#i will admit i do put claudia in the most sexual/sexualized positions out of any character. but that's mostly because she's my oc

[wisteriasymphony]

Btw how old is claudia/the cast of tweos?

18-19. Adrien turns 19 during March of '09 (which will probably be in very late part 2), whereas character like Claudia and Luka are '89 babies and as such are already 19

(Now that I think about it, Luka would likely turn 20 over the course of the story if I keep his birthday in Feb... I will admit most of the side characters have malleable birthdays lolol)

The major birthdays/ages that I know for a fact will stick are:

Adrien: March 13th, 1990 (18-19)

Claudia: August 28th, 1989 (19)

Marinette: July 7th, 1990 (18)

Originally I was going to have the cast be 17-18, but even with the minimal level of adult stuff that happens in TWEOS (which is mostly kept implicit and for the themes instead of like... spice for the sake of it, which i doubt i will ever do), it felt a little too murky for my liking. Still, the transition to adulthood and becoming your own person as you break away from your parents is still a big theme, so it wouldn't make much sense for me to make them all any older than 19, imo. Adrien just probably got held back an extra year due to his homeschooling being too specific to his talents rather than covering the basics lol.

But yeah, assume the main cast is 18 or around there. Other than the kwamis, but they sort of transcend age anyways lol

[decaydanceredacted]

all of you who want to be raped need serious mental help. And all of you want to rape people need to be put in a cellar 6 feet under. "Oh its just fantasy 🥺🥺🥺" whether you like it or not, "fantasy" leads to action. Fantasizing about rape isn't fucking normal and wanting to rape someone could lead to actually trying to rape someone. Personally if i ever had a fantasy about raping someone and it aroused me at all (which it wouldnt because im not R Kelly) id fucking kill myself. You guys creating an echo-chamber or this is awful. How hard is it to keep you fantasies consensual? Why must you guys support rape? Rape hurts people it isn't "sexy" lack of consent isn't hot. I know that you guys only live on the internet so I don't expect you guys to understand the fact that rape is actually harmful and traumatized people, but it does. It isn't cute or funny and I highly doubt any of your favorite band members would like to hear about you people thinking about raping them or being raped by them. "But they wouldn't like sexual fantasies anyway!!!" Most of them laugh it off but talking about wanting to rape them is actually a threat whether you mean it or not. And calling them rapists negatively frames their characters. None of the people you guys fantasize about would take advantage of people. Why do you want to flanderize them so badly? If people said that they fantasized about being raped by me I'd scrub my body till my skin started bleeding and falling off. If these people have found this blog before, they can find it again.

Heres an article about how fiction affects reality although I highly doubt you guys will read it: https://www.nydailynews.com/2015/02/23/university-of-illinois-student-said-fifty-shades-of-grey-inspired-sexual-assault-prosecutor/

Ps. @fobdeaddove or whatever your name is I hope every cramp I've ever gotten during my period is passed onto you every second of everyday so that the rest or your life you're hunched over in severe stomach pain. You're the worst

This is bullshit, here's (a shortened version) why

whether you like it or not, "fantasy" leads to action

i fantasize about killing my boss but that doesnt mean im actually gonna do it dumbass

And calling them rapists negatively frames their characters. None of the people you guys fantasize about would take advantage of people.

so you agree? even though someone may eroticize rape/kidnapping/etc in the stuff they write, that doesn't mean they would actually take advantage of people irl?

I read your article. That's wilddd, you mean a very very poorly written book that displays awful bdsm etiquette, is universally HATED by the kink community, and encourages *actual* irl rape, not irl cnc, contributed to a rape?

Here's another article for you, and a couple quotes from it (emphasis mine):

According to one study, 62 percent of women report rape fantasies. But researchers suspect that number is actually much higher, with many people too ashamed to admit they are aroused by such scenarios; in particular, women who have been assaulted and raped in the 'real' world.

Clinical sexologist Dr. Claudia Six says first and foremost it's important for rape survivors to know there is nothing shameful about having rape fantasies.

Six and Castellanos say enacting rape fantasies in search of liberation is not uncommon among rape survivors, who try to master their trauma by turning it into something positive. And it can yield positive results: “If they play out a rape fantasy and don’t get hurt or scared, [and] they only get aroused, it creates a positive interpretation of the action,” Castellanos says. "The fear and uncertainty gets replaced with an erotic association.”

[...] having these fantasies as a rape survivor is normal. It doesn’t mean you’re “sick,” or a “bad feminist,” she says. Most importantly, "There's no shame.”

I mean ultimately it's like. You know what you sound like, right? You're telling people to kill themselves because of things they thought about. Please get a fucking grip. I'm going to block you now ✌️

[rainbowcarousels]

2 & 7 for the sting in the way you kiss me and 8 & 14 for shelter (my beloved 🤧💕)

the sting in the way you kiss me

What’s my favorite part of the fic? That it is exactly four thousand words? More seriously, I think it's the part where Lestat finds Nicolas saying he believes in him to be something sweet, something romantic but from Nicki's perspective, it's like admitting something terrible. The fic only explores it from Lestat's more hopeful perspective, but I feel like I captured Nicki's shadow over it pretty well.

From his perspective, in a relatively short time, Nicki has lost his faith in God, his understanding of what he ought to do in life, fallen in love with an impoverished baby aristocrat who alternates between despair at the darkness of the world and finding so much hope in desire, in love, then come to Paris where he can't get hired by any serious orchestra because he started learning too late to be at the same level even though he's talented but Lestat, the person who's barely stepped on a stage before people send their devotion to him, is having a meteoric rise.

Lestat's story is aspirational, he's going to be something amazing and Lestat says oh it's only a matter of time, you'll get hired by somewhere amazing, we'll tour the world and everything will be wonderful and a part of him believes that and it's just drowned out by the reality that such things are really only possible for Lestat with his looks, his charisma, his talent - Nicki's shortfall is in learning, in experience and the way he experiences hope that is drowned out by rational thought is painful for him. Lestat doesn't understand that, he just see's him putting himself down and putting Lestat on some kind of pedestal when Lestat just knows they'll make it if they try hard enough. It's one of the most interesting dynamics for me to write.

Were there any major decisions I made about the fic that could have made it go a whole different direction?

Only the sexual position changed, otherwise it's exactly as it was intended to do. Originally I wanted to use fire, explore burning touch as a 'playing with fire' thing but I realised it's Lestat, let's eroticise the weeping instead!

shelter

Was there anything I only learned about the fic after I had finished it? (themes, motifs, symbolism, etc)

That there is an underlying theme of 'what if I can't give you what you need'/'what if I'm not what you want'. In Armand's case, his need is of an unconditional love and a desire for someone or something that will not willingly leave him. His experience of that was his biological family and the boys. So the difficulty in wanting that and not being sure if everyone else does is really hard. There's also Daniel who's afraid of the idea that he's going to be shit at it, kids were a Normal thing and he very much did not want Norman things but also he can't really give Armand something and he's so used to being able to that not being so makes him a little neurotic. It's been so much of his life to give him anything he wants as an act of love.

There's Lestat who is afraid he can't run away and is afraid of staying. Normally there is a point where he pulls away and this family is an anchor, he can't pull away, he has to engage and deal with it instead. If he can't do that effectively and is found wanting, that is terrifying for him. Then Louis who is of course afraid he won't be able to differentiate family now to his family with Claudia and that it could be a disservice to her or he'll compare them unfavourably. That this is with Armand too and his role in Claudia's death really hammers home that he hasn't dealt with a lot of it yet, nor has Lestat.

Ultimately it might be biological but there is an active choice to choose to be a family and work at it for all for them, to not let insecurity get in the way of feeling happy and loved. They just need a kick up the ass in the form of it involving innocent-if-bitey kiddos so it doesn't seem entirely selfish for those with some guilt complexes (Louis and Armand in different ways) or because compassion is part of their love language (both Lestat and Daniel).

If I were to write a sequel to this fic, what would it be about?

You already know this but probably a fathers day thing. Love is not less complicated just because little brains are underdeveloped so trying to relate to tiny people while also being so outside of the norms is an interesting one. I love the idea of exploring just normal every day things but the vampire twist because they don't eat (like the dolls at the doll cafe), it has to be at night (the playgrounds must be so weird at like 10pm with just them and probably Lestat also having a go on the slide, maybe Armand would like to swing, he does seem to like the height) and trying to figure out how to attend teachers meetings. I think it's just walking this line between humanity and not that is really interesting, with love connecting the two.

Also probably something heavier on the spiciness, the physical connection and scents and desire really plays into the universe so I probably that.