#thank god they started coming more sparsely

[8jib]

another parents' evening another headache

[loveinhawkins]

It’s the last period of the day, and in his peripheral vision, Steve can see Eddie Munson fighting sleep, elbow repeatedly slipping off his desk.

They’re not usually in this class together; a good handful of teachers are on a ‘field trip’—which had been sold to the principal as an educational experience, but was really an excuse for both students and staff to while away the last remaining days of the semester.

So most classes have become an assortment of students who haven’t gone on the trip, odds and ends who usually wouldn’t cross paths.

When Steve had entered, he saw that the room was sparse, people dotted about the place with no regard to a seating plan—he’d headed straight for a desk by the window, hadn’t even noticed that Eddie Munson was in the seat right beside him until he’d already sat down.

And then it turned out he couldn’t even reap the benefits of choosing a seat near said window. The room was stuffy, unbearably so, and Eddie had beaten Steve to it, actually raising his hand and asking, perfectly politely, if he could open the window.

But the substitute teacher had just sneered and replied haughtily, “No, Munson, you cannot.”

Condescending ass, Steve had thought, and he was almost looking forward to one of Eddie Munson’s infamous diatribes.

But Eddie just wilted in his seat and didn’t say another word.

That’s when Steve noticed that he kept looking down at his desk. There was a piece of paper on there, an end of year test—Steve recognised Mrs O’Donnell’s handwriting making comments in the margins. The top right hand corner was folded over in such a way that just made the hiding of the grade all the more obvious: it was clearly an abject fail.

As Eddie stared at the paper, he started to blink rapidly, and for a horrible moment it seemed like he was going to cry, so Steve quickly looked away.

By the time he dared to look back, it was a quarter of the way through the period, and the heat of the room must’ve been getting to Eddie, his eyelids fluttering as he tried not to doze.

And now Steve’s stuck with a teacher who’s clearly immune to every pointed look he shoots his way. He gets to the point where he’s glaring daggers at the dude—seriously, where does he get off, keeping the window closed just to prove some bullshit point about authority?

Every so often, Steve finds himself catching a paper airplane—what are they, five?—that had been heading for Eddie’s face, made by some meathead junior. Steve either swats them away or, if he’s feeling particularly pissy, crumples them up with one hand, throws them back at the junior’s head.

Eddie’s repositioned his elbow so it’s no longer in danger of slipping off the desk—eyes totally closed now, like he’s accepted defeat.

Steve is too late to catch the next paper airplane as it hits the side of Eddie’s head, and when Eddie stirs, blinking blearily at him, he says, defensively, “It wasn’t me.”

“Relax, Harrington,” Eddie says, yawning, “I know.” He unfolds the paper airplane with a tut. “No structural integrity to this thing at all. You’d give me quality.”

Steve doesn’t think of a barbed comment to reply with, because Eddie starts refolding the paper and uses it as a fan—and it’s not even for a bit or anything; Steve can tell that he’s just genuinely suffering.

Movement draws his eyes to the front of the room; he watches as the teacher makes his way to the door and leaves.

“Thank God he’s gone,” Steve mutters. He stands and lifts up the window as far as it will go, hears Eddie’s quiet sigh of relief as the fresh air comes in.

Steve glances over at the door; the paper airplane-throwing junior has gathered a little group, and it looks like they’ve locked the teacher out. There’s no footsteps or furious knocking yet, so Steve figures he’s got a bit of time.

He jumps up onto the window sill to better enjoy the breeze, stretching his legs and idly looking outside.

He just catches Eddie scoffing, the little aside he makes: “Oh, for fuck’s sake.”

Steve turns his head to him. “What?”

Eddie rolls his eyes, but the corner of his mouth twitches like he’s fighting a smile. “Just… you,” he says.

And it’s said with a kind of reluctant fondness, almost like they’re friends—which is bizarre, Steve thinks, since this is definitely the longest conversation they’ve ever had.

But maybe the approaching summer break has Eddie all sentimental.

“What about me, Munson?”

Eddie gestures at him, as if to say uh, everything, but it somehow doesn’t come across as an insult.

“Just… the way you do things sometimes. Like you’re in a goddamn movie.”

Steve raises an eyebrow. “Dude, I’m just sitting. Anyone could do this.”

“Nah, Harrington. It’s all in the execution, y’know?”

Steve snorts. “Bull.”

“And not all of us have the hair for it.”

Steve tilts his head, drawls, “Oh, I dunno.”

Eddie huffs out a laugh like he’s been taken by surprise.

Steve turns back to the window. It’s not all that great a view, really, the sun only highlighting the dried unkempt grass around the track. Still, there’s an undefinable something to it that gives Steve pause.

Maybe it’s because graduation is right around the corner. Even just walking down the school corridors feels like a series of goodbyes.

“Hey, Harrington. You heard of mise-en-scène?”

And Steve finds himself grinning at the French accent Eddie slips into.

“Bless you,” he says, just to be annoying, though he has heard of it, remembers it from when they looked at some plays in English. Then overheard it, really, while the aspiring film students fretted over their college applications in the library, and he listened with a jealousy he didn’t care to analyse. “I’m seeing some movie shot stuff here, is all.”Steve looks over again, in time to see Eddie adopt an over-the top trailer voice. “The fallen King—”

“Oh, fuck you.”

“—looks down at what remains of his Kingdom, setting his sights on pastures new.”

A wistful edge creeps into Eddie’s voice, something separate from the theatrics—confirming Steve’s suspicions that he won’t be graduating this year, after all.

“Not exactly pastures new,” Steve says. “I, um, didn’t get into anywhere so.” He shrugs vaguely. “Gotta hold down a summer job and then… I don’t know. Not thought that far ahead yet.”

Eddie seems to consider him. “Nothing wrong with that, Harrington,” he says quietly.

“I know,” Steve replies. Because it’s true; he knows he’ll be far from the first high school graduate staying in Hawkins, working a minimum wage job all summer.

His parents had said as much. But then���

He doesn’t know how to explain that it’s the tone in which they say things rather than the things themselves that sets him on edge. That sometimes just the way they shut doors around him inexplicably prompts a feeling of nausea.

But they’re out of town for the whole summer—already left this morning, thank God. So he’s hardly going to get into all of that with Eddie Munson, of all people. Barely addresses it within himself, honestly.

“It’s just… not really what I pictured,” he says instead. “You know, like…” And maybe Eddie’s theatricality has made him a little bolder, because he looks out at the view, and slips into a brief understated impression with ease: “I'm shakin’ the dust of this crummy little town off my feet and I'm gonna see the world.”

When he turns back, Eddie’s lips twitch again, and this time the smile wins. “Well okay, George Bailey.”

Steve smiles back. Shrugs once more. “It’s for the best, really. Means I can keep an eye on—”

And he stops himself, realises he was about to say the kids.

Eddie’s eyes light up with interest. “Oh? So you’ve found someone worth staying for.” There’s a teasing lilt to his voice when he adds, “S’awfully romantic of you, Harrington.”

Steve rolls his eyes. “Not like that. But… yeah, you could say so. They’re all worth it.”

“Huh,” Eddie says thoughtfully. “What happened to you, Steve Harrington?”

Steve laughs. Shakes his head. “Life. And, uh, got a thump to the head.”

Eddie whistles lowly. “Damn. Maybe I should try that.” He glances down at his test, frowning.

“Hey, come on. Everyone loves a comeback kid.”

“Hmm. Not everyone.”

Eddie sighs and stuffs the test into his bag. As he does so, there’s a sudden pounding on the door, and Steve hears some of the students break out into whispers that are so loud they might as well be shouting: discussing their plan to pin the blame on Eddie for locking the teacher out.

Perhaps it’s the fact that he’s soon leaving high school behind that has Steve viewing all of this with a clarity he can’t remember having a few years ago. They’re just mean, he thinks, just plain mean for the sake of it. Jesus Christ, you don’t kick a guy while he’s down.

Eddie’s eyes dart over to the group. He’s clearly overheard them too, but he seems resigned to it, like he’s got no more fight left in him.

A girl unlocks the door, and the teacher storms inside, apoplectic with rage.

And before anyone can get a word in, Steve says, “It was me. I locked the door.”

He can feel Eddie staring at him. He leans more into his lounging on the window sill, pretends to check his nails.

The teacher’s eye twitches. “And may I ask, Harrington,” he seethes, “what would even possess you to—”

“Oh,” Steve says, faux brightly, “that’s easy. I don’t like you.”

Eddie’s hand subtly rises up to cover his mouth. Steve bites back a grin; he knows a hastily stifled laugh when he sees one.

“Out you go, Harrington,” the teacher says, pointing at the door.

Steve stands up, unbothered. He’ll just ditch, head home early before the dick’s had any time to step out into the corridor and scream at him. That mall’s almost done being built; he could finish filling in a job application for one of the stores there before the day’s out.

He makes sure the window’s pushed up so far that it’ll be more of a pain to try and close it compared to just letting it be.

Then he swings his bag over one shoulder, says in a little aside, “See you, Munson. You know, Class of ‘86 has a better ring to it anyway.”

“I’ll, uh, take your word for it, man,” Eddie says, and he sounds a little taken aback.

Steve glances over his shoulder just before the door shuts behind him, and he sees Eddie’s hand raised in an uncertain wave, like he can’t believe he’s even doing it.

And if you ask Steve, that’s a movie shot all of its own.

[feroluce]

I've only recently started having my own thoughts about Emanator!Sampo and I think my favorite version of this is that he is technically an Emanator, it's just that he doesn't talk about it because Aha is a dick who only blesses people that don't want it and Sampo hates it here dkjxkdkdck

Aha blessed the Mourning Actors! A whole faction of people who have specifically made it their life's mission to resist Elation! THEY made a literal worm THEIR Emanator just to see if it would be accepted into the Genius Society! And when it wasn't, Aha just as easily killed it and tossed it aside! So I feel like there is a good possibility that Aha looked down at Sampo, this little oddball who doesn't seem to even like Epsilon or a lot of the Masked Fools and was like.

Hey.

You know what would be really really funny.

And I feel like being an Emanator wouldn't even be a plus for Sampo, because of how he operates. Sampo excels at blending in; he managed to smuggle himself onto a planet

that had been isolated for 700 years,

with only one (1) single city on it,

and going even further, he snuck himself into the Underground,

where the population is even more sparse,

and STILL. Not a single accusation of him being an alien! Not even after the Astral Express lands and proves that interstellar space travel is possible! Sampo is so thoroughly ingrained into Belobog that yeah, some people admit they don't know his origins, but none of it ever comes with the question of whether he actually is a Belobog native or not. Sampo knows exactly how to blend himself into his surroundings in the most subtle way possible. And being an Emanator, something far more powerful than any normal human or Pathstrider could ever hope to be, would only throw in a massive extra variable for him. Sampo would have to be so so careful to keep a lid on his Emanator traits, to keep up the appearance of being totally normal and average at all times. It doesn't help him at all.

And this part is pure indulgence, but I love taking Aha's closeness with mortals, and THEIR tendency to take human form, and twisting it into a case of THEM using Sampo as a vessel.

I want Aha to look at Sampo the same way all of us look at Sampo. A chew toy. A plaything. Something to shove through the meat grinder. Aha thinks Sampo is hilarious and a funny, silly little guy, and THEY want to put him in Situations just to see what he does. Sampo is not a fan.

This though, this is what makes Sampo so wildly entertaining as a vessel. Because Aha knows that Sampo does not want to be a vessel, does not even want to be an Emanator, and THEY find it SO much fun to watch the mental gymnastics he has to pull to convince himself he's ok with it, this is fine actually, because he's not exactly about to tell off a literal god. He doesn't feel like getting a smiting today, please and thank you.

Because squeezing yourself into a human vessel is so different than merely adopting a human disguise, there's already a human soul in there, it's kind of a tight fit. If Sampo doesn't make room, doesn't all but dissociate right out of his own body, it could cause. Consequences.

And so, Aha always gives a warning, just to watch him squirm.

It begins with the sound of bells.

Just little ones, at first. Small, clinking little sounds that could even be considered nice. Something almost gentle, like a wind chime in a pleasant breeze on a warm day. This is the signal for the countdown.

Sampo breathes in, breathes out. Makes himself as small as possible within his own body.

The bells rise and multiply, tinkling wind chimes give way to sleigh bells, to shopkeepers bells, the sound of something inevitable approaching, something entering.

Sampo breathes in, breathes out. Dilutes himself, weaker and weaker concentrations.

The bells rise and rise, multiply and multiply, celebration and tragedy resonating in the sound of church bells, ringing bright and loud, the sounds of weddings and funerals both the same.

Sampo breathes in, breathes out. Becomes like smoke, like vapor. Hollows himself out.

Empty, empty, empty until he echoes, like a bell, like something with the sole purpose of being shaken and rattled around, a thing to be struck, the sounds jarring and punched out and gasping and piercing the air, the lung, the eardrum.

Sampo breathes in.

Beaten he rings, bashed in he sings.

Aha breathes out.

[hyperactively-me]

king!ghost x reader -- journey

You wake up in the morning, groggy from last night's lack of sleep. Sliding out of bed, you dread today. Ghost was taking you to your new “home.” Kastron. 

After a silent breakfast, you’re standing at the bottom of the courtyard, taking in the hustle and bustle of footmen and maids packing the carriage full to the brim with your and his belongings. Of course, this leaves you no room to sit in the carriage on the journey to the Kingdom of Kastron. Four days of traveling on horseback. Great. 

You had been riding multiple times before; you had your own horse and everything. You usually went riding a few times a month, but it was mainly for fun. You knew this journey was about to test your physical capabilities. God, you could already hear the sniping comments directed at you from him. 

You had the foresight to wear male pants and a blouse, paired with a pair of boots you knew were going to come in use. 

You watched as you saw Ghost holding the lead to his horse and your own horse. He approaches you in all his glory, decked now in his simple iron armor. His sword is sheathed at his side, an alarming reminder of his strength. His skill. You noticed the simple silver band on his finger as he held out your horse’s reins to you. The hand of a killer, you think to yourself.

“Good morning.” He practically purred.

You clutched the lead from his hold, stroking your mare's head. “How much longer before we leave?”

“Any minute now,” he says energetically. “You should say goodbye to your parents.”

“No,” you say firmly, leaving no room for argument. Your grip tightened around the lead. You refused to look at them, acting all innocent standing in the doorway. 

He stares at you for a second.

“You’ll see them at the wedding.” 

Ghost comes up to you to help you mount your horse, grabbing your waist with an iron grip. As soon as you’re settled in the saddle, his hand lingers for a moment. You look down at him, and in that moment, he retracts his hand in an instant, as if he had been burned. 

With that, you set out together, the captain of the guard, servants, and luggage following behind. The people of your village were quiet, sparse applause in the crowds as your entourage made its way out of the kingdom. They knew just as well as you did where you were headed. Who you were with. They could only hope that their princess wouldn’t be crushed by the man who has wiped out armies.

After a couple of hours you were already exhausted, bones and muscles aching from the treacherous terrain.

Every once in a while, Ghost would turn to you to ask if you were alright, and every single time your answer was a snappy “I’m fine.” You were determined to not show how physically weak you actually were. 

As the sun started to set, you noticed how truly exhausted you were. Your arms ached, your thighs and legs spasming from overuse on the saddle. There’s no way you can do three more days of this. Eyes drooping, you were practically falling asleep in the saddle, fighting to keep your eyes open.

Ghost has looked completely unbothered the whole day, his posture practically perfect even as he donned his heavy armor. 

He held up a single hand, stopping the entourage. You sighed in relief, thankful to be able to finally rest for the night. 

“Set up camp here,” he calls out to the footmen, and they quickly spring into action, pulling out materials and tents. “Secure the perimeter,” he orders his captain. 

Ghost dismounts his horse, rolling out his shoulders before coming up to you. Your hands are still gripping onto the reins. If you let go, you think you would fall asleep right then and there. 

“My lady,” he says, holding out his hand for you to take.

You practically leaned into his body as you dismounted the mare; you were too exhausted to respond. You had to grab onto his forearms with all your might, afraid that if you let go for even a moment, your legs would give out. Fighting with everything in you, you try not to wince as your feet settle onto the ground. 

He saw your condition right away, cursing to himself. 

“I ought to have realized you weren't capable of traveling this far.”

Immediately he’s dragging you towards a tree, letting you lie against the base of the trunk to rest. You shut your eyes, too exhausted to speak to him. You think you fall asleep for a moment because he’s shaking you awake, telling you that the tent is constructed and ready to use. 

Ghost leads you into your shared tent. You barely register what he’s saying until he’s motioning to the cots that were set up a few feet apart from each other.

“Separate beds. You need to sleep.” 

It took all of your strength to change into your sleepwear, not even considering how exposed you would be next to your now-fiance. Collapsing into bed, you roll onto your stomach, burying your face into your pillow. Before sleep can consume you, you feel hands on your shoulders.

- - - - -

(masterlist)

[serendipityandbenevolence]

Baizhu x Reader (Arranged Marriage)

I know this is a bit (lot) different to what I normally post on this account, but I am a SUCKER for arranged marriages in fanfic, so I am choosing to disregard my sagau roots (not permanently dw) It’s a bit out of my comfort zone, but I really hope it comes out well :)

Contains - You getting injured, you and baizhu having beef (enemies to lovers fr), you and baizhu not realising that you are engaged to each other, arranged marriage (duh) your dad kinda sucks tbh

It took you rolling your ankle to realise how bad an idea climbing a mountain unprepared was. Granted, when you had started climbing the mountain, you had thought you were prepared. Your clothing was (somewhat) practical, you had stolen a pair of your father’s shoes that he used when hiking and you had found a nice leather satchel to hold your snacks and hand shovel. 

It had been fine at first, nothing more than a pleasant hike, with bird chirping and a soft breeze whistling through the trees. But with every step you took, the path became steeper, the sun became hotter and the god-damned shoes you bothered from your father hurt more. They had seemed a bit large when you first put them on, but now it felt like you were going to trip over them with every step. 

Your clothes weren’t faring much better. Your good, practical clothing had caught on nearly every single branch and shrub you passed. You would have to hide them when you got home, because you did not want to have to explain to your parents exactly how your clothing got so tattered and torn. The only things that hadn’t let you down was the satchel and your snacks, although the snacks were long gone now, despite not even reaching the top of the mountain.

Looking back on the moment, it seemed almost like one of those comedy performances, that wandering artisans performed in the town square. It was ironic, truly, how quickly everything fell apart. A single stone in your path, that you hadn’t even noticed until you were stepping on it. Your father’s shoes skidded off it, causing your ankle to twist painfully and send you careening into a nearby bush, your shirt tearing even more as the branches scraped your skin. 

And there you lay, facedown in a bush in the middle of nowhere, close to the peak of a nearly abandoned mountain trail, with nothing but a satchel and a sprained ankle. 

All of this for a fucking flower.

It was silly, you were aware of that. Your mother had told you stories about a kind of flower that only grew on this particular mountain, whose petals formed a distinctive heart shape, and which was said to bless whoever received one with true love. It was cheesy, yes, but that didn’t stop many young men and women from climbing the mountain in order to pick them for their fiances. But as the years passed, the flowers became more and more sparse, thanks to the droves of hopeless romantics picking them all. And now, they are said to only be found at the very top of the mountain, where the lovers were too scared to climb.

You didn’t even know if Baizhu liked flowers. 

You’d never met him, which was surprising considering how long he’d been a client of your father. Your father, a renowned supplier of medicinal herbs, was thrilled when Baizhu first began working with him. Prior to that, all his business had been to local doctors and healers, but having a client in far-away Liyue Harbor excited him, especially a doctor of such a stellar reputation. 

You almost felt like you did know him, with how much your father talked about Baizhu. Every shipment of goods that was requested meant another long monologue over the dining table about how fortunate he was to have such a consistent and well-paying client. You almost asked your father if HE wanted to marry Dr Baizhu, but you thankfully refrained. 

You knew your father had been dropping hints to Baizhu for a while now, about how he hoped his child would be married soon, about how Baizhu surely must be so lonely without a spouse, about how Baizhu really just felt like he was part of the family already. What you hadn’t expected was for Baizhu to accept.

And now, here you were, a week out from your wedding and nearly passed out on the side of a road, trying to get that god-damned flower. 

There was no way that the situation could get any worse.

“Oh dear! Are you alright?”

Or maybe it could. 

You truly had the worst luck. How was it that during the most embarrassing moment of your life, a person had to appear? This was an abandoned trail! 

“Please … just leave me here. I’m already contemplating my life choices and regretting the actions I’ve taken to get here, my pride can’t take another hit.”

“I really… can’t just leave you here, you know that, right?” The voice, which you could now identify as male, sounded like it was trying to hold back laughter, while also truly sounding concerned.

“I assure you, you can. Please do. Keep continuing on your way.”

There was silence for a moment, and you almost allowed yourself to hope that whoever this man was had left, until you felt a pair of hands grab your shoulders and pull you out of the bush, depositing you in a rather undignified heap on the ground.  

“My sincerest apologies about your pride. Are you injured?”

You sighed and made your best effort to fix your hair, attempting to look less like you just fell into a bush. Your saviour had the audacity to look perfectly put together, with barely a hair out of place, despite having just hiked the same distance as you. Though he also looked far more prepared, with shoes that actually fit and an entire bag filled with supplies.

“Only the aforementioned pride and my ankle,” You sighed, looking down at the already bruised and swollen skin, then up at the nearly vertical path ahead of you.

“I truly hope you don’t plan on continuing to climb with that ankle of yours?” He questioned, squatting down to get a better view at your injury, laying a gentle hand upon it.

You chose to ignore the question, still hoping to find a way to get to the top of the mountain, instead taking the opportunity to stare at the man. He had the most intriguing golden eyes, with slitted pupils like a snake, which were sharply fixed on your ankle.

“Your lack of a response speaks wonders, so let me rephrase. You will not be continuing to climb with that ankle of yours.” His eyes met yours, looking for any argument.

“And how do you plan to stop me?”

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

For a man who initially seemed so polite, he sure had a way of getting on your nerves. You’d spent the first 10 minutes of him carrying you back down the mountain (over his shoulder!) trying to convince him to put you down and when that hadn’t worked, you’d settled on silent treatment. But even that was testing your patience, you’d become tired of watching the sun creep towards the horizon, of listening to the birds singing up above, of resisting the urge to ask him what hair products he used to make his hair so silky.

“So…”

“Oh, you want to make conversation now? Finally given up on ignoring me?” He laughed at you, making you grit your teeth.

“Alright, I get it! You’re acting in my best interests by not letting me continue climbing the mountain, you don’t have to act all high and mighty about it!” You cut your angry tirade off with an annoyed huff, turning your face away from him.

“Why were you even climbing up there to begin with? It’s certainly not a beginners trail.”

“Oh, uhm, you know…”

“I certainly don’t know, which is why I’m asking you, but I appreciate the faith you have in thinking I can read your mind.”

You smacked his shoulder once, then a second time when you noticed he was laughing.

“But seriously… why?” He turned to face you, eyes searching your face for some sort of answer, before sighing and turning back towards the path.

You were silent for a long moment before remembering that this man had seen you half-knocked out in a bush on the side of a road. Your dignity was long gone.

“Don’t mock me for it, but I was going to try and find one of those flowers…”

“The True Love’s Bloom?”

“Yes and don’t you dare make fun of me for this, I get married in a week and I’m emotionally sensitive.”

“I wouldn’t dream of hurting your feelings and anyway, that’s what I was looking for as well.“ 

It took you a moment for it to sink it, before you turned to look at him.

“Really? I didn’t take you for the romantic type. Which poor soul got roped into marrying you?”

“I could say the same to you. Here I was, being nice to you and you repay it by insulting me? I’ll have you know, I was the one who got roped in. I think I would’ve had assassins sent after me if I refused one more time.”

You laughed and turned back around, but as you did, a small alcove in the nearby rock caught your eye. It was becoming darker by the second, but even with the fading light you could make out the shape of…

“Over there!”

The man paused and gave a sigh.

“This better not be a ploy to get me to put you down, so that you can do something potentially life endangering again.”

“The flowers! Over there!”

He turned his head and gave a small laugh of surprise as he spotted them too.

“Well, what do you know? Maybe being forced to carry you back down this hill was a blessing in disguise?” He wandered over to the sheltered patch of dirt, where, hidden from most prying eyes, were two perfect flowers.

He placed you down next to them and began rummaging through his bag, pulling out two shovels.

“I’ll have you know that I actually brought a shovel, I don’t need your equipment!”

“Really, how surprising. Did you bring a pot as well?”

“...”

“...”

“... can I borrow one of yours?”

“Well, I’ll have YOU know…”

And as your bickering echoed across the mountaintop, bringing life to the abandoned trails of a once vibrant mountain, the flowers almost seemed to grow just a little bit more.

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

“Baizhu, what’s that flower sitting over by the window? I’ve never seen anything like it before?”

“Ah Traveler, you have a good eye! It’s called True Love’s Bloom. However, those are actually two flowers. My spouse and I planted them in the same pot when we got married all those years ago and they have grown together over time, becoming so intertwined we can’t separate them. I like to keep them close to me at work, to remind me of my dearest.”

“Your spouse? I didn’t know you were married!”

“You didn’t? I could’ve sworn I had mentioned it? Well then, I shall have to tell you the story of how we met. It all started with them stupidly trying to climb a mountain…”

Guys, this was so much longer than I intended wtf. This was supposed to be a SHORT STORY to go with two other arranged marriage stories. I seriously need to throw my plans out the window at this point. Anyway, I love writing sassy characters, even though im shit at banter, so hopefully this is good/funny?

[i-literally-cant-with-this]

A/N ::: So, I was trying to work something out about Kafka's ass and the sparse amount of hair on it that he's self-conscious about but holy god, I couldn't do it. I started like 4 different things, all of which were not even close to what I was going for. So, here we are. With another idea I had about Florist!Kafka. I had this idea yesterday, I think. Thank goodness I can check this off of my to-do list. There are too many now. It's getting bad, guys. My feelings for this man are becoming an issue lol. Anyway. I about vomited when I finished this because the ending could not have been more perfect (for me?). I love it. I hope you guys like it too!

C/W ::: None. Just more smooshy lovey shit. Sorry not sorry. Maybe I'll carry on with this after the fact. Idk. Let me know if I should whip something up for later? Like after the initial thingy happens?

WC ::: 621 ish

Florist!Kafka has seen you walk past his little pop-up shop every day for the last 2 weeks and he feels like if he doesn't get to talk to you, he'll burst. He does what he can to get your attention and he'll smile at you. You smile back, politely, sure. But that's becoming not enough. He wants to talk to you. With you.

Florist!Kafka has had enough when he sees you making a run for it from one side of the street to the other when it's raining and he's sitting comfortable and dry under the large umbrella that covers his portable cart. He calls out, jogging toward you with an extra umbrella he has.

Florist!Kafka who trips over his own feet and goes flying through the air, knocking you over, too. You're both laying in the biggest puddle you've ever had the displeasure of encountering. Not only that, but he's lying on top of you, face to face. You can feel his breath fanning across the bridge of your nose.

Florist!Kafka who jumps up faster than he ever has gets right to work on helping you, making sure you're ok and that you didn't hit your head or anything like that. He apologizes profusely, offering you to come sit down at his cart to rest for a moment - to collect yourself, were his exact words.

Florist!Kafka who wanted nothing more than for you to take him up on the offer so he could spend more time with you. More importantly, so he could ease his mind and actually see you get some rest. You're always rushing off to one place or another and he wants to see you just "BE".

Florist!Kafka who is delighted beyond words when you agree to go sit with him for a moment, "to collect yourself," as he put it. You thought it was sweet how he was fussing over you. He wouldn't take no for an answer when he offered you a bottle of water. So, you took it, graciously. Thanking him for his kindness but reiterating that he doesn't have to go through this much trouble for you.

Florist!Kafka who disappears around the other side of his mobile stand for a couple of minutes and comes back with a single yellow rose with a bunch of black tulle floofed up around the stem and an unnecessary apology for you. He blames his uncharacteristically clumsy nature on how pretty you are - this isn't the first time you've made him slip up.

Florist!Kafka who blushes when he sees how happy his observation (and the rose) made you. He wants to ask you out so badly but he's not feeling the bravest right now - despite his ability to fight actual monsters when he's really "working". Love is a beast he has not conquered yet. Though he's reveling in the strength you give him just from being there. He could kill a thousand kaiju after a single kiss from you.

Florist!Kafka who hopes you are ok when he lets you leave him to go off and take a second shot at your day. He watches you all the way until you turn the corner at the end of the block and disappear. He smiles for the next 15 minutes straight because he got to be with you for a short amount of time. But still, he had some lingering thoughts.

Florist!Kafka who worries you won’t find the little note he put in the tulle. 

Florist!Kafka whose lingering thoughts were all shattered when his phone alerted him to a new notification; a text. From you! He opened his phone, scrolling right away to read the message ...

"Meet me where I fell for you. Come hungry. - Y/n"

@kazutora-kurokawa @southside-otaku

@reiners-milkbiddies @darkstarlight82

@bakubunny @supersecretsaga @katkusuo

[strangerquinns]

Deadly Reunion| Chapter 27

Eddie Munson x female!reader // a stranger things apocalypse au

summary: You and Eddie have been best friends since childhood. But when the outbreak happened five years ago, you were torn from one another in the chaos. but now you’re left alone, after your group was killed by another radical crew, leaving you to seek out what was once home. // zombie apocalypse Hawkins set in 1993

warnings: angst + adult themes w/ descriptions of violence, blood, torture + other zombie apocalypse related issues (no use of y/n)

word count:2K+

⪻ previous chapter | next chapter ⪼ | stranger things masterlist | chapter one

Eddie never thought of himself to be a lucky man. He was the kid who lived in a trailer park with his Uncle cause his dead-beat father couldn’t handle raising him. Not after Eddie’s mother died.

Wayne took Eddie in once he heard his once brother-in-law was leaving his ten-year-old son home, nearly starving, so he could steal some care or do some drugs.

That was maybe the one time Eddie thought of himself as lucky now that he really thinks about it.

Eddie didn’t even want to imagine what his life would be like if he was raised by his father.

But after that, Eddie was never lucky again.

Bullied relentlessly through middle and high school by the same group of kids who saw him as nothing but a freak. All because he refused to fit into the cookie-cutter life everyone else in Hawkins seemed to fall into eventually.

He repeated high school more times than he’d like to admit.

Even when Eddie thought his luck was changing and Corroded Coffin was finally discovered, signed a record deal, and started recording an album.

The world ended, cutting his dreams and the life he knew short.

Now Eddie doesn’t really understand the cruel joke that is continuing to play out as he lives each day through. Where he had to stand back and watch friends and family die – Eddie was still here. Going through each day just hoping to be able to wake up alive the next.

But then you came back into his life – then Eddie thought he was once again a lucky man.

After years of the two of you being apart, by some miracle or way of god, you stumbled back into his life.

But then Eddie had never felt fear like when you collapsed into his arms.

When you were hurt before – Gareth was there to tell him that you were ok before he even saw you. He didn’t have his other best friend this time to tell him that everything was ok. Not when your eyes rolled into the back of your head, and you dropped limp into his arms. Eddie scrambled to catch you before your head smacked down against the ground beneath you. He didn’t have someone to tell him that you were okay as blood started coming into your ears, not a lot, but enough to cause worry.

No matter how much Eddie shook you to have you wake up, you lay there in his arms. Barely breathing, eyes not opening.

Steve was the one to snap him out of it, reminding him that they needed to get back to camp. Eddie gathered you in his arms and ran like he’d never run before. Ignoring the way his body screamed out in pain as he carried you in his arms. Instead, focus on the path in front of him and the warmth of your body against his. Behind him, Steve and Wendy ran alongside him, the entire way till they got back to camp.

Covering Eddie’s 6 whenever it was needed – thankful that the colder weather caused packs of Flayed to be sparse.

“Open the gate! Open the gate!” Steve shouted as the gate of the Camp came into view.

The men above moved quickly to pull the gate open, allowing the three of them through. Eddie didn’t stop to speak with anyone as he passed others through the front lawn of the Lab or through the main entrance. Instead, he went straight to Gareth, once again praying that his friend would be able to help.

“What happened?” Gareth asked, working quickly as he examined you.

“I-I don’t know,” Eddie spoke in a rush, “We got separated. When we finally found each other she collapsed not long after.”

Gareth nodded his head as he pointed a small flashlight into your eyes, feeling a small spark of relief when your pupils dilated.

“We need space, Eddie. I’m sorry.” Gareth explained, already pushing on his friend's chest. Pushing him away from you.

His throat choked with panic as his dark eyes focused on you.

“The medical wing is filling up with more people than we’re prepared for. I will do everything I can, but please.” Gareth spoke again before Eddie was out the double doors.

Eddie stood there and looked through the small circular window as he saw Gareth walk back to you. He didn’t get to watch for long – not as the curtain was pulled and everything was out of sight. Steve and Wendy came running down the hall as Eddie leaned against the wall, dropping his hands to his knees, and letting out a pathetic cry.

Eddie didn’t care that he looked weak at that moment.

He didn’t care what others would think of him as the tears moved down his dirt and blood-stained face.

All he could think was that finally his luck ran out and he was going to lose you.

Eddie’s leg anxiously bounced as he sat at your bedside, his eyes focused on your bruised face, the need to sleep causing a headache to form.

“You need to go and get some rest,” a gentle voice spoke from his left.

Blonde hair and bright blue eyes looked down at him with a gentle smile spreading across her lips. She walked to the empty side of your bed and bent down to overcheck the dressings wrapped around your ribs. You refractured the little healing your ribs did from your last injury.

That wasn’t the scariest part.

No. The scariest came from when no one was able to figure out what the damage to your head.

After speaking with Wendy, who was in a quarantine room currently, Gareth was able to determine that you had smacked your head when fighting with Henry. The additional head trauma to what you’d already been through, on top of the possible concussion – your body had simply been through too much.

No matter how much Gareth tried to tell him that rest was good, that your body needed it, needed it to heal. Eddie didn’t care. He wouldn’t believe that you were okay till you once again opened your eyes.

“I’m sorry…what?” Eddie spoke, blinking his eyes a few times to relieve some of the fatigue he was feeling.

“You should go and get some rest. Staying up and torturing yourself isn’t going to help her out at all.” Chrissy, one of the new volunteers for the medical wing spoke. “I’m sure she’d want you to take care of yourself, no?”

Eddie didn’t answer even though he knew that she was right. They sat in a long moment of silence as Chrissy checked you over, it wasn’t till she was about to leave that he spoke.

“I don’t want to leave her,” Eddie spoke softly. So soft, Chrissy wasn’t sure if she heard him at all. “Not when she needs me.”

Chrissy smiled slightly, with nothing but gentleness in her eyes, “Go and shower, get some sleep, eat, and come back. If she wakes before you can make it back here, I’ll come and get you myself.”

Eddie opened his mouth, but she raised a hand to stop him.

“You’re covered in dirt, blood, and god knows what else. She is not going to want to see you like that. Trust me,”

Eddie nodded his head, “The moment she wakes?”

“I will come and get you.” Chrissy agreed.

Eddie sat there for a moment, his dark moon eyes falling on your form, before looking back to Chrissy and standing. He took a half step forward before sweeping back your hair, and bending down, to brush his lips against your forehead.

“I’ll be back, sweetheart, I promise,” Eddie whispered before kissing your forehead again.

“Thank you,” Eddie said to Chrissy before walking away from your bedside and heading toward his trailer.

Where he took a cold shower, washed the dirt from his pale skin, and changed his clothes before crawling back into bed.

It didn’t take much effort for sleep to take over his mind.

But when the dreams did come – he was once again just a boy from a trailer park but this time holding the girl that he loved most.

Eddie walked slowly around his trailer as the early morning started to come up through the trees. The sleep that he had wanted, more so needed, barely came. He spent more time tossing and turning with worry than anything else. He poured his coffee into a worn mug he’d kept in a cupboard. It was weird for him to walk around and not hear you padding around in the bedroom or bathroom.

But he tried not to focus on that, knowing it would only cause his worry to increase, but it was there in the back of his mind. Instead, he dressed and headed out of his trailer and to the main area of the Camp. He helped out with those who needed it and picked up a little more work wherever it was seen needed. They had lost a few people – meaning there were fewer hands in some areas to keep the Camp running.

“We might need to run a raid soon, Hopper said that some of the supplies are running down quickly, especially medical needs,” Steve spoke as he and Eddie worked with unloading some of the food grabbed from the small garden. The last few crops it seemed with the weather getting colder.

“I had a feeling that would be coming up,” Eddie sighed, wiping away his curls from his forehead. “Do we even have enough for a run?”

“We’d either have to gather new recruits or with a smaller group.” Steve shrugged.

Eddie hesitated for a moment, “How is Robin? I haven’t seen her around since we’ve come back.”

“Not…not great.” Steve paused for a moment before continuing, “Losing Vicki really seemed to send her over. It’s going to take some time.”

Eddie nodded his head in understanding before continuing to finish up their project. Once the two men were done, they headed back up to the main floor. Eddie couldn’t help but look down the hallway that led toward the medical wing. Steve caught the moment and saw the frown that deepened on his friend's face.

“How is she?” Steve asked with a soft voice.

A heavy sigh passed through Eddie’s lips, looking down as his hands grasped together tightly.

“I-I don’t really know outside of that she had suffered some trauma to her head, or at least that’s what Gareth is saying was the cause. Not much they can really do with the little that they have.” Eddie looked to his friend, “I’m trying not to hover and be in the way, but…it’s hard…I worry. I can’t go back to how it was before she was here, Steve. I can’t.”

“Who said that you have to? Why would that thought come into your mind, man.” Steve spoke hurriedly.

“I can’t help it.” Eddie shook his head, “I just…can’t help it.”

Eddie sighed heavily and walked the trail back to his trailer, before changing out of his clothes, and into something more comfortable. And then he walked the path once again and down to the medical wing. He walked by a few that he saw resting in the cots, a few tending to them, or family sitting with them.

But his focus was on you and only you.

You were tucked beneath the blanket that was draped across you, fresh bandages along your knuckles and forehead. Eddie grabbed the chair that sat pressed against the wall beside your bed before taking a seat. Your face was still serene from the deep sleep you were in despite the bruises that decorated your face.

“Hey, sweetheart,” Eddie spoke as he reached over and grabbed your hand gently, before continuing and telling you about his day.

Hoping in some way it would not only bring you comfort.

But have you come back to him.

I hope that you enjoy the new chapter, a short little filler. Please reblog, like, or comment if you enjoyed it!

@mopeymopeymouse / @aris-house / @brxkenartt /@akiratoro420

@stylesxmunson/ @aactuaaltraash / @fandomgirl17 / @ches-86/ @chaoticcancer / @munsonology / @bellamy-barnes / @theonlyh3artbreaker / @idkidknemore / @familyvideowithsteve / @eddiesdingus / @thefemininemystiquee / @the-world-is-a-mess-and-so-am-i / @xdarkcreaturex / @lunr-flwr / @cherry-omi/ @im-emma22@munson-enthusiast / @munsonmecrazy / @jupitar-jul / @katiemrty/ @maddie-luvs-eddie /@eddiemusworld/ @ih3artdanielle / @eddiesguitarskills / @hargrovesswifee /@chaoticcancer / @rh1nestonecowg1rl / @atombombbibunny /@munson-enthusiast / @hellf-1-re / @fangirling-4-ever / @corrcdedcoffin /@sidthedollface2 / @emma77645 / @eddiiiieeee /@beep-beep-sherlock / @moldy-khunt / @bokutoswifey /@trixyvixx / @lma1986 / @plk-18 / @sav12321

[goorehound]

YOU WRITE FOR WATCH DOGS 2!?!?! Holy shit, sorry haha 😅 I got excited because I thought no one wrote for that game anymore

May I ask for anything, literally anything, with Wrench and a gn reader? I saw in your bio that requests were open? However, if that's not the case, feel free to ignore this.

Anywho, have a pleasant day!

you are my new favourite. i was dying for somebody to request some Wrench stuff, and I’m more than happy to oblige. I picked out a prompt from my prompt list to help me get an idea, and hopefully it hits the spot! this was super rushed because I was eager to get it out (I was way too excited for this dude)

#21 acting even more foolish around them than before

mildly nsfw, 18+, Wrench x GN!reader

Heart Eyes

Wrench was a weird fucking dude. It did not take long for one to notice that - three minutes in a conversation with him will give that away easily. So you were used to his odd behaviour and it barely made a blip on your radar. It was just Wrench being Wrench.

But lately things had felt a little stranger - specifically within the last couple weeks. It started with something small, nothing wildly absurd. He’d come over to you from his own work station, his finger rested in the hole of a donut that he then presented to you.

You looked up briefly from your work to accept it, giving a double take as you eased it off his finger. “Thanks?” You’d expected to see a box, assuming that Wrench had just gone on a coffee run for everyone and brought back some treats.

“You’re welcome.”

But it was just him and a singular donut. Wherever he’d gotten that from.

He nodded, watching silently as he clamped his hands behind his back as you took a bite - furrowing your brows and giving him a weird look before starting to return to your work with mild amusement.

“Cool.” He’d said decisively before fucking back off to whatever he was currently taking apart. Okay. The energy there had been kind of awkward, but it was mere seconds later that you completely forgot it.

The next scenario could certainly be brushed off as simply a drunken slip up. You had all been drinking after a success, celebrating and sharing jokes while lounging in the common area.

Your conversation with Josh had just finished up and you turned, intending to share the joke you’d told with Wrench. You heard a garbled noise and some static before Wrench lurched forward and hung his head down, startling enough that you jolted backwards.

“You okay? What’s up?” You crowded a bit closer after the initial surprise, bracing a hand on his shoulder. He spluttered and coughed before nodding, and you could see liquid dripping slowly out of his mask.

“Did you,” You were already starting to laugh. “Did you talk with a mouthful of beer?”

Another pathetic nod before he was placing the half empty bottle on the table and pushing himself off the couch.

“Be right back.” He muttered out and oh my god. Perhaps it was simply the buzz you were riding but in his absence you and Marcus laughed yourselves sick over it.

The next time you guys had gathered for a hangout, not nearly as jovial as the last and with far less alcohol, a more melancholy gathering. It had been a shitty day for everyone and you’d all congregated on the couch to offer moral support, quiet and sparse conversations.

Wrench gave a heaving - dramatic - sigh and fiddled with his phone. “Alright. I’m gonna go for a smoke.” He turned to you this time, LEDs displaying question marks. “Do you wanna come for me?”

Flashing exclamation points.

“With.” He corrected in a rush, sitting straight up. “With. Do you wanna come with me? Fuck. Never mind.” And then he was practically booking it out the door, leaving you with a startled and amused smile on your face. You caught Horatio out of the corner of your eye, his chin was tucked against his chest and he was shaking his head. Clearly trying to hold back laughter.

You didn’t think much of these things. They were just funny. Maybe Wrench was just a bit out of it lately, and it was all pretty funny.

Like when he’d aimed to lean his hip against the counter when you were explaining some programming to him, and he’d completely overshot it and ate shit.

Or when you two had gone out drinking alone and you’d stumbled out of the booth, and his instinctive reaction had been to reach out to steady you. He’d torn his arm back like he’d been burned when he instead ended up with a handful of your ass, apologizing profusely and ending up with his face buried in his arms for the next ten minutes.

But when you followed that up with the time you bent over to get something and he sliced his hand open with a loud and very aggravated cursing fit, his sudden fascination with getting you food or some little gift when he was out for a while, or the way he’d begun almost stumbling over himself to talk to you or be there one to sit next to you - him being weird didn’t quite cover it anymore.

Okay. You were giving yourself too much credit. You’d seen some heart eyes flashing in your direction. Literal, bright white hearts.

So you made the connection. Maybe a bit slower than the rest of your friends, but you weren’t that oblivious. And you weren’t uninterested. You’d been entertaining that idea since the first week of knowing Wrench, the whole spikes, tattoos, voice-modulator and dorky personality had really done it for you.

You couldn’t recall what Wrench had been rambling about, his half delirious rantings that fit perfectly in the far too early hours of the mornings. Each of you perched on the couch with your own red bulls, keeping the place alive long after everyone had called it quits for the night.

Eventually, when Wrench kept stumbling over his words and cracking lamer jokes than usual, you placed down your drink. Watching the bright question marks light up when you shuffled closer to him, wordlessly grabbing either side of his head and delicately planting a kiss on the front of his mask - careful to avoid the spikes.

Honestly it was a little scary when the usually expressive screen went black. Unresponsive. Slowly, as the fear that you’d misunderstood crept in, you released his face. When you started to ease out of his face he sat up hastily.

Snagging your wrist to keep you from drifting too fair. “Wait, wait, wait.” He spoke in a rush, reaching up to practically rip the mask off of his face. It was his turn now to cradle each side of your face and lead you into a proper kiss.

His lips were warm. Slightly chapped, but you you didn’t really find yourself minding all that much. Soon enough he was pulling you into his lap, running his hands over your back soothingly while the spikes of his vest dug into your palms where you braved yourself against him.

“Fuck, you taste good.” He complimented, which brought a smile to your lips.

“That’s the redbull.”

“Oh.” Was paired with perhaps the sweetest little laugh you’d ever heard, and you were quick to join in until you were both chuckling heartily. And then he was kissing you again, stealing all the air from your lungs and making you dizzy. His hands were firm on your back, just as firm as yours were against him. Reminding each other that this was not some sleep deprived lucid dream.

Teeth were nibbling at your lips, and he kept letting out these bitten off noises that made your head spin, and fuck. You could get used to this.

[klm-zoflorr]

My headcanons for the heads of the Magnus Institute- Part 2!

Part 1

Joseph Winsley (1903-1934)

This dude was closer to the previous head's affairs, to the higher administration of the Magnus Institute (which is by now a pretty recognized establishment). And also pretty ambitious. So it didn't come as a surprise when he became the next Head.

Joseph Winsley came from a very religious family. I don't think Jonah cares. He has his own god of terror (or like, gods. Fourteen of them lol) to bother with.

This body has dark hair arranged in a fashionable wave and pale skin, he looks a bit like a vampire. He's got literally the best mustache, thick and beautiful. He has a slim nose, practically non existent lips and in general looks a bit like a lizard. He has a very deep voice, and in retrospect I think he'll end up being one of Jonah's favorite bodies.

This era is somewhat characterised by darker tones, during this time he was wearing dark blues and greens. That's around this time Jonah started to make the shift from reds to greens. This was a very slow process lmao. Also, hats were very much a thing at this time. Jonah never liked hats, not a big hat guy he is, but for once he sucks it up and puts on a top hat.

Anyways, Joseph was 35 when Jonah took over and 66 when he booked it off. I think by this point Jonah got a bit more comfortable with extending his stays. Joseph Winsley disappeared under mysterious circumstances around the time of the new year, which means the next Head was appointed the year after.

Pictured: 40's, 50's and 60's

Richard Mendelson (1935-1973)

The body Jonah stayed in the longest so far, from when Richard was 31 to when he was 69. Richard stayed in relatively good health, so there wasn't a need for a change.

He has a flat, low nose, I guess you could call his face gaunt? With hard lines. He looks a bit like a predator and his lips are constantly curled in a sort of smirk. He has huge ears.

After the world's best mustache, you've got the world's shittiest stache. Jonah still loves it, this freak. Plus some sparse, low brows. Richard really doesn't have much in the way of facial hair. He does have glorious hair though, wavy and thick and chocolate far beyond the moment he should have been greying. And he is rocking these undercuts baby.

Oh, yeah. This one wears glasses (more as a statement, Jonah never needs glasses). He's also VERY tall, and built like a stick, with narrow poking shoulders.

I did promise suspenders and I delivered, thank you very much.

[satureja13]

Next morning. Jack sneaked out. Ji Ho and Vlad are still sound asleep. The main work of doing their Bond Magic is still on them and it drains them. Despite the devices. Vlad will hate it. He wanted to spare Ji Ho from all this...

Jack went over to the garage to work on their rooms. They need more place to sleep. He is still amazed how easy and fast these machines build furniture and stuff! Out of trash and junk!

Meanwhile Jeb, Saiwa and Kiyoshi went to the kitchen. Jeb insists that Saiwa is cooking today with Kiyoshi - to help him come back... Sai can't get over how Jeb put Kiyoshi over him. Saiwa had always been jealous of Kiyoshi and Jeb. Jeb didn't even hesitate agreeing to their fake relationship! How far will this go?

Jeb dwells on his own thoughs. He knows that Saiwa always had a crush on Kiyoshi. Everyone has. That's just how Kiyoshi is. But he is his best friend and he trusts him unconditionally. And he would do anything to bring him back. Even though Kiyoshi could never tell him much about his duties for the Council, the Resistance and the Temple.

But watching them together makes Jeb think if it was the right decision. What will he do when this fated-mates-thing is true? Did Kiyoshi love Saiwa all the time and just never told them because Kiyoshi knew how much he loved Saiwa? Did he give up on Saiwa so they could be together? Gods - the way Kiyoshi looks at him... Will Jeb be able to give up on Saiwa so Kiyoshi and Saiwa can be together? ö.Ö'

Ji Ho and Vlad eventually got up and they gathered for breakfast. They are so happy to be all together again <3 Ji Ho couldn't avoid to bring up the fact that they'll have to pay back Francine, Rubyn, Dtui and Leander (Vlad growled when he heard Ji Ho mentioning him ^^') for their help. But all of them agreed that they'd happily earn money the best they can to pay back. This place - their home - is more than they could ever hope for! Of course they would work to keep and earn it!

They discussed their possibilities. Jack could sell his amazing nectar, Vlad his paintings... And they'd have to find a way to send their produce to the Muggle World. The Otherworld is populated too sparsely. Jeb: "Vanië, you could start programming again and even develop computer games!" Saiwa: "Uh - I'm good with computers - but there's a lot more to a game than just programming the code. I would have to compose the music and sounds, make up and write the story and dialogues and then all the design stuff and concept art. I can't do any of these things."

If only Saiwa would know some creatures who are capable of all these things... ;) (Vlad is writer, Ji Ho composer and Jack draws ^^')

After breakfast Jack took Ji Ho upstairs. He decorated a room for him.

Ji Ho: "Gods, Jack - this is too much. It even looks better than your room!" Jack: "What? Nothing looks better than my Space House Boat!"

There is even a bathtub at the balcony with view on the river! And Jack even made a corner with all of Ji Ho's music stuff!

Ji Ho: "Thank you, Jack. It's so beautiful!"

Jack: "You have the best view of all of our rooms. Right on the river." Ji Ho: "It's stunning. Wow."

Then they talked a bit about their 'learn how to love lessons' and pondered about how Ji Ho could be able to learn how to love Vlad... Jack: "Let's go to the temple and visit Arturo later. I have to see him anyway, my pain gets worse again. He'll have advice for us." Ji Ho: "I hope so. I hate to see Vlad suffer because of me."

When will you ever learn when there's nowhere left to turn Don't let your spirit burn I'll wait 'till you return

All the dreams that we were building We never lived them We could lose it, we should use it Lessons in love - Level 42

From the Beginning  ~  Underwater Love ~  Latest 🛺 'Home happy Home' from the beginning ▶️ here 📚 Previous Chapters: 🛺 'Home crappy Home' from the beginning ▶️ here 🌴 'The Expedition' from the beginning ▶️ here 🎤 'Putting the Boys Back together' from the beginning ▶️ here 🥀 'Disbandment of the Group' from the beginning ▶️ here

[nightimedreamersworld]

Wip Wednesday

Thank you for the tags today, lovelies @aroace-genderfluid-sheep and @forabeatofadrum your wips are so good ❤️

I've been a bit out of the loop for the past couple weeks, so still looking through past WIP posts I've missed, but everything rn is so good. I'm so excited to see what yall have come up with for podfest!

Right now, I'm still focused on my two wips for CORB (which starts in two weeks 😳). I admit I'm not as far along as I'd like on either fic, so I'm doing NaNoWriMo as a way to try and write as much as possible this month.

Here's a snippet of each, both Simon POV

Wip#1 (as of yet untitled, help):

“Do you believe in prophetic dreams?” I ask over a mouthful of scone.  This time, I ambush Penny during breakfast, no need to wait too long.  Her eyebrows shoot up. “Oh, I think so? Like, divination—”  “Is a whole science, as well as Oneiromancy, yeah, yeah.” Her frown deepens even more, and I push on. “But can you, like, predict the future through dreams?”  Penny chews, pensively. “It’s possible,” she finally says. “But it isn’t simple. Our dreams—”  “Can’t show us the whole truth, yeah, I know.” I pull at my hair; we’ve had this exact conversation before, haven’t we?  Penny crosses her arms. “Well, if you already know everything, then why are you asking me?”  “Forget it,” I mutter. “It’s just…”  Across the dining hall, I catch Baz looking at me, head cocked to the side. His hair is perfectly slicked back. It wasn’t like that before.  I look back at Penny. “I had a dream. About Baz.”  She rolls her eyes. “Don’t tell me about it. You know erotic dreams don’t necessarily reflect on people’s inner desire—”  “What?” I sputter. Erotic? Baz?

For wip#2, have a bit of Simon thirst:

I have no problem admitting Baz is fit as fuck; anyone with eyes can see that. Thing is, that just makes working with him even worse.  It should be a redeeming quality, but somehow Baz manages to weaponize his looks as well. He’s just better than everyone else, in every aspect, and he knows it. I can’t wait to find out all the ways he’ll rub his hotness in my face when we’re pressed up together, hanging by a strap God-knows-how-many feet above the ground.  I drag myself to the gym, already knowing he’ll be there. Silently taunting me.  He’s already up on his canes, one arm outstretched, the other one holding up the weight of his whole body. Both his legs are pointing to the right. His shirt is a light pink, almost sheer, dotted with a pattern of delicate flowers. It shows off the dark hair on his chest, and I have to make myself look away.  Most performers shave off—I don’t even need to, my body hair is just naturally sparse—but Baz never does. Maybe he thinks he’s better than the rest of us in that regard, too.  Like this, I can count all his ribs. His arse looks criminal. His movements look graceful and fucking ruthless at the same time.

Tagging a few friends: @artsyunderstudy @rimeswithpurple @cutestkilla @bookish-bogwitch @facewithoutheart @alexalexinii @j-nipper-95 (see above: the fruits of our sprints lol) @valeffelees @prettygoododds @captain-aralias @letraspal @hushed-chorus @you-remind-me-of-the-babe @confused-bi-queer @whogaveyoupermission @larkral @iamamythologicalcreature @whatevertheweather @stitchyqueer @martsonmars @aristocratic-otter @blackberrysummerblog and anyone else who'd like to join!

[lqtraintracks]

Hey! I'm curious, pls indulge me: which book or fic that you've read in 2023 has made the most impression and why? x

Hi M! Great question! I waited to answer it until Wireless reveals posted! Under a cut because I went off lol. <3

A note about @hd-wireless in particular. There were so many fics that I missed reading simply because I started running out of reading steam, particularly my ability to sit down with a longer story. Posting also coincided with the end of writing my novel and I chose writing over reading in order to actually get the book finished. There are LOADS more great stories in this fest, is what I'm saying, but there were two that I read that simply sang to me.

About This Place by @academicdisasterfic Summary: Harry left everything, including Draco. Harry’s returned to everything, including Draco.

Things are never quite so simple, though perhaps they could be. My comment on it: The way this felt so viscerally real from the get-go, like... you put us right on the street. I could feel it in my body. And the queer joy tag was so spot-on! I wanted to cheer for them in this world! Your writing is absolutely breathtaking. Love love LOVE.

Sun Thief by @floydig Summary: “You’re stunning,” Harry blurts out, because Draco is pink-cheeked and his mouth is bitten and plump. Gasping beneath Harry, working his cock in his fist. “Say my name when you come?”

It’s 2005, and Draco Malfoy says, “Fuck the Ministry,” Harry works as a handyman in muggle London, and Draco should really stop pissing off the Squib gangs.

Or: Harry beats up a pimp and isn’t sorry about it, Draco deals black market potions, and they’re shagging. Again.

My comment: This fic was absolutely beautiful and moving and I LOVE the way you wrote it, the style, the voice (the subtraction of subjects from their sentences just made it seem like… Idk a way for them to keep themselves safe, to not have to say 'You' or 'I' or 'We', to own any of it, like this gruff little defensive mechanism made out of language and its omissions--I loved it!), the sparse and perfect use of details, like you drew them down from on high. Amazing stuff.

Also, I beta'd a story for @hp-lawofattraction-fest that I can't talk about but has fucking killed me dead, it's so good! :zipper mouth emoji: The fest starts posting Monday! <333

And then there are BOOKS! These are the books that have absolutely floored me so far:

To Paradise by Hanya Yanagihara A Lady for a Duke by Alexis Hall

Trust by Hernan Diaz

The New Life by Tom Crewe

and I just started a fucking banger:

Dancer from the Dance by Andrew Holleran

All literary fiction plus one beautiful romance that I will never get out of my head or my heart and I don't want to try! Yanagihara's name speaks for itself, but I think she's become an even more masterful writer since A Little Life. To Paradise will still rip your heart clean out of your chest but in a subtler fashion (still mostly queer though). Trust won the Pulitzer this year, along with Kingsolver's Demon Copperhead which I haven't gotten to yet. This book was EXQUISITE. What a writer! It's up there near The Goldfinch for me! The New Life and Dancer are both queer lit fic and very, very well done! A Lady for a Duke... God, it just stole my heart! I'm in love with the pairing of Viola and Gracewood! What a gorgeous trans love story!

Thanks for the lovely Ask! May I ask the same question of you? <3

[denimbex1986]

BRIE LARSON: Hi.

ANDREW SCOTT: Hi, Brie.

LARSON: Hi, Andrew, thanks for coming over.

SCOTT: Thank you, it's pretty tidy.

LARSON: I tidied up for you; I know how you like it.

SCOTT: You know the way I like it. You got my text: 'Make sure it's sparse.'

LARSON: Yes. So I'm excited to talk to you because I don't know how to talk about acting at all, so maybe you can teach me to talk about it or what we do - because I don't even know.

SCOTT: Yeah, it's hard to talk about.

LARSON: First of all, do you know how to act?

SCOTT: I don't know how to act.

LARSON: That's what I thought - nope, not at all. Don't know. So I'm glad that we got there first - we can get that out of the way.

SCOTT: You started as a kid, so it's playing when you're a kid.

LARSON: Yeah, exactly.

SCOTT: And then it turns into acting.

LARSON: That's exactly right. Well, I didn't know that there was anything beyond auditions for a very long time, so I was devastated when I learned that I wasn't actually booking anything.

SCOTT: Oh my God, that is so sweet.

Yeah, I thought that was it.

SCOTT: Did your parents just not tell you - ?

LARSON: That there was more? I think they just assumed I understood, but I didn't and that mentality actually really works because then I really started to enjoy the audition - at certain points.

SCOTT: Yeah.

LARSON: Sometimes it's very hard of course but -

SCOTT: Yeah.

LARSON: Just to think that the audition is -

ANDREW SCOTT: The thing is an opportunity to act.

LARSON: To learn, exactly - yeah.

SCOTT: When was the last time you auditioned for anything?

LARSON: Not that long ago. I insisted that I do it because I wasn't sure if I could do it. The team believed in me but I was like - it was so far away from anything that I had done I was like: 'I don't even know how to grasp this' so - ...What about you?

SCOTT: It's been a while since I auditioned, and I sort of - I sort of miss it because you know the way you used to come out of auditions, and you'd be sort of elated - you'd be flushed with excitement? And then if you didn't get it, if you did a good audition, you would be sort of thrilled and you, you'd be okay. It's when you don't get the audition; I think it's so hard for us actors - is when you don't get a chance to get in the room.

LARSON: Yeah.

SCOTT: And then if you've done your best, and you go: 'Okay, well they've gone with somebody that's famous or they've gone with somebody that looks completely different to you', then you don't mind.

LARSON: Yeah.

SCOTT: But I love the idea that you can sort of test it out for yourself a little bit, because we don't have much power.

LARSON: No. No actually very limited - I've learned...So, you didn't start as a kid -

SCOTT: Well I sort of did, a little bit.

LARSON: I thought so.

SCOTT: I just did a - I did a little, not like um -

LARSON: You did theatre?

SCOTT: A little bit of the theatre and commercials when I was a kid.

LARSON: Cute.

SCOTT: And I was reading that you were shy as a kid.

LARSON: Yeah. Not anymore. I’m totally fine now. I’m totally confident and cool.

SCOTT: That's - I, really related to you when I was reading that, because that’s kind of why I started as a kid.

LARSON: Interesting.

SCOTT: I think there’s a slight myth about actors — that they’re very outgoing or sort of precocious in some ways -

LARSON: Yeah.

SCOTT: - and, um, or confident in some ways. So did you ask to, to start acting?

LARSON: I did, yeah. My parents were chiropractors; they wasn't - that wasn't in the family or anything, and I was super shy; so my mom was like: 'She must be repeating something', I wouldn’t let it go. And when I think back on it, I mean, of course, it’s changed the course of my life in so many ways, but it - at a young age, at a time when I was so shy and had such a hard time expressing myself, looking people in the eye, at like 6 years old, I was basically given, like, 'OK, here’s a script for how you have a conversation.'

SCOTT: Oh my God, totally - totally.

LARSON: So it's like the actual, like, fiber of how I understand how to like, have pleasant conversations with people is based upon weekly acting sessions.

SCOTT: Absolutely; and then you all of a sudden, I - I used to go to these drama classes on a Saturday, and I would be fully shaking before I go in. And then you’d have to do like - get up in front of your other 7-, 8-year-olds, and do an improvisation, or say a poem or something.

LARSON: Oh no.

SCOTT: And something just happened where you go 'Oh' - it's like an - a weird sort of escape from yourself or, or something. And I feel like - I don’t feel like it’s an overstatement to say that I think it’s, it's completely changed my life — not just my,my career. I think if I didn't - I had a really bad lisp when I was a kid as well, so I had to do elocutions - elocution lessons. I had to go, “He sees seashells by the seashore,” and all that stuff, and it just completely got rid of it, and got rid of so much stuff that you go to, to play - it actually can really, really help you.

LARSON: Yeah, I really think so.

SCOTT: And do you feel shy now? (they laugh) No, no, no - but do you feel shy - do like it's helped you like -

LARSON: Yeah.

SCOTT: - because you have to do so many public facing -?

LARSON: I had to face myself in so many different ways; that’s part of the thing that I actually seek now....I mean, I’m so grateful that I had so much rejection growing up. It’s wild.

SCOTT: It toughens you up.

LARSON: And maybe you had a similar thing where like - I was very much like a slow burn in my career. It was not easy for me. I’d get close to things, so I knew that I had something, but I wasn’t booking, or I’d book like one job a year or something — just enough to give me hope....It gave me so much experience so that when I was given the opportunities, I was truly ready for it.

SCOTT: Absolutely, absolutely.

LARSON: I never had a time on set where I was like, 'Oh, gosh. This is bigger than what I understand.'

SCOTT: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah.

LARSON: It was always, like, well paced...now when I look back on it, I'm like: 'Oh someone was looking out for me.'

SCOTT: Absolutely. Because to be exposed too early, you know, to be able to sort of play around without too much scrutiny I think is so beneficial. I think that people who get an awful lot of scrutiny at an early, early age, I think, find it harder to experiment a little bit, because auditioning is experimenting because you're going up to play a policeman and a detective and then a psycho in a thing and you're like: 'Well, I don't know, you choose.' So you're playing with all those different sides of yourself, whereas if you're cast in something that's very famous when you're 20 - I don't know, you can - you have to work quite hard to sort of, to sort of, um, you know, get yourself out of that, that, that, that space - so it’s good that I was unemployed for so long.

LARSON: It turns out I’m so happy that it seemed like it wasn’t working out for me! Look at us now! But, yeah, when I was stalking you online, I was like, “Wow, it feels similar.”

SCOTT: Yeah, similar vibes. Yeah.

LARSON: Similar. I was like: 'Oh wow, you've been doing this for so long.'

SCOTT: Yeah - a long time.

LARSON: A long time.

SCOTT: And do you know - somebody said a really good thing - just on the - to wrap up that shyness thing up - but somebody said a really brilliant thing to me which was like, “There’s nothing wrong with being shy. Be shy...Like, it's fine to be shy. It’s a nice thing you go a little bit red.” That's why I'm wearing this - just so I could be -

LARSON: I blush very easily. It’s horrible.

SCOTT: I might do it now.

LARSON: Yeah, I'm gonna do it. Let's do it...

SCOTT: It's working.

LARSON: Yeah, yeah...

SCOTT: So “Lessons in Chemistry.”

LARSON: Let’s talk about our shows.

SCOTT: Your character; she's a little bit - I wouldn't say she’s; actually she's probably not shy - would you say?

LARSON: No.

SCOTT: She's just - she's singular, but it’s not, it's not shyness. She’s actually quite forthright. What a character.

LARSON: Yeah, yeah, it's great.

SCOTT: And you’ve been involved with it for …?

LARSON: A long time.

SCOTT: A long time.

LARSON: I developed it for like - I think it took two years. Maybe longer. But I think it was about two years when we started working on it to then actually filming it.

SCOTT: Are you so proud of this?

LARSON: Yeah, I think so. I’m proud of what we achieved in the time that we did. I don’t have a connection to when it goes out in the world; it just feels like then it’s not about me anymore — it’s just images and feelings. I am proud of how much we said in the show.

SCOTT: Yeah.

LARSON: I felt like we got a lot in it, and a really amazing group of people that worked on it.

SCOTT:  And you assembled the people, right?

LARSON: Yeah, I did...I was like: 'If I could be in it earlier -' - we have these amazing production meetings that happen; actors aren't invited to them -

SCOTT: No.

LARSON: So to me it always felt like playing a championship basketball game and like, your star player doesn't train with the rest of the team.

SCOTT: Absolutely.

LARSON: So, I was like...if you include me with more information, it's not gonna stress me out; it actually just helps me understand how I can better do the organizational part of my job.

SCOTT: Absolutely.

LARSON: Like the artistry is like - part of what it needs is like: 'Just tell me if we're running out of light and we only have two takes - '

SCOTT: Yeah, exactly. Yeah.

LARSON: You know, I'm so okay with that.

SCOTT: Yeah, exactly. Exactly.

LARSON: ...lots of other departments get moments where they have to - you know, they get to shine in like a spot where it's like: 'Okay, you gotta take one for the team', and I feel like the acting department could really use more opportunities to do that.

SCOTT: Yeah.

LARSON: ...it really worked; the dynamic really worked because it felt like everyone was working together and assisting one another to make the same thing.

SCOTT: I, I, I sometimes find that difficult, and it's a big thing as an actor - maybe not so much in the theatre - but, but where you're so involved with so much of your character's journey and then the edit comes and you're like: 'Wha -?' And sometimes I feel like it's important, you know, if you're an artist - and I've never had any shame about calling myself an artist because that's what we do - you may be an interpretive artist, but sometimes it can feel like you're not a co-artist, you're just the paint. You know, you just feel like: 'Okay, well, you can just take whatever' and you go: 'Well - ', you know, because I don't care about having - sometimes actually it's about having less time, you know? It's like, it's about - or less screen time; it's not about vanity, it's just going: 'Oh, well, you know, you know, how you think the, the set is of the character you - sometimes I've had that experience where you walk on and you see your character's - the set of the, the house - and you think: 'This isn't - '

LARSON: I know; isn't that amazing?

SCOTT: Yeah. And that's, that's - it's just about communication.

LARSON: I know. Also I find that you learn about the character through these department heads as well.

SCOTT: Yeah. These really skilful people.

LARSON: ...it becomes like we're finally admitting to what we're doing -

SCOTT: Yeah.

LARSON: - which is a massive team sport.

SCOTT: Yeah, absolutely.

LARSON: It's a lot of people making one piece of art.

SCOTT: Yeah.

LARSON: And I think problems arise when we act like that's not what's happening.

SCOTT: Absolutely.

LARSON: So I want to talk about your show.

SCOTT: Ripley - yep.

LARSON: That one - I know you've got a lot going on, but we're talking about that.

SCOTT: No, no - that's it.

LARSON: So what kinds of conversations did you have ahead of time, and I'm thinking specifically, when I was watching it, I was like: 'I love minimalism' and I'm like: 'You are a minimalist', and I mean that as like the highest compliment.

SCOTT: Oh wow.

LARSON: It's like you're just - and for so long not talking.

SCOTT: Yeah.

LARSON: And I was like: 'Oh, it took me my surprise.' I was like: 'Oh yeah, he still hasn't really said anything.'

SCOTT: Yeah, yeah.

LARSON: And you're also playing someone who's lying a lot -

SCOTT: Yes, yeah.

LARSON: - which I think is one of the hardest things to do.

SCOTT: Yeah, it's hard - yeah. Yeah.

LARSON: And so in thinking about how you do something SO minimal with lies -

SCOTT: Yeah, yeah; I know what you mean.

LARSON: - you're doing a very fine dance there. What kind of conversations are you having, and does it feel good to be in that minimal space, or do you second guess yourself?

SCOTT: I second guess myself, I think.

LARSON: ....I'm not a good interviewer.

SCOTT: No, you're a beautiful interviewer. Do you know what? I know exactly what you mean - your concern sometimes, or my concern, and maybe it's from, from a theatre thing, is that I always have had this slight terror perhaps that I was doing like too much - a sort of shame I remember that I would feel in my early film stuff - I'm like: 'Oh God, pull back a little bit.' But then in the theatre, there's something I think is completely wonderful about people being, um, wonderfully expressive with their body, but also some of the, the film actors that I love are actually incredibly expressive as well - it's not all just, you know, completely poised. And if I'm honest, I think I gave Steve Zaillian, our writer/director quite a lot of, um, options; I feel like that's my duty, and he chose the ones that, that are probably a little bit more to his taste, which are, you know - he's very, very sparing, um, he likes minimalism himself, and I'm happy to provide that for him.

I find it so difficult to watch myself, I don't know - that's one of the, one of the things that I was going to ask you when, when, in Lessons in Chemistry, like, do you - are you looking at the edit and all that kind of stuff?

LARSON: Oh yeah, all the time...

SCOTT: Do you find that you were able to…

LARSON: … detach?

SCOTT: Yeah, yeah.

LARSON: You have to. The first time I edited myself was years ago and the editor so smartly always referred to 'her' as 'her.'

SCOTT: Yeah, yeah.

LARSON: 'She's this' or 'I wish she was - ' and it really helped because it's not about us criticising; like, no one has to feel like there's something wrong with saying that something wasn't right in front of me.

SCOTT: Absolutely. Exactly, absolutely.

LARSON: I’m just like, “Of course I didn’t do it all right.”

SCOTT: Who'd want to be right? Exactly. I think there’s maybe a fear that people are going to say, “We need another close-up of me, please. Why is no one focusing - push in, push in!” And it's actually a lot of the time, because it's a collaborative actors are used to, we're not - you know, a lot of writers or even directors don't get to see other directors' work in a rehearsal room, or what their process is, whereas actors are always looking at other actors and how they're doing on set, or how they - you know; it's - you're very like, open to being told: 'That wasn't so great.'

LARSON: I like that.

SCOTT: Yeah.

LARSON: ...I felt very committed to finding what things weren’t working...a lot of the time I'd be looking things every night -

SCOTT: Yeah.

LARSON: - I'd look at the dailies from the day before -

SCOTT: Yeah.

LARSON: - and so you can kind of see like...are there ways to save this a little bit?

SCOTT: Yes. Map it out.

LARSON: Especially with a character that I also felt was very different from me, and how little she emotionally expresses.

SCOTT: I love that about it.

LARSON: I struggled with it a lot, and I felt very lost with it. I am just very used to my understanding of when something’s working — when it feels very true and I’m just in it. And I would be in it with her, but I felt like the part of me that would want to cry, for example, was being pushed. She’s always twisting the knot inside, and won’t give it to anybody.

SCOTT: Yeah, I love that about the performance.

LARSON: ...the third episode is about grief and...I realised that like the little part inside of me is like: 'Are people going to think I'm not doing enough?'

SCOTT: Yeah, that's the fear isn't it?

LARSON: Yeah, it's like: 'Why? What is she doing? She's not doing anything.'

SCOTT: Yeah, yeah. Yeah.

LARSON: ...it takes a lot of confidence to not telegraph every little thing.

SCOTT: Have you had a lot of experience where you've been on a project and you think the stuff that you provided has not been seen and they've used takes or they've manipulated your performance into, into something where you feel like: 'That's not exactly what my taste would be but I -' Yeah.

LARSON: Yeah.

SCOTT: It's difficult that, isn't it?

LARSON: ...you just go and you give them raw materials -

SCOTT: Yeah, yeah.

LARSON: - and then a year later, you sit with your friends and family -

SCOTT: Yeah.

LARSON: - and it's on a giant screen, and you see how your stuff was edited together that doesn't seem right.

SCOTT: Yeah.

LARSON: And I think there's a part of it though that I like -

SCOTT: You give it up.

LARSON: Yeah, I like that...sometimes I want to drive the car, sometimes I just want to be the passenger -

SCOTT: Yeah, yeah.

LARSON: - and there was something about this show -

SCOTT: Yeah.

LARSON: - this story, that I was like: 'No, I want to be in every part of it.'

SCOTT: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

LARSON: ...it would have felt really strange not to.

SCOTT: Yeah.

LARSON: But I'm happy to live in like another director's world for a while.

SCOTT: Absolutely.

LARSON: I've worked with people that are like - never blink...

SCOTT: Yeah, yeah, yeah.

LARSON: ...and you learn all these different ways of expressing -

SCOTT: Yeah.

LARSON: - which is cool.

SCOTT: And it's one of the reasons I think that I like; I quite like to move from different - because I'm not sure if I would be able to cope with that if that was for like 10 years, where you're like: 'This is this person's vision and you have to slot into it without having some sort of - without wanting to sort of break free a little bit.'

LARSON: Yeah, I agree.

SCOTT: So I, as you say, sometimes it's okay to be in that world, and then you watch and you go: 'Okay, well that's - I'm there to serve that person's vision; there are things that I would do differently', but I think that's the struggle. And I think - what I never want to do is to be able to be on set and think: 'This is the way I see it, so I'm not going to provide them with any options.' You know what I'm saying?

LARSON: Uh-huh.

SCOTT: So you just do it. I feel like your job is to be like -

LARSON: Yeah, give a bunch.

SCOTT: Give a bunch. You know, I think it's pretty courageous - I'm, you know, a huge advocate for actors and the kind of courage and vulnerability it takes to be an actor; I really do. I really - I, I think, you know, to put yourself out there and then to have to watch your big face on, on like, on a big screen with other people -

LARSON: I know, TV's better.

SCOTT: TV''s better - exactly.

LARSON: It's like iPad size; I can deal with that.

SCOTT: Yeah exactly. Watch it on an iPhone.

SCOTT: Do you watch a lot, a lot of your stuff?

LARSON: No, not at all.

SCOTT: Yeah.

LARSON: No, no; I mean with Lessons -

SCOTT: Yeah.

LARSON: I have watched it a lot -

SCOTT: Yeah.

LARSON: - because I was editing the show but -

SCOTT: Yeah.

LARSON: But normally, no.

SCOTT: It's so extraordinary. It must feel - do you have a different feeling of pride now that you've been, been so involved with it, so its success - does it have a sort of -

LARSON: It feels good, but you know, it came out during the strike -

SCOTT: Yeah.

LARSON: And so it felt very -

SCOTT: Yeah.

LARSON: It just came out and it lived its life, and I really appreciated having that experience to truly just let the piece speak for itself.

SCOTT: Yeah.

LARSON: That I couldn't come in and explain myself.

SCOTT: Yeah.

LARSON: And I realised how much of our artistry is then us trying to explain -

SCOTT: Or sell -

LARSON: - a lot of questions about like: 'What do you hope people get from it?' And I'm like: 'I'm more curious to know what you do get from it than what I thought I was saying.

SCOTT: Well said. That's exactly it - it's like, sometimes it is, you know, we are contractually obliged to talk about this stuff, but sometimes you think: 'Did you like it or did - did you not like it?'

LARSON: Yeah. Like I want people to have their own experience.

SCOTT: Yeah.

LARSON:...I struggle with talking about acting because I didn't go to school for it.

SCOTT: No, I didn't either.

LARSON: You didn't?

SCOTT: No.

LARSON: I knew l liked you - we have so much in common.

SCOTT: Oh, not a minute's training.

LARSON: ...So I have a hard time understanding fully...there's the preparation part, which I care a lot about and enjoy -

SCOTT: Yeah.

LARSON: - and there's there's just something that happens on set that seems to be truly divine that I can't even take credit for.

SCOTT: Yeah, that's exactly right.

LARSON: I don't even know how to explain it.

SCOTT: It's not, it's not; but it's - again, you know, it's something I say endlessly, but you play a part - you play a part, people - so your work of course, your work of course is important, but if you were to say a kid is able to just do it, and you don't go: 'So what did you - why did you just make that teacher, why did you, why did she arrive on a, on a unicorn? Where did that come from? What do you think about unicorns?' The kid's just like: 'I don't know.'

LARSON: It's just free.

SCOTT: It's just - it's sort of, it's sort of freeing, and to be able to hold onto that as much as possible; and that's not to say that the work isn't - you know, the preparation and all that kind of stuff - but the first priority is to be there, on the set, and to be like: 'Well maybe we don't know what's going to happen now.' So we have to unlearn what - the, the idea that, that we do.

LARSON: Just being present, yeah.

SCOTT: Just be present, listening.

LARSON: So what about the lying part of your character? How did you -

SCOTT: My own? Oh, Tom Ripley.

LARSON: Yeah, sorry, sorry. I jumped. So when you’re playing Tom Ripley -

SCOTT: Yes?

LARSON: - what does it feel like to lie when he’s lying?

SCOTT: Well, I tried to make him lie as little as he could get away with, so that he lies in order to get himself out of a situation. And he murders to get himself out of a situation. Like, so he's not going: 'When am I gonna -?' He’s not bloodthirsty. He's, he's doing it because he had nothing else to do - sort of - I mean, he could have not murdered, I suppose.

LARSON: Yeah, yeah.

SCOTT: We all make that decision.

LARSON: Yeah, no, it’s a choice you make every day.

SCOTT: Yeah...so I tried to sort of - it's that thing of just going: 'Okay well, it's seeing somebody think', although, you know, it - a lot of the time I think the best acting opportunities is when someone like; the thing that we really, really want to see when we're, um, watching a movie I think, or at least I do, it's when someone goes: 'I'm not in love with them at all' and you know that they are.

LARSON: Uh-huh.

SCOTT: That's the best. When you're - when, when the thing that you are expressing is, is in opposition to the thing that you're feeling; and that sort of is lying, but it's lying sort of in a way that we find acceptable. So all that stuff and you go: 'How is she?' and you know you're - that brilliant acting that when people when we disguise what we're feeling, which we do so much. Um, so I suppose any of those things about him being a liar or socio - sociopath, or any of those kind of things I found kind of unhelpful. And actually the kind of stuff that Tom Ripley I suppose is famous for as an iconic sort of literary character is him being — “Is he a psychopath?” or “Is he a murderer?” or whatever. But the murder-y parts actually only took up - we shot it for nearly a year - they only took up for a few weeks, so the rest of them was actually -

LARSON: He’s mostly not murdering.

SCOTT: He's mostly not murdering.

LARSON: I noticed that too...I guess it's like the times where I've had to do a scene where it's lying or trying to get away with something; it's an interesting and very fun dance where you know in order for the scene to work, you can't let on to your scene partner that you're lying, however you're kind of giving the *clicks tongue* to the audience like: 'Go with me here.' And that's so fun...it felt like I was doing target practice...it's very fun.

SCOTT: Yeah, and it's like when someone's playing an evil character in a bad piece of television, and then they've manipulated someone and they hug them and then over their shoulder -

LARSON: Yeah, oh gosh - fabulous.

SCOTT: It's like - when has anyone ever done that in real life? But I do think it's extraordinary how human beings are, are - we're able to disguise absolutely what's, what's going on. Recently, my mother died very recently, so I'm doing a lot of press at the moment and, um, I've had to do a lot of, you know, in, in the grieving process, and I re - the thing that's really al - alarmed me, or it's certainly something that I found really um, uh, astonishing, is that I know that when I'm talking to someone on the street or like you're getting into your Uber or whatever, you're like: 'Hey, how's it going?' But there's no part of me - even though I'm going through this devastating time in my life - there's no part of me that's conveying that to, to, to, um - to, to the taxi person at that time.

And it's like when you're doing period dramas, when people talk about war, wartime stuff, that you're not spending your whole time talking about the war. It's like during the pandemic, you - when we were all dealing with the pandemic and somebody would come round like: 'Can we please not talk about that? Do you mind if we don't?' So sometimes when you're going through the very thing that's the stress - where is it living? There are some people who actually don't want to talk about it, and I think sometimes the unconvincing things when we're seeing things like that are set in World War II, that they're always talking about World War II. And the rest of us are like: 'Oh My God, can we just lighten up or, you know, whatever'. And, and, and I suppose that idea of what we're able to disguise I've always found so interesting about acting, you know, and um, and so that we get a story that's perhaps very comedic and you play the soul, or you get something that's very tragic and you play the, the lightness - I think that's what the, the great actors are sort of able, sort of able to do. It's a fascinating thing to discover; it's never like - it's never one thing. And so did you find it hard, when you finished Lessons in Chemistry, to let it go?

LARSON: ...it's a true loss of purpose.

SCOTT: Yeah.

LARSON: My purpose was this thing; it's not there anymore - what do I do now?...

SCOTT: Yeah.

LARSON: ...I was pretty tired by the end of it.

SCOTT: I bet you were.

LARSON: ...it felt very complete.

SCOTT: Yeah.

LARSON: But I missed it. Like, I missed that feeling of having a purpose that was beyond myself.

SCOTT: Yeah, yeah.

LARSON: ...that feeling - it's so rare too.

SCOTT: Yeah.

LARSON: ...it felt really satisfying.

SCOTT: Yeah. The obstacle sort of becomes, becomes the way. There's a - a director that I, that I worked with that I - he said a thing that I really, just really loved which is: 'Of course in artistic situations, you're going to argue and you're going to have differences of opinion, but that you should argue as allies not as enemies.' And I thought it's such a beautiful thing to say because I think sometimes a difficult set, and I don't believe that I, I don't believe that there isn't anything that through communication you can really just, everybody mostly wants to make it - do it right.

And there's a, there's a choice that you can make to say okay; to set up an environment where you're able to just communicate things a little easier and, and people who are just, um, in the business of making sure that they get their own way I think - it's; it's - I think that can happen to really very talented people, and in a way sometimes understandably, because I think actors have to save the day an awful lot of the time and, you know, I don't like it when people say: 'Oh you know - ' Sometimes it can be: 'Oh that actor is difficult.' I've never really - maybe that's just my experience - but I've never really seen an actor go: 'I don't like my costume. I've got, got, got, you know; I'm not coming out of my trailer.' Usually I've seen actors saying: 'My character just wouldn't say that; the audience isn't going to buy that, and I don't want to let the story down or the audience down - that just doesn't make sense and so, you know, let's not do that. Let's not proceed until we've solved this problem.'

And I think that's an honorable thing to do because then what happens is it comes out and everybody goes: 'Oh God, that's really clever' and you think: 'Well, that was going to be passed over because people were only interested in completing the call sheet that day.' Sometimes you've gotta just go: 'We've covered it, but we haven't captured it' and I think that's -

LARSON: Oh, I like that.

SCOTT: Yeah, yeah.

LARSON: Okay, so I have a question about playing a character that has existed in many different iterations and forms.

SCOTT: Yeah.

LARSON: And I feel like you have experience with that, because you do theater as well.

SCOTT: Yeah, yeah.

LARSON: Do you have the same approach every time, in terms of researching and watching previous versions of it?

SCOTT: Yeah, yeah. Yeah.

LARSON: Or do you just block it out?

SCOTT: Absolutely, I block it. Because, No. 1, I adored the film “The Talented Mr. Ripley” — the Minghella movie with, with Matt Damon and Jude Law and Gwyneth Paltrow and all those amazing people. But mercifully, I hadn’t seen it in a very long time, and I knew that this was going to be a very, very different prospect. Um, one of the first conversations I had with Steven Zaillian, our writer-director, you know was “What? Why?” And he had such a singular vision for it, you know; he wanted it a very particular way. He wanted, you know - I was worried that I was too old and blah, blah, blah — because I had just a very specific idea that was based on the film, but I suppose I had to remind myself that that's - that film was also a re - a reiteration of something: there was another version with Alain Delon before, and there were diff - you know lots of different Ripleys and there were loads of different ones. So it has been reinterpreted a lot. And I feel like it’s very important that, you know, he said, you know, “We want to age the characters up.” And then, you know, he was talking about this very particular kind of noirish black-and-white version that he had. And that made me feel very comfortable. He had no interest in, in doing that again. And I always think that it’s important, you know, because it happens in the theater so much — if it was a Shakespeare character, you know - you know, thousands of people have played, played one character. And I always find that really interesting. And I think the response I suppose is to be respectful, but not too reverent. Because what’s the point of doing it if you’re going to do it exactly the same way? So I didn’t look - no way, because you know, I don't want to do it for myself; I don't want to do it for myself - I don't want to do that because I love that film, and I see them as two very, very separate entities, which they are. I mean, anyone who would see it, you'd go: 'They - they're miles apart.' Thank God, yeah.

LARSON: What do you think about some sort of Ripley universe — you know, into the Ripley-verse? Just all the Ripleys.

SCOTT: Like little - like Marvel? Oh, sort of like the Fantastic Four? Is that a thing? Oh, and they all get together?

LARSON: Yeah, Ripleys together. I’m just curious because I got a couple studios interested, so I just …

SCOTT: You do? So kind of you! You are good. You make things happen. Are you not tired? You’ve been setting up projects for me? God, you’re kind.

LARSON: No, I’m writing a part for myself as well.

SCOTT: Oh right, you're gonna be in it too? You could play - you'd be a good Tom Ripley!

LARSON: I'll be a Ripley as well.

SCOTT: I have to ask you about working with Lenny Abrahamson, because it was such a moment of Irish pride. A sensational movie. Do you get bored talking about Room?

LARSON: I actually don't talk about it that often...I had someone come up to me and say: "You know what film you were good in? 'Room'." I was like: "Okay." (laughter)

SCOTT: "Yeah, thank you. Where is my Oscar?"

LARSON: I was like: 'Yeah, I kind of thought that was like my one thing I've done...'

SCOTT: I thought you were good in that; I don't care what anyone else says. I thought you were quite good.

LARSON: 5000 years later, I was like: 'Glad it holds up.'

SCOTT: That's amazing.

LARSON: But what part did you want me to talk about? Lenny?

SCOTT: Did you know what it was going to be so -

LARSON: Did I know he was Irish? (laughter) No. Did I know it was going to be good?

SCOTT: Yeah.

LARSON: No...

SCOTT: In Lessons in Chemistry, did you have a feel - because you had more control over it? Did you think: 'We're onto something here?'

LARSON: Yeah, because also you're doing everything at the same time...with 'Room', it was my first time - I mean I'd been a lead in one other thing.

SCOTT: Wow, really?

LARSON: I auditioned for it though...it took a lot of time and I did not have the technique that I have now.

SCOTT: Meaning like?

LARSON: I was like what I think actors are like where they like have headphones in and they're kind of like this (leans forward and over). I was that kind of actor.

SCOTT: Yeah, yeah.

LARSON: I was listening to really intense music; and it's like I didn't fully truly myself to go in and out.

SCOTT: That's so interesting.

LARSON: ...after that movie I was like: 'Woah, I need to figure out a plan' and I started scuba diving, and I realised that it was the perfect metaphor, because you don't get to like strap a tank on your back and just jump in the ocean. You have to be like: 'Okay, this is how much I have in my tank; if I go down deeper it takes more, I have to go really slowly on the way up.' And was like 'Oh. That's what I need to be doing.'

SCOTT: Wow, yeah.

LARSON: And I need to give myself the grace of that. So then moving forward, when I'd have big emotional scenes, I'd make an announcement and be like: 'Hey, I'm gonna go underwater for a little it. It might take me a while to get back out, but I'm here and I'll be okay.'

SCOTT: That's really wonderful. So as a producer, you felt like it's your job, when you have a big scene on, on Lessons in Chemistry, where you think: 'Okay, but now today, all I can do really is act'?

LARSON: Yeah. Sometimes you have to put the phone down -

SCOTT: Yeah, yeah.

LARSON: - and other times, you want it though.

SCOTT: Yeah.

LARSON: Other times it was very helpful to be like - to snap out of it and to be like: 'Okay, now I need to deal with whatever is going on.'

SCOTT: Yeah, yeah, yeah.

LARSON: ...that was the learning lesson from 'Room'...I didn't want to mess it up.

SCOTT: Well, you didn't. I agree with that guy. I actually thought you were quite good in it.

LARSON: ...I even remember seeing the movie for the first time...it's just a white wall to me -

SCOTT: Yeah, yeah, yeah.

LARSON: - so I just remember the first screening and everyone was like: 'What the hell was that?' And I was like: 'Is it good?'...it's maybe my own performance, maybe on a good day I can receive 40% of it through the screen - like, on a good day.

SCOTT: On a good day. Like, it's hard.

LARSON: ...it'd be really weird if I was like watching myself being like (motions looking teary and proud)

SCOTT: 'Oh, you go, girl'.

LARSON: Yeah, it's not for me...

SCOTT: Well that's why I'm asking about when you have a producer role, and I've definitely had it in, in the theatre, but in the theatre - what I love about working in the theatre is that you; it's the only art form - stage work - where you don't get to see the result of what you're doing. You're a painter, see the painting, you make a movie, see the movie, the book, you read the book, if you write, write a book, but this - you only see it through the feeling in the room and the audience sort of reflects it back to you. And I love that about it because sometimes when I see my own work, or like when they film theatre, I find it horrific because I think: 'Oh God, I, I - like just stop, or whatever you're doing, desist.' And uh, so that's why I'm asking about the producorial thing where, where I do think there must be some other hat that you have on that actually goes: no, I think - that actually your, your development of your, your ability to be able to discern what your performance is must have to - must, must be quite strong.

LARSON: Oh yeah...Lenny would talk to me and brief me on what he was trying to achieve...and then once the doors closed, it was really hard to get in and out, and so it was much easier if I understood what Lenny's agenda was, and I could just be there instead of constantly resetting. And so, there was one day in particular where I realised I could hold this scene with the boy, with Jacob, and also fix the props that were needed to be reset, and wait and hold...I remember being like: 'I think I've just unlocked like a new level of focus and flow -

SCOTT: Yeah, yeah.

LARSON: - and it's a really amazing thing.'

SCOTT: Yeah.

LARSON: You felt that too?

SCOTT: I know exactly what you mean.

LARSON: Isn't it the best thing ever?

SCOTT: It's great. It's like - it's, it's, it's a challenge and everybody's like doing that together; like isn't the best thing I think about filming is when everybody's got a big, big job - I don't know, some big shot, everybody, somebody's going to have a change of clothes; it's all sort of quite theatrical - theatrical - and you're really involved all together. I find that really the most exciting thing. That's why I think it's beautiful what you say about everybody just doing the same thing; we had it on - again, to go back to the theatre - but we had it where we were all called co-creators, but that's exactly what you're doing. You're all co-creating together, and so if you were to just take out the job titles and go: 'Well, everybody has an opinion here; what's the thing', and everybody, you know, everybody's just little, little cogs in this amazing machine.

LARSON: Exactly.

SCOTT: Yeah.

LARSON: We need it all.

SCOTT: We do; we need everything.

LARSON: Well thanks; I feel like I kind of understand acting now.

SCOTT: Yeah I've fully - I've fully got it.

LARSON: Yeah, I'm ready. Okay, well -

SCOTT: Nothing more to learn.

LARSON: There we go. Now we're good to go. (laughter)

[n7punk]

"Roses & Thorns" Fic Notes

Roses & Thorns is finally done! It really slowed down there at the end as my life got busy, but I had a lot of fun with it. No playlist this time since I was mostly listening to random stuff as I felt like it.

Epilogue Life:

Catra moves to Bright Moon so Adora can keep cheerleading, which she does professionally until her mid-thirties before switching to cheer coaching for middle schoolers. As mentioned in the epilogue, they get married two years after the show. One day they looked at how much of the tapestry they had done and were both suddenly like, oh, I’m ready to be married. Within a few months they had everything thrown together for the wedding. Someone working with their wedding planner leaked news of their wedding to the press, which is what led DT to digging around and finding their date, but aside from a few tabloid stories like Former Bachelorette Couple Tie the Knot and a carefully curated Instagram post on Catra’s page, the public doesn’t learn much about it. They mostly get added as a statistic to the show’s wikipedia page as a successful relationship that made it to marriage and is still together. Catra slowly transitions into more all-encompassing graphic design work until she follows through on her speculation from Fantasy Suites and starts working with a charity dedicated to providing equipment to hybrid children and schools. She still does other work on the side sometimes, but she’s happy with the direction her career has gone, and she keeps up a sparse public Instagram to make some posts promoting her work — pre- and post-charity shift — and to flaunt the life and relationship that she really can’t believe she has now. Adora’s old Instagram is still up and public but she abandoned it and only uses a private one now because she really just wanted to leave the show behind. Adora and Catra go down as an odd and rare case in the franchise. The show never risks casting an ex again even though it would certainly go closer to the way they intended the next time. The casting directors insist that they knew the love story could work if given the right encouragement and that’s why they brought Catra in. Adora and Catra are always brought up in discussions of odd or adorable Bachelor couples, especially after they get married. They were also, yknow, the only queer couple to come from the show until Melendy’s season, so that made them stand out a lot too. Adora’s seasons did end up being as positive when it comes to representation as something like that can be and she’s proud of what she managed and what came of it in the end.

Chapter 1: Opening Ceremony

⦁ I was, like, really nervous to do this fic. I didn’t want to step on any toes but I really loved the idea so after sitting on it for a few months I decided fuck it, I’ll start writing it just to see if I like it. Once I realized it was definitely going to be a whole fic, I went poking around for socials and found petty_labelle’s permission statement and was like oh thank god XD Obviously some tropes don’t require credit to anyone (celebrity AUs, there was only one bed, etc), but this was a case of direct inspiration no matter how wildly different the fics were once you pass the word “bachelorette,” so I’m really glad they were down for it.

⦁ Speaking of, having to type bachelorette so many times might just have driven me insane. I hate spelling that word.

⦁ Usually the bachelor/ette is cast from the one of the fan favorites of the last season. So whatever girl the bachelor didn’t pick would become the next bachelorette, etc (it isn’t always that clear cut; sometimes it’s a girl that got sent home sooner or a girl from a season further back). In this case, there was an open casting call because none of the contestants from previous seasons who they knew/thought were sapphic were willing to either come back or come out, which is how Adora ended up on the show as a nobody to the franchise but a strong contender thanks to her prominent cheerleading career (and being hot. Let’s be honest it’s a third charisma, a third being willing to play ball, and a third being hot).

⦁ Finding out this show usually films in just 6-9 weeks was less surprising than it should have been but still insane. I thought it was three months since most seasons are 10-13 episodes (I think) (and also the fic that set this off was literally called 12 weeks) but I looked it up and. Nope. So I gave Adora like 7-8 weeks in the middle range. That shorter time range actually worked better for the fic, it’s just an insane premise for the real show. 90 Day Fiancee has more realistic expectations! Come on!

⦁ Okay, I know the women pull up to the mansion in a limo, but for some reason while writing it I thought it was all in different limos which doesn’t even make sense. Anyway, after I verified that I edited the language around it to make it more clear they were coming from the same car.

⦁ I also think the host is usually there to greet the women too, but it doesn’t matter how those greetings normally go in this case, because it was a unique moment and Hope was going to be there regardless so she could partially guide it.

⦁ I also have no idea if someone’s ex coming on the show has any precedent, but I’m saying for Etheria it’s a first.

⦁ “-a dashing magicat’s body” Listen, Glimmer is aware that Catra is hot.

⦁ When Glimmer asks “how could you not tell us” she isn’t meaning in a hurt “I can’t believe you didn’t tell me” way but in a “how did you hold that in?” kind of way.

⦁ Canned phrases I know from this show are “Can I steal you away?” (to get one-on-one time), “Here for the wrong/right reasons” (when someone is ‘suspected’ to only be there to get famous rather than get married), “I want to focus on us” (focusing on your relationship with the bachelor/ette instead of all the other contestants and drama getting in the way), and then something like “Trust the process” (you know, cult mindset cutting out questioning the establishment and contrived doctrines).

Chapter 2: Here of the Wrong Reasons

⦁ That first night at the cocktail party I imagine as being a lot like Princess Prom, with Adora trying to focus on getting to know all these new women and figure out who she has the best chances with but she keeps getting distracted by glimpses of Catra through the crowd. The other contestants didn’t know what to make of it, but the ones that overheard Catra was Adora’s ex told others until it spread through the crowd. The consensus among the women at first was this was a TV thing and they probably didn’t have to actually worry about Catra too much. That slowly changed.

⦁ Damn near every season DT goes undercover at the first cocktail party. One of the lead’s brothers did this as a bartender once and I think it would be an interesting way to gather a bit more info to further their storylines. Because of this, Adora barely saw them on the first night.

⦁ I went back and forth on how I was going to handle the other contestants: if they were going to be the other princesses, or largely a blank mass, or a more detailed cast of originals. I ended up somewhere between those last two. I also considered having the other characters from the show working on set, but when the idea for a watch party came to me (because I really wanted to show what people at home were seeing here and there), that cemented where the other characters would be and left me with OCs for the other women.

⦁ Names came from… All over. I hate coming up with them, so I did the lazy thing and scrolled through the characters list on Wiki Grayskull (I know, fuck Fandom [company], I’m sorry). Elmora is a minor character in the OG series. Veena was Grayskull’s queen in the He-man reboot I saw 5 minutes of in 2002. Serenia is a folk hero in the reboot (and the name of the constellation that helped them locate Darla). Swen is the (fake, but presumably real somewhere else given DTs impersonation tendencies) piano player from the Enchanted Grotto. Faith is a recurring Random OC Name in my fics and also just ironic. Melendy Britt was the VA for OG Adora and Catra. That one is honestly an homage since she voiced like a fourth of the women in the OG series.

⦁ Originally the fic was supposed to roll straight from the first chapter into the confrontation night, but that pacing seemed too sudden and I wanted to explore more of the TV side. Also, Adora needed a horse riding date and there wasn’t one anywhere in the other plans so I put it in here.

⦁ When the horse riding date idea came up I had to be like “wait… could Tali do this?” and that’s when I found out that prosthetic arms have come a lot farther than they were the last time I looked into them. Tali can absolutely go horse riding.

⦁ For years after the show, Adora will joke that being on it was worth it just for the horseback riding day, even when she’s literally holding hands with her wife.

⦁ Storm is the actual name of Catra’s horse in… the toys at least? I’m not actually sure if that made it on-screen in the filmation version but it’s from the OG canon regardless.

⦁ Catra did not intend to sabotage the horse date. At first. She was mad at Adora for bringing her somewhere she knew Catra would be scared, but said fear meant she fully intended to spend the entire date refusing to play ball. That lasted until she saw Adora and Serenia kissing, and especially how excited Adora looked, realizing that if she wasn’t going to play along Adora might turn to someone who was.

⦁ The horse debacle got cut so it looked like Swift Wind just bucked for no reason and it gave Tali and Adora a cute moment together. They could have made it into a whole thing, but once Catra won, they cut the interviews implying anything happened there. The other girls never really knew if anything happened, but the crew definitely did. They caught a little bit of it on camera (although not well), they goaded even more of it, and one of the staff retrieved the crop afterwards as the smoking gun.

⦁ The first group date of the week (horse riding) was mostly people Adora wanted to connect with, the second was production’s orchestration (the softball date that didn’t make it into the fic because Catra wasn’t on it), and then Erika got a one-on-one “because she hadn’t had time with Adora yet” (actually because she and Lauren were making out the night before and Catra was onto them, but only had a hunch, so she could look all jealous and spurned on camera when Erika got picked). Adora also gave Lauren a rose because 1) production told her she should and 2) she actually did want the resulting one-on-one time with Lauren to sus her out.

⦁ Glimmer eating popcorn with chopsticks was actually in chapter one but I was worried people were gonna call it stereotyping or something when I know people who do it IRL, and then I talked to them and they said it’s the superior method so I just stuck it in anyway. I eat popcorn with a spoon sometimes for the same reason, but chopsticks really are better if you can use them, my hands just shake too much to be reliable.

⦁ Melendy was one of the last girls to arrive at the mansion because production didn’t want to muddy the waters for Catra’s arrival. Catra assured them she and Adora were very serious for a long time before it broke bad and Adora would remember her immediately, but they wanted to get that moment of instant shock from Adora with her hopefully not even thinking about Catra’s existence and suddenly being faced with her. If Catra was telling the truth about how important they were to each other, even the sight of another magicat might have put her on Adora’s mind.

⦁ Melendy was supposed to be a potential rival, but in a less orchestrated way than Lauren where she was playing out a storyline at production’s direction. Melendy was an actual potential relationship they thought might stand a chance with Adora, and in that case Catra would have really hated her and it would have been great drama, but Catra could tell from the beginning that while Melendy would be sticking around for a while, she wasn’t exciting or challenging enough for Adora. Which is good, because production was absolutely right about the kind of rivalry they would have had and it would have made Catra look a lot worse than getting defensive over someone “cheating” on Adora.

⦁ I kind of assume bedroom locks are a no-go on reality shows in general because, well, what if they lock the camera out from some drama? But they’re also renting places like the mansion and it seems like those houses would Have Locks and they wouldn’t install different doorknobs just for the show. Idk, but I am saying that if they don’t usually have them they gave Catra and Lauren rooms with locks so they don’t actually kill each other. (Although, conversely, they put Catra and Melendy in the same room partially to up their drama — and partially so they only had to worry about one room that could accommodate magicats).

⦁ I’m not actually sure on the use of mic packs vs boom mics on reality TV. I know there’s pool/beach/bikini dates on the Bachelor though, which by necessity require a boom mic since you can’t put a mic pack on a bikini without pulling it off, so I’m leaning towards them usually using a boom unless a mic pack is required. Initially I had them using mic packs and throwing them out the window, but I decided that was just a little unnecessary.

⦁ I mentioned the window both because of that and as a hint towards how Catra saw Faith getting up to some business.

⦁ Catra looks uncomfortable not because she’s telling the truth, but because she’s finally confronting the fact that she doesn’t want Adora to send her home.

Chapter 3: Can I Steal You Away?

⦁ This and chapter 2 were supposed to be one as I said, but then it got reeeeeeally long, and cutting to the watch party meant reshowing — from the TV perspective — some stuff that had already happened, so it seemed a good place to cut them and use that as a “recap.”

⦁ The “we need to talk” was actually a dub-over that Adora recorded later and they just modified to sound muffled but still understandable. They kind of just barely picked up the “no cameras” part but the rest of the conversation was murmuring at best. Part of how Adora kept from getting in (much) trouble was giving them the voice over and just generally complying with all the fall out that came from it like interviews and reshoots.

⦁ The shots of Catra pacing were in fact reshoots, but that did happen, it was just behind a locked door first.

⦁ Catra was up in the room for close to an hour, only coming down when she thought she might be in danger of missing their chance to talk (or at least making it seem natural). She spent that time having a small crisis over how much she didn’t want Adora to stop chasing after her, even if she was doing it with suspicion.

⦁ I actually have no clue where the bachelor/ette stays when the girls are at the mansion, so I just kind of went, eh, guest house? I know they’re not allowed in the main house without a camera, but it seems like a hotel would be pretty far.

⦁ “I’m not an ***hole who can’t see my ex happy,” that is exactly what Catra told herself she was the whole time, but if she can lie to herself she certainly can lie to the camera.

⦁ The rose reshoot cut from the real footage at the moment Adora went off screen, then to the new footage of her walking up to the vase and selecting a rose, then to real but carefully cropped footage of Catra’s reaction so you can’t see the flower she’s really accepting, and then to a further back reshoot of Catra holding the rose as Adora redelivers her line. They used the initial audio and reactions where they could.

⦁ Melendy was nesting because she was anxious after the Very Weird night. There was also a part of her that said “well, if Adora and Catra patch things up, then I’m out” because she was used to things like this only “needing” one token magicat, but obviously Adora doesn’t feel like that. They did look a little similar in human eyes (IDK if the description of Melendy ended up staying in the fic, but: brown coat, dark brown hair, two yellow eyes, no stripes) so Melendy thought it might also be weird to Adora from that angle if she did end up rejecting Catra.

Chapter 4: Right Choices

⦁ I found out that strip dodgeball exists on the Bachelorette and went, yeah, so I can use that. People didn’t refuse to answer often so “Bare Your Soul” never got too racy, but some clothes did come off.

⦁ Tali just calls Jewel “queer” because he is gay, even though what he realized back in middle school was actually that he was trans. She wasn’t going to say that on television, though, because he wouldn’t want her to. He didn’t mind people knowing he was generally queer, though.

⦁ Glimmer’s comment about Veena not posting proves that she did follow Veena before that happened, because otherwise she would have no idea. She actually followed all of them from the moment she knew the casting but tried to resist the urge to do too much digging on them since the show had already wrapped shooting and her research could just end up taunting her with knowing someone is super wrong for Adora that she then had to watch go all the way to final three. And well… that still ended up happening in a way.

⦁ They did cut the exchange about how the show was crazy, but they did use Catra’s “I’m only here for you” audio for some promos which some eagle-eyed fans noticed was never actually in the show. I’m sure that’s not uncommon though.

⦁ Hope didn’t question Adora’s request for two reasons: 1) Adora actually asked to do it on camera rather than trying to sneak down for whatever it was, 2) if she stopped Adora to ask questions, Adora might think about what she was doing, and having someone in an emotional fugue state usually makes for better TV. Everybody could tell the vibes died as soon as Sylvia implied that she didn’t want to date a cheerleader so it was obvious that Adora was questioning something when she called her up.

⦁ I learned a lot about the show listening to that recap podcast (which covered a few seasons of the Bachelor, the Bachelorette, and Bachelor in Paradise until… that summer), but it’s also been years since I’ve listened to it/it was canceled. I based most of the pacing for women getting eliminated and when hometowns and shit would happen off of the episode summaries for recent seasons I found online. I wasn’t worried about doing it exactly since this is Etheria and it varies between season (see: Clare running off with “her future husband” in episode four), but I didn’t want to do something wildly wrong either.

⦁ My general (not set in stone) idea for the show’s timing was week one was obviously introductions, week two was horseback riding, football, and Erika’s one-on-one, week three had the confrontation with Catra, week four had the coming out date (amongst others), week five had the Sylvia drama and cheerleading date, week six was the two-on-one, and week seven was hometowns. Week eight was fantasy suites, the women tell all happens (I don’t see a lot of people saying they like the wo/men tell all specials. There’s a reason I mostly left it out of the fic. It’s a boring rehash), and then week ten was the long-ass finale. I’ll be honest: the coming out and cheerleading date were supposed to be the same week but I think you’re not supposed to give the same person two dates in one episode. Showing that transitioning perspective from the viewership angle was important, though, so the whole Sylvia thing and an extra week got added in for it.

⦁ Melendy was actually still sharing a room with Catra during the night visit, they just kicked her out before Adora got there and no one brought it up until Adora was leaving and noticed the second bed.

⦁ No one says anything after Adora says she was letting the other girls sleep because she was admitted that Catra was staying without realizing. Now, this was incredibly obvious, but Catra still needed to process it.

⦁ Adora stayed awhile just cuddling and murmuring a bit to each other, but eventually she started feeling really tired and reluctantly left Catra’s arms for her own room.

⦁ Adora sent home Serenia, Elmora, Swen (mostly cut character, but she was supposed to be the main butch rep that season that Adora still kept when there was little chemistry was, again: representation!), & a rando I guess. I didn’t want to introduce twenty women’s names to keep track of, so I tried to come up with enough to have variety in the date composition without bogging things down or getting confusing. You can tell which ones you’re supposed to remember by the fact you could recognize their names going in lmao.

Chapter 5: The Dragon Slayer

⦁ Chapters four and five were also supposed to be one chapter, so I’m really following in 12 weeks’ footsteps with the two-part chapters LOL

⦁ Production was fine with Adora letting a bunch of girls go at once because it was dramatic and she was explicitly doing it to focus on the girls she felt better about (she had actually hung onto girls a bit more than they expected until then), but they couldn’t let both of Catra’s rivals go at once because then there would have been no conclusion to that plot at all and it would have felt really weird from a TV perspective, so they put their foot down on Faith.

⦁ The reason they planned for Catra and Melendy originally, though, was that they did expect Faith to be gone already. Adora cut so many girls at once they had to pick their battles, so they decided to keep the biggest villain rather than worry about the rest of it. If Catra and Faith went on a date together, it would have been fireworks, but at that point it would have been obvious who was going home. Catra and Melendy, on the other hand, would be two girls who were final four material, so people Actually Invested In Adora’s relationships would have been highly invested in the date.

⦁ Originally, Adora went into this chapter with Serenia still on her roster too (she stuck by the rules and let her keep her rose) and Catra, unaware of what had happened between them, included her on the list of girls she gave Adora, in the same category as Melendy. Adora then worried about Catra giving her four names, implying she was ready for Adora to send her home, but Adora couldn’t help offering a rose to Catra anyway, and she was obviously happy to accept. This whole exchange still happens, just with a little less weight since Catra going to hometowns was obvious with only four non-cheaters left. However, last chapter got more dramatic in exchange with Adora taking her rose back from Serenia and seeming to invest in Catra emotionally instead, and I just thought it made more sense for Catra to intend to go through hometowns to really get her message out there before going home.

⦁ Lou (the vineyard owner) is named after Lou Scheimer, a VA for a lot of the male characters on the original She-ra, namely Swift Wind and Light Hope (who was like a sentient beam of light. Listen, just go with it).

⦁ Catra’s allergic to grapes in this because I randomly give her cat allergies when I feel like it and I recently remembered cats and dogs are Kind of allergic to grapes where sometimes One is okay and other times even that is toxic so it’s best to not. Absolutely make sure they never get a hold of a second one, though, and in general you should protect grapes from them.

⦁ Okay, in general, I think the girls are responsible for their own wardrobes, but I do think production probably intervenes here and there, and in Catra’s case she kept wearing suits and the like. For this specific date, DT dropped a hint that she should show up in something ravishing, so Catra borrowed a dress Melendy was saving for Fantasy Suites because she wanted to make it harder to mic her so she could try to get some whispers to Adora. Since they were dropping back home first, Melendy could swap for something new and didn’t mind the loan knowing exactly what Catra was going up against since she told her the night before and Melendy was also mad at Faith for it.

⦁ The “losing focus” comment was both a play on the canned phrase previously mentioned and a reference just for me and my friend.

⦁ Production, in general, was trying to get the clout of a queer season while changing as little as possible, which is a bad call for several reasons, but part of that meant making sure all the women were conventionally attractive and dressed in the way viewers had come to expect. They had all of Three butches on the season, Catra qualifying as one of the soft butches who put her foot down and wore a suit or similar in almost every episode. Adora didn’t mind wearing a dress most of the time even if it wasn’t her usual, but she also insisted on wearing pants sometimes as part of her representation thing (and also just being authentically herself).

⦁ Okay, so villains on the show often end up with a “nemesis” (or just a self-appointed good guy) who eventually warns the lead about their bad behavior. This is the dragon slayer: they don’t win, but they provide a character role and help the lead with things that they wouldn’t know otherwise because production certainly isn’t telling them. This season plays the jealous ex angle at first (for its own drama as they originally intended, and to try to make Catra’s behavior “understandable” once she turns over a new leaf) but as her feud with Lauren grows, Catra starts to seem like the dragon slayer, especially once Adora goes to her for advice on what to do with the other girls. People read that one of two ways: the way the watch party did, or the “oh, they’re not feeling the romance coming back so Adora is going to her for advice like you would with a friend.” This date coming up seems to reinforce the dragon-slayer narrative, but it’s the rare case where telling on someone works out. It helps that what she was telling on wasn’t just something like a hunch about someone wanting to get famous.

⦁ “All this because Catra got horny” Mermista you should see the stuff that happened in other universes because of that. This is nothing.

⦁ I did googling on the spelling of mic as a verb and mostly I got a lot of people with loud — incorrect — opinions. And by incorrect opinions, I mean people saying “it should be this, ‘mic’d’ is stupid,” which is completely missing the point. Language and spelling is not about what “should” be, mic is the accepted term used in the industry. Niche words like this come up all the time and it’s the people who invent those words and use them day in and day out that decide what those words mean and how they’re spelled, not loudmouths on Reddit. Because of all that though, I couldn’t find a consensus. I had to phrase it as “mic’d” though because that’s what the industry says. The people filming wouldn’t have phrased it another way (another suggestion from people on forums online) so I had to find a way to spell it. Consensus seemed to be either mic’d or miked, but the latter does Not look right, so I ended up settling on mic’d.

Chapter 6: Hometowns

⦁ Adora and Teela really had a more kinda “big sister” relationship, but they were both only children and Adora had no concept of family, not to mention they were on a show all about finding romance, so they were kind blinded to it. On the hometown date, they didn’t really talk that much about marriage despite production prompting them around it because they were kind of subconsciously blocking that and also having so much fun together they didn’t question it. Adora wanted to spend time with Teela and thought she was super cool, Teela had a lot of fun and wanted to show Adora all the cool things she experienced and open her up to a new lifestyle she was clearly enamored with, and no one questioned that further because they were getting the gushing confessionals they wanted. Teela’s parents saw such a small cross-section of them they just saw them having fun together and didn’t second-guess it.

⦁ By the time of Catra’s hometown, production had figured out that Catra was going to be final two (even though Adora hadn’t). Adora hadn’t even fully processed that Catra was going to Fantasy Suites with her since Melendy got cut. Production knew they really had to humanize her, which had been a slow shift in narrative behind the scenes the more it became clear Adora was actually giving Catra a chance now, but this was when the scramble happened. They were lining up their editors and ready to get Catra anything she needed for her hometown, even if it ended up untraditional. This was their mold-breaking season, after all, and even though they followed the formula pretty well for most of it, there were some big moments, and this ended up being one of them.

⦁ I’m like 99% sure volunteer dates have been done on the show before when the star was an activist or something but I can’t think of any examples so I can’t back that up. Either way, it’s definitely not common, but it was Catra trying to get a positive message out there, like she talks about in her Fantasy Suite.

⦁ Adora weird texts were because she needed Glimmer to at least be open to being in Catra’s corner considering the bombshell they were going to get later.

⦁ Usually hometowns are for sussing out 1) if someone is being real with you because what their families are like and what they say around them tells you a lot, 2) if they’re ready for marriage (it seems like every season there’s someone in the family who tells the lead their child/sibling/nibling/etc isn’t ready for marriage or doesn’t seem like themselves around them), and 3) if you’re really in love. Sometimes people do get left dramatically mid-hometown (like the one in season 19 where the bachelorette realized she wasn’t ready to meet his family when she got there and left him on the street to VISIT THEM ALONE comes to mind oh my god. Like she wasn’t wrong to not lead him on but that sucks. I found out about this after writing the Melendy shit btw lmao) but usually someone is only cut at the end.

⦁ I didn’t include Tali’s hometown, even though it could have included some good angst, because 1) I really wanted to end on that line about disappearing into the trees, 2) all the internal debate Adora had during it was just a Less Aware™️ version of the angst from the Final Rose chapter so it felt repetitive. I know that made it “more obvious” who Adora was going to choose but… if you didn’t know that from chapter one I can’t help you.

Chapter 7: Fantasy Suites

⦁ The conversation during the watch party speculating about the order the show was using for the girls is kind of the prelude to them picking up the subtext in chapter 9.

⦁ The mentions of their final dinner tie into a cut scene I might post separately, but then I came up with new context which is my actual in-universe explanation: their first date didn’t involve dinner. However, there was a family restaurant the football team would go to for victory dinners sometimes, dragging some of the cheerleaders along, and of course wherever Adora went Catra did too, so they had eaten there before, just never on their own.

⦁ It wasn’t until I was editing this scene that I realized you might not know what the date cards are if you hadn’t watched the show but like. I was too lazy to add an explainer lmao. I’ll do it here though: basically the host (or the lead) gives out date cards every week with a little ~teaser title~ on it and the list of names for the people going on in (for instance “Bare Your Soul”). Kinda punny/foreshadowing names like that come up. For Fantasy Suites, it’s basically a card inviting them to go up to the Fantasy Suite together.

⦁ I was picturing a specific hotel in Thailand for their resort, but I don’t know what this hotel is or when or how I saw it. I remember seeing video touring the whole thing at some point though. Anyway it quite literally backed onto the forest with monkeys running all over and stuff. I don’t know what the technical difference between forest and jungle is but my brain says if there’s monkeys and a bazillion percent humidity it’s probably a jungle.

Chapter 8: Interlude

⦁ The reason Light Hope is the host and not DT is two-fold: 1) I cast Hope for the host/producer role because of her manipulative role in canon, before my brain caught up with the fact that hey, this is reality TV, why isn’t DT here? And 2) the in-canon reason is DT needs to manage all these story lines, which means they are the one that needs to be available off camera at all times to prod someone at just the right moment or manage things to create dramatic moments, and they have more opportunity for that if they aren’t the one hosting. I did consider having them be the host of just the Wo/Men Tell All special, but tbh Adora would have accidentally blurted out spoilers if DT was around to goad them so it had to go this way lmao.

⦁ I watched a bunch of Bachelor/ette anouncements on YouTube (again, having never seen the show, recaps usually sum it up as “[the host] announces [x] is our new Bachelor/ette”) and wow there is no consistency to them. Almost every single one was a little different and set up differently, but a common model was “Your new bachelor/ette, [x]” followed by applause as they walk out in evening wear, so I went with that but added in a bit like the contestants normally do when coming out of the limo because that felt fitting both with the franchise and with the fact that this was Adora’s introduction to the franchise. In the announcements I saw, not once did they use a last name because everybody watching already new who “Joey” or whoever was from watching the season, but again, Adora was brand new to the franchise, so a full name and bit made sense for her.

⦁ Deena was one of my “potential names” that I didn’t end up using/needing, but it was some… IDK, Twiglet or NPC or something in the original. The real reason I picked it is because I has used “Dee” as a random generic background character name before (for those curious: it was in OTOS’s sequel, BYLM).

⦁ I know the show has discussed stuff that happened on Instagram and shit repeatedly so I decided they would probably be willing to acknowledge things that happened “off camera” if they were important and alluded to in the show like the cheating.

⦁ A lot of people were speculating on who the “other two” on the camping trip were but the real reason it was a four-bed cabin is I’ve never seen a three bed cabin XD The ones at the park near me are all four-bed in the sense they all have two bunk beds lol. It were just Adora, Teela, and Catra.

Chapter 9:

⦁ I don’t remember if I ever said this in the fic at this point, but Catra has short hair in this one because she gave herself a dyke cut after coming out to rub it into Weaver’s face.

⦁ Adora was picking up on the vibes and griping about it, but Catra said she wasn’t bothered and then climbed in Adora’s lap to “distract her.” And yeah she was too distracted for Glimmer’s next text lol.

Chapter 10:

⦁ There was voice over as Adora went through the ropes and their meanings both explaining some details on what they meant (since the concept is familiar, but in a mostly abstract way, to mainstream audiences). The narration talked about how important the tradition was to Catra and how Adora could never take her this far and not look over the meanings. It made it kind of ambiguous whether she was legitimately considering the ropes or just showcasing this thing that was important to her once-best friend.

⦁ Adora looks at the camera after Hope mentions keeping Melendy because she’s thinking about Melendy (potentially, she would totally understand if she wasn’t) watching along at home and what she would want to say to her that she didn’t get to before.

⦁ Hope’s “sometimes you follow your heart” line is 100% canned and something she regularly regurgitates from a script when the moment calls for it. In this moment, however, the follow-up was a quiet disapproval for picking Catra. Hope was never going to directly interfere with Adora’s final choice — it seemed obvious that Adora had to decide independently or the relationship was going to blow up fast and make them look worse than Adora picking the “wrong” option for their preferred narrative — but she still didn’t want Adora to pick Catra, so she has occasionally let slip something to that effect in private conversations off camera. Usually not to Adora, but Adora has long figured out what production actually wanted out of the season.

⦁ The camera suddenly cut to Adora and Tali after Tali mentioned Catra because Hope twitched from someone spoiling her show (even if like, come on, everyone knew Adora was going to ask Catra Something and Catra would say yes). There quietly controlling her inner rage was something Adora could detect after working with her for so long, which is also why Adora was giggly (well, that and relief). That’s also why Hope was so aggressive jumping back into the conversation, because she was trying to take control of it again.

⦁ Adora looked more serious/neutral because she had her whole speech prepared about the things they needed to work on and the fact this was, in essence, conditional, so she was gearing herself up for that and didn’t want Catra to think that she was ignoring everything she had planned to do.

Chapter 11:

⦁ I went back and forth on Catra’s phrasing following the “Rebuild with me?” because Catra’s response doesn’t work as well from Glimmer’s perspective, but it’s so important for her to respond like that because it’s Adora saying “Rebuild and try with me” and Catra saying “Yes, I want to change” so I kept it.

⦁ Adora told Catra about the whole ropes debacle that night and Catra was both annoyed — at production, and sy how much the delay made her worry — and found it funny. After Catra pulled her into the limo following the proposal, they went back to the hotel, packed up, and Catra joined her in her suite again that night before they had to fly back home at 4AM. They did some catching up and making out but mostly they just held each other and were Done.

⦁ Okay so they haven’t told their therapist how the show ended, it’s just incredibly obvious. They’ve told her they can’t legally tell her anything that happened until after the corresponding episode has aired, but then they’re going to therapy to build a healthy relationship together and work through past obstacles like Catra’s jealousy and Adora leaving her behind and expecting Catra to follow her along — especially since that’s kind of still happening, only for better reasons now and when they can both be more mature about it — so it’s kind of really obvious what the end result was lmao. Their therapist watched two episodes for context but with how heavily edited it is, it wasn’t actually that helpful.

⦁ I never brought up their jobs because… they weren’t working for months lmao, but Adora works for Angella as he day job so she could get the time off and at the start of the fic Catra is a graphic — and website, to some degree — designer primarily working for Entrapta’s robotics business, though she does work on the side for other clients.

⦁ Glimmer’s ambush wasn’t actually coordinated, Perfuma just saw it happening at a volume that seemed calm and quietly assisted letting it play out. She wants them all to have healthy relationships now, but she wants to protect her friend too.

⦁ This final chapter took so long despite being written before I even posted chapter 9 because I knew something was missing from it but I’m so busy I’m kind of creatively stalled out so I couldn’t really pinpoint what vibe was off. It turned out to be a rehaul of the confrontation and adding in the party scene to have a bit more closure on that angle since it felt like Glimmer accepted it too quick for her. It allowed circling around on the marriage aspect before the final scene too. It ended up making this the longest chapter of the fic though.

⦁ Melendy… deserves a break. She left Adora’s season knowing she had to focus on her own happiness and getting to a good place with her family. After her parents drove Adora away, she had a fight with them about them preferring to ruin her happiness over it coming from something they didn’t approve of. Things were really tense with them for a while but they started trying to work on being more open so Melendy would be comfortable sharing her life with them even if it didn’t go how they wanted. When Melendy had a few awkward dates that didn’t work out and then eventually decided to go on the show again, they were hopeful that they wouldn’t have to confront any of it further since she was going on a man’s season. Obviously that didn’t work out, and it was upon meeting the bachelor and him being a lot less concerned with things like Melendy’s ear positioning that made them face themselves a bit more given how parallel the situation was to how they met Adora. Melendy sat them down and had a really long talk before her season about how she was going to have guys and girls on it and they had to be prepared to meet and support both in the finale or be prepared not to be there at all. They tried to open themselves up to it more. Melendy was really excited about being the bachelorette and having one last shot at happiness. Despite being near all the manufacturing of the show twice now, she believed in the love story still, and she was the kind of person who liked structure around dating. It was easy back when she was in school, but once it was down to meeting random strangers out in the world and on dating apps, she struggled with it a lot more, so she really thought the show could bring her happiness if she gave it one last chance as the lead. It did, btw. Her final three were Duke, one of the fighting girls, and another girl who was kind of a surprise to her but things suddenly started to heat up with her near the end. Duke pulled an Idiot and basically eliminated himself when one of the producers talked him into going to her after their Fantasy Suite and telling her on camera that he wasn’t comfortable with her sleeping with the other girls. Melendy was seriously considering him and might have been willing to decide on him and make that concession if he brought it up in the privacy of the Fantasy Suite, preferably before they had sex so she could really consider the whole picture without a fucking camera on her. It felt manipulative — probably because he was manipulated into doing it when a producer caught him stewing over the upcoming dates — so she told him she wasn’t making that promise and they parted ways really tensely. He basically knew he was going home when the next girl stayed the night with Melendy. There wasn’t any dramatic early exit, which gave him and some of the viewers hope, but it was an eventuality when she gave the roses to the other two girls. Her parents were disappointed, but they’d prepared themselves for this situation and were a lot more open than they had been with Adora. They ended up endorsing the surprise contestant — half because she seemed really sweet, and half because she was a magicat — and Melendy was thrilled to make that decision with her parents’ support. She wanted to be proposed to, so the girls went with it, and though Melendy personally would have been happy either way, the surprise girl passed her parents’ final test when she brought ropes rather than the ring the other girl picked out (which, to be fair, she did knowing Melendy was okay with it since she was unsure about the rope thing in general and asked Melendy about it). They have a much more whirlwind married in nine months kind of relationship the producors are really looking for, but luckily it worked out for them too.

Original Outline:

This fic was originally a lot shorter. Basically, I had a few big moments and then not more plan of what (if anything) would go in between. The original idea was the limo entrance, cocktail party confrontation, the coming out Bare Your Soul date, a later addition of the vineyard date, Catra’s hometown, and then Catra’s fantasy suite, the ropes, and the proposal.

Originally, it was a lot more ambiguous how Catra was feeling about Adora until the Fantasy SUite. She was a lot cooler to her throughout it and they didn’t get stuff like the soft moment late at night in Bright Moon that they ended up with. In the original outline, Catra’s plan was a bit more manipulative, with her original (conscious) idea being to try to make sure Adora got her heartbroken however she could, even if that meant luring her in again and breaking her heart at the end herself. That lasted about five seconds, and as I thought about the idea I realized that wasn’t really how I was picturing the intent or function of Catra’s plan, but it did mean I lost the line of “The plan was to break your heart on national television.” I did my best to get something close because I loved that line.

Catra was also supposed to be a lot more cagey after the reveal because she held onto her plan for longer and thus had a harder time sorting out the actual feelings she buried beneath it, so she couldn’t say what she did for the show and what she did for her plan or when she stopped trying to hurt Adora, but when the plan softened, so did the fallout from it too. The show was then supposed to roll right into the ring/rope selection with Adora’s time with the final girl specifically not shown but its absence making it clear she didn’t make up her mind regardless of what happened in the Fantasy Suite, but it needed more fleshing out by the time I reached there in the story, especially since I knew who the other girl was at that point. The fic was supposed to basically end with the proposal, but I couldn’t have stopped there once I reached it and it wouldn’t have been the right call anyway lol.

Upcoming:

I might have more meta coming for this (see: cut scene mentioned above) but aside from that I’ve got some ideas competing and a low creative pool at the moment so I’m not sure which fic will be next. I’ve got some fun ideas and some specific ass weird ones.

[mrthology]

You and @ashilrak are so brilliant at writing the gods, they feel like they’re immortal beings who’ve lived for centuries, so I was wondering if you had any tips for writing characters like the gods? You’re both such amazing writers

Hi, and thank you so much!! I was introduced to the myths and history when I was likely far too young (I found a copy of the Iliad very early on haha), and that's influenced how I write, what I studied, and so much more.

I think my biggest tip is honestly just to write. I can see how much my writing's improved since first posting PJO this go-round with the fandom, and sincerely hope it will keep improving! Don't get m wrong, I still love my older stuff, but I very much can see that I've become a much stronger author. Writing is honestly a lot of practise, and figuring out what works for you! I'm definitely better at writing the gods (and anything) now than I used to be.

Reading can also help a ton. Find author/authors (be in fanfiction or published books) you like and note what you like about them. Are they more sparse with their prose? More purple? Do they go between/in the middle of the two? Do they describe every detail? Do they leave more to the imagination? Etc. etc. Seeing what you like and would like to emulate can definitely help, especially when it comes to characterisation.

Advice for writing the gods would be essentially the same as above: write, then write some more; read and keep reading. I love reading the Greek plays and their translations, as well as history in general, and will link a couple of my favourites below that have very much influenced me:

Mythos: The Greek Myths Retold, Stephen Fry - overall not my fav retellings, but I genuinely enjoy his writing, and he makes everything incredibly accessible, and it's a great starting point

Grief Lessons: Four Plays by Euripides (trans. Anne Carson) - anything by her to be honest, she's incredible and I love her

The Odyssey, Homer (trans. Emily Wilson) - this one changed me as a person, specifically this translation haha

The Aeneid, Virgil (trans Shadi Bartsch) - women in translation, my beloveds

Medea, Euripides (trans. Gilbert Murray) - Medea is incredible

The Oresteia: Agamemnon, The Libation Bearers, The Eumenides, Aeschylus (editors Robert Fagles and W.b. Stanford)

Trojan Woman, Euripides (trans. Anne Carson, illustrator Rosanna Bruno) - sorry not sorry for reccing Carson again but this is so good

I could go on for an embarrassing long time, so feel free to ask for recs if you'd like, and so sorry if you've already read all these sksks, I got excited 🧡🧡🧡

Thank you again, both @ashilrak and I really appreciate this message!!

[ohnoproblems]

Hey, I just finished reading Peregrine Phoenix vol.1 - I adored it enough to come poke the author about it. I'm a fervid martial arts guy, and I noticed that, despite the relatively sparse description of grappling in comparison to the abundant striking, both of Mokou's barehanded fights ended with suplexes. Interestingly, she fights taurs both times. I'd love to hear more about the process behind choreographing this, particularly the process of figuring out what might and mightn't work on a quadrupedal body plan. Were you inspired by judo, wrestling, something else?

thank you so much for this ask. it's maybe the perfect question so i hope i can do it justice.

it's been about 2-2.5 years since i wrote the fight scenes in book 1, so i don't have as precise an idea anymore of my peripheral inspirations. as far as personal experience with martial arts, i don't have a whole lot - i took karate in high school at a suburban McDojo and got to... brown belt? then a whole lot of nothing. but by the time i started writing book 1, my wife's interest and appreciation of Wing Chun got me into the off-and-on habit of doing daily Si Lim Tao with her.

because of this, i'm a bit of a chameleon when it comes to my influences. i rely on media depictions a lot. i see a cool martial arts movie (like the Ip Man movies for Wing Chun, or like The Raid for Silat, etc) and i'm like "well that's cool as fuck, and mokou loves to tussle and she's lived forever so i bet she knows that." i like to give her worldly influences and i also like to give her otherworldly/larger-than-life/future influences because she's been part of this unbroken continuity of being and her knowledge and practice should reflect that. so it's things like Wing Chun and Silat, but it's also things like Lunarian CQC from the Lunar Wars, Danneskjold Pit Style from her life across the Moghra'yi, or Heaven Sundering Fist from wherever the hell you learn fake anime martial marts in the time and space between Gensokyo and Qud.

the suplex finisher is for any number of reasons. number one, there's something incredibly decisive and definitive about a suplex. number two, it's flashy as hell and i love flashy things. number three, and perhaps most critically, it gets your foe off of their feet! and when you're facing a quadruped, that's very important, that's the root of their strength! they can get twice the leverage out of the ground as you can, so the sooner you can negate that advantage, the better!

writing this series has me thinking about the ergonomics and design philosophy of centaurs more than i usually do, which, if you look at my #taurposting tag, you can probably understand is something i already think about a great deal. whenever agate fobs off mokou's interest or training offers with "i have my own techniques" i'm always like god. but actually what do those look like. how do you get gains as a centaur in a world with no gyms. one of these chapters in one of these books i'll probably go into it.

mokou's moveset in ULiL/AoCF is also a big inspiration! she's got all these great stomps and kicks and flips and nasty fire-claw punches whenever she deigns to pull her hands out of her pockets. she's not a very "honorable" fighter, she cares way more about getting to cut loose. agate's lucky she didn't catch a handful of homemade explosives to the face!

my choreography process is usually like… well i do a lot of rotating these gals in my mind and seeing what would be the coolest thing for them to do, the most sensible thing for them to do, the most emotionally or thematically resonant thing for them to do, the best nod to that dope move in the martial arts flick i just watched, etc, and then whatever i settle on i try to depict as clearly as i can. then if there's room for textual flourishes i'll spruce it up some.

Judo wasn't really a direct influence over book 1's fight scenes - i think the first judo-centric martial arts film i've seen was Sanshiro Sugata (1943), and i saw that one for the first time in may of 2022, too late to influence book 1. hilarious movie for fight choreography btw, he just fucking shuffles up and GETS them and then they fly across the room and almost die and it keeps happening. beautiful.

that said, there's some tussles coming up in book 2 that give a nod to Judo! this is because i've been getting way into Sumo lately and Judo has a good playbook to help in Sumo bouts. also Judo is a great style for someone who is too depressed to regularly keep herself in peak condition, because a lot of it is about putting what force you have to best use, and using your enemy's force against them. Wing Chun is also good for folks who aren't in the best shape, so that's another of my justifications as to why she talks that one up.

and finally, caves of qud as a game is one that has sadly underdeveloped (though not nonexistent!) barehand combat support, so there's a bit less inspiration i can pull directly from the game. mokou's new in town anyway, so she hasn't had a chance to soak in the styles regardless. i'm gonna take this opportunity to plug the Qud-Fu - Mixed Martial Arts Skills mod which i keep meaning to install and play around with but so far haven't. but if i do it strikes me as one very likely to show up in the fic XD

thank you again and i hope this gave you better insight!