#ronan's dreams are weird and i love them

[stroobae]

Okay so basically I got to do a presentation about chapter 30 from The Dream Thieves in my Creative Writing class and I got way to carried away writing a full analysis so I thought I'd post it here

I think this passage is so great because it's packed with symbols that completely encapsulate the character of Ronan Lynch. Firstly, we have Ronan’s tattoo, which holds a lot of significance in terms of its literal purpose and what it figuratively represents. We learn here that the literal purpose of the tattoo is to instill fear and intimidation among others. Ronan is a very damaged person, and uses his physical appearance as a warning sign for others to steer clear of him after his father dies. He has a shaved head, a permanent scowl, and most intimidating of all: a tattoo which stretches from the back of his neck all the way down to his waist. His tattoo has a lot of grotesque, frightening imagery in it, which is interesting considering its design is made up of “things from his head.” The fact that the dark imagery portrayed in his tattoo is from his head reveals the struggles and dark things that come out of his own mind. His tattoo is a literal manifestation of Ronan’s inner self portrayed in a scene on his back. He’s quite literally wearing his heart on his sleeve (or on his back rather). It’s also mentioned that Ronan has never been able to see the tattoo fully, because it’s on his back. It can only be seen by others standing behind him, and also, when he’s naked (which is something I’ll come back to later). I think that the placement of his tattoo specifically is a really important metaphor alongside the idea that Ronan’s tattoo represents his whole character and inner self. The fact that Ronan cannot see the whole picture of himself and only “bits and pieces” seems like a large indicator that Ronan doesn’t know fully who he is. In the prologue of The Dream Thieves, it’s stated that Ronan has three secrets, all of different natures; the nature of the second secret being one you keep even from yourself. So essentially, Ronan has a part of himself which he doesn't even truly understand, and I think that this is really accentuated by the fact that he can't see his whole tattoo (his inner self) because it's always behind him. However, others also can’t see the whole tattoo unless he takes his shirt off to show them. (BIG THING FOR LATER!)

In the epilogue of TDT you find out (along with Ronan himself) that he’s in love with one of his best friends, Adam. During this chapter, the reader hasn’t been told yet that Ronan is in love with Adam; mostly because the book follows his point of view, and he doesn’t actually know this about himself yet either. It’s made into a plot twist of sorts in the epilogue, and many readers said that they weren’t aware that it was coming at all. A lot of people felt that Ronan’s crush on Adam came out of nowhere. But if you’re me and love to look WAY too deep into every single line of a book, you’ll know that this isn’t the case at all. This dream is a dead giveaway of Ronan’s feelings. First of all, dreams–especially the way that they’re portrayed in this book–are a look into one’s inner conscience. Your dreams are able to display your deepest feelings and desires, even if you’re not consciously aware of them in real life. Ronan especially is a character who has walls built up, and doesn't verbally communicate how he feels to any other character. He doesn’t even allow himself to examine his own feelings/desires, and has a lack of self-vulnerability and personal emotional intelligence. So in his dreams, his most inner part of himself comes to the forefront of his mind and shows him things he didn’t even know he wanted. To validate this idea, we have the fact that Ronan can fully see his whole tattoo in this dream. His tattoo represents his inner self, and he is finally able to see this part of himself within his dream. The dream begins with Dream Adam tracing his tattoo, and in Latin (which I’ll unpack later) he says,“Scio quid hoc est” which roughly translates to “I know what this is.” Once again, returning to the idea that Ronan’s tattoo is a manifestation of himself, we have Adam physically touching it and telling Ronan he knows what the tattoo means. He understands its whole purpose; why Ronan got it, what it’s really depicting. Dream Adam isn’t intimidated by the tattoo like most people because of its gruesome imagery, but instead he knows that it’s really made up of things from Ronan’s conscience, that it’s a representation of who he is inside. What’s really being portrayed in this scene is Ronan’s desire to be truly known by someone, which is a common theme in the series. The fact that the person shown “knowing” Ronan in his dream is Adam specifically is really important as well. Up until this point, we know that Adam and Ronan are friends, their relationship is shown to be tense and is characterized by squabbles which are resolved by the end of the day. We don’t really know exactly how they feel about each other yet based on their surface level interactions. Therefore, this chapter is extremely important in developing their relationship. We now know partly about how Ronan truly feels about Adam. Not necessarily what their relationship currently is, but what he subconsciously wants it to be. Ronan wants to be known by Adam and believes that he has this capability, since it’s Adam who fills this role in his dream. 

In the dream, Dream Adam then transforms into Kavinsky, who’s the antagonist in this installment. Kavinsky is an adrenaline junky who’s presented to have an infatuation with Ronan. He gets him to do crazy things: dangerously drag race in the streets, take questionable dreamt-pills, and throw molotov cocktails at white Mitsubishis. He’s infatuated with Ronan mainly because of Ronan’s outward reputation and appearance, his mutual love for perilous activities, and the fact that they share the supernatural ability to take things out of their dreams. Kavinsky wants someone to enable him; who he can be an enabler to. Kavinsky thinks that they’re one in the same, and that Ronan is an exemplary candidate for a self-destructive partner. In Ronan’s dream, when Adam turns into Kavinsky, Ronan disappears entirely. He becomes only his tattoo, which gets smaller and smaller until it's simply a tiny Celtic knot. The notion that Ronan disappears and that his tattoo (all that’s left of him, a manifestation of his conscience) gets smaller when Kavinsky appears, shows that he literally feels small when he’s with him. Kavinsky belittles Ronan. He misunderstands who he is, and boils him down to his wildness and rash spontaneousness. He quite literally swallows Ronan whole in the dream; he destroys all that he is. Dream Kavinsky tells Ronan in Latin, “Scio quid estis vos'', which roughly translates to “I know what you are.” WOOOOOF. OH, IT'S SO GOOD. I GOT CHILLS. This could have SO many meanings. “I know what you are” could mean that Kavinsky knows that Ronan is a dreamer, just like himself, or it could also mean that he knows Ronan is gay (if we’re revisiting that idea of this dream bringing to the forefront parts of Ronan that he doesn’t know about himself yet). Adam and Kavinsky are complete opposites in Ronan’s dream, and furthermore, his life. The dream versions of the two represent what he wants, versus what he’s settled with. Currently, Ronan doesn’t think that he’s worthy of someone who truly knows and loves him. Instead, he’s resigned himself to a homoerotic unlabeled relationship with Kavinsky—who doesn't actually care about who he is, and only wants someone who he can destroy his life with. The exact phrasing of the things Dream Adam and Kavinsky separately say to Ronan are SO significant. Essentially they’re telling him the same thing: what they think they know about him. It's the words which they use to say this which makes these statements wildly different. Dream Adam says “I know what this is” about Ronan’s tattoo, meaning that he knows Ronan’s inner self. He knows this thing which he can’t normally see all of himself display of terrible things from his own mind. Dream Kavinsky says “I know what you are” which displays his assumption of Ronan’s outer character.  It’s a bold assumption and an incorrect one. The difference between Adam and Kavinsky to Ronan, is that Ronan wants Adam because he’s different from himself, and doesn’t want Kavinsky because he’s too similar to him. To an extent, I think Ronan fears Kavinsky because he’s who Ronan would be if he didn’t have Gansey or Adam in his life to keep him sane. Initially, Ronan does like to have someone to let off steam with, but he eventually realizes doesn't want an enabler to ruin his life with. He wants someone like Adam–his polar opposite–to know him, to ground him. He wants to feel alive, and awake. 

Another interesting element to this chapter is that Ronan’s dream seems to be erotic in nature; it’s a wet-dream. This is a little jarring for a YA novel, but I personally think eroticsm and sex used in literature as metaphors for conveying relationships and character vulnerability is really beautiful and clever. The significance of it being a sex dream is the fact that Ronan, as previously stated, isn’t someone who verbalizes his love for people. He shows it through physical intimacy and acts of service. Intercourse is literally as close as one can be with another person, and Ronan is completely vulnerable and laid bare in this moment. In it Ronan is naked, which we know because the dream begins with Adam tracing the tattoo all the way down his bare back. Remember, Ronan’s tattoo can only be seen fully when he’s naked, which adds another layer to this. Here it’s assumed that he had allowed Dream Adam to see his tattoo, because he had to have taken off his shirt to see it. Circling back Ronan’s tattoo placement, it’s something that not only can’t be fully seen by himself, but also can’t be fully seen by others unless he decides to strip naked for them. Here he allows Adam to see it and even trace the lines of it down his back. He felt comfortable enough to be vulnerable with Adam like that, and to inspect his whole being. The fact that Kavinsky then appears and the tattoo becomes smaller represents Ronan's uncomfortability with Kavinsky. He didn’t mean for him to see that part of himself and shrinks away in shame until Kavinsky devours the tattoo without permission. It really enforces the idea that Ronan wants and chooses Adam, but Kavinsky forces himself into his life and takes from Ronan without asking. Finally, Ronan awakes from his wet dream “euphoric and ashamed.” This could either be about the fact that it was a sex dream with not one, but other boys, or the confrontation of his true desires. He’s ashamed to admit what he really wants, and doesn’t allow himself to fully comprehend what this dream means. Ronan even thinks that he never wants to sleep again, which really means that he doesn't want his dreams to confront him with his true feelings again. This can tie into the metaphor about Ronan’s sexuality in terms of the fact that he got off to Adam and then Kavinsky, or that he doesn’t want to let his guard down and admit what he truly wants. 

It’s now finally time to unpack the use of Latin! Hooray! Throughout the series, we’re shown that Ronan is really flippant about school. He’s constantly on the brink of expulsion from Aglionby because he doesn’t go to any of his classes or do any of the work. However, the one class he has consistent attendance in as well as the highest overall grade is Latin—second to his proficiency in the language is Adam. They’re both in the same class, and are said to be able to almost fully understand and speak perfect Latin. The use of this dead language is a common theme in the series, and almost all of Ronan’s dreams are in latin. There’s an underlying meaning in that alone. A fun tidbit if we’re looking into the meaning of latin phrases we have the imagery of “claws and beak” described about the imagery of Ronan’s tattoo. The latin phrase “Unguibus et rostro” translates to “claws and beak” and is an expression about fighting with everything you have for something you want. It’s idiomatically comparable to phrases like “heart and soul” and “with all one’s strength” (thanks to ravenclawsandbeak on tumblr for sharing this finding with the fans).  In the final book in the series, there’s a short chapter which is essentially a call-back to this chapter, and follows the format in which it’s written pretty clearly. However, Ronan is awake this time rather than dreaming. 

This chapter is more or less a sex scene between Ronan and Adam, and is essentially the exact opposite to Ronan’s wet dream in TDT. Here, Ronan’s desires are no longer a fantasy that came to him in a dream, he finally has exactly what he’s wanted all along. in which they admit their feelings for each other, which is done indirectly and not through words. The fact that it's through a sex scene is significant because it's showing their intimacy. Intercourse between people is literally as close as two people can get. As a couple, Adam and Ronan rarely verbalize their feelings about each other, and so this intimate act is really them letting down their walls and allowing themselves to be completely vulnerable to each other. Here, we have Adam studying Ronan's tattoo in real life this time, just like in his dream (Something he’s only able to do because Ronan allowed him). He sees all the fine details in its design, and interestingly enough, speaks aloud this latin phrase “Unguibus et rostro” (This also begins a common theme of Ronan and Adam speaking in cryptic latin phrases rather than just actually telling the other of how they feel about each other, but that's a story for another time). This, as everything else does, has multiple meanings; it shows that not only Adam correctly interprets the imagery on tattoo, showing that now he does truly know and understand Ronan’s inner self. But also it reiterates the meaning of this phrase: that Ronan has appropriately fought with all he had for what he wants. He was able to reject Kavinsky and stay true to himself and his principles, and he realized his feelings for Adam, and was able to let his guard down enough to reach out to Adam and let him know how he actually felt about him. And similarly, he allowed Adam to love him back. 

So why did Maggie Stiefvater include the chapter in TDT? It completely breaks the flow of the main story, interrupts two other character’s POVs, and comes seemingly out of nowhere. It's not described where Ronan is, who he came to sleep, when it’s happening. It feels as if the placement of this chapter didn’t matter; it could appear anywhere and still have the same effect. My theory? I think that Stiefvater specifically placed this chapter here because she thought it was an appropriate time to learn more about Ronan, and she wanted the chapter to stick out due to shock value. Because it’s at such a seemingly random moment, and its content is brief and strange, it’s a stark outlier from the rest of the chapters. For me, this strategy totally worked. When I think back to this book, this chapter is by far the most memorable one. I remember it almost immediately when I think about any specific line/chapter from this book. Even though the dream seems random and complex, it has so much meaning packed into it about Ronan’s inner conscience and character. Stiefvater wants to reveal all of these things about Ronan previously analyzed without directly telling us. 

[lizpaige]

Trc headcannon:

Adam Parrish is a ginger, but not a bright fire orange ginger. He’s ginger as in he has the red clay colored hair. It’s said so many times he came from dust and the dirt of the trailer park and idk if it’s just bc of the trailer park I lived in growing up (smoky mountains. It is southern Appalachia and comes directly from the blue ridge) but it is so. So. Red and orange.

The epilogue of Greywarren mostly doesn’t exist. Not because it’s bad, I just feel it was very haphazardly thrown together. Why is Calla the officiant? Idk as someone who worships the ground Maggie walks, I think it wasn’t well done. The engagement does happen bc thats the most pynch thing to exist.

Adam isn’t a fed. My boy goes into social work or something adjacent. His last POV in Trk talks about how he wants to go through each house and find every last little Adam and save them. I think because he was in that position and would know intimately how fucked the system is.

aaah thank you for sharing these!

okay why do i really wanna see fanart of adam with red hair now 👀 i love this. also its basically already canon to me because everyone always writes about adam's freckles in fic (which i dont think freckles were talked about in trc/tdt? but i could be wrong?) so like yeah. auburn at least. agreed.

THANK YOU FOR SAYING THIS! I don't think Declan would want all of Ronan's friends at his wedding???? like what in the fuck even was that. Yeah Calla as officiant was super weird. I think it was mstief's way of wrapping everything up, just putting all of the characters in one place to write a little sentence or two about them, but yeah felt pretty disjointed.

yeah i like this too. I think a couple people have written this but I like the headcanon that Adam helps dreamer children. Him and Ronan "adopt" or just mentor young dreamer children who were in a tough situation or just didn't know how to deal with their dreams. But I also just like the idea that Adam does a "normal" job like becoming a social worker/lawyer that helps kids and is also answering calls from his dumbass boyfriend and remotely giving him advice/getting him out of the stupid situations that he finds himself in.

[ganseysglasses]

gangsey christmas headcanons since my thanksgiving ones were so fun. for gifts, Gansey is the kind of person to get people what HE wants and not even realize. So he’ll be getting everyone fancy notebooks or weird calligraphy sets or extra fancy messenger bags and everyone kind of looks at each other when opening it in collective realization of the fact Gansey got them what he likes. They smile and nod anyway and agree to let it happen because of how happy Gansey looks while watching them open it.

Next up is Blue, who prepares at least a month in advance for all the crafty items she’s making. You can find Blue digging through thrift stores for clothes to embroider and tear up that she WILL make all of them wear at least once. She’ll also go though landfills and find weird trinkets to paint or glue together to make sculptures. (Adam took all the weird sculptures to Harvard with him and his roommates are terrified!)

Adam is the kind of person to get people essentials. He got Gansey some ink to refill his weird pens he uses for the academia aesthetic, and Blue some much needed thread and sewing needles or yarn or something like that. And for Ronan, he gets a pack of those generic black T-shirts or new shoe laces for his boots or something and Ronan will scoff and act all ungrateful but he’s just touched Adam KNOWS with certainty exactly which kinds he likes.

Ronan just dreams people stuff he thinks they would like. I think he would get Gansey a notebook that never runs out of pages or something like that. Adam would get one of those Mary Poppins bags to hold all of his school stuff without ever having to run back to his dorm. Adam loves it. Blue would get the weirdest item of clothing on earth that is more like a thneed than anything else. Ronan also dreamt a snow globe for Noah but he would never tell anyone. Also chainsaw gets gifts from Gansey and Ronan and Adam finds it hilarious but also so so annoying. Merry christmas if you celebrate! Happy holidays :)

[clotpolesonly]

i am still struggling to wrap my head around Niall's motive for keeping his children so isolated from each other. because it had to be intentional. i cannot imagine any way that it could've sprung up organically. Ronan and Declan grew up in the same household, but they had such vastly different childhoods, and such vastly different perceptions of themselves, each other, and their father.

what really gets my goat is that Ronan didn't know that Declan knew about dreaming.

their house was full of dreams! toasters that didn't plug in, calendars full of the same date, Niall waking up covered in blood and flower petals, filling the living room with [whatever it was that needed to get sucked up by that vacuum bag to nowhere, which the kids were drafted to help with iirc]. there was a literal devil with his dick out on their fucking property, and yet somehow, Ronan was under the impression that Declan simply never noticed any of the weird shit that he himself did notice??

it's one thing with Matthew, who was......i won't call him unintelligent cuz i don't think that's true or fair, but maybe uncurious. he wasn't prone to asking questions about things, at least pre-TDT, and he was very trusting and content to accept easy answers from his loved ones. if someone told him not to worry his pretty little head about something, i think he would simply not, so it's plausible that he would just shrug and accept things and move on.

but Declan is curious. he's observant and shrewd and sensible and skeptical, and he has been since early childhood. it strains credulity for Ronan to honestly think he would just not pick up on anything out of the ordinary in the household they both grew up in.

and the question remains of WHY. why couldn't Declan know? why was Ronan not allowed to tell Declan?? and we know that it was disallowed because of the GW (i think) flashback to Ronan's first memory of dreaming, the little book with the sky in it. he brought it to Aurora, Aurora told him to bury it, and Ronan protested that he wanted to show it to Declan. he wanted to be able to share his creations with his big brother, but his mother shut him down.

the dreaming had to be a secret, and Declan was not in on it, and i don't understand why because he literally already knew. both Niall and Aurora were aware that Declan knew about dreaming, but they led Ronan to believe otherwise -- what purpose could that possible have served?

and what did they tell Declan to convince him that it was necessary? it's one thing to withhold information like they did from Ronan, but for Declan to have so much information, and for him to know that Ronan also had at least some of that information, and for him to never let on that they both know it??

Declan knew about dreaming. he knew that Niall was a dreamer. he knew that Ronan was a dreamer. he knew that Matthew was a dream. he knew that Aurora was a replacement mother. he knew what Niall's true business was. he knew why Niall was killed. he knew that the killers were after Ronan. he knew everything, and he never told Ronan a damn thing.

some of which makes sense. every family has secrets and some are more reasonable than others -- Matthew's birth, for example, or Aurora being a copy, are secrets i can understand being kept, at least through childhood. but dreaming as a concept? Niall and Ronan's dreaming in particular? such enormous parts of all of their shared experience, things that shaped their entire lives? fundamental aspects of their identities and the world at large?

we know (in theory, at least) that Niall loved Declan deeply. and that he strove to love Ronan and make Ronan feel loved. so why would he isolate them from each other? why would he leave Ronan feeling deeply, unequivocally alone without anyone to talk to about what he can do? why would he train Declan to lie about every aspect of his life, even to the people closest to him? why would he foster such intense and completely unnecessary separation between his sons?

and what did he say to them to convince them that they couldn't confide in each other? "Declan loved Ronan, and so Ronan lived." "But i want to show it to Declan!" their first instincts were to love and trust each other, but somehow, very early on, they were taught that they couldn't and shouldn't.

it's fucking tragic and i do not understand what the benefit was supposed to be. i'll never understand it.

[rekikiri]

pynch thoughts pynch thoughts pynch thoughts as many as you like i just love them

omg this has been living in my inbox for so long, I'm sorry!!

here's some of my headcanons that are pynch/pynch adjacent.

chainsaw and opal LOVE adam. like Ronan is sometimes convinced they like Adam more than him, but that is just because Ronan liked Adam so much that his dream creatures have to as well.

Ronan is very tall but he still wants to be the one held most of the time. he loves being little spoon.

Ronan is OBSESSED with Adam's hands. he is always holding them, kissing them, etc. He wants Adam's hands touching him in some way or else he is looking at them instead.

back on the chainsaw thing! Adam always greets her with, "hey, girl" in a super gentle voice and she responds in a deep, "atom" every time and Ronan about DIES when he sees it for the first time.

Ronan also nearly dies whenever he sees Adam and Matt getting along. his (not so) little brother and his boyfriend getting along??? oh goodness that poor guy is going to combust

they kiss a lot. Adam likes to kiss Ronan's shoulder/neck and forehead, while Ronan likes to kiss Adam's hands and cheeks. both like to kiss each other on the lips tho ofc!!

only tangentially pynch but with blue/gansey getting together and ronan/adam getting together you would THINK that henry ends up feeling like a fifth wheel but you would be WRONG. at any given moment someone is a third/fifth wheel. also *cough cough* kinda on the polyam blue/gansey/henry train *cough cough*. but anyways, despite the relationships, sometimes the trio end up making Henry and blue feel like third wheels just because they have a weird separate bond that only those three can understand (it is called we have all been in love with each other at some point /j)

sexuality headcanon!!! bisexual adam and homoromantic demisexual ronan! (make your favs ace, I whisper to myself as I type this asdfsdkjg)

they have a very low-key wedding because they don't have a huge group of friends anyways, but they are VERY floral and pretty courtesy of Hennessy and Jordan (Declan officiates, I guarantee he would get ordained so he can marry off his brothers)

Ronan and Adam nearly fight over having gansey as their best men until blue bonked them both upside the head and told them to knock it off (adam won gansey btw)

hope these were worth the wait!! enjoy <3

[chaniis-atlantis]

Writing interview tag game!!

Tagged by @bagheerita love this!! I love talking about my writing!

About me

When did you start writing?

I would say I started writing as soon as I knew how, but I started in earnest in middle school. My sixth grade English teacher was incredibly encouraging of the work I showed her (as were my parents), and that really helped me to feel confident in just keeping going

Are there different genres or themes you enjoy reading other than the ones you write?

Yeah lol. So I write super long fics, but I have OCD and a big part of that is that, as I've gotten older, I struggle to read words on a page with any sort of speed. So I have a lot of trouble reading long form stuff because of the stress it causes. I get around this with original work by listening to audio books, but for fic, there really isn't much I can do about it besides try.

Is there an author you want to emulate, or are compared to often?

Not ever compared to anyone, and I also wouldn't say I emulate anyone in particular. Though for my og works I take inspiration from Samatha Shannon and Madeline Miller in regard to writing style

Can you tell me a bit about your writing space?

So I can't really work at home, so my space is coffee shops! There is a particular one where I live where the music isn't too loud, the lighting is warm and the tea is fantastic. I wrote my senior thesis there :)

What’s your most effective way to muster up a muse?

Ugh, time. When I'm in a rut I'm in a rut and there isn't much I can do about it tbh. Though sometimes if I talk to friends about it for long enough, something comes clear.

If I'm not in a rut, my muses come through music

Did the place(s) you grew up in influence the people and/or places you write about?

Yes and no. I write high fantasy and horror, so I tend to pull away from where I grew up and go toward places I dream of. However, I write almost exclusively queer stories and that I owe to 1) being queer and 2) growing up in Florida and around queer people like myself whose family/wider community did not support them. Everything I write is a love letter to queer people, especially the ones who have been pushed away for being who they are.

Are there any reoccurring themes in your writing? If so, do they surprise you?

Oh yeah. In both fic and og work I think I write a lot about loss and grief, finding identity, found family and how it heals. I write about people from opposite worlds falling in love or in friendship. I tend to center characters who are other from the world they live in, whether that's because of a physical aspect or an emotional/personality one.

Not surprised at all since those themes come from personal experience and the feelings I have about life and it's meaning

Characters

Would you please tell me about your current favorite character?

This will surprise no one but, Todd! I love him! Probably because it's so easy for me to write the Wraith with one of those themes in mind. I'm obsessed with monsters (I think because of the queerness) and especially how societies in these stories treat them. I love basically forcing Stargate to treat the Wraith as the interesting characters they are.

Todd is so perfect because he's so old and so weird for a Wraith. He's just begging to be put under a microscope. And I do, I do

I'll also say that in my behemoth "Across the Universe," I have several original characters. My fav of them is a character I haven't shown yet, but I've mentioned, and that is Todd's dad. This guy is kind of insane and also my darling. He's got, I guess just as much backstory and baggage as I've given Todd in that fic and (my favorite) a fic-canon altering twist in his arsenal. I also like to pair him with Ronan in my mind palace, which sounds batshit (and is), but you can blame my proclivity for enemies to lovers as trope for that. But that is so far into the future of that universe that it might as well not even exist (FirstLight, the Wraith you are)

Which of your characters would you be friends with in real life?

I would want to be Todd's friend, but I don't think he'd want to be mine lol.

I'd love to be friends with the entire core SGA group but it's a little hard to imagine how.

I think Teyla and I would get along, and I would love to be her friend. Ronan and I might get along too, but I'm not very active, so we wouldn't have many hobbies in common. But I think I could vibe with him in the mess hall.

Same situation for someone like Weir. Not a lot in common.

In my dream world, Sheppard and I would be besties, but I'm not sure he could handle how emotional I get, and I don't know if I could handle how closed off he is. I think the person I would actually get along with most is McKay because, tbh I yap that much too and am also a bit of an insecure mess. I would like listening to him talk about his ideas and I think he would appreciate that.

Of course, I wouldn't be able to get past the war crimes these people commit, so actually none of them haha

Jumping to another fandom: I think Aziraphale and me could be friends. We both like reading and food and I think we could have some fun conversations about literature.

Which characters would you dislike the most of you met them?

Hmm...okay so obviously Kolya.

I love Micheal as a character, but he would terrify me in real life.

Kavanaugh is pretty obvious

I wouldn't want anything to do with a single person from Hannibal in real life. Maybe season 1 Will.

Tell me about the process of coming up with your characters?

Honestly, I couldn't tell you. They spawn out of nowhere as I imagine scenes. I guess they develop that way too. I think about them in the scene, and their personalities and traits reveal themselves to me.

Do you notice any reoccurring themes/traits in your characters?

Oh yeah. They tend to be outcasts, they tend to be queer. They also tend to be magical or have some extra trait to what is typically human. I also really enjoy writing morally grey characters and sympathetic villians

How do you picture your characters?

I can see stuff pretty clearly in my head, but I also use Picrew and Sims to make them sometime

My writing

What’s your reason for writing?

It's everything to me. Really, it's nothing specific. My life would be empty without writing. It's my passion.

Is there any specific comment or type of comment from readers that you find particularly motivating?

I love comments that talk about moments from the story they enjoyed. It makes me feel good about my ideas🥰

How do you want to be thought about by your readers?

I've never thought about this specifically. I don't know if I want anything really other for them to enjoy it. Maybe in a fantasy, they'd think I was clever or inspiring, but I just want what I write to give people joy.

For my original writing, I do hope that my writing can speak to my queer community.

What do you feel is your greatest strength as a writer?

I think I'm the best at characters. I like my prose itself (for what it is right now) but I think that my character creation skills, and specifically how they blend into the plot and work with each other, are what I'm doing right the most. World building is also a strength

Have you been told is your greatest strength as a writer is by others?

Characters and world building! Lol

How do you feel about your own writing?

I'm at a place in my life where I don't think I suck. I also don't think I'm the best ever. I think that I can improve and that great is finally a visible goal.

If you were the last person on earth, would you still write?

Yes. I need to write like I need to breath. It would suck to not be able to share it, but that wouldn't stop me from creating.

When you write, are you influenced by what others might enjoy reading, do you write purely for yourself, or is it a mix of both?

Eh I'm not really sure. I think I lean more towards writing for myself. Sometimes I tamp down my ideas if they are something I know wouldn't fit the story (if I'm already writing it) or wouldn't really fit the world as much as I'd like them to.

Whew! I'm doing laundry at my hostel right now so this was a good distraction

Npt: @annwayne @sga-owns-my-soul @adriankyte-writes @aintgonnatakethis @mx-seraph @original-asteria @trainofcommand @anonmadsci @spurious

[excelynch]

which brother lynch are you?

(write the letter of the answer you chose on a paper, at the end you will have the result of each letter)

1 - this one can't be left out of course so tell me, are you a soldier, king or poet?

a) soldier

b) king

c) poet

2 - in the shower, what is the water temperature?

a) cold

b) hot

c) warm (I looked it up but maybe I'm wrong... sooo it's between the options A and B. let's go to the next question then yee

• now about the song gun in my hand by dorothy, i have two questions for you.

3 - complete with what makes the most sense to you

"why did love put a gun in my..."?

a) bed

b) hand

c) head

4 - now, why is the gun with you?

a) was it for redemption?

b) was it for revenge?

c) was it for the ledge?

5 - (if you haven't read six of crows just skip this question... wait, you haven't read it yet?? GO. READ. IT. NOW. 🤨) anyway... which character from six of crows do you most identify with?

a) matthias, kaz

b) inej, jesper

c) nina, wylan

6 - which of the interactions between the lynch brothers is your favorite?

a) ronan literally dreaming a little brother

b) "put on your headphones, matthew" "i forgot them" "so pretend you have your headphones on"

c) them going to church every sunday and arguing the rest of the week

7 - sooo which parent of the lynch family? (tbh there is only one correct answer 🤺

a) niall

b) mor

c) aurora

8 - you're hungry so you open the fridge, what do you get?

a) I get the ingredients to make something to eat

b) take leftovers from lunch

c) I wait for the person who chose option A to make us something to eat

9 - ok now another one about them. pick one thing about the lynch brothers

a) the weird way declan writes on the phone

b) ronan's tattoo as a form of rebellion

c) matthew and his power to make everyone like him

10 - before going to sleep you ask for sandman to dream about what you most want. what do you dream about?

a) a beach with the wind in my face, I sit on a log lost in the sand and watch the dark sea, alone. peace

b) a green and beautiful field, I am running and screaming. freedom

c) the house where I grew up, with everything the same as I remember, the dinner table is set and I sit with all those I miss. happiness

...

now just add which letter you got the most and tell me the results in the comments :)

a = declan

b = ronan

c = matthew

I hope that you enjoyed!!! and sorry for any mistakes, I'm learning english :) see you in the next quiz <3

I was thinking of doing one about the marauders, what do you think? if you have any ideas just tell me!

[carcinogeneticisst]

Greywaren is so much to contain in my mind. It was written in such an interesting way from odd points of view that came together to be really good. I will definitely relisten to the audiobook to take it all in, but these are the initial things that stuck out to me:

A lot of Ronan’s storyline was him being a silent observer and contemplating the people closest to him; whitnessing how they act when he’s not around. That was never how I saw this book going. Ronan was stuck but he was learning some vital things, and just the inventiveness in Maggie’s writing amazes me.

Farooq Lane’s whole storyline, I always love when Maggie pushes buttoned-up characters till they’re “burning”. It used to be a description of Gansey, I love the callback. Also there’s a definite parallel story between her & Nathan and The Grayman & his brother. They kill eachother in similar ways in a final shoot out.

Farooq-Lane and Hennessey’s volatile (homoerotic) relationship to each other. Hennessey painting Farooq Lane filled with all the fire and lust she felt for her. The kiss and the fact that she travels with Hennessey still 4 years later.

Declan shooting up Boudicca’s fairy market was so satisfying. Like this guy snapped and it was so good.

The evening Ronan whitnessed between Jordan and Declan. It was so soft. The moment that it was clear they weren’t going out, and Declan takes is place on Jordan’s couch instead. It melted my heart.

Declan yanking away Matthew’s sweet metal and not waking Matthew up for days shook me up. I know Declan was trying to be practical but damn. But that led to Matthew absolutely decking Declan, so hard Declan and his coffee mug falls to the floor. I was waiting for Matthew’s breaking point too, it was so good.

Mór’s a sociopath? And she was the one that wanted to escalate things? Those flashbacks where quite satisfying, there has been so much mystery shrouding what happened to Neil and Mór for so long.

Not in a million years did I think that Ronan is one of the beings from the other side. A being that may have begged dreamers to become human many many times. A being that could have easily been brought into this world as something else like Lindenmir or Cabeswater. Also there are entities that feel differently about our plain, like Greywaren adored it and the Lace loaths it. Fascinating concept. It makes me wonder about Ronan’s funeral dream, was that them? Do beings like Greywaren have a world or do they just float in the blackness?

Adam’s monologue acknowledging how he’s been lying at college and how he doesn’t love it as much as he thought was heartbreaking but fascinating. By making Adam unaware of Ronan’s presence, Maggie found the perfect way for these two emotionally constipated guys to communicate. Also, when they finally met in the subconscious void was so perfect. Like, their physical forms weren’t even there and Maggie made it so romantic.

Matthew with Bryde was just hilarious. Also without his mystique Bryde’s just a sad man. That was a weird turn of events, I thought he’d be the main evil. And then Bryde becomes a visionary? Led there by the voice Matthew heard when he walked into Ronan’s security system at the Barns? That was a big lore drop out of nowhere Maggie!

I got spoiled that Gansey would be back and at every turn I was expecting him to turn up to help somehow. He was fantastic in the epilogue but I’d imagined more.

As and audiobook listener, Ronan’s panic attack was absolutely haunting. Hearing the same phrase over and over almost transported you to Ronan’s state of mind.

[johnsbleu]

It really is weird to think about how different their life would be had they gone in a different direction. Would they even still be together?

i honestly don't think they would be. if john was still doing his whole assassin thing, he wouldn't be home and he wouldn't be in a safe place. i think he wouldn't even want to put her in danger, so he would probably end things with her. she would love him so much that she wouldn't care bc she'd want to be with him but he definitely wouldn't be okay with that. but thankfully he's done with that life and now has his wife and daughter. i honestly can't imagine them not together. just thinking about her dream and thinking about how awful their life would be is so wild. and imagining them without ro is so hard lmao like she is the light of john's life i can't imagine them not having her now. i can't imagine john not having ronan or his wife tbh. his life would be so sad if he didn't have them

[mychemicalrachel]

👀

Please! I love to hear the bts tidbits ❤️

👀 Tell me about an up and coming wip please!

I love to talk about bts tidbits so I'm so glad you asked 😍 I have a lot to say and some of it is explicit so this is going to be under the cut...

I know you're reading Please (And Thank You) so I'm going to talk about everything coming up with that. It is.... a wild ride. When the idea came to me, it was just the first chapter; Adam going to Kavinsky to buy drugs. That was it. It was originally just going to be a one shot titled Good Boy and the only real plot was Adam discovering his praise kink. But I wanted more meat to the story, and I wanted to find a way to incorporate Ronan into it because if there's one thing I love more than Kavinsky/Adam, it's Kavinsky/Adam/Ronan. And then I just had to figure out a way for them to get there.

My outline for this fic is all over the place. I have a vague idea for each chapter that reads as follows;

Chapter 1: Adam gets more than he bargained for when he tries to buy drugs from Kavinsky. Enter; a praise kink. It's a one time thing…

Chapter 2: Oh Adam fell into Kavinsky’s bed again, it's a routine now. They get high and make out 😘

Chapter 3: Peeping Toms, those creepers watch Ronan nearly die in the church (?) Confession time, Kavinsky is a dreamer too. That’s probably the least interesting thing about him, let's have sex.

Chapter 4: substance party, Adam's there with K, ganseys there with Ronan. Ronan and Kavinsky flirt in front of their boyfriends and Gansey asks Adam on a completely platonic friend date.

Chapter 5: Let's all hold hands and sing kumbaya, it's friendship time. Ronan and k dream while Adam takes a nap. It's all very sexually charged. Kavinsky wants Ronan, Ronan wants Adam, Adam just wants to feel awake while his eyes are open.

Chapter 6: Ronan and Adam alone time, let those bitches bond. Adam isn't jealous that K likes Ronan, they have an open relationship, so when Ronan kisses him it feels okay. In fact it feels pretty damn good. Let's do that some more. That becomes a routine too, Ronan is a nice kisser. But oh no, K is back. Can he watch? 👀

Chapter 7: Let's have sex while K watches. That's not weird at all. Kavinsky is helpful and he gives Ronan pointers. Ronan immediately freaks out and tells gansey. TMI bro, but was it good? Yeah 😌

Chapter 8: Adam likes Ronan. He also likes kavinsky. He doesn't feel like he needs to choose, he can have it all. It doesn't have to be weird, except Ronan is acting weird now. Damn these boys need to communicate. Kavinsky tries to talk to Ronan and oops they end up fucking too.

Chapter 9: Ronan panics. He likes Adam. he also maybe likes Kavinsky? That one is surprising. He meets Adam and K in the dreamspace and he's not sure they're real but it's like when he dreamt with k before and there's an orgy because Ronan can't hide his feelings inside his own head, and he's a horny boy. Magic sex is cool.

Chapter 10: Epilogue wherein they have talked and they're together but Ronan doesn't like the term open relationship, they're very much closed and not accepting new applicants at this time thank you. They're out at the fairgrounds surrounded by mitsus, making out, making love. Real sex is better than the dream stuff though it's messier. Adam likes the mess. He likes being praised by his 2 smoking hot bfs. Spitroast that fucker, then make them cuddle and profess their love. The end.

Usually when I make an outline, I think things through and try to figure out the underlying message, character arcs, etc. I did not do that here. I wrote whatever popped into my head and decided to go with it, and so far it's been SO. MUCH. FUN. I've been able to take Adam's bitchiness and kick it up a notch and explore the kind of person he would've become if he had befriended Kavinsky instead of Gansey, and it's allowed me to write sex scenes that are way different from the soft emotional smut I typically write.

[ticklygiggles]

Hii! First of all, congrats on the followers, you deserve them all with your amazing writing and content, and superb personality!! ^^ For the request thingy, I was thinking 💜, the magical tickling one, with Pynch? Maybe something where Ronan pulls something out of his dreams that can be used for tickling for him and Adam to use? I just feel like there's a lot of untapped potential with his whole dream thing lol. Lee or ler preferences could be up to you ^^ Congrats again!!

[2k followers celebration event] - entries closed!

💜 Purple: magical tickling

Pynch (Adam Parrish x Ronan Lynch)

A/N: YOU'RE TOO KIND THANK YOU! 😩 Also this prompt omg fndkdkf I hope you enjoy it! This one got longer than I expected omg, I hope you don't mind and I hope they're not too ooc. I love them so much 😭😭😭

Loud laughter poured past his lips as Adam brushed that thing against his highest set of ribs on his right side, so close to his underarm. The sensation was driving him crazy in the best way possible and he would go feral if Adam dared to stop.

His whole body jolted when Adam switched spots and moved to Ronan's other side. The thing in his hand, a beautiful golden feather, seemed to vibrate against Ronan's skin and Adam took his time sliding it ridiculously slow against his sensitive ribs.

"Ahahahadaham!" Ronan pleaded, tears of mirth trickling down the sides of his face, getting lost in his hairline. "Plehehease!"

"What's the matter, Ronan?" Ronan could barely hear Adam's voice over his laughter. It sounded distant and he couldn't quite understand what he was saying. "Do you want me to stop?"

No. No, he didn't want that. He wanted Adam to continue forever, even if his lungs were burning and his cheeks ached from smiling so much. He wanted him to continue.

Or at least that was what he thought until he felt the soft tip of the feather finally reaching the very center of his armpit - his eyes snapped open.

"Well, good morning," Adam greeted him with a smirk, lying right next to Ronan. "Did you have a good dream?"

Ronan blinked a couple of times. For some reason, his cheeks felt flushed and his body felt tingly. Butterflies fluttered in his stomach and his lips trembled trying to hold back a nervous smile.

"I bet you did," Adam continued and Ronan felt his ears warming up. "You were giggling and chuckling so much. Did something fun happen in your dream? I know I was there, you kept saying my name."

"Shut up, Parrish. You talk too much so early in the morning," Ronan said, trying to divert the conversation from his dream.

"It's nearly past noon, Ronan," Adam said and Ronan huffed; he was glad when Adam seemed to forget about Ronan's dream.

His mistake was to relax too soon.

"Hmm? What is that in your hand?"

"What? What do you- hah!"

Ronan gasped heavily. There in his hand, clenched tightly, was the beautiful golden feather from his dreams. He opened his hand before he could stop himself and Adam took it quickly, watching it closely.

It was a little crushed by Ronan's hand, but it still shone just like gold, however, the touch was soft, and when Adam gently caressed it, it immediately took its original form, as if it hadn't been a victim of Ronan's strength.

"A feather?" Adam asked curiously, twirling the perfect feather between his fingers. "It's soft, but it feels kind of different, could it be because it came from a dream? ... Ronan? What's wrong with you?"

Ronan was frozen, following every move of that feather. He had really materialized it from his dreams?! He vaguely remembered touching it when Adam had used it on his most sensitive spot, but he never thought he would bring it into this reality!

"Hmm? Is it vibrating?"

Oh dear, Ronan wanted to bury his head in the dirt like an ostrich. He wanted the earth to swallow him whole.

Adam looked at him and Ronan tensed a bit. "You're acting exceptionally weird this morning," he told him, looking into his eyes as if he were trying to figure Ronan out, Ronan tried to avoid his gaze because he knew Adam would be able to. "What could you have been dreaming to bring back a feather? I am curious."

Ronan rolled his eyes. "Don't you know that curiosity killed the cat?" he barked, closing his eyes and shrugging his shoulders. "I don't remember my dream and I don't know why I brought that, I probably just thought it was pretty."

Adam hummed. Ronan knew he hadn't believed him.

"Ah, of course," Adam said and Ronan opened his eyes just to see his smirk widening. "I was tickling you with this, huh?"

Ronan's eyes widened and he hated the heat that gathered in his cheeks. "Listen, Parrish," he said through clenched teeth. "I just told you that I don't remember my dream and-"

"Did I get your worst spot?" Adam asked, ignoring Ronan's words as he slid the feather against his own palm. "I'm sure did, huh? That's why you were laughing and giggling so much?"

Ronan couldn't form words to defend himself. Adam had seen through him and even if he wanted to walk out of this situation, he knew his ridiculously smart and teasy boyfriend wouldn't let him. He gulped, refusing at all cost to admit Adam was right, but he flinched heavily when Adam moved the feather towards him.

Adam chuckled, "you're so easy to read... to me at least," he wiggled the feather in Ronan's direction and Ronan visibly shuddered, the intense ticklish touch of the feather on all his weak spots was still very fresh in his memory. "What? Are you afraid I'm gonna get you as bad as I did in your dream?"

Ronan growled, feeling the heat travel from his cheeks to his neck and up to the tip of his eyebrows.

"I mean," Adam continued, "I could do it if you ask nicely."

Ronan widened his eyes, "Why would I even- agh!"

Ronan wasn't prepared, his defenses were down so he was barely able to defend himself when Adam lunged at him. They wrestled a little on the bed; Adam wanted, at all costs, to dominate Ronan, and Ronan felt that his strength lacked every time the feather caressed his skin accidentally.

He wasn't so surprised to find himself with Adam straddling his hips, both his hands trapped under Adam's knees.

"Adam Parrish. Let go of me this instant or I'm going to punch you right on your pretty face and I-

"Tell me, did I tickle you here?"

Ronan shrieked, immediately clamping his lips together for two whole seconds before he broke into loud laughter as Adam's fingers wiggled against his ribcage.

"Ahahahadaham! Dohohon't! Stahahap, I'll-

"Tell me," Adam ordered, immediately finding Ronan's highest ribs and rubbing his fingers in, in that exact way that made Ronan see stars.

Ronan threw his head back, cackling desperately, "YOU DIHIHID! You dihihihid!"

"Hmm, I would certainly not forgive the me from your dream if I didn't," Adam said, giggling to himself as he kept tickling Ronan's ribs.

Just when Ronan thought he was going to go crazy from the tickles in his ribs, Adam stopped to give him a break.

"Stohohop! It's too ehearly for thihis," Ronan whined, arching his back a bit in an attempt to hide the fact that he was looking for the feather.

Adam laughed making Ronan look at him with a raised eyebrow, "you really are so easy to read," he said, pulling the golden feather from behind him. "Were you looking for this?"

"What- no! Let go now, I mean it, Adam-"

"Tell you what, if you ask nicely, I'll tickle you with this," Adam said, twirling the feather between his fingers before brushing it against Ronan's neck.

The touch was so light and tickly and it vibrated against his sensitive skin. Ronan let out a whiny giggle, shaking his head a bit.

A dream was never going to be enough, but to say it out... he was not so sure he could.

"I can tell exactly what you're thinking," Adam said, grinning down at Ronan, and Ronan didn't have a doubt that he was telling the truth. "Maybe you just need some motivation."

Ronan gasped as Adam grabbed the hem of his shirt and pulled it up, exposing Ronan's beautiful skin, from his hips to his ribs.

"Ahadahaham!" Ronan squealed with nervous giggles, wriggling under Adam, or at least pretending to, but it was already a fact that he could never fool Adam.

"Ronan," Adam answered and he snickered before the feather made contact with Ronan's tummy.

Ronan widened his eyes before shutting them tightly as sweet, loud and frantic giggles spilled out. Adam swept the tip of the feather in circles around Ronan's stomach, closing in on his navel and focusing on those extra sensitive spots that made Ronan jump with sudden barks of laughter.

His cheeks flushed, not only because he couldn't stop giggling, but because, when he opened one of his eyes to see what Adam was doing, (as if feeling it wasn't enough), he could see that expression on Adam's beautiful face, an expression that even the greatest of idiots could name in an instant: love.

He had already caught Adam looking at him that way a few times. Ronan couldn't deny that his feelings for Adam were already beyond him too, perhaps, they have always been; but neither of them seemed to be able to express those feelings into words and this unconditional love was usually shown in very peculiar ways... just like this.

"Ti- Tihihickle un-uhuhunder m-my ahaharms!" Ronan finally laughed, throwing his head back with a cackle when the feather dipped into his belly button and then quickly fluttered on his lower belly, making his muscles jump.

"What was that?" The tease dripping from Adam's voice made him shiver with anticipation. "I didn't quite hear you, Ronan."

"I'll tehehell you what was that, you lihihittle- ahahahaha! Nohoho!" Ronan jerked when the feather touched the hollows near his hips. "I sahahaid tihihickle mehehe uhuhunder my ahaharms, dahahammihihit!"

"Well, it's just that you're not clear with your words," Adam reproached him playfully and easily pulled one of Ronan's hands out from under his knee and raised his arm over his head.

Ronan arched his back with a hysterical shriek and before he could even stutter out a protest, his shirt was rising to expose his armpit and the feather finally descended on his delicate skin.

Hysterical laughter erupted from Ronan's lips. He twisted and arched and tugged at his arm, but nothing stopped the maddening sensation of that golden feather tickling him, vibrating in that strange way right on his most sensitive spot.

"H-Hohohohold-AHAHAH! I C-CA-CAHAHA!"

He could barely speak with all that laughter pouring out of him, but he could hear Adam chuckling softly as he wrecked him mercilessly.

"You're not being clear with your words again," Adam said, teasing Ronan. "Should I give you more motivation again?"

Ronan shook his head, but Adam ultimately ignored him and he just turned the feather upside down and carefully used the quill to poke and scribble against Ronan's underarm. Ronan screeched with laughter, making Adam laugh.

"You're so ticklish here, Ronan."

Ronan. Ronan. Ronan. Ronan. Ronan.

He wanted him to say his name so tenderly like that, forever.

"Did you have enough?" Adam asked with a chuckle as Ronan's laugh suddenly went silent. "Don't even answer, I know your stubborn ass will say no."

He was right, but Adam did stop and Ronan was able to catch his breath again as he laughed breathlessly. He jumped when the feather touched him again, this time on his side, zigzagging up and down in some kind of soothing affection.

Adam also let go of his arms and Ronan quickly wrapped them around his torso, giggling brightly when the feather moved back to his stomach.

"Stahahap ahahalready!" He giggled, his voice a little hoarse after all his laughter.

"I can't seem to be able to," Adam lied, tracing the rim of Ronan's navel. "Not when I know you like this so much."

Ronan whined and finally covered his flushed face, giggling into his hands as Adam kept tickling him. After a while, Ronan had gotten used to the feeling and the soft tickling was making him doze off a bit.

"Hey, Ronan," Adam said in almost a whisper and Ronan opened his eyes, looking at him curiously. "Let's do your other underarm, hmm?"

"What?! N-No! Wahait! WAHAHAIT!"

They really were bad with words, but their actions definitely spoke louder. Perhaps the day would come when both of them could express all the love they felt for each other in clear words, but in the meantime, this was enough.

[spacerhapsody]

@polaroidcats tagged me to share share my 9 favourite books, and of course I went through at least three different identiy crises before I finally decided to just choose what feels right this very moment. I still had a lot of fun going back to all of them, so, thank you! <3

Krabat: Hands down one of my all-time favourites. I first read it in 5th ot 6th grade and it was also the best experience of reading a book at school ever. I've read it countless times by now and am thinking about reading it again right now because I find something in it every single time.

The House in the Cerulean Sea: Single-handedly reminded me of my love for Urban Fantasy, the romance is just so soft, and just. Outcasts finding family in each other is something that makes me very emotional when it's done well.

Boyfriend Material: One of my comfort book I return to a lot. It might not have a groundbreaking story or anything, but I love the characters and their dynamic so much. This is also one of the very few cases where the audio book makes it even better imo, because the guy reading it does Oliver's voice so well. <3

Peter Darling: I was waiting for YEARS until this book was available again, and it was worth every second. One thing you have to know about me is that I have this weird obsession with Peter Pan, but especially retellings of the original story. And queer retellings that are also done really well? YES.

American Gods: I had to include something by Neil Gaiman, and this is not only the first of his books I ever read, it's also got one of my favourite concepts. Stories and believes shaping reality? Hell yes!

Dream Thieves: The whole series gave me unrealistic expectations for YA, but this will forever be my favourite part, you'll have to fight me and my son Ronan Lynch on that. It's also been one of my comfort series to come back to when I need it.

The Travelling Cat Chronicles: I cried. This is not only beautifully written and speaking to me as a cat person, but it's also a beautiful journey through Japan.

We Are Everywhere: It's not even my own country's history, but oh wow, I love what they captured with this one, especially since it feels like more and more of queer history gets lost/forgotten as time moves on.

A Man Called Ove: I pretty much love every book by Fredrik Backman I've read so far. There's just something about how he writes people, emotions, and human connections that gets to me every time? I was wondering for a while which one I should choose here, but this one feels particularly special right now, idk.

(Tagging everyone who wants to share their favourites and/or can actually decide on 9 of them!)

[sassmar]

What’s your opinion on Ronan/Kavinsky <3

oohhhh my gosh um !! i actually LOVE ronan/kavinsky it's so fun and twisted etc etc etc and also i mean. and the dream thieves just did me IN i cannot believe maggie actually did that like ?? the entire book is basically about ronan realizing/accepting he's gay but like, via joseph kavinsky's tragic unrequited love for him?!????!?!! like in the dream world when ronan is like "there's no one here" and kavinsky is like "just us" OH MY fucking GOD actually it makes me a little insane. but at the same time pynch is like. i ADORE adam parrish so much and ronan has loved him since before he knew anything about adam or even himself (!!!!) and they're these weird psychic/eldritch/otherworldly soulmates and everything about them sorta brings me to tears so. it's a little weird to say i "ship" rovisnky cause ?? i think ppl usually seem to view shipping as an endgame sort of thing?? and like i'm not even mad that kavinsky died honestly i'd think i'd be madder if he DIDNT die bc his death was so perfect and breathtaking and just !! the way that mags wants to you to think he's sort of a shallow dick making homophobic jokes etc and then really it's just that he's head over heels in love with ronan and wants to run away with him and he cant bc ronan IS GAY but STILL doesnt love him back so he actually just DIES ie commits suicide with HIS OWN DREAM creature i !! it's like shakespearean jesus h christ

yeah tl;dr the dream thieves is brilliant and ronan/kavinsky makes me a little insane actually but i am basic and still love endgame pynch most of all <3

[seavoice]

the most ridiculous but funny conclusion that i think can come from this lynch family situation is that ronan a few years down the line (maybe he goes to therapy, maybe adam is like. this is a little weird perhaps. but basically ronan a few years down the line) beginning to process everything and being like “hmm...our childhood was kind of fucked up right? just a little. all the secrets and the lies and the wilful ignorance and blood curdling fear of me. maybe even--and hear me out--mom and dad didn’t have the best ideas always? just thinking thoughts. spitballing even. and also uh, mor wanted to kill me😳? mor who we just let stay at the barns now? and dad was considering it for a bit as well?!?! i thought i was his favourite 🥺?? why is declan saying that’s not true anymore? the new fenian is YOUNGER than us but still calls us boyo? also kind of uncomfy that he kind of looks like me don’t you think. adam thought he was me for a hot sec last saturday and he’s still a bit scarred by that. also what about MOM BEING A LOVING COPY OF SOMEONE WHO SELF IDENTIFIES AS A SOCIOPATH? (no longer in the dsm!)” 

but at this point declan has pivoted HARD onto team mom and dad and also for some reason mor and new fenian, and thinks this is a way to bond with ronan based on like. every fight they had in their teenage years (declan once a week, crying over the phone: i’m sorry i called dad a discount bugsy siegel who was going to get us both killed that one time we got kidnapped by a drug lord in montreal. he was SO upset that weekend. i think it was supposed to be my birthday. i was so mean to him :( did you know his mom sucked?), so ronan just lets it go and doesn’t say anything because he is not fully ready to become a hypocrite and also it’s a little weird (also who’s mom?) (marie lynch the first breaks in to say damn you to niall’s photo once a month, but no one notices except opal, least of all ronan.)

only matthew is capable of critical thought about their parents, having already practiced once with declan, but he decides to give them some time to come to that place themselves in case he inspires another self-searching crisis so bad it results in dreaming a sad wet kitten of a cult leader and/or nudges someone into running off to die in a fairy market shootout. and besides atm he’s a little busy helping bryde work through his own daddy issues about ronan over long distance while bryde explodes people and ducklings with his visions.

[robo--homo]

can't stop thinking about the possible configurations of a Ninth House au for the raven chronicles. like, okay (I will try to provide descriptions for those who haven't read Ninth House)

Gansey is a shoe-in for Darlington. They are a 1 to 1 comparison: rich boys whose lives were saved by magic with (variably) neglectful families who go by their last names and are third in their line, who live on their own in shitty broken down houses (or warehouses), who are proper and perfect and would do anything to find magic again. Also, please imagine Gentleman Demon Gansey. Just. God.

My first thought was that this makes Blue into Alex. Neither one of them would feel like they fit in at Yale; their moms have similar vibes albeit from what I remember Alex's mom is entirely useless; but Alex's powers as one of the only people who can see the dead contrast so sharply with Blue having (seemingly) no powers in a family full of psychics. You'd have to give up one story to engage the other, which isn't necessarily a bad thing, but will sharply decide how an AU goes.

Ronan is the only one who can match Alex for punkness, and replacing his dream powers with seeing the dead feels alright. A Ronansey AU might be interesting, but I shy away because of the reversed dynamics- Ronan worships Gansey, vs. Darlington worships Alex. Adam makes for a weird Virgil (the hierarchal position Darlington operates). Like, imagine Adam as the know-it-all teaching Ronan about magic and secret societies. Of course, Gansey could still be Virgil and have Adam occupy some other space. I've thought about Niall taking the place of Hellie, Kavinsky taking over Hellie, Kavinsky taking over Alex (listen I love my trash boy); Noah makes for a fun Bertram North insofar as giving him a role where he's a) dead and b) still a present part of the story.

Adam makes for a really fun Dante too, though (Alex's hierarchal position). Like, similarities with Alex: broken home life, class difference that makes him stick out at Yale, magical powers he's not entirely comfortable with... but more importantly, just. the compelling notion of Adam Parrish who can See Ghosts. Adam Parrish, bitter over getting into Yale despite not even getting a chance to apply, forced to take part in old-money secret society bullshit, led around by Gansey, eyes set on the only tolerable member of the societies in Ronan...

Gansey also makes a fun Dawes, tho. Like. The third hierarchal position is the grad student forever working on her PHD who just works to like do paperwork and maintain artifacts and shit if I remember correctly, and Gansey would fit in there too. Gansey fits everywhere. Ninth House is just a Gansey story /j

[iammistressofmyfate]

Oh ho, let's see how we do lol Thanks for the tag @kelliealtogether

Rules: Pick any 10 of your fics, scroll somewhere to the midpoint, pick a line (or a few), and share it! Then tag people!

Teaghlach - “There you are,” Adam whispered, sliding a hand over Ronan’s back, fitting it around him. Ronan’s heart felt too full and he didn’t think he could talk, because then he’d just start crying. Adam rested his head against Ronan’s shoulder and they watched Aoife sleeping together. Ronan slid his hand over Adam’s where it rested on the crib and Adam tangled their fingers. They eventually left the nursery, turning off the light, and went across the hall to their bedroom. 

Blue & the Raven Boys - Adam woke up the next morning to the slow realization that someone was curled around him in his bed. It took him a second to register that said someone was Ronan Lynch . Ronan was warm against him, his breath ghosting over the back of Adam’s neck, making Adam shiver. He was afraid to move, not wanting to disturb Ronan, but also wanting to know what Ronan looked like while he slept. 

I had sex with Ronan Lynch last night. 

Ronan Lynch is sleeping in my bed. 

Adam very gingerly rolled over so as not to wake his bedmate. He settled under Ronan’s arm, staring in awe at the sleeping man beside him. 

Lace - “What?” he asked, chuckling. Ronan could only blink, his eyes roaming from the top of Adam’s head to the tips of his toes. Ronan swallowed. 

“What? Are you…? Is that…?”

Ronan stared, mouth hanging open. 

“Is this a dream? Am I dreaming right now?”

Adam laughed softly. 

“I can assure you, this is reality.”

He made a sultry little move that Ronan wasn’t expecting, that he wasn’t sure he’d ever seen Adam do before, the robe falling enticingly off of one shoulder. 

Sweet Nothing - Adam turned at the shout, spotting Ronan in the field. He waved and Ronan was sure Adam was smiling as he started racing down from the drive to the field toward Ronan. Ronan laughed, bracing for impact as Adam pelted down the field, launching himself right into Ronan’s arms. Their bodies slammed together and Ronan nearly lost his footing as Adam’s legs went around his waist. Ronan held Adam tight, tight, tight . He was warm and solid in his arms, finally back from his drive to community college and done with his classes for the week. Ronan had him to himself all weekend. He closed his eyes, feeling Adam tuck his face against Ronan’s cheek. 

Adorably Pathetic - “You’re the dumbest smart person I know,” he said. “You don’t have to suffer in silence or do this alone. You look like shit and I doubt you’re going to take care of yourself the way you need to. You’re gonna be right back here tomorrow, with a fever, working, and you’re just gonna make it worse.” 

Ronan wasn’t exactly wrong and this just made Adam angrier. 

He opened his mouth but Ronan cut in with, “let me do this, Adam.” 

The way he said it, soft and gentle, caught Adam off guard. He still wasn’t used to that. To seeing this tender part of Ronan. It did weird things to his heart. 

“I’m your boyfriend. That’s what boyfriends do, right? Take care of each other and shit?”

Sweetmetal Sea - They were an amalgamation of one another, spiraled around and through one another. Feeling everything. Knowing everything.  I still want you. I still love you.  Always. Always. Always.  I’m sorry. It’s okay. An image passed between them, a combination of a memory and a desire. Adam cupping Ronan’s face in his hands, pulling him close. He pressed his cheek to Ronan’s and closed his eyes. They held each other like this, in the mix of memories and wanting, before turning to one another. Memories flickered, one after another, like flipping through a picture book, of every kiss they had ever shared. 

Wide & Infinite - Adam seemed excited. Ronan liked that he was excited. Since Harvard, after transferring schools twice, Adam had finally seemed to settle. He had school, he had Ronan, he had magic. He smiled more. Laughed more. The unhappy, pensive line of his mouth seemed to ease. His brows unfurrowed. His shoulders relaxed. And Ronan had Adam. Ronan knew he would have Adam forever. He knew Adam wanted him forever, too. It wasn’t something that they had actually said to one another. It was just something they knew. 

Art Imitates Life - “Do you care if I post this?” he asked, turning his phone so Ronan could see the picture. It was of him, from the Teeling Distillery. He had a dram of whiskey in one hand and was making a funny face at Adam as he took the picture. 

“Sure,” Ronan chuckled, shrugging. 

Adam looked pleased and Ronan watched him as he held his phone, moving things with his finger, typing. 

“Here. For your approval. I’ll tag you in it.”

Ronan looked at the picture. Adam hadn’t altered it at all besides cropping it a little and the caption read: Ireland trip is off to a great start 💖

Ronan handed the phone back to Adam. 

“Sounds good. Approved.”

Higher Than Soul Can Hope - Adam did not let himself want. He did not allow himself to desire. He took what he wanted and kicked it down the road. If there was something that he wanted, then he had to plan for it, work for it, deny himself of it so he could invest for it later. But this was different. This was Ronan. Adam would want Ronan no matter what and there was no way to plan for that. Wanting Ronan was constant. Never ending. Insatiable. Loving him was all-consuming. It was the only thing that Adam had allowed himself to have in the now. There were risks that came with that. Unpredictability. 

This New and Fragile Thing - He wanted to hold Adam in his arms, feel the comfort of his weight and warmth, and know that he would be there when Ronan woke up in the morning. Contrary to popular belief, Ronan was a romantic. He would never, in a million years, under pain of death, admit this. But it was true. He knew that Adam was his person. True love. Soulmate. Godsent. Kismet. There would never be anyone else for Ronan. Adam, with his lovely hands and pretty eyes and secret smiles that only Ronan got to see. Ronan loved him with the intensity of a thousand burning suns. 

Tagging: @mens-frights-activist, @unknowablecore, @itwasabout and anyone else who's interested! No pressure if you're tagged!