#y'all ever focus on a single character trait when writing

[antianakin]

Wanda Sykes is a breath of fucking fresh air on this show and could be this show's saving grace if they let her do it probably. She has so much ENERGY that most of the rest of TBB just LACK, so much life in her and humanity in her, and y'all I hate to say this but it's... not just the writing. Some of it's the writing, for sure, Phee is a character who has more layers revealed in her in this one single episode than anyone in TBB has gotten across the entire show. But Wanda Sykes is also just so FUNNY and so supremely good at acting out Phee and she made this episode as fun as it is, quite honestly.

I also think Phee is a better character than Hondo Ohnaka, she's funnier and more interesting to me than Hondo is, but I'm kind-of bitter over how Hondo got absolutely ruined in the Gathering arc in TCW and then wildly overutilized in Rebels, so maybe it's just that Phee is new and NOT Hondo, but I like her better already.

Please dear whatever might exist out there, DON'T make Phee a love interest for Hunter, Phee deserves better than that. Nobody manifest that!

I also think that, Wanda Sykes's superb acting aside, this kind of plot is probably what TBB always should've been and should continue to BE. It's a really basic treasure hunt with a supremely basic plot, but it's a classic for a reason: it's fun. The riddles are fairly boring with no meaning attached to them, the booby traps are fairly basic, but treasure hunts are FUN if you can write them well. The show isn't trying to develop any of its characters here, it isn't attempting to connect any kind of weird overarching plotlines, it's just... having them go on a treasure hunt.

When TBB tries to SAY something is when it falls apart for me, because its characters are too one dimensional to be CAPABLE of saying anything of any meaning and they're too far removed from the actual world and its storylines to have a more interesting serious plot in this particular time period. Each of the characters has a designated personality trait and they can't seem to develop beyond that ever, so without the ability to develop its characters OR any kind of cohesive plot, the show sort-of just... sits there trying to speak but nothing's coming out. Which just makes it... boring and frustrating. Season 1 was at its best when it quite literally completely sidelined TBB to focus in on Hera and HER storyline and TBB just kind-of popped in for a second without really impacting much of anything. You could have told the story without TBB and it would've gone much the same, but because it was focusing on a pre-established character that's already well-written and nuanced and beloved, they could actually do and say something with her in a way they just CAN'T with their actual main characters.

[kianlon]

Get to Know the Fanfic Writer

Thanks to @laboradorescence for the tag! I was sick when I initially saw it and am just now getting around to filling this out lol. I'm gonna tag... no one for now but feel free to do this if you see it, y'all! (this is definitely not just because i can't remember my friend's tumblr name haha)

When did you post your first-ever fanfic?

Oh boy... well, I think 2008 on the warriorcats.com forums. I was devastated when I found out stuff got deleted due to inactivity lol - it was completed there and I re-wrote it but longer in Microsoft Word where it lived until lightning struck my parents' house and that computer died.

First character(s) you wrote?

Just an absolute ton of Warriors OCs and like, the og clan leaders/deputies/medicine cats because at the time all we knew about them were names and a single personality trait maybe so I wanted to explore what the clans used to be like.

Main character(s) you are currently writing?

...oh boy. Well, a lot of PJO characters - mostly minor characters and OCs because that seems to be my jam.

Character(s) you haven’t written about before but plan to soon?

I have absolutely zero plans lol new WIPs seem to just come for me in the night.

Fandom(s) you’re currently writing?

PJO, Danganronpa (sort of), The Amazing Spiez (if we ever finish that one-shot that is), Digimon (this is the part where my sister will accuse me of lying as soon as she sees it BUT I OPEN THE WIP AND ADD SENTENCES OCCASIONALLY IT TOTALLY COUNTS)

Romantic pairing(s) you’re currently writing?

If canon said they're together, I'm more than likely keeping it that way lol. Also a lot of OC pairings. Not a whole lot of explicitly romantic fic stuff because alloromantic people are a mystery to me.

Your top AO3 tags?

I'll be the first to admit I don't really understand how to tag my fics despite reading multiple tutorials on the subject so unsurprisingly my top tags are Swearing, Originally Posted on Fanfiction.net, and Tags May Change.

The emotional tone of my works is all over the freaking place so that'll probably stay true even after I get through my backlog of stuff I need to post lol - though I'm sure Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD is gonna be pretty far up there.

Current platform you use for posting?

AO3 and FFN. I really need to finish cross-posting a fic to AO3 but that requires me and my sister to have time and energy to re-learn HTML (for footnote reasons - I wanna make them show up when you mouse over the number because I overthink translations constantly and have a pathological need to make sure people know why I chose my words)

Snippet of the WIP you are currently working on?

The conversation died for a bit, leaving Dinosaur as the most interesting thing for Diego to focus on. Really, he should’ve expected that he’d fall asleep.

[twothumbsandnostakeincanon]

“Funeral Home Meet Cute”

fyi this ficlet is INCREDIBLY IRREVERENT about funerals and grieving and just death in general. 

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

The sound of the entry bell ringing above the door to the client entry made Peter lean his head back and groan in the office. 

Just watch the desk for an hour, Peter. 

No one’s going to come in, Peter. 

Do it or I’ll tell mom what happened to her peonies, Peter. 

He wasn’t even involved in the family business. Corpses were so boring, and the last time he tried to talk to a grieving family, he’d made all of them cry. It hadn’t even been on purpose. 

But noooo, Talia absolutely had to take her dog to the groomer in the middle of the afternoon, which meant that Peter had to watch the lobby. The bell on the desk rang, and Peter scowled. No patience from the client, then. It’s not like the dead person was going anywhere.

Peter carefully arranged his expression into something somber and sympathetic, and stepped out into the lobby. 

Long fingers tapped along the desk, leading to a broad hand attached to a strong looking arm. Peter continued rolling his gaze upward, lingering for a moment on the pale throat, before reaching a gorgeous, if slightly bored looking face. Dark eyes zeroed in on him as soon as Peter entered the room, and Peter found himself preening under the attention. 

“Hello, how may Hale Funeral Home help you?” he purred, perhaps a touch too seductive for the words Funeral Home. “Do you need to arrange a service?” he said. Can I console you with my dick? he just barely didn’t say. 

“I-” 

“Oh, I do apologize,” Peter interrupted, suddenly remembering Talia’s second threat. (If someone does come in, you better act sympathetic as fuck, Peter. Offer them coffee or tea first before you do anything else.) “Can I get you some coffee?” he asked, already moving toward the coffee maker tucked unobtrusively in the corner. 

As soon as he came around the desk, he got a better look at the man’s jeans, and more importantly at the way they clung to his thighs. 

“Milk? Sugar?” he asked, trying to remember how old the coffee in the pot was. “Or would you prefer tea?” 

“I- uh, coffee’s good? Milk, no sugar.” The man had a pleasing tenor that Peter could already imagine saying filthy, filthy things in his ear. 

Peter fixed the coffee, only partially distracted by the broad hands tapping along the counter again. He stepped right up to the man, perhaps a little closer than most social rules would dictate, and handed him the drink. 

“I’m Peter Hale, by the way,” he said, looking up from under his eyelashes. 

“My name’s Stiles,” the man replied, those intense eyes centered on Peter again. He looked less bored now. 

Peter did so love to be the center of attention. 

He lightly placed a hand on Stiles’ arm, in a way that might be construed as merely comforting... or not. 

“Now, how may I be of service?” Peter purred again, leaning in slightly. He watched gleefully as Stiles’ pupils dilated, and wondered how much trouble he would get in for sleeping with a client before securing the funeral details. 

Or at least, he would have wondered, if Talia hadn’t brought her dog back at that very moment. 

“Peter!” she said loudly. Peter and Stiles both leaned back abruptly, startled. “Why don’t you introduce me to our new client?” she said, teeth bared in a smile that looked more like a threat. Peter cleared his throat. 

“This is Stiles . He’s here for-”

Peter stopped, having no idea why he was here. 

Stiles cleared his throat. 

“Uh, Detective Stilinski, is actually probably a better way of introducing myself,” he said, a little awkwardly. 

Talia’s expression immediately turned thunderous. 

“Peter! What did you do?” she demanded. 

“Why do you assume I did something?” Peter said indignantly, while silently wondering which thing he’d done had gotten him caught. 

“No, no!” Stiles interrupted quickly, waving a hand to get their attention. “I just need corroboration for a witness statement. I have a warrant for the information, if that’s necessary. Shayna Miller said she was here on the fifth of last month from two to four.” 

Talia colored slightly, and then busied herself with going behind the desk to check their records. Stiles and Peter stood next to each other awkwardly for a moment. 

“So... you own the Funeral Home?” Stiles said haltingly. 

“I do,” Talia clarified. “My brother was just helping out today.” 

Stiles glanced back over to Peter, eyes darting down to his lips for the briefest moment before looking forward again. 

Perhaps the afternoon wasn’t a complete bust.

“You know,” Peter said slowly, “if you have any more questions, I’m free for the rest of the afternoon.” 

Stiles’ eyes quickly locked back on his, once again intense. He smiled. 

“Yeah, actually. I think I might have a few questions for you.” 

Talia looked up from the computer, disbelieving. 

“Why would you have questions for him? He doesn’t have anything to do with-”

“You run your dead people parties, sister dear, and let Detective Stilinski run his investigations, alright?” Peter interrupted. “I’m sure he has plenty of relevant questions to ask me.” 

“Yeah, actually, I do,” Stiles said, turning to face Peter fully with an incredulous expression. “Starting with what the hell is a ‘dead people party’? You know there’s already a word for that, right? It’s in the name of the business. Right after Hale.”

Peter dismissed the question with a wave. 

“The usual euphemisms get boring after so many repetitions. If others are allowed to say ‘passed on’ or ‘departed’ or ‘called home’ instead of ‘died’, then why can’t I spruce things up with ‘dead person party’?” 

Stiles just shook his head, and disbelieving smile on his face. 

“No reason except business sense, I guess,” he allowed. 

“Alright, I found her,” Talia interrupted. “Yes, Ms. Miller was here. Give me a moment to print this out for you, and then the two of you can take this conversation literally anywhere but in front of me.”