#seriously i have written 30 pages total

[sgiandubh]

From barf bag to pity party

The whole 'Kick in the hornets' nest' involuntary series was started by this Anon, received by the de facto leader of the Disgruntled Tumblrettes yesterday evening (in Europe):

The next morning, another Anon chimed in, on the same page, with what prompted the First Kick: S has a child with 'a woman', but God forbid, not with C 🤣🤣🤣.

And then, one of their group felt the need (then the clearly irritated urge) to come back and comment on the above Anon. No less than 5 (five!) long and plethoric comments were written, prompting my Second and Third Kicks - as you all know, the woman practically begged for them.

I feel it's time to show some mercy and draw the line here.

This blog is read (and trusted) by many. Comments were received. Very interesting, matter-of-fact submissions, to say the least. You know: FACTS (🤣🤣🤣). People who have rich and full and loving lives, people who travel. People who don't even agree on many things, yet spontaneously concurred on what things very probably looked like, on that Palm Sunday morning.

Exhibit 1: Mom and Traveler #1 (a mom I am not - but I was a child, unbelievable as it might sound, and I absolutely confirm every single bit of it)

I am not yet ridden with dementia, and I remember very well waking everyone up at ungodly hours and refusing my mandatory afternoon siesta (a very bad habit we have in Southern Europe). I wish I would still have that same insane energy now. I also wish I would have kept my 3 year old fashion model food quirks - but that is another story.

However, I am a dog slave (not owner) and as such, I am taking Baby out for his short (but excruciating) morning routine at 7:30 AM. Come rain or shine. Beg him to finish his business with grace and dignity. He never listens. Labs are a charming, addictive handful and my Greek boy is no exception:

Exhibit 2: Mom and Traveler #2. Who happened to be in GLA on Palm Sunday, March 24, 2024 (for the thick people at the back!):

All that trip was abundantly documented on her own page. I am reasonably sure she might be reblogging this with her own pics from that day.

And now, for the real questions at stake:

Why make such an unbelievable fuss over an Anon with no pic, that I was reluctant to publish myself?

Why have a cosmic meltdown, in public nonetheless, if you do think this is such a pile of unbelievable nonsense crap? (*imagine the freakout in DMs, if this made the headlines!)

How many times has/have S (or C, or SC) been seen by Antis in GLA in similar postures, without a word being uttered in public?

Why would such an occurrence be An Event, outside of this (help me, I have no words) fandom?

Why insist with your crappy arguments, when it is plain to see you have got all your facts dreadfully wrong?

Why mention 'central Glasgow', when it is public lore (and included in Waypoints!) that S does not live there anymore? (* I blacked out the exact reference, which makes total sense - the least thing I would like to see happening is freaks like you stalking them)

One last time, you insist - comments 6 and 7 (wow, girl!):

First comment is a lie and if you read my Anon (and you know you all did and discussed it to oblivion) you'll have also read this:

Which part of 'he didn't approach' you don't get, in plain English, madam? I am lousy at drawing, but hey - for the cause (open in separate page, questionable humor included):

Second comment, I won't even get into it. God only knows what the hell you meant. I am Romanian and we tend to be a very sarcastic bunch - especially the Southerners.

You posted those at about 2:45 AM, local time (if you are, indeed, a Scot). That's 4:45 AM my time.

I am a lifelong sufferer of insomnia. You, madam, you are mad wae it, as they say in Glasgow.

Don't drink and post, seriously. It makes for a very #sorry hangover show.

And with this, I am done with you. All of you, in that corner. You showed me more than enough. You know there is substance to that Anon, despite the lack of a picture - hence the collective freakout.

From barf bag to pity party. Who knew?

[Later edit:] re-reading the sixth comment, I think she wants to imply it was the 'other child' - I was literally blind with sleep when I first saw it. Well, there is no evidence of whatever she is trying to explain (has she contacted The Climber? between midnight and 2 AM, local time?). Also, a 5 year old child is not a toddler anymore: kids are considered toddlers up to 3, only. That boy, as we all know (and I am sorry we do), has dark hair - where is the resemblance Anon noticed?

Desperate, grasping at straws, lying through her teeth and mad wae it, all the way.

@pamalissou, thanks for bringing us a third mom's POV in your reblog.

[gutsby]

Guts you are a fucking insane writer and I'm so grateful we have you, like your works are absolutely incredible they are hot but also like lyrical.. so beautifully written.. you know? Thank you for sharing with us. do you have any advice for someone who has wanted to give writing fics as an outlet a try but feels like they're not creative or talented enough? Tips/tricks sorta thing? Love u madly deeply

FIRST, I LOVE YOU.

SECOND, thank you so much!!! I’m so so glad you enjoy my brainrot stories and I hope to keep them coming for y’all!! 🥹🩷🩷

THIRD, THAT’S SO EXCITING!!!! Fic writing (or any kind of creative writing, really) is the fucking best, and I’d be happy to share some tips!! Pick and choose whichever ones speak to you, but I hope these can be of some use 😩

No matter what you or anyone else says/thinks, YOU ARE CREATIVE AND TALENTED ENOUGH. Wherever your writing goes, whatever you choose to do with it, is enough. I know writing (and sharing your ideas) can seem daunting, but please don’t ever count yourself out of an opportunity just because you’re worried your work won’t be up to snuff!!

READREADREADREADREADREAD! READ!!! Not only fanfic, but flash fiction, short stories, novellas, novels, ANYTHING. I cannot overstate the importance of being an avid, active reader when it comes to improving your own writing. I sometimes struggle to find the time to read and write and work and live life, so I try to set reasonable goals. If nothing else, I read at least 5 pages per day of the book I’m reading, or I pick a short story and go with that. Lately I’ve been trying to expand the kinds of short stories I read, so I have a handful of websites to find what I like: (I’m on mobile so apologies if the formatting below is fucked 😭)

Project Gutenberg (good for finding classics and other popular stories)

The New Yorker (free 30-day trial and I think you get a few stories for free every month after ??)

Lightspeed (I’m not big on sci-fi/fantasy but trying to branch out!)

This loooooong list of literary magazines - not all are free, but many of them are

Write on the Tumblr app (or Notes). I may be one of the only freaks that does this, but I write every single one of my stories on mobile. I just prefer it to typing on a computer. It also may help with making the writing process seem less scary - at least for me, something I’m typing up on my phone doesn’t feel as “important” or intimidating as sitting down to stare at a blank computer screen or paper!

Find a beta reader/share with friends. I haven’t done this myself because I’m a PUSSY and still kinda scared to share my stories with people I know, but getting feedback from a semi-neutral third party can help improve your writing a ton! And also may be less scary than dropping your first fic to a whole online audience if you haven’t done it before !!

Follow whatever the fuck you feel inside at the moment and run. And run. And run. Seriously. I’ve heard this referred to as ‘pantsing’ (?), and it may not work for everyone, but I think some of my best stories came from a single dumbass idea (or even a line) that I let flow and grow and be whatever my brain wanted it to be. No planning or outlining. With ‘Cowboy Killers’ I just really, really, really wanted to use the line, “I’m gonna lay this motherfucker out” and have Reader throw a drink in Joel’s face, and that was it. No thoughts, just profanity and dumb, drunk antics. Don’t be afraid to start somewhere strange or random or really simple and build your story from there.

Speak your dialogue. Something that can be particularly tricky starting out is getting your dialogue to sound like real people are speaking it. You can have characters pontificating and waxing poetic all day long, but the truth is that most of us don’t talk in super long, flowery monologues. We use slang and sentence fragments and sometimes totally nonsensical sayings, and we struggle to find our words. Feature those things in your dialogue, and it should sound more natural, especially when you’re saying it out loud to yourself while you write.

I think this tip is from Stephen King (whose book on writing, cleverly titled On Writing, has some fantastic insight if you want more tips), but when it comes to picking an ending for your story, don’t go with the first one you think of. Odds are your reader is going to be thinking the same thing as you, and it’s nice to give them a little surprise if you can ;-)

There are SO many more pieces of advice you’ll glean over the years—just be patient with this process and with yourself and try to have fun with it!!! Alright shutting the fuck up now I hope this was helpful! Best of luck with your writing!!! 🫶🏼🩷🩷

[thisonesatellite]

Tagged by the always wonderful @fsbc-librarian -- thank you so much, darling! 💖💖💖

1. how many works do you have on ao3?

42 works

2. what’s your total ao3 word count?

677,643 (how do i have so many?)

3. what fandoms do you write for?

MCU/Stucky -- this is my main focus and current sandbox. i love to play with these two. OUAT/CS -- that is where i started my fic writing journey and it still makes up the bulk of my works. i no longer write it, but it will always have a soft spot in my heart. Dramione -- i wrote one dramione fic a while back, and it is a ship dynamic i really enjoy. i still have one big, rather epic fic idea for it, too. Since this idea -- (and @mysteriouscatstellation) -- have been bugging me about it for over a year, i absolutely have to write it. Eventually. Obvi. (Actually, it's up next after i finish my East German Stucky Spy Lunacy, shhhhhhhhh.) Leverage -- i also have one Leverage fic. i have literally no idea how that happened. None. This fic basically walked out onto the page and said, my turn. 😂 It did give me a really good opportunity to create an original character though.

4. do you respond to comments? why or why not?

Always. ALWAYS. i love and appreciate each one, from a row of emojis to a page of analysis. i go back often and re-read them, just to motivate myself. People who leave comments are the real heroes. (Although i do understand that not everyone has the spoons to comment, and that's OK, too. Just know that if you leave me a single emoji i will love it no less than if you write a dissertation. 💖💖💖)

5. have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not that i know of. But i haven't checked either.

6. have you ever co-written a fic before?

Yes -- The Sword and The Heart, an epic rewrite of OUAT S5 i tackled with the amazing @ohmightydevviepuu. If you have never collaborated with another writer, i strongly urge you to try it. i learned things about myself and my writing that i am still benefiting from to this day and i am immensely proud of what we created together. However, that is pretty much due to dev being the best collaborator ever. (Get yourself someone you trust and love and yet challenges you at every turn, is what i'm saying.)

7. what’s your all-time favourite ship?

That's a hard question, because affinity does change -- and why wouldn't it. We change, become different people, and sometimes the things we used to bleed for no longer resonate quite as hard. Like - my OG ship was Buffy /Angel, and i have the absolute soft spot of all time for them, but also i'm (obviously) no longer in high school and so the urgency has subsided. There have been a few other ships i've sideswiped over the years, characters i absolutely loved but never quite got 'ship-invested' in. (Shipvested? 😂) Personally, one factor is definitely that i did not know what a fandom was, or even that there was 'fandom' (as a concept, a community, a Thing) until Captain Swan tore a hole in my heart five years ago. i didn't really know what fanfic was. Or AO3. Apparently i live under a rock. But currently, the tl;dr is a dead tie between Stucky, Captain Swan, and James Holden /Naomi Nagata from The Expanse. With lots of honorable mentions bringing up the rear. 😂

8. what are your writing strengths?

Plot, dialogue, world building, and having characters stay true to their nature even when seen through various AU lenses, i think. Also action and fights and sometimes even battles. And i think i have a knack for letting exposition bleed through action and dialogue, instead of writing it outright. (That last one is a hard-won skill and kills me dead at least once a chapter, you feel me.) i also put a ridiculous amount of research into everything. Seriously, it's a sickness. i once spent more than two hours looking up radio dramas from the 30s that had a supernatural bent and might appeal to teenagers. For half a throwayway line. Possibly i should not list this as a strength. 😂

9. what are your writing weaknesses?

Smut. SMUT ALL THE WAY. i cannot write it, i don't know how. People who read my fic will always get shortchanged in the E department and for that i am sorry. But i really am completely useless on the smut front. And fluff. i can do soft scenes, but i cannot write pure fluff. i don't know how to do that either. i'll write a fucking coffee shop oneshot, or a thieves AU that doesn't even crack 5K, or even a BARTENDER fic, and yet complex back story and plot and action will still burst out from between the lines. All you people out there who can just tear off a sex scene or a fluff piece, i salute you. Also all you people who have multiple WIPs. i don't know how you do it. i can only ever write one fic at a time. You are all wizards, aren't you.

10. first fandom you wrote for?

OUAT /Captain Swan, back in 2019.

Zero pressure tags: @sparkagrace @cable-knit-sweater @bittersweet-in-boston @late-to-the-party-81 @metalbvcky @voylitscope

[sparkanonymous]

Alright... who's ready for me to talk about Hazbin Hotel?

⚠️ Spoilers for Hazbin Hotel Below ⚠️

I'll most likely do this for Helluva Boss as well, if I even finish this, but I don't promise anything. If you're unfamiliar with how this goes, I jot down notes while I watch the episode. Most of the time, it's probably easier to watch the episode while reading the notes so that you know what I'm talking about, but it's not necessary if you just want to read someone's random thoughts on something.

I have not heard a lot of great things about the HH and HB fandoms. I'm not gonna try and be mean or anything, I'm just writing this stuff down for the shits and giggles. I don't see this doing well on my page anyway since I focus on Total Drama and Ninjago of all things. (I will most likely not join the HH and HB fandoms after this, either. I lurk a little bit in those spaces because of the art, but I don't really participate or go looking for anything related to these franchises... except for rewrites that I don't end up reading.)

Towards the end of this, I became increasingly more distracted and tired, so it's kinda just me listing things that I liked.

Have fun!

Hazbin Hotel - The Pilot

(I've watched this twice, but that was when it first came out.)

The song the pilot starts on is actually really pretty, imo. I've started getting sick of the songs that come from Spindlehorse (I watched the first episode of HH on Prime a bit ago, and I didn't really like either of the songs in it), but this song reminds me of why I wanted to watch this series back then.

Maybe this show is why I like the color red so much, lol

I've seen some spoilers on TikTok. I recognize the design of that one angel character by Adam- I think I saw Adam's silhouette for a moment too, that character that's Alastor's bestie, that techie demon, and maybe I'll recognize more. But how much of this story did Viv have planned before her show got the go-ahead?

(30 second unskippable ad after about 2 and a half minutes into the episode)

I remember when I saw this when it first came out, and I did not understand the point of having the snake villain. He was stupid, his egg minions were stupid, and there were clearly bigger things to focus on- like Charlie's hotel idea and advertising it, and then later, Alastor's whole thing. I had thought this entire battle between Cherry Bomb, Angel, and the snake (what is his name again) could have been cut, and there would be no issues. I still kinda think that this could've been written around. But I do like the snake guy. He's fun and eccentric.

(Another 30 second unskippable ad. We're 5 minutes in. Is it because I keep pausing to write?)

Wow, there are a lot of sound effects.

Where did those goat guys come from?

I wouldn't think that the princess of Hell would be this... innocent? Like, she can't seriously think that this whole hotel ordeal would be that easy, can she? She was literally singing at her balcony over the dozens of fallen demons. Is she just trying to stay happy and hopeful, or is she really just like this?

"I don't touch the gays-" So Charlie and Vaggie are open about their relationship? Or do they just do a terrible job at hiding it? I don't know why, but for the longest time, I thought that their relationship was secret. Damn, I'm just dumb.

"- I have standards." "Oh, yeah? How's that workin' out for ya...?"

Did we really have to cut to Tom in the middle of Kill Joy's rant? It takes away the focus.

Why is she threatening the princess of Hell? Charlie could break her scrawny neck with a hand and wouldn't be told off for it, or Charlie's father- fucking Lucifer- could catch wind of this and kill her himself. Does she want to die?

That quick sweep of the random characters and Vaggie behind the cameras was definitely sped up due to how short Charlie's "well" was. Or to save time. I don't know.

That one background character looks WAY too close to Blitz's design.

Damn. For how feared Alastor seems to be, he was able to walk behind those characters with no one screaming.

Was that Loona? Or that one character from Viv's Timber animation?

A lot of the scenes are way too quick. There are too many quick cuts, and some of the animations seem to be sped up?

During the song, Charlie's singing gets too high-pitched; I couldn't understand some of what she was saying. It's a nicer and shorter song than what Spindlehorse has been coming up with recently, though.

Is Kill Joy supposed to be cicada? Is that why the cicada sound effect keeps playing whenever we zoom in on her? I'm sorry... but if that's the case, she looks nothing like a cicada.

I know realistically bombs would make it hard to hear, but, realistically, being too close to bombs would also make your ears ring and would knock you off your feet. I don't know half of what Cherry Bomb or Angel are saying.

"Oh, harder, Daddy!~" "Son?!" I remember this clip being everywhere. I still like it. But, also, to the snake, have you even fucked anyone? Why would you immediately think that this is your kid? I honestly don't see this snake character enjoying the thought of sex.

The hat on the snake has teeth sometimes, and only sometimes. I can tell this character was probably HELL to animate.

Aw, Angel saving Cherry? Sweet...

So Angel can pull a Stitch and grow another pair of arms? Why? Spiders can't do that, so why should Angel?

I really enjoy Tom's design. He reminds me of a Looney Tunes character.

So... what happened to the turf war? We had like three different fights going on at the same time, and we see none of them? Do we hear more about that later?

Vaggie and Charlie's relationship here is really sweet.

You really thought anyone would want to stay there with how the place looks, Charlie? You're supposed to have the place ready before advertising.

So, wait... I thought Charlie's dad was really nice in the spoilers I saw. Did Charlie's dad say Charlie was useless, at least based on the intro?

How has Angel not heard of Alastor? Ah... for exposition purposes. Nevermind.

I'll be honest, Alastor's hair bothers me. I've never liked how it looks.

Was that an early design for Stolas in the Radio Demon exposition?

Alastor's colors were flickering a tiny bit when Vaggie and Charlie were talking about him.

Alastor clearly does not care about Charlie's dad being king of Hell or Charlie being the princess of Hell. He's just doing this for the shits and giggles.

"What can I do for you, my feminine fellow?" "Uh- I can suck your dick!" "HA- No."

"You think I'm some fuckin' clown?!" "... Maybe."

I thought HuskerDust was supposed to be canon. They're acting like they've never met.

I love the outfit change.

Alastor's reprise of Charlie's earlier song.

So, wait, when was Sir Pentious's first encounter with Alastor?

Alastor's smile when supposedlh killing the snake guy.

Episode 1

(Watched this when it was released on YouTube. After this, everything's new.)

So... new backstory. Also, new backstory for Charlie's dad?

New voices.

Alastor's little commercial is so lazy. He wanted entertainment. How will he get entertainment if the commercial doesn't sell it?

The sound effects haven't exactly been toned down.

The animation feels a little stiffer.

They noticed the fan love for Angel and decided they really wanted him to talk.

The threatening angle on Alastor is not as threatening as in the pilot.

What's up the random scene changes within scene changes? It's cutting randomly.

The first song is alright... for the most part.

I thought Charlie's thing was to not curse, at least not as frequently.

Adam's ramblings remind me way too much of Fizzarolli's boss. They're kinda the same in that aspect, and it doesn't really work for me.

Wow, the acting for the commercial.

How has Adam not been banished to Hell.

Nifty's great.

"You're doin' great, Vagina." lmfao

Exactly. Vaggie speaking facts.

The outfit changes are so nice.

Do sins not count once they die?

Adam should not be cursing, imo

If rules are black and white, you would be banished to Hell, Adam.

The second song with Adam is pretty good... for the most part.

You can't wait to murder? That says bloodlust to me.

Come on, let us see the commercial.

Tom's voice should have stayed the same.

But the body is just sitting there. How have more demons not seen the dead angel.

Damn, this outro song is sick.

Episode 2

That little cat thing is adorable. Kinda reminds me of the cat from Ruby Gloom.

Ooh, Sir Pentious is back.

"-battle, like, 20 times?" What? When? How long have you known Alastor.

I feel like Vox's voice should've been different. Like... imagine if he had Husk's VA.

How many accents does Valentino have?

Valentino x Vox?

Angel encouraging Alastor.

How many times does Sir Pentious have to die? Stop killing him :(

Vox trying to put a bad name on Alastor. He's so petty lol

"That's the tea-" Who told this old man about this generation's lingo?

Overall, the song's actually pretty good.

Face first into the sofa. Same, Charlie

Yay, more Sir Pentious! I actually kinda like him now.

Aw, poor Angel. But Charlie and Vaggie have a point.

Sir Pentious and Nifty give off Damien and Scary Girl from TDI, respectively.

Alastor burning the little piece of his coat in front of Sir Pentious, lol

Sir Pentious is so adorable.

The drug PSA with Angel and Pentious, lmao

The pig from the music video.

So Angel has self-worth issues, got it.

Well, that lasted all of five minutes. Poor Sir Pentious.

Charlie's bedhead is awesome.

His theatrics and the self-depracating comments don't really make Sir Pentious sound so serious about his apology.

This song was meh.

Episode 3

Why do you keep bringing that up, Vaggie?

I think a writer came on to the team and didn't look at the previous scripts very thoroughly.

Charlie, why do you look so uncomfortable with Pentious crying? You should've known that you would've gotten a lot of that.

Is Alastor trying to keep the egg minions safe? If so, cute.

"We have names?" Lol

Damn, they don't give a shit about Alastor. He got too comfortable with everyone knowing him.

The Velvet song reminds me of a different song. Pretty catchy, though.

Their definitions of trust are so different. Awesome.

Poor Nifty lol

Vaggie's army voice doesn't really work imo

Why are Carmine's earrings hanging off her hair?

The second song isn't really my thing, but I can understand why someone may like it... except for the green guy's echoing voice in the song.

Vaggie's singing voice is way too different from her speaking voice.

Pentious redemption. I like that Angel is warming up to him. The snake's precious.

Episode 4

Here's the episode on SA. Guess I'll finally be able to form my own opinion on this.

Poor Charlie and Pentious.

Aw, Husk being a people reader.

Goddamn, what did Nifty do?

So after ignoring Val's calls for days, he's suddenly answering? Maybe he realized it had been too long, and it would be worse if he continued to ignore him?

Charlie, you should've known that this would be difficult?

So Val knows to "respect" Charlie to her face, but

Angel's real name is Anthony?

Angel's VA is selling the performance here. It's gut wrenching.

Angel's song is okay.

I think the writing has been pretty solid since the song. I like Husk and Angel's dynamic.

I like the HuskerDust song and the visuals going with the song.

Goddamn the song's cut off, lmao

I dunno, besides the abuse part, I think the episode was solid. I can't speak on how well it handled SA, so I won't.

Episode 5

Why is this episode so much quieter than the rest?

Why is clown music Lucifer's ringtone for Charlie?

I like Lucifer's design, and his voice matches him, but I don't think he works as Lucifer, y'know?

Where was Alastor for that little meeting?

Alastor's eye twitching just the tiniest.

So Lucifer hasn't heard of Alastor? I thought he was the most threatening demon? Also, why is Alastor testing Charlie's dad?

Lmao, Pentious meeting the king of Hell.

Do people ship Lucifer and Alastor?

Nifty being in the song.

Alastor trying to insert himself as Charlie's father figure.

Oh, yay. Mimzy.

I like the song, besides when Mimzy came in from nowhere.

Lucifer's face in the background when Alastor's pushing Charlie away.

How does Mimzy know everyone? Did she meet Husk and Nifty because of Alastor?

New Alastor lore. I thought people would call him the Radio Demon, not that Alastor named himself that.

Alastor being owned by someone else makes sense.

Poor Husk.

Why does Hell even use money?

Aw, Pentious saving Nifty.

Angel and Husk enjoying the father-daughter drama.

So, does Alastor actually want to keep the hotel safe, or is it because of a deal?

The song reminded me of a Greatest Showman song. It's okay.

Vaggie, you're acting sus.

Episode 6

Yo, Cherry Bomb is back, and she's Aussie.

Pentious lol you're so nervous for nothing.

I love Sera and Emily's designs.

Heaven's song should've been church choir-esque y'know?

Adam has already talked about the exorsists with angels around. There's no way that more people haven't heard about them by now.

Adam named Vaggie? Wth

Damn, they ripped Vaggie's eye clean out with no struggle or hesitation.

Sarah's voice did not hold much confidence for Adam.

Why is Pentious trying to hit on Cherry?

Adam, you fucked multiple times. What the hell are you talking about, you hypocritical asshole.

Aw, poor Nifty. I like Angel and Nifty's dynamic.

Aw, man, poor Pentious.

Why did the music stop when Angel and Val argued? Let him argue without causing a scene.

I don't like that the song has to do with the plot so much, but I like the song.

Please banish Adam to Hell.

I love Sera and Emily.

Episode 7

Aww, Pentious petting the kitty thing.

Alastor is pushing Charlie a little too much.

Alastor kicking his feet while laying on Charlie's bed.

Charlie is going to push Alastor to beating her shit.

"I know something you don't know~" Love this guy.

Charlie's demon horns coming out when making the deal.

With how much they made out Vaggie's past angelhood, I would think that Charlie would be more offensive?

Ah, there it is.

"I know you're an ace in the hole-" "A what now?" Lmao

I love Rosie.

Rosie and Alastor's dynamic is lovely.

They have a month to prepare. What are they gonna do to keep their defenses up within a MONTH. That's like no time.

Who voices Carmine? She sounds mildly familiar.

Why did they have to introduce Susan?

Carmine basically calling Charlie a dumbass.

Vaggie getting her wings back is kind of bullshit. Or am I missing something?

Carmine's song is alright, but give it a little. The UnderTale fandom will get to it. There'll be a parody.

Rosie and Charlie's talk is so nice.

Alastor and Rosie kinda being the parents that Charlie needs is mad deIicious. Love me parental figures.

Despite the name, Cannibal Town is amazing.

I love the song here in Cannibal Town.

I love this episode.

Episode 8

Vox is here. Again. Yay.

Wrong Angel, Nifty lmao

I still love Sir Pentious. He has reserved a place in my heart.

Love this small peaceful scene.

Aw, Alastor and Nifty interacting.

Angel admiring Husk.

Pentious and Cherry? Kinda nice, actually.

Vaggie's song to Charlie is pretty sweet.

I can't... who's righting the relationships in this episode? They're all so lovely.

Adam's rocking "ATTACK!"

The 3 V's watching from the TV.

The outfits the main guys are wearing.

Vox getting turned on by Alastor's impending doom.

Beat his ass, Alastor!

Alastor's staff breaking and him mildly panicking.

Husk enjoying the sex jokes.

Alastor fake out death.

Angel saving the egg.

Cherry and Pentious kissing in front of explosion.

No, not Pentious!

Loved the animation where Charlie and her goats transformed.

Damn, Vaggie fighting even with a hole in her hand.

The angel bitch Vaggie was fighting ripping her arm off was a bit much for me.

Lucifer appearing and fucking Adam's shit up.

Adam's mask falling off.

Nifty getting the last hit on Adam. Awesome.

'Shitting and cumming' being in the headline during the news is fucking hilarious.

Lucifer is fucking fruity.

Lucifer and everyone cheering Charlie up.

Velvet recording Vox and Val dancing.

Sir Pentious's memorial.

Alastor showing up for the last bit of the sing.

I liked most of the song.

YO Sir Pentious showing up in Heaven?!

What was Lilith's agreement?

Overall, I enjoyed watching this show. The pacing and writing could use some work, but yeah. Mimzy was kind of annoying, but she was only in the show for a few minutes in one episode, so it was easy to ignore her... unless you're listening to the song that she so rudely interrupted at the very end of. The constant need to bring in new characters is kind of annoying, but I enjoyed at least half of them.

If I were to draw fanart of any of these characters, it would probably be Husk, Nifty, or Sir Pentious. I'll be patiently waiting for a second season. If there ever is one.

[calliopesquill]

Heidrun - After the Fall

So I’ve been writing some backstory for one of my dnd characters and I thought it might be fun, since some people expressed some curiosity about the character, to post some of it on here.

Let me know what you think!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Kaia awoke in what had once been a grand council chamber. Now it was a ruin, tiles cracked and melted, pierced and littered with pieces of the chambers above. Four stories of centuries-old timber and stone now opened to the sky. Kaia rolled stiffly onto her back, staring up at the sky with a numb sort of detachment as the events of the last day slowly came back to her. Going to meet her friends in the city. Sneaking out beyond the walls. The scouts. Fire bolts. The attack. Her family, dead. The twang of bowstrings. Her friends falling at her feet. And the white light that had swallowed her whole.

She thought she was dead. By all rights she should have been. But aside from a bit of stiffness, she didn’t even feel any pain.

It was wrong, all of it just so wrong. How could she be here if they were gone? How could the sun be shining, the birds singing in the sky, when her world was ending? She let out a choked sob, curling in on herself, arms wrapped tightly around her knees as if to keep herself from simply shaking apart.

When she ran out of tears to cry, when the trembling finally stopped, the sun was high in the sky. Though she gave brief consideration to simply staying where she was until she joined her family in the afterlife, she knew that she couldn’t do that. They wouldn’t want that for her. So she had to stand.

Grimly she pushed herself upright and took her first real look at what was left of her home.

The destruction had been absolute. Of the castle that had once crowned the hill, there was nothing left but rubble, and the crumbling remains of the stone walls. Of the bodies of those who had perished there, nothing remained.

She built cairns for each of them anyway, gathering fallen stones and pretty pieces of broken tile and shattered glass. One for each face that she had known, and one for all of those she hadn’t.

It was almost nightfall when she said her final prayers over the stones. And then -- knuckles scraped, fingers blistered, and stomach growling -- it was time to consider practicalities. She had discovered the remains of the castle wells under piles of broken stone. The kitchens too had been decimated by the explosion, but a few of the cellars remained intact. She found no trace of flint, nor any other means of starting a fire. Of the bright spark of magic that had filled her before, there was barely an ember, and trying to coax it stronger left her with nothing but a headache. With no means to start a cookfire, there were few options available for food. The small meal of salt beef and a handful of mixed vegetables took the edge off her hunger. She could not afford to eat more until she knew for sure what remained of the food, and what she was going to do next.

But curled up in the shadows of what had once been the library, wrapped in the tattered remnants of a velvet window draping and a century-old tapestry, one thought kept circling through her mind: She should not be here.

The explosion that had decimated the castle had vaporized everyone inside, and from the look of the ruins she had been at the epicenter of the blast. So how in Cobal’s name had she survived? Unless… There was one possibility, one that nagged at her. One impossible possibility. What if she hadn’t been harmed in the explosion because she had been the one who caused it?

But that couldn’t be. She didn’t have that kind of power. Just because she’d managed to cast a few flame bolts in a time of extreme stress did not mean that she had the power to destroy the city. She thought of that moment, the shock and horror and despair, remembered the roaring in her ears, the rising within her before everything faded away.

It couldn’t be.

She slept later than she should have. Exhaustion, both physical and emotional, had taken their toll on her, so the sun was high in the sky when Kaia woke again. The torn scraps of cloth that she had wrapped herself in had provided little cushioning between her and the hard wooden floor, their weight barely protecting her from the night’s chill.

She missed her bed.

It was an absurd thought for such a time, but it was nonetheless true. She missed her bed. Her soft feather mattress and pretty blue quilt. The curtains that kept out the morning chill. She missed breakfast with her parents in the sunny family dining room. The crinkles around her father’s eyes when he smiled, the soft violet scent of her mother’s perfume. She missed the security of knowing what the day would bring. She didn’t know what to do now.

Breakfast, she supposed. Or what she could get of it. And then she would see to her city.

Of the buildings within a half-mile of the castle, nothing but rubble and shards of broken timber remained. She started to the east, to what had once been home to one of the city’s craftsmen’s districts. Evvy’s family had lived here, Kaia recalled. Her family home, her father’s workshop, was now a burned-out ruin, along with three of its’ neighbours. Of Evvy’s mother and father, Kaia found no trace. She could not say whether or not this was a blessing.

It took days to recover the bodies. The streets outside were empty, littered with weapons and pieces of armour, shadows burned upon the walls, but nothing left of those who had owned them. But inside the buildings… well that was a different story. There were too many to bury individually, and of some she could find only pieces. The best that she could do was gather them together in mass pyres. It was not their way, not in the modern cities, but she had few other options. Block by block she lit each blaze with flint and oil from the abandoned houses, whispering a prayer for the fallen. She wished she  had known all of their names. It would have been impossible. Heidrun had been a city of almost eighteen thousand people. So she said her goodbyes to the ones that she had known, heart heavy with the knowledge that this was all she could do for them.

There were enemies alongside friends here, and Kaia made a point of keeping the invaders’ bodies separate from her people’s whenever she could. They should not have to share a pyre with their murderers.

It seemed never-ending, but she continued street by street, quarter by quarter. Through the square where she met her friends whenever she could sneak away. Past the streets of Steel and Silk, and Bakery Row. Fires still smouldered in the lower city, the battered wooden buildings burned to the ground.  Even the university had not been spared, the heavy doors and white stone walls scarred by blade and scorch marks. An unfamiliar symbol had been carved into one of the inner doors -- perhaps a last-ditch effort to defend the school. But even their magic hadn’t saved them.

Walking through the now-empty halls was its own small nightmare. This was a place that was never meant to be empty. There had always been people when she’d come here, running between lectures, debating over some obscure bit of lore or precedent. Now there was nothing but the sound of glass cracking beneath her feet. The tall windows had been shattered inwards by the blast, and it seemed like anybody the light touched had simply burned away, leaving nothing but shadows and the floors and walls.

She wondered why the sight of the smoke, the blinding light that had decimated what remained in the city, had brought no aid. Then she wondered if there was anyone left to help. The invasion had been well-planned, she understood that much. An invading army would have been seen from miles away, but this...this came from nowhere. They had to have been infiltrating the city for days, even weeks. And what of the people in the farming villages outside the city walls? Had they been murdered too, to keep them from sending for aid?

Why? Over and over again, she kept coming back to that question. Why destroy the city? This had been no takeover attempt. No banners had been raised to declare the kingdom under new rule. No attempts to loot the treasury, or no credible one anyway. Even the university archives and the temple at the north side of the building had been left generally untouched. This had been butchery, plain and simple. And for what?

For that Kaia had no answer.

She had no answers to a lot of things. Like what she was going to do next. By law the crown would now pass to her, unless she formally renounced it. The prospect of having to rule a kingdom one day had been hanging over her head like an axe for as long as she had been old enough to understand what that meant, but now that the choice was in front of her, she wasn’t sure she could give it up. It felt like a betrayal of all that her parents, her friends had given her, and all that she had lost.

She paused, glancing towards the altar of the temple chamber and the marble icon that stood behind it. The statue of Lord Cobal, God of Knowledge and Prosperity, had watched over these halls for over three centuries, a symbol of inspiration and guidance for any who passed through the doors. The artist had depicted him as a sharp-featured man of indeterminate age, gazing off into the distance as if deep in thought, a book and quill in hand. His face had always seemed kind to her, like that of a favoured teacher.

“What do I do?” She asked softly. Her voice seemed to echo in the empty room, but the god’s marble face remained impassive. “They’re gone. Everyone’s gone and I can’t -- I can’t do this.” She sunk to the floor, wrapping her arms around her knees. “What if — what if I happens again? What if —“  what if this was her fault?

And even if it wasn’t, it still left her in the position of being the sole heir and being in no way ready to rule a kingdom. She was fourteen, for Illios’ sake! Far too young to have the weight of so many lives on her shoulders.

But Cobal did not have any answers for her. He was not that kind of God, who handed out simple solutions. In his teachings, the answers had no value unless you sought them yourself. That was not to say that no wisdom was true unless it was gained without assistance. That was arrogance and hubris, not wisdom. A truly wise person knew how to ask for help, and accept it when offered.

Which was, in a way, the very answer she had been looking for. Maybe she didn’t have the knowledge or the experience to rule, but she knew those who did. The remaining High Lords could advise her, fill in the gaps on that which she did not know. The closest to Heidrun was Lord Lys in Aerona, and that was several days’ ride away. Perhaps even now help was riding her way. They could send runners to the lords at Ivor and Berwyn Peak to tell them what happened and summon them to Aerona to discuss their next course of action.

Feeling much steadier now that she had something resembling a plan, Kaia pushed herself to her feet and brushed the dust from her clothes. Then, with a final bow towards the statue, she left the sanctuary.

It might have been her imagination, but in that moment she thought she saw him smile.

[tirednotflirting]

I posted 3,022 times in 2022

303 posts created (10%)

2,719 posts reblogged (90%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@caramelcalum

@daydadahlias

@burstingsunrise

@calumsash

@pxrxmoore

I tagged 2,615 of my posts in 2022

Only 13% of my posts had no tags

#l - 335 posts

#5sos - 205 posts

#a - 168 posts

#c - 126 posts

#h - 97 posts

#m - 68 posts

#cake - 60 posts

#tmh22 - 53 posts

#lashton - 30 posts

#cashton - 30 posts

Longest Tag: 140 characters

#y’all ever have something you reference all the time around people you only ever remember have no idea what you’re talking about until after

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

hi look at him

thank you

46 notes - Posted December 3, 2022

#4

a fic rec list that quite literally no one asked for

I’ve felt incredibly uninspired lately with fic. It’s a shit feeling. I may just be done writing. TBD. But as I’ve been sitting around trying to determine my feelings on fic, I’ve found myself thinking a lot about how I read fic. I’ve been reading it for awhile. I like to think that even in the 5SOS space, I’ve read a really good variety of things. So I wanted to make note of the fics that come to mind when I think of fics that have inspired me/made me feel something/are just really good. This probably will not be very organized and I apologize for that now. 

I’ve been very VERY lucky to get to know a few of the folks whose works I mention here. I feel so grateful to have had even small glimpses into your creative processes. Just before the world Stopped a couple years ago, I was shuffling toward a mindset of writing off fan fiction as a thing of my younger years and I’m thankful that so many people metaphorically hit me over the head with their incredible works. 

there’s some 1D, 5SOS, Shawn Mendes, and also solo 1D boys in here. i think a lot of them are at least a touch nsfw at points but not all of them? yeah. i think everything that is is noted of on the pages they link to? certainly not an exhaustive list of my favorites but these were the ones on my mind today.

Okay, in probably a really strange, completely non-linear order, here we go.

sugar on the asphalt by @justanchorandhope

I genuinely cannot even begin to describe the love in my heart for this fic. this is the fic (and writer tbh) that kept me around on tumblr in 2013 and is the perfect example of everything i loved about 1D fic back in the day. an OC to die for, the perfect dash of so many different tropes, CUPCAKES, southern charm, it has it all. just the sweetest cast of characters. i cannot believe i was 15 when this fic was first posted and now i’m 24 and re-reading this still feels like a curling up with a cup of tea at the end of a long day.

okay basically everything written by @harryandmolly but specifically the following:

like the back of my hand + fear and loathing in mandeville canyon

okay so fun fact i was so thrown off the first time i read the first fic listed there (the second one listed is a sorta AU of the first one taking place in early pandemic/lockdown times btw) bc the OC’s bff uses the exact same nickname i used in high school. okay but Lilly is a GOD TIER OC. i love a story that takes place over a really long period of time + really shows the progression of a relationship. also super random but as a woman in my mid-20s with crazy unrealistic dreams of living in a big gorgeous house with all my friends, the descriptions of the house Lilly lives in make my heart sing. for a story that takes place in a totally normal version of the world, the world building (maybe the wrong term here idk) in this is so great.

i could write it better than you ever felt it

three words: warped tour au. no but seriously there’s this blanket of nostalgia over this whole fic bc of the setting that is so fucking fun (she says having never gone to warped tour but shhhhh). another bright and brilliant OC, SO many lovable side characters, really driving plot. reading this feels like summer in all the best ways. (+ a brilliant sequel of sorts.) perfectly captures silly punk boys + hayley williams is there just being the goddess that she is. my introduction to jasey rae lol. so many things and all of them so great.

the emancipation of ginny

got momentarily distracted reading the teaser sorry i’m back now. ginny: bad ass and gorgeous business woman lady navigating being the assistant for an international pop star who is also her ex. andrew gertler is so stressed the whole time. i like a story that jumps around in time and this one does it in such a unique way. the writing in this is STUNNING, i feel like i am in every scene feeling the misty fog in london and the sun in my eyes on a summer festival tour. a Masterpiece imo. also the niall in this is wonderful in all the ways he can be + taylor swift shows up for a minute.

perfect teeth by @stylesmoothie

why yes i am in fact linking you to MIBBA bc 1DFF was the only other place to really find this i think rip to our fallen hero and what a throwback adlskfjdsl. i am NOT joking when i say that i literally cried when people started reblogging around the final update for this a few years back bc it had been like 5 years since this fic was updated. this fic holds such a special place in heart (as so many 1D fics from this era do). ezra is a brilliant OC and her story is SO GREAT. something i loved about ~this era~ of 1D fic was how expansive the backstories for the OCs were and ezra’s especially just made me fall in love with her. i remember that reading the conclusion to this story (so many years after starting it) felt like this beautiful sense of closure. i had very few constants in my later teenage years but stories like this one were one of them. love love love this story.

(took a brief pause so anna and i could hunt down an old zayn fic from back in the day slkdfjlds leesh came to our rescue bless her)

nom de plume by @stylesprimes

another fic that truly feels like it just? defined an era of my life???? (just had to do some internet wizardry to verify this was a 2014 fic lol) another OC with just the most sick backstory and story told throughout the fic. in this era of fic i was a HUGE fan of the harry styles london indie crew kinda fic. could not tell you why aside from how fucking cool i thought alexa chung was. you really get to see everyone make mistakes and grow in this story which i really admire from both a reader and a writer standpoint. like that’s not easy to do sdlfkjdsl. i love all the twists and turns and it’s a story i love returning to every once in awhile. cecilia’s experiences in this are so so unique and i’ve never really read anything quite like this story. the dynamic between the characters and just the overall vibe of ndp has always been so novel. i love it.

scene 14 by @daydadahlias

this FIC OH MY GOD. so backstory: i feel like i was the last person to read jess fic esp this one like. i was so intimidated by the fact that everyone had already read this and i had all of this knowledge of the vibe and how much everyone loved this that reading this almost felt like being introduced to a friend of a friend, ya know? this fic is Stunning. like i didn’t think it would be possible to be so impressed by college au world building at this point in my life (i’ve been reading college AUs for like. literally over a decade) but this little world that jess created was SO immersive. these characters were all so bright and i loved and cared for each and every one of them despite how many there were. i laughed, i cried. reading this reminded me why i love fan fiction and i feel so SO grateful to be in this fic space at the same time as jess.

love would burn this city down for you by @calumcest

helen has shared so many amazing stories but this one is always going to be my favorite. there’s so much soul and heart and love in this short little piece. i barely have the words for it. i started writing myself bc i felt inspired by the space that helen was helping to create a couple years ago and it’s pieces like this that i think had a lot of influence on the style i would try to adopt in certain ways. she’s so great at showing love in the little, quiet ways. pieces like this one feel like a secret and i’m so thankful i get to be in on it.

another night of takeout by @roselirry

lol i’ve had the second part of this bookmarked on my computer for MANY years and just realized there was a third part to it i had never read. this is a niall fic, little slices of three different days from the perspective of Vee, niall’s assistant in a solo era world. reminds me of a lot of the reasons i love the emancipation of ginny. one of my favorite tropes, a bit of that ‘omg they’re so in love but just refuse to really fully acknowledge it’ kinda situation. only three little bits in this but through the bits of background you get such a FULL story (despite the fact that it’s technically not finished i think?). SUCH a comfort read, i’ve read this so many times that it feels like a cozy, worn cardigan. (also i’ve historically been SUPER picky with my niall fic and this one has really stood the test of time for me)

all the things yet to come by soysauceharry

so i’ve never been a big self insert fic kinda girl. i think i just started out with OC fic so it was just this foreign thing to me for so long. i’m also a very big character person so when a character is really vague for the purpose to trying to be easy to fit a variety of looks and/or personalities into, i struggle to find enjoyment in it at times. but jesus christ, this story is cool. for me, reading this story gives the vibe of like a dream where you’re watching yourself do something? so despite the fact that it’s written in the second person, i don’t feel like i’m watching the story from the eyes of the OC. also despite all of the ‘you’s i just have never read this as a true self insert. i have an MC in my head that is very much a unique character. MC is a graduate psych student, Harry is her graduate advisor for a min and then later just a colleague. follows MC through her graduate studies. the setting and the story are just so pretty and lifelike. i think i read this for the first time in the winter while i was still in school which added a lot to the vibe. i return to this whenever i want cozier vibes.

If you dance with me darling, if you take me home… Will we talk in the morning? by @kaleidoscopeminds

i love a meg fic for so so many reasons. i love this one especially bc the tone of it to me feels like how you tell the story of a fun night out. it feels fun and silly like the stories you tell the night after the night out about all the wild shit you did in the early hours of that same day. i’ve always been very fond of this fic because meg posted it when i was feeling very VERY down about the world and it just made me smile. this fic feels like laughs after shots idk how to describe it just good fun. she is the cake QUEEN but i always found so much inspo in her earlier lashton pieces. they remind me of all the good things about summer 2020. i’m glad they can still take me back to those times of first getting to know some of the folks that i just love so dearly now (baggy salt forever <3)

sail the wildest stretch by @beautifulletdownfics

See the full post

47 notes - Posted February 19, 2022

#3

hi i would like to discuss

thank you

119 notes - Posted September 26, 2022

#2

5sos playing the same fest as green day, good charlotte, and blink???? can someone check on those boys omg???

124 notes - Posted October 11, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

i can’t believe ashton is the cutest dude on the planet and we just have to deal w that

227 notes - Posted October 23, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

[trumpkinhotboy]

All in good time

Pairing: Jacob Black x f!reader

Type: Not requested

Genre: Kinda fluffy i'd say

Warnings: None!

Rating: g

Requests: Open (for Narnia and Twilight, maybe?😳)

A/n: Alright, alright, I know I said this blog was going to be centralized on Narnia stuff, but lately I've really gotten back in my Twilight phase🥴 Plus, I had a really shitty week and needed a pick me up. Jacob is one of my biggest comfort characters so I felt it was only suiting. I hope you'll enjoy it😬 I suggest reading this while listening to any kind of Twilight ambiance playlist.☺Also, I know my title sucks HAHA. Couldn't think of anything better so yea, I'm sorry, but this is what you get

Update: changed my title huhu!

* gif is not mine!!

There were days that just deeply and inherently... sucked. Days where everything seemed out of rhythm, where no matter how hard you tried, it all seemed wrong; it all fell apart.

Today was one of those days. When your dad jokingly said: "Someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed." you did not think it the tiniest of bit funny. When you opened one of the kitchen cabinets to get your favorite brand of cereals and found an empty box, you almost threw a full-on seven-year-old crying on the floor tantrum. Especially when you saw the half-emptied bowl sitting in the sink. Too bad, no breakfast for you this morning. Ridiculous, immature, and not changing anything? Yes, of course, but you still did it out of pure spite. As if that would punish anyone else than you.

Like any other day in Forks, it was raining, nothing awful here, if it was not for the fact that the window on the driver’s side hadn’t been properly closed. Your seat was by now totally drenched. With your pants completely soaked you rode to school, your knuckles turning white from angrily gripping the wheel. Once you arrived, it seemed that everyone was annoyingly happy and enthusiastic while you just couldn’t get out of your personal, unchangeable, black cloud. Not to help, your friends only kept making fun of your moody behavior. Could you not be taken seriously on one of your worst days?

In your least favorite class, you were horrified to see written in big letters on the board:

“20% exam!! Leave your personal effects in front of the class.”

You would have run away if it wasn’t for the flow of students coming in to push you further in the classroom. Convinced the exam was for the next week, you did not even open the pages of your manual concerning the subject. It is with panic and exasperation that you sat at your desk waiting for your doom. Did you need to add that along with all that bull crap of a day, the only person who could have made your day a little less annoying was, once again missing. No calls, no texts, no news, nothing. Probably on another mission with the rest of his mutant gang. You got to the Rez after school, hoping you would see him, but were only welcomed by Leah and Seth. It almost felt like they were waiting for you as they were sitting outside of Billy’s house. Why they were the only ones left here was a mystery for you. The pack usually always stayed together.

- “Where are the others?”

- “On some kind of mission around the lands.”

- “Is everything alright?” They nodded nonchalantly. “Then why are you two here?”

The answer Seth gave you while chewing loudly on yet, another snack, made you grith your teeth so hard he thought they were going to fall out of your mouth.

- “To protect you.”

- “I thought it was nothing, so why would I need protection?”.

- “You should talk about it with Black. He’s the one who ordered us to stay to watch over you or something.”

- “I am PERFECTLY capable of WATCHING OVER MYSELF.” you answered a little louder than expected, anger rumbling in your chest. That earned you some awkward looks from your two friends, but at this point, it didn’t even matter, you were seeing red.

Leah, never intimated by you, shrugged her shoulders. Seth looking a little bit more nervous still laughed at your display of anger. Jacob was the one assigning babysitters over you? Of course, you and he would have a little discussion, that mutt would not see it coming.

When you got back home, you called your father to warn him; there was no way you would be cooking dinner. With your luck, it wouldn’t be a surprise if you burnt the whole house down. Fortunately, he was in good mood (unfair) and answered there was no problem; he would get pizza. He got home with the box in hand and a “Hey sweet...heart”. One quick look at your rough appearance and frustrated expression and his mouth closed shut. He dropped politely, almost carefully, a plate with a slice of pizza before quickly leaving for the couch. You mostly played with the food, incapable of swallowing it down, looking at the forest many times, waiting, expecting to see a tall figure appear on its verge but nothing. Time passed, still no sign of life. There was no way that by now Leah or Seth didn’t give him your message. You had time to wash the dishes, do some homework, and get in your sweats. At 7:30 pm you gave up; he wasn’t coming. Your father was still watching TV, completely oblivious to your growing anger. You picked up his plate to put it in the sink but tripped and dropped it, the delicate plate exploded into a thousand pieces.

- “Y/n? Everything okay?”

- “Y..ea.. an accident. I’ll pick it up.”

There was a slight tremolo in your voice. That was it. Your day had been terrible with no sign of sun, and this broken plate would be your breaking point as ridiculous as it sounded. You leaned on the counter, head hanging low, feeling tears of frustration swelling up in your eyes. Taking a deep breath, you looked up; in a second you were out the back door.

- “Where you going?” you heard your father ask.

- “Getting the trash out.”

The figure backed in the woods as you rushed into them without hesitation. You smacked against something big and warm, warmer than it was normal to be, yet you had become quite accustomed to it.

- “You little piece of shit.” your index finger digging in his chest. “You weren’t even here today, and it was terrible, and you can’t do this. I do not need any PROTECTION. Oh my god, do you really think I am weak and helpless without you or Leah or Seth or ANY werewolf to protect me?!”

He didn’t interrupt your monologue, only looking at you spitting your anger out.

- “You are SO annoying. Honestly who- who do you think you- are?! I’m- I am not, I can DEFINITELY, I don’t ne-eed any-one.” Your speech was becoming less and less coherent, your emotions taking control of your mind.

Without waiting any longer for you to finish your incoherent thought, he pulled you in for one of his signature bear hugs.

- “You can’t do this to me I’m an-ang-angry...”.

- “Shhh, it’s okay.”

- “You-you weren’t there.” you gave up fighting him, wrapping your arms around his waist.

- “I’m sorry, Leah told me.”

- “Wh- why didn’t you come sooner?” you continued, sobbing.

- “Some wolf things, Paul got in trouble.“ you backed off, immediately lifting your head at the mention of one of your friends in trouble.

- “Is he okay?”

- “Of course, he is, but Sam was very upset this time.” he stroked the side of your face with a small smile. “Enough with the boys, tell me what's wrong.”

- “Everything. I left my car window opened my seat was drenched. At school, everyone was disgustingly happy and in a good mood. I did not know I had an exam, I didn’t even study the subject. And this morning, my dad half ate the rest of my favorites cereals, and then I didn’t eat anything else as a silent protest, I know that’s stupid, but”

- “You didn’t eat anything else?”

- “Yeah, but I…” you lifted your gaze to meet his disapproving one. “I mean, I must have eaten a snack at lunch today…”

- “Must have?” he looked angrier.

- “Y/n??? Where are you??”

The calling of your father interrupted your conversation; he looked in its direction.

- “You should go back inside before your dad comes out.”

- “What? No, please. Can’t you kidnap me for tonight?” he chuckled lightly.

- “Trust me, go back in, okay?”

You looked at him unsure, even though you knew he was worthy of your trust. You finally nodded before running back inside.

- “What took you so long?”

- “Oh, uh, I thought I saw something and got a little carried away.”

- “Mokay, I don’t like you being so close to the woods. We’ve still had a few complaints about some trekkers finding traces of big animals in the woods. I’d prefer you be careful, alright?” You held up a smile, thinking about your friend just outside.

- “Sure.”

You stayed in the middle of the living room, expecting, waiting to see Jacob’s next move. You expected something quick, but when ten minutes later, there were still no signs of him, you felt frustration rising again. Not sure what to do now, you sat next to your father, half paying attention to what was happening on the screen. If he just left you, he was going to pay for it. You needed him, and just like that, he was gone? Probably, got called away by Sam again. Maybe it wasn’t in his control? But if it was…

Knock. Knock.

You looked up, surprised. The door opened with a creaking sound.

- “Oh, Jacob. Hi, what are you doing here?”

- “Hi Charlie, I heard Y/n had a pretty bad day. Came to kidnap her, if that's okay?”

- “Bad day? That’s an understatement. I swear, at one point, I thought she was going to scream at me. I ate her last bowl of cereal this morning; the thing was disgusting, I only ate half of it. I don’t think that helped.” You heard your friend’s low chuckle. Your dad seemed to feel pretty guilty about his crime, which did make you feel a tad bit better. “But yeah sure. Y/n! You have a visitor.”

You walked to them, Jacob awkwardly fitting in your small house; he seemed so disproportionate with his imposing size. For once, he was wearing actual clothes, a shirt and a pair of jeans, a sign he wasn’t planning on having to transform tonight. A sign that he was planning on being entirely dedicated to you.

- “Ready to go? I’m kidnaping you.” He said that last part with a smirk, a hint to your previous request.

- “Sure.” You grabbed your coat, said goodbye to your dad, and left without waiting any longer.

First, he took you away to get some food in you. It wasn’t until your teeth were digging inside a delicious burger that you realized just how hungry you were. Jacob being the glutton that he is, ordered two cheeseburgers along with a pack of large fries. You went for a milkshake, the perfect dessert for a night like this, and took your victuals to the La Push beach. It was empty and peaceful; the sun was slowly going down, the wind just a whisper in the night. It wasn’t even that cold, but the excuse to snuggle into Jake’s wolfish warmth was too good to pass.

- “Feeling better?” he asked while wrapping his arm around your shoulders.

- “Yes. Thanks, Jake.”

- “Kidnapping mission was a success?”

- “Yes, it was.” You answered with a smile.

- “Alright.” He muttered under his breath, looking in the distance.

You stayed for a while in comfortable silence, simply enjoying the other’s presence.

- “So, what were you saying about me not being there today, like that made your day worst?”

His question took you by surprise. A look at his cocky expression was all it took you to punch him in the ribs as hard as you could.

- “You wish idiot.”

He laughed at your attack, he probably didn't even feel a thing but leveled his face with yours in all seriousness.

- “You can avoid this conversation for now since you had a shit day and all, but keep in mind, it’s not over.”

- “And you keep in mind that our discussion about you ordering werewolves to stay behind to protect me, is not over. You won’t get away easily with that one Black.”

He laughed again, visibly amused with your threat. You laughed too but were slightly less amused. These two conversations were important ones, although one you apprehended way more. You looked at Jacob's happy expression and felt a fuzzy feeling warming your body. No, right now was not the time for such serious topics.

All in good time, right?

...

Tagging my two gals because they know how nervous I was😭...@imjustdreamingig @gonzalezyon I did it gals🥺 I hope you'll like it, thank you so much for your support💕💕

[nanowrimo]

Are Ya Having Fun, Wrimo?

Every year, we’re lucky to have great sponsors for our nonprofit events. Campfire Technology, a 2021 NaNo sponsor, creates writing software to help storytellers write better stories faster. Get 30% off subscription-free writing software with Campfire’s coupon for NaNoWriMo writers! In this post, author Jackson Dickert shares the ultimate secret to writing good fiction:

Even if you’ve never seen the meme before, I think just about everyone can relate to it on some level. You’re sitting there playing a video game and your dad comes in and asks the iconic question, “Are ya winning, son?” 

(Why is this a universal experience? Did we all have the same dad? Anyway…)

That’s kinda how I feel right now. I’m checking in on you guys, seeing how things are going. How’s the writing process? Are ya winning NaNoWriMo?

I was supposed to write an article with storytelling tips. Give you guys some writing advice to help you finish your manuscript. Oh, and I had some GENIUS insights too. I had the best writing tips and advice ever. Really good stuff that would have blown away even the most veteran and revered of writers. That “Lost Article”, as it will come to be known, would have made Shakespeare rise from the grave just so he could shake my hand. And then you know what I thought?

Instead, I’ll write about that funny dad meme.

Now, I know a lot about the craft of writing. But even more valuable to me, I know a lot about my needs and preferences. Could I crank out an article called “Top 100 Best Writing Tips” that’s chock-full of useful info? Sure, totally could. But if I write about a meme, that fits my writing process more. Cater your writing process to your needs and your art will be more unique, entertaining, and memorable than it would have been otherwise.

Let’s go back to your dad. Err, I mean our dad. When our dad pokes his head in the door and says, “Are ya winning, son?” he’s not actually worried about whether we’re going to win the video game. He’s not worried about if we’re going to win NaNoWriMo. The real question he’s asking is: are we having fun?

And that’s what I want to know. Are you having fun?

For all its faults, you probably enjoy writing. You’re a writer for crying out loud. You’ve researched this stuff, you’ve practiced your craft, you might even have a degree in this. But if you’re bogged down, if you’re not having fun, then consider for a moment: are you writing what you want?

There’s nothing better than getting a new idea for a story. You’re excited, the idea is amazing, it’s a guaranteed bestseller. But along the way, somewhere in that murky middle… all that can get lost in the mix. If you’re not winning, if you’re not having fun, look at the actual content you’re writing. If you lose that excitement along the way, like many of us inevitably do while we write our works in progress… this is your wake-up call.

Put something that gets you excited in your story. A scene to write toward, a character’s secret love interest, a dragon. Yeah, do that. Put a dragon in. Everything's better with dragons.

(In my debut novel, I had a buck with tasers mounted to its antlers. No, seriously. Didn’t plan on it initially, but I had the idea for it somewhere in the middle. It motivated me to get through the writing rut I was in and gave me something fresh to work toward. That Taser Buck is one of my favorite parts of the book.)

Writing is supposed to be fun. That’s why we fell in love with it. So my writing process is to have as much fun with it as possible along the way. Doesn’t matter if it makes little sense. You’ll fix that in the next draft. Good fiction starts with you. If you’re miserable and not having fun while you write, it’s going to come through on the page. Quit taking this whole thing so seriously. 

A mediocre idea written by someone who’s having fun is always going to be a better read than the great idea written by someone who hates what they’re creating.

Now go put a dragon in your story. I don’t care how you do it, figure it out.

(That’s him leaving. Don’t make fun of me, I’m a writer, not an artist.)

If having fun isn’t the issue and you’re struggling to stay organized while you write, though, try out Campfire. It’s a browser-based writing application with a full suite of organizational tools that help you write stories and worldbuild. With an offline desktop app and mobile app coming later this year, it’s the perfect tool to help you write better stories faster. It’s even free to use for small projects, so be sure to try it at www.campfireblaze.com.

Jackson Dickert is the Chief Marketing Officer at Campfire Technology, author of The Quest for the Golden Plunger, and is an avid manta ray enthusiast. (No explanation necessary, they are awesome.) He’s passionate about creating tools that help storytellers write better stories faster. Jackson loves to make people laugh, and his current hyper fixation is Vikings. Just all things Viking, really. He’s thinking about growing a beard. Maybe getting a tattoo. Potentially raiding England. We’ll see. Follow him on Twitter @SwagXMcNasty.

[olliya]

Fic Writer Review - tag game

Thank you so much for tagging me @tuliharja! I’m still not quite mentally back to the fandom and tumblr... But I’m working on it!!!

1. How many fics on AO3?

30. There is a bit less on ffnet, because recently I kind of stopped posting there...

2. Total AO3 word count?

466416. Wow. A lot...

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

Naruto - 28

Bokurano - 1

Jujutsu Kaisen  - 1 (I tagged this single fic as JJK (Manga) and JJK (Anime) and now I have no clue why on my page it is listed separately, which gives impression that I have 2 fics in JJK and 31 fics altogether... Maybe I should untag JJK (Anime) or something...)

4. Top Five by Kudos?

The Last Ones Standing

Origin of the Never Seen

On Her Track (completely unexpected!?!?!!? A fresh oneshot so high? And the one published during publishing of Come Home marathon????)

Have We Met Before? (another oneshot, but that was for the event...)

Dreamt

Ok, I’m a bit shocked that Come Home is only 6th... That Veil is even lower....

5. Do you respond to comments, why/why not?

So, until half a year ago the answer would have been a crystal-clear YES. But I have to say that recently, especially after finishing of TLOS there were quite a lot of those complaining comments (esp. on ffnet) and seriously, if I had answered them, it would have been really sharp, so I held my tongue in many cases.

Also - and for that I really have bad consciousness - several very long and thoughtful reviews came very late (several months after the finish of TLOS) and I was already neck deep in Come Home and... I didn’t answer in time... I didn’t have time and mental space to write a suitable answer discussing all the points of the review. I am so sorry about that...

6. What's the fic you've written with the angstiest ending?

Awakening is soo angsty, all of it, especially the ending. Maybe Wall has an angsty ending as well, but imo it is more scary than angsty.

Also both my non-Naruto fics are angsty as hell.

7. Do you write crossovers? If so, what is the craziest one you've written?

No. Somehow, I don’t see much appeal.

8. Have you received hate on a fic?

Nah... Some, imo ungrounded and stupid criticism, but that’s not hate.

9. Do you write smut?

Yup! Gladly!

10. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not to my knowledge. I once read a fic that had a plot veeeery similar to one of my oneshots (and it struck a wrong vein in me), but it was not that someone stole it... Just got overly inspired, I guess...

11. Ever had a fic translated?

Oh Yes!!!!! Huge thanks to all my translators!!! Actually, most meaningful and deep fandom interactions came through the translations of my work, so I am so unbelievable grateful that people took their time to spread my works.

@yomi-gaeru is translating TLOS to Chinese (it is posted on AO3 and on many other Chinese pages - I know Lofter is one of them)

Most of my fics were translated to Russian. Dreamt by LeeTaeKim, Veil over Their Eyes by Маленькая_девочка_  and last but not least, almost all the rest was wonderfully, patiently, carefully and beautifully (and sometime heroically as well) translated by @kotoffeya. Her page on fikbook where she posts the translations is here.

12. Ever co-written a fic before?

Kind of. @victoriacapo has so many ideas and they often somehow click with me in just the right way and I write them down. There is quite a list of them already: Price of Creativity, Wall, Dancing with the Stranger, Other Man’s Treasure, and last but not least Pass the Test.

13. All-time favourite ship?

Madara x Sakura!!!

14. What's a WIP you want to finish, but don't think you ever will?

Oh, Pass the Test lies so heavy on my heart... But I really cannot find the inspiration...

There is also another fic, WIP is a wrong way to call it becasue it is barely started, but it‘s a big, complex and daunting project and... I didn’t even really start. And I’m not sure if I will...

I also had so many ideas and started projects for the fandoms stats back then when I was doing a lot of it. But I don’t remember most of the ideas.

15. What are your writing strengths?

Hmmm... I’m not sure tbh. Maybe conveying emotions? maybe complexity of emotions?

Maybe someone can tell me?

What people did repetitively tell me is that I write Madara very well, that I write him authentic and IC. He is for sure effortless to write for me.

16. What are your writing weaknesses?

Lol, plots. Until recently I would have said ‘getting an idea’ but writing Come Home has healed me from that.

17. What are your thoughts of writing dialogue in other languages?

Well, I *am* writing them all in an *other* language, lol. English is *other* language for me. (Crying to tears about how anglo-centric this question is). And yes, I am uncomfortable writing casual speech. That’s also one of the reasons why I’m uncomfortable writing Modern AUs.

As for changing the language inside the fic - I don’t see really a purpose. There would have to be a really specific plot-reason for the inclusion of additional language for this operation to make sense.

18. First fandom you wrote for?

Naruto. I started writing in 2016.

19. Favourite fic you've ever written?

TLOS and Come Home. I am super proud of TLOS, and it is definitely my best work, but... I think Come Home wins. Even though it is *just* a collection of oneshots. But so much heart went into it, and - even though it is invisible to a bystander - there is a thread of themes, of certain logic that is strung through all these short stories and it is very precious to me.

Hmm, whom to tag... I didn’t talk to you for such a long time... maybe someone will still answer?

I tag traditionally: @yangssunglasses, @itsravencrone, @rhearenee-magane, @kendochick-moor @purple-possibilities, @sunsetbivd

[whatintheeverlovingfucketh]

January 2022 Book Review

My Official Book Rating Scale:

1 - Garbage, honestly painful, no thank you.

2 - Bad, won’t read again if I can help it. Boring and cringe.

3 - Not very good, maybe a few enjoyable moments, but still bland.

4 - Okay, not bad or totally unenjoyable but can definitely be improved. Maybe re-read.

5 - Completely average. Nothing life changing.

6 - Good! enjoyable, but nothing overly spectacular.

7 - Great, will definitely read again.

8 - Wonderful, very few rough spots, a good time.

9 - Fantastic, I loved it!

10 - A MASTERPIECE! Captivating, brilliant, a work of art *chef’s kiss*

*any half points are decided by vibes / not fitting fully into one category*

All of my reviews include:

- book title and author

- the date the book was read (if it is marked * that indicates that I have read this book in the past)

- my numerical rating from the scale above

- a summary of the plot from google and the genre of the book

- a small reflection that was written immediately after finishing reading the book 

Conventionally Yours - Annabeth Albert (05/01/2022) 6.5/10

Two young men fall in love on a road trip to Las Vegas for a gaming convention. Conrad Stewart and Alden Roth's rivalry has made them the stars of a gaming vlog about a card game called Odyssey. (LGBT fiction)

Cute, but a little hard to take seriously, young adults playing and fighting over a fantasy card game, and every kind of representation I can list in 30 seconds takes you out of it a little bit, otherwise, good :)

This is Kind of an Epic Love Story - Kacen Callender (06/01/2022) 6/10

A fresh, charming rom-com about Nathan Bird, who has sworn off happy endings but is sorely tested when his former best friend, Ollie, moves back to town. Nathan Bird doesn't believe in happy endings. (YA Fiction)

The title is misleading. A sweet story, and good representation, however a little frustrating. Constant written descriptions of a visual language feel excessive and unhelpful, especially without other cues as to the context, or translations. This is a critique of the writing, not the story. Other than that, good!

Say What You Will - Cammie McGovern (12/01/2022) 9/10

Say What You Will is a heartfelt story about two teens who each have different challenges to overcome as they navigate the difficulties of senior year. Born with cerebral palsy, Amy can't walk without a walker, talk without a voice box, or even fully control her facial expressions.(Fiction)

Wow. wow, wow. What an incredible story, unique, interesting and full of unexpected twists. Beautiful and really entertaining. I thought I was going to cry by the end, but I didn’t at all, it was a different kind of emotional. I loved it.

Late to the Party - Kelly Quindlen (14/01/2022) 10/10

From author Kelly Quindlen comes a poignant and deeply relatable story about friendship, self-acceptance, and what it means to be a Real Teenager. Late to the Party is an ode to late bloomers and wallflowers everywhere. Seventeen is nothing like Codi Teller imagined.(YA Fiction)

Beyond incredible. I loved the dynamics of each relationship, and the passing of time. It was so fluid, and relatable, funny and exciting. I want to have friends like that someday. I cried like two tears at the last page. Truly a beautiful story.

Invisible Ghosts - Robyn Schneider (16/01/2022) 8/10

In Invisible Ghosts, Rose Asher is grappling with grief and guilt five years after her brother Logan's death. She's also dealing with his ghost every day when she gets home from school. It's a secret she can't share with anyone, because she's not sure whether the ghost is real or in her head. (Fiction, Ghost story, Romance)

Really unique plot! Really funny and relatable, (the high school / social interaction part, not the dead ghost brother part lol) Also very realistic “deliberately blurry snapchat”. A lot of “aww’s” :)

*Calling Maggie May - Anonymous (19/01/2022) 9/10

A dark and edgy first-person cautionary tale about how one girl's seemingly minor choices quickly spiraled into a life as a sex worker in the tradition of Go Ask Alice and Lucy in the Sky. She had a normal life, until one small decision changed everything. Suddenly, there were new possibilities and new experiences. (YA fiction, diary fiction)

Incredibly intriguing, a bit disturbing. It feels weird to say that I enjoyed reading a book about a 16 year old girl going into prostitution, but it's a fascinating story. It took me about 2 hours to read. I'm curious if it's because this is a short book, or because each sentence draws you in more than the last.

*The Book Of David - Anonymous (20/01/2022) 8.5/10

Texas high school senior and quarterback David has a secret no one can discover. Forced by his English teacher to keep a journal in which he writes for 10 minutes, three times a week, David chronicles his innermost secret: his attraction to men.( YA fiction)

Exciting. Although it was a very typical "closeted jock with religious parents" story, the perspective of a private journal made it a very interesting read. I really enjoyed it!

The Beauty That Remains - Ashley Woodfolk (25/01/2022) 10/10

Music brought Autumn, Shay, and Logan together. Death wants to tear them apart. But when tragedy strikes each of them, somehow music is no longer enough. Now Logan can’t stop watching vlogs of his dead ex-boyfriend. Shay is a music blogger struggling to keep it together. And Autumn sends messages that she knows can never be answered. (YA fiction, LGBT, Mental health)

Wow. when I read the tagline I was expecting a cheesy story about a song making people come together in a cliché way. This was so not that. It was an incredibly beautiful and complex story about grief, loss, friendship, and mental health. It was truly wonderful.

[sugiwa]

Hello! Can you do # 3, 7, 11, 17, 19, 20, 21, 23, 24 & 30 for your OC Kamihara-san? I noticed that all the ask-game asks were about Izumi, and I really wanted to know about Kamihara-san... (he’s one of my all time fave OC’s BTW...) I really hope this isn’t too much! Thank you, have a great day 😊

3. What does your oc’s voice sound like? (Or, if you have one, what’s their voiceclaim?) Can they sing, whistle, or roll their rs? Do they have any speech impediments or notable dialects/accents?

His VA would be Ono Daisuke (I kinda imagine him to sound more like Hori Kyōsuke than Erwin Smith tho). He can't sign very well either (There's this video of Ono-san singing Let It Go , skip to the 1:30 minute mark and I feel like he'd send Izumi something like this!) But, he can whistle! He doesn't really have much of an accent, but he has a very casual way of speaking that kind goes against his age, so people think he's very rude.

7. What song reminds you of this oc? Does this match up with the type of music your oc likes to listen to?

Hmmm, this is really hard!! I think he listens to the radio more than music tbh, like he'll listen to comedy cds in his car and Izumi thinks he's totally weird for having a CD player. He usually listens to City Pop when he does listen to music, I feel like he knows all the words to Stay With Me by Miki Matsubara (which admittedly is my fave song)

11. Does your oc have any interests/hobbies that they hide from everyone? Why do they hide these interests?

He likes solving puzzles and gets really proud of himself but hates telling people cause they mock his age. Also, really likes making things from scratch, so he makes his own rice wine at home and stuff. Edgeshot makes fun of him for it all the time because he basically is acting like a grandfather at the age of 40.

17. If your oc had a social media page, what would it be like? What would they post about? How much personal information would they feel comfortable posting on it? How often would they update it?

He does have a social media page and is pretty active on it. He's not really out there posting about his job or stuff, but follows a lot of people and makes posts like "look at this bird that's outside my window," and gives daily updates on that bird. Izumi told him about the dumpsterfire account and he follows that too. Has a whole little how-to-make-your-own video series.

19. How would an enemy describe this oc?

Annoying. Nobi takes his job pretty seriously because he works with a lot of children and their families, but he has a tendency to run his mouth around the perpetrators, so he's been written up for that before.

20. What’s a superpower or magical ability that this oc would hate having?

Nobi's pretty happy being quirkless, but I think something like mind reading would annoy the everliving fuck out of him. He'd become a villain in two seconds.

21. What’s a fact you haven’t shared about this oc?

Nobi went to a hero school, but he was in the general ed course there.

23. Who would this oc consider their family? What is their relationship with these people?

Um, other than Edgeshot, it's probably Nox. Nox was one of the first people he met when he became a police officer and really sent her into Edgeshot's hands to get her somewhere safe. I think as he gets to know Izumi more, he'll add her to the little bubble.

24. What is one thing that, no matter who it’s coming from, would anger your oc?

tbh, Nobi has a general dislike for heroes and he hates when they give him attitude, so even if it's his brother, if they try pulling the "I'm a hero card," he'll get annoyed. He doesn't really show it when he's in uniform but if you catch him out of uniform, he'll start a fight.

30. Tell a random fact about this oc!

Nobi gets really embarrassed when his juniors at work call him senpai and always blushes when he hears it.

He's honestly one of my fave oc's and he and Midnight are going to be featured a bit when Izumi gets her summer job :)

[grace-likes-things]

Chapter Seven - Something Different

Masterlist

A/N: uhhhh oops it’s been a long time. What with the world going to shit, I hope you can understand my struggle. Good news is I have the next 2 chapters written! This story is still going to be quite the ride so I hope you can stick it out with me, I hope you’ll enjoy it!

Warnings: burns

~~~~~~~

My sock-clad feet are digging into the soft carpet of Peter’s bedroom, my biology notebook across my lap, and a textbook strewn on the ground. Music plays softly to occupy the quiet of the room. We’ve just finished our second day back at school since the Sarah incident, and things are a little strange. Kids have all of a sudden been acting out of the ordinary, some small things — Jimmy S. dumped his lunch on the floor before laughing and walking out the door mid-day — and some more concerning — Hannah O. shook the climbing rope in gym until the kid on it lost his grip. The staff has been seriously concerned, and I think the school board is meeting to discuss what might be going on. 

“Peter?” I ask, lifting my head to the boy taking notes at his desk in front of me.

“Yeah?” He says without looking back.

“Have you gotten any other weird feelings at school? Like before someone acts up?”

“Yeah, but it’s usually minor. It’s probably just a fluke. I mean, it’s not like anyone’s done something villain-worthy.”

I sigh, contemplating the strange events, “I know, but people are still getting hurt, even if it is minor stuff. Do you think it might have something to do with the blip?”

Peter turns in his chair to face me, “What? Like how?”

“Well,” I say, “Sarah, Jimmy and Hannah were all dusted, right? And the other kids, too. They blipped, they’re acting up, but as far as I remember, no one who survived the snap has done anything weird.”

“I guess you’re right, but — what are you doing?”

I give him a confused look, and he’s reflecting it right back, staring at my notebook, “What do you—?”

But when I lower my gaze, I see scrawled pen marks all over my once-neat biology notes. I lift my right hand, and to my surprise there’s black ink smudged all over the side of it. My pen has significantly less ink than it did five minutes ago. The lines on my paper are dug harshly, nearly tearing the pages at some spots.

“Did you mean to do that?” Peter asks, now with his full attention on me, concern littered across his features.

I keep staring at my hand in disbelief, “No,” I mumble, “I didn’t even know I was writing…”

We sit in silence for a moment, trying to process what just happened and all of a sudden a wave of content washes over me, and it’s not a concern anymore.

“It’s fine,” spills from my mouth, “probably nothing.”

“What? Y/N, you just ruined your notes without even realizing— “

“It’s fine, Peter, I don't want to worry about it.”

He looks at me, brows furrowed deeply, but gives in, “Alright…”

“Kids!” 

Both of our heads turn toward the door, and May swings it open to address us, “Want dinner? I failed at lasagna so I’m thinking I’ll just door dash some Italian, who’s in?”

“Sure!” I say, cheery, “I’m up for Italian.”

“Y-yeah, May,” Peter says, not lifting his eyes from my notebook, “Italian sounds good.”

After dinner, once May has tired us out with questions about school, patrol, and lab work, Peter and I settle on top of his comforter to pick a movie to watch, his laptop laid precariously across our thighs. 

“So what are you thinking?” Peter asks, “True crime? Horror? Comedy?”

“Hmm, I don't know, you pick. I’ll probably pass out again.”

He lets out a short laugh, “Alright,” and keeps browsing.

My mind wanders to other things, thinking about my dad picking me up later and home life. And then I realize something, “Peter, I never asked how you were doing after all this. You know, how are you and May adjusting?”

He’s been tired lately, I can tell. He doesn’t act it, not around his friends or at the tower — my dad decided to keep it running while the compound is being rebuilt — but when he thinks no one’s watching he seems exhausted. Maybe calm, but still drained.

He whistles out his next exhale, “I dunno. I guess I haven’t thought about it much. We both blipped, so for us the biggest thing was having to find a new apartment, her new job. But your dad helped, even if May told him not too, so that made it easier.”

“Mhm,” I hum, “And you? I mean, we were both there, on Titan, at the battle. It was…”

“Some scary shit?” 

I laugh, “Yeah, some scary shit.”

Both of our giggles peter out before he says, “Yeah, I mean it’s hard stuff to deal with. It’s not like I’ve gotten over it or anything, but I’m just trying to stay optimistic. We got through it with almost everyone. I still have May, we’ve still got your dad, Pepper, Happy, and you’ve even got a brand new sister, so I’d say things are on the upturn for a while, I guess.”

“Yeah,” I mutter, a small smile on my features. Then I jostle his shoulder, “Knock on wood, though. Can’t be jinxing the only good luck in our lifetimes.”

He taps his knuckles lightly on his bed frame, “For sure, it’s nice not having an Avengers-level threat on the news every month.”

He slides the laptop closer, absently sliding his fingers across the track-pad, but I can tell he’s not really looking at the movie choices. 

“You know you can talk to me though, right?” I glance up at him, heart beating a little faster at the idea of getting a look inside his head, “If anything’s on your mind. If you want to.”

“Yeah,” he turns his head toward me, and now we’re just centimeters away, each breath shared in the same space, “Yeah, thanks. Me, too, you know, if you need to get something off your chest.” But he says it slow, airily, eyes glancing across my face, feature to feature, and I realize I might be doing the same. I nod, and our faces get closer, just the smallest bit, and I find my eyes are focused on his lips.

“Hey, kids!” We hear May call through the apartment and quickly turn our heads toward the door. She’s not in the doorway, thank god.

“Yeah, May?” Peter sighs, settling back against his bed frame.

May now appears in the room, coat in hand, “It's gonna rain tomorrow and I don't wanna walk in it, so I’m gonna grab some groceries before the stores close. Think you can handle taking my bread out of the oven in a bit?”

“You made bread?” Peter says, in a oh-my-god-what-will-I-be-poisoned-with tone. I suppress a laugh for May’s sake.

“Yes, I did, out of the kindness of my heart,” She smirks at him, then turns to leave “The timer’s going off in about 30, you’ll hear it. Thanks!” And then we hear the apartment door close behind her.

“Well,” I sigh, shaking off the awkward demeanor in the room, “Are we even gonna have time to finish a movie at this point?”

He laughs, “Probably not.”

And we both get up to monitor May’s bread experiment, because god knows it’ll burn if we let it bake until her timer goes off. 

“I’m telling you, it’s gotta mean something that I didn’t plummet to the ground when I webbed onto Thor’s hammer —“

“No way!” I laugh at Peter, tossing a dish rag his direction, “You weren’t even directly touching it!”

“But that’s gotta be some indication.” He protests, “Maybe I’m like, partially worthy.”

“How could someone be ‘Partially worthy?’ That doesn’t make any sense.”

“Cap was fighting with it! That means someone other than Thor can be worthy, so—“

“Yeah, but that in no way suggests that partial worthiness is even a thing,” I don't actually doubt him this much, but it’s fun to watch Peter push this idea so much.

“Fine, you know what? We’ll ask Thor if we can test it out next time he’s on Earth. I figure he’ll get drunk enough at the cookout to let us try it.”

“Oooh, you’re gonna try to steal drunk Thor’s hammer?” I laugh, leaning back on the kitchen counter, “That’s risky business, I don't think I want to be involved.”

“Not steal, just borrow for a brief experiment.” Peter tries to reason.

“Okay, fine, but don't come crying to me when a thousand year old god puts you in a headlock,” I turn away from him, checking once again on the sad-looking loaf of bread in the oven, “I think this thing’s probably done.”

“Thor wouldn’t put me in a headlock! I’m the baby of the team, he adores me.”

“First of all, I thought I was the baby of the team, and second, I am totally telling my dad that you took that title—“

“Y/N—“

“Nuh uh, you claimed it! I’m gonna make him give you shit for it—“

“No, Y/N, the—“

And then I feel the searing pain radiating across my entire left palm, down my fingers. A yelp of pain escapes me, and I look down in shock, dropping the bread pan out of my bare hand.

“What the hell?” Peter exclaims quickly as he darts around the counter, shutting the oven door and guiding me quickly to the sink. He turns on the faucet, and cold water starts running over my burned hand, easing the pain only slightly. I stare down in bewilderment at the throbbing red skin.

“What was that?” Peter asks over my shoulder, still holding my wrist to keep my hand below the water, “You weren’t even watching what you were doing!”

“I-I don't know—“ I say, flinching at the discomfort, just as confused as he is, “I didn't even know I was taking it out—”

“What?” He looks down at me now, “What do you mean?” I open my mouth to speak but I don't know what explanation to give him. I don’t remember making the decision to open the oven, I don't remember grabbing the pan.

“Okay,” thankfully, Peter seems to register the disbelief on my face and leaves me at the faucet, returning with the first aid kit from his bathroom, “Let’s get it clean and wrapped.”

I let him guide me to the couch, where he kneels in front of me and sets the first aid kit on the coffee table. I watch from what feels like miles away as he puts ointment on the worst of the burn — my fingertips and the heel of my palm — and gingerly begins to wrap gauze around it. While he’s working on my hand, I’m deep in my scattered thoughts; how did I manage to do that by mistake? Surely I should’ve felt the heat of the oven, should’ve flinched back at the first contact with the metal. I definitely shouldn’t have been able to hold the thing for more than a second without noticing — but I did, didn't I? Or else the burn wouldn’t be so bad. So what the hell happened?

I’m still sitting there trying to figure this out when the door to the apartment opens. We hear two voices enter, not just May’s.

“Hey! Caught your Aunt outside, Pete, thought I’d come up and say hi— what happened?”

My dad and May stop just as they walk through the doorway, just as Peter finishes wrapping my hand.

“Y/N burned her hand taking the bread out of the oven. Uh, sorry, May, it’s kind of ruined all over the kitchen floor.” Peter explains quietly.

My dad walks over and sits beside me on the sofa, taking my wrist gently to examine the injury, “What’d you do, kiddo? Ditch the oven mitt completely?”

“Uh… yeah, I guess,” I say. 

He looks at me quizzically, eyeing the bright red fingertips that weren’t wrapped, “That wasn’t a serious question… you’re kidding, right? This isn’t just a forgot-the-oven-mitt burn. Your fingers are singed.”

“I-I don't know. I didn’t realize what I was doing…” I mumble out.

My dad looks to Peter for answers, but he’s just as lost for words as myself. He gives a shrug and a lost look in response. May rubs his shoulder in a motherly fashion. 

“You okay, sweetie?” She asks.

“Yeah,” I say, looking directly into her concerned eyes, “Yeah I’ll be fine.”

I have a feeling she wasn’t asking about the burns, but I really don't know what other answer to give them. I don't know what happened.

Tony and May look at each other, communicating silently in that parent sort of way that they do, and I just stare down at my hand.

“Okay,” my dad says, “Well, we should probably get you home then. Pete, wanna grab her backpack for me?”

Peter diligently gets up and returns just a minute later with my backpack and sweater, handing it off to my dad, “I’ll see you tomorrow,” he says, and I can't muster up anything more than a ‘yeah’ before my dad bids the Parkers goodbye and guides me out of the door.

Before I know it, my dad is opening the passenger door for me and guiding me into the car, and I can’t do anything to shake this trance-like state. It's an unbelievable feeling, having no recollection of making a choice to do something so painful like that. My dad’s voice pulls me out of my thoughts.

“—Earth to Y/N,” he says, waving a hand in front of my face, “Hey, what happened? Are you alright?”

“I- yeah,” I look him in the eye now, “Yeah, I just- I must’ve grabbed the pan without thinking.”

He’s still staring, doubtful, “You sure?” And a beat of silence, “Is everything okay with you and Peter?”

“What?” I ask, “Yeah, everything’s fine, I just— he just helped clean it. I-I don’t know what I did.”

He starts the car, obviously not satisfied with that answer, but pulls away from the curb and begins our route home nonetheless, “Okay, then. Let’s get some sleep into you, huh sweetheart?” His hand comes up to ruffle my hair, and I hum in response. 

The drive home is quiet. 

~~~~~~~~~~

A/N: oooooh what’s goin onnnnnn?

[mansidupte]

The best habit to be pursued before going to bed!

You might be wondering what is this best habit I am talking about before going to bed. Is it skincare? Yes, skincare is important but still, it is not what I am talking about. Please guess! Let me give you some hints- this habit is easy to pursue, anyone can become fond of this habit quickly, this habit gives you intellectual power, empowers you to be a good human, and it also gives you knowledge which no one can take from you. You might have guessed what I’m talking about. I am talking about; READING. This is the best habit everyone should have and should exercise every day. Reading books, magazines, comics, newspapers, etc helps you to have a clear and clean visualization. Reading makes you aware. You can read anything, but you should read like you’re reading this blog now:). Reading is indeed the greatest habit to pursue according to me. Reading helps you a lot to grow your mindset and thoughts. Reading gives you the direction of thoughts. It helps to have rich thinking and a positive attitude towards things.

There are some great physical and emotional impacts of reading on your body, like reading strengthens the brain, increases empathy, prevents cognitive decline, reduces stress, aids sleep, alleviates depression, lengthens lifespan, etc. In 2009, some researchers measured the effects of yoga, humor, and reading on the stress levels of students in demanding health science programs in the United States. The study finds out those 30 minutes of reading lowers blood pressure, heart rate, and feelings of psychological distress just as effectively as yoga and humor did. Regular reading is a must. A regular reader sleeps better, has lower stress levels, higher self-esteem, and lower rates of depression than non-readers. Regular readings improve brain connectivity, increases your vocabulary and comprehension.I read every day before going to bed without fail. My mother introduced reading to me. And it is the best thing I have ever encountered. Some of you may think of making it a habit, but are not dutiful towards it and thought I’ll do it later but didn’t, and that’s not good at all. You should be dutiful towards it by pursuing it daily. When I started reading I loved the process of turning every page with curiosity to find out what happens next? Or where this story is taking me? And when I discovered that joy of reading I feel, I fell for it the moment I completed my first book. I read in multiple languages i.e. In English, Marathi, and Hindi.

Whenever I grab a book to read or anything that comes in my hand, I make sure that I read it with certain seriousness and depth to understand each word I read. If it interests me and increases my curiosity I make sure that I read it till the end. The joy of completing a book or an article takes me to cloud nine. That feeling is so overwhelming and satisfying at the same time. It feels great whenever I complete reading a book or an article or a long post. I tell about the things I read to my parents, friends, or anyone whom I feel “they should know about this.” And they resonate with what I tell them.

Reading gave me clarity in my life. It also gives me a beautiful escape from the reality that results in making me happy and my mood too. Some thoughts written somewhere are so great that they hit us hard; they resonate with our life and reading them out is mandatory. I am a polygamist and altruist reader. I was recently reading three books from totally different genres at the same time. Right now, I am reading two different books from different genres- 1. The perfect look by Blake Pierce (Psychological fiction and 6th sequel from the series of books), 2. You can win by Shiv Khera (Self-help and motivational). I am reading the 2nd book slowly and calmly so that I could keep everything with me and understand the author's perspective, and I think self-help should be read-only when you’re functioning systematically.

You can start your reading journey by reading books that are written in easy English which will help you to understand English far more easily. You can start reading by reading books of Sudha Murthy and Ruskin Bond which are easy to understand. They’ll help you understand many different attributes of life in simple and easy-to-understand English. There are 21 most popular books genres like action and adventure, classics, comic book or graphic novel, detective and mystery, fantasy, historical fiction, horror, literary fiction, romance, science fiction (sci-fi), short stories, suspense and thrillers, women’s fiction, biographies and autobiographies, cookbooks, essays, historical, memoir, poetry, self-help, and true crime. The best genre for me is FICTION; because this genre leaves you in complete awe and makes your jaw drop. You are dumbstruck by the story the author wrote and that is the power of fiction. The main genres of fiction are crime, fantasy, romance, science, western, inspirational, historical, and horror. Even though I love fiction I also prefer non-fiction occasionally, to give me some reality-check. Explore all of these genres and find the one which makes you feel good. So start reading you will love the process and you will also experience better sleep at night since reading is the best habit to pursue before going to bed.

Happy Reading:)

[the-anonymous-public-diary]

Hello curious new friend!

I bet you’re wondering what this blog actually is, huh? Kudos to you for even caring in the slightest! Well, anyway, sit back and let me explain it to you!

One night in a fit of (accidentally self-induced) bipolar mania I was struck with a sudden urge to write a diary entry for the first time in what seems like a decade. And it just so happens that I got a new pen-tablet not too long ago. Thus, I decided that not only would I write an entry, but I would also make my journal entry a bit of an art project! I opened Photoshop and began letting my thoughts go where ever they wanted. Then, I got to about what I would consider the middle of my entry, my mania fed me another idea that I thought was actually somewhat brilliant, and subsequently chose to act on that as well!

So, the reason I created this side-blog was to have a place to post any diary entries that I happen to create from here on out. I feel it might be somehow cathartic to share what I'm going through with total strangers on the internet.

But that’s not all!

I would like to invite you, my most wonderful reader, to send in your anonymous diary/journal entries too!

The choice is yours! Be as creative and elaborate as you want! You can take a picture of your handwritten entries from your actual diary or from other physically written journaling. Alternatively, you could even screenshot digital entries from your PC or phone! Perhaps you are still concerned about your level of anonymity. In that case, you can go a step further to keep yourself on the sly by sending your entry with instructions for me to write it up on your behalf. Alternatively, if you prefer, you could take the leisurely and more incognito route and let me do all the hard work for you! Just give me a general gist of what is bothering you and let me know that you want to hand over creative control to me. I’ll do my absolute utmost to come up with something that might maybe just slightly resemble an entry to do with what you’re going through. Admittedly, you’d likely end up having to squint, stand on your head, and then translate it to braille for it to fit, but I promise to try my best!

So, welcome to: The Anonymous Public Diary!

I don’t know how you found this blog, but I sure am glad you’re here! I would seriously love to see this blog flourish as I think this could become something amazing!

Yet, still, it’s really going to depend on those of you who choose to submit your entries. I don’t think this will even get off the ground if I’m in this endeavor alone.

So, please, won’t you consider joining me on this journey?

Rules/guidelines under the cut for those who are interested in submitting!

The Anonymous Public Diary Rules/Guidlines:

No one will know that it’s you unless you want them to! You can be as public or as nameless as you prefer!

No one is going to judge you! Your thoughts, feelings and experiences are all valid and just as important as anyone else’s!! (I’ll be blocking any bullies I see interacting! Oh, and don’t be afraid to let me know about any I happen to miss!)

You are welcome to vent, ask for advice, or even just share about a cool thing you saw! Anything goes! (However, be cautious with adult things. I’d rather not lose this blog to the “sensitive content” brigade. Remember, creative euphemisms are a wondrous tool! A bratwurst isn’t always a bratwurst if you phrase it right!)

Your entry can be a single sentence if that’s all you feel is necessary. Or you can max it out all the way up to a full page! (My limit for writing your entry for you is 250 words.) (The limit for screenshot/photo posts is 5 pictures. Should it be required, I will crop and/or resize images as necessary.)

This is the REALLY important bit you should note:

I am a Norse Pagan, Non-binary, Pansexual in my 30′s. I am the parent of a Trans-female under 10yo, my sister whom I love despite our distance is a POC and Bisexual. And finally, one of my two best friends is the child of immigrants, a POC, and also a Witch.

I will not tolerate intolerance, bigotry, sexism, racism, or any other form of dumb-assed fuckery regardless of how seemingly innocuous or morally grey!

If any of the above-mentioned sub-human behavior was perpetrated against you, by all means, submit that post/ask! That’s a seriously heavy burden to carry and you shouldn’t have to do it alone! Let us help carry that weight!

HOWEVER! If any of the above is in your submission/ask and you are not the victim of the scenario I will be blocking and reporting you without a second thought. And if you’re unsure about if what you’re submitting falls under those categories my advice is to either: A) Do some research before submitting and/or note that you’re unsure so that I can make the final decision. (I understand that sometimes we can mess up in small ways because we may not know the full extent of what the definitions and/or behaviors are) OR B) Don’t fucking send it! This option is for those times when you DO know that what you’re doing is wrong, immoral, and overall fucked up but you just can’t help yourself. This option is for the people who CHOOSE TO do harm because they’re still stuck in their 5th-grade bully mentality and have never bothered to grow ever since then.

[rigelmejo]

Extensive Reading Updates - Zhenhun

I have been extensively reading zhenhun, my print novel version so I am not looking up any words. (Whereas with the hanshe pingxie fanfiction I am still occasionally clicking a word). I have read the first 20 chapters of the webnovel version of zhenhun in Pleco in the past few months, so most unknown words I have looked up before at some point. So right now I'm re-reading a lot of the same content and will be until I get past chapter 20.

I can tell that my comprehension of zhenhun probably is at about 95%. As in, its enough that I can follow the main plot and most key info details, but there's enough unknown words that I cannot guess some of them from context if its a totally new part of the novel I'm reading. And I run into a number of words in the in-depth scenery and character backstory descriptions that I just do not know and there's enough I don't always have enough context to guess relatively closely to their meaning.

Since these first 20 chapters are a re-read more or less, I have the extra context of 'knowing the overall plot that happens here' already. So I'm reading slower than I probably could, trying to figure out any unknown words from all the surrounding word context and the prior-plot-knowledge I have. For these re-reading sections this is working well, a majority of the words I can re-remember or figure out. I am hoping I will pick up enough of THESE kinds of unknown-words during this re-reading portion, so that hopefully my comprehension when I get to the new parts of the book will be a bit higher than 95%. Then hopefully once I get into totally new parts of the book: my reading speed will be a bit better (less unknown words I hope lol), and I will know a bit more words to guess more totally-new unknown words (that I've never looked up before) vague overall meanings.

Examples of what things I can read clearly versus parts I can't figure out all of the words enough to be relatively sure of the details. In chapter 1, I can read the parts about "Guo Changcheng having a phobia of phone calls" clearly, but then the details about him being afraid of people and having social anxiety I can follow certain parts, but other parts of the descriptions (like him when he sees a teacher or principal) I just sort of vaguely guessed meant he was terrified of them. When chapter 1 described Zhao Yunlan's entrance, I could clearly follow the parts about him looking serious/having a bad attitude and walking fast with the attitude of "if you're in my way roll the fuck away" and then the part about how instantly his mood changed to warm, he smiled friendly, he talked kindly and helped Guo Changcheng out by patting at his shoulder when Guo Changcheng got all sweaty trying to shake hands. But then the part about how Guo Changcheng sensed a seriousness/almost-scariness about Zhao Yunlan? All those details read vague to me and I am just summarizing that my interpretation of it was "even acting friendly, Guo Changcheng felt he was serious underneath/powerful/had an intimidating vibe." And since that detail read SO vague to me, I can't tell if that was an early hint Zhao Yunlan might be a god/used to have been Kunlun, if its just another implication Guo Changcheng is afraid of people/authority figures, or if it was trying to imply something else I just did not pick up on. So even WITH the re-reading prior context of these scenes, in-depth descriptions of character's intepretations still are more vague to me even if I can guess some of the words. I imagine this will get worse when I get to the totally new chapters - unless I learn a LOT of helpful words from context by the time I get through the first 20 chapters.

When I re-read the Kunlun intro I realized I may have translated some details wrong when I translated it to english several months ago. Now, this time I didn't use a dictionary to read at all, so it's possible I also did not interpret the details I read correctly THIS time around. But yeah, a couple days ago when I re-read that part I interpreted the 'qing yi' as possibly green/blue cloth Kunlun is wearing as the blizzard is blowing (whereas when I first translated that line months ago I thought it meant 'clear white fabric' blowing in the wind like some ripped piece of cloth - its also possible this time it still means 'bright cloth' but I do think it sounds more like its Kunlun's clothes than a random cloth blowing in the wind). And this time, when I read about Shennong it seemed more like he was either a god who'd lost his powers, or a god who'd lost his godhood fully, and its just he still retained his kind unselfish demeanor. Whereas when I first translated, I figured he was just a god 'who'd suffered' because of the great calamity that had just happened, but not particularly doing any worse than that. In this re-read though it feels to me more like its implying something more severe has happened to him/is happening. Also during this re-read, the line about 'the hole in the ground being so deep the rain did not even reach this far down' was much clearer for me whereas when I initially translated I had to look up a Ton of words in that section and still didn't quite get what it meant.

Also for the chapter 1 re-read, certain details were much easier for me to clearly understand. The part about McDonalds I FINALLY recognized that word in the sentence, the part about Guo Changcheng parking then going into the courtyard area and seeing the lobby office building, the part about human resources department, all of those sections I followed the details much easier than last time I read with a dictionary. So yeah, I'm curious which parts will be 'clearer' to me this time reading.

I am still reading at a slow 5 minutes a page (speed I was reading print novel of zhenhun last time). But to be fair? I am slowing down to try and figure out every unknown right now on the re-reading sections. And I read english fiction at like 3-4 minutes a page (why???? Do I just... picture and savor a lot???). I know when I'm reading nonfiction or back when I'd read class-assigned things I could read way faster, but I think its just because I scanned for important info and details and then moved on. Idk but...I really do read english fiction too slow too lol (I'm reading a friend's book and I've read like 110 pages despite like 10 hours on this book so far T-T just because I keep savoring it and pausing and rereading). I'm rereading a fic I wrote, so I know everything that happens, and I was reading like 1 page every 3-4 minutes ;-;. I know I can read super fast I think when I like something I just... slow down. Now, my chinese is reading slow just because reading slow is ALL I can do lol. But I may need... to be more realistic that any novel may take me 20-30 hours optimistically when I read like an english novel that's only 300 pages over 3 weeks now and I'm only 1/3 through it.

I can read chinese a touch faster if its actually in my 98% comprehended range I think. For hanshe, while when I'm slowing down looking up all unknown words its probably around the same speed as zhenhun? While I'm just reading to follow the story, I can finish a whole chapter in a handful of minutes. Now, like zhenhun, I am currently reading chapters I have already read before - so the familiarity is likely speeding me up. So that fact does mean it probably won't be as easy/fast once I get to the new chapters. At the moment though, unknown words pretty much all I have a good guess of understanding roughly in context (a lot like me reading fanfic in middle to high school as far as the amount of new vocabulary beyond my range that is not affecting my understanding). I just do not necessarily have a good chance of guessing completely new hanzi pronunciations (which is the main reason I keep occassionally looking up words). The hanzi I've vaguely seen before, I can sometimes guess their reading based on radical or the other word I know them from. But the completely new hanzi I do not remember seeing at all (although I did apparently at some point during the first read through) - I cannot make a decent pronunciation guess sometimes. And of course, the hanzi I always cannot guess correctly for the life of me (looking at you 'suspicious' 'hesitate' 'doubt' because I am STILL getting those 3 words/hanzi in them confused even though I've probably looked up each word like 40 times at least).

For me, print text is slightly easier to read (and in extensive reading its somewhat easier for me to guess new word meanings/hanzi). By this I mean the font they usually use for print novels (it looks a bit more like handwriting with more slanted lines and less 'blocky' of a look). I sort of think its because the print text usually used in books has more obvious radicals to me. So my eyes parse out the radicals I'm looking at easier and can make a guess at meaning/pronunciation. An obvious example is any time a 'sound noise' is written with hanzi with the mouth radical on them. When I'm reading in print text, I recognize 'mumbled, shouted, humph'ed, sighed, breathed in etc quite quickly. Along with sounds like 'xililala' and 'deng deng deng' and there was a sound phrase used I think in Guo Changcheng's section about school in chapter one that was like he sort of 'tumbled/fumbled his way through school' and while i know tumbled/fumbled is probably not Exactly the word? It looked like a sound-noise word to me because of the mouth radical, so I figured it might be something like that? Whereas I know when I read the webnovel if I saw a 4 hanzi phrase like that I would've just gotten confused by those hanzi cause I wouldn't have recognized the meaning of the other radicals in the hanzi. Also a few weeks ago I changed a fic I was reading's text to the print-usual text in Pleco, and had a much easier time reading less slow/recognizing hanzi I'd seen before. That said, recently reading a ton of hanshe has helped computer-text reading ability a bit I think. I'm getting much more used to recognizing radicals in computer-text website usual font, which I notice most obviously in that I'm hitting more 'sound hanzi' that are getting less confusing to me to recognize.

So I guess in summary, reading extensively is going fine. I'll find out in a few weeks if its causing any improvements. I do think its helping with my ability to recall words/pronunciations of words I've seen before though. Just because the quicker I can do that the less I pause, and I don't have a dictionary to help me out so I seem to remember some pronunciations quicker (maybe because I 'have' to). I also think its helping me with general sentence parsing a bit - which I thought I was fine at, but on re-reading the beginning of zhenhun I am realizing there's a decent amount of sentences I did NOT interpret quite right the first time around even with a dictionary.

[dutten-does-the-fanfic]

Obviously you don’t have to say anything if you don’t feel motivated or don’t want to write but i was wondering if you had any big plans for the future- both personal/original projects and fan fictions. Love ur writing! Again, plz i mean not to pressure you just genuinely curious

Hello! And thank you, that’s so sweet of you :3 I don’t remember if I’ve said this (I’m pretty sure I have??) but I’m currently in uni, and course-load and exams have practically made it their mission to kick my ass at every possible moment, which is why there are these long breaks where I’m just, completely inactive (and I hate it, but I haven’t unlocked enough levels of adult to figure out how to healthily balance my work life and personal life - maybe in a few years ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ )

But I am still writing!! (or, am going to be when I get a moment to breathe) Definitely motivated and interested and keeping at it!! :D

As for projects, oh boy. What haven’t I got going on (loads, is the answer, but to go over a few!)

I don’t really have any original projects - I’ve never really liked creating oc’s for some reason? I much prefer having the characters from a show/book/whatever and working off of them for the story/plot whilst still keeping some of the character we all fell in love with intact - I don’t know. I really love making small comments about the OG platform (quotes, moments, mentions, really anything, just small easter eggs for myself and whoever reads the story) that I obvs wouldn’t be able to make with my own OG content xD Everything would be canon then.

As for fanfiction! So much!! Absolutely none of it is finished, because I have zero patience or sense of delayed gratification when it comes to posting - I just want it all out at once and to read everyone’s comments at once xD

I’ve got stories going for a few different fandoms and ideas just written down in my ever-growing ideas-doc for even more! I think I’m going to correctly assume you might be here for the SKAM fics, tho ;p

Basically, I’m horrible with understanding what is and isn’t a spoiler because I know the twists and turns so I just take it all for granted - however, when I actively try to describe a fic without spoilers, they end up sounding genuinely dull xD But I’ll do my best without giving too much away!

I’ve basically got so many stories going at once that I genuinely have no idea how many there are as I always forget some, so here are a selected few!

Obvs, there’s Even’s POV for “Something Great” (aka “that fic” aka my twitter legacy) which is nowhere near done. I’m really loving what I have got down, though! As far as I remember, I’m about 8k in, but I’m shooting for 30-40k, so no time frame. In case you didn’t know, I’ve done an entire announcement post where there are also a few previews included :D

Then there’s a pretty much crack fic with some angst and a way for me to memorize my course work that actually isn’t too far from being finished, but... it needs some work. It’s basically one of those “heeey, you’re pretty much my best friend and I don’t have unrequited feelings for you at all (lies), so it’s totally okay that we pretend to hook up to get back at our roommate who keeps sexciling us only for it to turn real” kind of AU.

Then there’s the other crack fic from boy squad’s POV (well, Jonas, but they practically serve as one entity) about them being oblivious to Evak until one day Isak announces #Evak is real, but they’re just so sure they would have noticed something, so they think Isak and Even are pranking them, so they set out expose them. A+ content, if I have to say so myself.

Next there’s my newest pride and joy that I’ve currently got sitting somewhere between 50-60k with no end in sight. I love this story, I cannot being to describe just how much I love this story. There is so much to this story, and I don’t want to give anything away :’( Basically, Isak has quite serious trauma from something that happened in his childhood, and it’s set during his second year in high school - he’s living in the Kollektiv (with four rooms, ‘cause I aint sending Noora to London), and he’s got the boy squad, Eva and Jonas are still dating so the girl squad also make a lot of appearances. And it’s basically just this major character exploration of the different ways Isak’s trauma appears, how it impacts the way he interacts with other people, the way he sees the world and other people, how he basically doesn’t deal with the trauma and how severely it affects him. And then there’s this entire thing about the sudden suicide of a famous Norwegian pianist (not one of the major characters, I ain’t about that life) that somehow ties into everything and everything turns very shady.

That barely covers the actual story and I’m pretty sure it sounds so jumbled up, but I literally can’t figure out how to describe it without spoilers.

Then we’ve got another angst-galore! A traveling AU! Which, timing, I know. We’ll ignore that. With my pace, it won’t be ready until traveling is allowed again anyway ^__^’ It plays on the themes of lost and found, and it’s basically about how Even travels to find out who he is, but he ends up finding Isak instead, running into him in different cities and countries, and they fall in love, but Isak is traveling to lose himself and everyone - ah. Angst-galore indeed.

What else - there’s a snakesak ABO!AU, because I’ve never written either, and for some reason, I must’ve apparently felt the need to put the two together. ABO is the kind of AU that pretty much everyone holds different opinions on - it’s not a tag I filter out, but it pretty much differs from story to story how much I like it. All I know is, when it is done well, it is done well.

I know there are more, because there are always more. I’ve definitely got so many ideas that I haven’t gotten anything down more than the premise: There’s a murder mystery AU, because I’ve wanted to do one pretty much since I wrote the first chapter for Beat the Record (you know, back when it was still just supposed to be a oneshot xD) and now I’ve finally got a basic storyline for it! Featuring detective Even who has been demoted to a permanent deskjob and basically only kept on out of pity after screwing up evidence? an assignment? plans still pending. Not accepting this, he sets out to catch the new serial killer with the help of newly hired forensic scientist Isak, whom he asks for help because of how talented Isak is, not because Even has a big-ass crush on him. Then there’s the university AU that’s basically a rom/com where Even is one of the hosts for the uni’s radio station, sees pretty boy Isak generally being a mess, falls instantly in love and keeps talking about “the cute boy” on the radio, asking if anyone knows his name and if they can get him his number. Isak only finds out about it because Magnus is a listener and accidentally figures it out.

And so many more. Literally. We are talking pages upon pages, let alone some quite long stories I also have going for other fandoms. I seriously can’t wait - I just need to get myself writing xD

I hope this helps tide over the long waiting period a little :) xx <3