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ojerasgigantes · 5 years ago

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LIST OF THE BEST FANFICS OF ALL TIME (according to me)

Since we are in quarentine and because of that I’ve reverted to my 2014 tumblr self and have started indulging in fanfics again, and since I’ve read ALOT of them, I decided to make a list and compile the best fanfiction I have ever read. This list is not in any type of ranking or affiliated to one specific fandom, so it’s a bit of a mess. (I will also direct you to the author’s AO3 page, and tumblr if I can find it).

Why do I think this fics are the BEST of the BEST? Well, either, they could be turned into a book and become a best seller by simply changing names, or I think the author has a HUGE potential in becoming a published author.

Also if you guys think there are fics that are on the level of this ones please PLEASE rec them to me, I don’t care what fandom they are from.

THINGS HAVE GOTTEN CLOSER TO THE SUN by Starseas

Fandom: One Direction Pairings: Harry Styles/Louis Tomlinson, Liam Payne/Zayn Malik Genre/tags: Future fic, end of the world AU Rating: Mature Words: 49k Summary: When a solar flare is announced to end the world in twelve days, Harry reunites with the people that he used to know better than the back of his own hand.

Notes: I no longer read fanfiction involving real people, but this still remains on being one of the best fics I’ve ever read so I had to put it here. So, first of all, I LOVE this author, I used to follow her on tumblr and read everything she published. If I’m not mistaken her tumblr is deserted and she hasn0t posted anything in a long time, but I sincerily hope that she decided to move to writing and publish original works. Second of all, this fic is phenomenal, she somehow manges to portray a sense of despair under the whole romance plot. I cried in the end.

IRREPARABLE by aslightstep (WIP, abandoned?)

Fandom: Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) Pairings: Tony Stark/Steve Rogers Genre/tags: Fix it Fic, Canon compliant Rating: General Audiences Words: 131k Summary: Forgiveness is a journey, or so Tony was maybe told a long time ago. He doesn't know about any of that and doesn't particularly care to. In the wake of civil war, the Avengers remain, as do their enemies. And Tony Stark rebuilds, as always.He destroys the phone, he burns the letter. But he can't (he won't) eliminate Steve Rogers from his mind.

Notes: Ok, I know I shouldn’t be recommending any abandonded works, but I am recommending this one anyway because the characters depiction are on point!! Tony’s stuborness really shows and it’s all so... realistic? Like it could have actually happened in the comics or in the MCU. It’s a beautiful slow burn, like extremely slow burn, and I just wish the author didn’t left it behind.

THE KUBBLER-ROSS THEORY by antivenom

Fandom: The Amazing Spiderman, Deadpool Pairings: Gwen Stacy/Peter Parker, Peter Parker/Wade Wilson (barely) Genre/tags: Drama, Canon compliant, Grief Recovery Rating: Teen and Up Audiences Words: 80k Summary: Peter deals with a loss that immobilizes him and permeates through every drawn breath. In which his grief is a visceral abstraction that he can touch, that he can feel. And in which, with a little help, with time, with acceptance, with anger, with sadness, with Wade, he learns how to live in a world without her.

Notes: The way this author describes and deals with the subject of grief is so real. It’s amazing the way she portrays Peter way of coping with his guilt, her death, and everything in his life. It is incomparable to any other fic or BOOK I have ever read. Also this is the first part of a series, so I’d definitely read it if you are into really good slowburn Spideypool.

BRIGHT HAIR ABOUT THE BONE by MissDisoriental

Fandom: Hannibal (TV) Pairings: Will Graham/Hannibal Lecter Genre/tags: A/B/O Dynamics, case fic Rating: Explicit Words: 484k Summary: In a world where omegas are little more than trophies to be bought and sold, Will Graham has done the unthinkable by escaping a forced bonding. Already in high demand as a profiler, Will's determined to find freedom on his own terms. For Hannibal Lecter the outlook is far more straightforward: a slow, systematic seduction of the most uniquely captivating omega he's ever encountered. As the shadow of a new and terrifying serial killer falls over Baltimore, the stage is set to redefine all accepted meanings of passion, temptation, horror and beauty – and to discover the ecstasy of a genuine love crime.

Notes: Yes, this fic is half a million words, no I don’t regret staying awake two days in a row just to finish it. Also, yes, I know it’s ABO. I usually don’t read ABO because I don’t like mpreg, but I made an exception for this one because it’s just that good. The way this author writes is so in sync with the series vibe. The descriptions, the way Hannibal speaks and acts, the way Will goes about the situation, this is just amazing.

TWIST AND SHOUT by gabriel and standbyme (@chubbyhawke)

Fandom: Supernatural Pairings: Castiel/Dean Winchester Genre/tags: 60′s AU, War Rating: Explicit Words: 97k Summary: What begins as a transforming love between Dean Winchester and Castiel Novak in the summer of 1965 quickly derails into something far more tumultuous when Dean is drafted in the Vietnam War. Though the two both voice their relationship is one where saying goodbye is never a real truth, their story becomes fraught with the tragedy of circumstance. In an era where homosexuality was especially vulnerable, Twist and Shout is the story of the love transcending time, returning over and over in its many forms, as faithful as the sea.

Notes: Obviously you don’t need an introduction to this one being that it’s the 2nd most kudosed work in AO3 and the most famous fanfiction in the Supernatural fandom. This fic BROKE me, like, actually full on sobbing BROKE me (my dad thought I was about to have a panic attack). It’s an understatement to say I recommend it. I don’t know where this authors are but I sincerly hope they become published one day.

MURDER WITH THE DEVIL AND FRIENDS by MindfulWrath (@mindfulwrath)

Fandom: Achievement Hunter, Rooster Teeth Pairings: Micheal Jones/Ryan Haywood Genre/tags: Western AU, Fake AH crew AU, Murder Mystery, horror Rating: Teen and Up Audiences Words: 205k Summary: Deputy Michael's been working in the little shithole town of Achievement City for a little over a year now. Things have been pretty decent so far (apart from that one creepy coworker), but they're about to get a lot more interesting, and a lot more dangerous.

Notes: Remember when I said i no longer read fanfics about real people? Well, this is, yet again, the exception. This fic just kept popping on my dashboard and after the 8th time I saw it I decided “fuck it”, and opened the link. Also, remember when I said this ranking isn’t in any specific order? I lied because this is my favorite fanfiction of all time, and I think it’s the best one out there. This fic just get’s under your skin. You feel that somethings wrong from the begining, the mood it sets in just the first paragraph pulls you in and doens’t let you go until it’s done. I have NEVER got so much into any book or fanfic like I have gotten lost in this one. How is it possible that I manage to hate and love Ryan so much in this depiction of him? This is also the first part of a trilogy called Devil’s Clockwork, and the rest is just as good as this one. Mindfulwrath, I hope you are reading this, and I hope you know how good of a writer you are, and I hope you publish some day, I’ll be the first one to buy anything you publish.

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ruffianbc · 5 years ago

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Today I found myself thinking "Whoa, is this really the end of the decade?” A colossal journey has been made. Hell, 10 years ago I never imagined that I would be in the place and at the time where I am now. Can't remember everything, but I challenge myself and try to go through the most significant events. On the exact schedule, I do not remember everything, so catch porridge and discord:

First, the drawings. I started drawing in 2012, and I started with transformers. Before that, I sometimes drew horses, but seriously got carried away with all this with the beginning of the series Transformers Prime. Oh, those times, around the same time I started learning English through the series experience, every Thursday waiting for a new episode of the second season on the American YouTube channel. At the same time, my robo-collection was launched, and transformers turned out to be the second most important fandom for me after SRMTHFG at that time. I also started writing fanfiction in an immeasurable amount for several years, this is a charge of inspiration turned out to be! Well, where is it without a comparison before and after, I can't just leave it ~

Second, role-playing. ROLE-PLAYING ON FORUMS RULE. More precisely, they were rule. Role-playing were my all, I now resembles on decrepit old man, reading notation on type: "And here is in our time posts were on three Word’s pages!!1", however all same, thanks the huge experience, heap acquaintances and smartly conducted time in all role-playing in which I managed to visit and shake my iron bones. There were so many plots, actions, fantasy development, and huge wagons of inspiration for the rest of the work that I drew from there that it's hard to describe.

Third, guys. You are my suns, without you I can't imagine myself as I am now. There were a lot of rises and downs, difficulties, awesome time spent, all who are now with me – I love you with all my soul. This also applies to all subscribers and people who follow my work. You give me a lot of unforgettable emotions *: - ﾟ ✧ Also I congratulate my schoolmates, classmates, taglit-mates, masa-mates, artists from our community and role-players, guys I here all physically for 10 years will not list, but I am terribly grateful to all of you for this time together! You're the best damn thing that ever happened to me.

Fourth, fandoms. Ohhhh, this good was in bulk, I'm in this rummage guys. My dedication started with Transformers , continued, and will surely never end. I found myself in this fandom, my alter-ego was imprinted EVEN IN MY NAME, I think it's not just a coincidence) To hell with everything and all hail Megatron! Next in my life appeared Mass Effect , which became the story that I experienced as if in real life, so close to me were all the characters, all the chips and everything that happened. Thank you for the clear sky above our heads, Shepard! In The Witcher with Geralt, we went through no less adventures, wound up tens of thousands of kilometers on Velen, got drunk Regis’s tinctures and ate at the katakan’s autopsy. Well, a couple of dozen times we had to remove the Roach from the roofs, because the horses also want to fly. Among other things, I tried out a whole separate world of anime for myself and thanks to TATAKAE and CAPTAAAAAAIN for joined me to two of the most amazing fandoms - Attack on Titan and Seven Deadly Sins . I'll be honest, at that time I have not enjoyed so much and did not hang out on fantasy and action, and a kind of Game of thrones in the manga only added intrigue to what is happening. Overwatch and Destiny taught me to keep my anger in check, because when you try for the HUNDREDTH TIME TO KNOCK OUT A DAMN LOOTBOX OR TAKE DOWN THE BOSS, you lose a little self-control) and, God, what well-designed characters, locations, missions and community with a lot of content! And THANKS to Jeff for new Dutchman-grandfather, who brought me back to the game, respect from tankmainer. A small touch of sadness and simultaneous pride brought the end of the Grand stories with which we grew up together and went a long way. Supernatural and Winchesters are gradually approaching their finale, Game of Thrones ended on an unexpected note with hints of bitterness, and after Avengers Endgame and Dark Phoenix we said goodbye to a whole era of heroes that accompanied us for years on our way. Thank you, Stan Lee. What should be a great stealth action? One where you can run all over the map on the roofs, over the heads of hapless guards. Oh, my Dishonored, thank you for tons of steampunk, the atmosphere of hopelessness and hours spent in hiding to pass the level like ghost. Thank you for the complex moral issues and antagonists who suddenly become protagonists. But not thank you for Daud's insanity, not thank you. Damn Good Omens caught me in a trap last summer and won't let me go! I wish I had found this book before, such a great satire on religion, politics and society I have long lacked. Both the superbly played characters in the series, and the production itself with the story, this is an amazing source of inspiration! (shippers especially) Well, at the end of the year, the final chord, I met with Hazbin Hotel and damn it, this fandom managed to break my creative stagnation. I have been so lacking in good 2D animation and styling lately that Hazbin has become a breath of fresh air and a charge of activity, for which I am terribly grateful to the creators of this fandom and community. Guys, I won't get tired of saying that you're gorgeous! In summing up and re-reviewing my entire journey, I want to thank no less my grandmother, my parents and the animals that were and are with me, because without them I would not be myself. Thank you for your support, patience and care. And most importantly, for understanding.

Friends, we are moving into a new decade, and I really hope that all your plans, undertakings and dreams will come true in the near future, thank you all for being here, thank you for the emotions, experience and support, for the feedback, God, it always brings me incredible joy when I see your likes and messages! Happy new decade and new achievements!

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belphegor1982 · 5 years ago

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How about the first chapter Tommy appears?

[Pick any passage from any fanfic I’ve written, and stick that selection in my ask/fan mail/submission box. I will then give you the equivalent of a DVD commentary on that snippet!]

Thanks a lot!! (Also I answered this kind of ask about a passage from chapter 2, if you want to take a look - it’s all spoiler-free!)

Here’s Thomas Sean Ferguson’s grand introduction, then :D Oh god, it’s kind of awkward, because like with Blake there’s a certain amount of early installment weirdness. Also I go on and oooooooon (sorry about that). But let’s go!

_________

Quite lost in his thoughts this time, [Jonathan] barely registered that he was walking past the Museum (where Evy is, right now, negotiating the Cairo Museum “lending” the Diamond of Ahm Shere to the British government - which kickstarts the plot) before somebody knocked into him, hard enough for both of them to crumple, breathless, on the ground. It took Jonathan thirty seconds to get his lungs in working order again and, instinctively, check his pockets for anything missing.

A lot of this commentary risks being “this used to be [thing] before I tweaked it in the rewrites”, and a lot of it is because I’ve gained some insight in the past twelve years. Jonathan’s first thought being checking his pockets (which - and I made it explicit in the second or third paragraph of the story :D - comes from his being a skilled pickpocket himself and knowing how it works), however, was there from the very beginning.

“So sorry I bumped into you, mate, didn’t mean to,” came the voice of the attacker. Jonathan’s eyes widened at the sound of this voice and he squinted up at its owner.

And cue Tom Ferguson :D He wasn’t my first OC, far from it (that dubious honour would probably belong to the buttload of OCs I created for my Marauder era story which died when Order of the Phoenix came out), but he was the first I got to really explore and develop, and he ended up one of my favourites ever. Em, I answered an ask of yours way back in 2015, “introduce us to two of your OCs” :o) The first was him, the second was Marguerite LeBeau.

“Tommy? Is that you? Tommy Ferguson?”

The diamond is the reason the O’Connell-Carnahan gang goes to Egypt, but without Tommy, there’d be no plot. Hamilton would probably still find a way to “retrieve” the diamond from the museum, only without Evy and her family getting personally involved and then having to go back to the UK saying she failed her mission. and then cue the end of the world about a week and a half from there, but shhh - spoilers!

The fellow shook his head, still looking a bit dazed; then his own eyes, round and brown, (so he’s the opposite of Jon in almost every way, physically speaking. Like I said in the aforementioned OC ask, I designed him as a foil for Jon, fundamentally different in some ways but very similar in others. Physically speaking he’s basically Sean Astin (with some James Corden thrown in) with brown eyes, blond hair, and a Liverpool accent.) went even rounder as he stared at Jonathan. “Jon! What the hell are you doing ‘ere?”

For the longest time Tommy used to call Jonathan by his last name here (and Jon’s earlier line used to be “Ferguson? Is that you? Tommy Ferguson?”). I changed it quite recently. I think I wanted to convey the idea that school friends at the time often called each other by their last names; but since he calls Jonathan “Jon” 100% of the time - and is the only one to do so, which I have Feelings about - I went back to correct it.

“Glad to see you too, old chap,” laughed Jonathan, standing up and dusting himself off before offering a hand at the man on the ground, who accepted it gladly.

Heh. Look, one of the staples of Mummy fanfiction was and still is the old school friend of Evy’s who follows either the siblings (TM time) or the whole family (TMR/post-TMR time) to Egypt and falls in love with Ardeth Bay. I’m not throwing stones here; I’ve read a couple I really liked. There’s the odd Jonathan/OFC romance, too. What I set out to do as a baby writer (I was 21 at the time!) and unsuspecting ace was to write something completely devoid of romance (except the odd Evy/Rick snuggle and, of course, all-encompassing love for each other). And then, as I reread the story for rewrites a decade and a half later, I became more and more convinced that Jonathan and Tommy used to be more than friends, and then when Elizabeth came along the three of them got together as a thruple and very happy for a while. (For some reason I couldn’t work this explicitly into FTaH, though - it felt too much like hinting at this huge story I was never going to write and might have made FTaH much too crowded. So it’s up to the reader to decide, really. Personally, I like both options.) So here’s 37 year old me shipping Jon with a female OC and a male OC, and quite enthusiastically, at that. *chuckles* Wonder what my 21 y-o self would think of it…

He hadn’t seen Thomas Ferguson since some time after the end of the war, what felt like ages ago. They’d made quite a pair at Oxford, the two of them – the scrawny, foppish Southerner with the quiet grin and the sticky fingers, and the broad-shouldered, round-faced Scouser with the laughing eyes and the deceptively innocent face. They’d rowed for the Dark Blues for a bit, got properly pickled on Boat Race Nights, and helped each other out of many a tight spot. Oh, for the halcyon days of youth.

One of the reasons I picked up FTaH again is because the second half of 2019 was very, very British for me. I saw (and read) Good Omens for the first time in early June and my feelings exploded; July was very much about discovering the delights of P.G. Wodehouse’s Jeeves and Wooster (TV show and books). Halfway through that month I remembered my everlasting fondness for the characters of The Mummy and realised the protagonists and Bertie were the same generation, more or less, and I started imagining a crossover. By the time August rolled in I was fully into TM/TMR again, reading fic and my fingers itching to at least correct some iffy parts of FTaH. This last sentence, about Jon’s and Tom’s Oxford days, would never have come out that way if I hadn’t read Wodehouse.

As soon as Tommy was on his feet he was wringing Jonathan’s hand with all the energy he’d been famous for as a boy. “Sorry, Jon, mate, I was a bit stunned –” After all these years, he still retained some of that accent, too! “– En’t everyday you bump into a pal from Oxford in the middle of Cairo! How’d you get here, for starters?”

…Tommy’s accent. *sighs* I’m not a fan of writing accents phonetically in the first place. When I write Newkirk (Hogan’s Heroes) and his Cockney accent, there isn’t much except the odd “me” for “my” or things like “d’you”. I did have to make it obvious Tommy had an accent, though, if only because later Jonathan is surprised when he tones it down to speak with the curator. (This is something his 18 year old self found incredibly difficult, btw.) @thisstableground oversaw the first chapter and gave me very valuable tips, including “en’t” (// “ain’t), which was super helpful in giving Tommy’s accent its own specificity and meant that I didn’t need him to drop “h”s and “g”s all over the place. (which he does do, but hopefully not in a way that takes you away from the story.)

As for why he’s from Liverpool as opposed to, say, Manchester or the East End of London, the answer is very simple. I’d discovered the Beatles a year or two prior and they remain one of my favourite bands in the whole world ♥

“Well, I followed my sister,” Jonathan replied, grinning. In fifteen years or so, he had not realised how much he had actually missed this accent. “She’s giving a hand to the curator of the Museum of Antiquities – she’s something of an authority now, as a matter of fact.”

“Oh aye? That’s fantastic. I en’t forgotten how you’d talk about her, y’know. On and on and on. I’m curious to see what she looks like.”

Somethingthat didn’t change after rewrites is the idea that Jon was verysecretive about his Oxford years. Tom and Evy never met before this,and Evy hadn’t even heard about Tom before.

Jonathan stole a glance at the entrance steps of the Museum, and turned to Tommy with a smirk. “Really? Well, if you really want to, I suppose I could…”

His sister had just appeared on the stairs, accompanied by the curator, an elderly man with greying hair and whiskers. The curator, Dr Fahad Hakim, has a somewhat larger role later on, but this is just a cameo to let you know he exists :o) There’s another mention earlier, too. Tommy followed Jonathan’s gaze and looked at them, goggling at Evy in particular.

“Jon – are my eyes mistaken, or is this gorgeous woman Doctor Evelyn O’Connell? I’ve read about her, she’s famous in my line of work… According to what I’ve read, she was one of the first people to make it out of the City of the Dead alive –”

He doesn’t say what his “line of work” is, but we (and Jonathan) can infer it has something to do with archaeology or Egyptology. And, incidentally, I’m setting up the first alarm bells here because, as Evy points out in the following chapter, at the time her name was “Carnahan”, so how come Tommy didn’t seem to make the connection between Jon’s bookish sister and this English librarian with the same name? The answer is: because he’s nervous (because he’s in Cairo on secret Chamber of Horus business) and as delighted as he is to see Jon again after so many years his brain went “YOU KNOW NOTHING” then backpedalled and went “…OKAY, YOU KNOW SOME THINGS.”

Jonathan’s grin widened as he nodded. “Yes, that’d be her.”

Tommy rambled on as they walked closer to the stairs, “That’s bloody amazing! I thought she’d look, you know, like in the pictures in the paper, the bookish type with glasses – your typical Southern spinster,” he added with a wink. They waited for the curator to bid her goodbye, and Jonathan, greatly enjoying the situation, crept up on his sister to kiss her on the cheek.

“Hey there, old mum – how’s your day been?”

Evy started, then her expression shifted from slightly irked to a smile at her brother’s laugh. She rolled her eyes. “Honestly, Jonathan, the things that amuse you…”

SIBS!!! I love writing siblings, and those two in particular. One of the things that I find amusing/endearing is how comfortable they are with each other, physically (and emotionally) speaking. It’s all gentle touch here, light slap there, running hand in hand, lots of things you wouldn’t expect from two Very English siblings from the first half of the 20th century.

“You’re just miffed that I startled you. C’mon, I’d like you to meet someone – an admirer,” he added with a grin to Tommy, who stood there, his eyes wide. “Thomas Ferguson, an old school friend of mine. Tommy – Evelyn Carnahan O’Connell, my famous baby sister.”

There’s a couple of instances where someone introduces Tom as “Thomas”, or Tom introducing himself as such. Most of the time, though, he’s “Tommy” - until chapter 9, where we spend some time in his head for the first time and see he thinks of himself as “Tom”, and when we go back to Jon’s PoV in chapter 11 Jonathan made the mental switch to “Tom”, as well, to separate the boy from his youth from the man he’s become. I actually spell it out in chapter 17: “A lot had happened since that late afternoon in Giza when his friend had pointed a gun at him and stopped being ‘Tommy’. ‘Tommy’ was a warm memory of loud laughter, daring escapes, bright eyes over pints clinking in the comfortable darkness of a well-loved pub. Tom, on the other hand, was a fairly decent man chucked into a complex situation, who had a wife he loved dearly but lied to about his job, who had not wanted to bring harm to an old friend but had done so anyway.”

Evy held out her hand, which Tommy grabbed and shook heartily. “So you’re the old scoundrel’s sister? No wonder he talked about you – though you don’t quite fit the description now…”

“What exactly did you tell your ‘school friends’ about me?” asked Evy, warning in her voice, though the twinkle in her eye did not quite disappear. Nevertheless, Jonathan preferred to ignore her question, earning a hard nudge in the ribs.

He bragged, actually. A lot. Since he thought Tommy and Lizzie would never meet Evy, Jonathan considered himself free to speak quite enthusiastically of his baby sister’s achievements and how bright she was. Of course, he also complained a good deal, because even at 12 Evy had a penchant for being bossy that came out even in letters.

“So, what did you say your ‘line of work’ was?” he asked Tommy.

“Well – don’t laugh. I work at the British Consulate in Cairo, specialising in antique stuff. Oh, I’m sorry, Dr O’Connell,” he stammered with a glance at Evy who had an eyebrow raised, “I mean I’m one of the chief agents in the British Antique Research Department.”

No he’s not! He’s actually a secret agent, kinda :D And not remotely close to a “chief agent”, at that. Tom Ferguson is deeply in love with his wife and nothing will ever change that state of affairs, but he might have a little intellectual crush on Evy, which leads him to… wanting to impress her a little bit.

“I’ve heard of you!” exclaimed Evy. “At least of that Research Department. They’re gradually cutting off public funds – encouraging individual financing – but that won’t do any good for scientific research! Such a stupid decision is only going to –”

“So you lot are the ones she kept fuming about for half a year!” Jonathan snorted. The infamous Ferguson rotten luck struck again.

I still regret I didn’t find more opportunities to showcase how ridiculously unlucky Tommy could get sometimes. Ah well.

Tommy looked dejected. Evy must have seen this, because she bit her lip and said, in softer tones, “Look, I’m sorry I snapped at you. But as my brother said, I’ve been… rather upset over this. There’s been some pressure on the British Museum lately by private patrons who threatened to pull out their funding on some… sensitive collections. Without the Crown to back us up, we might have to cave in to their ridiculous demands.”

Before the rewrites, Evy’s speech used to be a lot more “private funding is bad” without much nuance or justification. I changed it to something that hopefully makes sense and justifies her previous outburst.

“I’ll – I’ll tell my superiors about it,” said Tommy, still looking unsure. “See what I can do. I’m sure it won’t be much, but… Well. I’ll have tried.”

“That’s nice,” Evy said cheerfully, taking Jonathan’s arm and starting to walk. See what I mean about physicality? She doesn’t even ask him with a look, just takes his arm and that’s that. And he lets her, because he’d do the same thing. “Look, the two of you – I’ve had something of a rough day, so I’ll go home, if you don’t mind. You can –”

“Brilliant idea!” said Jonathan, flashing a grin at his sister. “I thought of going to the Sultan’s Casbah, but you might find it a tad – let’s say – dingy, my good friend.”

The Sultan’s Casbah, in the novelisation of the film and my personal headcanon, was the bar Jonathan patronised the night before the first time we see Evy and where he stole a valuable-looking puzzle box from an unsuspecting drunk American.

“Worse than the Turf?” Seeing Evy’s puzzled look, Tommy explained, “Sorry, private joke. I mean the Turf Tavern, that’s where I saw him for the first time. Me family didn’t ‘ave much money, so I used to work there to pay for my studies. Very nice pub, didn’t deserve the reputation.”

The Best Beloved and I took a trip to Oxford in the spring of 2003 (by bus - 20 hours to get there, same to come back home) and while we were so broke we had to settle for a soup and some rice in a lovely Thai restaurant we did go for a drink at the Turf. I remember a dimly-lit room with dark wood, and I think either they changed a lot of it or my memory isn’t that good because it doesn’t really look like that on the Google Maps pics. Still, I liked it, and when I needed an Oxford pub for the story it’s the one I worked in. Incidentally, there was a lot of illegal gambling going on in there in the 19th century, hence Tommy’s mention of the pub’s bad reputation.

“I’m sure you did indeed see a lot of my brother there,” Evy slipped in slyly. Jonathan threw a mock glare at her.

“To think you are almost my only family. What a shame.” Then, as Tommy looked uncertain, he added, “Carry on, Tom.”

“All right. So I was one of the only students who needed a job, and there were some others who thought that it was – how’d they put it? – a ‘disgrace’ to our university.”

“Preposterous,” said Evy sternly. “As if money could take you further than talent.”

Jonathan bit back on the cynical comment that crossed his mind. Sometimes Evy’s naïveté baffled him.

“Right,” said Tommy uncertainly, glancing at Jonathan. “So, one day, a little bunch of lads come in, and Jon here was sometimes hanging with ‘em at the time –”

Because Jonathan likes to gamble with people with deep pockets :P

Evy glared at Jonathan in advance, and he threw his hands in the air. “Don’t look at me like that! I haven’t done anything!” Evy’s gaze softened, and Jonathan finished, “…Yet.”

That earned him a playful slap on the arm, and a laugh from Tommy, who went on, “Anyway, one of the blokes orders somethin’ or other, and starts to poke fun at me. Well, I was used to it, so I let them be. Then they continued, and I finally noticed that skinny lad in the corner who was makin’ fun of them for making fun of me. Didn’t quite understand what the hell was going on – oh, sorry, Dr O’Connell – what was happening.”

While John Hannah is not “skinny” by any stretch, he is rather svelte, and one of my unimpeachable headcanons for Jonathan is that he was skinny as a rake in his youth - until he went through basic training (then WW1) and his shoulders filled out a little. It’s more or less what happened to the Best Beloved, so I feel quite secure in this headcanon’s plausibility. Plus, picturing 18 year old Jonathan as a mix of awkward gangliness and skinny limbs and aristocratic poise is just funny. (and I find the comparison with Tommy - who at that point was soft and a little chubby but already had broad shoulders - rather endearing.)

Evy smiled. “You’ll have to watch your mouth in front of my son, but otherwise it’s fine. And please, call me Evelyn.”

Tommy beamed. “Right, uh, Evelyn. So, uh –”

“What he didn’t know at that point,” interrupted Jonathan, “was that I had my eye on that fellow – what’s his name – Farbow. He owed me quite a bit of money, but wouldn’t repay me. So I was looking for a way to get him back for it.”

“And get the rest of his wallet in the process, of course.”

“Evy, he owed me seventeen pounds. (Which used to be £70 until I did some research and saw that £17 was A Bloody Fortune a the time.) And he was not what I’d call a ‘decent bloke’ – nasty, disdainful piece of work he was, and his little friends with him. Always a dirty word about the Scouser who worked at the Turf Tavern, just because he didn’t belong to his snobby little world. I did the community a favour, really.”

What he doesn’t say is that Edwin Farbow also had a lot to say about “half-Egyptian mongrels” who thought they belonged in those ancient walls. Too bad I couldn’t find a way to work it in this particular fic. If I ever manage to finish at least Tommy’s part of One-Step, Two-Step, Waltz, the first chapter of Pirouette features the whole scene.

“Don’t push it, Jonathan,” warned Evy.

Tommy carried on. “Well, I was glad there was at least one person who didn’t think like Edwin Farbow – nice change. Then Farbow said something – I don’t remember what it was about, I just remember it made me really angry, really. An’ it’s not a pretty sight when I’m really angry at someone.”

It’s always the quiet, genial ones, isn’t it.

Jonathan remembered, but thought it wise to keep his mouth shut.

Both because what Farbow said was pretty damn offensive to Tommy’s character, background, and lineage, and also because Farbow’s rant included “It’s bad enough they let inpeople like Carnahan, who only exists because a glorifiedgrave-robber shagged some darkey and didn’t even have the decencyto pretend otherwise –” and he really doesn’t want to bring this up in front of Evy, who’s had to deal with her own share of this kind of racist bullshit and doesn’t need a reminder.

“An’ – an’ I just lost it, y’know? I dropped his tea over his ‘ead –”

“I say, that one was pretty funny,” Jonathan said, smiling widely at the memory. The strangled yelp that had followed had definitely been one of the best parts.

“So they all leaped for me, obviously – began to punch me, the five or six of them – hey, I still managed to get back at them!” Tommy added quickly, as if defending his honour. Evy hid a smile, and it occurred to Jonathan that that last sentence had something very Rick-like about it. “But I en’t a fool. I know a losing fight when I’m in one.”

“Don’t tell me. Jonathan bravely threw himself into the fight to take on as many attackers as possible.” There was mischievous laughter in Evy’s voice, and her eyes were twinkling. If anyone other than her had quipped that way about him, Jonathan would probably have taken offence, or at least pretended to. But they knew each other enough not to cross the line.

Tommy raised an eyebrow. “Well, that wasn’t quite Jon’s style – I don’ know, might’ve changed since then. But yeah, he did. One moment I was squashed under five or six, the next I found out we were two on the floor.”

This was perhaps the biggest suspension of disbelief I’m asking the reader to make - which, in a story where governments have secret agencies to keep an eye on magical ancient artefacts and a diamond has magic powers, is saying something. Jonathan throwing himself into a fight because someone he loves (ie. four people in the whole world that we know of) is in danger? Yep, that checks out, that’s what he does both in TM and TMR. But an (almost) complete stranger? I needed one hell of a justification. Which ended up… 60% Farbow’s money and 40% Farbow being a giant arsehole who had no business making decent bartenders look like that.

Evy began to laugh. “Why, Jonathan? My Jonathan, in a fight, for someone he barely knew?”

At that Jonathan cleared his throat, a mite embarrassed. “I told you, I was looking for Farbow’s wallet. That was the perfect diversion – you should’ve seen that twit looking in every corner for his lost wallet afterwards. It was three months before he gave up.” And it’s lucky you didn’t see me then. I was a bloody mess. “Why’re you looking at me like that?”

“Nothing.” Evy smiled. “You never told me that.”

To be fair, there’s a LOT of things he never told you, old girl ;o)

“Should I have?”

“I don’t know, it’s – it was nice of you to do that, even for the wrong reasons. I’m proud of you.”

Jonathan felt an unexpected lump rise in his throat. Not a very big one, but enough to keep him from talking for a few seconds. It was always like this whenever she said something really nice to him. It caught him off guard each and every time.

Look, it took me years to realise it, but I’m a sucker for validation. Sometimes it bleeds out on characters I write.

After a little while, Evy stopped in front of a door and announced, “Well, we’re home.”

“Nice house,” commented Tommy, taking in the sand-coloured neat front and the curtains at the windows.

“Our ‘old haunt’ since the family moved to Egypt,” Jonathan said, opening the door and stepping aside to let his sister in. “Evy wasn’t even walking then.”

In the first film, Evy, Rick, Jonathan and the remainder of the American party go straight to Fort Brydon, and the next thing we see is Evy emptying her suitcase while Rick tries to fill it. Since both Carnahan siblings actually live in Cairo, I thought they would live in an actual house, and from there I extrapolated that the family had one house in England (the manor we see in TMR) and a smaller pied-à-terre in Cairo.

“I do believe I was,” Evy protested.

Jonathan snorted. “Oh, you weren’t. You crawled.”

si b l i n gssss ♥♥ And like, you can always count on a big sib to remind you that you could be ridiculous as a kid. I should know, I’m the big sister :D

Evy seemed to resist the urge to slap her brother and walked into the living room, her nose in the air. She was greeted by two simultaneous voices:

“Mum!”

“Hey, hon.”

Rick’s first words in this story, and it’s greeting his wife ^^ I didn’t do it on purpose, but it’s. Y’know. There.

Jonathan waited a few seconds, then walked into the room in turn, and grinned at the sight of his nephew looking genuinely eager to see him. He was not fooled, however – as soon as Evy wasn’t looking, Alex mouthed the words “Got one?” and frowned as his uncle shook his head. No, he still had no present for Mum’s birthday.

Evy’s birthday mainly originated as a device to get characters (especially Jonathan) moving. It’s the reason he’s roaming the streets of Cairo just before he bumps into Tommy, and why he and Alex go to the bazaar in chapter 5. It also pops up further on in the story, but I’m not saying anything because spoilers.

“Uncle Jon? Who’s that?”

“Who, him?” Jonathan pointed at Tommy behind him, looking uncomfortable at the family reunion, and Alex rolled his eyes. “Tom Ferguson, he was in class with me at Oxford. I ran into him by chance today.”

Tommy stepped past Jonathan and held out his hand to Alex, nearest to him. “Hi – glad to meet you. Jon’s nephew, eh?”

“Yeah,” said Alex, eyeing him with all the suspicion of a ten-year-old who’d seen what he had seen. Behind him, Rick’s eyes spoke loads about his own distrust. But mistrust towards Jonathan and everything related was par for the course on his part, and, admittedly, reasonable.

Alex has Seen Things. This may sound tongue-in-cheek, but it’s true. After what happened in TMR, he’s 100% entitled to being suspicious of strangers. As for Rick, I took my cue from one of his first lines to Jon in TMR being “What did you do this time?” implying that the weird shit happening right now, with the men in red and the sexy lady waving snakes around isn’t exactly unheard of. Hence the “and, admittedly, reasonable”, which I added in the rewrites.

“Thomas Ferguson, British Antique Research Department,” said Tommy, holding out a hand towards Rick, who shook it slowly, still reluctant.

“Rick O’Connell.”

“So you’re Dr O’Connell’s husband? Pleasure to meet you, sir. I’m impressed, you’ve no idea.”

Rick raised an eyebrow. “Impressed?”

“It seems I’m rather famous in the Research Department,” said Evy, laughing.

“Make that infamous,” quipped Jonathan.

“The Department owes your wife a great deal. She was the one who uncovered a huge amount of our information about some obscure periods of Egyptian history, as well as the major part of serious knowledge we’ve got on Hamunaptra,” Tommy pointed out, and Evy blushed. “She’s a legend – one of the original three who managed to go to Hamunaptra and live to tell the tale! But… I assume you’re another one?”

Oh, Tommy. MATE. You’re saying you know three people made it out of Hamunaptra alive, one of whom a woman with the exact same first and last name as your best friend’s sister who had a passion for ancient history, but you had no idea he was one of them as well?

Incidentally, the early installment weirdness I mentioned earlier mostly consists in Tommy being a lot more energetic and innocent-looking than he later proves to be (which is a little more grounded and pragmatic than Jon). In fact, he and Jonathan’s first couple of scenes together give the impression that he’s the red and Jon’s the blue in the “Bue oni, red oni” trope, when later chapters show Jon as a little bit more of a disaster while Tom struggles to make better choices and be more sensible. Which in the end would make them shades of purple, really.

“Yeah,” said Rick, looking a bit nonplussed. Jonathan definitely didn’t regret bringing Tommy in. Seeing Rick O’Connell confused was a very rare occurrence, too rare to be missed.

“I never knew – who was the third one?”

Jonathan was now struggling to keep a straight face. Rick blinked, and pointed at his brother-in-law. “That was him.”

“You!?” God, the look on his face was priceless. “You were at Hamunaptra?”

“Yes,” risked Jonathan, laughter rising in his voice. “And believe me, it wasn’t exactly a picnic. Oh, by the way, there were four of us, not three.”

Meaning Ardeth, of course. My take is that Tommy - and by extension the Chamber of Horus - know about as much about the Medjai as Evy knew about the Book of Amun-Ra prior to the events of TM: a non-negligible amount of information, but all of it second-hand and some of it a bit dicey.

From the corner of his eye, he could see Rick roll his eyes and grinned, undaunted. This was proving to be a fun evening.

Make the most of it, people, because it’s all going to go downhill fast…

Thank you ♥♥♥

#thatsoneginger #ask reply #fic commentary #Fairy Tales and Hokum

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kopykunoichi · 5 years ago

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The Legacy of Star Wars: An Open Letter to the Writers and Creators of A Galaxy Far, Far Away

“Suddenly the Rebellion is real for you. Some of us live it. I’ve been in this fight since I was six years old!” ~ Cassian Andor

I saw a great meme once that played off that quote, meant to depict an older fan describing to a newer fan how they had been invested in the story of Star Wars from childhood. I could relate. Though I am not old enough to have seen the original Star Wars movies in theater, they were a significant part of my childhood. I remember renting the original theatrical VHS from our local video store all the time when I was little. Then we bought the digitally remastered Special Edition VHS Box Set and I spent the next decade wearing them out! We would have popcorn and Star Wars marathons all the time. My friends and I would always pretend we were in the story. My swingset was the Millennium Falcon. I was that 11-year-old girl who would argue with my friends over who was hotter - Luke or Han. (The correct answer is Han, of course!) My mother would read the Expanded Universe novels to me in the afternoons and we would talk about the characters. All my spending money went to Jedi Apprentice books and 6 inch action figures. In short, I loved Star Wars.

I was 13 when The Phantom Menace hit theaters, and I couldn’t believe how lucky I was to get to see new stories from my favorite fictional universe play out on the big screen. Though I struggled a bit with some of the acting, the story was absolutely amazing to me. Star Wars felt all the more real to me with the amazing graphics and intense action sequences - not to mention the layers of politics and the complexity of the story. I watched Revenge of the Sith several times in theaters, and though it broke my heart to see Anakin’s fall, I never considered it to be a sad ending overall, when taken as a whole with the original trilogy.

When the Clone Wars aired in 2008, I was ecstatic. Here was an Anakin I could actually get into (sorry, Hayden). I loved him. I adored Ahsoka. I wanted to marry Rex. The character development and the plot deepened my attachment to that era, and made me question everything I had previously taken for granted as good and bad. The whole system was flawed - the Republic and the Jedi. It wasn’t just a matter of mistakes being made and the wool being pulled over their eyes, there was deep rooted corruption in the side that I once felt was “good”. The light side and the dark side were not as black and white as I thought. I found myself strongly disliking some of the “good guys” and deeply sympathizing with some downright detestable people (I don’t know how you got me to care for Maul, Filoni - but well done). While the series had not yet ended, we knew where it was going. But still, we had already lived through the pain of Order 66, and we knew that the story would eventually culminate in a victory at the end of Return of the Jedi.

I couldn’t believe our luck when the first installment of the sequel trilogy hit the theaters in 2015. It had some of the feelings of a reboot, but I was beyond thrilled to have a series of Star Wars movies that I could now share with my children, as my parents had shared them with me. Though it was hard to say goodbye to the first love of my life, Han Solo - I just knew that Ben would be redeemed and Han’s sacrifice would be worth it...

2016 brought us Rogue One. We knew how that one was going to end too, but we still ate it up. I fell in love with a whole new set of characters, only to see each and every one of them die in the end. Talk about tragedy. But Leia’s line about hope reminded us that five minutes later, a whiny little farm boy was about to have his whole life upended in the best sort of way...so it was okay. Sort of.

Four years of Rebels ended in 2018, and it was so, so lovely - but it hurt so, so much. My perfect, beautiful space family had been torn apart with Kanan’s death. Ezra was missing. Rex was a 29-year-old man who should have been in his prime, but was instead struggling with the wear and tear of a 60-year-old body. Ahsoka was separated from him - AGAIN - and then she left with Sabine to look for Ezra. The ending still held the promise of the fight to come with the Empire, but the majority of our characters were left in a place of grief and brokenness.

2019 brought an end to the sequel trilogy. Once again, we had characters who pulled at our heartstrings, and an interesting struggle between “light” and “dark” that reminded me of the complexities introduced in The Clone Wars. It became more apparent than ever that balance in the Force did not mean the light triumphing over the dark, but instead a harmony between the two. At least, that’s what I thought. Until I watched every person I loved from the original trilogy die, Palpatine come back (and die) again, and the same exact ending of Return of the Jedi played out before me - except not as happy. Why? Because Anakin’s legacy had been reduced to ashes - his rise, fall, redemption, and sacrifice rendered null and void. The last Skywalker was redeemed and promptly killed, just like his grandfather. But because Rey Palpatine decided that she identified as Rey Skywalker, it was supposed to be okay. She then went to go hang out (or live?) alone on Tatooine because that’s where it all started. I was dumbfounded. This was the satisfying, hopeful, ending we were promised? How?

Believe it or not, I’m not here to trash the sequels - I enjoyed them very much - right up until the last 20 minutes. But in that space of time, the entire legacy of the Skywalker family went up in smoke, and the legacy of Star Wars along with it. Since Return of the Jedi, there have been no happy endings to a Star Wars movie trilogy or TV show. And with the ending of The Rise of Skywalker, that one happy ending we did have was ripped from us as well. Star Wars is now a never ending series of tragic endings. The lessons we are left with: Don’t fall in love in Star Wars, it will end badly. Your actions ultimately result in failure. As soon as you turn good, you die. There is no balance in the Force, just a pendulum swinging back and forth for all time.

Then The Clone Wars finally got her last season. I didn’t think Order 66 could have hurt worse, but Filoni set out to prove us all wrong...and succeeded. I’m still not over it. And once more, the bitterness I felt over the ending to the sequels (which had begun to subside) flared up all over again. What was it all for? All that pain. All that sacrifice. No happy endings.

I still love Star Wars. Nothing can take that away from me. No amount of bad writing can change that. And there are still plenty of good writers and creators working on Star Wars content. But good writers spinning tales of tragedy and endless pain negates the power of good writing. The Star Wars of my childhood is not the Star Wars of today. We wore out those VHS tapes because we loved the stories and the people. But my kids are not going to wear out DVDs where everyone they love dies or ends up alone. They aren’t going to queue up those digital movies and series over and over - because who wants to subject themselves to that kind of torture?

Just about the only safe space for Star Wars fans right now is fanfiction archives where the people who love the characters are busy writing fix-it fics to squeeze some sort of satisfying ending out of the canon content. The Mandalorian is literally our last hope for a Star Wars story that has the potential to end well. I swear, if Din Djarin ends up dead or alone at the end of this series, I’m going to lose it. The overwhelming sentiment of the Star Wars fanbase - from original trilogy fanboys to Tumblr blogging Reylos, and everyone in between - is that of dissatisfaction with canon content (with the exception of The Mandalorian). So much so, that many fans are just saying “screw it” and churning out a myriad of fanfiction AUs because there is no way to salvage what has been written. Half of Tumblr is in therapy after The Rise of Skywalker ending and the last episode of Clone Wars - but they weren’t exactly stable to begin with. The other forums and social media platforms are not much better, though.

It’s not just about the quality of writing - because Filoni and co. have done exceptional work with The Clone Wars, Rebels, and The Mandalorian. It’s the tragedy, guys. We can’t take it anymore. Is this really what we want the Star Wars legacy to be? Sadness? Despair? It’s a story about war - people are going to die. I get that. Victory comes at a price, but the cost can’t be worse than the victory. I want to sit down with my kids and watch Star Wars over and over again. The Mandalorian has given us a taste of that - but I’m almost afraid of where it will go. We’ve been burned so many times, I’m beginning to know what Anakin felt like on Mustafar - writhing in agony and screaming “I hate you” to someone he once loved.

I remember happier days when Luke and Leia and Han were laughing and smiling with their friends while Yoda, Obi-Wan, and Anakin looked on. I want that back. Filoni. Favreau. Creators. Writers. Producers. Directors. You are our only hope for canon content. Use The Mandalorian wisely. Use Din’s story to bless other characters. Here’s some ideas:

Let Din have a happy ending! Preferably with someone he loves and respects at his side (like Cara).

Let Cara become a Mandalorian - and put Paz Vizsla in charge of her training (we need to see them spar).

Let what’s left of the Tribe establish a new Mandalorian colony - and let Sabine Wren lead it. And give her that Darksaber back - she earned it.

Let Ezra come back from regions unknown with a deeper understanding of the Force, and have him train the child in the new colony.

Forget the Jedi and Sith, let’s start a medical training center/hospital run by Force users who can help heal people when modern medicine fails!

Ahsoka can use her talents for that too.

Find the rest of the child’s race and bring any of their Force sensitives onboard.

Let Boba Fett and Din have their epic showdown, but then use a sample of Boba’s unaltered DNA and some mystical Force healing to restore Rex’s body to what a 43-year-old should be (and then he can marry Ahsoka so we can have the Clone/Jedi couple we always wanted...thanks to you, Filoni).

Let the Mandalorians partner with the New Republic in the Outer Rim as law enforcement instead of bounty hunters, so they can get their reputation back.

They can train new recruits and pilots, just like Fenn Rau trained clones.

Let them keep their autonomy and traditions, while helping keep the New Republic honest.

Let them be a force for good in the galaxy, for once.

The Mandalorian could serve as the vessel to give a lot of characters with unresolved or tragic storylines some closure and better endings. If not The Mandalorian, then other new shows. My 6-year-old daughter wants nothing more than to be Ahsoka Tano. My 3-year-old son asks me to watch The Mandalorian every day. My 18-month-old daughter walks around in her brother’s Mandalorian helmet babbling “Way”. Please let me share the Star Wars legacy that I grew up loving with them. Let me show them the happy endings I enjoyed. Let me show them that even in the midst of conflict, not every life has to be ruined. Let me show them a Star Wars story with a satisfying ending. Hope. Redemption. Love. That’s what Star Wars means to me.

May the Force be With You (and your pens),

Rebekah, A Star Wars Fan

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batnbreakfast · 5 years ago

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St. Clare’s vs Hanni und Nanni

Being reminded of the St. Clare’s book series by a post about the Chalet school book series, I decided to take a trip down memory lane and have a look at the Enid Blyton books of my childhood. Which made me discover quite some interesting (well, at least to me) facts about the original works of Enid Blyton and their German ‘translations’. In this essay I will...

Yes, I actually wrote an essay nobody asked me for on a school series.

Let’s take St. Clare’s as an example, even though you may take almost every series Blyton wrote and discover it being handled the same way in Germany.

St. Clare’s was and still is published as the “Hanni und Nanni” series in Germany. Which brings us to the first pressing question: Who the heck are Hanni and Nanni?

Apparently the German publisher, Schneider, didn’t really care for British names (and places, but I’ll get back to that later) and decided to almost completely rename every character involved. Goodbye Patrica “Pat” und Isabel O’Sullivan and welcome Hanna “Hanni” and Marianne “Nanni” Sullivan. Seems like getting rid of the O’ made their last name perfectly fine to be perceived as German. (Fun fact: It’s not. Not at all.) Surnames, especially those of the teachers made it almost unscathed - Ms. Jenks is Fräulein Jenkins, but most of them kept their names as they were.

While they were at it with changing all the first names, they noticed that German kids might actually not be able to relate to school books taking place in Cornwall and so Schneider called in the movers and transferred the whole boarding school to Germany. Much more relatable that way! Welcome to “Lindenhof” (TIL that the English word for Linde is “lime tree” and my brain stopped for a moment, because I read about lime trees before and always thought of the green citrusy fruit bearing type of tree. That sometimes happens if you’ve learned big chunks of a language without any translation at all, but still.. mind boggling. Ok, going back to the school named “Lime tree yard” again...)

The Lindenhof is placed somewhere in Southern Germany and while I can’t remember if it is an actual castle in the books, it is depicted as one in the films. (Yes, there are films. Several of them.) I can’t find out if the original series takes place in something like Caerhays, but the Germans, obviously fond of the posh castle school look, definitely went for it.

Now we have Hanni and Nanni, sent against their wills to a castle like boarding school in southern Germany. Time to start translating the actual storyline Enid Blyton wrote, don’t you think? Actually... no. You see, moving the boarding school took some time and while the original books started out in the 40s, by the time the Lindenhof got placed in Germany, we were in the 60s. Gone are the ugly grey school uniforms, changed to bell-bottoms and striped shirts (no school uniforms in Germany). No gramophones, but record players. No jazz music, but Schlager (pity, I say!). No Lacrosse (most Germans won’t know a thing about this sport even nowadays), but handball.

Picture this... we now have books that clearly claim to be written by Enid Blyton, that use different names, places and a completely different era. Can’t get worse, can it?

It can. While there are only nine original St. Clare’s books available in the UK, there are twenty-seven of them published in Germany. This isn’t done by the fantasy literature way as it is often done in Germany - one English book is published as two German ones (this will forever bug me when talking about the GoT books with Germans), it was done by simply getting another author (still doing research on them) to write additional German books for the Hanni und Nanni series. The additional ones where published between the books that are - let’s say loosely, because there are whole chapters missing - based on the original ones and all of them are published as Enid Blyton’s works.

I’m taking a break now.

tl;dr: The German Enid Blyton books that children all around the country came (and still come) to love and grew up with are actually fanfiction. If someone from Germany would have the chance to speak to Enid Blyton about her books, both would probably end up very confused.

Thanks to @fortytworedvines for making me fall into the rabbit hole of Enid Blyton books.

#forgot to add that there are currently 67 audio books available #the things you learn #i was waiting for my mri and it was great to have something fun to focus on #bat and writing #not betaed ;)#st clare’s books #enid blyton #hanni und nanni

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theexecutionerssong · 5 years ago

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Hello, darling! I wanted to say thank you for reblogging that Destiel fic "Ninety One Whiskey" yesterday because it made me read it and I absolutely love it! So I was just wondering if you have any other recommendations? This was my very first Destiel fanfiction, I've never read anything from SPN fandom before so I'm very unware of those tresures out there! :)

ahhhh you have no idea how happy that makes me! here are a few of my favorites that I’m copy pasting from my old fic rec page. Most are a few years old, I’ve got way more and some more recent ones too if you’d rather. They are all deancas centered. If they aren’t online anymore then let me know and I can send you the file as I’ve got over 3000 saved lmao also I LIVE AND BREATHE for angst, if I don’t cry my eyes out at some point then what’s the point sdfghjk you’ve been warned

‘Til the Last by miss_grey (American Civil War AU, my fav ever, probably)

When the war came, Dean Winchester was determined that he was not going to get involved. He had more important things to worry about than some rich man’s fight. He had work on the farm and he had taking care of his family. Nothing else was worth his worry. But in August in the Year of Our Lord 1863, when the soldiers came knocking, they weren’t asking. They dragged Dean away.

Dean and Cas have been best friends since they were kids. When Dean is drafted into the Confederate army, to what lengths will Castiel go to ensure that Dean makes it back home alive?

Exonerated by thecouchcarrot (thriller AU)

Years ago, Dean Winchester was the detective who put serial killer Castiel Goodwin behind bars. Last spring, Cas was proven innocent and his conviction overturned. Neither could’ve predicted the way their lives would intertwine…

Lost Souls by thelastknownwriter (thriller AU)

Homicide detective Dean Winchester is thrust into a past he has tried hard to forget when he finds himself leading a manhunt for an unlikely killer: his childhood best friend, Castiel.

Painted Angels by WinJennster (human AU, so much damn angst but damn it’s worth it)

Author Castiel Novak has finally hit the big time, with a book based on his failed college relationship with a brilliant painter. He’s put all his pain behind him, but at a book signing, he comes face to face with Dean Winchester for the first time in twelve years, and the reunion doesn’t go like Cas hoped. Dean’s a broken man, with a lot of scars and secrets, shoulders weighed down by his demons and self loathing.Cas sees a second chance with the man he’s never stopped loving, but Dean’s moved on, and is about to get married. Sam launches a “brilliant” plan to reunite his brother and his best friend, but Cas is worried it will all blow up in their faces, and he’ll go through the agony of losing Dean a second time.Out of the Deep by riseofthefallenone (merman AU)

Stay away from the light-beds. Stay in the deep.It is the first thing hatchlings are taught the moment their fans unfurl and they can swim without their parents to buoy them along. It is the first rule, the first law. It is the beginning of every boogey-monster bedtime story told when they settle against the cliffs to sleep.Castiel should have listened better.

To Raise A King by riseofthefallenone (medieval/royalty AU)

This must be some kind of horrible joke at Castiel’s expense. Is he truly expected to protect a King? One who has been their enemy for as long as he can remember? He is much more suited to being a part of the army, or at the very least someone who helps to train the knights. That would be far more preferred than having to watch over the King. It means Castiel would get to keep fighting – and that’s the only way he knows to give meaning to his life.

Tramps Like Us by mkhunterz (human AU)

Dean Winchester’s life is falling apart. He’s lost his job, his apartment, and his brother, all in one day. He seems to break everything he touches. Frustrated and alone, he drives off into the night with no idea where he’s headed. But then he meets Castiel Novak, a quiet and reclusive man with a haunted past, and suddenly he finds himself with a very specific destination in mind.

Kiss You When It’s Dangerous by zoemathemata (thriller canon divergent AU)

When his partner Uriel, betrays him, Federal Agent Castiel Novak is saved from becoming a ritual sacrifice by brothers Dean and Sam Winchester. Discovering the world of the supernatural and learning about werewolves, wendigoes, vampires and things that go bump in the night also leads to learning more about Dean and the strange life he and his brother lead. The more he learns, the more Castiel finds himself drawn into Dean’s world and toward Dean himself.

Until Uriel wants to complete the ritual he started.

Pick It All Up by thepinupchemist (human AU)

Army veteran Castiel Novak is a wreck after his tour in Afghanistan, brought home to his brother’s apartment in Lawrence, Kansas with scars both mental and physical. He copes poorly, and during one night of bad decision making, meets somebody just as much of a disaster as he is – a prostitute named Dean Winchester. And suddenly, two damaged men might not be as irreparable as they believed.

The Bird That Feels The Light by ratgerastory (canon, no romance, Dean is a 5 year old but it’s the first I read almost 10 years ago and one of my favorites ever)

AU from 5.18 (or thereabouts). Castiel awakens in the middle of a smoking crater, stranded and very much human. According to the people who have discovered him, it’s six months to the day after Michael and Lucifer faced off on the field of battle outside of Detroit, and Castiel isn’t the only one to have returned. When, at his insistence, they take him to this other person, he finds a child –a little boy– and realizes that, contrary to all his expectations, he has been reunited with Dean Winchester. The world has changed in their absence, and not for the better. Sam is gone, whether dead or simply missing is uncertain. Castiel is given the name of a man in Idaho who may have answers for him. He is faced with the task of travelling cross-country with Dean, who is dependent on him now in ways he never was before, in order to discover the truth. But along the way, as he and Dean learn to know and trust each other once more, Castiel begins to realize that the answers he thought he wanted might not be the ones he needs.

the inexhaustible silence of houses by Askance (canon, I adored it but it left me in pieces, it took me weeks to get over it)

Almost two years after the world doesn’t end, Castiel falls from grace—and loses his voice in the process. It is the impetus for confession and change; before long, he is settling into a loving relationship with Dean, the Winchesters are tired, and hunting for a place to land has taken precedence to hunting anything else. Dean and Castiel fall in love with the strange little house on the end of Swallowtail Drive, and for a little while life is as it should be—sweet, affectionate, and beginning afresh. But more and more Castiel sees and hears things in the house that beg the question of whether or not a place itself can be alive. The walls and rooms seem to shift and grow and breathe, and one night, Dean comes home from a hunt changed in a way that Castiel cannot explain. In the months that follow, their domestic bliss takes turns for the dark and sour, and the confusion of their circumstances will ultimately test everything Castiel knows about the man he loves, and everything he believes to be true.

Last Man Standing by cerulea (canon, purgatory!verse)

Picking up exactly where we left off at the end of Season 7, Cas and Dean are stranded together in Purgatory struggling both to save their lives and their friendship amidst constant peril.

After The Fire by Themista (canon, end!verse)

Starting in 2013 and going through 2014 this is the story of Dean and Cas in their ill-fated quest to find the colt and shoot the devil - set in the endverse alternate reality seen in 5x04 The End. The apocalypse poses Dean and Cas many threats along the way, as they have to contend with the croats and Lucifer’s demons, led by Meg, all while trying to work out whether they can trust the infamously devious demon Crowley, with whom they already have a bloody history.

Twist and Shout by standbyme and gabriel (human 60-70s AU) (I don’t care how divisive and unpopular recommanding this one is, I was skeptical going in but it’s been years and I still have to skip Can’t Help Falling In Love and Twist and Shout when they come on shuffle in my playlists, that fic destroyed me))

What begins as a transforming love between Dean Winchester and Castiel Novak in the summer of 1965 quickly derails into something far more tumultuous when Dean is drafted in the Vietnam War. Though the two both voice their relationship is one where saying goodbye is never a real truth, their story becomes fraught with the tragedy of circumstance. In an era where homosexuality was especially vulnerable, Twist and Shout is the story of the love transcending time, returning over and over in its many forms, as faithful as the sea.

I also read ABO fics but I don’t know if you’re into that so I’m not including any in this list ^^ enjoy, let me know if you find something you like!

#gaelle parle #spn #fic rec #Anonymous

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natsuxlucyfanfiction · 6 years ago

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Superhero Part 3 (nalu fanfiction)

Yo so what’s good, this is Superhero Part 3 but like...what I wanted to write is a longer idea which in no way I could have written with one post. So basically there’s gonna be a part 4 and possibly a part 5. If you read this and think, “wait, how is this related to Superhero?” it’ll all start to make more sense with the upcoming chapter(s).

*********

“Congratulations, your highschool days are officially over! Please leave already!” Everyone’s graduation caps flew up as people cheered with excitement, joy, and jubilation. The caps came down in a flurry onto the ex-students. The celebration continued, everyone too caught up in the moment to make a complaint.

Lucy and I did our secret handshake to celebrate while everyone screamed and hugged and cried and leapt for joy. Through our entire lives, we always knew it would happen one day but now it was real. Neat, I guess.

“We did it, we did it, we did it,” Lucy chanted jovially with a sing-song tone. She was the fourth in our class.

“We did it,” I nearly wept with relief.

“This is the start to a whole new chapter of our lives!”

“tHiS iS tHe sTaRt tO a wHoLe nEw cHaPtEr oF oUr LiVeS,” I mocked her. “Lucy, you realize you’re gonna wake up tomorrow and you’re gonna feel zero different and then feel dumb for acting all cliché at your graduation.”

“I hate you!” Lucy whined, hands on her hips. “Why can’t you just let me enjoy the moment for once?”

“What moment? We’re graduating! Why are we all pretending that we liked school? You know how many times I’ve heard people complain about this dumb place?” Giving her a hard time was the best. Her nose always scrunches up and she thinks she looks intimidating, which makes it like 10 times better.

“You are literally the worst, you’re making me want to move to Crocus more and more by the second,” she joked. Freaking Crocus.

“You think you’re soooo much better than me now since you’ve been accepted into Crocus University.”

“No, of course not! Just because it’s the second most prestigious school in the entire world and is extremely hard to get into especially with a scholarship like mine, doesn’t mean that I’m gonna flex that privilege.”

“Very reassuring, thanks,” I say, my voice dripping with sarcasm. It’s not even the best school, it’s the second best. I don’t know why she cares so much. She should just stay here.

“You’re just salty that in less than two months I’m moving hours and hours away,” she said again to tease me, but she wasn’t wrong. There are good universities nearby. Sure, attending Crocus University was a great opportunity for Luce, but she’s leaving everything behind. Even me.

“Yeah, sure. Maybe when you’re gone I can finally get myself a girlfriend,” I said.

“That’s as likely as you attending Crocus University,” Lucy giggled. “It’s the second best university in the entire world, just a quick reminder. I don’t know if you’ve heard, but I’m going there.”

“All bow for Lucy Heartfilia!” I’d miss our little banter.

“You’re kinda right though, I’m over this. Wanna go get wings?” Lucy was bouncing up and down with her typical boundless energy. She’s always so excited and full of happiness.

“Tonight, we eat ‘till we drop.” We bumped fists and left graduation in my truck. I gave her the aux cord and hoped she wouldn’t play trash. To my great fortune, the sweet music by Queen flooded my ears. Lucy grabbed the fake microphone we always kept in the back and began singing along.

“Get your party gown and your pigtail down

And get your heart beating baby

Got my timing right, got my act all tight

It’s gonna be tonight my little school baby”

These are the moments I’ll miss. Her next to me, carefree and happy. It’s not like she’s dying, I don’t know why this is affecting me as much as it is. There’s social media which will keep us connected. And she’ll be happy there. She’s been nothing but excited since the second she read “Congratulations!” on her acceptance letter. I spent all my time hoping she would make it in, so I was surprised by how much my stomach dropped when she read the letter to me.

I need to forget about it right now and savor the time I have left. I sped up, way over the speed limit, and lowered the windows. The wind blew through our hair as we both blurted the lyrics to the next song, Hot Blood by Kaleo. I looked cool as heck, but Lucy’s hair flew in every possible direction because it was so long.

Life is good.

-------------

The airport was freaking huge. It took us forever to find Lucy’s terminal. Maybe this was a sign that she shouldn’t go to Crocus. Stop being selfish, Natsu! I kept reminding myself.

“Flight 442, first class passengers please board.” That was Lucy’s flight. Soon they’d call for coach or economy class, whatever it was called.

“This is actually happening,” Lucy said with an out-of-breath tone. After months and months of excitement, it seemed as if reality just hit her. She looked pale and shaky. “Natsu, I can’t go, I’m not ready-”

“Lucy.” I took a deep breath. “Your dreams are coming true. No one ever feels ready to leap into a new era of their life. It’s the few who leap anyway that are the ones who live their happy lives.” I looked in her eyes and saw the same nervousness that I felt. “This is what you’ve always wanted. There’s nothing more that I could’ve wished for than this opportunity for you. I 100% think that this is a great idea.” I 100% want you to stay home, Lucy. Please don’t listen to a word I’m saying.

“You tryna get rid of me or something?” Lucy laughed while wiping unshed tears from her eyes.

“Am I making it too obvious?” I joked along. Of course I don’t want to get rid of her. Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad that she’s going and about to live her dream. I just... wish I could be a part of it.

“Flight 442, economy class passengers please board,” the annoying flight attendant announced.

“That’s me,” Lucy whispered with a soft smile on her face. She wrapped me into a hug, squeezing tightly. I hugged her back, knowing this was the last one for a long time. Be happy for her, Natsu. Be supportive, stop thinking about yourself. It was our last moments in person together for who knows how long yet I was silent. I couldn’t think of what to say. Think, Natsu! Come on dude! She pulled away from the hug and I saw more unshed tears in her eyes. I knew she wouldn’t cry here, but the second she sat down in that plane she’d let the tears fall loosely.

Lucy picked up her carry on and pulled out her passport and ticket for the attendant to check. I just stood here and watched her like some creep as she waited in the line. Finally, she was about to go through the gate, I think it’s called, when I shouted out:

“Goodbye, Little Luce!”

She turned around and smiled, a gorgeous smile I’d never forget. “Goodbye my Superhero!” Lucy called out with no shame. She was probably too far away to notice the tears streaming down my face.

The plane left 20 minutes ago, but here I was still at the terminal, as if somehow the plane would turn around and she’d come back running into my arms. A boy could dream. It felt like I was mourning Luce, but she wasn’t leaving my life permanently. We’d still talk everyday.

I drove to my apartment. Usually I’d play some sort of music to fill the silence, but today I just wanted the quietness. Both in the car and at my apartment I just contemplated. What would life look like without Lucy?

A week later I’d start learning at some Automotive school nearby to become a mechanic. I’ve already been working on cars for years so it won’t be too much of a challenge.

I grabbed the remote and switched on Netflix. After a bit of scrolling, I found out all of the Indiana Jones movies were on Netflix. “Sweet!” I selected Raiders of the Lost Ark then grabbed blankets, snacks, and drinks for Lucy and I. It was only when I got back to the couch that I remembered Lucy wasn’t there anymore. Force of habit, I guess.

Man, getting used to this is gonna be tough.

———-

*9 months after graduation, 7 months since Lucy left*

The thing that surprised me the most was that I was actually learning a lot in school, I thought I knew everything. A mechanic at the nicest shop around took me in as his assistant. My schedule was full between school and the shop. When I get my certificate in a year and a half, I’d begin working there full time.

Lucy and I used to talk every single day for hours. We‘d constantly text or facetime or snapchat, but both our lives have gotten so busy. We still talk everyday (streaks) but not one conversation hasn’t been cut short due to one of us needing to do something.

“Morning Luce!”

“Good morning! Dude have you seen the trailer for the new Avengers movie?”

“No, it’s out?! I’ll check it out when I get home. Class is starting, I’ll call you later.”

Looking back at these past conversations made me realize how short and choppy they were. That wasn’t either of our intentions but that’s how it was turning out and it just really sucks.

--------

*11 months since graduation, 9 months since Lucy left*

My phone vibrated from the charger when I was watching Brooklyn Nine Nine. I checked it, hoping it wasn’t anything important and I wasn’t called in to work so I could enjoy my day off. It was an instagram notification from Lucy. Apparently she just posted something. After switching my phone off silent, I opened instagram to check it out but was stopped when I got a call from her.

“Sup Luce.”

“Did you see my post on instagram?!” She practically screamed. I turned down the volume a bit.

“You mean the one you just posted literal seconds ago?” She ignored my comment and continued on.

“Check out the post now! Do it! Open Instagram! Like the post so I know you saw it!” I opened up the app and her post was the first one on my feed.

“‘Mark the day, everybody,’” I read, “‘because today is the beginning of Mark and I’s relationship’? Lucy you have a boyfriend?!” She never even told me she was talking to somebody! I know communication has been tough with both of our busy schedules but I didn’t think we were drifting apart so much so that she wouldn’t tell me something like this!

“Yup, he asked me out today. We’ve been talking for a while now, if you know what I mean,” she said with a suggestive tone.

“Congratulations, though I don’t even know who this mystery Mark is.” Making sure to add a laugh so it didn’t look like I was calling her out, I awaited her response.

“If you did know him, you’d love him Natsu. You guys would get along so well.”

“But I don’t know him.” My voice conveyed the frustration that was starting to stir in me, becoming a little louder and more aggressive. Luckily, it was subtle enough for Lucy not to catch.

“Stop being a little wuss,” Lucy joked. “He’s my boyfriend, not yours. You don’t need to know him.” Her tone was so lighthearted, yet I took the words so seriously.

Is that supposed to sting? This whole conversation really just isn’t doing it for me. Not only that, but for some reason now I feel sick too. My gut feels weird. “Well I hope y’all live happily ever after in that dream castle you’d always draw on the back of your tests. Wanna continue this conversation later? I gotta deal with a client for the shop.” I was currently sitting on my couch with a show on Hulu paused.

“For sure, see ya!” And with that, one of the hardest phone calls of my life came to a close. I don’t know how I feel about this Mark guy. Whoever he is, I don’t want Lucy dating him. It’s not my choice, that’s obvious, but I thought she’d at least consult me about whether she should date him. Or, you know, tell me about him! Is our friendship slowly deteriorating? Maybe I’m just thinking about myself too much, or like, being too possessive of a best friend. She doesn’t have to tell me everything. Lucy can do whatever she wants.

I ignored the tight feeling in my chest and continued watching Brooklyn Nine Nine. The episodes passed by but they didn’t register. My thoughts consumed me. Anxiety about my friendship with Lucy just made that already weird chest pain feel worse. I didn’t cry but boy did it feel like I was gonna. Was our friendship dying? All I know for certain now is that I’m the king of overthinking.

***************

As I said earlier, there will be more. Please leave a comment, for real, I legitimately wanna know what’s good and what’s not and how I can fix whatever to make the experience better for y’all.

#nalu #fairy tail nalu #nalu fanfiction #ft nalu #nalu fluff #nalu headcanon #nalu edit #naluzine #natsu dragneel #natsu x lucy #lucy heartfilia #lucy heartifilla #lucy heartphilia #fairy tail #anime #manga #fanfic #friendship #love

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go-diane-winchester · 6 years ago

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WHY TWIST AND SHOUT IS TRASH.

I am writing this post, because I am sick and fed up of hearing about this story. It has some socio-political issues that the writers trivialize in order to use them as a masturbatory tool. Its all about ambience darling. The book is going to be published. Lets wait to gay men to get their hands on this things. The insults are likely to fly.

The summary of Twist and Shout is as follows:

This story is made from the usual destiel template complete with bad editing, and, like a typical destiel story, the focal point is Castiel, Misha's character. To put it in a nutshell, local bad boy high school drop out Dean, goes to Ellen's café or local teen haunt [cant remember] where the high schoolers are celebrating the last day of school. Cas is a big academic achiever. So high school fic. That is the usual destiel template. There is a reason why there are so many high school verses in destiel fanfiction. There writers are kids and high school is all they know. There is no real point for Cas being a big achiever. He makes stupid decisions further on in the story. They probably just wanted him to be important.

Dean beelines to Cas [instead of the other way around, because Cas is apparently nerdishly irresistible] and they start talking. Cas realizes that Dean is not a bad boy. He had to sacrifice school so Sam could go. Dad is a drunk or abusive or some such thing and we have another regular feature from the destiel template: Bad John/abusive John/homophobic John - take your pick. They can't make John good in their stories or meta, because their headcanons will fall apart.

While Dean and Cas hit it off, war breaks out. The two people who wrote this story should be ashamed of themselves. Setting your masturbatory vehicle against the backdrop of the Vietnam war is in poor taste. The war is not fictitious. It is one of the bloodiest, more horrible battles in America's military history. The USA didn't just lose the war. They lose 58, 220 soldiers. Those who returned were physically or psychologically damaged. A further 9000 committed suicide. Couldn't they make up a war, instead of leeching from history? The day will come when 9/11 will become a backdrop with a slash fic. The lack of good taste is in overdrive. Why not just leave out war, and PTSD because these are not tropes. But expecting good taste from destiel shippers is kind of difficult. They can barely recognize canon.

Dean gets drafted, and Cas is [as usual] too inadequate to be a soldier. Dean returns from the war, damaged and hurts Cas because of PTSD. So he leaves. In real life, he would have killed himself but the sympathy focus would shift from Cas to him and we don't want that, do we? Cas, the doormat, waits for him [for nine years, would you believe] but does a spot of drugging in the meantime to ''deal''. Whilst, sharing a needle with Meg, he contracts HIV from her. When his condition progresses, a mutual friend [Baltazar] runs into Dean and notifies him that Cas is dying. Dean returns. Cas dies. The End. Very sad. Snot and tears.

I don't know why the most intelligent boy at school was stupid enough to take drugs. He didn't go to war. He was not suffering from PTSD. He just got dumped by his boyfriend. And he waited two whole years before starting his drug taking adventure. Its makes no sense. But lets just throw it in there so it can facilitate Cas getting AIDS because of a needle. Cancer is not dramatic enough, anyway. Also, it will allow us to keep a shitload of the focus on Cas, because that is the whole point of reading a destiel story, right? Why focus on Jensen when you can focus on Misha? SMH. Drugs are such a good trope to use too. Its not like it kills anyone. Even Cas, in this story, doesn't die from drug addiction. He died from something else. Stupidity.

A gay man who lived through the AIDs epidemic, will be insulted by this. First of all, I don't think the writers are gay men. And yet they want to write about gay characters and do it wrong. Case in point is AIDS. This disease was called GRID [gay related immune deficiency], gay plague and gay cancer. Gay men were seen as the plague carrying rats, and were ostracized. Movies and television often depicted gay men succumbing only to this disease. The gay community had to fight to make them stop that because everyone gets AIDS, not just gay men. And now, years later, here are a couple of thirsty girls flushing their efforts down the toilets, and apparently making money from it too, because there are talks to get this trash published. First 50 shades and now this. Publishing houses are apparently being run by apes with no taste or common sense.

Citation for suicide estimates:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/2343923

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tinacentury · 6 years ago

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Top 10 Songs

Thanks so much @fabulousrockstar for tagging me in this! I get very into any sort of Tumblr ask game, and, as I think is pretty obvious at this point, I can be quite wordy.

My musical tastes are...eclectic. I tend to jump between genres and eras (and sometimes languages), and have seen both Ingrid Michaelson and Jimmy Buffett in concert repeatedly. I love music with a lot of emotion but sometimes almost have to ration sad stuff with myself because I am VERY sensitive to emotional contagion from it (Really. I can barely listen to Adele.)

Given all that, here’s my list of favorite songs. They’re in no particular order, and the list would probably change depending on the day. And get excited(?), as I somehow managed to work an academic citation into one.

-Starting Now by Ingrid Michaelson. Ingrid’s definitely in my Top 5 artists/bands, and while this is very much a break-up song that is thankfully not at all relevant to my life these days, it’s still one of my favorites of hers.

-Whispers in the Dark by Mumford and Sons. Mumford's also in my Top 5 artists/bands, and I feel like this song has everything I love about them: the banjo, the beautiful imagery, the emotional build-up. It’s perfect, and I’m still not over them not playing it at the concert I went to last year.

-Don’t Stop Believing by Journey. I know this is a cliche. But I have this thing where I’m convinced every time I hear this when I’m out somewhere (grocery store, bar, airport, literally anywhere), that it’s a sign from the universe that everything is going to be ok. I listened to it (and yes, sang along) before my Master’s thesis defense, before comps, and pretty much before any anxiety-provoking event. Which, to nerd out for a hot minute, research shows us that rituals can reduce anxiety before an anxiety-provoking event, as long as you believe that what you’re doing is a ritual https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S074959781630437X. The best, kind of mind-bending (for me, given my ritual) part of this study? They used singing Don’t Stop Believing to others as the anxiety-provoking event.

-Mr. Rock & Roll Roll by Amy MacDonald. Amy’s up there with my favorite artists as well, and this song makes the list because of what it reminds me of. I was first introduced to Amy MacDonald when I was studying abroad 10 years ago, and remember downloading this cd in my grotty dorm room in the Netherlands. I distinctly remember taking a last walk around the canals, listening to this song on my iPod, and saying goodbye to the city.

-We Didn’t Start the Fire by Billy Joel. Look, my bachelor’s is in history, and I focused on 20th century history. Name another song that references over 100 historical events from the 20th century. I’ll wait.

-The second movement of Sergei Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 2 in C minor, Op. 18. I don’t know much about piano concertos. Am I allowed to favorite just one part of one? I used to religiously follow figure skating in high school, so I have bits and pieces of classical music that I probably got off Limewire back then, and this is one of them. It’s beautiful, and tend to listen to it when I’m really really stressed out to calm myself down.

-One Day More and the Finale from Les Miserables by Claude-Michel Schönberg. I could make a top 10 list of just Broadway songs, so I’m cheating and putting two in one here. This has everything--beautiful harmonies, powerful imagery, a call to arms, self-reflection, hope. Just, damn.

-This is Me by Keala Settle and the cast of The Greatest Showman. This is one of the more recent songs on my list, and while I haven’t actually seen the Greatest Showman (it’s on my list), I’ve pretty much had this on repeat since February when all of the 2018 Olympic figure skating medalists skated to it together (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FOhrf1abnsY), and I’ve adopted it as a sort of personal anthem.

-Rough Draft by Yellowcard. Ha, this song actually always reminds of me of my old days writing Sailor Moon fanfiction, both because of the title, and because I used to sing along to it on the drive to high school. I actually think Yellowcard (RIP) is terribly underrated, and while this song doesn’t have their trademark electric violin, I still love it.

-Your Hand in Mine by Explosions in the Sky. Oddly enough, I feel the emotional contagion thing I mentioned a lot with Explosions in the Sky. Their ability to convey emotion in instrumentals is just brilliant, and this is my favorite of theirs. Now I’m going to go lament Friday Night Lights being taken off of Netflix before I finished it.

I’d like to tag @floraone, @uglygreenjacket, and @kasienda (only if you guys have time and are interested!)

#ask me anything #tumblr asks #music #this is me #things I'm doing instead of packing #whew some of these songs are dated #or just classics imo

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aseriesofhorribleevents · 7 years ago

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Barisi Deserved Better ! - Over You

Hey y’all, I haven’t wrote fanfiction since 2014 One direction era lmaoo but here’s the Barisi goodbye we all needed.

- - - - -

Carisi was sitting at his desk, head in his hands. It was a slower day at the precinct, something he always remembered to not take for granted. A slow day meant that, hopefully, less people were hurt. For Sonny, though, a slow day meant he had time to think, and that hadn’t been the case since he left.

It’s been only a week since Barba left the office, and for the time being, different ADA’s have been rotating throughout SVU. The absence of Raphael hit Carisi harder than it should have. He kept quiet through it all, when all he wanted to do was ask him why?

He lifted his head to a chuckle coming across his desk, meeting Fin’s eyes. Carisi wasn’t sure if the Sargent was the right person to talk to in this situation, but Amanda was off today, either looking after Jessie or texting the man from the bar that they met a few months ago. Sonny wasn’t bitter. Not at all. Rollins deserved someone.

Totally not bitter.

“What’s on your mind, detective?” Fin asked, snapping Sonny out of his thoughts. He rolled his eyes, getting up to sit beside the older man. He slumped down in a chair, running a hand through his own messy hair absentmindedly.

“Who says anything is on my mind?” Sonny snapped, even though a lopsided smile emerged from his lips.

“You’ve been sulking around all week, Carisi. You stay in the office past Liv and I. You haven’t even talked to Rollins. What happened to your annoyingly chipper self, man?”

This caused Sonny to chuckle lightly, a sigh escaping soon after.

“There hasn’t been much to be chipper about, Sargent. Rollins is always occupied with that new guy she always has around - I haven’t been able to see Jessie!”

“Jealous, Carisi?” Fin laughed at Sonny, who rolled his eyes.

“No, not like that, at least I don’t think so. She deserves to be happy, I just didn’t think it’s be this lonely around here”

Fin nodded understandingly. He’s seen this before, when two partners start to live their own lives. It happened with Olivia and Elliot years before. Hell, it even happened to him and Munch, even though he’d never admit it. Your partner becomes your best friend, someone you would take a bullet for. He was about to ask if Carisi felt anything more than friendship for Rollins, because he suspected something like that happened with Liv and Stabler but was cut off by him first.

“And with Barba leaving and all, it’s just been different around here. The man didn’t even have the balls to say goodbye to the rest of us. We had to hear from the Lieutenant. I had to hear from Benson. You would think that he would tell the guy who’s looked up to him for fucking years! Why would he just tell Benson?” Carisi’s voice raised slightly, anger seeping through.

Fin’s eyes widened. This may have just gotten really weird.

“Look man, you know Liv is like, a lot older than you, right? She has Noah to look after and a full time job. If you have any type of feelings for the Lieutena-”

Fin was cut off by a loud howl from Carisi. He almost doubled over in laughter, a confused look settling on the Sargent.

“You really thought.. Oh god no Fin! It’s… It’s not Liv that I...” Sonny’s mouth was dry and his eyes were tinged with wetness.

Oh.

Fin definitely read the situation wrong.

“Barba?” He asked gently, not wanting to push the younger man. He was met with a slight nod and apologetic eyes. Fuck, he thought, this man is full of surprises.

“Should’ve caught on with all the snide comments and you following him like a lost puppy.” Carisi laughed again, this time more genuinely.

“Was it that obvious? Well, it doesn’t matter now, I guess. He didn’t even want to say goodbye.”

Fin, no matter how much he didn’t want to admit it, couldn’t stand to see the young detective look this defeated. He had to make sure Sonny took his chance, otherwise he’d regret it.

“Listen, Carisi. Barba really did like having you around, even if he always seemed a bit standoffish. You gave him a bit more youthfulness, helped him open up. Even if it’s just as a friend, you deserve some sort of closure with him. What do you have to lose?”

Sonny’s eyes met Fin’s, and he could see the sincerity in him. He nodded, standing up.

“You okay for covering?” He asked.

“It’s Wednesday, we’re usually good around here. Go.” Fin said, glad that Carisi was doing this.

“Thank you, Fin. I owe you one” Sonny said, heading towards the elevator, jacket in hand.

Fin watch Sonny’s stature fill with determination and smiled as the elevator closed.

“Anytime, Staten Island. Go get ‘em”

- - - - - - - - - - -

Sonny still had Barba’s address engrained in his memory from the time he went over there the night before the Bar. The older man quizzed him for hours, and he wished that he could’ve spent the night, until he got a call from his sister and left. That night, Sonny felt that he was studying with a friend rather than a boss, with Raphael cracking jokes and encouraging him.

Sonny may never get that feeling again, but he had to know. He had to know why.

The elevator ride to Barba’s apartment seemed longer than last time, but that could have been due to the anxiety building up inside of Sonny. He walked up to his door, taking a deep breath before knocking.

The sight before his eyes as the door opened took Sonny’s breath away.

Barba opened the door in dark washed jeans and a black t-shirt, his hair slightly disheveled. The look on his eyes was confused, but with hints of delight. Barba hadn’t seen Sonny since the trial, purely because he didn’t know how to face him. He knew that he should’ve said something to him, he really did, but he couldn’t find the words to. He looked up at Sonny, stiff and breathless. His voice was fragile, anger laced throughout.

“Listen, Counselor, I know I have no right to come storming to your apartment to demand an explanation, but I sure as hell think I deserve one. Look, I admire you, okay? Not just as a lawyer, or an ADA, or even a cop. I admire you as a person, how you always maintain your own morals though even the toughest cases. How you find the best in everyone. How you found time in your life to let me shadow you a few years back. I loved spending time with you, Barba. Fuck, you taught me so much. Not just with the law, but in life.” Sonny’s tears started to drip down his face, not even noticing. This was his chance to let it all out, and he wasn’t holding back. Raphael’s eyes widened, taking in how hurt Carisi looked. Did he do that to him?

“You taught me how to speak my mind, and listen to my heart. Raphael, you did that. I don’t know how, but you did. And then you leave, and don’t tell me? I get it, I’m just some young, confused detective you work with, but I thought I may have meant more than that to you. You meant more to me than just my mentor. You meant more to me than just a friend. I guess you didn’t feel the same, but I just wanted to know, Raphael, why?” His tears were flowing freely now, looking down at Barba, mouth slightly open in awe. Barba reached up, slowly, to wipe the tears from Carisi’s face with his thumb, his hand lingering there for longer than it needed to be.

Sonny shivered at the close contact, his eyes softening. He looked at Raphael, seeing regret on his face. The older mans hand rested on Carisi’s cheek, holding him gently.

“You want to know why, Sonny? It’s because I was too damn scared that I would show up at your door, crying and pouring out my feeling for you.” Sonny let out a small gasp that made Barba chuckle.

“I was a coward, Sonny, and I’ll never forgive myself for that. You mean so much to me, and I didn’t want to taint the friendship we had.” Sonny scoffed at that, a smile escaping.

“I think we’re past the point of friendship now, Barba.” He said, taking a step closer to the former ADA.

“Indeed we are, detective, and I’m sorry for not crossing that line earlier. Forgive me?” On a whim, Barba leaned in to meet Carisi’s lips for a few moments, sweet and naive. They both pulled away with a smile, Sonny’s forehead pressed up against Raphael’s.

“Always. Just, never said goodbye to me, okay? I thought I would have to get over you”

“I wouldn’t dream of it.”

Thanks for reading! Should I continue to write?

#law and order: special victims unit #barba x carisi #barisi #barisi fanfic #barba deserved better #dominick carisi #raphael barba #svu #barba on trial #season 19 svu #rolivia #fluffy #barba and carisi goodbye

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sssoto · 7 years ago

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Creator’s update #1

Hey guys! So I’ve decided to start actually blogging on this blog and tell a bit about the various things I’m working on, share WIPs, music I’ve been digging recently etc. I realise that I rarely post anything, so it seems like I’m super inactive - which is totally not true, I just have so much stuff going on and take a long time to finish things, and I’m also pretty picky about what I put up online lol! For the sake of keeping those of you interested in the loop, I’m gonna start this series of creator’s updates in which I’ll update y’all on the progress I’ve made on my various creative projects. The goal is to give an update a few times a month (hopefully lol)!

This past while I’ve been super inactive in the writing department, but very much productive in the art department, so my writing update will be mostly a summary of what I’ve been doing the past few years up until this point.

Mood: Feelin’ real good cuz my parents finally brought my comfy double bed over from my mum’s place this past weekend, which means no more sleeping on the couch yaaaaaas.

Music I’ve been digging recently:

Skye Sweetnam - Boyhunter So, the other day I randomly listened to this song on my way home from work, and I totally realised that Skye Sweetnam is the perfect voice for my character Caitlyn, and this song totally embodies what Caitlyn is all about lmaoooo. (The song isn’t very accurate to the time period Caitlyn lives in, but it’s super accurate to her character essence and personality, and I just find that so lit hahahah)

Fallulah - Out of It This song is basically my MC’s theme song?? It’s performed by a Danish artist and was super popular in Denmark a few years back as it was the theme tune to a Danish tv show (a show I loved!). The lyrics are just so Daniel, it’s not even funny. It mostly fits his mental state at the beginning of Renaissance.

Girl’s Day - Love Again Ugh I just love the tune of this song so much, I can’t really place my finger on it, the emotion is just so great. I love the guitar riff especially, and Girl’s Day is a four member girl group, so it’s one of those songs where I can imagine my main girls Annaliese, Caitlyn, Mary and Serena singing as each member lmao.

Nine Muses - Remember Another four member group now, this song is also one where I can imagine my main girls singing each member’s part lmao, and having that aspect to a song always makes it a little better for me! Forreal tho, this new release from Nine Muses slays, and we all know it. The music video haunts me.

Sistar - Lonely This song makes me sad and happy all at once, cuz I’m not ready to say goodbye to Sistar, but at the same time this ending is probably the best one any fan could’ve wished for because there was no drama or anger, just well wishes and hope for the future. I know these girls will go far, and this song just pulls at all my heart strings man. The melody of the bridge and chorus, Dasom and Soyu’s parts in particular, really works for me. And yeah, Sistar has four members too, and once again I can picture my main girls singing as each member lmao. It’s a thing I have, okay?

Moana OST - We Know The Way + Know Who You Are I recently watched this movie, and while I sorta felt like the plot was a bit rushed and tropey in many ways, I totally adored the visuals and the MUSIC OMG. These two songs are my favourite, Lin-Manuel Miranda’s vocals never miss, and Auli’i Cravalho’s high note is gorgeous! Also dat choir in the background tho, and in context with the movie scene that song just makes me irrationally emotional mkay. (That ending was the best twist ever, it definitely lifted the story up a notch for me!)

Writing

So I’m writing a book! You might have seen me mention it a few times already on here, but I’ve not really shared much insight into my process or what sort of book this actually is (other than talking about characters here and there), and as I’ve not been making huge progress lately (I’m in an art state of mind duuuh), I thought that I’d keep this section short and sweet, with a bit of an introduction into what my book project is all about.

I call it a book project because I don’t feel comfortable just calling it a book when I don’t have rights to publish. Technically my book is a fanfiction based on the horror video game Amnesia: The Dark Descent, and as such I don’t own copyright of the small percentage of my story that features the canon elements. However, I take this as seriously as anyone else would writing their own book, because I’ve poured my entire heart and soul into it, and the vast majority of the content (plot, characters and world) is my original creation. It’s my own little big project lol!

You might be familiar with the game, and even if you aren’t, that’s not a prerequisite for reading my book since everything is introduced and set up just as in any regular book. The protagonist is an Englishman named Daniel, and we know little of his past through the game. I won’t go into too much detail on what the game is about (if you really wanna know, you can look it up), but the point of my book is to explore the protagonist’s life from his childhood up to the events of the game and beyond, and afterwards connect his story to the game sequels featuring other protagonists within the same universe. It’s a bit complex and elaborate, which is just the way I like it!

As the games are set at various points during the Victorian era (game #1 is set in Prussia 1839, game #2 is set in France 1858, and game #3 is set in England 1899), you can probably guess that the entire thing will be pretty long. That’s why I’m making it a series! I have at least seven books planned so far (though there’ll definitely be more, since I’m not near the end of the timeline I need to cover yet), and I currently have the first book written and am writing the sequel - however, the first book will need a complete rewrite once I’m finished with book #2, because I’ve since developed and changed a lot of stuff, and I have many new interesting ideas for a more fleshed out version of the first book. Still, the fanfic version is available online, so if you’d like to read it, you can find it here. You’ll get a pretty good idea of the general story and the characters, but keep in mind that it’s super outdated and will be very different after my rewrite!

For reference, this is the list of books that I’ve planned (and titled) so far, so you can keep up with what book of my series I’m talking about at any given point:

I - Amnesia: Memoirs

II - Amnesia: Renaissance

III - Amnesia: Voyage

IV - Amnesia: Noir

V - Amnesia: Encore

VI - Amnesia: Rogue

So what I’m doing right now with this project is revisions. Uuuuggghhhhh. Yes, that’s right, I’m stuck in revision hell. I’ve not even finished the first draft of Renaissance yet (I know, sacrilege, writing blasphemy, don’t start your damn edits until you’ve finished your draft dumbass), but I had some pretty major changes to make, changes so big that it would be a waste of time and effort to go on drafting without implementing them first. Mainly the changes are surrounding 1) a change of ages of my main cast (I aged many characters up a few years), and 2) changing and figuring out the specifics of the illness which my MC’s sister, Hazel, is afflicted with. She’s not such a major character in Renaissance, but she plays a big role in Memoirs, and since I had all these new ideas for the rewrite of that, I wanted to implement the ripple effects in the second book so it wouldn’t be too much of a hassle to edit later when Renaissance is a finished 3-400k first draft lmao (I have a lot of words okay?). These changes mostly affect the early chapters of my book - chapters I wrote about three years ago, which means that these early chapters really need a face-lift. In addition to the age and illness change, I wanna revise the first five chapters by cutting the fluff and tightening up the beginning so we get to the action a tiny bit faster. Adding to the fact that these early chapters are three years old, the prose also needs an almost complete rewrite. So long story short, all of the edits are taking a long ass time, and I’m not having a good time lmao. Doesn’t help that I had to stop drafting right at one of the juiciest scenes in my book?!?!? (that’s a lie, it gets juicier, but I was just getting to the real good stuff yanno?)

(Side note: for someone who said that I’d keep this short, it sure turned out long lmao. I just have too many damn words.)

Chapters edited: 2/16 (working on 3 right now and it’s an effin’ pain)

Current total word count: 120,591

Current total chapter count: 17 (the number will go down to 16 once I finish the revisions, as I’m merging two chapters)

Look at all the dumb shit I still have to edit for chapter 3. Look at it.

Whyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy.

Art

Man, I’ve been doing a lot of artwork recently, and by a lot, I don’t mean that I’ve finished any.

I think I’ve been focused on developing my actual drawing skills rather than making finished illustrations, because I’ve been so overwhelmed with inspiration and I’ve wanted to try out drawing a bunch of different motives, so my mind is on a lot of different art projects at once, and I’m making baby steps of progress on each of them because I just wanna do everything lmao. I should probably take a step back and settle on one thing at a time, but at the same time, I feel like this is working for me because I’m so inspired and motivated and super excited for every single art piece; I don’t feel myself losing interest in any of them, in fact I just feel like my switching between different artworks keeps every piece fresh and interesting for me, yanno?

So here’s one thing that I’ve been slowly chipping away at for the past few months. I’m drawing a full body group picture of my main cast from Renaissance!

I’ve drawn the anatomy sketches of all the male characters (though I’m debating whether I should add some others), and now I’m adding the female characters one by one, so these are not all of the characters yet. But man, I just love seeing the characters side by side? The variety in their body language, body types and heights is just so interesting to look at, and it’ll be even better once I get around to actually adding their facial features, expressions, hair, attire, and then colouring them as well omg! I’m a sucker for this kind of thing, blame it on @juliajm15 and her amazing diverse character designs.

It’s gonna be a huge picture with a lot of characters, and I’m stoked for it!! This is a piece which I hope I’ll be able to show ya’ll the progress of bit by bit in every few updates. (also, if you feel somewhat familiar with some of my characters, you’re welcome to make guesses at who’s who (; )

Another project I’m working on is making official character portraits of my main cast (and possibly minor characters as well). I just think it’s nice to have official portraits as reference for anyone who’d like to see what the characters look like, and also for myself for whenever I need to refresh the specific features and expression of each character. It’s just a nice thing that satiates my very Type A personality lmao!

So the characters above are Owen Wright (to the left) , Daniel’s puppy bff with the fluffy hair, and then from left to right I’m colouring the portraits of the Armstrong siblings: Caleb, Caitlyn and Tristan. Their dad is a duke! n.n Caleb is the oldest, Caitlyn the youngest, and Tristan is the bland middle child. He’s a little brat LOL but I still love him.

Also, due to this glorious reference I found, I finally figured out how to draw Daniel. Bless this model, I never knew I wanted Daniel to have big puffy lips, but apparently I do.

He looks actually nice now? Which is nice? I’m amazed. Also his hair? I can never draw his hair, but this looks nice so yay? Also, I dunno why I never draw clothes on him, I guess I’m just lazy lol, but he’s gonna need to wear clothes for the official character portrait soooo... That’s a thing I’m gonna have to do.

Now that I’ve figured out his features, it’s gonna be fun to remodel all his family members accordingly. I sense that he’ll have gotten those cute puffy lips from his mum meheheheh.

I also did some Disney fanart of my two favourite Disney ladies; Esmeralda and Kida <3

I actually never really draw fanart any more, it’s been yeeeaaaars since I did, and when I used to do it, I was always very particular about staying as true to the original art style as possible. But now that I’ve spent the past couple years focusing on developing my own art style, I actually decided not to care about that so much and just draw the characters the way I’m used to drawing my own, and lo and behold - it looks pretty accurate to the Disney style?? I assumed that the characters would end up looking very different, but other than the eyes being smaller I feel like they look the exact same lmao. It’s interesting to me, because even when I used to do fanart, I usually did so of Japanese art and manga, not of Disney or any other western art. Also, I don’t consider my own style very Disney, but it pleases me a lot that the characters look so much like themselves even in my art style! The most important thing to me is to capture the essence of the character anyway, so any fan can recognise the character they love so much n.n

So that’s about it for this round! I’ve been working on other things as well, but I’d rather not disclose them to the public just yet - perhaps later, when I’ve made more progress, or (gasp!) actually finished something!! Bahahah, with the many things I’m working on, hell will freeze over before that day comes. *cries*

Youtube

I’m adding this Youtube section because, in addition to writing and doing artwork, I also like to record vocal covers (mainly of kpop songs, but I’ll do anything I’m in the mood for at any given point), aaaaand as of today I'm gonna be uploading speedpaints as well! Which is probably good since I don’t upload my covers nearly as often as I finish them lmao.

I’ve not uploaded any new covers recently (though I really should, I do have some covers lying around on my laptop mwerp), but I’m gonna list a couple of my favourite covers I have on my channel here so you can take a listen if you’d like!

youtube

And today I uploaded my very first speedpaint to my channel, so check that out if you’re interested in that sort of stuff! It’s the process of my Christmas portrait piece for Serena. I aim to be more consistent with uploads since I have a few unedited recordings lying around, so keep an eye out for that!

youtube

If you’ve read this far, thank you for sticking around and taking a look at my work, even if it’s only in WIP form. I wanted to start doing these updates because I’ve been watching my friends do them for a long time, and I always love reading their writing updates; they motivate me so much to get working on my own stuff, and I just wanna be able to perhaps do something similar for anyone else who’s watching me out there. So thank you sincerely to @coffeeandcalligraphy, @sarahkelsiwrites and @shaelinwrites for sharing your process with the world and being such an inspiration to me and many others, I love seeing you all make progress on your own projects <3

So that was all for this round, I hope you guys enjoyed a little sneak peek into what I’ve been working on! Until next time, folks!

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