#the art and writing for this event is gonna be incredible trust me
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hey hey!! lookie this!
tis my first participation in a zine!! AAAAAAAA HEY MA!!! IM ON A ZINE!!! i'm so excited to work on this project thank you so much for having me <3
if you're around the area, feel free to drop by and get some yummy food and merchies of an eepy boy!! the entire line-up for this event is stacked i tell you, check out all the artists and writers!! go go go!!
#sam rambles#tears of themis#luke pearce#xia yan#talks from the spambox#I AM IN THE PRESENCE OF TOT ROYALTY ALL THESE WRITERS AND CREATORS AND THEN THERES LIL OLD ME#i am so fucking devastated i won't be able to attend on account that i am a filthy American. woe is me#tHERE'S GONNA BE A LUKE STANDEE OOOO YOU WANNA TAKE A PIC WITH LUKE SO BADDDDD#the art and writing for this event is gonna be incredible trust me#anyways just popped in to promote off to the mines i go#i got the asks!!! and draft responses i keep forgetting to edit and post lol ILL GET TO THEM EVENTUALLY I PROMISE
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Anthony Po's video is worse than you thought
youtube
This video actually looks at and breaks down Anthony Po's infamous video in deep detail and wow is it worse than JUST recording sexual activities without consent.
Starts with revealing that Anthony made a fake "furry identity" where his idea of what a furry is was a raging classist, sexist, ableist fatophobe who was very much a "annoying autistic" caricature from 2000s "humor".
He also decided it was a funny joke to make said fake furry influencer a registered sex offender and zoophile ("joking" about how he wasn't allowed near schools and making a whole TikTok where the "joke" was him stalking a man because he wanted to assault his dog)
Probably Used AI generated images for the "art" he had of his fake character
Bought an incredibly affordable for what it was pre-made fursuit and just spent the whole video talking trash on it and the maker and artist of it
Talked zero about any art or artists he "used". In fact, he didn't speak about the art side of furry Fandom AT ALL
The whole video is filled with 2000s Homophobia and not once does he mention the amount of LGBT+ furries or even says the word gay at all, despite the fact the entire goal of the video is violating the privacy of LGBT people and recording their sex acts for sensationalism.
He mentions once how a large part of the Fandom is neurodivergent, but in a way that sounds like "haha, the reason they're all cringe weirdos is because they're mental". Also dips into Homophobia and infantilizing neurodivergent LGBT people
He pretends to join a famous furry news site to get a con press pass, ghosts the news team after one email, uses their badge to get people to let him interview them, takes credit for a feelgood article he didn't write, generally disrespects the new site he took advantage of for their reputation
Speaking of, he interviewed people (again posing as a trusted journalist) but cut out nearly all the interviews about the Fandom because people weren't giving him what he wanted (he wanted to play a scare cord when someone said something sexual but no one did because obviously) so he skips by all of it except the parts he makes fun of for being neurodivergent people
He tries out for the dance competition, solely because he needs a B plot for his video and he thinks it will get him invited to "sex parties", doesn't practice at all, is shocked he doesn't make it, then crashes the competition anyway to utter silence of the crowd and doesn't even watch other dancers and just leaves the con after
Another thing is him constantly conflating "room parties" the sexual thing he treats like a big secret and is looking to film, and any kind of furry event or party whatsoever. So he treats all furry events like they're sex events in editing. Trying to make it seem like there's no divide between sfw and NSFW events
He flat out LIES about Con dealers den policy to make it seem like Kids are gonna see porn because THINK OF THE CHILDREN (LITERALLY AN UNIRONICALLY). Literally lies and says "8 year Olds can just go to the dealers den and buy porn" when in reality you need ID and a badge (which also requires ID) to get into, the dealer who's product they show off having obvious +18 markers on everything
Homophobia looking at obviously gay porn magazines
Passes out tacky "invite me to sex party" business cards, at the end of the video announces he's selling them (at ridiculous prices). Said sales of leftover cards would more than surpass the amount of money he donated to the Trevor project as an "apology". He also made the video a charity video to deflect blame, even though it has generated zero donations other than what he donated and not addressing the actual issues with the video
Asks to be part of Gay group chats planning the parties he is after and is Homophobic and surprised they are gay and talk about sex. Mock people's bodies and nudes and is disgusted by gay sexuality as a joke.
Jokes about how he's gonna be molested/forced by "older predators" when he actually goes to the parties for consensual sex. "Gays are predators/groomers and rapists" Homophobia abound
recording a room party without consent, using the footage to have an animated verison created for his video
Recording a room party with consent for personal private viewing, BUT NOT CONSENT TO BE USED IN A PUBLIC YOUTUBE VIDEO. This is the video he shows in the original video
Pretending to wrap the video up with a feel good message, despite literally everything he did being shit
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sad rambling vent post about my relationship with the wayhaven fandom.
i think a lot abt how fandom ruined my relationship with wayhaven bc it's my comfort media but i feel so paranoid interacting with literally every single person in the fandom because of the shit i dealt with and i know i have talked about this before and you're probably like "damn bitch go to therapy or shut up"
but idk sometimes i remember that and i get sad because no matter what relationships I've made in fandom or the people i think are cool or whose writing and art i love, there will always be that voice in my head telling me "there's a discord server where people talk shit about you"
(and i need to stress that's not pure paranoia and early in my fandom days there WAS a discord server where people regularly talked shit about me and accused me of shit i didn't do or say. and some of those ppl are STILL in fandom and still mutuals in law with me)
that isn't to like shame people who may be friends with them esp cuz like im not gonna openly call anyone out over some he said she said they said nonsense but like 🤷 idk i wish that the people who treated me like a fandom pariah didn't succeed in doing so? i wish my friends who had been in that server at the time stuck up for me when it did happen?
because i have an ex friend who would be in my dms telling me how these people are talking shit about me and making false accusations so they can justify hating me but he would still be a part of that server and friends with those people so as not to rock the boat
and idk how am i supposed to feel about that? and like because of shit like this i can't fully trust that anyone in the wayhaven fandom isn't in a group chat where maybe occasionally if i say some shit in the tags maybe someone will bring it up in the server and go "lmao remember that bitch pap we used to talk shit about 3 years ago" and rehash all the shit they used to say to even new people in the fandom
because there are people who preemptively block me when joining the wayhaven fandom and idk how to deal with that when literally the only controversial thing I've ever done is stick to my guns about how i feel about racism and r/adfems in fandom. like that's the kind of shit i got called retarded for and sent anon hate consistently through end of 2020 beginning of 2021? i got accused of harassing a person I'd literally never met for making 1 incredibly general text post about racism in fandom with no identifying information (because i wasn't talking about anyone specific) and people still have me blocked over that shit. I had someone who i thought was a friend vague post about me (a trigger of my paranoia) the same day I posted about how I was having suicidal ideation around my paranoia due to people vague posting about me constantly—literally only over me not using his art in a fandom event, like he got paid + a tip for a commission and in the end we didn't feel it was a fit and respectfully told him so (but he still got that bag??) and he decided suicide baiting was the answer.
girl i don't even fucking know what to do
how do i even begin to repair my relationship with this fucking hostile fandom without grovelling at the feet of shitty white fandom moms who decided im hostile and bringing drama to fandom?
idk im tired and im not sure if this makes sense but I'm hitting post anyway
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Yes, for sure! Okay so I took this down initially to gather up some resources but I’ve come to realize I don’t actually have that many specific ones on hand. I always want to caveat that this is just the way I learned/write and it won't work for everyone -- I was/am a slow learner who needed a lot of guidance and so this is all targeted towards that.
My suggestions are:
Strunk & White: The Elements of Style for grammar. There are other grammar books out there but I like this one because it’s really stuffy and strict and I trust the reader to figure out what is/isn’t worth taking into account.
Steering the Craft by Ursula K Le. Guin: I’m going to be so honest, I have not actually read this but I’ve paged through it and it seems really good
How Not To Write a Novel by Sandra Newman & Howard Mittelmark
The Masterclass writers series is incredibly expensive but some of the courses are available through libraries or other methods
Also this is for children but Gonna Bake me a Rainbow Poem was foundational for me at ten & I don’t see why it couldn’t help someone older.
More broadly, I listen to writers when they talk and try to pick and choose what’s useful to me. I prefer the advice of genre writers because I feel most of them really understand their craft as a craft; imo a lot of literary writers are so good at what they do they have no idea how they’re doing it. YMMV on this. I would highly recommend reading the forwards and afterwards of novels. I also like the director's commentaries of movies.
I also find instructional art resources extremely useful! Visual artists know how to describe things and imo they’re better at it than most writers. Like, here, I’ve just googled ‘How to draw light’ and this is a better description of how light affects an object than you’ll find in 99% of writer’s resources. I would also check your local community. If there are writer’s events, take advantage of them. Libraries and bookstores are good places to look. Head down to some book launches and listen to the authors talk.
Also ok this tends to be a bit of a sensitive topic online, but: if you want to improve it’s generally a good idea to seek out critique and negative feedback. A critique circle is a good way to do this. You can find them organized by communities (ex. a library, a university) or you can make one with your friends. If you’ve got people you trust, you can ask them directly to tell you what they didn’t like. I don’t know how far along you are in your writing journey — 'I did not like this' or 'I found this boring' etc might not be useful information at first but eventually it will be because you’ll learn how to identify points of friction in your own work; if you're earlier on you might need to seek out more guided critique and that is 100% fine. You will eventually get to the point where you can diagnose your own writing. (On this note: if you are posting your writing online I would highly recommend differentiating comments from critique -- I'm talking about directly solicited feedback from people who personally know you and want the best for you.)
One of my main pieces of advice is that it takes time to improve your writing skills. There are ways to improve more or less efficiently but at the end of the day time and practise is the key. It is normal to go through up and downs and it is normal to sometimes feel stuck but if you keep working at it you WILL get better. I am not a quick learner and it took me upwards of ten years before I was writing anything people consistently wanted to read BUT I see people improve exponentially faster than that all the time. Probably you will improve faster than I did. But maybe we will improve at the same speed and that is OK too.
Other random tips:
Do exercises that target specific skills which you are weak at
Carry around a notebook and write down things you see as accurately as you can & transcribe conversations. In regards to the latter, would recommend developing really bad handwriting to prevent people from reading over your shoulder.
Write things, including completed stories, that are above your current skill level. Get them as good as you can then let them go. They are unlikely to meet your standards. Figure out what didn’t work and try them again later. You do not need to publish these
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how do you plan to survive in jegulus fandom when everyone hates each other? how it will work in a long run and what newcomers should do? how are we supposed to know what fics not to read and with whom do not interact and what events not to join?
honestly nonnie i get where the fear and concern come from, bc this fandom is a shitshow and i've never been in one that it's this Bad or Miserable but also . it has brought me a lot of wonderful ppl?? art that i adore and that has inspired me and continues to do so?? sure, a part of it fucking sucks, but that's true for every fandom, even if the marauders fandom IS worse than others
i can assure u, not everyone hates each other. i'm friends with many ppl who are incredibly dear to me, and who i trust and admire and i love!! and there's others who i'm not as close to but who i also get along with really well, and the content i get on my dash is almost always nice?? and lovely?? and interesting?? idk, apart from random hate asks (and i couldn't care less about those) the time i spend here in tumblr participating in fandom is more often than not fun and fulfilling
and newcomers should do the same i did when i first got into the fandom, and what everyone else before me has done. get to know other ppl. decide by themselves who and what they like. block or mute what they don't. focus on everything they're passionate about and ignore the rest. fandom is about having fun and about community. yes, ofc you're gonna encounter assholes and have to deal with shitty situations but that's just part of it. it can't be Good and Perfect all the time
regarding fics or ppl or events, again, it's all up to u. i think most of us are old enough to make our own assumptions and choose by ourselves. if ur wary about something or someone, then u can ask around and then decide depending on ur own ideals or what's more worth it to u. this is just fandom, and most of the time, it's never that deep. like, i have a life outside of tumblr and ao3 and anything marauder related, and half of the shit that goes down here doesn't matter irl?? why the fuck should i care about some anonymous asshole telling me im awful at writing or that jegulus sucks when i have bills to pay and friends who love me and a job i need to go to five days a week (ofc there are exceptions and sometimes problems can be genuinely serious and severely affect real ppl but u get what i mean)
my point is . i understand where ur coming from bc this fandom is a nightmare but also . it's just fandom . if it's too much and it's not worth it then u don't have to get involved At All and still enjoy it from the outside
and regardless, i promise u it's not half as bad as u painted it out to be
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Okay but also the most interesting topic about this love triangle-
Rhaenys is frivolously (said Visenya herself) and free-spirited. I picture her as a spoiled IT-girl who loves parties, pretty men, and doesn’t takes anything seriously, everything is a fun for her (GRRM please give her a personality). It might be really hard for her to be faithful to someone, so I guess Aegon and Visenya might be very bothered by it but couldn’t do anything about it as if not to lose her affection they allowed her to mess around. Does that makes her a horrible person?? I see people still slut-shaming her all around twitter
People slut-shaming in this fandom is just a thing that's going to happen no matter who the woman is, doesn't matter what side you're on if you enjoy a woman in ASOIAF someone's gonna call her a whore for no reason. With Rhaenys it's particularly infuriating for me at least just because she's one of my all-time favorite characters in this franchise and I do not do things by halves.
Personally, I don't really see Rhaenys that way. I'll readily admit to bias because again, she's my fave, but I think that just because Rhaenys liked doing things that enjoyed herself and was more lighthearted and personable than either of her siblings doesn't mean she can't take things seriously. She fought in the Conquest, she was the one in charge of capturing Storm's End and getting the Baratheon/Stormlands submission, which she succeeded in doing in, she participated in the Field of Fire, she was willing to be the person in charge of Dorne's submission if Dorne had been willing to submit (and I think there's a real intelligence behind her not attacking Dorne right away but instead giving them an opportunity to peaceably surrender without her risking her own life unnecessarily), and she went back to Dorne to fight them and finish the Conquest even when she'd have had a perfectly legitimate reason to stay behind now that she was a mother. She was just as much a true Targaryen as Visenya and Aegon, and just as vested in their burgeoning dynasty, which is why I don't really subscribe to the theory that Aenys isn't Aegon's kid (no hate on people who do subscribe to it, headcanon away, it's just not for me).
I also wanna note that the "frivolous" quote isn't just someone writing down that Visenya thought Rhaenys was a bit flighty and then left it at that. The specific quote reads “Queen Rhaenys was a great patron to the bards and singers of the Seven Kingdoms, showering gold and gifts on those who pleased her. Though Queen Visenya thought her sister frivolous, there was a wisdom in this that went beyond a simple love of music. For the singers of the realm, in their eagerness to win the favor of the queen, composed many a song in praise of House Targaryen and King Aegon, and then went forth and sang those songs in every keep and castle and village green from the Dornish Marches to the Wall.” Visenya is someone who appears to have preferred a simple "might as power" strategy when it came to it, while Rhaenys seems to have been slightly more well equipped to deal with certain aspects of administrative rule, and Visenya is acknowledging this. Rhaenys is essentially running an incredibly skilled propaganda campaign, getting as many people on board with her regime via the art they listen to propagating her version of events and propping her up in a way that's accessible to the masses. And Visenya is acknowledging the skill and the importance of that, even if it's not something that's in her wheelhouse herself or something she entirely gets, which goes back to my earlier point about how Visenya clearly didn't mind her sister's involvement in ruling and trusted her decisions in areas she wasn't as well versed in.
I also think that Rhaenys genuinely loved her siblings, and at the very least loved Aegon romantically enough to stay faithful (the rumors about her infidelity are incredibly sparse and basically just boil down to some sources going "hey what if" and leaving it at that). But there's a way to play on some of that and make it angsty for the siblings, or at least Visenya. If Visenya's affection for Rhaenys is more one sided, and at one point just becomes Visenya kinda pining, then you can have a moment where she sees Rhaenys surrounding herself with these pretty young things and she assumes (incorrectly) that Rhaenys might be having affairs. And she goes to Aegon about it, more angry than she should be, clearly more angry than just on her brother's behalf, and Aegon doesn't really do anything. Maybe he also thinks Rhaenys is having affairs but loves her enough to let it slide; maybe because they're closer he knows that Rhaenys isn't doing anything and trusts her in a way that kinda leaves Visenya as the odd one out. But either way, he tells Visenya not to bother him about this and that he doesn't care, she lets it slide in the moment because even in her own jealousies she still loves Rhaenys and ultimately wants her to be happy more than she cares for Aegon's feelings or even her own in that respect. And then you've got groundwork for their later rift. Visenya can take that to mean that Aegon doesn't care about Rhaenys like she does, because if he really loved her he wouldn't be able to stand that kind of betrayal, and Aegon, after Rhaenys dies, can think back on this moment with a warped lens and accuse Visenya of always wanting to dishonor Rhaenys and sully her reputation for her own selfish gains.
Like, no knock on your interpretation, everything about this is open to interpretation and any inter-Targaryen love triangles are going to be quite open to all kinds of theorizing (though I'm at least glad most of my people have hopped on board the "Aegon and Visenya were both in love with Rhaenys and semi-competing for her rather than Rhaenys and Visenya competing for Aegon" train, I'll pioneer this until I die), but I think trying to flip things on their head and giving Rhaenys a bit more credit than fandom tends to give her because they don't get the concept of administration and soft power is more interesting to me than just kinda going with the flow of what the general conventional wisdom is. And with a source like F&B where everything is so open to interpretation, you're almost encouraged to do it, and I will follow that encouragement.
#personal#answered#anonymous#rhaenys targaryen#rhaenys the conqueror#as an augustus enjoyer you cannot be surprised that i can appreciate rhaenys's propaganda skill#like yeah she's not going around fucking shit up with a sword but she's getting shit done nonetheless#and still has her own dragon#i love her so so much
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Dream Come True
Colin Shea x O/C Corinne MacAdam
Multi-Chapter Story - Complete
Summary: Colin Shea and his band Rock the Cradle are finally making it big - until something unexpected happens. When he meets a girl that makes him reconsider his player ways, he thinks his life may be coming together, until she blows it apart.
Warning: Bad language, smut, suicidal ideations - no one under 18, please
Disclaimer: This is a pure work of fiction and classified as 18+. Please do not read if you are underage. I do not own the character of Colin Shea; the rest are my original characters. By reading beyond this point, you understand the disclaimers as posted.
Chapter Seven
Cori and Seth fell into a very comfortable rhythm, meeting for dinner, going for walks, catching an art exhibit, getting coffee. He was great company and she felt truly at ease with him.
Her job was starting to pick up. Ms. Robbins was ready to start entertaining. Cori found a confidence she didn’t have when she started, and she credited it to her rebirth – new place, new job, new boyfriend. She felt better about herself than she had in months.
In the meantime, Colin’s life was about the same. Lots of gigs with the band, lots of girls, but the one he wanted was out of reach. He and Cori had spent a few evenings together, a couple of times on the rooftop when he was writing songs. She’d giggled at some of his lyrics until he got them straightened out. The problem was, all she wanted to talk about was Seth. He was amazing. He was great. He was outstanding. He was smart. Colin hated him. He was everything Colin wasn’t or ever would be. He was established and well educated and a grown up, all the things that Colin wasn’t.
One evening when she’d invited him for pizza, they watched the Red Sox game on TV and started talking about when they were in high school. Then Cori shared a couple of college stories, but her mood took a turn and she wasn’t so talkative.
“Ok Debbie Downer, what just happened? I was telling you about how I got taped to the top of a flagpole for high school football initiation and then suddenly, you tell me about college and you’re quiet. What’s up?”
She looked so cute tonight. She had on jean cut-offs and a pink sleeveless button up blouse that tied at the bottom, cut low to show the swell of her breasts and with just enough skin visible around the waist that Colin had to shift a couple of times to get comfy on the couch. Her hair was pulled back with a few tendrils hanging down. She had a smattering of freckles across her nose from being in the sun and her eyes were particularly gorgeous. He kept looking at her from the top of her head to the sweet pink toenails on her bare feet and each time, his breath would hitch in his throat.
“I told you about my fiancée, right?”
“Yeah,” he said sadly.
“Well I started seeing him my senior year of high school and we stayed together during college, even though we went to different schools.”
Colin took a swig of beer. “I think I know where this is going,” he said.
“Yeah. He cheated on me. Of course I thought it was the end of the world, except I didn’t even know what that was yet.”
“That’s tough,” said Colin and she let out a laugh.
“Colin. Seriously. For you, it’s incomprehensible. I know you probably think it was stupid that we even tried to stay together.”
He looked a little hurt. “Hey, I respect people that want a relationship. I think it’s hard at that age, with all that temptation, but I know it can be done. Would it be my choice? Hell no. But it meant something to you. So what happened?”
“I was pretty devastated, but he was very remorseful. He came all the way to see me at my school and apologized profusely. He told me it would never happen again. It took a while but I took him back and eventually, I trusted him again.”
“You must have felt like he was worth giving another chance,” he said.
She sighed. “I thought he was, the best. When we graduated, we got engaged. I could see all of it – the wedding, the house with the white picket fence with kids running around. He and I were so compatible.” Her voice dropped off at the end.
He hesitated. “Do you want to talk about the rest? You don’t have to –“
“No, it’s ok. We had our rehearsal dinner at the hotel where we were getting married on Friday night. We parted for the night and wouldn’t see each other until I walked down the aisle. As I was leaving the bar, I noticed he’d left his credit card. I took it up to his room, excited that we’d get one more kiss. I was so stupid.” She felt the tears coming.
He could see it too. He moved toward the couch to try and get closer to her. “It’s ok,” he said softly. “We can stop.”
“No,” she said a little sob escaping. She took a deep breath and sighed. “I caught him in bed my very best friend. And when everything was said and done, he’d had girls all along. He’d never been faithful to me, not even in high school.” She wiped a tear away from her eye.
He was suddenly overwhelmed by feelings – rage at this guy for hurting her, sadness because she was sad, protectiveness because he didn’t want her to hurt anymore. Her tears truly broke his heart. He knelt down in front of her chair and started to put his arms around her, until there was a knock at the door.
“Great,” she muttered, wiping her eyes. She stood up and made her way to the door, gathering herself as she went. She looked through the peephole and let out a little squeal, opening the door. “Seth! You said you wouldn’t be back until tomorrow!”
He swept her up in a hug, lifting her off the ground, then planted a soft kiss to her lips. “I got an earlier flight. I didn’t want to be away from you a second longer than I had to be.” He kissed her again, this time more deeply and urgently.
Colin suddenly felt incredibly conspicuous. He stood up, dropping his beer bottle in the trash can. Seth eyed him over Cori’s shoulder.
“Hey Seth,” he said with a half smile.
“Colin, hey,” he said.
“Well, I’m gonna get out of here so you two can enjoy the night.” Colin stepped around them and walked out the door as Seth lifted Cori again, kissing her as he shut the door behind them. He stood there for just a second. It was jealousy this time, but there was something else – longing, maybe. He was really smitten with her. In fact, if he was really honest, he was falling in love with her.
This was dangerous territory. Time to take evasive action. He ducked into his apartment and changed, then headed to the bar down the block. Time to find a companion for the night, to make him forget that he wasn’t going to be with the girl he really wanted.
“Colin, you guys have to do this.” Cori was pacing around her apartment, talking with her hands, full of energy.
“I don’t know. It’s not what we normally do.”
“It’s a great way to get your name out to people who wouldn’t normally go to Rap’s or some of the other places you play. And it’s really good money.”
He was leaning against her kitchen counter, beer bottle in hand, the other rubbing the back of his neck. “Yeah, but this is different. This is a big, stuffy old people event.”
She leveled him with a look. “It is not,” she said. “My job is to broaden the net for her fundraising. She has plenty of big stuffy events for old people. She has to widen her demographic. She says if they’re having fun, they’ll donate. I know lots of young people feel like they are a charity, but it’s my job to bring them in so we can teach them about our foundation.”
He shook his head and sighed. “I don’t make any decisions for the band, we do it as a group. I’ll ask them.”
“Make sure you tell them how much she’s paying,” she said with a smile.
“That’s what worries me. I know they’ll say yes.”
“Why is that so awful?”
“It’s not awful, it’s just – I don’t know, I never pictured us being that kind of band.”
“The kind that makes money?”
He shot her a look. “No,” he said forcefully, “a band that kind of sells out and plays just stuffy events.”
She crossed her arms and gave him an angry look. “Colin. Are you crazy? The biggest names in music play private events all the time. One of the attorneys at Seth’s firm just paid huge money for Maroon 5 to play his daughter’s 16th birthday party. You think Adam Levine was like, ‘oh man, I’m compromising my principles.’ No, he took the money and probably even said thank you.”
He smiled a little, he knew when he was beaten. “Fine. Give me all the details and I’ll talk to them at practice.”
“Great!” she squealed. “You guys are so hot right now, getting you at an exclusive event will be huge. And the venue is so awesome. I promise we’ll take good care of all of you.”
He smiled, trying to hide the fact he’d love to work with her. “Oh, hey, I meant to tell you – Rap’s is closing early Wednesday for an employee appreciation and we’re going to play a set. I thought you might want to come, it won’t be so crowded and crazy.”
“Mm,” she said, taking a sip from her water bottle. “Thanks, let me check with Seth and I’ll let you know.”
“Oh, the invite is just for you. Since it’s employee appreciation, they told us we could each ask one person.”
“Wow,” she said, “I’m your plus one? I’m moving up in the world!”
“Damn right,” he said confidently and they both laughed.
“Alright, count me in. I’d love to come.”
He felt a swell of excitement – he loved every minute he spent with her. He was lucky her boyfriend didn’t mind him hanging around as much as he did. Some guys would get all possessive, but Seth seemed fine with it. Thank goodness.
“Alright, I’m out of here. And thanks for including us in the benefit. I don’t think I even bothered to thank you before I went full diva.”
She laughed, a sound he had come to love. “Well, if you’d said no, it was on to U2. I’m sure they wouldn’t mind being sloppy seconds to Rock the Cradle.”
He grabbed his left pec, laughing heartily. “Bono should be so lucky.”
For just a second, he had an impulse to kiss her. She looked so good, he loved that he made her smile so much. But he stopped himself – he had to do this right or he’d blow it.
“Ok, see ya later gator.”
“Bye,” she said seeing him out the door. As she closed it, she thought how crazy it was that she’d ever been interested in him. She’d always have a thing for him, but he’d never see her the way he saw the swarms of girls that were all over him at a gig, or the ones that nuzzled up to him at parties or the ones that were lucky enough to enjoy a sunrise with him. He’d always be out of reach for her. She was lucky that Seth had come along when he did or she’d spend a lot of nights staring through the peephole, wishing she was with 6A.
On Wednesday, she worked a little late so she went straight from work to Rap’s. The doors were locked and a guy was posted with a guest list. He opened up, saw her name on the list and let her in. He directed her to the green room where the band was prepping.
She came to the door and knocked softly. “The groupies are here!” someone shouted from inside and they all hooped and cheered. The door was opened by a guy she recognized as the drummer. She shoved her hand at him. “Oh man, it’s just Cori.”
She giggled. “Sorry to disappoint you!”
“If you’re looking for Colin, he’s in the bathroom squeezing into his leather pants. He’ll be out in a minute.”
She laughed as he led her to a table with some food and drinks.
“Help yourself,” he said.
“Thanks!” She grabbed some veggies and fruit and a bottle of water and found a chair by Kevin. The other guys were coming and going, getting ready.
“So,” she said, “is it good to be back at it and so busy?”
“Yeah,” he said. “There was a time I wondered if we’d get back but we did.”
“Yeah, Colin told me,” she said.
He looked surprised. “Wow, he must really like you. He never really said much to anyone. I just wish I could find out what really happened with him. Something he just doesn’t want to talk about.”
Cori knew he thought she knew more than she did, so she played along. “Yeah, just crazy. Thank goodness he was ok.”
“Oh yeah, he took a really hard hit. I was terrified. I thought, here we were playing hoops like we always do, and in just a second, he was flat on his back not breathing. Leave it to Colin’s dumb ass to die while he’s showing off a killer dunk.”
Cori’s breath caught in her throat. She tried not to show her surprise.
“We were lucky someone knew CPR. He was so upset we missed the meeting with the record company. Between recovering from being hurt, having a horrible concussion and missing out on that opportunity, he was so down. Colin is never down, but he was almost too far to reach.”
For a second she felt guilty – she’d wondered if it was drug or alcohol related. How could she have thought that about him?
“Good news is here we are, back in the swing. I hear you got us a high-end gig.”
“What? Oh yes, did you all discuss?”
Kevin let out a laugh. “There’s nothing to discuss! It’s great money and exposure, we’re doing it.”
“Oh good! I’m so glad,” she said, still reeling inside about what Kevin had told her. Just then, her golden rock god emerged from the bathroom. He was truly born to front a rock band. When he saw her, he broke into the most beautiful smile. She felt that pull of desire in her belly, but tried to look as normal as possible.
“You made it,” he said.
“Of course!”
Someone stuck their head in the door behind him – “five minutes.”
“That’s my cue. Have a great show, break a leg or whatever you say to a band.” She giggled.
“Thanks Cori.”
She made her way to her seat and sat through an incredible set. All the bar’s employees were having a ball, dancing in front of the stage and partying. She nursed a drink and spent her time watching him. He was so beautiful. He had a good voice, not the greatest but no one would ever notice because his stage presence was incredible. He had the crowd in the palm of his hand.
When it ended and the lights came up, the crowd swarmed the stage. The band’s guests emptied out of their tables and climbed up, hugging their significant others and chatting with the crowd. Just as Cori was about to walk towards the stage, a tall, dark haired girl strode in. Cori stopped and looked at her. She was breathtakingly gorgeous. Long legs in a short skirt, crop top that showed off her tanned skin, her hair perfect, large gold earrings dangling from her ears. She had on designer high heels and as she walked by, Cori caught a whiff of what she was sure was expensive perfume. She walked right up to the stage and looked at Colin, and he froze for a second, then reached down for her hand and pulled her up. She wound her arms around his neck, leaning in to say something to him and then laid a kiss on him that was pure fire.
Cori suddenly felt out of place and was grateful she had a clear shot at the door. She left quietly, no one any the wiser. She walked the few blocks home, locked the door and went in to prep for bed. She looked at herself in the mirror. She’d come straight from work so her cardigan and skirt weren’t cool at all. She looked frumpy compared to the glamour that Colin was kissing on stage. Her phone rang.
“Hey baby,” she said to Seth.
“Hey, you’re home.”
“Yeah, I left soon as the band finished.”
“I figured they’d have a big party after.”
She thought about the great time Colin was having with the gorgeous girl. “Nope, no party, just came home.”
“Aw, well I’m glad you’re home safe. We’re still on for Friday, right?”
“Yes! I’m so excited, I can’t believe you got us a table at Basile. You’re the best.”
“I fly in about 7 and I’ll head straight from the airport, should be there by 8 no problem.”
“Great, I can’t wait.”
They said their goodbyes and Cori pulled on a sleep shirt and crawled into bed. The last thing she thought about was her sexy rocker neighbor and how no matter how much she wanted him, she could never have him, not even a little of him.
Colin kept an eye on Cori as soon as the band finished. He wanted to sweep her up and spend the rest of the evening with her. When Claire suddenly appeared in front of the stage, he couldn’t believe it. She’d appeared just as instantly as she’d disappeared from his life. She was the one he thought might be for good, and he’d allowed himself to fall hard for her. Then, just like that, she was gone. He’d awoke one morning to find a note next to the bed. No explanation, just “Thanks,” and she was gone. Now, here she was again, and her timing was horrible. He looked up just in time to see Cori slip out the front door.
He stayed for the party, Claire catching him up on her travels and telling him she’d missed him and just had to see him. She saw on the internet that they were playing at Rap’s tonight and even though it was a private party, she talked her way in (she was used to always getting her way). He drank too much and took her back to his apartment. He didn’t know that across the hall, 6C couldn’t sleep and was up when she heard voices. She’d peered through the peephole at them, Colin’s hands all over Claire as he fumbled with the door, where they’d fallen into 6A and closed the door behind them. Knowing he was home safe, Cori crawled back in bed and finally fell asleep.
The next morning, Ms. Robbins had an early appointment and told her not to come in until 11. She’d made up for the sleep she lost the night before and was stepping out the door when Colin appeared at his door.
“Hey,” she said.
He hesitated, then “Hey.”
“You guys were great last night.”
“Thanks. Hey – I need a favor, a big one. Can I come over?”
She looked at her watch. “Sure, I’m going in late today, I have plenty of time.”
He walked into her apartment clad in only his boxers and laid down on the couch, arm behind his head.
“What are you doing?” she said with a laugh.
“Waiting.”
“On what?”
“For Claire to leave.”
Cori looked perplexed. “Wait – why don’t you just ask her to leave?”
“She’s not awake yet.” He said all of this as if it was perfectly normal.
“So wake her up.”
“Well, we were up pretty late, I wanted to let her sleep. But I don’t want to be there, I just want her to go.”
She thought about this for a minute. “Why?”
He sat up on the couch and pulled a throw pillow over his crotch, resting his arms on it. “Remember when I told you there was one girl I thought was the one?”
“Yeah.”
“That’s her.”
Cori raised her eyebrows. “I understand. She’s stunning.”
“Yeah, and she knows it,” he grumbled. “She’s the worst. The whole time we were together last night, all I could think was how she’d unceremoniously dumped me, never called or texted, then just showed up last night. Like everything was fine.”
She sat down on the chair. “A normal person would’ve said, ‘hey Claire, I was really disappointed in how it ended and I don’t want to be with you anymore.’”
He thought about that for a minute. “I mean, maybe. That never entered my mind. She looked really good last night and we had a few beers, probably too many. But that’s it, I’m done.”
Cori shook her head, processing all he’d said. “So let me get this straight. You really, really liked her, she broke your heart and dumped you on your ass, you don’t hear from her for a long time, she shows up out of nowhere and now you want her to disappear without saying a word to her.”
“Yep,” he said, popping the ‘p’.
“But she was ok to fuck last night.”
Colin flinched at the words. He’d never heard Cori use any language like that. “Jeez Cori, where did that come from?”
“It came from someone that got dumped by an asshole who also wanted to come back – again – but I had enough dignity to tell him to go fuck himself instead of setting myself up again.” She could feel the color rise in her face.
“Look,” said Colin, “I think these are two different situations. I never thought about marrying her or anything, I just really liked her.”
“So that’s what ‘the one’ means to you? Someone worth fucking more than once?” Cori could feel her temper spiraling out of control, but she wasn’t completely sure why and she was flying without a net.
He looked down at the floor, then back at her. “I’m sorry if you’re offended –“
“I guess I’m offended that she treats you like shit, shows up out of nowhere, jumps on stage with you and you bring her home and can’t get enough of her. I saw you when you were trying to get in the door while you were attached to each other. So she’s worth another shag even though she treats you like shit and I’m not worth fucking at all. I can’t believe I’ve actually been comparing myself to these girls you sleep with. How stupid am I?”
He was speechless. What did she just say?
“Cori, hold on a minute –“
“No,” she said, standing up. “You need to go. Go across the hall and grow the fuck up. If you don’t want her there, tell her. I’m not letting you hide over here. I’m just another girl for you to use. I guess I should be happy, at least I get to see you once in a while. As soon as we sleep together, you’d disappear. I’m lucky that I have a mature boyfriend who respects women and doesn’t just see them as a good time. You’re no better than my ex.”
He swallowed slowly, not sure what to say. He couldn’t believe what he was hearing. She did have feelings for him. He didn’t think that was possible. How could she, she was way too good for him. On the down side, she was comparing him to the ex that cheated on her with her best friend. Not great.
“I mean it. Go. Get out of here. Just go.”
He stood up from the couch and hesitated in front of her.
“Go,” she said with venom in her voice. He did as she said.
Cori was so hot, she started fanning herself. Her fists were balled up and she was grinding her teeth. She looked at her watch and saw that she’d better head out or she’d be late. She made sure through the peephole that Colin wasn’t around and hurried out and down the stairs.
#chris evans#chris evans fanfic#chris evans fanfiction#chris evans angst#what's your number#dream come true#comics#colin shea fanfic#colin shea fanfiction#colin shea x ofc#colin shea x original fictional character#what's your number fanfic#what's your number fanfiction
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Hi, Sophie. I need some advice, and I understand if you aren't comfortable with responding, however I trust your opinion and your perspective which is why I've come to you (this might get long). I am feeling extremely and increasingly despondent about my place in the Good Girls fandom, to the point where I just don't want to write any more. This saddens me, as I enjoy creating content immensely, however I feel my work does not get the same engagement of works with equal merit,
particularly in regards to making it on to the rec lists that circulate a lot. I engage with the fandom, I’m enthusiastic about other’s work and encourage them to create, I consider myself to be a fandom member who understands this place is built on reciprocal engagement however I just don’t feel like I get any love back. This in turn makes me feel like I am genuinely not a good writer, despite my own belief to the contrary, and to wonder if I’m embarrassing myself by even bothering to continue.
I’ve asked for constructive feedback and been honest about not having a bruised ego if people were to tell me why my work doesn’t resonate with them as much as others, however this hasn’t come to anything (do people not do concrit any more?). How do I figure out where I’m going wrong? I know everyone likes to push the platitude of ‘fandom isn’t about receiving glory from others’ but with respect I think that’s an incredibly dismissive attitude to have (not that you appear to have that opinion),
(last message I promise!) particularly when fandom is entirely about interaction and content creation, and the symbiotic relationship between the consumer and the creator. I want people to engage with my work more, what’s the secret?
Hi! I’m so sorry it’s taken a week or so to get to this – it’s just been a bit of wild time lately for a whole suite of work and personal reasons.
Thank you for reaching out though! And I’m not uncomfortable at all with these sorts of questions. I think it opens up a really interesting conversation, which I’ll circle back to in a sec, but before I get into that, I want to say that I’m really sorry that you’re feeling despondent about your place in the GG fandom! I can’t speak to your specific experience of course, but I will say that I get where you’re coming from. I think it’s something that affects all of us at varying points, including myself, and I think that the sort of despondency you’re talking about is really something that taps into questions of any sort of creative landscape where people are creating and consuming work.
(Under a cut, because this reply is a little meandering, a little personal, annnnd about 4.5k words, haha)
It’s an interesting point too, because I think when we talk about this, we tend to think both of creative communities and/or fandoms as only having these sorts of issues when they’re BIG communities or BIG fandoms, but that’s not true at all. To me the reality of any sort of community – whether that be a million-person Marvel fandom or three-person knitting club – is that you have people wanting to connect with others, and, with the added factor of some of those people having a creative output within that community (whether that be through writing, art, gifsets or a really great set of mittens), you have an added level of vulnerability and investment.
People aren’t just seeking connection, they’re seeking - - well.
A whole lot more.
And you thread the needles of some of the issues of that really well in your ask too. Those three needles being engagement with your work, popularity of certain people, and how that’s bred an insecurity in your own work.
And seriously, as someone who’s worked extensively with creative communities, and on-and-off in cultural production for the last ten years? These are concerns that I think are endemic in all of these spaces; although perhaps I’d articulate them slightly differently.
You say engagement, popularity and the work.
I say community, profile and craft.
Potato, po-tah-toh, haha.
Ultimately these are three things that depend on each other just as much as they exist entirely independently of one another. It’s like a weird, polyamorous relationship that at its best works great and creates a thriving, mutually beneficial environment for people to grow and develop and engage, and at its worst is a totally toxic clusterfuck. Realistically though, this is a spectrum not an either-or scenario, which means probably 98% of the time a community space really is something in-between.
Unpacking the ecosystem of that I think is pretty crucial to the questions that you’re asking, so I hope you don’t mind me using this time as a bit of a launchpad to talk about those things.
Community
During my arts touring days, I used to see a lot of misconceptions around how communities came to be. There tended to very much be this ‘If You Build It, They Will Come’ ideology, which is really not the case at all. Sometimes that might work, but most of the time, community builds from the ground up, not the top down. It begins through – usually – a few people coming together out of need or want or passion, and then if enough people have that need, that want, that passion, that community will likely grow. That growth though is usually championed by certain members of said community, because communities do tend to need - - not leaders per se, but people who are invested and drive things that create space for engagement.
Fandom’s not any different at all, and in that sense the communities are built similarly around participation, trust, discussion and content, things I don’t really feel like I need to elaborate on because you clearly know that from your ask, and most of this post is going to be about the last of those things, but I think it’s just worth mentioning. Particularly because I want to add to that that in my experience, communities are also usually built pretty strongly around regularity.
For a show like Good Girls it’s kind of great because that regularity is built into the DNA of traditional TV – it airs weekly as opposed to being dropped in bingeable packets. So that sort of gives you this in-built ten, thirteen, eleven, soon-to-hopefully-be-sixteen weeks where there are appointments for engagement. As a part of that, you get an organic flurry of activity and a degree of commitment from people participating, which is further bolstered by the time in-between episodes having drops of sneak peek clips and promo pictures which in turn bolster speculation, theorising, and a hunger for creative content i.e. fic, art and gifsets.
Working in cultural production, we typically call this ‘appointment programming’ because the idea is that you build community around a regular event. People put it in their diaries, and choose to show-up. It used to be integral to TV, but it’s becoming far less so, but that’s a whole other thing. Appointment programming though encompasses a lot more than just TV viewing, it’s a part of our international cultural ecosystem – it’s festivals and cons, it’s touring concerts and shows, it’s showcases, it’s workshops – it’s anything that builds engagement around a specific experience, at a specific time.
The reason I bring this up is that to me – from my years of experience in fandom and natural tendency to think a lot about / dissect things that I participate in, haha – is that I think fandom spaces typically continue this appointment programming and production beyond the parameters of the content itself. We see this through conventions, fanfic big bangs and other challenges, awards, events, as well as just regular content generation.
Good Girls in particular has a lot of community-driven appointment programming. There’s the weekly re-watch I’ve done on here since August last year, as well as back in 2019, there’s @foxmagpie’s Good Girls’ Appreciation Week, @nottonyharrison’s fic awards, prompt-a-thon and kinkfest, the new fic awards too which are going around, as well as fic authors who publish regularly or on a fixed schedule - @fairhairedkings’ FBI fic I think being the best example of that.
But it’s not even always that structured. I’ll talk about this a bit more in my section on Profile below, but I think this extends to asks and replies. Basically to the expectation of content, whether that be gifs or art or fic or meta or surveys or rec lists, or some combination of all of the above.
I categorically hate the term, but the reason ‘Big Name Fans’ become ‘Big Name Fans’ are usually because their blogs become touchstones for more content (whether that’s original or sharing other people’s), which in turn means occasionally some voices can generate a profile that makes them sort of central figures of the broader community – because there’s this guarantee that you’re gonna go there and you’re gonna get regularly fed. Their blogs, including mine I think, become in and of themselves sort of ‘appointment programming’. I have a lot of thoughts and feelings on this in particular, both good and bad, but my feelings on it don’t particularly matter in this context, haha, so I’m going to leave that thread there.
The point I’m getting at is that while a community builds organically, a community, like anything, needs to be fed to grow, and that people are more likely to engage when they’re being fed regularly.
Look at this way, I was definitely at my most popular in this fandom when I was more or less posting an instalment of Playing House every week. Like, seriously - -
And that was on top of answering between three and ten asks a day.
In that sense, I think that outputs got a lot to do with engagement, particularly in smaller fandoms. There are fewer content producers, which I think bolsters the profile of the one’s posting a lot, regularly, which I think in turn can have the unfortunate trickle down effects too where other members of the fandom see there as being this wall and hierarchy that doesn’t necessarily actually exist, simply because certain names become prevalent.
I think if you come from a big fandom where there are 50, 100, 250 big content producers, it’s a bit more liberating and a lot easier to ‘curate your experience’ so to speak, whereas perhaps in a small fandom, like Good Girls, where there maaaaybe 15 regular content creators, that’s a lot harder. In the end I think that some people feel like you have to like and follow certain people and their work (you don’t!), that ‘it’s cool’ to not like those people (it’s not!), and that certain voices are being ‘silenced’ simply because they don’t have the same profile for whatever reason. Unfortunately that’s hard to get out of, because being in a small fandom is the equivalent of being in a very small, very hot room with not a lot of people, but enough that you’re going to bump into literally everyone on your way in and out of it.
(This is a bit of an aside, but I just want to say that that things do get personal in communities because you do get to know people and have relationships and they can end badly. It also sucks when those personal issues with members of the community bleed over and become public and make the space overall a bit shit. I’m very much guilty of this and will own that, but I have been trying hard to do better, and have completely stopped certain behaviours.
All that said, I do want to flag here that the very nature of this post means I’m going to be honest about my experiences. It’s not meant as subtags or as pointed comments, it’s just - - me talking about said experiences. If these people do still stalk my blog, which well - - I know they do because other people send me shit, haha, I hope that they don’t take any of this the wrong way).
So yeah – I think smaller fandoms can by their very nature become a bit of a melting pot of personalities which results in engagement becoming politicised. I personally do try to share everyone and to not politicise fic recs. I even rec people I personally don’t get along with if I feel it’s appropriate to do so i.e. my episode fic recs, but I’m pretty aware that that type of engagement is not a courtesy extended back to me. It did bum me out for a hot minute with a couple of people, gotta be honest, haha; one person in particular because I didn’t feel like we had a personal beef prior to her doing this, so I didn’t really understand why she was purposefully excluding me.
I knew she read my fics, and I knew it was personally targeted because she DM’d a friend (who I don’t think she realised was a friend of mine) and told her not to rec my fics which is – y’know – in my mind just kind of a dick move? (also really weird, like - - people aren’t going to leave the fandom just because you don’t like them, and you can’t omit them to a point they cease to exist lol), but at the end of the day, she can do whatever she wants, and I can’t control her behaviour, but I can control my own and propagate the culture that I want to be a part of.
On the flipside of that though, small fandoms – and bumping into everyone, haha – can also be great! It can foster friendships and relationships that really form the backbone of any community, and it’s really there that a lot of engagement outside of appointment-based consumption comes from. It’s those relationships that build growth and excitement and conversations and ultimately support.
I guess my point here is that often engagement and recs and championing can be a bit personal, and where you fit in a community, your relationships with people – good and bad – impacts the way people engage with your work. The funny thing is though right, like, jumping back a point, you might not even know what the beef someone has with you is. You can’t ever entirely know how people like or dislike you, where ego comes into it (and as someone who’s been in a lot of creative spaces, ego is alwaaaays present), what vulnerabilities and insecurities people have, where people are at in their creative journey, to say nothing of cultural differences in online spaces where people are from all over the world.
It’s complicated, is what I’m getting at, and the I think where you fit in community can have a big impact on how your work is received, even if we all like to say otherwise.
Profile
Let’s talk about Like an Unsung Chorus.
This is a fic that I wrote back in 2018. At the point of writing this answer, it’s the most kudos’ed fic in the GG category on ao3, and the most bookmarked.
Do I think it’s the best fic in the fandom?
Fuck no, haha. I don’t even think it’s the best fic I’ve written in this fandom, let alone among the rest of the talent we have here.
I think to talk about the success of that fic is to break it down to a few different factors:
I wrote that during the s1/s2 hiatus when there just weren’t that many fics, particularly long running ones, which means there wasn’t a lot of ‘appointment engagements’ for people to tap into. There were some really great ones! Please don’t get me wrong there! But there weren’t a lot.
I published the last chapter the day 2.01 aired, which means it was close to the top of ao3 the day the new season started + new fans arrived, and lapsed fans returned, which means it was a pretty meaty, finished fic for people to jump into straight away.
I created this sideblog a few weeks before I posted the last chapter, and the combination of that + the fic meant people started sending me asks about the show, which I started answering.
It’s been the most kudos’ed fic more or less since then, so it means every wave of new fans who search for Good Girls fic and sort by kudos – for better or worse – see that fic first, and well. Then it’s a self-perpetuating cycle.
Profile’s a funny thing to talk about I think when it comes to fandom because I tend to flip-flop on how much it has an impact on readers specifically. Like – yes, I’m a prolific member of this fandom, and I have the most kudos’ed fic in it, but my Ruby-centred fic Blue Moon only has 31 kudos and 300 hits, and I’d be lying if I said that didn’t sometimes bum me out. I like it as a story, I like that it prioritised character and backstory, I like what I wrote, and it’s not even that it just didn’t resonate, that low number of hits (just as a point of comparison, Chorus has almost 22k hits, and my most-read one-shot in this fandom has 12k hits) tells me a lot of people didn’t even give it a chance.
So in that sense, does profile even matter?
Okay, dumb question, Sophie, haha, yes, of course it has an impact.
I mean, comparing Blue Moon to Chorus is a false dichotomy for starters – one’s character-focused, not ship-focused; one’s a pastiche, the other is a plot heavy canon-extension; one’s a one-shot, one’s got 11 chapters, etc etc, but I do think it’s worth acknowledging what a small percentage of that readership transferred between them. My profile might have made a few people give it a shot, but it certainly didn’t affect all of them.
What I’m getting at here is that I think popularity and profile can often bear more weight in conversation than it does necessarily in reality. I do think that it has weight – I know for instance that some of my weirder concepts like Mick x Mary Pat got more traction than it necessarily would’ve if a brand new author to the fandom had written it – but I also think profile tips the scales in the opposite direction too. I mean I just talked about this but – personal beefs, people with those personal beefs actively encouraging others not to read or rec that person’s fics, people avoiding higher profile authors because they feel ignored by them (rightfully or wrongfully), etc etc.
Profile and popularity is, in a lot of ways, a double edged sword. I think it can bolster interest in your story and amplify your potential audience – particularly if you’re writing a story that hits the right note for people – but I also don’t think engagement is necessarily as symbiotic as you said in your ask.
I mean, I think it helps, but if the way people engaged with our work balanced with the way we engaged with other people’s works, we’d have a very different most kudos’ed fic list on ao3 (and I include myself in that – I’m not the best at commenting, although I do try to share and rec a lot).
So I guess that brings us to craft.
Craft
Like with the other two points, I can’t point solely to the craft of writing as having an answer to your question. I mean, I can’t speak to your writing at all given you’re on anon of course, but I think overall this is a really talented fandom, but it can be hard to predict the fics that strike a chord with people, but then, isn’t that true of all storytelling?
I mean, I could talk forever right now about arcs and scaffolding, emotional beats, thematic throughlines, whatever, but at the end of the day, what hits that note for you is probably different to what hits it for me. The way we engage with stories is subjective, what appeals to us is ultimately manufactured out of our unique histories, experiences, thought processes, desires and a million other things. There isn’t a secret ingredient, no recipe to be followed; if there was, everyone would have the world’s most popular story on their hands.
What’s important is to tell the story that resonates with you, because yeah, you want to be proud of the story that you’re writing, you want to enjoy it, but also that’s the one that’s going to feel authentic to a reader as well, and you do that through knowing who your characters are, what the story you’re telling is, and committing to that. Gosh, that’s why Twilight is cemented in our pop culture history alongside Animal Farm. There’s honesty to experience, whether that be manifesting teenage forever love with vampires or loading up farm animals with Russian Revolution metaphor.
But still, let me switch hats for a minute – fandom Sophie to editor Sophie, haha
Okay. Take all of this with a grain of salt, but here are some things I have noticed when reading fic, not just in this fandom but others too. These are broad, big picture comments – again, I can’t speak to you specifically because you’re on anon, and again, I can’t predict what makes things popular – but again. These are things I’ve pretty actively noticed when reading fic, and could play a role in perhaps a story not resonating as much as the author might want it to:
Missing Scenes
Writers like to skip ahead to the fun bits. That’s fine! Do it! Enjoy it! But when you skip the scenes that impact the next, just because you want to get to the next, your story will feel the loss of it.
That’s one of the best bits of writing advice I ever got actually – if a scene isn’t working, the issue often isn’t with that scene, it’s usually with one of the ones that got you there.
Storytelling is entirely made up of cause and effect, and if you skip out on the cause, the effect’s not going to work.
I’d really encourage you to embrace the unfun scenes, make them work hard with character development, conflict building, mood setting, so that the fun scenes sing.
Mood
Speaking of, really think about mood. When I’m writing, sometimes I don’t even know the story yet, but I know the mood of what I’m writing, the tone of it. I know if I want it to be fun and flirty or rough and angsty or tight and thrilling, and I try to feel that and imbue that into the process of my writing. Mood goes so far, and it’s what really creates resonance with the story that you’re telling. It’s what impacts the way you write dialogue, engage setting, build conflict, and it’s going to not just guide you as a writer, but your reader as an audience.
It’s an exercise I use a lot when I’m teaching, but think of it this way: two girls walk alone through the woods. A basic premise. Now think about how differently you’d write it if it was: comedy; family fairytale; horror.
Those are completely different stories, right? And what you focus on and how you write it is going to be so different. So even if you’re just trying to write something and you don’t really know what, just have a little think about the mood of it, and what sort of feeling you want readers to take away from it. And then! Use that mood when you’re thinking about setting (the trees in these woods are going to look very different after all if it’s a children’s fantasy vs a horror), action and dialogue. Embrace it!
Space
Space informs mood which informs the way we read stories.
I just touched on it in the above section, but embedding your story in a space is going to bring out so many different parts of it. It gives your characters objects to interact with, an environment to feel, a stage to play on.
Nothing happens in a vacuum, so why write that way? And again – space informs mood which ultimately is what creates resonance. Think of the gothic sprawl of the moors in Wuthering Heights or the way the house is used in The Lovely Bones to trap Lindsey when she finds the lock of her dead sister’s hair.
Understanding space can really level up your writing and make it feel alive.
(If you’re just starting out with this sort of thing, look at pictures, draw a map! It’ll help a lot).
But why?
My favourite and least favourite writing question, haha.
It’s also my favourite and least favourite question as a reader. Understanding character motivations – whether they be major or minor characters – is pivotal to investing a reader in the journey of your story. As a reader, I don’t have to like it, but I need to get it, and that’s something I think is often unfortunately missing.
Engagement
Oof, this got long, haha. Sorry! There were a few personal tangents in there, but my point is ultimately that there isn’t a simple, single answer for your questions. The way people engage are, in my experience, this perfect cocktail of totally predictable and completely unpredictable. I think place in community and profile helps in some respects, but not in others, I think engagement can as much be about popularity as it can be about craft, and even beyond that, I think how readers connect with certain stories are beyond the scope of anything I can explain. I see great fics get overlooked, and fics that I don’t think are particularly well-written hit a huge note with pretty much everyone in the fandom, so I don’t know. I don’t think quality writing always has that much to do with it, and like I said above, I don’t even necessarily think profile breeds engagement.
All of this said, I do think that authenticity goes a long way with engagement. I know a few people who are very blatantly tit-for-tat with how they engage with others, which personally I find hmmmmmmmmmmm, I guess I’d say telling of people’s priorities within fandom? Which is fine! We’re all here for our own reasons, but I know it affects how I personally interact with those people because it’s not behaviour I personally value. I know for me, I’m more likely to engage if people are warm and friendly and contributing to positive culture and conversation within fandom, but I’d also always prefer to engage with people who were just openly different in opinion than people who pretend to be friendly but are actually the first to talk shit behind your back.
So I guess all of this is summing up to be:
Regularity and consistency of posting goes a long way.
Profile does help, but it’s not the be-all-and-end-all by any stretch of the imagination.
Community and profile mean different things to different people.
Authenticity of approach creates better quality, more organic engagement.
Never stop learning about writing, because the more you learn, the richer your stories will be.
Keep growing and challenging what you know about stories.
Know that sometimes your story is more niche than you think.
People responding to your stories unfortunately isn’t a lock and key situation. People like different shaped keyholes! And sometimes something that looks like a key doesn’t actually fit that, and sometimes something that looks like - - I don’t know, a fish, fits perfectly. Okay, I’ve extended this metaphor too far now, haha.
I don’t think this is the answer you want, but it’s the only one I can really give, and it’s 5k words of context and hopefully a little bit of advice, haha. But look, write what you enjoy, find people you like engaging with and be proactive in talking to the people who are engaging with your writing already. Contribute positively and meaningfully, and do so authentically, and don’t give up!
There’s a great Stephen King quote which says – and I’m paraphrasing here, haha – that you’re not a real writer until you can wallpaper your house in rejection letters; and as someone who can absolutely do that and is about to have her first novel published with Penguin Random House, it’s really true.
You become a better writer through putting yourself out there, building networks and community, reading, learning, engaging, seeing what works and what doesn’t, understanding how profile bolsters readership, but more so than anything else, you become a better, more resonant writer through the act of writing.
And that’s as true of fanfic as it is of any writing.
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Amy Lee Dives Into the Tragedies That Inspired Evanescence’s ‘The Bitter Truth’ — Exclusive Interview
Congrats on the release of The Bitter Truth — how are you feeling?
Thank you, I'm feeling so happy that it's out. It's hard to really sum it up — awesome feelings of satisfaction. I'm really happy that it's out there and everybody's listening to it, it's cool to see the fans react to it and dig into it. We're going to be releasing our video for "Better Without You" (which came out on April 16), I'm so excited about the video!
So we're in a good, happy place right now. Looking forward to when we can be together again, for sure.
Obviously this wasn't your first record, but is the first new, original material you guys have put out in about a decade. Do you still find it nerve-wracking when you release new music, especially when fans have been waiting awhile for something new?
(Laughs) Well, I don't find it nerve-wracking as far as anticipating a reaction, I'm mostly just excited for that. It's just getting back into the groove of doing a lot of press and promo, and running around. And it's different nowadays with the pandemic because it's like, "Do your own lighting! Do your own audio! Do your own everything," and like, make it work from home most of the time.
So it's been a lot of work, but when you're working for something that you really love, it's worth it. I mean, it's fun. So I'm feeling good.
Have you seen any fan theories about any of the songs come up at all, and were any of them accurate?
That's a good question. I can't think of something off the top of my brain like that. I don't know, I feel like mostly they're just getting it. But you ask me whatever you want, and I will answer to the best of my comfort zone (laughs).
How did all of the personal tragedies that the band went through, and all of the events that have been happening in the world impact this album?
Those two things are literally the biggest lyrical catalyst for this time and for this album, particularly the grief. That's what started the whole thing. We started writing this album, focused on it, in 2019, at the beginning of the year. And I'm so glad we did, we had a bunch of writing sessions throughout 2019 in between touring, we'd just get together when we could and write. I was writing on my own, but just setting aside time as a band to write.
I lost my brother in 2018 at the beginning of the year, so that was just a really, impossibly hard life change. So I think I've learned, yet again, that the biggest challenges and the biggest pains in my life are usually what lead me to music, and it's hard to admit this, but what tend to make the best work for me. Not just grief, but challenges — things that are hard.
And the whole world has been going through incredible challenges over the last year, the last couple of years actually with everything going on, the pandemic and the fight for democracy in the world. All of that came at the right time, where I was coming out of grief. I'm still living in it, but processing it, and then this fire and this fight became a part of it. So the journey through all of that, that is the majority of what the album's about.
You kind of hit the nail on the head there because I was going to ask if you think that the best art seems like it comes out of a place of sadness and pain, since it is so cathartic for artists. And as you've called it — it's "writing to heal." So do you find yourself gravitating toward music that is more emotional?
You know, I don't even know if I can say it's "the best," but it's the deepest. It's the most meaningful. You have to go through something to have something to say that is going to touch somebody on a deep level. And for me personally, music has always been my therapy, my catharsis, the place to pour it out and spin it into something good that I can love and reflect on.
Instead of running away from all of the hard things in life, if I dive into them through music and really start pouring it out and processing there, it's like you're able to make it worth something. It wasn't just all a waste, because I have seen, over the last 17 years, with interacting with our fans how much that it can mean to them and help them connect and process and be something good in their lives.
Knowing that now, too, was something that pushed me forward in the times when I felt like it was too hard. Knowing that we were all going through something and our fans were down too and hoping for something, we promised we were gonna come out with a new album in 2020. We just all kind of made a pact at the beginning of the year when everything started getting shut down that we weren't gonna let anything stop us.
So how was your experience writing this album versus others in the past, and how do you think you've grown as a songwriter and a musician this time around?
We had to be brave. And you know, I have to say, it's weird to connect it to this, but Synthesis taught us something about being brave and trusting that something would work that we'd never tried before and just going for it.
I have always been the person who over prepares, practices for way too long before we get together, has everything totally run through when we're gonna play a concert that we've done before a lot of times. And I have broken from that routine so much in the past years.
Synthesis was important for us because we had to trust every day, the only way to do it was to work with a different orchestra every night. Having a different group of musicians onstage every single night was the only way to make that happen. You don't have time to have rehearsed the whole entire set with that group that day, and then play that whole concert that night, it's just not possible.
So we were literally playing the majority of our sets on that tour for the very first time with that group of musicians — without a click and everything else — just live in front of the audience. It was literally like a tightrope, like there's no way to know if something's gonna go horribly wrong, and we just had to trust that we were gonna be good enough musicians and performers to handle it and look at each other, and work through it and get to the next place.
Man, it was so satisfying, it was such a good experience, and it was so beautiful and rewarding. Part of the takeaway from that for me was to be confident and not to be afraid, and just to trust that we've got it in us to do what it is that we think we can do, that we dream of.
This year, going into it, we just started breaking rules. Before the pandemic even hit it was like, 'We don't have the whole album written. We just have a few songs and a whole bunch of pieces. We're not going on tour 'til March." That actually didn't happen, but we weren't planning to go on tour until last March (laughs).
Why don't we hit the studio for just a couple of songs and avoid burn out of having to have all of the songs before we go in, "Let's just go in for a couple of songs." It went really well, it turned into four and then we had to be apart for the rest of the album.
It was another one of those moments where it's like, "Okay, we can either have faith and just say 'Fuck it, I don't know what's gonna happen with the pandemic or when we're ever gonna be able to go back and get together again in person. But I have faith that we're gonna find a way to work it out no matter what. So let's go ahead and start putting singles out.'"
It was either that or just wait and go, "Sorry everybody, I know we said we were gonna release music, but we're not going to." I didn't want to be another disappointment. There was so much of it last year, I wanted to be something that was proof that life could go on.
So the decision was just like, "Okay, we're gonna go ahead. We're gonna put out 'Wasted On You' and make a video from home, and then release another one in a couple of months." And it wasn't just about not knowing when we were gonna get back together, it was that the songs weren't written, and for me, that's terrifying. Like, before the songs are written, we're already on a promo schedule and talking about the album, releasing songs already and like, the clock is ticking in a way.
That was a lot of pressure to put on ourselves, but it really was just like, "We're just gonna have to have faith in this. I know we can do it somehow. We always do. In the end it works out, it's gonna work out!" And thank god it did, we finally got to get together, most of us, last end-of-July. Jen [Majura, guitarist], we still haven't seen since those first four songs right before the pandemic lockdown.
That's wild. I mean, it's out now, and it seems like it came just at the turning point in all of this with the vaccine and everything. Everybody's starting to get back on their feet.
Yeah, I think it's working out honestly. Because now, it's just come out and we can at least see the light at the end of the tunnel. Like you said, with the vaccines and stuff and getting back and eventually going on tour. Because the next thing that we're all just looking towards and dying for, is to play these songs live.
Absolutely. How do you think that these songs might translate live differently from anything you guys have done in the past?
It's just going to feel really good to have new material to play live, like so much of it. Because for so long, we've been playing shows a lot over the past, I don't know how many years, during this time that we haven't been putting out new music. So our live show has really just been about picking out hits and our favorites and whatever, and making set lists out of our music that's been there.
We finally have something that represents us now that isn't, there were a couple of songs on Synthesis, but literally since like 2011. We're a new band since then, a lot happened since then. So to put something out now that feels so exactly in tune with who we are, what our tastes are, what our abilities are, is just gonna feel really good. It's gonna be hard to play the old ones, honestly.
So let's dive into the album a little bit. Starting with the opener, I'm not sure if there's an actual significance to this or not, but is there a reason "Artifact" and "The Turn" are split into different parts?
They're different songs in my head, it was kind of a decision about the first bit, the second bit and "Broken Pieces Shine," like where the track markers were gonna go. And that was a tough choice for me because I know the majority of people aren't really listening in order on a CD, a lot of people are just plucking out a song.
So I want you to be able to click to "Broken Pieces Shine" and just hear the song, but it so needs that build-up, that's part of it in my mind. So it really was just a decision about clipping it.
The first part — "Artifact" — that's me in a hotel in the middle of the night on tour in 2019, just recording into my laptop. I just had an idea. We actually kept it and didn't re-record it, which was really weird, and I didn't expect to happen. But it just made sense in the end.
That next portion — "The Turn" — that's a collaboration between Scott Kirkland from the Crystal Method and myself. We just sorta met on tour one day and made friends, and decided, "Hey, send me stuff! I'd love to work with you, okay I'd love to work with you." And he sent me a bunch of stuff, and I sent him stuff. He had that bit of music sort of, and I rearranged it and wrote vocals to it and that turned into that part.
I knew early on that I wanted that into "Broken Pieces Shine" to be the beginning of the album because of the way the lyrics set it up. The first part, "Artifact," lyrically is just a dedication to my brother. I'm just gonna put it that simply — it's a dedication to my brother.
And then when "The Turn" starts, it's sort of just like this calling-us-back, like calling all of the spiritual forces in the universe back to ourselves and collecting all the pieces of who we've been, who we were, who we are and who we're gonna be.
After all this time that we haven't been out, it's like we need to just build into the moment where you finally hear the guitars come in. So that's part of it.
And then when "Broken Pieces Shine" happens... I've always sort of seen this album, the moment, like where it begins and what it's about, is it begins sort of at ground zero of a tragedy. The result of the album is about the journey getting back up.
So when I hear those guitars, and the first line starts, "There's no way back this time / What is real and what is mine / Survival hurts," it's like I see somebody face-down on the ground standing back up again and dusting off, clawing back up and then starting to walk forward and refuse to just lay there and die.
So that's the setup to the beginning of the album, and then the rest is plenty of ups-and-downs, and it's about plenty of things. But that's the beginning of the journey.
"The bitter truth" is a line that's repeated a couple of times throughout "Wasted on You." How did you go about choosing that as the title for the album, as opposed to any other phrase that's repeated throughout the album?
I think it really sums up a theme that we come back to a lot on the album, which is about facing the pain. The only way out is through, not just the pain, but facing the broken pieces, facing the things about ourselves and about our society that aren't perfect, that are flawed, that are broken or that are wounded.
Because we can't heal, we can't improve, we can't change, we can't grow and we can't ever leave the horror of the moment until we first accept the brokenness of ourselves. Until we accept that something's wrong, we can't fix it.
That song, "Wasted on You," that was one of the first ones that was really finished, and it was time to pick the album title and we were still writing songs. But it was already forming and I was like, "This sums up what we're talking about now and what we're going through in a really big way on an outward-in, inward level."
Based on the lyrics in "Wasted on You," do you consider yourself someone who has a hard time getting over things and moving on from things? What advice can you give to people who do struggle to move on from either failed relationships or a loss?
It's hard, because sometimes you're in a relationship that you just need to cut out of your life in order to move on. It's just true. It doesn't make you a bad person for you to just step completely away and cut somebody out of your life, and there are times I've had to do that. It sucks.
But you don't need to feel guilty about it if you're making a choice that's for health and stability and all of those things. But I think that we don't always have to do it that way either, and I do also think it's important to remember it's important not to just stuff stuff down like it never happened deep within yourself. I feel like it's better to hold onto your memories.
And even in those bad relationships, those bad breakups and those moments in time that you've had to move on from, I'm at a place in my life now where I'm not feeling anger anymore really. Not for the most part, even the people that were horrible (laughs). I'm not sitting around thinking about horrible, I wasn't able to actually still remember the good moments, too.
It's weird to say that. It took a really long time. But you only get one life. So I don't know, I try not to be the person who's constantly saying, "Oh that time was terrible, that person was terrible, everything about that was a monster," and flush it all away and forget about the parts about it that were why you were in that situation, too.
There's things that you need to move away from and then there's also things that you need to learn from, as well, so it's better not to forget, I guess is the right way to say it.
In "Yeah, Right," you talk about getting paid. Is that a literal reference to getting paid by an actual job, or is it in allusion to something deeper?
Uh, it's about money (laughs). I've seen money change people more often than I would've liked to. And it's always in a negative way.
Well I guess maybe this follows suit, does "Better Without You" happen to be about the music industry?
Part of it is, but it's not entirely about that. "Better Without You"... so each verse is dedicated to a different person or entity in my life along the way. And they go in order. I don't want to name-call, and I've carefully avoided doing that with this song and it's hard because they're about really specific things to me.
If you know me personally, then you know who it's all about. I don't really want to drag people into things many years later. So it starts out a long time ago (laughs) in the first verse with some battles there — a big one for independence. All of it was really a fight for independence.
The second one is the one that's more for the industry. And then the third one kind of brings us to today, in our world and the world around us. I sang the last few lyrics to "Better Without You," including the bridge, the day they called it for Biden. Not to make it political, because the song isn't really. But that was in my heart. I mean, "It's over. It's over now." Feeling it. And it felt so good to sing it knowing that it was true, at least in regards to Trump
Wow that's cool, I wouldn't have looked at it like that. There were a couple of songs where I was wondering if it was about a relationship or something on the grander scheme, and you letting go of that.
Yeah, it is. And it's funny because I don't want it to seem like it's all about the label. It's really not. That's been part of my journey, but there is stuff that's been way more personal than that, and harder. But when I say "the industry," it does mean more than the label. It's just the whole world of people that surround you when you're doing this.
And there was definitely more to it than the label that I was fighting against and struggling with during my journey, but one of the things that I remember being a threat at times was like, "If you don't do this or you don't do that, then it's just all gonna fall apart. You're not gonna have it. This is all gonna crumble. Everything that you have."
And I'm looking at it and going, "I don't want what I had. I want my future, I have an idea for something more." So the chorus, "As empires fall to pieces / Our ashes twisting in the air / It makes me smile to know that / I'm better without you," going like, "It's okay, go ahead. Let it burn down. Let the old idea of the tiny thing that you thought this could be go ahead and burn down because I have an idea for something bigger."
Can you explain the chorus of "Blind Belief," specifically the lines, "We hold the key to redemption / Let icons fall?"
This is another one that's a little bit in the political zone, or social. Why do we believe what we believe? Why do we do the things we do? Why are the laws that are in place, some of them aren't there for good reasons. Some things are just the way they are because they've always been that way.
And I think we've reached a time where we need to say, "That's not enough. We need to make changes that make sense for how much our world and our awareness has grown, and how we need to be better." We need to improve over time and not just leave things the way that they are.
I was actually writing those lyrics, being inspired by the Confederate statues coming down. We can still love our ancestors even if they made mistakes, and we can actually love them better, we can actually do better for our world. It doesn't have to be a betrayal if your grandparents thought differently than you.
We can only grow by moving forward and making better and better decisions as the generations go on. And if we want this place to get better, then we need to admit that things are wrong!
Saying "We hold the key to redemption" is saying you don't have to stand by something that's wrong. Go ahead and let icons fall! Just because something is the way it is and it's always been that way doesn't make it right. We should be asking those questions, and sometimes change is good. It's nothing to be afraid of.
To wrap up, of all of the topics that you cover on The Bitter Truth, what are you hoping at the end of the day that people will take away from this album as they sit with it?
I hope they feel empowered, I really do. I didn't go into this writing process feeling empowered, I started to feel that way through the process. It starts from feeling human, feeling vulnerable, feeling fragile and feeling broken.
But as I start to work, especially together with my friends, with people that support me and I support them, having a band is a really cool thing. Just having something to work on together last year and the year before, amidst the pain and the loss and the frustration, just made it so much better. It was such a healing thing for all of us, and I'm hoping that that same healing and empowered feeling can spread to those who listen to it. I really do.
Instead of just wallowing in grief, we found a way through the music to feel strength and inspiration and hope for something better in the future. I think, if there's a punchline, the biggest thing is that life is worth living.
I think that's something that people need to hear right now, because there has been so much to just feel sad about, so much to feel depressed and frustrated about and helpless, without a voice. Like, "It doesn't even matter what you do, I'm just one little drop in the bucket." But it's not true, that's a lie. We are strong, and change is happening.
And the greatest losses that we can imagine, we actually can overcome and there can still be good things left in life to experience, you just don't know what they are yet. If it can be empowering and spread hope to people, that's what I would most hope for.
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My thoughts on Act 2, Episode 5
Yes, I’m incredibly late to the party. It took me longer than I thought to finally be able to finish reading Ep 5 BUT here it is! I’m gonna try to summarize my initial reactions and how I feel about the main plot points here both for myself and for anyone that wants to read them.
Long post under the cut!
One small thing I want to mention before delving into the big stuff: seeing all the boys starting new stages in their lives was honestly super heartwarming; they’ve grown so much both as individuals and together as a company (and as friends), and it was a delight to see it. As a fan of small details, I loved to see that the conversation Banri and Yuki had in “Into the Night!” (about him taking acting seriously and maybe going to college to bring back the knowledge to the company) was reflected in his choice of going to Veludo Arts University.
But anyway! There’s 3 main things I want to talk about in regards to this episode:
First up is Masumi’s arc:
Hooooo boy, I hadn’t been this angry about a fictional parent since we learned about Misumi’s family. I think the main thing that irked me a lot about his dad was how little regard he seemed to have for his son as an actual human being. Especially because of how hypocritical it sounded when his secretary said stuff like "Mr Usui is concerned about you living without a parental figure for so long" because we all know that Masumi has been living basically on his own for a long time and the excuse of "Masumi has only been living in Japan this long due to his parent's desire to keep his environment as stable as possible while they were married" felt super empty because yeah, right, coming back to an empty home every day is the healthiest way to raise a child, it surely can’t affect his well-being and his sense of worth in any way.
Masumi saying "I thought it might make them happy if i got good grades or did well in sports, so I tried my best, but...nothing ever changed" and the story about him begging his parents to come to the show and tell and his dad's response was just "Listen to your parents, that's all we want from you" was so heartbreaking. It made me incredibly angry but it also helped me understand Masumi as a character a lot more; no wonder he has attachment issues (which are mainly centred around Izumi/the MC) and his constant need for validation, he just wants people to be there for him and be proud of his accomplishments. He just wants a family but his parents were just too busy to even give a crap.
Also, in relation to Izumi: I think he still needs to learn that the obsession he has with her is not healthy (and hopefully one day he can grow out of it) but it's clear that he doesn't do it to purposely make her uncomfortable; he's misguided and he doesn't know how to deal and express the affection he feels towards one of the people that genuinely cares about him. Also I'm not saying that he doesn't have a crush on her, I think he does but he behaves this way because he never learned how to express his feelings in a healthy way and he's probably scared someone "could take her away" at any moment because boy hasn't he had to deal with people going again a lot already.
About Masumi’s grandma: love her, she’s a darling and she clearly cares for her grandson’s well being. One thing she mentions is that her son changed when his company found success, and like, I get that he needs to put time and effort to keep his company afloat but like. not even considering what your son wants and feels? Maybe talking to him every once in a while? Being busy it's not an excuse; your son shouldn't have to wonder if his parents love him. But this also ties to the end of Masumi’s arc when his father finally lets him stay in Japan: I'm glad that Masumi's father apologised and realised the error of his ways, it doesn't undo the years of loneliness Masumi had to endure because of it, but it's a start.
Final thoughts on Masumi’s arc: 10/10 would read it again for the feels. I really loved the depth they gave him and how they made him realise that Mankai (not just Izumi) are important to him because they’re his precious family and he wouldn’t want to be anywhere else. One little moment after that warmed my heart was when Izumi tells Masumi that she's glad that he's been taking care of Tsuzuru while he's busy writing and he answers with "I mean, he is...family",,,,,,,,,,,I’m not crying, you’re crying. I hope we can get more moments with him in the future that are centred around his personality, his likes and dislikes, and his relationships with the other boys.
In second place, Chikage’s introduction and arc.
Let's see. I knew coming in that Chikage was a controversial character within the fandom and I knew the main reason why because of spoilers, but I didn’t know all the details. Also, something you should know about me is that I found morally grey characters interesting, so that made it so I went into this with an open mind.
Overall, I liked the episode and I ended up linking Chikage as a character well enough. But I’m not gonna lie and say that everything was perfect. The biggest issue I had with his arc was the way they handled his relationship with Izumi/the MC, especially in regards to the kidnapping. I’m usually pretty good at putting a dividing line between fiction and real life, which is what allows me to enjoy villains and morally grey characters; but as a woman who grew up with my mom saying “never leave your drink/food unattended”, seeing it done here and then having it go unpunished really left a bad taste in my mouth; because every girl grows up hearing this (and i know this is a problem that affects all genders) and it’s horrible because it has happened to so many people. So my biggest gripe about this part of his arc is the consequences, or more so the lack of them.
The only things that made it a bit more acceptable *for me* were three things:
This line from Izumi: "What Chikage's done is unforgivable. But I can't just ignore August's dying wish and Hisoka's thoughts on the matter." I have some mixed feelings about it but It just aligns with Izumi’s personality; she’s always been portrayed as incredibly selfless and giving, someone who’s ridiculously kind (to a fault) and who always tries to see the best in people and puts others before herself (and also because ~plot~ demands it, but that’s a thing with a lot of media these days) Do I wish she had been angry and wary towards Chikage after having been drugged and kidnapped? Yes, I do, it would have been nice to have a portion of the story dedicated to Chikage having to earn her trust back because what he did really was not okay.
Sakuya’s conversation with Chikage when he tries to leave after opening night and in particular these two lines from Sakuya: "This isn't about the play....for some reason, I get the feeling we shouldn't leave you alone right now" [...] "You're different now. I can tell you're broken and hurting. I feel like you've lost your way." Regardless of personal feelings, I think Chikage showed that he really was shaken by the weight of his own actions after he found out the truth. He knows that what he did was wrong and that’s why his emotions and all his guilt were crushing him all at once. He was driven by revenge and anger for so long that once he learned and accepted the truth, he completely lost himself. And seeing him have to deal with all of that made me really glad, because even if he’s not gonna have to deal with external consequences (aka having to deal with the rest of the company’s distrust, even though I wish he did), he still had to find a way to not only forgive himself but also to atone in his own way for what he did (aka putting down his walls, fulfilling his promises and making it his mission to protect everyone at mankai from the organisation)
Now, as I’ve been saying, I really wish Chikage had been able to tell the others the whole story about what he did and why he did it but…..we didn’t get that. What I am glad about, though, is that at least he told them that he took her away on purpose (even if he didn’t tell them how or why); also both he and Hisoka pointed out that anyone who knows the full truth about their lives could be in serious danger and that having Izumi know was already risky enough. And yes, that is indeed very plot convenient but it’s the bare minimum and I’m willing to give it a pass this time.
tl;dr I think Chikage is an interesting character that has a lot of potential and I have hopes that he will get some more development in future events. BUT, I really think they could have handled his arc in this episode a lot better.
Now, all that said, if you still couldn’t bring yourself to forgive or look past what he did and you still don’t like him: no one can force you to like him after the things he did since it can be very triggering for a lot of people, so remember that your feelings are totally valid.
In third place and in relation to Chikage’s arc, I also have to mention Hisoka and the development he got as a result.
The only thing that bugged me in relation to Hisoka was that even though I knew he couldn't because of ~plot~ (and probably because part of him is still unsure about what he didn't remember and how it could affect the others even if he did say that the person he was before didn't matter anymore) but I really wished he had told anyone "hey so like......Chikage said some weird stuff to me just now and I might need help" because their first 1 to 1 confrontation was a threat if I've ever seen one.
But yeah, other than that I really love that we not only finally got to learn about his past, but also we got a good foundation for his development in the future regarding his interpersonal relationships with the winter troupe. The fact that he couldn’t remember who he was has been a point of conflict in the past and this brings that issue to a close in the sense that he is willing to tell them (part of) the truth once he sorts things out. And I loved loved how the trust Hisoka has in them is the direct result of all the ups and downs that the winter troupe has gone through so far in learning to open up to each other. I know they said during nocturnality that they’re not a family in the same sense the spring troupe is, but I honestly disagree; they way in which they’ve come to rely on each other shows how strong their bond is.
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Ambush
Word Count: 893 Warnings: Language Character: Billy Russo
(ARTIST APPRECIATION SUBMISSION)
Hey everyone! Back with another artist appreciation submission! This AMAZING work of art made me feel so damn much the first time I saw it that it was no surprise that @fific7 sent it in for this event to surprise @pheedraws ! The way that she captures emotion and light and expression in her work is absolutely incredible. And this moment that she captured with Billy? It’s so steeped in all of those things it’s crazy. YOUR TALENT IS CRAZY, PHOEBE DO YOU HEAR ME?
So from the lovely @fific7 (and I) to you: THANK YOU FOR ALLOWING US ALL TO GAZE UPON YOUR WORK. YOU ARE TALENTED. YOU ARE APPRECIATED. YOU ARE A GODDAMN SPACE UNICORN. Keep on glittering.
(I want to run my fingers through that overgrown beard. If you don’t you’re lying to yourself.)
Ambush
Shit.
A pulse of electricity surged through his veins as something in his central nervous system issued an alert. Danger. It was the step he wanted to retract, the crack of a twig beneath his toe that gave away his position, the bristling of the hair at the nape of his neck that told him an attack was looming. Not necessarily imminent, but promised.
No.
Promises, he realized were too easily broken. It happened all the time. This wasn’t a promise, it was a threat. And Billy knew about threats. He knew that once they were made they would be carried out. Promises were the delusions of the well intentioned; words people used to make claims about things they wished were in their control. Time, safety, love. Threats were used to assert dominance and power. To manipulate through pain or fear.
The words that weren’t being said hung heavily in the thick, hot air- Do what I say, how I say, and maybe you’ll be rewarded. Defy me and you’ll lose it all. A twinge in the muscles of Billy’s shoulder acted as a secondary message from his body to his brain. Danger, prepare to engage. Eyes narrowing imperceptibly, he tossed them quickly in Frank’s direction, trying to determine whether or not the other man had registered the heightened situation. He hadn’t. Frank was a pit bull. Threats were wasted on pit bulls, too subtle. Those were dogs that were bred for brute strength and tenacity.
Shit, Frankie, shut your damn mouth and think a minute would ya?
He returned his eyes to those of the man still awaiting his response. Billy felt another jolt, this time from his chest. Choose, now.
Shit.
“I trust Frank’s instincts, Sir.” The words came as naturally as breathing, but they burned on their way out of his mouth. This was more than just a threat, it was also a test, he’d realized too late. One designed to locate his soft spot, and he’d just given it away. Frank had just voiced his strong opinions about the mission that was ticking ever closer, calling it an ambush.
But this is an ambush, too.
“And I trust hard earned, thoroughly vetted intelligence.” The fourth man in the room refused to let the rest of them forget that he was the one that pulled the strings, despite his small stature and lack of physical strength or capacity. “I’ll take my information over the vague notions of the war whisperer over here.” He scoffed, crooked nostrils expanding in a bored sort of amusement, hands clasped in front of himself in a way that suggested nonchalance even as he was talking about sacrificing men like meaningless pawns. The sirens in Billy’s head were blaring. Alert. Alert. Danger. Why couldn’t Frank hear it? Didn’t he feel that buzz and hum in his veins? Didn’t he taste the charge on his tongue?
Their fearless leader’s casual slight was just the poke that Frank needed to launch back into another passionate shouting match that Billy, as his brother, had no choice but to back him up in. In an instant, profanity and accusations were slicing through the small space along with dagger sharp looks. Billy shot one of his own across the table where the smallest of smug grins was pulling up the paper thin skin around their CO’s lips. There was something rotten about him, something that unnerved Billy. If Frank was a pit bull, this man was a vulture from his bald head to the calculating thoughts inside of it. He stood there letting the two lieutenants engage in a shouting match with their superior, waiting until the death blow had been delivered to swoop in and claim his prize.
He thinks he owns us.
Major Schoonover’s jowls shook as he bellowed loudly enough to silence the two of them, ordering the men to prep their teams for the mission that they had both just advised against. The alarm bells in Billy’s brain had suddenly gone as silent as his own voice, nothing but the sandy howls of desert wind smacking against the tent’s walls interrupting the jarring quiet. Too late.
“I think if you do this, men are gonna die.” Like a dog in a fight, Frank would keep going until he bled out, rage and adrenaline allowing him to soldier on. He trained his eyes on Schoonover, boring into the man as though hoping that he would turn around and defuse the situation, talk sense into the nameless Agent Orange and clear them of the duty they’d been assigned. But Billy knew that Frank had always been a little too hopeful, had put a little too much faith in those in power to do the right thing. He looked over Frank’s shoulder at Orange, the man still daring to wear the ghost of that grin.
“I pointed,” he spat with the same disdain one might use when instructing an exterminator to rid their home of pests. “Now you need to go shoot.”
Or else you’ll be the ones eating the bullets.
Billy could hear the threat in the absence of the alarms that he’d ignored in favor of having Frank’s back. Outrage blossomed in his gut as he kept his eyes on the man, ice cold, before turning and walking out of the tent, leaving one ambush for another.
Shit.
.
.
.
I have been thinking about Billy’s eyes in this drawing since it first hit my dash, so I was thrilled to get to write for this masterpiece. @pheedraws I do not know how you do what you do, but damn do you do it well. I hope you enjoyed this as much as I enjoy your artwork!! Thank you a million times to all you fabulous artists! If you are an artist in the Ben Barnes fandom, or if you want to surprise an artist with a quick drabble/ poem/ whatever comes out, send me a message or link me to the piece of artwork that you would like me to write about. Let’s show these talented folks how much we appreciate them and the things that they create!
#ben barnes fanart appreciation#ben barnes fanart#ben barnes character fanart#ben barnes fandom#fific7#pheedraws#billy russo#billy russo fanart#the punisher fanart
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submission:
@msbyslut: “cloud here for a hq boy matchup! ☁️ i'm around 5'8, have dark hair and blue greenish eyes. my favorite color is pink! my aesthetic is anything soft and i love sanrio. 🥺 outside of writing as a hobby, i draw and paint! i also love traveling. i look for security but i get bored easily, so i tend to gravitate towards people who are passionate and a bit spontaneous. anyone who i can joke around with and keeps me laughing for hours. oh and happy 100 tum bby! you deserve it all. 💗”
notes: hi honeybun, thank you so much for your support ❥ i’m very grateful to have you and your wonderful brain as a mutual, you’re literally the sweetest person and you sound like an adorable little cinnamon roll. i hope you like your discount atsumu matchup! muah! ❥
why i matched you:
» okay, we all know terushima can come off as a bit of a fuckboy (*coughkiyokoscenecough*) BUT we did see how he acts on the court - this boy is just a big bundle of energy who wants to have fun! i firmly believe he uses that ‘ladies man’ act to hide just how much a dork he is. but, once he realizes you actually want to stick around, you’ll see firsthand just how much of a goofball he really is, and beneath that suave facade is a good guy who wants nothing more than to give his heart to someone who’ll take care of it. and that’s where you come in!
» terushima loves your creativity and how easy it is for you to express yourself through whatever art platform you use. he’ll beg you to let him read your writing, get a sneak peak at your latest sketch, ‘paint him like one of your french girls’, etc. he just wants to support you! he’s a firm believer in self expression and knows it’s a huge confidence booster when someone shows intrugue in whatever he’s doing, so he’s going to do whatever he can to make sure you know he’s genuinely interested in everything you do.
» baby, you’re almost too soft for this boy. he swears if you were any cuter you would be the death of him, but would he want to go any other way? absolutely not. he finds your love of all things pink and cutesy incredibly adorable. so much so that he can’t help but buy things that remind him of you when he comes across them, or even if you show the slightest bit of interest in them. that cute little gudetama pillow you saw online the other day? he’s got it ordered, it’ll be here friday. that set of kuromi and melody socks he saw in a store window at the mall? he swooped in and got ‘em for you. boy will spoil you to no end because he just wants to see your cute lil’ face light up when he gives you those gifts!
» teru is more than willing to drop everything and go anywhere you want, at any time at all. he also shares your wanderlust and eventually wants to see the world, whether it be watching the sun set over the glittering waters of italy’s canals or watching it rise above the mountains of peru, he’s gonna do whatever he can to make sure you’re by his side to share those experiences. because what better way to take in all the world has to offer than to do it with the one you love?
» like i said before, terushima often presents himself as a bit of a womanizer before pursuing any type of relationship, but once he finds someone he can actually see himself giving his time to? you’re stuck with him. boy will NOT leave your side unless you explicitly told him you never wanted to see him again. he’s going to be hesitant at first, but when he finally opens up, he truly bares his heart and gives you full consent to hold it within the palm of your hand. he’ll only get to that point when he knows without a shadow of a doubt he trusts you, and that you trust him. so as far as security goes? terushima’s got you covered.
» and again, teru’s a HUGE dork. like he almost rivals kuroo on this one because he craves entertainment 24/7, and never fails to make those around him giddy with laughter or anticipation of what’ll come out of his mouth next. he’s serious when he needs to be, but when it’s just the two of you alone, he’ll have you constantly gripping your sides in laughter, and you’re certain to get a good ab workout every time because he’s never not doing something that’ll make you giggle to the point of wheezing. sometimes he feels like he’s too much of a silly hooligan but you’re always the first to remind him that’s what you love about him the most. terushima is definitely one to keep you on your toes, so i hope you’re ready for that challenge!
drabble:
“Yuuji, what’s all this?” Your hand slides off the handle on your front door, eyes wide and skimming across your living room to take in the scene before you.
“Sh-Shit! Uh… Surprise?”
You were aware your boyfriend would be home before you, but what you didn’t expect was to walk into a cheesy, teenage romance movie.
Terushima was sheepishly rubbing the back of his head with a throw pillow in his other hand, casually tossing it onto the sofa already smothered in pillows and blankets that weren’t there before. The coffee table was piled high with an array of snacks ranging from your favorite baked goods to a partly opened box of pizza, and a tin bucket filled to the brim with ice and canned drinks sat flush against one of the table’s legs. The entire living area was bathed in a soft glow from fairy lights strung up haphazardly across the walls and the smell of strawberries and cream wafted in the air from the scented candles resting on the end tables beside the couch. It was all so much, and it made your heart melt just thinking about how much time and effort this must’ve taken your lover to set up.
“Baby, I-...” Your eyes finally return to Terushima’s nervous gaze and you instinctively bring a hand to cover your mouth, tears gathering below your lash line. The second he saw the familiar twitch of your furrowing brow he nearly leapt over the coffee table to reach you.
“Hey, heyheyhey, I can clean it all up, I promise I didn’t mean to make such a big mess. And I can take the lights down if you don’t like the-“ Teru panics when he catches your tears slipping down your cheeks, but you’re quick to cut him off with a quick, sweet kiss before he completely loses it. You wrap your arms around his neck and bury your nose into the space below his jaw, while his hands find purchase against your hips, pulling you impossibly closer to fully indulge in the sudden affection.
“Yuuji, I love it… how did you-...?” You pull back after a moment, hands rising to his neck and thumbing the curve of his jawline. You lose the sentence halfway through, the surprise finally settling in leaving you at a loss for words.
Your boyfriend smiles, nuzzling your temple with the top of his nose in relief, “You told me earlier how bad work was stressing you out, so I took the rest of the day off and put together a little movie night for you. I wanted you to be able to relax when you got home.” His lips leave a chaste kiss to your cheekbone, “I, uh-... just wasn’t expecting you to get here so soon.”
You giggle at his remark - of course the one day you manage to leave early you walk in on his surprise. But as you take another long look at the dreamy layout around you, you couldn’t help but be glad you got here when you did. You didn’t realize you needed this until it was right here in front of you. Now all that was left was to enjoy it.
“Thank you… It’s perfect.”
Too engrossed in your gift, you don’t seem to catch the loving look Terushima was casting down at you, smile growing wider as his response leaves his lips.
“Yea… it really is.”
matchups are CLOSED! thank you to those who entered or have been keeping up with this event! remember you can check to see updates on matchups + if your matchup has been posted via the #tumplaysmatchmaker tag!
#tumplaysmatchmaker#cloud.matchup#haikyuu matchups#terushima x reader#terushima yuuji#terushima yuuji x reader#terushima matchup#terushima yuuji matchup#terushima fic#terushima yuuji fic#nishiikun’s events#haikyuu matchup#haikyuu
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Dance With Me 02 // KYG
Request from @lost-midnight-flower
Hiii can I request a got7 fic? Maybe something along the lines of meeting the guys at a fan meeting or something and one of them falling head over heals with the reader? That seems pretty cute to me, is that weird? If you choose to write this, you can pick which member you want to write about ^^ have a great day/evening ahead!
Genre: Fluff Pairing: Reader x Yugyeom Rating: PG-13 Warnings: None Description: Dance studio owner Y/N meets Yugyeom at a fan sign. Word Count: 3,694
Index // Part One // Part Three // Part Four
”I’m gonna be honest, I enjoyed the bunny ears,” Yugyeom says and takes her copy of the album to sign.
“Hilarious,” Y/N says. “Turn to the next page.”
He does as he’s told and finds a beige envelope with a glittery, red heart sticker sealing it. He lifts it and scoffs. “How radiant.”
“If you don’t want it, I’ll-“, but before her fingers can reach it, he pulls away.
“No way! I wanna know more about you! I am not losing this chance.”
Y/N tries to keep a straight face, but she can tell from Yugyeom’s laugh that her cheeks are red enough to betray her. He’s different today. Bolder. She looks at the fans next to her. Can they hear them? They seem busy enough with their conversations.
She likes this, though. It’s a different side to him. Before she can say anything else, the staff orders her to move. As she gathers her things, she glances back at Yugyeom one last time to flash a smile.
He winks.
-
Dear Yugyeom,
Here is the letter you asked for.
Yours, Y/N
Yugyeom stifles a laugh and reads further.
Okay, I’m kidding. I’m writing this after watching your beautifully entitled V-Live “OLOLOLO”. Mark noticed my comment and asked for me: what have you been up to lately? It inspired me to write this.
Do you wanna know why I started dancing? I watched Barbie and the 12 Dancing Princesses as a kid. I wanted to travel to a secret land where I could dance with magical statues to classical music by instruments that played themselves. Needless to say, when I found out none of that was real, I was devastated.
But what kept most of that fantasy a reality was the dancing. My parents understood how much I wanted to be a dancer and enrolled me in ballet class. I was horrible, hated it immensely, and my dream of becoming a princess withered.
Years passed, and they let me enroll in a hip hop dance class, and that’s where I found my rhythm. My body was comfortable with the music, and I was satisfied with the setting. I knew I wanted to be a professional dancer.
But my parents’ understanding ended there. It thrilled them to have a daughter who could dance, but they felt that choosing it as a career was impractical. After years of begging, proving my worth through recitals and gold medals, they never changed their minds.
I graduated with a business degree. They wanted me to start a business, so I did. I started my studio. They tried to get angry, but they knew they had no reason to be. I did what they wanted me to do, and with the skills I learned, I added my own twist. I never broke a rule.
Until now, they’re unhappy with my decision, but they’re less angry. I think that’s all right. I still meet with them every few weeks because I love them despite the sacrifices they forced me to make. But looking back, it’s safe to say they were good for me. With my level of skill before university, I wouldn’t have been able to get into any of the performing arts schools. I only joined the dance team in my school and used that experience to start my studio. Not a bad deal.
You might be wondering why I’m telling you all this. That V-Live struck a chord in me. Bambam said to not be ashamed, so here I am, shamelessly presenting my life story to you.
Here’s my social media if you want to see me dance. This is a huge step for me, but I think this is a good way for me to let go of doubts and embrace the unknown instead.
Instagram: @dancingseoul
YouTube: Dancing Seoul Studio
Thank you again for inspiring me to be where I am now. You’re the best.
Yours, Y/N
Yugyeom’s mind races. He’s only met this person three times, but despite the brief interactions, she trusted him enough with this personal story. There is nothing more he wants for her but success. He wants to see her studio run out of slots for enrollments. He wants millions of people to subscribe to her YouTube channel. It’s what she deserves. Life is too cruel to keep that from her.
He checks her Instagram. It’s cute. Majority of the posts are dance videos and pictures of the studio, but she slides in a few selfies now and then. Their family is small, but she looks happy. He smiles. He likes seeing her happy.
He stops on a selfie from two years ago. She barely aged. The only difference is her hair, which in this photo shows a light brown shade and a fringe. Cute. He taps twice and continues to scroll.
Within a few more photos down, he freezes.
Wait. Did he...
He hurries back up, a scream locked in his throat. His muscles tense, and his breathing goes rigid. Why can’t he find it? He’s back in the recent ones. Did he miss it again? He scrolls back down, slower this time, but the pace is almost killing him. She must have seen the notification by now.
When he finally finds it, he taps on the heart and drops his phone on the bed. He sighs. There’s no use. He’ll have to explain himself next time they meet.
Maybe they can pretend it never happened, but based on their brief interactions and the way she writes her letters, that’s highly unlikely. Typical. Just another person in his life to tease him indefinitely.
He smiles. For the members, it’s nothing new. But for Y/N? Maybe it won’t be so bad.
-
How to React to Your Idol Liking Your Instagram Photo: A Tutorial With Y/N
Drop your phone on the floor
Scramble to check your phone is okay
Scream in your pillow
Cry (optional)
Take a screenshot to preserve the memory
She frowns. He liked that photo? Why did she even upload it? What was she thinking? Her hair was a mess, and she was sweating like she’d been in a sauna. And the angle? She can’t even process how embarrassing her selfie skills were two years ago. She taps on the three dots and hovers her thumb over the “Archive” button.
What if he did like it, though? Maybe he thought she looked… pretty. She scoffs. That’s ridiculous. She’s not terrible looking, but she could never compare to the girls he must see every day. Twice literally works in the same building as him. He can’t possibly look at her and think she’s pretty.
But she is open to possibilities. Sometimes. Only this time.
Y/N smiles. She exits the app and places her phone on the bedside table. The thought rings in her mind, and she can’t help but bury her face is her pillow. Wouldn’t it be nice, though?
Wouldn’t it be nice if Kim Yugyeom found her pretty?
-
“Is it her?” Bambam asks.
“No,” Yugyeom replies, and flashes a smile at the fan in front of him and accepts a stuffed toy.
So, his secret is out. The members caught on and have been playing telephone throughout the event. Yugyeom just has to suffer from being seated in the middle this time.
“Is it her?” Bambam asks, not even looking away from his next fan.
��No, but she’s almost here.”
Bambam laughs as he allows the fan to place a scarf around his neck. Yugyeom wishes nothing more than to run away and never come back. His members are extra smiley and observing each fan who comes their way, trying to figure out which of them was able to steal the maknae’s heart.
Oh, God, please keep it subtle, he prays.
And there she is. His breath hitches, and he blinks a few times to avoid making a complete fool of himself.
“Hello,” His voice cracks.
So much for subtle.
Bambam and Youngjae laugh, and the girls they’re talking to join in. Fantastic.
He clears his throat and repeats himself. “Hello.”
Y/N smiles. “Did you drink enough water today? You don’t want your voice to crack like that again.”
He can feel Bambam and Youngjae solve the puzzle. It’s only a matter of time before the information leaks to the rest.
“No letter today, sorry. I figured the previous one already showed a lot. I don’t even know what to say anymore,” she says.
He pulls the album closer to him and signs. “That’s okay. I really enjoyed reading it. I got to know you a little better.”
Y/N presses her lips together before she leans in to reply, “You seem to have enjoyed my Instagram, too.”
Yugyeom laughs and pink rises in his cheeks. “I’m sorry about that. I was just going through your dance videos and accidentally pressed like on your selfie. You’re a really talented dancer, though! I’m impressed!”
Nice save. That was a nice save, right?
“Nice save.” So it was not. “But thank you for the compliment. I wasn’t sure about that selfie, though.”
“I thought you looked cute,” he says. She looks away shyly. “But really, though. You’re an incredible dancer. I hope your studio gets the recognition it deserves.”
-
“I’m so tired,” Jia says and slides to the floor as the rest of the team gather their things.
Areum ties her hair and wipes the sweat around her neck. “Me too. I’m so glad it’s Saturday. I can stay up all night watching Luna’s Hotel.”
“New drama?” Y/N asks.
“Mhm! It’s my second one this week!” she replies.
How she finished yet another drama, Y/N has no idea. It’s surprising enough that she has the energy to teach dance despite barely getting any sleep. Sunhee, on the other hand, has been slowing down. Apparently, she’s been getting into GOT7.
None of them know about Y/N’s interest in the group. If anything, the members themselves are the only ones who do. Nobody else is aware of his influence on her career, and she prefers to keep it that way. She doesn’t want them to think she’s weird and obsessed.
“If they’re just gonna show off their relationship every two seconds, they might as well get married,” Sunhee grumbles as she stares at her phone.
“I know. It’s all they ever post about. We get it. They’re dating,” Jia says.
“Who’s dating?” Y/N asks.
Sunhee turns her phone and reveals the screen. Y/N leans in to get a better view. It’s a picture of Hyuna and Dawn. His hand is on her waist, and she’s kissing his cheek while he looks at the camera with a slightly tucked chin and close-lipped smile. It’s a cute picture.
“What’s wrong with them dating?”
“It’s disrespectful to the fans!” Areum says.
“How is falling in love disrespectful?”
Jia scoffs. “Typical of you to say that, really. Listen. Celebrities exist to entertain, meaning the audience can form emotional attachments to them. Dating someone completely destroys that bond they formed with their fans. It’s disrespectful for that sole reason. Do you get it?”
Y/N wishes she could reply with, “Typical of you to say that, really,” but stops herself. Maybe she should just agree. What’s the point of disagreeing when it will only leave her out of the group even more? It’s funny how she’s technically the boss, yet they treat her like another colleague. Where is the respect?
Part of it is her fault, though. She can’t be too restricting, and she is desperate to keep them with her. She doesn’t want to admit it, but she needs them. Sure, she wants a circle of friends, but she also needs them for her business. What would she do without them?
But she cannot let them win this time. She just can’t agree with them.
“I understand that there’s a bond between celebrities and their fans, but they don’t just exist to entertain. They’re more than just faces on a screen. They’re human beings, and the fans are only falling in love with a small portion of their real selves. You see how much training they have to go through just to debut. They have to be as close to perfect as possible because they’ll be in front of hundreds of cameras. What I’m saying is that underneath all that perfection, they are regular people who fall in love too. Being a celebrity doesn’t take that away.”
Sunhee shakes her head. “I bet you haven’t fallen in love with an idol before.” Her voice wavers. How pathetic. “It’s like chasing a cloud. You just look at them from afar, and that’s all you can do.” She sighs. “You wouldn’t understand.”
They pick up their things and head to the door. Jia leaves last and says, “See you on Monday, Boss.”
Y/N only responds with a nod and a weak smile.
Jia called her ‘boss’. If only she felt worthy of the title. She sighs and takes their place on the floor and closes her eyes. She could really use another surprise live. Anything GOT7 always made her feel better.
She walks to the speakers and plugs her phone before clicking on shuffle and running to the center of the room.
When the music begins, it’s like the rhythm is beating for her. Y/N always had to think before she spoke, analyze every word the rest of the world said, but in this room, there is no language but the movement of her body. There is no law but the music running through her veins. As she dances to the beat, her feet and legs and knees scream at her to rest, but she doesn’t listen. Moments like these are precious to her. This is her territory. This is home.
A knock on the door puts her off balance. She groans. Everybody knows not to interrupt her when she’s dancing. Did someone forget something? There doesn’t seem to be anything left behind. She rushes to her phone and pauses the music. She grabs a towel and wipes her sweat before she reaches for the door.
“Listen, we’re clo-” But her voice gets trapped.
Standing before her is none other than Kim Yugyeom.
-
Y/N doesn’t know what to do. She has dealt with defending her dream to her family, lost relationships because no one believed in her, and handled three difficult-to-please girls for two years. She got through those hurdles without a scratch, but as she stands before Yugyeom, her throat is dry and her knees buckle.
Her fantasies could never live up to this. Not enough fan fiction prepared her for this moment, and frankly, she’s not sure if there is anything in the world to do that. This is her idol, her hero, the entire reason she has her studio today—the very studio he’s in. Well, sort of in. He’s only at the door frame, and this must be the moment she steps aside to let him in, but her body remains still.
“Hello,” he says, his voice low. “I don’t really want to be seen right now. Can I come in?”
Like a hypnotist’s snap, she blinks and regains control of her senses. She quickly nods and steps aside, still unable to find her words.
Yugyeom seems to be doing just fine. He walks around the room like a tourist in a museum and gapes at every little thing she’s sure the JYP building has and more. After admiring the speakers, he turns around and faces her.
“Do you mind if I…” He unzips a few inches of his hoodie and meets her eyes, a quiet permission to take it off.
She nods and almost chokes when her eyes land on his arms. He’s wearing a muscle tee today. Her heart beats louder than the speakers on maximum volume. He places the hoodie on a bench against the wall, and even that is enough to make her breathing go rigid. Everything he does is so godlike, she doesn’t know if she’s worthy of this front-row seat.
“So… how did you find my studio?”
“The address is on your Instagram.”
Of course. Heat rises in her cheeks. Given she’s already humiliated herself, maybe she should create a list of them to slap herself in the face with when this is all over.
“Right,” She rubs the back of her neck. “What are you doing here then? Do you need a place to practice or something?”
He shakes his head and walks to her. “I wanted to see you.”
Y/N is sure he can hear her heartbeat. “You… you wanted to see me?”
He nods. “I really like talking to you, and I thought since we barely got the chance to know each other through the fan signs, maybe we could step outside of those and become real friends. You seem like a really interesting person, and I want to get to know you more.”
What’s with the sudden confession? Her entire face must be red right now. With his eyebrows raised and a small smile forming, he’s definitely having fun with her reaction. She takes a step back in hopes of the distance giving her space to breathe.
But why would he want to be friends with her? She’s just a low-rate dancer with a small studio. What could he find interesting about her? She scans his face, and he lowers his eyebrows, but his smile never fades. He’s not kidding.
“All right,” she says and takes a step forward. “But we have to keep this a secret. If my friends find out, I’ll never see the end of their complaints.”
She hates to admit it, but she almost regrets saying that. Being friends with Kim Yugyeom could be the turning point in their relationship. She can almost imagine it. They would pay more attention, listen to everything she has to say without disregarding it, and they might even like her. They’d listen to her stories about Yugyeom behind the scenes and whine. They’d be jealous of her. How enthralling is that? To have someone be jealous of her for once…
Did she really think all that in a few seconds? She sighs and lowers her head.
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing,” she mutters and meets his eyes again. “It’s best if no one finds out. I don’t want to risk having my entire life change.”
“I get it.” He looks at the speakers on his left before turning back to her. “You were dancing to Teenager.”
“Huh? Oh. Yeah, I was. I should be home by now, but I was feeling a bit stressed and needed to get it off my chest.”
He walks to the speakers and picks up her phone. “This might be a weird question, but can I see you dance?” When she doesn’t reply, he adds, “I want to see the Y/N I heard so much about. By ‘heard’, I mean ‘read’.”
She walks toward him. “Weren’t you just on my Instagram? You could see me dance there.”
He laughs. “Yeah, but you mostly post your students’ performances. And on Youtube, too. You don’t give yourself enough screen time. I wanna see you.”
The light just above him shines on his skin, and the shadows sharpen his features. His black muscle tee and jeans give off the illusion that his skin is paler, he almost looks like a vampire. A sexy dancing vampire. There is something about him that’s so captivating.
Y/N was never good with words. Dancing was always easier. She’s sure he can agree, and that’s when it hits her. Maybe he does have a reason to want to be her friend. He found someone he could relate to.
“Sit down. I’ll show you something no one’s seen yet.” His smile rises to the ends of his cheeks. “Consider yourself lucky.”
“I’m very lucky.”
“Now this isn’t finished yet. It’s supposed to be for two people, and I haven’t choreographed the entire song or the boy’s part. What you’re about to see is completely raw and unfixed. It might not be pretty.”
“I’m sure it’ll be beautiful.”
I am Yours by Andy Grammer fills the room, and her body moves in an instant. She thought she’d be nervous dancing in front of her idol, but it’s the very reason the confidence surges through her. She follows every beat with her feet, with her arms, with her whole being until she sinks into the melody.
You know I need you Like you’re oxygen Be my atmosphere Let me breathe you in So I can try to tell you I love you
She twirls under an imaginary hand, which her mind immediately portrays as Yugyeom’s. Her heart soars at the image, and it pushes her further. Her body is tired, but she can’t find the energy to stop.
Still can’t believe it when you say you’re mine and I am yours, I am yours
With one final spin, she halts and meets his eyes.
I am yours.
She doesn’t know what he’s thinking. There is no expression on his face. His gaze is completely fixed on hers, and it almost glows under the lights. His breathing is quick like he was the one dancing.
“What-” She tries to catch her breath, but she can’t tell if her struggle is from the dance. “What do you think?”
He swallows and licks his lips. “I’m thinking…” Y/N grips the hem of her shirt. “I want to be your partner.”
Her eyes almost pop out of their sockets. “What?”
He gets up and walks straight to her like time is running out. “I wanna dance to this with you. You haven’t finished the choreography, right?”
“Yeah, but-”
“And you said you needed a partner. A boy. Well, I’m available, and I want the part.”
“But Yug-”
He takes her hands, and her body freezes. “Dance with me.”
She shivers under his touch, but she makes her decision. With her heart and mind racing at once, she nods and says, “Okay.”
-
Part Three
#ultkpop#dancewithmefic#got7#got7 fanfic#yugyeom#kim yugyeom#kim yugyeom fanfic#yugyeom fanfic#got7 fluff#yugyeom fluff
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quarantine tag
tagged by @suggable thank you for checking in w me bby
are you staying home from work/school?
im staying at home now : ] upsides of teaching tiny minions into taking over the world one baby shark at a time i mean what-
if you’re staying home who’s with you?
the ‘rents. its been great. really reminding me why i wanted to live in the dorms during college.
if you can go outside, what do you like to do during this time?
we are ~technically~ allowed outside again but no one trusts state media so no one is really leaving the house unless necessary
an event you were looking forward to that got cancelled?
i was gonna stay with my aunt in her fancy ass villa over chinese new years but lockdown was announced the day before i was supposed to leave so yay
any fascinating concept you’re studying?
i got really confused on why toilet paper was in such high demand and wanted to explore some right wing media conspiracy theories bc im truly That Bored™️ but then i got sucked down a wikipedia rabbithole that started with a lengthy toilet paper orientation article, passed through a couple some buzzfeed unsolved worthy mysteries, skipped by this incredible list of sexually active priests and non-human electoral candidates, somehow learned about a frequency sound that can make you shit your pants, got asked how if there was a chicken apocalypse how i would take down 2.7 chickens, learned that barbar isnt the only fancy elephant, and then stuck my landing from a simone biles twist with this article about action park and reading the names to my dad in a truly atrocious british accent. it was 3am. i still dont know why toilet paper was in such high demand and im an econ major. demand is the name of the game. quarantine for the past couple months have been great thanks for asking.
what kind of acts of creativity/forms of art are you currently doing?
pixel art reminding myself how to sing in an operatic voice just to drive my mom crazy and projecting my voice bc not actively running after children screaming has reverted my voice back to its og ‘what did you say shirley? speak up!!!!’ form. ive also been binging a lot of film analysis videos bc why go to a school famed for its film and acting school, actively choose not to pursue film arts, and then learn from amateurs am i right?
what movies have you watched recently? shows?
OH BOI ive been rewatching all of my emotion-heavy old anime favourites; the ones in heavy rotation currently are perfect blue, this corner of the world, i want to eat your pancreas, haibane renmei, millenial actress, graveyard of the fireflies, madoka magica rebellion, a silent voice, noragami......
what are you reading?
bc i have the attention span of a goldfish ive been on and off picking these books to read: light is like water by gabriel garcia marquez; the journey of the eyeball by katherine vaz; the story of a painter by ludamilla petrushevskaya; the daughters of the moon by italo calvino; and the shell collector by anthony doerr
a song that resonates with your state of mind at the moment?
im pretty sure yall are tired of me saying this but ha:tfelt’s 1719 album
what are you doing for self care?
finally downloading all of the music i wanted on my phone and also practicing to write with my left hand bc i used to be pretty ambidexterous but then i stopped practicing. im also planning on cleaning out my laptop and music library bc i keep procrastinating on it
i tag @cafejoon @stargazingjin @jincentvangogh @ksj1 @monojoons @cultleaderyoongi @yoonseok @joonie @slipped-away @yoonmochiiii @misskickit @kim-taehyung🌸
#I would also like to call this: a slow descent into madness#I hope yall are taking care of yourself mwah mwah mwah I love you#yes I learned to write w my left hand for exam season in hs bc im crazy#also its gonna be golden week literally in a couple days and I have never been less enthused about it#even less structure in my life yay#I hope its going better over at yours loves#hash tag games
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Region base leaders/apprentices
I briefly mentioned the leaders and their kiddos on the last post so we’re gonna get into them now here we goooo (excuse the old art on my part i dont have time to make new refs--also all artists/contributors will be tagged accordingly)
Lark Base--Base Leader, Cadi--Apprentice, Marna Cadi: She’s the youngest of the 6 base leaders stationed in Asnia (At 20), and the most temperamental. She values hard work and independence, and despises it when people try to coddle or underestimate her abilities. While she runs a tight ship, she tends to be brash, LOUD, and impatient overall,--she’s self assured and very much carries her pride for everyone to see. Her partner is a Dubwool, Clementine, and in her spare time, Cadi has a herd of Wooloo that she takes care off and is v e ry protective over--she often spends nights taking care of them and making sure no trespassers startle the sheepies (and if she catches anyone they get whacked with her staff at BEST--her neighbors aren’t unaccustomed to hearing loud, Galarian swearing in the middle of the night). On that note: she has a really bad sailor mouth.
Marna: Similar to how Cadi is the youngest of the leaders, Marna is the youngest of the current apprentices in the region. She has a curious nature, and is a bit of an energetic busy bee, who rarely has time or patience to sit down/relax--she’s constantly working on something or another, whether it’s helping Cadi do paperwork (see: doing it for her because Cadi is incapable of filing decent paperwork and Marna cannot stand disorganization), or working in her normal duties. Her work ethic is, in a word, unreal, and that’s one of the reasons why Cadi values her so much as an apprentice and friend. Marna tends to be a bit picky and stuffy, but she thrives in her work and loves helping people. She’s the one to ask the most questions/the one to have the most answers. She’s also loves birds!! Swablu, Cirrus, is a testament to that. She loves him and he can usually be seen perched on her head sleeping.
-------- Cypress Base--Base Leader, Hades--Apprentice, Lethe Hades: The leader of the north mountain base, Hades is a confident transman who leads with a rather cool head. In his past he was a very feared individual known as "Hel, ruler of hell" due to his grip on the gang life of the region. He's done things he's not proud of and would likely never talk about. A skilled climber and dedicated to his job and training of his partner Drednaw Cerberus-- he's just a supportive dad figure. Has known Russell for many years, and as mentioned, is a sort of father figure to Lethe.
(Hades and his art belongs to @edwardsbraid btw!) Lethe: The least energetic of the apprentices, Lethe is a troubled but soft hearted boy who didn’t intend to become a Ranger at all--he was living by himself with no income for years, on account of having no parents to speak of (abandonment issues ahoy)--his recommendation to the academy was a complete accident, but the school had free boarding and it gave him a purpose, so he took the opportunity while he had it. While he loves what he does, and has made two good friends out of this, he’s struggling to come to terms with his issues and struggles to keep up with his peers. He tends to be a trouble magnet, so the plot hammer will not be kind to him umu. He’s a bit indecisive, timid and an easy crier, but he genuinely loves pokemon/people and wants to be of use to everyone somehow. He’s not much of a logistical thinker but he’s definitely not a push over physically, which comes in handy--he has no partner pokemon for plot reasons that i will reveal later.
---------- Red Oak Base (Base is still in development so this portion is likely to be updated in the future)--Base Leader, Bridget--Apprentice, Alex
Bridget: Bridget- A senior base leader with a strong sense of morality and an attitude to back it, she has no trouble rearing in even the most stubborn of rangers. Only the most confident and worthy are able to perform an apprenticeship under her and are expected to take over all Union duties alongside the Base Leader role. In times of peace and outside of work, she enjoys quiet days in her cottage with her trusted Luxray (Queenie) and looking after her Granddaughter Fraise. Her base is integral to communications between the south and north sides of Asnia Rangers, because geographically it’s in the exact center of the region (and her area has the best weather of the two sides). This is typically where all the leaders and apprentices meet up for important meetings and such.
Alex: Bridget’s apprentice and a stubborn lad--he and Bridget are often bickering with each other. He’s a dumb little hothead who likes to challenge people and bicker with his mentor. He and her fight like siblings and poke fun at each other’s age (he calls her Granny). Will do things just because someone says he can’t (IE try to lift a log twice his size just because someone said he couldn’t), eagerly and affectionately combative. Possibly has a crush on one of the other apprentices but umu thats a topic for later.
(Both Alex and Bridget belong to @humanblt!)
--------- Willow Base--Leader, Russell, Apprentice-- Hestia Russell: A former violent tempered and loud mouthed delinquent, used to be Hades literal partner in crime and has been his close friend for many years--eventually, after some personal events that i’ll get into later, Russell got tired of his crime sprees. He has since turned over a new leaf and is a quiet, amicable young man who wouldn't hurt a fly--he’s determined to get as far away from his past as possible, to the point where he dropped his real name and decided to go by Russell. He refuses to hurt people if the need isn't dire, and has been labeled as a weenie for his pacifistic behavior/even temper. While soft hearted, he can be stern, and isn’t afraid to be tough when needed. Dearly loves his town and his new life as a peacekeeper. Terrified of ghosts/creepy places (ironic because he works in the spooky part of Asnia--the local ghost types like to pick on him). Usually seen helping old ladies across the street and chopping fire wood--very sensitive about his age and scarred face, and cries when someone points out a gray hair. Has a Corviknight, Cobalt, who is usually perched at the top of the base. In charge of keeping people out of the deeper part of the woods behind his town. Has a long term crush on Carys and clams up when she's around.
(art done as a collaborative by me and roseheart-exe) Hestia: Hestia is a cryptic but very sweet and dedicated girl from regions unknown. She often gives off the vibes that she knows more than she lets on, and often speak in riddles or vague non sequiturs. Locals tend to be unnerved by her general disposition, comparing her to a “ghost, at best”. She hates fire, is creeped out by dolls of any sort, and is easy to startle, despite her best efforts to appear calm and collected. Hestia tries to be kind and amiable, and loves her few friends very deeply, but she’s incredibly stubborn and refuses help when she needs it. Her upbringing made her a firm believer in self reliance. She dislikes people who pry or ask too many questions, and worries over others constantly. She looks up to Russell as a mentor and is especially close to him. Her Pokemon is a Lampent, Chandelle (Chandy). She’s never seen without her hat or her lantern, which glows very dimly--she’s very possessive of them and avoids questions regarding either. Incredibly difficult to make her cry: some people are convinced she can’t. Very sensitive, feelings hurt easily--May or may not be pining after one of her base colleagues, who we will get to in another post. Tends to go “Teehee” when dodging questions or lying. Cadi’s current greatest enemy, because Hestia wanders at night and has accidentally startled her sheep on multiple occasions.
------- Seabream Base--Leader, Ripley--Apprentice, Melanie Ripley: Ripley: A beachside base leader!! Very beautiful, but also very terrifying to many. She broke a man’s arm once, and while the context has been lost to time, the reputation she got from it remains strong. Isn’t afraid to flex her reputation when it suits her. Has a mermaid-esque beauty that has earned her a fan club. Her base members are her family, and she is a fierce mama bear when it comes to protecting them. Has a Sharpedo, Shin. Became close with Hestia after a few plot related happenings.
(Ripley and her art belong to @nimikyu!) Melanie: A bright and upbeat former lounge singer working under Ripley, loves nothing more than making people smile and smiling in return. Incredibly patient and impossible to piss off, and loves writing letters to her friend in Pinnate base and sending her little gifts. Tends to be a bit oblivious when not working, often described as having her head in the clouds. Takes her job more seriously than she lets on, and works incredibly hard to meet her Leader’s standards--she admires Ripley more than anyone--Melanie also is incredibly popular because of her former status as a singer so she gets way more attention that she bargained form--but she’s an entertainer at heart and tourists love her, which is why she’s in charge of them/in charge of making sure they don’t wander places they shouldn’t. Has a Wingull, Rio, who sometimes delivers her letters. Makes necklaces as a hobby.
------- Pinnate Base--Leader, Carys--Apprentice, Rudy Carys: Cadi’s older sister--A mild mannered, surprisingly strong young woman from Galar. Much calmer and levelheaded than her baby sister, although, sometimes she's too calm, and can come off as overly-relaxed and airheaded. An incredible swimmer, she also works part time as a life guard in her spare time. Cheerful and smiley, eager to help, spends alot of time with the local kids/local elders. (Not to say that she doesnt have a temper, because if you set her off you'll be subjected to Cadi 2.0). Tries to offer help to her sister often, only to be vehemently refused over and over. Can beat all the sailors in her town at arm wrestling, wears sunscreen on her face to encourage others to do the same. Runs a very tight ship and values teamwork and bonding. Has a Swampert, Johanna, who helps keep an eye on the weather/preform water rescues. Vocally skeptic about the supernatural, as an important side note.
(Fantastic art done by @bastart13 !! check their art out its gorgeous)
Rudy (bio will be updated periodically)!: A bit of a no nonsense, kind of moody boy--He has alot of respect for Carys in particular because he tends to be blunt and she's the only one who isn’t phased by it and doesnt let it affect her opinion of him. He reminds her alot of Cadi, so she's used to it and knows how to handle the teenage angst. Has a Sandyghast, Gobi! Sometimes Gobi loses their shovel and has a little flag instead.
(This little man belongs to @liimonpriince)! And that’s the gist for all the major protags--supporting cast will come next, and then we’ll get to the bad guys :)
#Pokemon ranger#peach rambles#ocs#region stuff#holy moly this took so loooooooooooooong#but here as i promised#more region stuff yeehaw#hopefully i didnt miss anything
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holy crap!! I just noticed y/n’s family in bitchin is like stranger things !!!! I love that sm omg love it so far btw ♡
YESSSS thank u for noticing!! I have a lot of fun with writing bitchin i do hehe
(warning: literal 80 asks under the cut)
Anonymous said: not @ me reading bitchin’ during math literally SLAMMING YHE DESK
crystalsnowd said: I LOVED BITCHINNNN OMG UR SO TALENTED I CANT WAIT FOR THE NEXT PART
Anonymous said: I was going to stay up to wait for Bitchin but I went to sleep instead because today is my first day of school (second year of university) so I decided to get sleep while I still could. Also I read the update on the train sitting next to a random lady and I really hope she didn’t look over at my phone lol. I loved the update and I can’t wait for the rest of the series!!!
Anonymous said: OMG BITCHIN WAS SO GOOD! You're such an amazing writer!!!
jun-sohyunnie-dotnet said: Just an fyi, bitchin' jk is my FAVORITE jk I've ever had the pleasure of reading. Ever. He could stomp all over me and I'd thank him profusely. (And you're writing is absolutely captivating 🥺💕💕)
sugarkinky said: Bitchin just wrecked me for real, U ARE AWESOME ROSE mierda que te amo chica ¿cómo consigues escribir así? Eres perfecta ❤
Anonymous said: Bruh bitchin was everything I wanted and more thank u baby
Anonymous said: Bitchin’ is amazing! I have so many feelings ahhhh!!! I love you and your work 🥺
awkwardaegyo said: YOU HAVE GOT ME SO THIRSTY FOR JUNGKOOK FUCKIN PARCHED D-HYDRATED IF YOU WILL BITCHIN HAS GOT ME FUCKEC UP!!!!!
Anonymous said: Bitchin' is literally my favourite fic right now, it's so good! 😍 Can't wait for the next part!!
gardenofrosesx said: Im in love with bitchin 🥺💗 I think that the song that represent it so well is Wait a minute by Willow Smith, every time a hear it I imagine this fic💗 I send you thousands of good vibes and love and peace to your side! Keep going 💗
Anonymous said: Ahhhh I just wanted to say bitchin is absolutely amazing and is so well written and I’m just completely hooked!!! YOU DID AMAZING!!! Also is there gonna be angst in future chapters BECAUSE IM REALLY NOT READY IF BOTH JUNGKOOK AND OC DENY THEIR FEELINGS FOR EACH OTHER
Anonymous said: girl, I finally got around to reading bitchin' and I CAN'T BELIEVE I DIDN'T READ IT SOONER. it's been a while since I've found a chaptered fic that kept my interests but I was hooked with pt 1!!! I love your spin on tatbilb, and I love the characters you created. I have to honestly say, I'm also absolutely in love with the way you write. your descriptions and dialogue hit me in all the right places. I can't wait to see where this story takes me. thank you for doing what you do!
Anonymous said: Love Bitchin so far!
Anonymous said: i keep rereading bitchin pt. 5😭😭 love it so much
Anonymous said: hi!! I just wanted to leave an ask and let you know that you’re one of my absolute favorite authors and your work is incredible!! the concept behind your rewind series is so unique and interesting and all of the stories have been wonderful so far. I’m so looking forward to the rest of bitchin’ because it has been so so so good and I love the way that you’re developing the characters and the plot. I hope you have a wonderful day!!
Anonymous said: just finished bitchin 5 and ................ i cant believe how ure able to write jungkook to Life and characterize him in such an attractive way it makes it so artistic and aknejdjdj it’s art it’s everything
Anonymous said: Argh the grind is real! I’m about to start my exams too so we can both be working our asses off! Also Bitchin is such a great series and I wanted to let you know you’re an amazing writer!!! The series made me so emotionally invested in the characters and I can’t get enough of it!! ITS SO GOOODDD THANK YOU FOR WRITING SUCH A MASTERPIECE
sanniinnas said: Hiii! Love your writings soo much! You have such a talent with words! You inspire me as a writer and make me want to learn writing and English better.
Anonymous said: I am seriously laughing from the asks that have been send to you and i cannot wait to read the ff because now i am busy :( also random fact, my biology teacher told us aboit Rosa Franklin and i already knew about her, and all i could keep thinking was bitchin pt5 and i started laughing. They thought i was a maniac 😎🤙
Anonymous said: just wanted to say bitchin’ is *chefs kiss* and i can’t wait for part 7 🥺 i’m not trynna rush you i’m just excited 🥺
nochusbutt said: okay but FIRST OF ALL, YES BITCHIN’ YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS. secondly, my name is Rose too I’m so, what? omg yes I literally share a name with a legend. quote me!! 🥰☺️🤪
Anonymous said: Ahhh I am so excited for Bitchin Pt 6!!! No exaggeration this is my all time favorite fic, I think ab it a lot honestly. Whenever I see 80s aesthetic BTS edits I think of Bitchin and lots of love songs make me think of this fic too. I’m not a huge fan of smut but this fic is just so good. The OCs and Jks interactions are precious and I’m obsessed with the 80s theme! I am a huge fan of angst so I am ready to cry my eyes out. Thank you for writing this amazing fic
Anonymous said: aight...time to go re-read bitchin again ....[insert /ah shit, here we go again/ video]
Anonymous said: I CANT WAIT FOR BITCHIN
hear-me-growl said: Wait! Bitchin' is not done?! It's one of my favourite fics ever! I love the whole cliche college vibe, the dialogues are sooo good and the chemistry between Jk and the girl it's just perfect, really. And now you tell me it's not finished.😱 I AM SO EXCITED! you've made my day! Keep up the good work, you are amazing 😍
Anonymous said: AAAAAAAA THE BITCHIN UPDATE WAS SO GOOD !!!!! but also Kiri that bItCh y/n don’t fall for it 🤡😩
Anonymous said: i want sleep but BITCHIN
Anonymous said: IM PUMPED FOR BITCHINYYYYYYYYYYYYYYEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS
Anonymous said: Thankyou for updating bitchin sis!!!! But im so sad because this is their first fight(?) i hope they can talk about it and hoping kiri doesnt talk nonsense tp y/n ok :( but I AM GLAD JUNGKOOK REALIZE HE LIKES OC OKEY OKEY! 💜💜💜 sending 💜💜💜💜 to you because you deserve it👏🏼
diortae said: rose I have class in a few minutes and all I can think about is how much I want bitchin jk to raw me what have u DONE
Anonymous said: BITCHIN WAS GREATTTT 🥰 RLLY CANT WAIT FOR THE NEXT CHAPTT 🥺🥺
sunnyoongles said: bitchin is literally so good*chefs kiss* i love angst*chefs kiss* i love drama*chefs kiss* i just love the whole rewind series*chefs kiss*
Anonymous said: BITCHIN’ PART 6 EXCUSE ME STOP TRYING TO HURT MY FEELINGS IM NOT READY FOR THE ANGST
ppampin said: so yesterday i read bitchin pt. 6 three times in a row because it was just so good and now i can't wait to pt. 7 to come out
Anonymous said: Finally got to read bitchin 6, WTF IS GOING ON!? I’m so confused!! Do I trust my so called boyfriend or do I trust “girl code” by my boo’s ex who tried to scare me away from my boo the first time we met ??!!?
Anonymous said: i really need to know something about bitchin 🤔 is kiri a bitch or we don't have feminine rivalry here? help me out rose
Anonymous said: It is almost 1 am in here and I have a morning class but guess who is gonna binge re read all the Bitchin because the last chapter was so good?? 🤔
Anonymous said: I’m so ready for you to break our hearts in bitchin. I live for the angst 😭😭😪
Anonymous said: Rose you are KILLING ME with this story like I'm not even caught up on my favorite TV shows this week but goddammit I still made time for Bitchin' 💕💕💕
cheeky-kookie said: Girl I am sooooo fucking happy with Bitchin' 6. Like I love the small progressions Jungkook is having coming to terms with his actual feelings with Y/N. Also btw, loving the whole Yara/Tae moments going on ;) As always, I'm in love. Thank you for blessing us with this masterpiece
Anonymous said: Rosie !! I just read Bitchin’ and BIIIIITCH you have my feelings on a rollercoaster !!!!!! I’ve never been so invested in a fanfic like this and imma tell you how much I appreciate you for putting your work out on the internet. Especially for free like wtf ! Your writings are some quaLITY shit that I would purchase without hesitation 👌🏽👏🏽 I was wondering if you ever considered going into the writing career ? Anyways have a lovely day 💛💛 -MC
Anonymous said: This ch 6 getting all the attention away from my precious zombie Jungkook 😤 But who am I to say I love Bitchin😂😍 This Kiri better not be playing dirty games we are already not in good terms with her 🧐 And why is nobody talking about the fact that Y/N finally got her event she dreamed of?? Congrats girlll 🎊🎉🥳👌👏
Anonymous said: EXCUSE ME DID I READ THAT U SAID BITCHIN WILL BE ANGSTY FROM HERE ON OUT WBAT MY HEART I CANG FJSHSHDJS
sapphireprinces5 said: I am 1000% not ready for angst between the precious y/n and Jungkook in Bitchin’ omfg i’m honestly terrified and going to buy some tissues from the cvs across the street
Anonymous said: I JUST FINISHED READING BITCHIN 6 AND JUNGKOOK PLS TELL ME THAT JUNGKOOK IS OVER KIRI )))): he couldn’t have been lying about the way he felt for y/n even though it was reheated, right??? I’m SADD. But Rose, you are so beyond talented!!! I love reading your works!!!
Anonymous said: Ok, Rose you gotta let me know if Bitchin’ will have a happy ending, because I don’t know if my emotions can handle an upseti spaghetti ending. Anywho I love you and your writing, everything is chefs kiss. 💗
Anonymous said: bitchin will have 10 parts?????? ma'am u got the power
Anonymous said: OKAY SO BITCHIN’ IS AMAZING AND LIKE— I LOVE (1) DUMB “”””COUPLE”””” Your writing is amazing omg
Anonymous said: Me: already read bitchin completely You: reblogs pt.6 Me: a little refresher wouldn’t hurt 👀
Anonymous said: I wish u the best during your hiatus!!! Take lots of care bby :3 Just wanted to tell you how much I love the 'Bitchin' series, I'm shooketa at how well written it is. Y/N is a really refreshing character, especially as an STEM major myself, it's so relatable to some extent, especially when it comes to appreciating compliments about your inteligence, that really got me, since it's kinda unsual. I hope I found a Jungkook one day then :') jk, but really, I absolutely loved it, you're the best!!!
Anonymous said: hi just so u r aware if u make the end of bitchin’ sad i will cry. that will be on u. my tears will be UR fault.
Anonymous said: i just wanted to say thank you. when bitchin’ came out, there was a part where y/n talks about why she hated her twin sisters. it was comforting to know that i wasn’t alone in feeling uncool or boring. i never brought up my brother because i thought people would see how uncool i was and so i put my effort into school instead. thanks for bringing me comfort and for pushing me to love myself more and to change my viewpoints on the parts of myself i view as boring!!!!! 💛💛💛💛💛💛🌼
this made me :’))) i love knowing that you can find comfort in my characters!!! there is a little piece of me in all my characters but I do try to make them all somewhat different so that other people can relate. best of luck lovely!!
purplealiensblog said: Yo ily and cant wait for the next chapter of bitchin but i have to share: i got a notif on a new chapter and was all excited and then i discover its tumblr being glitchy again and notifying me on the last one :( i hope you will find time soon to write the rest and thank you for writing i love your work🥰♥️
Anonymous said: BITCH I JUST FINISHED READING BITCHIN IN JUST ONE DAY AND NOW I’M CRYING BECAUSE THIS IS MY NEW FAVORITE FIC OF ALL TIME!!!.!.!.! (also sorry my bad englisheu i’m not native lmao)
Anonymous said: HELLO LOVELY AAAAAAAA IM HAPPY YOURE BACK 😩 are u reallyback tho? Hehe im so shookt with the new chapter of bitchin’ has me yearning for more😭 im def a proud bitchinator😔👏 tHANK YOU FOR THIS GIFT BEFORE CHRISTMAS😃 WE LOVE U!!!!💜 we MISSED YOU!! 💜 i hope u are loved and happy and cared for! 💜K
Anonymous said: Hi there !!I hope your doing well ! Taking your time to recover and work on yourself I literally just finshed bitchin to the last update and oof I just gotta tell you what the f How do you write the characters so well... I love me some good characterization like oof ICANNOT JJK IS SO I WANNA SMOOSH HIM IN MY ARMS LIKE PLEASE THE STORY IS ABSOLUTELY AMAZING HAHA I HOPE IM NOT SCARING YOU WITHMY CAPSLOCK I just wish to sincerely get my excitement across hahaha I love you boo take care x
nonecesitodenadie said: I rarely send asks but... I'm reading bitchin and I'M LOVING IT, really it's amazing i hope that you can continue it, i send you much love and thanks for your work you're so talented 🥺❤️
Anonymous said: can i just say bitchin' is honest to god such a good good good fic like i'm so in l*ve with it 😩 i've probably reread it thrice waiting for a new update ): i also happen to love your other works so much as well!!
sydney--chan said: Okay so no cap yesterday I was talking to my friend (who also reads your work) about me and my bf n she was like "he loves you the way Bitchin' jk loves Y/N aND I SOBBED ROSE IT MADE ME CRY FOR HOURS
usagionthem00n said: Lol I know you’ve been kinda quiet on here BUT IM HERE TO PLATONICALLY HARASS U???(tbh idk I’m just trying to find a reason to bother you) I-I miss u 👉👈 HOPE THIS POST MADE U SMILE ILL BE BACK BITCH (Um speaking of bitches I still need to join the bitchinators :/) I PROMISE ILL GET TO IT!!!
Anonymous said: HIIII! so, one night I spent about two hours trying to find another great Jungkook story... I was losing hope in finding one BUT THEN I FOUND “BITCHIN” and omg it’s amazing, I absolutely love it!!!!! take care always, have a great day!! thank you for creating such a beautiful story.
Anonymous said: Can I just say.... bitchin is so good! like it’s been so long since I’ve liked a fic as much as bitchin??!!? Everything about it has me like :)))) so yes just wanted to let u know hehe
Anonymous said: IM ACTUALLY OBSESSED W THE “BITCHIN” SERIES YOU DONT EVEN KNOW 🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺
SO MANY OF U LOVIN ON BITCHIN!! MAYHAPS IM OVERWHELMED (in the best way possible). Thank u everyone who sent an ask in, i am the happiest bean in bed rn reading all these asks C:
#ask#I DID ITTTTT#jk tho there are actually a few more ones about bitchin but imma make another post I think#Anonymous
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