#which story was their favourite? one of the ones i wrote? or my sisters? or my dads?

[hanaasbananas]

people who leave 5 star reviews without saying anything are so interesting to me

[shebsart]

Im sick with flu so naturally I picked up my newly bought copy of Howl's Moving Castle which includes DWJ interviews in the back.

And im in love with the way she tells these stories feels like a part of her books.

And my favorite:

The magic in the mundane :)

edit: I'm copying the ID by @princess-of-purple-prose below, thank you!

[ID: Excerpts of printed text which read:

I suppose there's also a biographical element in that Sophie is the eldest of three sisters, and so am I. The idea for Sophie grew out of the time I discovered I had a very severe milk allergy. I almost lost the use of my legs and had to walk with the aid of a stick. I was moderately young, but because of this I suddenly became old.

I had to wait until I knew what Wizard Howl was like. I began to discover Howl about the time when one of my sons took to spending several hours in the bathroom every morning and I got really, really, really annoyed with him.

Where were you when you wrote it? I wrote the book the way I write everything, stretched out on the big sofa in my sitting room, in everyone's way. This often annoys my husband rather a lot.

which made me burst out laughing. I laughed and laughed at the seven league boot, and when I came to the bit where Sophie accidentally makes Howl's suit twenty times too big for him, I laughed so much that I fell off the sofa. My husband was really irritated by this time. He snapped, "You can't be making yourself laugh!" And I gasped, "But I am, I am!" and rolled about on the floor.

Are any of your relatives or friends included in the book? Yes, well the thing that started me off writing the book was a friend of mine who never does her laundry. She has it around the place in huge bags for often as much as a year. When she does tip it all out and try to wash it, she discovers all sorts of clothes that she has forgotten she had.

Which is your favourite part of the book and why? I like the book all over, but I suppose if I had to choose a bit, I'd choose the place where Howl gets a cold. It so happened that when I was writing this bit, my husband caught a bad cold. He is the world's most histrionic cold catcher. He moans, he coughs, he piles on the pathos, he makes strange noises, he blows his nose exactly like a bassoon in a tunnel, he demands bacon sandwiches at all hours, and he is liable to appear (usually wrapped in someone else's dressing gown) at any time, announcing that he is dying of neglect and boredom. So all I had to do was write it down. End ID]

[sarahreesbrennan]

I remember reading in one of your blog entries (years ago??) that in the new book you were writing, the main character's *sister* had cancer. Does that mean that Alice was originally the main character of Long Live Evil? Was she going to go into the book to save Rae, instead of Rae going in to save herself?

How extremely kind of you to remember!

No, that was actually a YA murder mystery that I wrote while ill, revised while recovering, and sent out into the world where it died on submission. (Which means we sent it out to about 12 editors and the editor either said no, or said yes and took it to acquisitions - a group of people at the publisher including sales and marketing - and acquisitions said no.)

One editor told me she really wanted and really tried to buy it. Another person who worked in publishing (and has since changed jobs, or I wouldn’t share this) said the response at her acquisitions was - if you like this writer, find the next her (implications about health and youth were made).

I was terrified my agent was going to ditch me too, but she said ‘We’ll sell that one day, for now let’s write the next thing.’

I remember another writer telling me she missed my work that wasn’t a tie-in, and I felt ashamed to tell her it wasn’t that I wasn’t writing other things - it was that I couldn’t publish them.

The tie-ins meanwhile were paying the bills (they still are tbh!) and I was and remain so grateful for them. But I also really loved writing them - especially my Sabrina tie-ins, you don’t forget the first, and it reminded me I want to write horror and poly one day - and how they got me to love and sympathise with so many fandoms.

I see the burnout of caregivers all around me, and I wanted to write the story of one. But maybe I also wanted to take a step back from cancer. I didn’t think I did, at the time. I had a whole lot of things I tried writing before Long Live Evil, and I think some of them were really good. One of my critique partners gave me a lipstick with the same name as someone in the murder mystery. There was a romance novel another critique partner said was her favourite thing I’d ever written. But none had someone with cancer at the heart of the story.

And even though Rae isn’t much like me, maybe I had to start there. You can’t make real magic using someone else’s liver. Maybe I had to wait to be brave enough to use my own liver.

I do get requests for advice on how to cope with rejection of your writing, and I always worried I didn’t have anything else to say, but I suppose my example says - if you can, (and I know it’s hard, you feel so terrible at writing and so useless) (and you love the work you’ve done so much and you don’t see a way forward to loving the next thing) (but still, if you possibly can) write the next thing.

Even if the first thing sells, you’ll want the next thing one day. Writing the next thing is more writing practise, so it’ll make you better. Write the next thing.

Ultimately I’m really glad Long Live Evil was my comeback book. I think it needed to be. It took the time it took.

But maybe it was a shade of that past book (where the heroine’s sister with cancer was six, so not much like any of the Time of Iron characters) that made me think of the YA version of this book, which I always had in my mind as something I was intentionally hewing away from - a more straightforward book, a book that might have sold better - in which shy reader Alice was the hero. She’s the one with the suggestive hero name - Alice through the looking glass - the heroine looks, and the more projectable-upon personality. She’d get called annoying less often (though still some, because she’s a girl), partly because she is (with love, Rae knows I’m right) a genuinely less annoying person. Much kinder, much sweeter, and much better at in-depth reading! Her sister being in trouble would’ve been a backstory, a catalyst point, and - you’re totally right - a great motivation for her to get the Flower. Saving a family member is a much more sympathetic and heroic motivation than saving yourself and one I do love (the Hunger Games, Labyrinth, Mahy’s the Changeover, and I write it a lot!). I think Snarky While Tragically Dying Rae would’ve been a pretty popular side character, too. I think it would’ve been a good book! Just not mine.

I love your question because I love thinking about POV, and all the decisions that are the building blocks of a story. To me, the Alice centric Time of Iron is a version that exists. As are several versions of the Lia centric Time of Iron. And versions centring other characters exist to me, too. (Eric, absolutely.)

Speaking of POV musing, I think Rahela the wicked stepsister featured more in the musical than the book. If the Time of Iron series ever became a TV show (and at this point in time I think I’d rather a movie because it wouldn’t… get cancelled…) and I got to write it (don’t know why I would…) I would start with the beginnings for three characters about to go on a journey to somewhere strange to them: Key in the Cauldron, Rae in the hospital, and Vasilisa in the icelands. There are so many possibilities! And I really wanted the sense that there were so many possibilities, too.

But I wanted the chronically ill one to be the centre of the story, and for it to be her villain origin story, and to ask a lot of questions (hence a lot of villains!) about who gets villainised and why. And I thought hers, to my mind, would be the most fun of all the possible stories.

So that’s the one I made. But Long Live Evil has a lot of origins. Thank you for remembering one of them! I don’t think I would’ve dared tell the story, if things hadn’t worked out for me (so far, fingers crossed).

And I also tell it to be clear my publisher was taking a RISK with me and Long Live Evil, and I really appreciate that, and I’m so happy it’s worked out for them (again so far, early days, fingers crossed, etc).

I hope some writers - whether in the process of submission, rejection or making the choices that are the building blocks of story - find this helpful, and some readers find it interesting.

Let this be one of the universes in which your story is told.

[blamebrampton]

Books talk to each other. Mostly because practically every writer is also a voracious reader, but also because books arise out of times and places and we share a lot of our worlds these days. So it’s unsurprising that several novels I have hugely enjoyed over the past few years share the theme of the antiheroine who is past all giving of the fucks. Naomi Novik’s powerful dark sorceress kept on her own tight leash in the Scholomance books was a joy to follow; Xiran Jay Zhao’s Iron Widow slashed her way into my heart and now Sarah Rees Brennan’s Long Live Evil has added to a list of beloved antiheroines that probably started for me with Becky Sharp in Vanity Fair.

Coincidentally, when considering how to describe Long Live Evil without significant spoilers, I realised that it shared several major themes with Vanity Fair. Young woman unfairly treated by fate decides to embrace her slut era to survive a war zone – both very accurate and wildly inaccurate for both. LLE opens with main character Rae in a hospital bed, teasing her sister about a book series they both adore. Rae is taking refuge in the story they have shared over years because it is one of the few things they have left: she is losing her fight against cancer and has been losing parts of her life, family and memory as that fight has progressed.

My personal hospital experiences have all been to do with major traumas rather than illness, which I vastly prefer because if you don’t die in the first couple of days, you usually start mending and you can immediately make plans to make the best of whatever you’ve broken. Rees Brennan, however, famously wrote a very funny, very horrible, ‘Kids, you won’t believe what shenanigans your girl’s been up to now, it’s only stage four Hodgkins lymphoma!’ post on her Tumblr or LJ (someone who has been hit in the head with taxis fewer times than me will doubtless factcheck that in the notes) about seven or eight years ago and then faced the very serious business of trying to live. The hospital scenes are painfully authentic, as are the stories of people who have left Rae as she slipped further out of everyday life.

For Rees Brennan, a loving family and peer group were there to hold her as close as they could. For Rae, only her beloved little sister, Alice, and Time of Iron, their favourite fantasy series, remain. They read the books together, remember adventures cosplaying and watching the musical, they wonder about the final instalment; for Rae it’s a joy she can still share (even if she doesn’t remember as much as she should), for Alice, it’s her two greatest loves. When a strange woman offers a door into the world of the book and a possible magical cure to Rae, she wants it as much as she disbelieves it.

Stepping into Eyam, the land of Time of Iron, Rae finds herself in the body of a villain doomed to die the next day. No worries! She’s thought and fought her way out of worse scraps than this in her past as a head cheerleader, let alone while battling cancer. She can use her knowledge of the plot to change things! If only she remembered more of the books…

Portal fantasies are common enough, but not all play by the same rules. This isn’t Narnia, where the magical world is more real than our own, for Rae, the world of the book is nothing more a tool to get her hands on the cure. She doesn’t need to care about any of these people, they’re not real. Most of them speak in a formal language that relies on the conventions of fantasy literature (there is an ongoing, warm-hearted skewering of all Game of Thrones-esque texts running through both the story and the in-text ‘quotes’ from Time of Iron) and half the characters are known more by their descriptions rather than their names. So she will play the Beauty Dipped in Blood, with her questionable morals, impractical clothes and centre-of-balance-distorting boobs for the weeks that will pass until the cure is available. Whoever she has to shuffle in the plot to secure a place beside that cure, she will shuffle. While she’s not out to kill anyone, it’s not as though they were ever really alive. Not like her. If she has to be the villain to survive, she will be an impeccable one. The people will cheer evil on!

Obviously, little goes to plan. Rae’s illness has taught her cruelty, but she hasn’t forgotten what it is to be kind. Even as she manipulates her role into ongoing main character, she realises that’s not how anyone gets a happy ending. That’s not how she can live with herself. As she comes to think of the other people in the story as real, they become more so, both in how we read them and in how they impact the story. Rae remembers what it is like to make friends, which she never meant to, but, oh, the luxury after years of watching people slip away!

As in previous novel In Other Lands, Rees Brennan has a long list of fantasy tropes to embrace and undermine, and her deft touch with humour is as evident as ever here, but her publishers call this her first adult novel and there is a shift in tone from her previous works. Anger is more real and lasting. Consequences are more significant. Understanding is reached for, even if it’s bitter. One of my favourite things is that she lets her female characters rage, but never judges those who can’t, whether because they’re too powerless or just too tired, and her male characters are allowed to be people if they choose to be — which all but the most vainglorious do.

I hadn’t paid much attention beyond checking the release date for the book, so didn’t realise it was the first in a series. For me, it worked perfectly as a standalone novel, even with the unended threads, which would have perfectly balanced Rae’s unfinished life. That said, I am very happy to know we will spend more time with these characters in the future. I want more. I do want to know if there is a hope for Rae, if this is the fever dream of a fading life, if this is the story Alice has told to ease her sister from the world or something else. There are a dozen characters I hope for, at least three happy endings that would bring joy. But don’t wait for the next books: sink your teeth into this one and believe what it says about the importance of listening to stories rather than just falling in love with characters. Though if you find yourself cheering on Rae, or her servant Emer, the elusive Eric, Horrible Hortensia or almost any of the others, I am the last person who will judge you.

[seangelfish]

What they do for White Day (pt.2)

❥ Featured characters: Adonis Otogari, Keito Hasumi, Nagisa Ran, Niki Shiina, Mika Kagehira

❥ Tags: Fluff, established relationships/mutual crushes, stories are based on the !! era, no mention of pronouns

❥ A/N: Part 2 of What they do for White Day! Check out for part 1 here! This is also randomised, but part 3 (final) will consist of fan favourites alongside my personal faves! Happy White Day~ ♡

🤍 ADONIS OTOGARI

Adonis knew what to gift you for White Day the day you gifted him your homemade Valentine's Day chocolates. He knew you very well as the two of you had been together for a while, so he had an easy time arranging the things he wanted to do with you on that special day.

He had cooked you up a meal in his dorm room in which you found the food to be very tasty. The two of you gleefully ate together like a married couple, laughing and telling each other stories. Adonis would try to feed you himself and you'd let him.

But that wasn't the gift he wanted to give you. He handed you a small box which contained a stunning set of white earrings. He had asked his sisters what would look best on you, and they really did come in clutch!

It was a simple celebration, but he took into consideration that sometimes all you wanted to do was relax and stay inside.

"(Y/N), Happy White Day. My love grows for you every day."

🤍 KEITO HASUMI

Your relationship with Keito was a simple one, but the two of you were perfectly happy together. He was attentive and cared for your well-being, but he wasn't as romantic as the boys in the manga you read together.

But you didn't mind. His other characteristics make up for that. He was smart so he helped you with writing reports; he was disciplined so he helped you with your time management. Little things like that were lovable.

The time you gifted him Valentine's Day chocolates, the two of you had mirrored each other's shocked expressions. Keito was surprisingly bashful, but he thanked you profusely, accepting the chocolates with shaky hands.

"T-Thank you, (Y/N). I appreciate it."

He wanted to return the gesture. After all, he did love you even though he didn't show it in the ways you'd expect. On White Day, he gifted you a piece of white jewellery and a short manga he drew and wrote of the two of you. The manga consisted of a short story of how he fell in love with you and in which you could see the way he drew you so carefully and precisely.

"Happy White Day, (Y/N)," he stated shyly. "I'm all yours today, so what else would you like to do?"

🤍 NAGISA RAN

When you presented Nagisa with a box of your homemade chocolates on Valentine's Day, he was delighted, but he didn't think anything of it.

"Thank you very much, (Y/N). I love chocolate."

Therefore, you had to explain the reasoning behind why you gave him those chocolates in the first place.

It was barely noticeable, but a pink hue appeared across his cheeks when you told him you loved him. Smiling softly at you as he acknowledged your feelings, he admitted that he felt the same way about you too.

He remembered what Ibara said about White Day which was a month after Valentine's Day, so he started preparing something special for you in the weeks between that. He wanted to reciprocate your efforts, so he ended up booking a fancy restaurant for the two of you to enjoy, and then gifted you a white charm bracelet that he helped you put on.

"Happy White Day, (Y/N). I love you. I truly feel at ease whenever I'm with you."

🤍 NIKI SHIINA

Oblivious as he is, Niki thought the chocolates you gave him were a gift for working hard, but when he asked the other members of Crazy:B where their chocolates were, they looked at him in disbelief.

"Niki-han, you know (Y/N) gave those chocolates to you for Valentine's Day, right?" Kohaku had to clarify.

"S-Seriously?!"

Frankly, he didn't expect you to gift him anything for Valentine's Day, but then he realised that you liked him in that way which made things worse because he had just thanked you for the chocolates and walked away.

He decided to apologise the next day, but you brushed him off, telling him it was okay. He tried to accept your feelings as he felt the same way, but he never really had the chance to. With both of your busy schedules, he never got to fix things until White Day.

He had to beg you to meet him that day. Already prepared, Niki had made you lunch AND dessert, so when he finally got to meet you, he professed his love.

"I'm sorry, (Y/N)! I really really like you too!" he confessed. "I cooked all this for you, please accept them! Happy White Day!"

And of course, you were going to accept his gifts and feelings!

🤍 MIKA KAGEHIRA

Mika was extremely surprised to see you in front of him with a box of chocolates in your hands. He even tried dismissing you away because he truly believed you got the wrong person. When you stated that you were giving the chocolates to him, that they were addressed to him, he blushed a deep shade of red. He would've never thought you would ever like him back!

He accepted your chocolates and your feelings, and the two of you grew closer than before, establishing your relationship. Mika knew that he should repay your love back on White Day as he always dreamed of doing so. He was already preparing in between the two days, scribbling in his sketchbook on what to gift you.

On White Day, he surprised you with a handmade plushie that he had beautifully sewn himself. It was decorated with bows and craft jewels, reflecting the image of you. He had also gifted you a bag of hard candies some of which were his favourites.

"Happy White Day, (Y/N)!" he chirped happily. "Thank you for loving me back. I really hope you like everything!"

Intro page | Ensemble Stars masterlist | Rules

[raikkxz]

ᯓ ᶻ 𝗓 𐰁 ⑅ walk him like a dog ✯ jb22 .ᐟ.ᐟ

★ 𝐑𝐄𝐐𝐔𝐄𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐃﹕﹙ yes/no ﹚ — 𝐒𝐔𝐌𝐌𝐀𝐑𝐘﹕﹙in which sebastian vettels sister gets her dream job to work along with him, but stumbles across an infamous playboy﹚ — 𝐖𝐀𝐑𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐆𝐒﹕﹙purpose use of lowercase letters only, not sure if there's gonna be another part, use of y/n, black-cat!reader, golden-retriever-ish!jenson, past-playboy!jenson, lowkey-past-toxic!jenson, VERYY light angst [i think], probably not well proofread, lmk if there's anything i missed!!﹚ — 𝐏𝐀𝐈𝐑𝐈𝐍𝐆﹕﹙jenson button 22 x f!vettel!reader﹚ — 𝐖𝐎𝐑𝐃 𝐂𝐎𝐔𝐍𝐓﹕﹙icba checking but it's not much at all imooo fjdkjfdsjfkla﹚ ★ 𝐓𝐄𝐀𝐌 𝐑𝐀𝐃𝐈𝐎﹕﹙this lowkey reminds me of a 2018 wattpad story but fuck it we ball﹚

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IT WASN'T SURPRISING for a young, intelligent woman like you to get your dream job in motorsport, especially as the not very known sister of the much loved driver at rbr, sebastian vettel. start of the season, first day, no sweat. couldn't be much harder than what you've been studying for all your years at uni. you just started working for your brothers team, red bull racing. you could not wait. not only did you get to work at the job you've been dreaming of since you were a little kid, but you got to work along side your older brother, who you loved dearly.

even though you were attempted to be knocked down down by some stupid boys when you were younger, it never stopped you from watching f1 races, studying how they built their cars, or researching about your favourite motorsport. you were determined, stubborn and hardworking. the perfect traits for someone to pursue their dream job. with your supportive brother and family by your side, you were thankful that you finally have made it this far.

as the studious young lady you were, it also wasn't surprising that you were shuffling through your folder containing multiple notes, making sure you didn't forget anything. paying too much attention to what you were doing - rather than where you were going, you bumped into a hard wall.

no, wait. not a wall, but rather a fairly tall man in his early 30s. your folder falls to the floor, the pencil tucked behind your ear doing its best to stay put. squatting down to pick up the fallen folder, you mumbled rapidly. "shoot, sorry, that was completely my fault, i wasn't paying attention to where i wa-"

"relax, darling," you heard a chuckle, the british accent sounding familiar in your ears. "you seem to be stressing yourself out." as you stood up, you were faced with the one and only 2009 wdc winner. "..i- sorry." you whispered softly, embarressed as you stared at your shoes.

"it's alright, love. it was an accident." he grinned, leaning over slightly to see your face. "i haven't seen you around here, are you-"

"there you are!!" your older brother, jogs up to you, wrapping his arm around your shoulder. you seemed to forget all about your little accident as you crack into a smile. "c'mon now, you're going to be late." you giggle as seb drags you along with him.

jenson watched as you and sebastian went over to the red bull garage. his eyes followed your perfect posture, up to how your clothes were neat and unwrinkled, finally stopping and lingering on your face. 'friends' with the 2010 champion, hmm? he watched as you entered the garage. he couldn't wait to meet you again.

〜

"hello there, love." from the corner of your eye, you could see a shadow leaning on the doorframe. that same british accent from the day before, that same faint cologne, that same little smirk that seemed to get on your nerves in the weirdest - but not bad - way.

"mr. button." you nod as you wrote notes that you learnt the day before on your tablet.

"please, it's just jenson." jenson sat next to you, leaning over your shoulder to see what you were writing. he did it like personal space wasn't a thing. "i didn't get your name." he turned your head to face you, a small grin on his face.

"it's y/n." you say, not facing him.

"i take it you know sebastian? y'know, from yesterday." he asks, attempting to start a conversation.

"he's my brother." you press 'save' on your tablet, finally closing it and meeting jenson's eyes for the first time. your gaze lingered for a quick second, taking in his features, observing his demeanour.

jenson paused. "brother? i didn't know he had any siblings." jenson says curiously.

"you don't seem to know a lot of things." you say jokingly, giving him a tiny grin. the man couldn't help but chuckle.

"y/n vettel? such a pretty name for a pretty woman." he winks, thinking his usual playboy charm would work on you just like the other girls.

you can't help but roll your eyes playfully as you packed your things. "see you around, button."

〜

you reached into your handbag to pay for your ice cream. the cashier shook her head, gesturing to a man sitting by the window. "he already paid." you furrow your eyebrows. "oh, alright. thank you." you give the cashier a small smile before turning to where she was gesturing to.

jenson damn button. you could already feel his gaze on you and that lingering scent on him as you sat in front of the driver.

"there's really no need to pay for me, mr. button."

"and there's really no need to call me 'mr. button,' love." jenson chuckles, taking a sip of his coffee.

you sigh. you couldn't be stubborn with him, knowing how hard headed he was from all your years of watching f4 to f1.

"this is a nice little shop, don't you think? perfect place to hangout before the australian gp." jenson leans forward, that same smirk on his face.

"mmm, yeah. they have delicous ice cream." you take a bite of yours, not being able to help but feel guilty for not paying for your ice cream.

"what's your favourite flavour?" jenson asks, trying to fuel the conversation.

"chocolate. basic but the best." you say softly with icecream covered lips.

"that's fair." he chuckles. "i'm a vanilla kind of guy."

from there, your conversation grew longer. you both opened up more, sharing small laughs and recalling past memories. it felt like only minutes to you both, but little did you know it was nearly dinner.

"would you look at that, it's nearly 6pm." you check your phone.

"well, before i say goodbye, do you think i could have the pleasure of taking you out for dinner this thursday?" jenson grins.

"nice try, button, but im busy all week. try again next time, and we'll see." chuckling, you pack up your things. "later!" you leave the icecream shop as jenson's eyes follow.

"later." he mumbles. this felt different. different in a way he's never felt like this before. different in a way that you were different. different in a way he was really falling for someone. different or stupid, his stomach twisted with mixed feelings. different.

★ 𝐓𝐄𝐀𝐌 𝐑𝐀𝐃𝐈𝐎﹕﹙i genuinely don't know when im gonna have more parts to this 😔﹚ ౨ৎ 𝐓𝐀𝐆𝐋𝐈𝐒𝐓﹕﹙@gray4youuu @c-losur3 @ujws5 @namgification @faithshouseofchaos @isurvived3-11andimproud﹚

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[a-shade-of-blue]

Today I want to introduce you to Sarah (@sarah-abo-hwidi), who is also an English literature student and we both share a passion for performing on stage. However, while I managed to graduate with a BA in English, Sarah's university in Gaza was bombed and completely destroyed.

Sarah is only 20 years old. She should have been enjoying her university life. Instead, she and her parents, her brother and her sister are now displaced and living in a tent that does not shield them from either the bullets, the cold or the rain.

Sarah hopes to continue her education. She is a very talented student and has managed to secure a scholarship at the Mary Immaculate College in Ireland to do a BA in English Language and Literature. This scholarship is only awarded to 4 people a year!

However, she cannot continue her studies without your help. While she plans on getting a student visa once the Rafah Crossing opens, as you all know, evacuation fees are very expensive. Moreover, with the high prices of basic necessities like food in Gaza, money in the family is dwindling quickly. This is her only chance to get a good education, this is her only chance to save her family, and her fate is in your hands.

This campaign is vetted by association! Sarah is a former student of Mahmoud Khalaf (@/supportgaza) (#151 on their verified fundraising list by el-shab-hussein and nabulsi). I've been asked by Mahmoud to write a post for Sarah because she has very limited access to the Internet, which really hinders her ability to reach out to people.

Low Funds! Only €955 raised of €50K target! (2%) Last donation was more than 24 hours ago!

The Tumblr I know is packed with lovers of literature, writing and consuming stories and fanfiction and poetry, keeping our favourite works alive by circulating it again and again. Please show some love and extend a helping hand to Sarah, a fellow literature student. I wish for a future where Sarah is not logging on to Tumblr because bombs are falling around her and she needs to ask people for help; I wish for a future where Sarah is on Tumblr because she wishes to share a piece of her writing, or because she is looking for a good piece of fiction to read like so many of us. Let's do our part to make this happen.

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[niko-sasaki-dbd]

Queue Interview with the Dead Boy Detectives Cast 👻🔎

This is going to be a long post! (These are my favourite parts from the interview!)

George Rexstrew as Edwin Payne

Acting Inspiration

Oh, gosh. Well there are so many. Meryl Streep, obviously. Viola Davis, obviously. More recently, I was blown away by Enzo Vogrincic in Society of the Snow. And Eden Dambrine in Close.

Cast Camaraderie

I loved working with all my co-stars. I’m practically related to Jayden [Revri] and Kassius [Nelson] at this point. Yuyu [Kitamura] is a dream. Jenn [Lyon] is mother hen. Bri[ana Cuoco] is the cool older sister. Josh[ua Colley] is the cheeky cousin. Ruth [Connell] is the godmother who gives you a card and £20 for your birthday. It really is one big happy dysfunctional family. I’m grateful for all of them, on and off camera.

Jayden Revri as Charles Rowland

Dressing The Part

These heads of departments, and Monique and Kelli, [they’re] unbelievable. They were so collaborative. We went through different hairstyles and different things we could do with the makeup. We added a bit of eyeliner for [Charles] just to make it feel more 80s. And then Kelli, I mean, it was like she did her research on me. She added badges to the jacket which kind of represented me as Jayden, before I even got there. It wasn’t until I got the haircut, put the makeup on, put the costume on, and I was like, Okay, this is Charles.

Cast Camaraderie.

The vibe was just incredible. Me and George, we really wanted to set the tone for the series and make sure that everyone’s having fun and it’s an environment where we could all talk about how we’re feeling. We were just such a big support blanket for each other. If there was ever a time that somebody needed space, or they wanted to prep themselves for a certain scene they were going to film, we all respected that and we were each other’s cheerleaders the whole entire time. And it’s still the same to this day now. I think it really shows when you watch the series that we all knew what we were making and we wanted to make something that we would want to watch, which we’ve all done. I cannot shout out my castmates enough. Forever grateful.

Kassius Nelson as Crystal Palace

Acting Inspiration

I watched a lot of animation. I used to watch the Addams Family, the black-and-white one, because I didn’t have Disney Channel or anything. Monk, Murder She Wrote, I was watching those things, so maybe I was actually destined to play a detective, now that I’m thinking about it. I watched a lot of cartoons and animations. I just liked the idea that I could be engrossed in another world. And I always wanted to know what happened next, or when the film finished, I would be like, “Okay, but then what? What happens after that?” And now I get to be part of that question or that answer (...).

Dressing the Part

We have a fantastic costume designer, Kelli Dunsmore. I always say that she literally wove the story into the fabric of the clothes, because there are things that she foreshadowed in the clothing that happened episodes later. Or, if characters start to get in some sort of relationship with each other, that will be reflected in the clothes that they wear or the colors that they have. Or, if they’re feeling any type of emotion, (...)l. Crystal wears these massive platform boots that must be about four or five inches. They’re huge, very heavy, but it’s funny because they change the way that you walk. (...) She’s not very light, which makes sense with the things that she’s going through and the experiences that she’s having. Practically, it helped, because Jayden and George are like six-foot-something. So, if I film a scene and I’m at the bottom of the lens and they’re up there, that helped. I’ve got a good couple inches on my feet.

Yuyu Kitamura as Niko Sasaki

Acting Inspiration

Sandra Oh is a woman that I will forever be indebted to because who she was on Grey’s Anatomy was so formative for me. The most interesting thing about her character was not that she was Asian, but that she was such a fully fleshed person with flaws and amazing qualities. And her work ever since I think has been iconic, so she’s a woman that I deeply look up to.

Landing the role in Dead Boy Detectives

I auditioned from Hong Kong and my dad was my reader because all of my acting friends were in New York. My dad was able to carve out time and be an amazing reader. And in that audition side, it’s the scene where Niko gets to see the “Dead Boys” for the first time, and there’s a line in there that was something along the lines of me talking to Edwin and asking, “Do you two make out with each other?” And my dad stopped the tape and he was like, “What are you reading for?” And I was like, “Don’t give me notes, it’s fine!” And so that was the audition process! I think within a month I found out I got the part and it’s been an absolute dream ever since.

Dressing the Part

(...) I think on paper Niko can seem like a certain type of character, but even in the choice of every costume we did, every color that she wears, every meticulous little piece about everything from her nails to her room, it’s so well curated and thought out. Through her journey, we also find that she’s a woman that wears what she feels. On the surface, she might seem like the most joyful, young, optimistic girl, but it’s the inner confidence and bravery where we find that she’s layered, and she is very much a young woman coming of age.

SOURCE: MEET THE REAL DEAD BOY DETECTIVES (AND FRIENDS)

[eden-writes-stuff]

Hi, I hope you're doing well!

I was wondering if you could write something about Luna and Harry coming up with a plan for their moms to fall in love, and for they can be siblings.

It's an idea I've had for a while and I think it's really fun.

OMG I love this idea. So cute!

Tags: fluff, comfort, kids being silly, setup, Regulus being a great parent / uncle side ships: wolfstar, jegulus

Luna spread the paper on the couch table and placed her crayons beside it.

"Operation: bring Pandora and Lily together so we can be siblings - BPALTSWCBS." 

Harry pulled out his glitter pens. "I did my research over last week."

Research, in this case, being a Romance-movie-marathon with his uncles over the weekend. They had very much supported him when he'd confided in them and told them their plan. Or at least the general idea which they needed the plan for. 

 "Great. Tell me what you've learned." She pulled the cap off of one of the glitter gels and got ready to write.

"Well, most of them were with a man and a woman, but I think it works either way", he started and Luna nodded. "So, there was one where they were working on a project together and then they got locked in at their office and had to cuddle to keep warm." "But our moms don't work together." Harry hesitated for a moment. "we could get them to organise your birthday party together?" Luna thought about it, then wrote it down.

"There was another one with two men where they got locked in together in a room and then some woman threatened their lives unless they kiss." The six-year-old grinned and put it above the other idea.

"For the next one we'd have to wait until yule, but maybe you can convince your grandparents to ask your mum if she has found someone yet and then she freaks out and brings my mum as a fake date, so they stop annoying her." "She doesn't really care about their opinions so that probably won't work..."

"Alright. The one where the woman wants to get married before her sister is also out because aunt Petunia is already married..." "So our only option to make them be happy together is to threaten their lives?", Luna summarised. "Yeah, I think so."

"Great. But we need to make them believe it. Maybe we could get a dragon from somewhere." "Or a serial killer. Hey, papa." Harry looked up from their plan on the table, as Regulus walked in. "What do you need a serial killer for, mon coeur?", he asked, one eyebrow raised.

Harry and Luna shared a glance. "You need to promise not to tell anyone. This is a top-secret mission." Harry leaned in a bit and Regulus nodded slowly. "We're trying to get mom to go out with Panda, so they fall in love and get married and then we can be siblings", he half-whispered. 

"But we're not sure, how to do it yet. Our best idea is to threaten their lives so that they kiss", Luna added, shrugging.

Regulus nodded. It was best not to question a child's logic, not to mention that it sounded like something that might actually work if executed properly. Plus, as Pandora's confidante, he knew that she had fancied the redhead since they were teenagers.

Harry looked up at him. "How did you and dad get together?" The pale man attempted to answer a few times, but eventually just shook his head. "I think that's a story for another time. I do have an idea, however. Do you want to hear it?" They both nodded excitedly.

"Maybe you need to approach it from the other side. You tell them you want to spend a sibling-day with your favourite moms. You know, go to the park, have a movie night... That way you force them to spend time together and see how adorable you two are."

The children shared a few looks. "But then we don't get to threaten their lives..." "We can still do that if plan A doesn't work." "Hmmm.... okay."

Luna wrote it on the paper with a crayon. "Thank you, uncle Reggie. You can leave now. We need to work out the details."

[angelmichelangelo]

my initial thoughts of tales of the teenage mutant ninjas turtles below the cut, don’t read if you’ve not already watched the show cos SPOILERS!!

off the bat i think this show is really good fun and overall i think i can say i enjoyed it! the style is good, the writing is just as easy and as realistic as the movie. each of the turtles do shine here in their own individual way. but alas if do have my gripes i wanted to share.

not so sure if anything that actually happens in this series is… even canon? maybe im just dumb but with the whole “leo making a comic book” and “raph dramatising a story for a school project” thing it’s not so clear as to whether the events in the series with bishop and the east river 3 are even real ?? kinda disappointing if not cos that’s honestly just as lame as “and it was all a dream!!” kind of endings you find in like. middle school creative writing homework.

also. just gonna say this now. splinter. if they couldn’t have gotten jackie chan back or gotten someone that at least sounds like him, i kind of wish they’d removed him entirely from the plot because raph doing the voice over for him in the entire second half of the series was. OOF. it really pulled me from the immersion especially when there was some really strong character moments from him, but it’s… raph? speaking in a gruff voice ?? for some reason? not sure what happened with jackie chan and whether they wrote all his scenes BEFORE they maybe realised he wasn’t coming back to voice him but… yeah. could have just gotten another va and made a gag that he had a cold or something rather than… whatever that whole thing was. i didn’t like it, sorry. pulled me out of the stronger moments for that character which was a shame.

i really liked the whole separated storyline. tmnt rarely does that and it plays no favourites in getting each of the boys to shine individually within their own arcs and play out their own strengths and weaknesses and their brothers own strengths !! and then a little reunion at the factory, especially raph and leo’s hug. very precious :D

but then… the second half of the series is that.. again?? feels kind of a waste of time to redo what we JUST saw. turtles separated (this time with a mutanimal) and have to think like the others to get out of a tough spot and then boom huggy happy reunion time. which brings us to like 2 whole episodes out of 12 where the turtles actually are all on screen interacting with one another…

i had the same issue with mutant mayhem that, whilst they are good characters in a group and alone, there’s never any like. closer interactions. aside from like, the leo raph hug or when raph gives mikey a noogie affectionately in the first episode, there’s never like any one to one interactions that makes it feel all that more believable to me. don’t get me wrong, ive been asking for a mikey centric episode where he gets to shine for YEARS now and we finally got it!! but in the words of rise donnie… something they feel more like roommates rather than brothers just because their interactions are so sparse and far between. that’s just how i feel so take it with a pinch of salt.

i feel like they tempered the whole leo april thing which, for me, isn’t really a big deal. she’s more like an sister to the guys in my opinion but if you were hoping for more of what we got in the movie, then only expect like. one or two moments where it reminds you leo has a crush on her before they’re acting like just friends again.

bishop was really cool! i loved her design and backstory!! they’re bringing in the EPF which i LOVE!! this franchise seems to swing heavily towards the whole anti-mutant thing which is always fun for me. love seeing the boys chased off or shunned especially since they’re known to the public (even if i… don’t super love that plot but here we are) so even if the whole bishop thing.. wasn’t canon?? im hoping they bring her back somehow.

the whole “humans have mutations too” thing was actually really clever, with rod and his different coloured eyes, i wish they did more with that!! i think i would have rather had an entire 12 episode series about bishop and her robots rather than the random mutant pearl heist just cos the bishop storyline felt more important. that way we could have done the whole separated storyline AND have the boys actually fighting together again.

even if i complained about the second half it was still really written and a lot of fun! donnie’s episode with wingnut and leatherhead was so good, maybe my favourite episode out of the lot, as well as mikey trapped in the bodega. im not hating on the show, i did actually enjoy it i promise lol

i think going into the show, i had an inkling that as far as plot was concerned, it wasn’t going to push itself out too far. often times when you have a tv series bridging between one movie and the next, you’re saving all your serious stuff for the thing people are most likely to see, which is the sequel, rather than the 12 episode series. if they were to add casey or shredder or Krang or put leo through an actual window as per tradition, and casual fans hadn’t watched the series but sat down to watch the second movie, they’d be confused as hell and it wouldn’t do as good. marvel do it too, where it’s just to fill a gap for a time being without any serious plot or arc. so i kinda had that anticipation going forward into watching the show and i guess i was right. so if you’re expecting your big leo trauma moment, know they’re probably saving it for the movie instead where more people are likely to watch it.

i really love the animation, the style, the voice acting. (though im just gonna say this in like the kindest way possible. mikey’s va needs to work on the fact that he delivers some lines like he’s reading straight off the page. im not a professional but it stood out to me a few times and that’s just my humble opinion. i do think he suits the character so so well though and i wish him all the best going forward as our michelangelo!) whether we ever see brady noon as raphael again is a nother story lol

overall, as a tmnt fan, it delivered. it was fun and punchy and honestly worth the watch if you’re thinking about delving into another series. it’s not rise nor any of the previous iterations and i think sometimes you gotta just step back and view it with a fresh pair of eyes, because in all honestly i came off the back of watching all the rise episodes in like 2 days to then watching this, so i was making a few unfair comparisons throughout, none of which i think were obvious in my above points but. yeah. i didn’t hate it!! I thought it was funny and silly and well crafted by people that genuinely understands the characters in this.

now im just looking forward to the sequel :D

[preciadosbass]

14/8/24 [4x DIYS + a drawing <already posted> today!! key & significant photos at end. technically a journal from yesterday as it was posted on a later schedule.]

woke up at 9 and opened instagram to find out about danielle’s [vic fuentes’s wife] second pregnancy. im so happy for the both of themm!! [that explains vic’s freaky comments on danielle’s posts…] i stayed scrolling on insta and doing those story template/prompt things up until 9:50 when i finally went out to properly say good morning to boris. id already mouthed it to him through the front door after waking up, but i can’t go without actually sitting with him. i had breakfast as the heat is making me faint and he kept on jumping up on my knees to try and eat it. he did at one point lick the bottom of my toast [i got it on video yipee] and the way he tucks his paws and places them on my leg to get to it is so cute.

my mum said i should take off that bit of toast so i did, and stayed outside with him until 10:15 because apparently my sister has people [keyworkers [[?]] come over aswell and two people turned up on the driveway. once i was back inside my room, i wrote the entry to this journal and listened to linkin park’s ‘meteora’ [their best album in my opinion] i thought that i wouldn’t be able to leave my room in ages due to the people round, but my dad came in and told me that they’d left to shop/bake/cook with my sister. which is good for her, and ideal for me because i can get on with my diy windcharm inspired decoration/bottlecap charm.

i waited for my dad to get his tools and he started drilling the holes through the bottlecaps at around 10:40. after he was done, i brought the shells i collected from the beach inside, and my dad started going through the different ways he could drill through them as i couldn’t decide. i decided on one and made my bottlecap charms while he drilled. i finished one out of two of the charms when i realised the elastic was drooping and it looked weird so my dad drilled through the tops of the caps to make things easier. obviously you can see where it was originally drilled but i still think the results are cute. [photos at end]

i went outside to get sticks for my ‘windcharm’ thing, and put ‘jaime’ on my favourite bottlecap charm, which isn’t revolutionary for anyone else apart from me. it is at the moment because i don’t have my name on anything i own, and i finally put it somewhere!! the best part is, i can just say it’s because i love jaime preciado, as my family already know about my interest in him. they’ll never know whahahaha

i don’t actually know why i made the charms, they don’t serve much purpose other than hanging somewhere in my room and being something to look at. but i like randomly making ‘useless’ stuff — it gives me something to do. hopefully i can put up some more hooks and actually put them on display, maybe use the jaime one as a keychain if i do ever come out. i finished re-doing them, took pictures of them, and then said a quick hello to boris before starting to make my windcharm thing at 12:40.

i felt conscious over everyone in the house watching me make it, so i took the shells with me went into my room. i measured out all the elastic and started making it at 1. i threaded all the shells and a few odd tiny beads onto the frame. i originally meant to make one the bits that hang down to have silver beads on, but they didn’t fit through the elastic, so i resorted to bigger cream coloured beads. i finished it at 1:40 and stood on my stool to work out where i wanted it hung. i organised a place for it to go and hot glued my favourite shell onto the centre of the stick frame. my dad put a hook in my ceiling and hung it at 2:20. it dosent really look anything close to a windcharm, but at least it’s another thing in my room to glance at. [picture at end]

i listened to my atticus cd while making it, and i love it — my favourite track so far [im not sure how long i listened to it] was american nightmare by am/pm. it’s one of the only cds i have where all of the tracks/most of the tracks; [i cant remember] are all recorded by different artists. afterwards i went outside with boris until 3. my mum and dad were on the other side of the garden gate, being shown my sister’s nunchucking. upon getting inside, i started putting up some more photos at the side of my desk [3:20] i also stuck my jaime charm up there aswell. as for the other target looking one, i’m going to leave it hanging on my mini bass. [pictured at end]

i feel like i haven’t put up anything in decades even though i did not too long ago when i stuck pikachu on the side of my shelf, but still. while doing this, i listened to my main playlist [WIP] [link at end]. once i was done, i got out a few scrap parts of old jeans that id cut up and drew on them with a paint pen. i cant actually make any patches because i’ve lost my fabric paint, but i thought i might aswell make the ‘template.’ i made a my chemical romance once, along with ones of fall out boy, ‘all cats r beautiful’, the pierce the veil symbol, the frank iero logo, a killjoys patch, and a party poison patch. kobra kid is my fav out of the killjoys, but there’s no way on earth i’m drawing a kobra on denim or whatever the fabric im using is. i’m bad at drawing as it is. [will post photos of the finished product if i remember]

after putting all my supplies away, i posted for the first time on the mcr community i joined [which was scary wtf everyone’s so good at art there]. it was a picture of my diy black parade mcr trinket box. afterwards i wrote a decent amount of this and added a few full albums to my main playlist along with changing the playlist image. i also added three more can tabs to my tab bracelet as i found two out of nowhere this morning, and my sister brought one back from her outing. i listened to some more music and made drafts up until 5:40 when i started collecting black + white/dark blue pics of jaime and chi so i can redesign my homescreen and app icons. i finished after an hour and im super happy with the result. hopefully my favourite colour dosent change again because actually going through every app and changing the icon is boring asf. [photos at end]

i drew a killjoy oc from 7 to literally 12.. it took so long because it was my first time every drawing digitally and i made up their design on the spot. i wasn’t planning on finishing them so i had a break at 9, also. i’m okay with how it came out considering what i just mentioned. i love their ray gun design and i’m obviously yet to give them lore/a proper gang etc. i continued adding text to the drawing and posted a picture of them at 12:30. [the post under this]. at 12:50 i started looking at other peoples killjoy oc’s as i haven’t really done that before. i continued doing that while collecting band/musician gifs along the way until 1:50. i had already been in my parents room for 15-20 minutes but i did my questions about boris around the time just listed.

i did them quite quickly, went downstairs, did my teeth, and started saying goodnight to boris at 2:30. i told him/showed him the things i’ve made today and finished speaking to him at 3:20. i fed him before going into my room and wrapping up this journal. i posted this before going to sleep, but i’ll say i went to sleep at 3:35 and update the actual time in tomorrow’s journal.

🗝️ — boris/my cat, questions about boris/i ask my parents questions about my cat to verify he’s okay + will be okay in the morning. its a compulsive thing and i’m hopefully going to be tested for OCD in the future.

have a good day/night O_o

[liminalmemories21]

Fic Pride Friday

tagged by @freneticfloetry. Thank you, sweetie!

Rules: Post your favourite line or passage from as many of your published works as you’d like. Let yourself feel proud of your creations! Tag as many people as you post snippets, so your fellow fic friends can be proud, too.

A home isn't always the house we live in (still one of my favorite things I've ever written)

He finds he doesn’t like Carlos’ parents very much right now, which maybe isn’t fair, but he doesn’t know them, and he does know Carlos. Still, that’s not what TK’s asking. “Sometimes people don’t need you to fix things, they just need to tell you so that they know someone heard.”

The Knave of Hearts . . . he said he'd steal no more (because this one conversation, is I swear at the heart of the entire series)

TK stares wide eyed and startled, at the key he’s holding. “What?” He clears his throat. “If you want it?” TK’s quiet for long enough that Carlos wonders if he should take it back, wait for a better moment. Except TK’s hand closes over it tightly and he leans up into Carlos’s space. “If you keep letting me in, I’m never going to want to leave.” He presses a kiss to TK’s temple. “You’re on to my devious plan, whatever will I do?” TK snorts softly against Carlos’s skin and doesn’t let go.

the square root of sixty-nine (this was I think one of the first exchanges I wrote, and the entire story sprawled from there)

TK stares at him. "Okay, so my opinion of like everyone you've ever slept with before is dropping by the second, just so you know." TK looks at him closely, and says more gently. "This is not a deal breaker, and anyone who ever told you it was is a dick who wasn't worth your time."

We were in screaming color (I was so nervous about writing Carlos's sisters, and figuring out their relationship)

"Because Carlos,” and her words are as precise and measured as if she’s giving a closing argument in court, “I was scared. I was terrified that if we told you not to, if we all left and went back to our lives that the next time Mom called to tell me I had to fly home it would be for your funeral, not your wedding. So, I went to your wedding, even though you're right I've never really liked Iris, because I thought if they're married at least Iris will be there every day to make sure that he's okay."

tagging @strandnreyes, @rmd-writes, @paperstorm, @vineofroses, @carlos-in-glasses, @carlos-tk, @cha-melodius, and @walkinginland

[welivetodream]

How much do you think Richard lied about the story?

Because I think he was lying about a LOT of stuff. I do not trust words that come from this man. He is sus.

Since he is talking about the past, it could all be misunderstandings and blurry memories (he was high half of the time) Or it could be just lies.

My favourite headcanon is that Richard was writing a book about his college life. He is a bit delusional and grandiose so when he went to college, he expected to have this main character vibe going on. But his college life was as normal as any of ours and he was disappointed. So, he tried to live vicariously through a book, which he wrote as an "autobiography" (he literally starts the book with "this is a story of my follies"). Richard is telling us, the reader, "his" story. He is acknowledging it as a "real" story. But that too is a lie. Richard made it all up. All the characters were written by him.

That's why Camilla was portrayed as an angel, she is the heroine, his damsel in distress, love interest. Henry was the mythical Jay Gatsby to Richard's Nick Carraway. Henry was someone he could obsess over and idolise. Francis is the gay one, he is another 'kind of' love interest, he is always making passes at Richard, he is snarky and a bit grumpy, that's his entire character. Charles is the mean villain, he is abusing Camilla and committing incest, his existence makes all of them appear better than they are. Bunny was homophobic to a degree that didn't make any sense, he was in a fucking Greek class and was friends with all these people with major gay vibes, what did he expect? If Bunny was sympathetic, we wouldn't have accepted the murder so quickly. And Julian is Julian, he is so out of reach and ethereal; depicted as a type of teacher we would love to have, the story's John Keating.

Now when we come to the ending. The only one who gets to live a "normal" life and has any success (at least graduating college) was Richard. Yeah, Camilla turned him down and all but, he doesn't seem that mad about it (he admitted he loved Henry too, which gives major Nick Carraway vibes) He doesn't really face any consequences of what they all did (he is an accomplice to murder after all)

Camilla is traumatised, she is still in love with Henry and he fucking died in front of her. Her relationship with Charles is ruined and that would be traumatising as well.

Francis is forced to stay in the closet with no choice in the person he dates. And he almost dies of a suicide because of that. He is done with life.

Charles tried rehab but then ran away with a woman in her 30s that was married. His life is a complete mess and he has no contact with his old friends or sister.

Henry commited suicide and Bunny was murdered by his own friends.

Out of all these situations, Richard was the lucky one. He still has ties to Camilla and Francis and they still are kind of friends. He graduated and got a job. He dates one of the most popular girls at college and moves in with her for some time. He is doing something in his life.

In the end, Richard got the best of all of them. Maybe because that's just his real life. He doesn't have a crazy backstory. He doesn't have a huge personality. He doesn't have many connections to these characters. He gets the best ending. He is always the outsider. He is the narrator. He is a liar. He is a storyteller.

It's Richard's world, we are all just living in it.

(I know this theory is not at all true. Donna Tartt was not going for it to be like this. But I find the idea of Richard faking the entire book for his own entertainment and delusion, fascinating. And it's even plausible because of his personality)

Just imagine if TSH happened in the present day. The afterward would be just Richard going to his desk job with four hours of sleep and revealing he was writing an OC self-insert fanfiction about a modern Greek tragedy in AO3.

(okay, this turned out so funny. I get Richard, I want to escape from my boring life with writing too)

[that-one-enby-ranger]

It's Sir Dr Brian Harold May's birthday today and I absolutely love and adore him, and I have been posting stuff on my Queen sideblog @rogers-maraccas, but I felt like posting this long rant on here because I FEEL LIKE IT AND NOBODY CAN STOP ME AND I WANT ALL YOU FUCKERS TO HERE ABOUT THIS BEAUTIFUL AMAZING MAN!

Out of all four members of Queen, I do not have a favourite, I love them all equally, not just for their music, but for them, because they are all great. But today is Brian's day, so we must discuss him. Next week will be Rogers birthday.

Firstly, Brian's talent is absolutely incredible and playing guitar like his is one of the things that keep me from quitting guitar. I watch him play guitar solos and I see the way his fingers move and how they can just, how the fuck do I say this without it sounding weird, finger the strings and he can move them up and down and jesus Christ this sounds weird but I don't fucking care because it's fucking Brian May.

I will admit that he is not THE best guitar player in the world, there are definitely some, specifically Jimi Hendrix that tops Brian, but to me, in my opinion, he is still one of the best. HE IS SO FUCKING TALENTED. And its not just guitar, he can write songs, he can sing really good, his voice is amazing and so gentle and soft and I love it. He has solo albums that are really good and I definitely recommend listening to them. My fav solo album of his is Back to the Light, and even though I don't have an absolute favourite, I'm Scared and Resurrection are definitely some of my favourites, and Let Your Heart Rule Your Head gives me the same sort of vibes as '39 which is just one of the amazing Queen songs Brian wrote.

Speaking of songs, Brian has written so many hits for Queen, as has the rest of them, but this post is focusing on Brian:

Some great songs he's written that I can think of just at the top of my head:

Fat Bottomed Girls, We Will Rock You (y'know, StOmP stOmP cLaP), '39, Now I'm here, Stone Cold Crazy, Sweet Lady, Tie Your Mother Down, Teo Torriate (Let Us Cling Together), Who Wants To Live Forever and Headlong.

Plus the, in my opinion, very underrated songs that are fucking great that he wrote:

White Queen (As it Began), the story behind the song is both very sweet and sad on its own, Father to Son, Brighton Rock, It's Late, Mother Love, Dead on Time, Dreamers Ball (absolutely fucking love this song. It's so good), Dancer, Dragon Attack, Sail Away Sweet Sister, Save Me, Tear It Up and Is This the World We Created.

That's not even all of them.

And his lyrics are so fucking great as well, as are the rest of the bands songs, but just look at some of these beautiful lyrics.

"Take me to the room where the green's all green" and "Take me to the room where the reds all red" from Dragon Attack

All of '39

"You call me sweet like I'm some kind of cheese" from Sweet Lady

"She used to be a woman with a hotdog stand" from Headlong.

Lyrics master right there.

I am aware that all the band chipped in to write The Show Must Go On, which is in my opinion the best Queen song and I could go on and entire different rant about that, but the lyrics and meaning behind it is amazing, and you get beautiful gems from those lyrics like "my wings are painted like the wings of butterflies, fairytales of yesterday will grow but never die. I can fly my friends"

AAAAAAAA HE IS SO FUCKING AMAZING

Oh my gosh and we can't forget that he is incredibly smart. He has a fucking PhD in astrophysics for fucks sake, he's a doctor. I remember reading somewhere that his IQ is 180, which is just seven IQ point thingys lower than Sheldon Cooper. If he wasnt a very famous guitarist then he most likely would have been a very successful astrophysicist.

Plus he's fucking knighted.

He has also accomplished so much outside of Queen and his solo stuff. He loves animals is an animal rights activist, publicly speaking against fox hunting and culling of badgers. He fucking loves badgers. And lots of different animals. I have multiple photos of Brian with animals.

He helped open the Mercury Phoenix Trust charity which was opened in honour of Freddie Mercury to help fight AIDS.

He bought a bunch of land where trees were going to get cut down to build houses and saved those trees and is now called May's Wood.

He would go on TV after Freddie died and stand up for Freddie and speak up against the press and all the negative very untrue things people were saying about Freddie. (Just pointing out he is not the only one that did this, Roger also did an amazing job on speaking out)

There is a lot more things than I mentioned but you get the point and my brain is blanking.

OH YEAH, he played live at the top of Buckingham palace.

Also when asked by someone if we would ever hear what happened inside of the legendary Queen parties. His response was just a couple seconds of silence and then...

"no."

And of course we can't have a Brian appreciation post without mentioning the Red Special. The Red Special is Brian's guitar that he's had ever since he was a kid, and he's used it at most shows (I find the fact that he didn't have it during Live Aid is a fucking crime). He made the guitar with his dad when he was a kid. I can never remember how old he was if he was 12 or 15 or something. Him and his dad made it out of some old furniture or something like that where the wood was really old and pretty much rotting. It's fucking amazing.

And he improvised and experimented and used a six pence coin as a pick and it gives it a unique sound. One time my sister and I was in a car and I was listening to my own music and my sister told me Queen was on the radio so I listened and she had never heard that song before and she heard the bit with the guitar solo and I asked her how she knew it was Queen and she said she recognised the sound of Bri's guitar. If his guitar broke I would cry for him and the Red Special.

And I know this is talking about Brian, but I just feel the need to point how good of an actor Gwilym Lee is. He played Brian in the movie, and he was the most accurate out of the entire cast in my opinion. When Brian showed Bohemian Rhapsody to his kids they thought that his voice was the actual Brian's voice just overlapping and Gwilym was lip sinking. He wasn't, he's just that good.

I've been watching Bohemian Rhapsody while writing this, and I started this towards the start of the movie and now I'm up to the bit where Freddie finally ditches Paul so I'm gonna stop here.

Just remember that Brian May is an amazing man who is extremely talented and kind and has done extraordinary things, even more than on here. If I ever met him I would tell him that and tell him I love him more than I can say and maybe even more than some of my friends and that he has changed my life in ways I can't even understand.

What a man.

Extra:

Absolutely adorable

[yourlocal-therian]

if i’m correct in assuming your requests are open, may i perhaps request a (female) common kestrel themed moodboard? if possible, with images of button house (west horsley place in east surrey), old-fashioned offices, and forgotten letters/documents? though it isn’t necessary if not possible ofc

also noticed you’re into doctor who i think?? which is brilliant!! i love doctor who! (i do need to catch up on the most recent episodes, though — i haven’t had the chance to just yet.) do you have a favourite doctor and/or companion, perhaps? :>

thank you so much in advance!

I am into doctor who!!!

cut if you're not interested in hearing:

DIDNWAKDVUQMVUNGK ok so I don't really know if I have a favorite doctor... I'm only really caught up to 11 (also not fully done with him) but I love every doctor. 9, 10, 11, I adore them all. I think it's SO RUDE that people just skip 9??? like yeah 10 is good and all but give 9 some love. (9 is my sister's favorite btw) Id say I love every doctor so far. I'm a bit scared for 13, as I've heard her story telling isn't well....the best? But I love Capaldi so I'm super excited for 12

As for companions, I definitely have an answer. The one and only Rose Tyler!!! I could go on and on about her she's my absolute favorite. To rank champions so far:

Rose

Amy

River

Donna

Jack

Martha

Mickey

I ABSLOUTLEY HATE MICKEY OKAY. ABSLOUTLEY DESPISE HIM HE'S JUST. HE ANNOYS ME.

I don't really hate Martha she just kinda got screwed by the narrative and story-telling, especially bc they wrote her as a love-sick puppy that we really just didn't need after losing Rose.

AMY!!! I LOVE AMY!! Rose is my no.1 but I adore Amy too. She needs therapy though..

Idk if I should put Rory on the list??? I also don't know if Mickey belongs but ehhh he's a companion in a few episodes.

Also I think River is cool even though I rarely get to see her, she's just really cool.

Contrary to most opinions, Donna is not my favorite. She's good and all but she just doesn't make it to my top 3, we'll see how I feel when I get to 14 though.

[fiveredlights]

Okay I need to know things from literally ALL of the wip’s 😂

But I guess the ones that intrigue me the most are the post AUS2024 fic, the alternate Vegas 2023 story and the lmao daniel retirement fic!!

But like I said, I want to know all things lol! You are like one of my favourite authors ❤️

P.S. please feel no pressure to update, write or anything. Take your time

beth you ask and i will dutifully answer, gonna put everything under the cut because this is a long post 🫡

snippets: ausgp 2024/you're on another path

so fun fact about this one i wrote it post quali, and i had planned to post it after the race was done so i a "pre-wrote" two endings. i wasn't going to because i was gonna be like "oh max will win but something bad might happen to daniel" so i had this ready to go:

and i was sitting in the grandstand watching max's car explode in the pitlane and all i could think about was "did i do this. again" and honestly who knows.

Daniel’s already lying down face first on the bed when Max makes it back to their hotel room. He’s been doing it a lot recently after races, opening the door to their hotel room and just starfishing on the bed, unmoving until Max gently coaxes him to actually sleep. 

God, if his twenty-something year old self could see him now. 

Yeah, you’re back at the team you started with—no not HRT, that’s gone now, yes the Red Bull—not junior—sister team. The Red Bull seat? Yeah, not yours anymore, and it’s looking like it’s gonna stay that way. No, no podium at your home race, more like qualifying P18 because you were an idiot and drove over track limits. Points? Well, you had a good chance but I guess luck just wasn’t on your side yet again. 

Oh, and that young and upcoming driver from the Netherlands? Yeah, he’s your boyfriend now—surprise, you’re gay! And he’s a three time world champion, but that’s probably not important. 

Any one of those things would’ve sent Daniel into hospital, but all of those things combined? 

Early death. 

snippets: las vegas 2025/bonus fic reimagined

(i'm going to assume you mean las vegas 2025 and i'll give you both)

Max isn’t winning right now. 

He couldn’t really tell you why. 

Plenty of pundits, fans, strangers on the street have stopped him and asked him to dissect why he hasn’t won a championship in the past two years. He gives them a hastily PR trained and approved answer that seems to be more conscious in his mind now than before and cracks a well timed joke he’s sure his teammate would be proud of. 

Then Daniel comes along and will say, “Max already has three, he’s got to leave some for the rest of us!”, and the conversation will usually move on quickly after that. 

He knows that Daniel isn’t the sole reason for his non-winning ways right now, but when the eventual news of their relationship happens to drop, there’ll be dissections for days on if Daniel plays a part in Max’s performance right now. 

The last time Max hadn’t won a championship was when Daniel Ricciardo was with Red Bull, surely there’s some connection there?

snippets: las vegas 2025/don't read the last page

(Max is italics, Daniel is not.)

Max 🩵

July 31, 2025

...

I may have accidentally 

I swear it was an accident 

Like I pinky promise swear to our first born child

Don’t bring Matilda into this

Did you murder someone

What

Why is that your first thing

You are making a big deal out of it

Like bigger than the podcast you did in January

So I have to assume you murdered someone

Okay well it’s not murder but nice to know you think I’m capable of it

Daniel

I forgot to take off my wedding ring and wore it in the paddock and people saw and I got asked about in the press conference 

They definitely thought I was just engaged so I guess that’s just a silver lining

And you have a bet with Lando over when I was going to accidentally do this

Which is rude because I would never do the same to you Maxy

You literally have a bet with Fernando over if I’m going to slip up and say husband in an interview

How do you know that

And he’s Fernando you know you can’t say no to him

Daniel

When you came out you literally posted a photo of me on your Instagram

The whole paddock knows we are married

Half of them went to our wedding

About 85% of fans think we are in a relationship because you keep on teasing them with photos that is definitely me

Is it so bad that we just say yeah we’re married

We are literally about to have a kid

Okay well when you put it like that

I guess you’re right 

I know

I’m always right

snippets: lmao daniel retirement

They asked him if he wanted a big farewell thing, like they had done with Sebastian and Kimi a couple years back. 

He’d almost said no until Lando pulled a face and said “Mate, people’s last memory of you driving can’t be you heading to the pitlane again.” 

So he agreed. Told Blake to tell them to keep it minimal. No standing on giant mockups of his face during the national anthem or whatever.