#why are these writers not out there writing happy Romeo and Juliet

[itspileofgoodthings]

if I were writing a Disney movie I would include romance in it lol. But that’s just me.

[princessbiteme0o0]

Um this is like my first time asking but I have an idea which I really like so here I am asking!

So basically Ted is in theatre school with you and he your in the same class and you were paired up to do a scene of Romeo and Juliet. And there was a kissing scene you had to do.

In the evening Ted and you do into the theatre empty to practice the scene and you were really scared to do the kiss and he helps you out and then it slowly from a kiss gets more passionate and deep then… you two ended up doing the dirty in the theatre.

but during sex, he becomes more dominant and degrading like “imagine you took me like this infront of the class next week? You would look like a total whore.”

AHHH I HOPE ITS OK! and if you do it then I will give more ideas defo 💗

I adore you (and everyone that asks), having said that- this is BY FAR my favorite one 😭 Shakespeare is one of my favorite writers, along with Poe.

Thank you, Nonny and thank all of you that enjoy my writing!! It genuinely makes me SO HAPPY to see people enjoying and appreciating my writing.

Mainly for my home girl- @writingduhh 🩵🩵🩵

Having said all of that…

FIRST OF ALL- I don’t think Ted has a kinky bone in his body; I think he’s a cute lil vanilla baby, but fuck it we ball. MINORS DNI. I FEEL LIKE IT SHOULD BE OBVIOUS AT THIS POINT.

Warnings: smut, slight bullying, degradation, praise, sexual tension, arguments, (kinda enemies to lovers), slapping (not abusive- purely sexual), choking, spit kink, spanking?, fingering, p in v, creampie, breeding kink, unspoken daddy kink?, melodramatics, ‘pup’ and ‘puppy’ used (don’t judge me) but no pet play, As always, let me know if I need to add more 🩵

Shakespeare in Love (Teddy Nivison x Reader)

—🩵—🩵—

She thought she was far over having to work with him on this play. She thought it would be a simple one and done; that maybe he’d have a simple two or three liner part. However, the moment she read the names next to each character, she felt her heart drop to her stomach. There it had been, in big, bold letters:

Tybalt- Kyle Jean

Capulet- Chris River

Juliet- (Y/N Y/L/N)

Romeo- Ted Nivison

She still remembers the anger that she felt at him for even auditioning, the rage directed at the casting director, the dread she felt at knowledge of the script; but like any good actress, she played it off.

So now, she sat on stage, reading over the script while waiting for mister always late. Had it have been better (and easier) circumstances, she probably wouldn’t have noticed the door to the auditorium swinging open. Her eyes lifted and met his gaze, smirk and all. She felt a heated anger drop to the pit of her stomach, but that smirk caused a different kind of warmth to drop between her thighs. Rolling her eyes where she knew he could see, she stood to her feet while looking over the script once more.

She was a tall woman, she knew that, but he was so much taller. His shadow lingered over her and when she looked up at him, he wore a goofy grin, eyes boring into her. “You ready, Pumpkin?” He asked in a mocking tone that made her eye twitch for a moment.

“Don’t fucking call me that.” She grumbled softly, glaring up at him. He reached his hand out and his fingertips ghosted over her bare shoulder and down her collarbone.

“Why not?” He pouted lightly, fingertips brushing up her neck now. “I know it feels good.” He whispered the second part, winking at her and she raised her hand to slap him, before the director scolded her.

“(Y/N)! Let’s save our emotions for the audience, hmm?” He shouted over the talking students in the room. Everyone went quiet and turned their eyes to her, making a warm blush flood her cheeks.

“You’re so cute when you blush for me.” Ted teases softly, pinching her arm.

Today is going to be a long ass day…

—🩵—🩵—

She watched on with fake love in her eyes as Ted read off his lines like a beautiful poem, especially for her. He took her hand in his as he continued, voice warm and welcoming, as if it were a soft pillow for her to lie back on-

“If I profane with my unworthiest hand, this holy shrine, the gentle sin is this: My lips, two blushing pilgrims, ready stand to smooth that rough touch with a tender kiss.” The words weren’t his, but the look in his eyes and the way he said it so clearly to her made her body grow warm. My character, it’s just his character speaking to mine.

“Good Pilgrim, you do wrong your hand too much, which mannerly devotion shows in this; For saints have hands that pilgrims’ hands do not touch, and hand to hand is holy palmers kiss.” She spoke skeptically, eyes watching his every move. As he moved his body closer to hers, she had to fight the urge to step back. She could practically feel the magnetic urgency trying to pull them together, but she denied it, craving the comfortability in safety. His hand carefully raised to her jaw, cupping it with a gentle palm.

“Have not saints lips, and holy palmers too?” His voice was softer, careful almost, as if he was afraid of her pulling away. Taking in a sharp breath, she paused a moment, seemingly forgetting her lines- though she was quick to steady herself.

“Ay, pilgrim, lips that they must use in prayer.” She placed a careful hand on his chest in an attempt to push him away, but he slipped an arm around her waist, fingertips resting in the small of her back. She knew it was coming, yet the more he touched her, the harder it was to keep up the boundaries she held.

“O then, dear saint, let lips do what hands do. They pray: grant thou, lest faith turn to despair.” His words were a deep rumbling whisper as his other hand slid up the side of her body. His fingertips gently massaged a path up her shoulder, her collarbone, just to rest carefully on her jawline. His thumb carefully ran over the apple of her cheeks as she struggled to find her line once more.

“Saints do not move, though grant for prayers’ sake.” Her mouth ran dry as he leaned forwards ever-so-slightly. She felt heat strike through her body and liquid heat pool in between her legs.

“Then move not while my prayer’s effect I take.” His voice is deep rumble that vibrates her to her very core. When he leant down and pressed his lips carefully to hers, her world suddenly burst into vibrant colors, warmth immersing the room in the fireworks that flew between them. Both parties had a difficult time pulling apart, but she managed to pull away, only to realize she had a firm grip on his hair. Swallowing the lump in his throat, Ted struggled to get his line out without stuttering, “Th-Thus from my lips, by then, my sin is purged.”

His eyes didn’t leave hers for even the slightest millisecond of time and his grip around her just tightened; until the director and everyone else in the class clapped. “That was absolutely stunning.” The director calls out. Almost instantly upon realization that they weren’t alone, they quickly tore apart from each other- she was blushing madly, while Ted just wore a look of confusion.

—🩵—🩵—

It was a few hours after practice and most of the staff went home, while she sat on the stage, silently going over her lines. She was reading through every detail, looking for every emotion. Lying back, she laid the script over her face, mind still flying from the previous events of the day. Suddenly, she heard the sound of footsteps and a soft shift of air around her as whoever it was sat beside her.

“Ted…” She grumbles, without even moving the script from her face. She knew it was him- of course she did, she hates him. His scent filled her nostrils and tempted to distract her.

“(Y/N)…” His voice is gentle; hearing him say her name like that was a surprise. Reaching up, he gently pulls the script away from her face. When her pretty eyes meet his, he smiles softly and just watches her for a moment. “Can we talk?”

“Hmph.” She lets out a soft puff of air and crosses her arms.

“(Y/N).” His voice is still gentle, but this time it takes on a warning tone. She looks back up at him through her lashes and sighs. Rolling her eyes, she moved to sit. “Now that you’re situated… Why do you hate me?”

“Can we just go over our lines, please?” Her eyes are silently pleading, but he just slowly nods with a soft sigh of succession.

“Where do you wanna start-“ He’s quickly cut off as she basically launches at him, crashing their lips together in a heated kiss. His mind is telling him to pull away, but everything else is telling him to pull her closer. His hands grip her hips, tight enough to leave bruises and he helps her climb into his lap. Pulling away, he looks up at her with a small smirk, “If you wanted me that bad you just needed to tell me.” He teased gently.

“If you want me at all, you’ll shut the fuck up.” She growls lowly. Raising a brow at her, he reaches behind her and places a firm slap on her rear.

“You better check your attitude with me, Sweetheart.” A squeak left her lips when he spanked her and she jumped, making her grind forward against him. Ted bit back a groan and closed his eyes. “Princess…”

The warmth in his voice and the tempting softness in his eyes made her melt right there in his lap. She was careful and hesitant with each movement she made. Exploring the new territory was terrifying, but it felt so… Right. Her lips traced along his neck, kissing and sucking every exposed inch of skin she could reach. Her canines would occasionally scrape over a patch of skin and her tongue would dart out to soothe it.

“You feel so good… Being such a good girl for me.” Ted mumbled, eyes closed and simply enjoying her sweet touches.

“You taste so good, Teddy.” She mumbles against his skin, tongue flicking out over his pulse point. “Makes me angry how good you feel.” Letting out a deep, breathy chuckle, he pries her away from him and lays her back on the stage.

“I know, Honey, I know…” He coos, pulling her shorts down her legs. His eyes settled on the wet patch on her panties, light hitting it and making it glisten in the most tantalizing way. His mouth watered at the sight. “Why don’t you let me make you feel good? Hmm? I bet you taste as beautiful as you look.” A high pitched whine leaves her lips and she grabs for him to try and pull him close again, but he denies her, instead moving his hands down her thighs and massaging the skin there. His thumbs kneaded her flesh, making her relax for him.

“There ya go, babes… That feel good?” He hums, hands creeping just slightly higher. A soft moan of relief leaves her lips.

“Yessss…” She hisses out softly, eyes fluttering shut.

“You seem to be carrying quite a bit of tension here…” He says smoothly as his hands move to the inside of her thighs and slowly creep higher. “But I think most of your tension is held here.” His fingertips brushing against the wet spot on her panties made her body jolt and a mewl sound around them, the sound bouncing off of the walls.

“Ted.” She whimpers, making him chuckle.

“Oh yeah, you’ve got so much tension… Right here.” As he finished his sentence, he gently pressed his thumb to her clit, making her back arch away from the stage and up towards him.

“Teddy!” She cries out in a lewd beg, hips moving against his hand in a desperate attempt to gain more friction. His thumb just continued to move in slow circles around her throbbing bud, making her cunt clench around nothing.

“What’s wrong, Hon? Hmm?” He teased, watching as her wetness continued to soak through her panties until she was dripping on the stage floor.

“I- I can’t- ‘S too much!” She cries out, nails digging into the skin of his forearm that she held onto for dear life. The confidence in his eyes flared and changed to a much darker expression, pupils blown wide with lust.

“Aww, does it feel too good, Pumpkin? Can’t handle feeling so good?” He mocked her in the most condescending way, but it made a whimper leave her lips as her eyes flashed open and met his. “You’re going to lay there and take it like the filthy slut you are.” He growls lowly, free hand slapping the outside of her thigh hard enough to leave a hand print, but her squeal morphed with a lewd moan of desperation.

“Yes Teddy… I- I can take- take it.” She stuttered out, legs shaking. His degrading hit her body like a truck, making her head go fuzzy. Ted nearly lost it when he saw the pure submissive state that she had slipped into, her eyes staring up at him innocently.

“Look at you, Princess…” He mumbles, pushing her panties aside and slipping his middle finger into her. Her breath caught in her throat and her lips parted in a silent moan. Her eyes locked on his as he curled his finger upwards to hit her most sensitive spot. “So fucking pretty.”

“Ted-“ She tries to speak, but he quickly shushes her. He slipped his ring finger into her as well and placed his free hand on her abdomen, very gently adding pressure. The feeling intensified for her and she cried out a sob, body shaking.

“You know I won’t let anyone else touch you now.” He mumbles, working his fingers faster and harder. “You’re mine now. Mine to degrade, mine to praise, mine to fuck… Mine to protect.” As the words continued to fall from his lips, her chest swelled with a new, overwhelming, uncertain emotion. Her cunt tightened, just as her chest did when she realized what emotion he was evoking in her.

“Ted I-“ He’s quick to cut her off.

“No, Shhh… Trust me, (Y/N)… Let me make you feel good, then you’re free to go back to hating me.” He speaks softly, eyes watching her face, rather than her body.

“No, Ted I want you.” She whimpers softly, her voice so soft and so weak. She sounded so innocent. “Please.” A warm smile broke out across his lips and he nodded, pulling his fingers from her and popping them in his mouth. A low groan rumbled through him, and he closed his eyes to savor her taste. When he pulled his finger free from his mouth.

“So fucking sweet.” He growls, literally ripping her panties from her body. “Because of course, the world’s biggest brat has to have the sweetest little pussy I’ve ever tasted.” He unbuckled his belt and yanked it off, folding it in half. Ted used the folded leather as a riding crop, slapping the outside of her thigh. “Spread ‘em, Cupcake.”

A smirk crossed her lips at the opportunity so clearly in front of her. Shaking her head, she huffed out one simple word, “No.” Ted grabbed her ankles and yanked her towards him. Giggling wildly, she wrapped her legs around his waist.

“Mmh, maybe I just won’t let you cum…” She whined at the idea, pouting and smacking his arm, making him use his free hand to hold hers down. “Maybe I’ll just stuff you with my cum and plug you up. Let you throb around a silly toy instead of me.”

“Teddy!” She basically begs, tears of frustration welling up in the corners of her eyes. He let out a warm, hearty laugh at her response and slowly dragged the belt across her abdomen, using it to brush her shirt slightly upwards.

“Aww, poor Pup wants me to breed her?” He asks, raising a brow as his free hand carefully massages her hip. She quickly nodded her head and her hands made a little grabby motion for him, a high pitched whine leaving her lips.

“You’re so precious, Honey.” He hums, undoing the button on his slacks and pushing them down -along with his boxers- just enough for his cock to spring free. Biting her lip, she watched as precum dripped from the tip and fell onto her thigh. Her eyes slowly went up his body to settle on his, boring into his soul.

“I wanna taste you, Theo.” She fluttered her lashes at him in the prettiest, most sweet and innocent way she could.

“As tempting as that sounds, I don’t think you deserve that treat today, Puppy.” He hums, gripping her legs and placing them over his shoulders and leaning so close to her that his lips brushed against hers and he whispered, “You only get what I chose to give you.”

The second that he finished his sentence, he buried himself to the hilt. A cry tore from her throat as her back tried to arch, but couldn’t as he pressed further forward, basically bending her in half. Her hands flew to his back and her nails bit into the fabric, nearly tearing the threads apart piece by piece.

“I’m gonna fill you up until your pretty little body can’t hold anymore.” He growls lowly, biting her lower lip. His words made her cunt tighten around him in an attempt to draw him in even closer. Drawing his hips back slowly, she drew in a sharp gasp when his hips lurched forwards, burying himself inside of her once more.

“Teddddyyy nnngh!” She chokes out, body trembling beneath his and he chuckles darkly, mouth attaching to her.

“What’s wrong, Cupcake? Can you not take it?” He mocked, cooing in her ear as he quickened his pace, fucking into her harshly and caging her in with his arms beside her head. She wildly shook her head, grappling for him with her nails nearly shredding the fabric of his shirt.

“P-please- ta- Ahh~ take it off.” She stutters out, gripping over little moans and whines. Ted found it impossible to resist her pleas when they sounded just so pretty. He kept his eyes on her face as he felt her nails dragging down his back.

“That feel better, Hon?” He mumbles and she buried her face in his neck.

“Yessss…” She hissed, teeth biting into the skin of his neck. “Oh God, Theo…”

“If I’d have known that you’d stop being such a fucking brat, I would’ve fucked you sooner.” He growls, sharply slapping the outside of her thigh as he changed the angle of his hips, making her let out a shaky sob. Tears fell down her cheeks as her vision clouded. Ted smirked as he hummed, watching the way her body morphed and changed position with every thrust.

The way he filled her so full, made her mind fuzzy and her thoughts fade away. Her cunt tightened around him as she threatened to fall over the edge, “Please Ted!”

“I dunno, Pumpkin. Do you think you deserve it?” He asks, halting in his movements, making her so frustrated she nearly screamed.

“Please, please, please, I’ll be so good, I swear. I’ll be so so so good for you Theo, please.” She begged and pleaded, tears streaming down her cheeks.

“Gimme a kiss then, cutie.” Before his sentence was even complete, she launched herself forward, capturing his lips on hers. While she was distracted, he slipped his hand between the two of them, thumb massaging quick circles on her pretty little bud, picking his thrusts back up. His ministrations, made her let out a squeak against his lips as the band in her belly stretches so tightly that it could break at any second.

“Go ahead, Honey. Cum for me and I’ll fill you up. How’s that sound? Want me to fill you up? Get you all round with my babies?” His words were all that she needed, her world exploding into stars and butterflies as her orgasm hits her like a comet hits the earth, shattering her every nerve. Ted watched as her mouth formed a perfect ‘o’ and her eyebrows pinched together. He held eye contact with her the entire time, reminding her to breathe as she rides off the effects. “There ya go, there it is. You alright, Sweetie?”

Her breathing began to steady as overstimulation kicked in, “‘M good, Teddy… I wan’ it.” She mumbles as he helped her move her legs from his shoulders to around his waist. His thumbs gently massaged her hips as he slowly picked his thrusts back up.

“I know, honey… Shh, it’s okay, I’ve got ya.” He speaks calmly, watching her as she starts to come back to attention. “There ya are… Welcome back to reality, Sweetheart.” He chuckles softly, giving her a goofy smile. A giggle punctuated by a soft moan leaves her lips and she smiles up at him, her own hands gripping his biceps and rolling her thumbs over his skin.

A soft groan leaves him and he lets his head fall to her chest as he struggles to hold it together. “My God, you’re so fucking tight. Gonna squeeze the life outta me.” He grumbles, placing gentle kisses over her chest as he lazily rolls his hips against hers. Her fingers gently card through his hair as she mumbles her own praises to him.

“You feel so good, Ted. Ya’ make me feel s’ good.” She hums, locking her legs around his waist as he starts to lose his pace. Lifting his head with the little energy he has left he gives her a questioning look.

“You sure you don’t-“ But she was quick to cut him off.

“Cum for me.” She whispers in his ear, placing a careful, open mouthed kiss on his neck. Right when she spoke, her pussy clamped down on him, making his eyes roll back in his head as his hips stutter and he bottoms out inside of her.

“Mmh, fuck…” He growls, filling her to the brim. “So good for me… Takin’ it so fuckin’ well.” His head falls to her chest and he mumbles something into her shirt. Whatever he said made him blush, the tips of his ears going red. She gently cups his jawline and lifts his head to look at her.

“What did you say, Theo?” She asks gently, thumb running across his lip. He paused and just stared at her for a moment, silence floating between them.

“I can’t believe you never realized how in love with you I am.”

[redphlox]

With how much the LOV “destroyed” in the end, looking back now that the manga is done. Would it have been unrealistic for them to be saved with how much damage they did. Do you think it was too much of a hopeful way of thinking, not realistic for almost terrorists pushed by HK as irredeemable to actually live when realistically they would probably still have bad endings and be in jail not getting rehabilitated. I’ve seen posts saying why the LOV died and it would not have made sense for them to live after what they did, and now I’m questioning if HK just intended for this all along. I mean, looking back, maybe there weren’t as many signs for them to be saved as thought and it was just meant for the villains to always be tragic?

I'm not sure if you've been reading my blog for a while or if I'm just someone random you came across in the bnha tag but you could look through my asks and my metas to know my answer. But here I go, on this rant:

No it wasn't unrealistic.

There was foreshadowing and set up. I've talked about it here and so have other meta writers.

Writing doesn't have to follow real world law/scenarios or logic. Not when it's fiction. Bnha wasn't an autobiography or a history textbook. It's fiction. Fiction/stories tend to have plots and their own logic that is delivered by the author through techniques like foreshadowing, etc. Stories have their formulas and set ups to make them feel complete. Bnha failed in these aspects.

Y'all stop coming into my inbox calling bnha a tragedy. You know what's a tragedy? The sinking of the Titanic. The movie Titanic. Harry Potter deals with tragedy. The Hunger Games. Romeo and Juliet.

Tragedy doesn't mean that the story ends in a way that makes you sad or is sad for the characters. It's more complicated than that. You can read about them here and here.

Bnha is not a tragedy. We can't just go around using words without knowing their meanings.

Bnha is unfaithful, uncomitting writing. The story didn't start out "tragic". It was very hopeful. Nothing in the story was tragic up until the ending. And I wouldn't even call it tragic as much as a slap in the face to victims and spineless writing.

The story itself told us that society creates its own villains. So how would you fix that? By society addressing its own villain issue. But instead it gave us this toxic positivity ending with lots of Band-Aids that don't fix system issues.

If "I want to save that crying boy" and "He is me" aren't signs that the characters themselves are supposed to be understood or saved in some way, then I'm not sure what to tell you. If you reread the story and decide that you don't see any signs of the villains redemption, then I'm not sure I can help. I've written over the years a lot about the foreshadowing and themes, and so have a lot of other meta writers. If you want to believe more in blogs who say that bnha had a realistic ending, then that's fine, but know that I don't agree with their analysis from a literature standpoint.

I know a lot of arguments are that the villain's Hearts were saved in the end, but were they? Toga died, thinking it was too late for her to be loved. Yeah, she was happy that someone her age understood her, but even in death, society still viewed her as subhuman and evil. Shigaraki's crying child was acknowledged by Deku, but when the world started finding out about his trauma and grooming, they were still like, "Oh well, he sucks and good thing he's dead." If we're just taking this "their hearts were saved" in an Eastern versus Western perspective, okay cool.

But still, Society hasn't learned its lesson. I'm not saying no one's allowed be angry, but the fact that their attitudes toward actual villains didn't change and that they didn't have any nuance or compassion for these villains they THEMSELVES created tells us that Society didn't change at all. How hard is it to be nice and have compassion for someone who hasn't committed a crime yet, like Scissors-kun? It's not. The real challenge would have been for society to accept these big-time villains back into society or something like that.

One of bnha's messages was that " everyone deserves a second chance" so the story itself was setting up that the villains would have a second chance and thus some sort of redemption. Giving them a sympathetic past was intentional. There was a difference for their set up (tragic pasts, victims of abuse and grooming) versus someone like Muscular who was depicted as a bloodthirsty criminal who was violent for violence's sake.

(I'm not going to pretend like the story was perfect because it did set up that double standard where you have to be sympathetic to get a second chance. Ideally, someone like Muscular would also get a second chance for rehabilitation.)

The Trio lov villains didn't get their second chance. And they wanted it. Toga especially. Touya wanted to die, but he also wanted to have time to argue/talk with his family and say his peace, and we didn't even get to see that either. He's just in some tube, lol. It's hinted, but where is the satisfaction in that? lol.

I'm not sure how many times I have to explain that applying realism/ real world standards to a story about superheroes is incredibly uncreative and ridiculous. "In real life someone who commits crimes goes to jail" no fucking shit. The punitive justice system is broken and doesn't work; why do we want fiction to reflect reality?

In real life, people don't make fire with their arms or make things float by touching them, and in real life you get a brachial plexis injury like Ida and you could be left with debilitating and disabling upper extremity issues. In real life, people don't get their hearts sewed up with jean fibers after they explode by someone who shrinks down into minature like they're on the Magic School Bus. In real life, a muscular, in-shape man like Endeavor would be fitted for prosthetics so that he could be as mobile as possible. In real life, a 250lbs or so man in an electric motorized wheelchair wouldn't be pushed around by his wife because that's why the wheelchair has a motor and a control to move the wheelchair. That makes no sense.

Please yall stop coming into my inbox talking about what's realistic and what's not. It sounds ridiculous. It's a story about people with super human powers.

I think what bothers me most about asks like this is that it speaks a lot about the people's opinions about real life issues. This whole "xyz doesn't deserve Redemption and they should die" isn't a good look for humanity. How do we quantify someone's behavior to a moral code? Who's deciding this moral code? Who is worth saving and who isn't? Who gets to decide?

Those are questions that bnha literally asked and never answered. Lol.

Well, it did answer it, and the answer was reflective of a victim blaming mentality. So.

Y'all stop coming into my inbox with these types of questions. I'm done.

[wackus-bonkus-maximus]

I have a question how exactly do you decide on your story titles, I'm a new writer and I can't for the life of me decide a creative title.

I'm asking you because your titles (and stories)are really creative so.. I wonder what's the secret?

aww you like my titles?? 🥺💗thank you anon! i think you might be the first person who's told me that!

so i have 5 primary methods of title-making (which apparently seem to work! 💞)

-> song lyrics: i'll use lyrics that are either indicative of both the song's theme and the fic's theme, or that fit the fic's theme out of context of the song.

what makes a monster - from the hunchback of notre dame musical

what makes a man - from the hunchback of notre dame musical

a moral like a trinket - from the hunchback of notre dame musical

made with guile and art - from the hunchback of notre dame musical

rest your head (upon my shoulder) - from "is there somewhere" by halsey

borealis green - from "snow on a beach" by taylor swift

-> quotes: i'm a lit nerd so most of my titles are snipped from literary works that i relate to my own fic.

keys to the kingdom - bible, matthew 16:19

one does not love breathing - to kill a mockingbird by harper lee

like smoke from a furnace - bible, genesis 19:26-28

orison - romeo and juliet, 3.4. 1-5

-> rip-offs: i do rip off titles from other titles from people who did it better, only with slight changes. why fix what isn't broken?

this is how you lose him - based off this is how you lose her by junot diaz

-> sayings/phrases: these just kind of feel like they're handed to me! i use them for when i can't think of anything else.

this again

name brand

matter of luck

code blue

mirror image

criminal offense

-> metaphors: if there's an extended metaphor in my fic, i name it after that. makes me feel so smart and cool 🤩

collateral damage

second dose

en prise

piquet

lies of attrition (actually a play on "lies of omission," another fun saying!)

these definitely overlap sometimes, don't get me wrong! song lyrics can be extended metaphors and rip off titles come from quotes, etc, etc. but this is how i separate them in my head.

hopefully this helps you come up with some amazing titles 💛 good luck and happy writing!

[yours-etc]

Pancakes For Dinner

Short little ficlet based on this song <3

Pt. 1, Pt. 2 (coming soon)

————————————

Eddie is pacing his living room back and forth back and forth back and forth back and—

“Dude will you sit down you’re making yourself more stressed!!” Chrissy yells at him from their couch. 

“I don’t know what’s wrong with me Chris, I'm a writer this is what I do! So why is it so fucking hard to write a best man speech for my best friend, besides you of course Chris” Eddie adds to the end in quickly to cover his ass. 

“probably because you’ve been in love with him since high school eds! And you need to tell him, because if you don’t he will marry that stupid rich bitch his mommy set him up with who he’s only marrying to make her happy and because he thinks he has no shot with you! And somewhere down the line probably 6-10 years in they’ll get a terrible divorce and he’ll have an early midlife crisis and buy a boat or a condo in Florida. he’s settling and he knows it and you are ignoring it.” 

Eddie stops in his tracks and looks at Chrissy. they grew up together, practically siblings. eddie’s mom nannied for her family and eventually, Eddie was born and so was Chrissy. Raised together like siblings as Chrissy was the youngest of 3 sisters who were all moved out by the time Chris could walk. she has been here through every broken bone (4), every school play (6), a gay crisis, and one big fat crush on his guy best friend.

Steve and Eddie meet in freshman year English class. well, not Eddie’s freshman year, Steve’s. Eddie was two years older than Steve and so ended up being his English tutor to get extra credit in his own lit class. Eddie was smart, he just hated school. And yeah he repeated senior year twice making him and Steve graduate at the same time, but they both got the same degree in the end. 

“I just don’t get it!” Steve would yell about Romeo and Juliet and Huckleberry Finn and Frankenstein and Dracula and pretty much any book he had to read…

Eddie would always smile and say “Don't worry steve-o, that’s what I'm here for”

Eventually tutor sessions turned into to hang out sessions turned into smoke sessions turned into crashing on one another’s couch. and yeah they’ve woken up a few times in… not totally platonic positions, but they were high and half asleep, no one could be blamed, so they didn’t talk about it. but Eddie and Chrissy did. 

“Chris he doesn’t like me like that!” Eddie finally says responding to her. 

“Bullshit! If he’s not in love with you then Robin and I are a straight couple!”

“That doesn’t make sense—“

“Shut up it doesn’t matter. how about you write two speeches. one where you pore you’re heart and soul out to him declaring your undying gay love, and then write the one that’s appropriate to say at his wedding. I would say just tell him now, but you know it’s your life, all I know is you need to get it off your chest one way or another.”

She was right. Eddie kissed her on the head and walked to his room and locked the door. 

————————————

Eddie didn’t even make it two steps into the bar before Lucas, Dustin, Mike, and Will, some kids Steve started babysitting in high school to make some extra cash who grew up to be both of their favorite gaggle of kids, cornered him by the door. 

“so what are you going to do?” Dustin asks

Eddie looked at all four of them, “I plan to get him shitfaced, hold his hair back when he eventually throws it all up, and have the perfect hangover cure for him waiting in the morning so he can… make it down the aisle.” 

Mike rolls his eyes, “You know that’s not what we are talking about.”

“We are talking about you stopping Steve from marrying the Richie Bitch!” will whisper yells. 

The envelope in Eddie’s coat pocket suddenly weighs about 100 tons. He didn’t know why he brought it. The letter is about three pages long with lots of chicken scratch and eraser marks, but it’s all of Eddie on paper. And maybe he’ll give it to Steve, maybe he won’t. He hadn’t quite decided yet. “What makes you think I can stop him?” Eddie asks. 

“Because you’re the only one he listens to, besides Robin, but even she’s getting desperate!” Lucas pipes in. 

“Guys, I’ve tried, We’ve all tried. He’s not budging, all we can do is be there for him through all of it. Eventually, it will crash and burn but until then, we put on fake ass smiles and we are happy for him.” Eddie says addressing all of them, “Now I’m going to grab a table, order a round of drinks, and I expect all of you to just focus on making Steve’s party the best part it possibly could be.”

He shoved past them to grab a booth, set his jacket down, and went to the bar. And yeah he downed a couple, maybe a few, okay a handful of shots, for confidence, that's all. The longer he sat there the more he wanted to pull his hair out individually by each strand. He knew he couldn’t let Steve go through with it, but he didn’t want to lose Steve completely, because that would break him. Like completely and totally shatter him into a million pieces that would get scattered into the wind. And yes, Eddie was aware of how cliche he was starting to sound. 

Eventually, he made it back to the table with a round of drinks for everyone, Steve walked in looking, well looking gorgeous. It’s like that moment in the movies where the whole room disappears and it is just the two main characters. There’s a love song playing, except this is a crowded dive bar and they are playing some Zeppelin song that Eddie can’t take the time to name because Steve walks in with too tight a shirt and too tight pants and Eddie is only a man. 

And suddenly the envelope in his pocket is not only 100 tons but also on fire.

————————————

Pt.2 coming soon...

[inrainprose]

Twenty Questions for Fic Writers!

tagged by @rongzhi, thank you!

1. How many works do you have on AO3? A cool 137 works! I have about 80 more on my ff.net account.

2. What's your total AO3 word count? 1,614,083 yoooo

3. What fandoms do you write for? I write for a lot of different fandom because I like to write one or two pieces for every show/movie/manga/anime I enjoy. These days it's mainly BLs and Naruto.

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

Flip the Coin, Naruto. 37 chapters - 329,138 words - 9,296 kudos

We'll Make a Home out of it (Brother to You Part 1), Naruto. 5 chapters - 20,825 words - 5,808 kudos

Ajar Hearts, MDZS. One shot - 7,421 words - 5,006 kudos

You Were Born Today (I'm Grateful) (Brother to You Part 2), Naruto. 7 chapters - 25,934 words - 4,596 kudos

It Takes a Village (To Make a Village) (Brother to You Part 3), Naruto. 7 chapters - 55,154 words - 4,557 kudos

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not? I do respond to every comments or close to it, usually with a few days/weeks delay. I like to get replies to comments, so I give them out too. Usually the reply matches the length of the comment. I like this link with the readers and I want them to know I'm out there haha.

6. What is a fic you wrote with the angstiest ending? Probably These Violent Delights Have Violent Ends since it's a Malec Romeo & Juliet AU... Slightly different ending but still terrible.

7. What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending? Most of my fics have happy endings since they're just one shot of people being happy after all the angst. But I guess it would be Ending, Beginning since the whole point is to write my ideal happy Naruto epilogue.

8. Do you get hate on fics? Not consistently. I've had a few repeated offenders on Naruto fics and the occasional not very polite comment, but nothing major.

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind? Not at all, I never have. It usually fades to black, or it's very tame. Like sex does happen in some of my fics but it's never explicit.

10. Do you write crossovers? What's the craziest one you've written? The only proper crossover I did was Stranger Things x X-Men with Eleven attending the Institute.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen? I have, someone started to post Flip the Coin on ff.net at some point without mentioning me anywhere. Was warned by a reader. There is also an audio version of it in spanish on youtube for some reason, I never went to the bottom of that...

12. Have you ever had a fic translated? Yes, a few! Mostly some Malec stuff in Russian, and some Spanish too. And I translated some of my own fics myself between French and English.

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before? No, never. Did some RP though does it count.

14. What's your all-time favorite ship? The ship of my heart is Naruto n Sasuke 4ever, otherwise my faves vary.

15. What's a wip you want to finish, but doubt you ever will? The one I'm most torn over is Start Digging because I was really into it and had quite a bunch planned, but the fandom deserted my heart for some reason. If I get back into MHA I might pick it up, but so much happened since then... Otherwise I don't write a lot of multi-chaptered fics and I tend to write one shots in one go and post them immediately so I don't have that many WIPs.

16. What are your writing strengths? Big Feels I think? And emotional dialogues. That's what I enjoy anyway.

17. What are your writing weaknesses? Fight scenes because I hate them. And also I feel like my vocabulary is not very varied since English is not my first language, sometimes I have the impression that I use the same words ten times in one fic...

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic? I do it if the other is not supposed to understand it, I like it. But I only ever did it with language I had a grasp on, it would feel strange to just google trad some stuff. If I can't and it's not that relevant I would just put "they said something in that language" or something like that.

19. First fandom you wrote for? Weirdly enough it was the manga/anime Get Backers. I went on a deep dive in search of this fic since I deleted it from my ff.net account a long time ago, and thus abandoned this post for several days, but I can't find it sadly. It was a self-insert.

20. Favorite fic you've written? I like my work a lot and reread it frequently. The ones I enjoy the most vary with time, but I have to say Flip the Coin for the sheer size and work that went into it and the audience it got. A true accomplishment in my book :)

Tagging @convenientalias, @morathicain and all the writers passing by :)

[zalrb]

What do you think of James Cameron’s in killing jack Dawson off in titanic? I think that a lot of writers in Hollywood today play it safe and if titanic were to be made today, I don’t think they would’ve had the guts to kill off jack.

Really? I think we're in an era where 'sad' endings are the norm and happy endings are the rarity, which is why season 1 of Ted Lasso was such a big deal because it was feel-good and heartwarming and happy in an age of cynical television/media. I do think we no longer have the darkness we once had but that isn't quite the same thing, that's more about levels and layers that have you go that's actually pretty fucked up when you think about it.

In terms of how I feel about his death, as an adult I don't really have any strong feelings about it because of all of the other deaths that happen on the ship. Like, as a kid who was in love with Leonardo DiCaprio, I was devastated, as an adult who watched a father and his son get swept up in the water and die like 30 minutes before I'm kind of like, I don't really know why I'm meant to care about your survival over a child's and that's something I wonder if we'd do now like seeing this

in a blockbuster and not like an A24 movie or horror but I also don't know if that's a correct assessment, I don't watch blockbusters anymore because they're mostly marvel.

Also that they should've had him try to get on the door a second time to show that they would both drown if they both got on and maybe zoom out one more time to show that there was nothing else he could've gotten on top of so Rose wouldn't look like such a villain lmao

But, like, do I think it's gutsy writing? Not particularly. They were Romeo and Juliet coded.

[thewingedwolf]

We do agree then. Most of my timeline is filled with black women so that is what I'm most exposed to. My main gripe is that black women are always used as the rage bait in these shows. I'm truly tired of the racism and wish that new stories are created for us without the need to replace them for us to get representation. Sorry if I offended you for the 'black' comment.

sorry if i sounded suuuper annoyed lmao, i Am annoyed but at twitter not u aksksk. (also, was working children’s and there were just so many screaming kids today 😭). and that's definitely fair! i know The Interwebs in general is feeling very upset right now because of that romeo and juliet production that tom holland was in, because not only did they not really stand up for that poor actress, or turn off comments, they were just being sooo weird about her on social media. it's really nasty to just cast a black actress, especially one who is dark skinned, knowing she's going to get a shit storm of racism hurled at her and then not defend her and even actively make it worse by refusing to take basic precautions so she's not having people call her slurs in every damn post. and this show itself obviously also has a bad track record with that - not just with all the main black characters of color excluding agatha being light skinned and/or Mixed With White specifically (where's the blasian rep!!! where's the afrolatino rep!!!! why are mixed characters always mixed with white!!!!!!! also i love the sharma’s but not letting anthony and kate have their own fucking wedding OR a sex montage and then giving colin a bunch of annoying sex scenes is so!!!!!!) but also the way marina's storyline was handled was nauseating and pen never makes up to marina for doing something so egregiously awful, and on top of that poor ruby barker had a hard ass time on the set and on the internet. it sucked!!! i hope i didn't sound too mad lol, but my whole tl was either white women having a MELTDOWN over the show "ruining" michael (this is a paper thin character, there is nothing to ruin!!!) or other people (largely black women but also a lot of queer women in general) being like "sucks to suck anywayyyy hope francesca and michaela scissor on screen just to spite you personally" alkjdf and it hasn't even been 24 hours, i'm so over it 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

and yeah, that's something an author i like (i like her as a person, i don't love her romances haha) has mentioned - there are plenty of romances that are explicitly about black characters or indian characters or caribbean characters or jewish characters or whatever you fancy that take place in the regency/georgian/victorian era that could have been adapted but instead they went with julia quinn, who has explicitly talked about how she doesn't write characters of color because they ~don't get happy endings in this time period. and mind you, this is a woman who writes a duke living on every corner in london getting a love match!!! not to mention if they really just wanted to do some funky color blind/racebending, there are so many authors out there who have written longstanding romance series' with all white characters who are just better writers than julia!!! i mean, i have a lot of beef with tessa dare for what i feel is performative allyship (though i don't want to discount the way she has privately been a rock for a lot of authors of color, especially after the rwa blowup, she's still annoying to me tho haha), but she's just leaps and bounds better of a writer and also hasn't gone on record saying she would never write a black main character the way julia quinn has! it's unendingly annoying!!! courtney milan and diana quincy and beverly jenkins are right there!!!!

[atomicwinnerdreamland]

I love this sm!! <3 I like Ninjago and Romeo & Juliet as well, albeit not having seen Ninjago episodes or read Romeo & Juliet in a bit 😅 Thank you for your insight and reading this whole thing made me so happy!! (and knowing that answering my ask made you happy made me even more happy <3)

I agree with your thoughts completely!! Love Nya, Kai, and Jay (your hc that Nya and Kai are aromantic was so interesting!!), they're such well-written badasses! I also wish Nya was treated better in canon, as well as Kai (i feel like they dumbed down his character in the later seasons sadly), but Jay stayed the lovable goofy boy he is :D

Also YES YES YES Kai's ships are awesome & he pairs so well with just about any other ninja lol (except Nya ofc). My personal fav has to be Kai x Skylor, but I wish the show developed them more bc they had so much more potential than the show let them. Kai and Cole are super cute too! :)

Onto R&J, somehow I knew you were going to say Mercutio bc he's also my favorite, but adding Benvolio to the mix made this more perfect! I agree with everything you said about these two, they are just so lovely ☺️ The way Shakespeare wrote these two is so just... idk how to describe it, but he thought this out so well. Not just in these two's characterization, but also everybody else's characters (basically paraphrasing what you said). No wonder R&J's so famous, it's captivating and so well thought out.

Lastly, I love the way you wrote your thoughts out! Not only did you answer my ask, you also put a lot of reasons as to why they're your favorite character & ship, and it's such a joy to read!! You're such an amazing writer no matter what you're writing <3

Thank you again! ☺️

Hii!! I read your intro post and you mentioned liking Ninjago and Romeo & Juliet :D Who are your favorite characters in both and why?

Thank you ☺️

oh! this was a delightful surprise. I just updated my intro post today (well, yesterday as of posting this), and I didn't think anyone would notice haha. thank you for reading it ^_^

I absolutely love both Ninjago and Romeo & Juliet, and honestly it's nice to have an excuse to talk about them on my blog. however, since you asked specifically about favorite characters, this will inevitably be a long one. I can never get myself to shut up about characters.

my favorite Ninjago characters are Nya and Jay (and honorary mention Kai). my favorite Romeo & Juliet characters are probably Mercutio and Benvolio (but I could make a good reason for any of them to be the best haha). very long rant under cut

--

so! let's start with Nya. first, I have to point out that she was horribly mistreated in canon. it was sort of inevitable- since she was "the girl," I feel like the creators felt like a lot of her arc had to be... being the girl? I'm just still a bit disappointed at her missed potential of just, y'know, being a ninja.

that being said, she's a flipping icon and I love her with all of my heart, and every time she's on the screen it makes me smile. granted, I totally project onto her (and her brother, our favorite Kai~), but even if you ignore my personal headcanons of her being aromantic and loveless, she's such a smart, stubborn, and creative character, and I love that for her.

also Jay. I love Jay. I feel like, as a fanfic writer, I treat him the exact opposite of how I treat Nya. every time I write about Nya, I write about her experiences with being aromantic, or her desperation to prove herself, things like that. when I write about Jay, it's like Jay's in love with Cole, or Jay's in love with Nya (actually unrequited love my beloved), or Jay's in love with Kai. (side note- I actually headcanon Kai as aromantic, too, but sometimes I put that headcanon on pause so I can ship him. because oh my god he has such cute ships.) anyway all this to say that Jay's an adorable goofy little guy and I like putting him in situations. (he also has massive angst potential but angst isn't really my forte.)

ok. Romeo & Juliet. before I get into specifics, I must say that the characterization in this play is criminally underrated. if it were released today, it would have leagues of fans obsessing over both Romeo and Juliet, and arguing over whether Romeo is a romantic or just an idiot, and getting into shipping wars (especially Benvolio/Mercutio vs Tybalt/Mercutio- though Bencutio is obviously superior). the fact that it only has 2000 fics on AO3 is a tragedy to rival, well, Romeo & Juliet.

(also- for my WttT followers and moots, if any of you have gotten this far, I have to say that we have very nearly surpassed Romeo & Juliet in number of fics on AO3. keep it up)

now if I was forced to pick favorites in Romeo & Juliet, I would have to say the aforementioned Benvolio and Mercutio- both as a duo and as individuals, they are so flipping wonderful. I saw a local production of Romeo & Juliet over the summer, and ever since then, I have been deathly defensive of them. I will fight over the fact that they're both so well written and well characterized. (I also super love them as a ship- in the production I saw, when Romeo and Juliet met for the first time, there were plenty of duos in the background, slow dancing, and Ben and Merc were dancing together, and I just... I have no words. they're perfect.)

anyway. Benvolio first. Ben is such a big cousin sort of character, iykwim. there's something so tragic about the fact that he tried from the very beginning to get everyone to stop fighting, but no matter what he did or said, he couldn't save them- not his cousin, not his best friend. (I've never seen Hamlet, but I'm told that Benvolio is the Horatio of R&J. Shakespeare knew which archetypes work, I guess.) he's so awesome. I love him

and Mercutio! Merc is just a kid you guys. he's a teenage boy. he's so funny and free spirited and every time I watch R&J, all I can think about is "he's here for a good time, not a long time." because it's so true! his recklessness and immaturity leads to his death! (another theme, perhaps- because while he did sort of bring it upon himself, I would never say it's his fault- but that's a rant for another day.) Merc is just so immediately lovable and his death hurts me the most. his death is the turning point between a mostly light hearted play to the tragedy that we associate with it, and that makes it hurt even more. (and Ben holds him when he dies and Ben is left all alone at the end, and oh my god Shakespeare is famous for a reason.)

so, yeah. this is very long and mostly unedited, sorry. you pushed the right buttons to keep me talking for hours. maybe I'll start posting more about my other fandoms, because this was a lot of fun. thank you so much for asking :D

[perpetual-stories]

Dive in Deeper: Irony

Hey, hey! Happy Monday! Hopefully everyone had a wonderful weekend and we’re all ready to tackle the week as strong people!

Sometimes, I forget If I’ve quickly covered something on this blog before.. I feel like I’ve done irony before but it’s probably me just imagining…

Let’s begin!

What is Irony?

The definition of irony as a literary device is a situation in which there is a contrast between expectation and reality

For example, the difference between what something appears to mean versus its literal meaning.

Irony is associated with both tragedy and humor.

What Are the Main Types of Irony?

Dramatic Irony: Also known as tragic irony, this is when a writer lets their reader know something that a character does not. In Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, each young lover takes the poison, thinking the other is already dead—the dramatic irony comes from the audience wanting them to know the whole story before taking this final action. Similarly, in Shakespeare’s Othello, Othello trusts Iago—but the audience knows better.

Comic irony. This is when irony is used to comedic effect—such as in satire. Jane Austen was a master of irony and dialogue. Her preoccupation with social divisions, and the witty and insightful tone with which she revealed hypocrisy and parodied people contributed heavily to her voice. Austen opens Pride and Prejudice with a famous line implying that men are the ones who hunt for a wife; however, she makes it clear throughout the narrative that it is actually the other way around.

Situational Irony. This is at play when an expected outcome is subverted. For example, in O. Henry’s classic tale, The Gift of the Magi, a wife cuts off her long hair to sell it in order to buy her husband a chain for his prized watch. Meanwhile, the husband has sold his watch in order to buy his wife a comb for her hair. The situational irony comes from each person not expecting to have their gift be undercut by the other’s actions.

Verbal irony. This is a statement in which the speaker means something very different from what he or she is saying. Think of the knight in Monty Python and the Holy Grail: with both his arms sliced off, he says, nonchalantly: “It’s just a flesh wound.” He is ironically (and comically) underplaying the severity of his injury.

What Is the Difference Between Irony and Sarcasm?

Sarcasm is a conversational device characterized by saying the opposite of what one means.

The key difference between irony and sarcasm is that sarcasm characterizes someone’s speech. Irony can additionally describe situations or circumstances. There are some cases in which someone could say something that is considered both ironic and sarcastic, but sarcasm is not a literary device.

Five Tips For Writing Irony

Pay attention. As you read and watch movies, think critically about what is ironic, and why. For example, in the film The Wizard of Oz, the great and powerful Oz turns out to be just a regular man, while Dorothy, who has been desperately seeking his help so that she can get home, has had the power to return home all along. Think about ways in which you can incorporate situations like this into your writing, where you subvert the expectations of your characters, your readers—or both.

Use an omniscient point of view. Many novels written in the nineteenth century are told from an omniscient point of view. When a reader knows more than the character, as in Bram Stoker's Dracula, it generates suspense, because your reader waits for the character to learn what they already know. But you might want to invert that balance of knowledge and make the narrator a character in the story that knows more than the reader. Agatha Christie used this first-person strategy to create narrative irony.

Have a clear point of view strategy. Point of view strategy is deeply bound up with what story you want to tell and will guide how that story unspools. No matter where you are in the drafting process, devote some time to thinking through the risks and rewards of different point-of-view strategies and consider who in your story may be best suited to hold the narrative reins.

Use the “meanwhile” device. If you are using an omniscient narrative point of view strategy, your narrator may recount a parallel event happening simultaneously in another place using the “meanwhile” device (e.g., “Meanwhile, across town...”). Because this device lets the reader in on happenings that one character has no knowledge of, it is a great tool for generating dramatic irony.

Use a flashback sequence. When your narrative or characters recall a long memory from a time before the story began, you may want to pull the reader back into a past scene. This is called a flashback. It important to mark the beginning and end of a flashback to make your time jumps clear to the reader, which you can do using past perfect tense to introduce the change—e.g. “he had gone to the marina.” Past perfect tense uses the verb “to have” with the past participle of another verb (in this case “gone”). After a few lines of this, transition into simple past tense—e.g. “he climbed onto the boat.” Generally speaking, using past perfect for a long section of text is jarring for most readers. It’s enough to use it only at the start of the flashback before switching to simple past tense. At the flashback’s end, use a reminder that the reader is back in the current scene.

There you have it! Please reblog, like and comment if you find these helpful!

[strangeswift]

attention as requested: in a situation where they all go to high school together, who in the party do you think are study buddies and for what subject? (lucas and el are history buddies bc lucas studies by basically reteaching el, bc she Does Not Understand why she needs to know all of these dates, and lucas is really good at history. or like, max, mike, and dustin are the worst calculus study group ever, but somehow they help each other pull b minuses (despite talking in class 95% of the time)

OOOH 👀

Okay so I'm gonna go subject by subject.

English

Madwheeler study partners!! Max is a writer too because I fuckin said so??? And they like to bounce writing ideas off of each other and talk about the assigned literature, etc. (They also are super critical of all the assigned literature and are very bitchy about it. They tear Romeo and Juliet to shreds.)

Willel read the assigned reading together at home because El still needs help with reading some of the bigger words sometimes, but she's learning fast!

Biology (Let's say bio because bio is my beloved. Chem and physics get fucked i don't want to make headcanons concerning them.)

So the whole party studies together for bio, but it's basically Dustin and Lucas helping everyone else. Mike's pretty good, but Max, Will, and El struggle a bit. El struggles the most, but Dustin and/or Lucas are always happy to help her and she tries hard, so she does alright.

Math 🤢🤮 We'll say Calc.

El is actually good at math! Even calc. It's simple. There are rules! Unlike English, which has rules but then breaks them. So El helps out Max and Mike who can sometimes struggle with math.

Lucas, Dustin, and Will all have pretty similar skill levels in math, they're all pretty good at it, and they all prefer to work independently on it. But sometimes they work together just in silence.

History

Stealing yours. Lucas studies by teaching El, who thinks it's kind of dumb she has to learn all this. Adding on that Max also joins and thinks it's dumb. Max does understand why learning history is important, but she thinks it's boring.

Spanish!!!!

They all study together and it is hilarious, they are so bad at it. Lucas is okay. Everyone else sucks. Especially Mike.

[telehxhtrash]

I originally wanted to make two separate posts about this but i’m actually making a single one : the overarching theme of love, redemption, second chances and Togashi’s overall positive and optimistic writing are leading me to believe a few things concerning Killua and Gon’s relationship, namely that we’ll get an explicit romantic confession to canonize their relationship, but also that Gon is actually the one who fell for Killua first.

First of all, I know I say it a lot but I really, really do believe that by the end of the manga, Killua and Gon’s relationship will be a canon romantic one. I wrote a short post about this already, but I’m gonna explain briefly my point of view on this as I believe it’s important and relevant to the points I want to try and make in this post.

• Killua is pretty much canonically in love with Gon. There’s just too much subtext concerning this matter, and the “shinjuu” line single-handedly canonizes that fact. Togashi is a very, very smart man, and doesn’t throw random words around, he knows the weight of the word shinjuu and what it implies, and the entire chimera ant arc focuses on Killua’s feelings towards Gon, so there is no doubt in my mind that Killua canonically has romantic feelings for him. These two tweets live in my head rent free because it’s so wonderfully written, so here you go :

• I also deeply believe that Togashi would never leave this ambiguous. I wrote a full post about this if you want to read it, but basically, it doesn’t fit Togashi’s writing style. A lot of people say that Togashi’s queer rep is ambiguous in HxH, but it’s unfair because HxH is literally not over yet. There are still ambiguous things because the manga is still developing. Thing is, Togashi has put queer characters in his previous works, and it was never ambiguous. It was always explicitely stated. Same goes for the relationships between his characters. There’s no reason to believe this wouldn’t be the case for HxH.

• Togashi’s positive writing is echoed in Killua’s story arc, in the sense that Killua reflects Togashi’s optimistic writing style and the overarching theme of love, redemption, second chances and the power human connection. 

Killua’s character arc is one of slowly changing your life around, becoming your best self with a little help from someone to show you the way, it’s about positive growth, healing from trauma and going against what people think of you. It’s about healing and becoming your best self, no matter what.

It’s a very positive character arc, and one that’s been thoroughly demonstrated during the entire story.

That’s why Killua’s romantic feelings towards Gon could never stay unrequited one way or another, because it just would defeat the entire positive narrative of Killua’s character arc. Because Killua’s character arc is about healing and growing, and even though you thought you could never do that, learn how to love. It’s about finding love after abuse. 

And to me, the only way to complete that story arc, when we know that Killua canonically has romantic feelings towards Gon, would be for Gon to return those feelings. Because Killua’s character arc isn’t only about learning how to love someone no matter what, but also about being loved in return. That’s how you complete Killua’s positive story arc. 

I’ll come back to this theme a bit later on, though.

• There’s no way Shonen Jump can intervene and censor HxH. Now, I think I’m one of the few meta writers who actually believes this, but I’m 100% convinced that Shonen Jump always knew that HxH is queer work. I wrote multiple posts about this : the first post I linked mentions why SJ probably knows ; on the general gay subtext in both anime adaptations ; on 99 specifically and finally on the fact that it’s weird that gay subtext was emphasized in 99 anime when there was none in canon material only for it to appear later on in the manga.

But to summarize, there’s just no way Shonen Jump doesn’t know. 

First of all, Hunter x Hunter is published right after Yu Yu Hakusho. Thing is, Togashi ended YYH for a few reasons, but one of them was because he didn’t feel free of doing what he wanted to do with his story, because Jump kept on declining his ideas.

This led him to completely drop the story. Now, if you’re a manga writer who’s been deeply disgusted by how your last manga was controlled, what would you do ? I’m sure you would make 100% sure you could take your next story wherever you wanted. And I’m certain that’s what Togashi did. Because to be able to write his story the way he wanted, he had to make sure SJ would allow him to go anywhere he wanted. That includes his characters and their relationship dynamics, which are the basics when you pitch a story.

Togashi also emphasized in one of his interviews that he’s free to do whatever he wants.

Furthermore, Togashi’s editors and Shonen Jump aren’t dumb. They can definitely pick up on the gay subtext. If they didn’t want gay things in HxH, they would’ve never let Togashi publish some chapters, ESPECIALLY the chapter where Killua declares he’ll commit shinjuu with Gon. SJ isn’t dumb. Shinjuu hits HARD, especially in japanese, so they definitely know what it means (it’s literally the equivalent to saying them dying together would be like Romeo and Juliet).

Finally, and that’s half crack-theory half serious, but one of the main reasons I believe SJ knows is because of the 99 anime adaptation. It was HxH’s first anime adaptation, and Togashi was involved in it to some extent. Now, 99 is extremely gay. I linked the posts where I talk about it above, but basically, it’s rainbow flags overlay on top of the characters in the opening, gay opening and ending song lyrics, over the top gay lines and situations.... which is interesting. Because like i mentioned in one of these posts, it’s interesting that this gay subtext was present and highlighted in the anime adaptation when there was none in the manga at that stage. It’s very, very interesting that gay subtext appeared later on in the manga, after the anime adaptation went crazy with it. I firmly believe it’s because Togashi pitched his manga as gay to the 99 animators, and if so, that’d mean SJ would also know.

Anyways ! In short, I believe Killua and Gon’s relationship will become canon by the end of the manga because there’s no risk of editorial meddling since SJ probably knows this is where the story is going. Killua’s romantic feelings are also pretty much canon, and the only way to complete his positive character arc would be to have Gon return those feelings and prove that you’re worthy of love no matter what. Finally, Togashi would never leave it ambiguous, because that’s something he’s never done before, and Killua and Gon’s relationship has never been portrayed as ambiguous nor subtle, it’s still developing.

Now !! This was just an introduction to what I wanted to talk about in this post, I’m sorry you still have a bit more reading to do HAHAA

But ! 

With this belief in mind that Killugon will be canon in the end, there are two things I want to talk about.

• First, I genuinely believe we’ll get a romantic, highly emotional love confession scene between the two of them. For the sole fact that it’s something deeply intertwined with Killua’s character arc.

Like I mentioned above, Killua’s arc is about overcoming trauma and having a second chance at life, a chance to be better, a chance to be your best self. His arc is about opening up his heart to new experiences and new feelings, and learning how to love and pass that love around. His story arc is representation for trauma survivors that things can and will get better, and you can overcome anything, turn your entire life around, heal, and thrive.

And to me, the completion of that story arc is definitely to show that not only can you learn to open up your heart and love someone, but that you can be loved for who you are. That someone can look at you for who you are, accept you and love you no matter what. You can be loved by someone the same way you love them, in a romantic way.

To me, that’s where the story is going. Considering Killua’s canonical romantic feelings, and the overall positive themes surrounding his character arc, there’s no doubt in my mind that this is the message Togashi wants to convey.

And in my opinion, this message wouldn’t be delivered ambiguously or subtly. This narrative of being loved has always been enforced through highly emotional scenes throughout the manga, to highlight the message that yes !! you, trauma survivor !! can be loved for who you are !!

It’s been expressed through that emotional scene where Nanika tells Killua she loves him, for example.

It’s also been displayed in the countless scenes where Gon expresses his love for Killua, expresses his admiration for him, how he’s glad he’s met him, how happy he makes him, how Killua is his best friend in the entire world.... It’s been conveyed through the stargazing scene on Whale Island, through the entire Zoldyck Family Arc where Gon waltzs in the Zoldyck Mansion to rescue Killua, through the scene in Greed Island Arc where Gon tells him he’s glad to have met him, through the dodgeball match scene where Gon declares that it can only be Killua holding the ball, through the moment Gon says that the first thing he’ll do when he sees Ging is introduce him to his best friend in the whole world, Killua. 

Togashi could have chosen to show and not tell that Gon cares a lot about Killua, and that he finally found someone who loves him for who he is. He could’ve made them hang out normally, and we would’ve understood that Killua found someone who accepts him. But no, this has always been the main theme of HxH. Seeing the both of them grow closer and closer and grow and heal together. He chose to highlight the fact that he’s loved and cared for through words of affirmation to emphasize the narrative of being loved after surviving trauma. For the purpose of providing an extremely clear message of love to trauma and abuse survivors who identify with Killua : that you can find someone like Gon, someone who will love you for who you are. Togashi wanted to make it explicitly clear.

So now, since all of these words of affirmation were “platonic” (i’ll come back to the quotation marks in the last part of this post), but still highly emotional :

Wouldn’t it make sense that the romantic application of this narrative would also be portrayed through a highly emotional scene ? 

For the sole purpose of highlighting the final message of Killua’s story arc of overcoming your past and being loved and accepted for who you are, in a romantic way this time ? Of being loved the same way you love ? 

Since we’ve had so many platonic reaffirmations of this idea, I think it’d be fitting for the romantic part of the narrative to be conveyed through a highly emotional scene. Like a confession scene under the stars that would parallel the stargazing scene on Whale Island, for example, since stars are thematically fitting since they are linked to Killua’s story echoing Tanabata. 

An open love confession would be the final and ultimate way to cement that narrative of loving and being loved. A highly emotional scene, just like we’ve always had, to demonstrate the romantic application of the theme of being loved after experiencing trauma. The ultimate, non-ambiguous message of unconditional love for trauma survivors. 

Showing that you, trauma survivor who identifies with Killua, can learn to love yourself, love someone else and be loved in return.

• Keeping Killua’s character arc in mind, I want to adress a final point that I deeply believe is true. 

To me, Gon is the one that actually fell in love with Killua first.

Thing is, Gon is that type of character that acts first and thinks later on. He always does things on instinct, only giving it thought after the thing happened. So it 100% makes sense that it would apply to romantic feelings too. That’s why, to me, it’s very likely that Gon fell in love first but just didn’t realize it was romantic feelings, because he’s 12, never really thought about it and feelings are confusing. And to me, Togashi is setting up feelings realization on Gon’s part.

Gon has always behaved very intensely with Killua, always reaffirming how much he means to him. He’s always taken onto that role of providing Killua with love from the moment he met him. He accepted him for who he is, and always made him feel cared for. 

Togashi definitely planted the seeds for a possible interpretation of this idea of him falling first. The stargazing scene on Whale Island is just.... so romantic in nature. Gon tells Killua that he’s happy when he’s with him under a starry night sky, tells him he wants to travel the world with him and stay with him, because his presence next to him fills him with joy. Then we have his constant words of affirmation towards Killua, and how cool he is, how amazing and strong he is...

But to me, what really convinces me that Gon fell first is Greed Island arc. Gon’s behavior towards Killua during this arc was extremely emotional. It was deep, deep care and love for his best friend. We get to see him blush as he tells Killua that he’s really, really glad he’s here with him and glad he’s met him.

We get to see him declare that the first thing he’ll do when he finds Ging will be to introduce his amazing best friend to him.

But honestly, what made my brain explode is the dodgeball scene. 

Because as I mentioned in this post, the phrasing Gon uses is one that is used in romantic contexts to confess to someone. It’s a love declaration, literally. And I don’t believe Gon meant it as romantic, because he probably has no idea his feelings are romantic in nature. But. Togashi is a troll. He really, really enjoys toying with his readers. 

To me, the fact this sentence is romantic in nature could be Togashi putting Gon’s feelings right in front of our faces, hiding it in double meaning but still plainly there for us to see. It could be Togashi toying with us in the process of setting up Gon’s feelings, so that when it gets canonized that Gon fell first, on a re-read of the manga, you go “oh. that sentence is romantic. it was literally right in front of our eyes the entire time”. I’m probably reaching !!! but!!!! the fact is, this sentence is still romantic in meaning. It’s still coated in romantic subtext. And that’s intentional on Togashi’s part.

I’ll link this magnificent post by Quintessence that basically explains what I just said much better.

In short, it would totally make sense that Gon fell first. It wouldn’t come out of nowhere, since Gon’s behavior from the beginning of the manga can definitely be interpreted as romantic in nature. The countless emotional scenes where he asserts how much he cares for Killua can definitely be read as romantic, and Gon’s behavior can definitely be explained by him having a crush on Killua, despite him not knowing.

Now, the thing that makes me further believe this is true is the fact that symbolically speaking, it makes sense that Gon fell in love with Killua first. It would enforce the narrative of Killua’s character arc of being loved for who you are and not having to earn love.

It would literally dismiss everything Killua believes about having to earn the right to be loved. About having to earn his place right next to Gon. About having to change to be good enough for Gon.

Because if Gon fell first, then Killua was loved for who he is from the beginning, from the moment they met. Killua didn’t have to earn his love, like he thought he had to, especially in CAA, because he was loved the same way all along.

It’d show that Gon didn’t start to love Killua because Killua earned that right by changing for Gon. He didn’t start to love Killua when he started to heal and change his life to become a good person. He was always loved for who he is because Gon always saw him and loved him no matter what.

And that would once again highlight Killua’s character arc beautifully. It’d show that you are worthy of love even if you literally just came out of years of abuse. That someone can look at you and instantly fall in love with you, no matter how broken and unworthy of love you think you are. You never, ever had to earn that love. It was always here to begin with.

It’d break Chimera Ant Arc completely, it’d break Killua’s belief that he was unworthy of staying by Gon’s side and that he had to earn his place. Because he was always loved and never had to earn his right to stay by Gon, because Gon wanted him there all along. 

And that is a beautiful, deeply symbolic meaning that would complement Killua’s character arc perfectly.

It’d be Togashi showing trauma survivors that you can heal and love yourself, learn how love someone else and be loved in return. 

Showing trauma survivors that you don’t have to prove your worth to be loved. That just like Killua, even if you came out of years of abuse, a broken, scared person, you’re always worthy of love. That you’re worthy of love at any stage of your healing phase. That you’re worthy of love no matter how broken you feel you are. 

Someone will always love you and accept you for who you are. 

Anyways !! Thank you for reading this !! Those two headcanons are really precious to me and I really do believe they could come true. Because it’d make sense in so many ways ! 

I know it’s hard to imagine such a thing happening, because queer representation has always been ambiguous that it’s hard to fathom a manga being openly gay, but I really want to be optimistic about it. We got the subtext, the author interested in LGBT-rep, the positive narrative and virtually no risk of being censored. 

So I want to stay optimistic on this and believe that we’ll get a romantic love confession as a way to canonize their relationship, and that it’ll become evident one way or another that Gon fell in love with Killua first.

Thanks for reading !! 

[adenei]

20 Questions for Writers

thanks for the tag @thequibblah !!

How many works do you have on AO3?

61 (will be 65 once all my Canon Fest fics post!)

What’s your total AO3 word count?

945,181

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

um...technically 2? But I guess a 3rd could be counted because of the one crossover that I did. Fandoms: Harry Potter, Tangled (though I took down that fic), and Brooklyn 99 (for the Auror 99/HP crossover I wrote)

What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

1. Fraternizing with the Enemy

Join a sorority, they said. It’ll be fun! You’ll make so many lifelong friends and have more connections to the professional world than you could ever imagine. ...but what will happen when Hermione meets the mysterious man of her dreams who just so happens to be in the rival fraternity? The one they've been feuding with for fifty years? American College Muggle AU! Inspired by the Shakespearean classic, Romeo and Juliet.

Romione Muggle AU, Rating: M

2. The Idolatry Enigma

An AU twist on the first potions class of sixth year. Professor Slughorn wants to play matchmaker with his amortentia assignment, and the Gryffindors team up to tackle the assignment together.

HP Friendship Fic & Romione (also Hinny); Rating: T

3. The Arrangement

Ron is the assistant to an up and coming lawyer in London. He's always done everything he's told in the hopes of one day snagging a promotion to practice law with the firm, until one day his boss has a really big request. Based on the movie The Proposal and written for the Ron's Chessboard fest.

Romione, Rating: E

4. Fireworks

Lily Evans does not fancy James Potter. Not even in the slightest. At least, that's what she keeps telling herself. She had her chance, she turned him down, and he's moved on, so she needs to stop thinking about him. Too bad he's the only one who can give her that spark.

Jily, Rating: T

5. This is Me Trying

What could have happened 6th year if Hermione had confronted Ron about his behavior after his row with Ginny.

Romione, Rating: T

Spoiler Alert: I fudged this a bit as 3/5 highest kudos numbers are one-shot compilations in response to tumblr asks. They are:

Hinny Drabbles

Romione Post War Drabbles

Romione Domestic Bliss Drabbles

Do you respond to comments, why or why not?

I do try to! I really, really do. I've been getting better about it so I can show my appreciation for my readers! I just hate sounding repetitive in my comments for fear it doesn't sound genuine 😬

What’s the fic you’ve written with the angstiest ending?

Rewrite the Stars or What Hurts the Most

What’s the fic you’ve written with the happiest ending?

haha everything has a happy ending for me. Um..

Do you write crossovers? If so what is the craziest one you’ve written?

LOL I did two Crossovers: Both HP with Brooklyn 99

Auror 99 & Charges and Specs

Have you ever received hate on a fic?

I got a lot of flack from a reader once about Mix Tape Mishap, which was honestly a crack fic I wrote for myself so...whatevs. Haters gonna hate

Do you write smut? If so what kind?

I do...but I prefer to do more fade to black moments than explicit smut unless the fic really calls for it.

Have you ever had a fic stolen?

No, and I hope that never happens...that wouldn't be cool.

Have you ever had a fic translated?

I have had people reach out to have some of my fics translated. I'm not sure if it ever happened.

Have you ever co-written a fic before?

Yes! Sort of! @be11atrixthestrange, @voldemorts-tap-shoes, and @avatarvader and I collaborated on a small "Terrier" series! lolol

What’s your all time favorite ship?

Romione or Jily, don't make me choose.

What’s a WIP that you want to finish but don’t think you ever will?

LOL um, the only one that has gone unfinished is Summer Camp Shenanigans...

What are your writing strengths?

characterization, plot, dialogue

What are your writing weaknesses?

I tend to be pretty wordy when I write. and my betas are amazing and help fix it!

What are your thoughts on writing dialogue in other languages in a fic?

I've never tried it! but it would be cool!

What was the first fandom you wrote for?

HP!

What’s your favorite fic you’ve written?

Fraternizing with the Enemy for sure, but I am absolutely LOVING writing All You Knead Is Love! <3 You should check it out if you haven't already :)

Tagging: @accio-broom, @thedistantdusk, @cheesyficwriter

[spnfanficpond]

March 2021 Angel Fish Awards

(Angel Fish design by @slytherkins!!)

WELCOME TO THIS MONTH’S ANGEL FISH AWARDS!

Every month all of you fantastic writers work your asses off to post some truly incredible stories. Our Angel Fish Awards are the way for all of us, as a community of writers and readers, to lift each other up and give praise to those who have captured our attention and deserve a few kind words.

The monthly Angel Fish Awards are peer-nominated, meaning ANYONE IN THE POND CAN NOMINATE ANY POND MEMBER’S FIC. Everyone in this community deserves to be showered with love and feedback, and we hope that this fun, thoughtful award will do just that.

Be sure to read through this whole post as people who were nominated more than once only had one tag activated for tumblr tagging purposes!

WITHOUT FURTHER ADO, HERE ARE THIS MONTH’S ANGEL FISH AWARDS!

Nominated by @mrswhozeewhatsis

A Gentlemen’s Agreement (series) by @stusbunker 

This is one of those fics that immediately got love from me because it’s a rare pair, Dean x Benny. Then, it got more love from me with every chapter, as Dean worked through coming to terms with wanting Benny and Benny was just so damn patient and sweet and loving throughout. The whole story just makes me want to cuddle them both! 

Here’s to Witches by @imagineteamfreewill 

This is one of the few cases where I think even Dean would have been okay with witches. (He’s not in the story, it’s a Sam x reader fic, but if he were, I doubt he’d be bitching about bodily fluids.) By the end of this, I was feeling all kinds of warm and fuzzy!

~*~*~

Nominated by @supernatural-jackles 

Late Night Talks by @luci-in-trenchcoats 

This fic is everything I didn't know I needed. It deals with such a sensitive topic in a positive light. Michelle is very good at dealing with topics that people aren't always comfortable talking about and this only proves that. It's a must read, especially for all of those who are down on themselves because of the way they look.

~*~*~

Nominated by @fictionalabyss 

Safe and Sound by @iflostreturntosteverogers 

you bitch, how DARE you do me like this with your romeo/juliet level shit. I refuse. I refuuuuuuuuse.

Moose on Ice by @iflostreturntosteverogers 

Fluffy goodness and the imagery of a giant trying and failing to skate are exactly what I needed.

Bound to You (Prequel - chapter 4) by @beskaradberoya

Sketchy and filthy goodness so far, and I can’t wait to get to more of this and catch up.

Burnout by @idreamofhazeleyes 

When I had a really bad week, I was on the hunt for something fluffy and sweet, and went to the pond. This was sent my way, and damn if it wasn’t EXACTLY what I needed. The tender comfort was perfection and spot on for Dean. 10/10 would recommend.

~*~*~

Nominated by @negans-lucille-tblr 

Sleep by @nasabeck 

I’ve not been into fluff long, but this was all up in those tingly fluffy feels for me. I absolutely adored it!

Dreams by @little-diable 

Please read the warnings, it’s Sister!Reader! But this has become one of my favourite fics I’ve ever read. Chiara nailed it and made me fall in love with her for it! The smut - Jesus, just read it if it’s your type of thing!

Don’t Speak by @hoboal87 

Again, please read the warnings. This is a dark fic! I couldn’t believe this was the writer’s first time writing dark. It was absolutely delicious. Never hit a follow button so damn fast!

Dirty Little Secrets (series) by @manawhaat 

Wouldn’t have felt right not including this drabble series that I found during founders’ week. As you might have seen if you follow me, my sanity took a sharp decline whilst devouring this fic, and I was not okay. Mana, you freaking hit it out the park dude!! Everyone needs to read this, PLEASE!

~*~*~

Nominated by @tvdspngirl314 

Baby Mine by @hoboal87​ 

I was seriously hurt by the finale but this fic actually helped me cope with it.

My review : This fic starts with reader having contractions as she got ready to give birth to her and Sam’s son. How Sam handled the situation was really cute and the way the writer showed the pain of losing Dean was actually really good. I was half expecting myself to cry but I didn’t. Also there’s some hints of dom Sam in it. Love me some dom Sam.

Safe (series) by @negans-lucille-tblr 

My views on the fic : It starts with Sam’s girl friend Jess dying and Sam slowly starts to discover a dark side in him. He slowly becomes a serial killer and I liked the way how the dark theme has been handled.

~*~*~

Nominated by @princessmisery666​ 

Always With You by @idreamofplaid​ 

Robin, finally, made a master list and in doing so I’ve been able to find some absolute gems that I may have missed previously. Like this one. I looooove this concept of an Angel looking over Sam. It’s was angsty and heart warming and I would read 50k more words of this relationship 💖💜

~*~*~

Nominated by @deanwinchesterswitch​ 

Whiskey and Scars (series) by @thinkinghardhardlythinking​ 

This is a three part series full of fluff and sexiness, with just a tad bit of angst. Some of Dean’s fun and gentler facets are beautifully detailed. He’s flirty, shy, tender, loving and sexy as hell. I dare you not to sigh while reading it.

~*~*~

Nominated by @agenthellcat​ 

All Hail by @whywhydoyouwantmetosaymyname​ 

This fic pushed all my buttons: dubcon, domination, submission, kneeling, deep throating, begging to cum. The writing is so descriptive. We really feel Y/N’s ambivalence. She is terrified to see Sam turn dark side, but she also wants him. He knows all of her naughty desires, and he uses them to bind her to him forever. He’s completely uninhibited now that he’s dark, and this ultimately conquers her resistance. This fic played into my own dark desires and that’s why I’m nominating it for an Angel Fish Award.

~*~*~

Nominated by @myinconnelly1​ 

When Daddy’s Not Around (series) by @negans-lucille-tblr​ 

I don’t usually read rpf but I needed some hot Jared action and this fic didn’t just deliver that. The angst and overwhelming love in this fic was just amazing.

Murder of the Virgins by @mummybear​ 

This was just so hot!!!!!!! I can’t talk cause I’m panting and trying to catch my breath!

Loving You by @emilyshurley​ 

Emily man... you were trying to hurt me with this fic I just know it.  I know cause I can feel the knife in my back, so many tears.

THANK YOU ALL FOR THE AWESOME WORK AND GREAT FEEDBACK!

These are not actual awards! This system is set up so everyone in the Pond has a chance to share the love and promote a fic/author that has grabbed your attention. The more people that participate, and the more everyone remembers to submit their own fics after posting, the better this will be :D

THANK YOU ALL AGAIN, KEEP UP THE AMAZING WORK, AND AS ALWAYS, HAPPY WRITING!

[inmyarmswrappedin]

ok now i need to hear more of your thoughts about the remakes and how they adapted even’s favorite films

Hi anon 🎬 Sure!

So, first off, the thing about Baz Luhrmann is that he makes unapologetic love story movies. His movies have elements of action and adventure, but they’re first and foremost love stories, and that makes him stand out from other big movie directors. His movies aren’t even romcoms, first because they don’t have happy endings (as Even notes in the video with Mikael) but also because the setting is never contemporary. Like even aside The Great Gatsby or Moulin Rouge, which are not set in the present day, Romeo + Juliet does ostensibly have 90s technology. But since the characters speak in Shakespearean verse, it gives the movie an atemporal feel. So this is a super tragic, super romantic movie that is actually super toxic for Even to model his life after, because Even is convinced that, in order for him and Isak to be in true love (for any love story to be valid), their story has to end badly. 

In Skam, Even provides the twist himself, by starting to make references (and model his life after) Pretty Woman when he starts to become manic. Pretty Woman is like, far from a non problematic movie lmao. But it does have an unlikely happy ending, and it’s through Isak’s understanding of how Even sees Romeo + Juliet and Pretty Woman, that he is able to ultimately reassure Even that their love story doesn’t have to end tragically.

So anyway, the fact that Even unabashedly loves this super romantic movie makes him mysterious and attractive and passionate, because it’s not a dude bro action or superhero movie. By loving this movie, Even is rejecting the macho persona Isak so badly wants to project.

I’ll start with the examples I like lol:

Only Lovers Left Alive: David identifies with this movie to the point that his cartoon persona is a vampire. Like Adam in the movie, he dresses in all black. He is convinced that he’s a monster who can’t live in society because he will be rejected. So it’s pretty clear how this movie is toxic for David. But I also think the movie is sooo telling of David’s actual desires. David likes to pretend that he can go it alone, that he doesn’t need anyone, that he wouldn’t take anyone with him in the case of a catastrophe. But... The movie is about Adam and Eve, the titular only lovers left alive. By loving this movie to the extent that he does, David is parading his major yearning for a forever partner. And like, of course he eventually asks Matteo to run away with him, but Matteo demonstrates how innately he understands David by telling him he does want a relationship with David, but he doesn’t want the toxicity of acting like they’re two monsters who’ve been cast aside from society. 

Dangerous Liaisons: I think Skam España took an interesting route by choosing to not have Cris verbally connect the dots (like Druck did). The thing is, Dangerous Liaisons is a tragic love story, yes, but a love story between Valmont and Tourvel, whereas Joana projects on the Marquise de Merteuil, who is all but the villain in the story. Tragic story aside, Romeo and Juliet do love each other, as do Adam and Eve. Joana’s idea of romance (and of herself by extension since she projects on Merteuil) doesn’t even allow for loving and being loved back in return, because no one in Dangerous Liaisons loves Merteuil, and Merteuil herself has become so twisted that she can’t even call her feelings for Valmont “love” (though that’s how Joana interprets them). And the thing is, Joana still finds beauty in the movie! She writes Cris a letter with the edges burned out because it reminds them both of the story. She wants to meet at a specific park because it reminds her of the movie. So it’s just so... beautiful, that Cris takes all of this and just gives Joana the Liaisons dangereuses book. Like, she is lowkey reminding Joana that the book is just a book, that Joana is a real person (within the Skam España story I mean lmao) and not a twisted awful villain, that she is loved, and that Dangerous Liaisons can be their thing (like “their” song, but a movie in this case) without having to be the horrible thing that will destroy them. I really like that the writers chose to imply all these things in their minutt for minutt scene, without saying them explicitly. 

Last Man on Earth: Honestly, like I don’t particularly have a big issue with Skam Italia making this Niccolò’s thing, other than it’s so... dude bro-y bland? Like one thing you can say about Romeo + Juliet, Only Lovers Left Alive and Dangerous Liaisons is that they are all such high key romantic (as in, emotions running high) movies, it’s what makes Even, David and Joana so mysterious and attractive and passionate. If I knew someone who told me he projects on Last Man on Earth I’d be like, “The Good Place is better” or “if you wanted to stan a SNL cast member, Andy Samberg was right there.” I mean, I do think Bessegato knew what the point of Even’s movie was, but Last Man on Earth is exactly the type of dude bro material I would expect from him, and would not expect from an Even. 

Polaris: Polaris is an undeveloped motif who seems interesting because of the dark and light aspects, and I claim my five pounds. Polaris is in no way toxic for Eliott, like all the others movies and show (even Last Man on Earth) were for the other characters. It’s just... cute. Cute like everything about Eliott is cute and nothing more. Eliott drawing himself as a raccoon is cute because he has a mask and is nocturnal! Whereas Lucas is small and defensive like a hedgehog! And Lucille is elegant and mean like a cat! Etc. This motif is never really developed or explored, it’s never given a twist, Eliott is in fact still obsessed with it 3 seasons later, just like he was obsessed with it before he met Lucas and it was Idriss he envisioned in the other role. There’s no growth, Eliott just never progresses beyond what Polaris represents for him. It sure is cute as fuck though, which is why the stans love it.

 ???:  Does Sander even have a movie? I heard he likes Baz Luhrmann and maybe even Romeo + Juliet, but this isn’t really explored. I don’t think even David Bowie’s life or sexuality or various musical personas (like you could do something with Ziggy Stardust or Aladdin Sane if you couldn’t think of a movie) are explored. Sander likes Bowie like he could like Iggy Pop or Freddie Mercury, queer music icons who for the most part are “safe” for straight men to stan without their sexuality getting called into question. I assume Robbesander stans think the lack of an Even’s movie motif is a sign of excellent writing, and proves Sander is a better Even because he doesn’t project on anything toxic or whatever the hell, just like Robbe is the best Isak because he was so good at letting Zoë and Senne have drama uninterrupted. 

[schleierkauz]

Q&A Highlights

Ok so bad news first: My questions were ignored. Cornelia did not clarify any of our death-related theories. Maybe next time.

There was A Lot of other stuff, though so... Enjoy!

- The stream starts with everyone wishing us a happy women’s day! Usually women in Erfurt (where the bookstore people are) get flowers but not today because... you know. Cornelia says America is starting to go back to normal, meanwhile Germany... :| Anyway. Don’t look over here.

- Cornelia says she probably won’t get the vaccine anytime soon because she’s just chilling on her farm anyway and people who have to be out in public/are vulnerable should get it first

- Question: When will Cornelia visit Germany again? In response to this, she gives us some exclusive news, not official yet, heard it here first: She’s gonna move to Italy! Apparently she bought an olive farm there which is cheaper, better for the environment (her current farm will be sold to some people who want to turn it into an organic farm) and obviously closer to Germany so she’ll be here more often. :)

- The 4th Reckless book will be released in English at some point this autumn

- There’s no definite release date for TCoR because she’s busy with Dragonrider but she hopes she’ll have finished writing it by the end of this year

- If she’s still alive after all that to work on Reckless 5, it’ll be the last book of the series... probably. She’s also working on a bunch of smaller projects with her artists in residence

- Question: What are Cornelia’s favorite stories by Jane Austen, the Brontë sister and Shakespeare? She’s not a huge fan of Austen or Brontë because she finds all those repressed emotions too exhausting to read about. With Shakespeare on the other hand she struggles to name a favorite because there’s so much greatness to choose from (she does name MacBeth and Romeo and Juliet though)

- The Black Prince’s legacy in the Reckless timeline may play a role in the next Reckless book or it might evolve into a whole other story. Either way, she’s thinking about it  👀

- Someone asks about Reckless characters and Cornelia says that Kami’en and the Dark Fairy felt very familiar to her from the start in that she always knew who they were as people. She’s not sure why that is. She thinks the Dark Fairy represents many aspects of womanhood, like the ancient forgotten Goddess. Same with Fox, who embodies different sides of that.

- If Cornelia had to date a man from the Mirrorworld, Kami’en would interest her

- Rainer Strecker randomly joins the chat to say hi and everyone is delighted

- Cornelia’s favorite book series is still Lord of the Rings

- Question: Why has the Black Prince never found his true love? Cornelia says she’s not sure that’s true - maybe he did found true love at some point and then lost it again? ‘...and they lived happily ever after’ isn’t a guaranteed outcome after all. Since he’s such a passionate man, she’s pretty sure he’s had at least one big lovestory at this point. She hasn’t asked him about that yet but hopes she’ll find out when she continues writing his story.

- Jumping off that question, Cornelia says she respects her characters’ privacy and lets them keep their secrets until the time comes to ask about them, just as she would with real people.

- Someone asks if Cornelia has ever written herself into a story and she says a part of her is in all her characters. Except the villains because she hates them. She feels closest to Fox because she also always wished she could shapeshift

- The bookstore lady jumps in and asks about Meggie, is she similar to how Cornelia was as a child? Cornelia says yes, especially because she also had a very close relationship with her father and they would bond over books. However, she always envisioned Meggie with dark hair and as a different kind of girl than she was. (Ok sidenote from me on that, I wonder what she means by ‘dark hair’? Because Meggie is explicitly blond, so like... dark blond? Or did we just unlock brunette Meggie in 2021? Cornelia-)

- Continuing the conversation, Cornelia says she doesn’t consider herself the creator of any of the characters in her stories, she feels like she met them and wrote about him but she would never say something like ‘I invented Dustfinger’ because that’s absurd. How would that even work. That’s disrespectful. No.

- Some characters pretty much demand to be written about and are very impatient (like Jacob), others are more shy and elusive and take effort to understand (like Will or Dustfinger)

- There probably won’t be another book like The Labyrinth of the Faun because it was created under such unbelievable circumstances. Cornelia does enjoy writing film scripts, though, like she did for the Wild Chicks recently

- Question: How does Cornelia come up with character names? She has a bunch of encyclopedias and when she knows where a story takes place she checks if there are any artists from there whose names she can steal. She always wants names to have meaning and to paint a picture of whatever character it belongs to. However, she says that sometimes the vibe of a name is a tricky thing: When she wrote The Thief Lord (which takes place in Italy), she thought ‘Mosca’ was the perfect name for a big strong boy. However when the time came to translate the story into Italian, the Italians told her that ‘Mosca’ sounds like the name of a tiny little fly. Oh well.

- Cornelia says a lot of readers have written to her about The Thief Lord because at one point Victor (the detective) calls Mosca (who is black) a “Mohrenkopf”. Context: ‘Mohrenkopf’ is a German slur towards black people and also an outdated name for this goddamn marshmallow cookie:

Fuck this cookie.

- Cornelia says yeah, Victor is being racist in that moment but that doesn’t mean that she, the author, is racist. Similarly, she used the term ‘Indians’ in Reckless and a lot of readers were upset which she did not anticipate. To her it’s a positive word since she admires ‘Indians’ so deeply and finds terms like ‘Native/Indigenous Americans’ very complicated. She wonders how much longer she’ll be allowed to say ‘Black Prince’

- She thinks it’s right to be vigilant about bigotry but simply searching for problematic words is dangerous because context matters

- Bookstore lady brings up Pippi Longstocking and how the N-word has been removed from modern copies (think Pippi’s father). She think’s it’s wrong because the original text is part of the cultural heritage and shouldn’t be hidden from children but instead explained. 

- Cornelia says that in America she sees the hurt that’s connected to that word but she doesn’t think it’s right to simply remove the slur and expect everything to be fine. After all, the text in which it was used is still the same so any harmful ideas would still be in there and that needs to be discussed. Simply whitewashing things doesn’t make them any less racist.

- Cornelia brings up a visual example: The Asterix comics. She always liked them but the fact that the only black character is drawn as a racist caricature is harmful and wrong. It’s time to listen when black people express how hurtful depictions like that can be. Many white people never noticed racism growing up because it never affected them and that’s why it’s important to learn

- The ‘from rags to riches’ American dream was usually reserved for white people and Cornelia thinks a lot of (white) people are waking up to that fact. The way black people are still being criminalized and the way prisons use inmates for cheap labor is horrible and like a modern kind of slavery

- The bookstore people try to say something but Cornelia is not done: We Europeans are not off the hook either because the sins and wounds of colonialism are still felt around the world, not to mention the way other countries are still exploited today. Our wealth rests on the shoulders of poorer nations. Many doors are opening and it’s difficult to step through but we have to do it and admit to the things we may have been blind to due to privilege.

- The three of them agree on that and go back to reading questions

- Question: What are Cornelia’s tips for young authors? She advises to never start writing a story on a computer, always get a notebook and collect ideas & pictures for your story. Don’t rush things. If you have more than one story, give each story its own book and feed whichever one is hungry. It’s important to follow the idea where it leads, if you use cliches your readers will recognize them. And then it just takes time and passion. And trust in your own unique voice. She paraphrases a quote by Robert Louis Stevenson who once said no one cares about stories or characters or whatever, people read books to see the world through the goggles the author puts on them. I’m sure he said it prettier, I’m paraphrasing the paraphrase.

- That said, Cornelia thinks authors who say things like “I’m writing to express my innermost turbulences” are kinda dumb. She thinks it’s important to write about the things that happen everywhere else and around yourself and to try to find voices for others, not just yourself. Just like how carpenters build furniture for everyone else, a writer should use words to build things for others, whether it’s a window or door or a hiding place.

- Speaking of notebooks, as most of us probably know Cornelia has a lot of those and occasionally publishes them on her website. She says she’d love to let people look through them in person, maybe at the new farm in Germany (Cornelia sure does love farms)

- Speaking of writing things on paper, all three of them stress that everyone should write more letters because one day they’ll be old letters and curious people will want to read them, just as we like to read old documents now.

- Last question: How come both the Inkworld and the Mirrorworld feature a character called Bastard? Cornelia thinks that’s a good question and she should probably think about that. (Am I stupid? Are they talking about Basta? I’m confused)

...And with that, the livestream ends. They’ll get back together to do this again two months from now, until then: I’m going tf to sleep