  It’s Belle, and she’s on a mission.  inside the castle, time is halted, but she moves through it with ease, unaffected by the spell.  there is food and fire and sleep, and when she wakes in the morning the storm is still raging, so she explores her housing.  So much she doesn’t understand.  So much that doesn’t make sense.

she comes across a grand bedroom, and by the window lays a hulking shape, the prince, the beast.  He is deathly still, and his head rests a covered rose, glowing and hovering.  it, too, is impossibly still, emanating a light that seems to want to dance, to pulse.  And on the other side, exactly opposite the sleeping monster, is another stone bed.  

in a desire she doesn’t understand, she lays down there, and sleeps.  

she wakes up in the world of dreaming the kind fairy crafted, and meets everyone she’d unknowingly seen in the castle.  the candlestick by the entrance is actually a man.  the teapot and the cups she’d made tea in are actually a woman and her children.  there’s a clock who is a steward, a featherduster that’s a maid, so on and so on, all astounded to see her, the first new person in ages.  but she is kind, and so are they, and they take her to meet the prince.

he is the only one still touched by the curse here, a monster even asleep, but he is fair, if distant, and welcoming, though tired.  

they talk, he explains, and she is in awe.  magic!  curses, fairies!  what a story she’s fallen into!  she wishes she could help, of course, but she doesn’t see how.  she can’t make herself fall in love, and as it turns out, love itself will not break the spell.  ‘only someone who loves you as you are may break the curse’ were Maleficent’s words, and they suspect that she meant for that someone to find their own way of dealing with it than making it a fair or simple exchange. 

belle knows she should leave the sleeping kingdom, but her curiosity is too great.  by day she explores the castle, reads, and tries to attend to the physical forms of those she met in dreams, and at night she would join the prince and his kingdom in their dream.

time passes, and belle stops aging.  she forgets how long she’s been in the kingdom, and she almost forgets her mission, but she does fall in love with the prince. he is her greatest friend, and she wishes she could show him the world as she knows it is outside, but as they suspected, her love is not enough by itself to save those it belongs to.  

belle therefore proposes a plan:  as the kind fairy is doing somewhere in the world, she should go out and search for a way to break the spell herself.  prince adam is reluctant, afraid to lose her to the dangerous world outside, but he cannot stop her, and so he gives her his blessing for the journey.

before she leaves, he calls upon the one other favour the fairy left to his kingdom: a magic mirror that would allow true and honest visions to the outside world.  belle first asks where she must go to save her found family, and the mirror shows her a peninsula that leads to a set of islands she does not recognize from any map she knows of.  the mirror shows her the way, a path of magic and danger, but she knows she is up to the task.  

then, hesitantly, knowing it’s the tiniest bit selfish, she asks the mirror where she might find her missing father.  the mirror shows her once again the peninsula and it’s islands.  the cure to the curse and her father, both in one place?  what a mad coincidence, but the mirror does not lie, and she asked the right questions.  

it’s settled.  she kisses her family goodbye, and the prince wishes her the safest travels, and that she come home quickly.  she promises she will, as quickly as possible, but promises are dangerous, and she knows that.  she leaves, sets out on her journey, following the trail the mirror set out for her.

the place she seeks, the peninsula and the islands, are in the heart of fairy country, a place of pure magic, wild and weird and strange.  the journey is slow and dangerous, but belle makes her way well enough, always careful, always thoughtful.  in the time of a year and a half, she’s found the peninsula.  

it’s permanently gray, there.  the sky rolls with meditating thunder, alight with murmurs of lightning, but never the sun, never the moon, and the stars had never once hung in it’s sky.  

but the journey is not without cost.  belle is dangerously ill when she stumbles across the cottage, and does not have the strength to drag herself inside.  she falls asleep, afraid of failure, just outside it’s rickety gate. 

she wakes up, however, inside.  an older fellow, who greets her curiously when she sits up.  he comments on her attire, pants and vest and boots, and wonders who she is and how she came to be here.  her heart hopes that this man is her father, but it can’t be.  he would know her, wouldn’t he?  and he looks nothing at all like she expected he would from the small painting her dying mother made for her.

but they talk and she learns he does not know who he is, nor why he is here.  he knows there is an item of powerful magic at the last island, and that for years he has been attempting to retrieve it, but he cannot get past the last puzzle that allows access to the final island. he has not tried in many years, but the magic of the world has kept him in limbo until he does, or leaves.  belle insists they try together, that she needs the magic to free the ones she loves, and the gentleman eventually submits to her request.  perhaps she will know something he does not, and they will at last both have some answers.

the next day they prepare for the upcoming tasks, and the next day they head out. there are seven islands, and they look like pillars, mountains lurching out of the sea, each connected to the other by an impossible bridge.  the first six islands they pass through easily, the man having solved them time and again, many years ago.  the last island’s bridge is the most complicated, the most dangerous, and the most tiring.

it’s a pulley system, with a rickety platform for the travellers to stand on, prone to leaning or tipping the passengers into the dark and deadly sea.  belle wants to help, but the man insists that this is no time for trial and error.  error here would mean death, and he knows he has the strength to do it.  she begrudgingly allows him to do it alone, and holds on. 

the system is miles long, and the platform on which they stand dips low over the raging waters.  to pass the time, they share the details of their lives.  the gentleman explains he has forgotten what he came here for, the reason he once desired the magic item, whatever it is, but he came for it in desperation, and each time failed a puzzle, a memory was taken from him, until all that remained of him was the peninsula, the islands, and the gates.  he knows about the islands from the journals left behind by another, but the journals themselves have rotted away.  

the gentleman finishes his story as he painfully pulls them up onto the island, the arduous task of ascending the last half of the pulley system finally complete.  he asks her about herself as they approach the gate.  who is she?  what makes her special? 

she tells him about her quest for her father, and how that has consumed most of her life.  she tells him that she finally found a home, someone to love and be loved by, and that she has to save him, but must ultimately abandon her search of her father to do so.  the mirror showed her these islands as a solution to both, but she suspects her father is dead, possibly the man who wrote the journals at the cottage.  if this is true, it means there is nothing more she can do for him, and their reunion would never come to be.  

they are silent as they come to the final gate.  it is massive.  two solid steel obelisks serve as the doors, engraved with symbols and imagery that belle is not familiar with.  the gentleman can make no sense of it either, but following the trend of the last few doors, he knows it’s a riddle, and they must find the correct answer or submit a memory for their failure.  

they think and think and think, conversing and wondering but never submitting an answer, never sure of what it could be.  still, it’s the most progress the gentleman ever made with this door, all his previous attempts being wild guesses based on next to nothing.

eventually, in conversation, they think they discover the answer.  belle speaks it, but the doors do not open, yet niether are they cast out, a memory taken.  she hesitantly pushes on the door, and they swing open.

inside is a wand, and upon retrieving it, it releases the stolen memories of the gentleman, and of belle.

for you see, the gentleman eventually ran out of his own memories to give, and began to barter away the memories of his sick and dying wife, and their child.  the wife, when asked by the daughter what her father looked like, could only paint what she hoped her husband looked like, having forgotten the truth long ago.  the wife died, and belle went in search of her father, out there in the world.  she grew up alone, until she’d discovered the enchanted kingdom, her prince, and his subjects, which had led her here.

the man remembered his daughter, and was so happy to know she’d been with him this whole time, just as belle was so glad to know she’d found him, and that her initial hope had been correct.

the kind fairy appeared then, and with the wand that belle gladly gave to her, took her home to her prince, woke the sleeping kingdom, and broke the bindings of the curse.  

prince adam then proposed to belle, and they were wed in the spring.  for a year they stayed in the kingdom, reuniting with each other, but come their first anniversary, prince adam left belle’s father as his regent, and the two travelled the world, returning home every year with gifts and new alliances and trade.  the kingdom prospered, and so did belle and adam.  

the end <3

some of that i had to fill in the blanks on, since the dream didn’t exactly cover it, but i feel like this is how it was meant to play out, more or less.  anyway.  long silly post over, thanks for reading!