#but if while I’m reading I tend and WANT TO imagine the characters as they’re described I CAN

[rodolfoparras]

if any of this makes you uncomfortable feel free to ignore it, you’re comfort comes first

I’ve been seeing so many male character x bunny hybrid readers and don’t get me wrong, I love a good hybrid reader cuz they’re either really hot or really funny to think of.

Butt every time one is written, it’s always ‘Bunny reader is bottom and small, petite little man/woman that gets railed’

How about a dominant hybrid bunny reader?? Like imagine just fucking Price till his legs are shaky and he’s begging for you to slow down. The bunny traits giving you strong, well built thighs and legs which helps to fuck him so roughly.

Barely giving him a break between climaxes as his ass gets sore and numb from being fucked for so long. Using his pretty ass as you bend him over any surface, barely able to hold back.

Being able to go multiple rounds and recover quickly, so horny for that old man. Sometimes just straight up dry-humping him. Even in the kitchen on base, where anyone could walk in and see their beloved captain getting his ass humped by his horny boyfriend

I’m so normal about this <3

This is my first time attempting to write about hybrids/ shifters even though I love reading about them but anyway I present to you bunny shifter male reader and bear shifter price !

Thinking about Price being an unmated bear shifter and no matter what he does he can never find an appropriate partner for him.

Every partner he’s ever encountered had expected him to be the dominant one in bed and to be completely honest Price had been more interested in being dominated himself.

That’s why, despite his old age, Price had stayed unmated, had even accepted his fate to be unmated all the way to his grave.

However that mindset quickly changed when he set his eyes on you. Because of his big shifter form there were rarely times when he felt like he was in danger, but there was something different about you, something that evoked an instinct to flee, and in the same breath made him want to get closer to you.

Logically Price knew you wouldn’t actually hurt him, hell the two of you are so close people tend to ask if the two of you are mated.

But something about your watchful gaze lit a fire inside of him while simultaneously urging him to run away, something about your touch made him feel like he was stuck in your grasp while every cell in his body was pushing him to get impossibly closer and something about your words made his insides purr while also urging him to bury his teeth into your neck.

Despite the instincts you awoke inside him, he never tried to initiate anything. The two of you were colleagues and anything past that would be deemed as inappropriate.

However the line seemed to blur one night after a successful mission, when one too many drinks had entered Price’s system and instead of hanging out with 141 he had ended up standing in a corner with you, talking no -flirting.

Because it had started off as talking, brief comments made about the mission, a pat on the back for a job well done until your fingers seemed to clammer onto his shoulder and your tone turned much lower as the conversation switched to discussing the different shifters on the team.

Soap is suited as a wolf shifter, according to you, because he acts like an overgrown puppy.

Gaz is suited as a lion, for his dedication and loyalty to those close to him.

Ghost is suited well as a lynx for his elusive nature.

However when it came to discussing Price, you paused for a moment, before looking at him with a small smile.

“And you captain? What kind of shifter are you?” You ask because at the end of the day you don’t know what type of shifter he is and he doesn’t know what type of shifter you are either.

Price feels himself tense, before he clears his throat and awkwardly shuffles in place.

“Bear shifter” Price says while closely eyeing your reaction.

Many times when he’d revealed his true form, people’s view on him had changed, quickly regarding him as the more superior of the two and therefore ruining any potential of forming a relationship with him.

But you did none of that, instead you seemed more intrigued with this reveal.

“Bear shifter?” You say, the smile growing bigger on your face while eyeing the group of rowdy men standing a couple of feet away . “Suits you” is all you say before you turn your gaze back to the older man.

“Yeah? Why?” Price says, feeling heat creep up his neck, ears and cheeks, slightly fearing what you’ll say about him but also feeling intrigued.

“You are very gentle and tolerant with those you love”

His eyes widen in surprise, brows almost dipping past his hairline as a soft gasp escapes his lips.

“You don’t find me intimidating?” He says almost in a whisper.

“Do you want me to think that?” You say in a playful tone while raising a brow at the older man.

“No” he says, so quickly , a chuckle escapes your lips before you turn your gaze back to the rowdy group of men steadily drinking themselves half to death.

“So what are you then?” Price says after a moment of silence passes as he too now watches the group of men.

“Guess”

“Something of the feline sort?” He says, recalling then many times he’s seen your sharp smile.

“Nope” you say with a big smile on your face, showing off the very same sharp teeth that seem ingrained into his memory.

“A reptile?” He says, thinking of the vivid color that usually paints your irises.

“Mm not quite right” you say, now turning to him, chest flush against his as you crowd him up against the wall. “Let me give you a hint” you whisper in his ear and he feels goosebumps rise across his skin, gaze still trailed on the men in front of him who seem none than wiser to what’s happening “We’re said to have a high sex drive and many of us are much fast and way stronger compared to most feline shifters”

Recognition paints his face as a gasp slip past his lips. “A bunny shifter “

When he hears the sound of your chuckle he realizes just how ridiculous his reaction must’ve been and he feels the heat creeping back into his face as he apologizes profusely. “I apologize I-“

“It’s okay” you say, still chuckling “ You’re not the first one to react like this but you don’t think I’m weak because I’m a bunny shifter, do you captain?” You say amusement stripped from your tone and voice sounding much sharper.

“You want me to think so?” He says, voice breathy and strained repeating your words from earlier with a small smirk on his face

“No “ you say before you lightly nibble on his ear, hearing another gasp tumble past his lips

“You know what I want though?” You say, pushing away from him a bit to meet his gaze with your colorful irises and a sharp smile on your face.

Price swallows hard, feels himself shift in place, cock stirring in his pants as he eagerly awaits what you’re about to say.

“I want you to run.”

“What?” Price says, face pinched in confusion.

“I want you to run”

The confused look disappears from his face as Price realizes what you’re really saying.

You want to chase him.

You want to catch him

For the first time in his life someone wants to court him.

And it doesn’t take much before he’s slipping out your grip and running out the bar like his life depended on it, all while your laugh echoes behind him.

#thank u for ur patience angel mwah #alec answers #call of duty #john price #john price x reader #john price x male reader #captain john price #captain john price x male reader #captain john price x reader #dom male reader #sub male character

[whinlatter]

Harry’s thoughts of Ginny in the Forest: a meta

‘Nothing too big, because you wouldn't be able to take it with you... I wanted you to have something to remember me by.' - DH, p. 99 (UK edition)

Here I am, on a rainy Thursday, doing re-reads for some writing and thinking about the parallels between Harry and Ginny's kiss on his birthday, and Harry’s thoughts of Ginny as he goes to his death. 

I’m thinking differently about Ginny’s motivations for the kiss these days. I used to think about her words to Harry that morning, and the act of kissing him, as a promise she’ll wait for when he comes back. Lately, I’m wondering if it’s not something sadder, and more profound. I think what Ginny does on Harry’s seventeenth is the act of a person who is starting to process the fact that the person she loves is likely going to his death — that he might not be coming back. It's a scene of a person bracing for grief and thinking about love after death, and it will set the stage for how Harry meets his own death in the Forest.

So here’s a much-too-long meta to help me think through these ideas - about the kiss, Ginny’s suspicions about Harry’s fate, and what it means that Harry returns to the memory of Ginny at the end of his life. (Stick the kettle on for this one and if you worked this all out long ago before me, just give me an eye roll and forgive me).

I’ve always taken Ginny's words to Harry before their kiss at face value. I thought of it not quite as a fun scene - it’s certainly sad - but sweet, a little sexy, and sort of reckless, even a bit mischievous on Ginny’s part.

It’s the birthday of the boy Ginny loves. They’re not together anymore. She knows he's going away. She wants to give him a birthday present, but she doesn't want to give him something he has to haul around or might lose. She does want to let him know that, despite their separation, her feelings are still the same. She craves a moment with him before he goes. She is still in love with him, she is deeply attracted to him, and part of her still feels a bit possessive. Although she’s not really concerned Harry’s going to crack on with some Veela, she does want him to have a memento of their time together. She wants him to have a happy memory, of physical intimacy and emotional comfort, to keep him going while he's away, to feel less alone.

Most of all, I used to think of the kiss (and whatever Ginny imagined might come after the kiss) as a promise. I still love you. Even though we’re not together and I respect why you have to go, I’m still all in on this. I’ll wait for you for when you come back. I want you to have the memory of this, as proof.

Harry’s reveal

But the more I’ve thought about it, the more I think about the context of when this kiss happens, after Harry and Ginny's last conversation before his birthday. It's the one a few days before, when Harry and Ginny are laying the table for dinner, and Harry lets slip to Ginny what he, Ron and Hermione will be doing when they leave:

'‘And then what does she think’s going to happen?’ Harry muttered. ‘Someone else might kill off Voldemort while she’s holding us here making vol-au-vents?’ He had spoken without thinking, and saw Ginny’s face whiten.‘So it’s true?’ she said. ‘That’s what you’re trying to do? ‘I - not - I was joking,’ said Harry evasively. (DH, 78-9, UK edition)

This is a desperately sad scene, but it’s also an important moment. Harry, so used to having his guard down with Ginny, realises he’s accidentally confessed something big: that he’s going on the run to try and kill Voldemort himself, with Ron and Hermione’s help. 

Ginny is shaken by this. As a character, she tends to either take things in her stride, or yells first, processes later. But this catches her off guard. Her words suggest there has been speculation about what it is the three of them are going off to do (‘So it’s true?’ suggests that Ginny, and perhaps other members of her family or the Order, have been speculating about this for some time). But both she and Harry realise here that he’s flippantly confirmed something huge that Ginny did not already know for sure. He’s spoken aloud the task is that Dumbledore has left him. 

It is a sign of how close Harry feels to Ginny, how safe he feels in her company, and how difficult he finds managing keeping secrets from her, that he lets this slip. He won’t come as close to telling the truth to anyone else, even people he trusts. The scene before this, in his conversation with Mrs Weasley, he didn’t let on nearly as much (though he admits that he found affirming the importance of secrecy difficult when he looked at Mrs Weasley and saw Ginny’s eyes staring back at him):

‘Well, Dumbledore left me . . . stuff to do,’ mumbled Harry. ‘Ron and Hermione know about it, and they want to come too.’ ‘What sort of ‘stuff’?’  ‘I’m sorry, I can’t—’  ‘Well, frankly I think Arthur and I have a right to know, and I’m sure Mr. and Mrs. Granger would agree!’ said Mrs. Weasley. Harry had been afraid of the “concerned parent” attack. He forced himself to look directly into her eyes, noticing as he did that they were precisely the same shade of brown as Ginny’s. This did not help… ‘Dumbledore didn’t want anyone else to know, Mrs. Weasley (…)  I didn’t misunderstand,’ said Harry flatly. ‘It’s got to be me.’ (DH, 77-8)

Later, he’ll also refuse to give any information to Lupin, for the same reason. 

'‘Can you confide in me what the mission is?’  Harry looked into the prematurely lined face, framed in thick but greying hair, and wished that he could return a different answer.  ‘I can’t, Remus, I’m sorry. If Dumbledore didn’t tell you I don’t think I can.’  ‘I thought you’d say that,’ said Lupin, looking disappointed.’ (DH, 173-4)

But with Ginny, he’s accidentally gone much further. He hasn’t said Horcruxes, but he’s as good as. The trio are setting off to try to kill Voldemort, the most dangerous task imaginable in this war. He tries, in vain, to undo it, but the damage is already done. Ginny knows more now than she did before: that the journey he’s about to go on is one that very likely will claim his life. 

What does Ginny know about Harry’s fate before this moment? 

It's clear from this interaction that Harry has never discussed any of this with Ginny before. In their breakup scene, Harry repeatedly said that he was breaking up with her for her own safety. He said he did not want her to be used as bait, as she already had been previously, and as Sirius was: 'Think how much danger you'll be in if we keep this up...' (HBP, 602). The focus was entirely on the risk to Ginny's life, a risk Harry says he cannot live with.

Ginny’s remarks at Dumbledore���s funeral told us something about how she, at that point, understood the path ahead for Harry. She made her half-joke that Harry was always busy saving the Wizarding World, and says she thinks he 'would never be happy', never fulfilled or satisfied, unless he were 'hunting Voldemort' (HBP, 603). She showed she interpreted his actions as choices being made by someone brave, determined, and personally committed to bringing about the end of Voldemort, not someone destined to. Harry’s motivations and reasons are ones she respects and empathises with. She knows the path ahead is dangerous. She doesn’t yet think of it as lethal. 

Harry didn’t respond to her assessments at the funeral, neither correcting nor confirming them. He didn’t let her know, at that stage, exactly what it is he is going to set off to do. The closest Harry came to revealing the road ahead for him in the break-up scene was this:

'It’s been like… like something out of someone else’s life, these last few weeks with you,' said Harry. 'But I can’t… we can’t… I’ve got things to do alone now.' She did not cry, she simply looked at him.’  (HBP, 602)

This is a pattern throughout their relationship, both as friends and later as romantic partners. Ginny knows a little, but not a lot, about Harry’s path. She thinks of it almost entirely as a decision he has made himself. Conversations about Harry’s destiny - about the Prophecy, about being the Chosen One, and, eventually, about the Horcrux hunt - happen near Ginny, but never with her. She does not seem to believe that Harry is the Chosen One or in any way bound to Voldemort's own fate. At the start of HBP, on the train in Slughorn’s carriage, Ginny states publicly her belief that any speculation about Harry being the Chosen One is nonsense: 

‘We never heard a prophecy,” said Neville, turning geranium pink as he said it. ‘That’s right,’ said Ginny staunchly. ‘Neville and I were both there too, and all this ‘Chosen One’ rubbish is just the Prophet making things up as usual.’ (HBP, 140)

Ultimately, before DH, Ginny has been given very little information. We can assume that she’s decided to respect Harry’s decision to keep any information from her and not to push for it. She has reason to fear he might be in danger, but she doesn’t yet know the full extent of it.

Ginny’s response

The immediate aftermath of Harry’s confession at the Burrow is very telling. 

‘They stared at each other, and there was something more than shock in Ginny’s expression. Suddenly Harry became aware that this was the first time that he had been alone with her since their stolen hours in secluded corners of the Hogwarts grounds. He was sure she was remembering them too.’ - DH (79)

It’s important that, immediately after this confession, Harry’s mind immediately takes him to private time spent alone with Ginny at the end of HBP. His certainty that Ginny, too, is reminiscing about them is typical of their wordless displays of understanding. They both reach for memories. And the memories of the last time he was alone with her, when they were still together, suddenly trigger an intense emotional and sexual tension. They are soon interrupted, and the dinner afterwards is extremely awkward. Harry wishes he were further away from Ginny, and tries, with great difficulty, to avoid touching her at the dinner table. The energy between them is intense and charged, anticipatory and frustrated. There are lots of ‘unsaid things’ that have just passed between them, and both are aware of it (DH, 79).

There are important themes being introduced here. Whenever Harry thinks about memories of his time with Ginny in DH, he does so consistently in two clear ways. To him, those times were private, intensely intimate moments which carried huge personal significance. It is strongly implied those were moments of sexual intimacy between the two of them, and where they shared an emotional closeness neither has found with any other character. But those moments with Ginny are also something Harry feels he was wrong to take. His relationship with her was something that, in retrospect, he embarked upon against his better judgement. He now feels it was something he was not entitled to, on account of his own burdens and obligations. Those were ‘stolen hours’ that were ‘something out of someone else’s life’. If we look to the wedding scene, we can see this most clearly:

‘‘Yes, my tiara sets off the whole thing nicely,’ said Auntie Muriel in a rather carrying whisper. ‘But I must say, Ginevra’s dress is far too low cut.’  Ginny glanced around, grinning, winked at Harry, then quickly faced the front again. Harry’s mind wandered a long way from the marquee, back to afternoons spent alone with Ginny in lonely parts of the school grounds. They seemed so long ago; they had always seemed too good to be true, as though he had been stealing shining hours from a normal person’s life, a person without a lightning-shaped scar on his forehead…’ (DH, 121) 

There are certain tropes at play here, that will that recur again and again in Harry’s thoughts of Ginny until the point of his death: the memory of time alone, the feeling of shared emotional and physical intimacy, to an intense degree; the sense of their time together being something stolen, both in the sense of it being snatched from within darker times, but also being forbidden, given with Harry’s fate when it comes to Voldemort. That Harry recalls these moments at a moment as two other characters make lifelong vows of marriage to each other is not insignificant: all is set up to maximise the sense of tragedy.

Ginny processing Harry’s fate

Ginny is not naive. Harry’s confession seems to change something about how she thinks about what he’s about to do. She may once have dismissed the prophecy of Harry as the Chosen One as nonsense. But she now has reason to suspect that might not quite be true.

She may well re-trace what she does know. After all, she was at the Department of Mysteries two summers prior, where she learnt that Voldemort, at least, thinks there is a prophecy of significance that involves Harry directly. She knows Harry has been having one-on-one lessons with Dumbledore: she even gave him one of the invitations (HBP, 228). She also knows that Harry and Dumbledore left school for a secret mission alone on the night the Astronomy Tower was attacked and Dumbledore was killed. She observed how Harry saw Dumbledore’s death as a catalyst to prepare for a path that required him to step back from her. Above all, we also know that Ginny is a character who understands Tom Riddle intimately. She is one of the people who comes closest to understanding the stakes of your life being bound, in some way, to Voldemort.

It is also significant that Ginny is a character canonically intrigued, and touched, by death, and by powerful Dark magic. The diary, and her own near-death experience, is the most obvious example. But in the Department of Mysteries during OotP, we are told she is also one of the characters most drawn to the veil, despite having far less direct experience of loss and grief than Harry, Luna, or even Neville:

‘[Harry] took several paces back from the dais and wrenched his eyes from the veil. ‘Let’s go,’ he said. ‘That’s what I’ve been trying to — well, come on, then!’ said Hermione, and she led the way back around the dais. On the other side, Ginny and Neville were staring, apparently entranced, at the veil too. Without speaking, Hermione took hold of Ginny’s arm, Ron Neville’s, and they marched them firmly back to the lowest stone bench and clambered all the way back up to the door.’ (OotP, 775)

I don’t mean to suggest Ginny knew what was coming for Harry, that she foresaw him having to go to his death. She knows nothing of Horcruxes, she doesn’t know the contents of the Prophecy, and she certainly doesn’t know Harry himself is a Horcrux. Harry, of course, doesn’t yet know the certainty of him going to his own death, at this point in the text. But given the information she alone has been handed, inadvertently, by Harry, she has plenty of reason to begin to suspect the path Harry is on is one that might end in death, moreso for him than for an anyone else in this war.

Ginny doesn’t appear much in the following pages, other than in her role helping to prepare the house for the wedding. Over the next few days, she has lots of time to consider Harry’s words. We know she’s also sharing a bedroom with Hermione, who is actively preparing for their imminent departure, and watching the three of them try to sneak off together to make plans. This is time for Ginny to start to digest the information Harry has unwittingly divulged. She can now begin to think about how she ought to respond to the prospect of him leaving for a mission that will, likely, cost him his life.

The kiss itself

We can see Ginny has planned this interaction with Harry in her bedroom. The false casualness of how the scene opens - ‘Harry, can you come in here a moment?’ - and the actions of the bedroom’s other occupant, Hermione, suggests some level of premeditation and collaboration. For the first time, Ginny brings him into her bedroom, with the door closed. The setting is obviously intimate and suggestive.

Harry describes Ginny as seeming nervous, but purposeful, like she is readying herself for something - she ‘[takes] a deep breath’. She is looking at him ‘steadily’. Harry is nervous, too: he cannot bring himself to look at her, finding it almost painful, like ‘gazing into a brilliant light’ (DH, 98). Her trademark blazing look is in full force. She doesn’t entertain his attempts at small talk: she is serious about what she’s about to do.

‘‘I couldn’t think what to get you,’ she said.  ‘You didn’t have to get me anything.’ She disregarded this too.’ (DH, 98-9)

Ginny opens by revealing how difficult it has been for her to work out what she could give him, under the circumstances. She is, in her own way, acknowledging how hard she is finding processing what it is he has to do now. She has been struggling with the prospect of Harry’s departure, and the possibility, even the likelihood, of his death. But she has decided she wants to make that path easier for him. Despite his reassurance, she insists she wanted to give him something. 

‘‘I didn’t know what would be useful. Nothing too big, because you wouldn’t be able to take it with you.” He chanced a glance at her. She was not tearful...' (99)

These lines are so significant. The first two lines in particular are deeply profound. They read very differently to how I first thought of them, if seen in this light. I didn’t know what would be useful, she says, because she doesn't know what she can say that will be useful. What could possibly make this easier, to help Harry think about the enormity of his situation, or to help guide him on a path requiring him to accept his own likely death? 

She doesn’t want what she gives to him now to be too heavy, too sad, or too serious, because she knows Harry will not be able to deal with it (‘nothing too big’). Anything too declaratory, too sentimental, or too enormous, would be impossible for him to leave with. In the last part of the sentence, her words are deliberately vague: because you wouldn’t be able to take it with you. 

I think this is the most poignant part, and it suggests the part of Ginny's mind that believes in, and is curious about, what happens beyond, after death: the voices on the other side of the veil. I think there is some part of her that thinks Harry might be going somewhere she can’t reach him - what Dumbledore will later call going on. Ginny does not openly speculate about where Harry will be taking whatever she gives him. That it could be to his own grave, or beyond, is left unspoken. He looks at her, finally, after these words, because he seems to understand, on some level, what she is trying to say to him.

‘She took a step closer to him. ��So then I thought, I’d like you to have something to remember me by, you know, if you meet some veela when you’re off doing whatever you’re doing.’’ (DH, 99)

Ginny has decided: the thing she will give him is a memory, one that he can take with him when they part. Something to remember me by. She wants the memory of her, of them, to be useful, to serve him in some way, and to be something that he might be able to take on with him after death. She tries to soften what she’s trying to convey, with the joke about the veela. But both seem to understand what she is really saying: that she isn’t really asking for his loyalty or fidelity. She doesn’t say she’s giving him ‘something to remember me by’ for when he comes back and they can be together again. Her words are very final. The joke is supposed to make it easier for him to hear what she is saying: she’s telling him, quietly, how to think about her when he leaves, whatever leaving might mean.

Harry, for his part, continues the joke. (‘I think dating opportunities are going to be pretty thin on the ground, to be honest.’) She plays along, sort of, in a very sad way (‘there’s the silver lining I’ve been looking for’). But both seem to know that there is no real silver lining to this. 

And then there’s the kiss itself: 

‘There’s the silver lining I’ve been looking for,’ she whispered, and then she was kissing him as she had never kissed him before, and Harry was kissing her back, and it was blissful oblivion, better than Firewhisky; she was the only real thing in the world, Ginny, the feel of her, one hand at her back and one in her long, sweet-smelling hair —’ (DH, 99)

It all comes to a head here. Harry recognises that this kiss feels exceptional, unlike any other they’ve ever shared - that Ginny has never put so much into a kiss before. It is ‘blissful oblivion’, this moment of extraordinary intensity, where she kisses him and allows him, for a moment, to think only about her and them together. It’s heady and sexual (‘the feel of her’). It’s a gift for Harry  to be able to forget everything and let this moment be a vacuum, to focus only on her. The crescendo effect of the short causes and run-on sentences allows the moment to build and build, a crescendo effect that anticipates something to come. 

Of course, their moment gets interrupted, again. Unlike when Ron interrupted her with Dean, Ginny doesn't rage at him this time: she is subdued, a response that is far more appropriate for her processing the fact that she may have just had her final kiss with the boy she loves. Harry suspects she has started to cry, something he notes is out of character. Ginny had imbued a lot of meaning into this interaction: this is a portrait of a character whose heart is breaking.

When Harry and Ron are discussing the kiss outside on the lawn, after the initial shock of being yelled at by Ron for going anywhere near Ginny, Harry has his own, shattering realisation of what all of this means for himself and Ginny:

‘Yeah, but you go snogging her now and she’s just going to get her hopes up again—’ ‘She’s not an idiot, she knows it can’t happen, she’s not expecting us to— to end up married, or—’  As he said it, a vivid picture formed in Harry’s mind of Ginny in a white dress, marrying a tall, faceless, and unpleasant stranger. In one spiralling moment it seemed to hit him: Her future was free and unencumbered, whereas his . . . he could see nothing but Voldemort ahead.’ (DH, 100)

Thinking aloud, Harry says it would be idiotic for he or Ginny to imagine they could be together, either now, or at any point in the future. He expects her to find someone else; he cannot even begin to imagine a future for himself after the task set out for him. He does not say his inevitable death - he has not yet embraced that reality - but he remains caught in the certainty of an existential battle with Voldemort that he knows he may well not survive.

Later that day, Harry will receive the snitch from Dumbledore’s will. Though he doesn’t know it yet, he now holds the resurrection stone, the item that will open at the close in the forest. It is a birthday that starts and ends with hints about what little time he has left: the stage is set for an arc that, now, has to end in his own death.

Foreshadowing Ginny and the Forest

Moments foreshadowing the significance of the forest are all over Deathly Hallows. Sometimes, they mirror the moment of his own death; often, they are related to Ginny. When they leave the Ministry, with Ron splinched, clutching the Horcrux locket, they arrive in a forest. For a moment Harry’s heart ‘leaped’ at the thought that they were back in Hogwarts’ grounds, the site of so much of his earlier happiness with Ginny (DH, 221). When the trio hear that Ginny, Neville and Luna tried to steal the sword of Gryffindor, it is the Forbidden Forest they are sent to by Snape as punishment (248-9). Harry does not fear the Forest, and is consoled by the thought of Ginny serving detention there rather than anywhere else.

In the Forest of Dean, the scene where Ron returns begins with Harry thinking of Ginny. He sits at the mouth of the tent, wanting to look for Ginny on the Marauders’ Map, until he remembers it’s Christmastime and she is at the Burrow (297). Later, in a moment that mirrors his later walk to his death, he follows his mother - Snape’s patronus, the doe - into the woods, in order to recover and destroy the Horcrux, inching Harry’s own life closer to its close:

Though the darkness had swallowed her whole, [the doe’s] burnished image was still imprinted on his retinas; it obscured his vision, brightening when he lowered his eyelids, disorienting him. Now fear came: Her presence had meant safety. “Lumos!” he whispered, and the wand-tip ignited. The imprint of the doe faded away with every blink of his eyes as he stood there, listening to the sounds of the forest, to distant crackles of twigs…  He held the wand higher. Nobody ran out at him, no flash of green light burst from behind a tree. Why, then, had she led him to this spot?’ (DH, 299)

Foreshadowing Harry's end in the Forest means also foreshadowing Ginny's own appearance at the moment of his death.

Harry’s ‘death’ in the Forest 

In the final battle, Ginny is the last person Harry sees before he begins his walk into the Forest. He takes the words she says to the child on the ground as her final act of comfort. Harry hears them as if they are being spoken to him: 

‘He was feet away from her when he realised it was Ginny.  He stopped in his tracks. She was crouching over a girl who was whispering for her mother.  ‘It’s all right,’ Ginny was saying. ‘It’s okay. We’re going to get you inside.’  ‘But I want to go home,’ whispered the girl. ‘I don’t want to fight anymore!’ ‘I know,’ said Ginny, and her voice broke. ‘It’s going to be all right.’  Ripples of cold undulated over Harry’s skin. He wanted to shout out to the night, he wanted Ginny to know that he was there, he wanted her to know where he was going. He wanted to be stopped, to be dragged back, to be sent back home (...) Ginny was kneeling beside the injured girl now, holding her hand. With a huge effort Harry forced himself on. He thought he saw Ginny look around as he passed, and wondered whether she had seen someone walking nearby, but he did not speak, and he did not look back.’ (DH, 558-9)

Harry believes that this is his final moment with Ginny before he goes to die. A part of him wants her to know that it’s happening: he is leaving, at last. But he can't call to her, because he worries she will try and stop him, and he might let her. Instead, he walks on, and doesn’t look back. After watching Ginny comfort the girl crying for her mother, Harry then goes on to the Forest, and summons his own mother, his own family, to walk with him to his death.  

‘His body and mind felt oddly disconnected now, his limbs working without conscious instruction, as if he were passenger, not driver, in the body he was about to leave. The dead who walked beside him through the forest were much more real to him now that the living back at the castle: Ron, Hermione, Ginny, and all the others were the ones who felt like ghosts as he stumbled and slipped toward the end of his life, toward Voldemort. . . .' (DH, 561-2)

Harry is already preparing to go on from this world: his living loved ones are the ones he now feels furthest from. He stands now with the dead he has summoned, who recognise him and seem to have memories of him. He doesn't fear the dead: he is going to join them.

It’s the death scene itself that I think has subtle, but important parallels with the kiss scene much earlier. In both imagery and in writing style, the scene recalls that earlier moment, where Harry found himself on the edge of another kind of oblivion. There is this mounting, febrile sense of anticipation. There is a tension that is almost sexual, a dynamic injected into the scene through descriptions of Bellatrix’s body language and behaviour towards Voldemort:

‘Bellatrix, who had leapt to her feet, was looking eagerly from Voldemort to Harry, her breast heaving. The only things that moved were the flames and the snake, coiling and uncoiling in the glittering cage behind Voldemort’s head.’  (DH, 564)

The ugly parallel of Bellatrix and Voldemort is not supposed to show the pair as the mirror image of Harry and Ginny. Rather, it is a theme that recurs throughout the series to demonstrate the gulf between Harry, with his immense capacity for love, and Voldemort, with none. Bellatrix and Ginny are memorably paralleled twice in the series: once, at the Department of Mysteries, where Bellatrix moves to ‘torture the little girl’, and Harry steps in to prevent her (OotP, 783), and again in the final battle: 

'Bellatrix was still fighting too, fifty yards away from Voldemort, and like her master she dueled three at once: Hermione, Ginny, and Luna, all battling their hardest, but Bellatrix was equal to them, and Harry’s attention was diverted as a Killing Curse shot so close to Ginny that she missed death by an inch—  He changed course, running at Bellatrix rather than Voldemort, but before he had gone a few steps he was knocked sideways…’ (DH, 589)

As Harry waits for the killing curse, we see the most direct parallel with Ginny's final kiss to him:

‘None of the Death Eaters moved. They were waiting: everything was waiting. Hagrid was struggling, and Bellatrix was panting, and Harry thought inexplicably of Ginny, and her blazing look, and the feel of her lips on his — ’ (DH, 564)

There's such an intense physicality and breathlessness to the whole scene, and an enduring pseudo-sexual tension, with Bellatrix audibly panting. Even the sentence structure even invokes the kissing scene: the run-on build up of clauses, the repetition of the present participle to actively hold the reader in one present moment, building and building and ending on a dash, the promise of something more.

At the end of his life, Harry returns to the memory Ginny gave him. She meant for it to be useful, if he was to go to his death. And at the close of his life he chooses to use it, as he prepares to leave her behind in this world and depart for the next. Just as the Resurrection Stone helped accept death, so too does the memory of Ginny. He feels the memory of her, the sensation of physical touch and of being kissed, the look she gives him that he knows as one of love and great courage. As he is killed, he remembers her last gift to him, the certainty of her love for him impressed upon him.

--

There's a line in OotP that I think is such an underrated line that sums up who Ginny is as a character. Harry is trying to get to Umbridge's fire to speak to Sirius when he thinks the latter is being tortured at the Ministry; Hermione suggests using Ginny and Luna as a distraction, despite Harry's objections:

'Though clearly struggling to understand what was going on, Ginny said immediately, ‘Yeah, we’ll do it,'... (OotP, 736)

This is who Ginny is. It's especially who she is to Harry, during the war. She doesn't fully know what's actually being asked of Harry (and, by extension, what is being asked of her, as the person who loves him, and who has most to lose if he is to die). But even when kept in the dark, she is enormously selfless, and her biggest act of bravery is extremely quiet. She keeps the secret Harry accidentally bestows on her, and she realises, in some sense, before he does, what it will likely mean for his life. She chooses to let him go on, knowing that he is loved, to make the path that he is on a little bit easier, even when she has realised that it will take him away from her for good.

#well that was longer that it needed to be #when in doubt write your way thru ur thoughts #pointing out foreshadowing and gasping is a full time job #justice for the birthday smooch basically #man said: blissful oblivion and also oblivion as in my DEATH #too deep in this to work out if this is even insight at this point #hp analysis #meta #harry/ginny #harry and ginny #hinny #harry x ginny #harry potter #ginny weasley #deathly hallows

[ladyvillainous]

Eric Coulter NSFW Alphabet

Was tidying up some of my WIP folders and stumbled across this so here have another alphabet. This may be a little out of character for some fans, but it's consistent with my version of his character from my full length fic on Wattpad and the imagines on here.

A Aftercare

(What they’re like after sex)

He's usually quite quick to fall asleep if you're getting down and dirty in your own bed, he'll pull you into his arms and drift off quite contentedly. If you're grabbing a quickie in between meetings or tasks he'll pull out, tidy himself up and be on his way. Leaving you a quivering mess with nothing more than a quick kiss and a self-satisfied grin on his face

B Body part

(Their favourite body part of theirs and also their partner’s)

Eric's pretty happy with his entire body having worked very hard to get in the shape he has, but if he had to pick, he'd say his arms and hands. If pressed he'd say it's because he can choke someone out just by wrapping his arm around their neck or do some serious damage with his fists. Privately he also likes how willingly you climb into his arms, sighing when he wraps you in his arms, he likes that you feel safe with him despite how brutal and violent he can be. I also think Eric would be a breast man, liking a good handful but nothing comically large. If he's had a hard day, he likes nothing more than to pull you into his lap and bury his face in your chest.

C Cum

(Anything to do with cum basically… I’m a disgusting person)

Like most men he hates condoms and would much prefer to just cum inside you which is why he's so very grateful for the Dauntless standard issue birth control. While he doesn't actually want kids, he does have a slight breeding kink in that he loves to fill you up and imagine what it would be like if you were to get pregnant though he barely admits that to himself let alone you.

D Dirty Secret

(Pretty self-explanatory, a dirty secret of theirs)

Eric's very dominant clearly and that translates to the bedroom as well but at the same time he gravitates towards a partner that would give as good as they got, this means sex is a constant powerplay between the two of you. He's never told you but sometimes he lets you win when he's in the mood to be dominated. He's even fantasised about you tying him up when he masturbates but has never actually voiced it because it rubs right up against his control issues.

E Experience

(How experienced are they? Do they know what they’re doing?)

He's good looking and well-built and before Dauntless he was just your standard cocky arrogant Erudite, which didn't bother any of the girls of his previous faction so yes lots of experience. At Dauntless he's carefully cultivated a menacing scary reputation; it tends to attract the more extreme dauntless women, but his apparent lack of interest has them moving on quickly. It's also widely known that the two of you are together and while you're less prone to physical violence than Eric everyone knows not to mess with your man if they want to live to tell the tale. In terms of prowess Eric wants to be the best at everything so he will have practised and read books and practised some more, the man knows what he's doing.

F Favourite Position

 (This goes without saying. Will probably include a visual)

He doesn't have a favourite position because he wants them all, his moods change so quickly you regularly get whiplash so he's constantly changing things up depending on his and your mood. If you're both pent up after a hard day he might just taking you against the wall of your shower, or maybe he gets up in the morning to find you cooking breakfast in his T-shirt which you know will always end with him bending you over the counter roughly. While not usually one for public sex he's not adverse to a last night session on the mats in the training room after sparring, who goes on top will always be determined by who won the fight. 

G Goofy

(Are they more serious in the moment, or are they humorous, etc)

He definitely likes to tease you but he's never goofy, usually very serious and focused on making you both feel good.

H Hair

(How well-groomed are they, does the carpet match the drapes, etc.)

Neat and tidy but no excessive manscaping, he does have a grid style tattoo that matches the ones on his arms adorning his lower abdomen and dipping below the line of his boxers.

I Intimacy

(How are they during the moment, romantic aspect…)

Eric is extremely passionate and focused when in the moment it's not traditionally romantic, but you can't help but getting swept away by his intensity.

J Jack Off

(Masturbation head canon)

Because you both work long tiring shifts and have to keep up your training you don't always have the energy to be intimate. When it's been more than a few days Eric finds other ways to alleviate his tension, but he always thinks of you when he does.

K Kink

(One or more of their kinks)

Slight contradictory and secret breeding kink given his view on kids. Known preference for dominance with an occasional switch which he thinks you don't notice but you do. Is slightly into bondage in that he likes to tie or handcuff you to your shared bed when he's feeling particularly dominant.

L Location

(Favourite places to do the do)

He'll happy get down wherever and whenever the two of you are in the mood, even semi-public if private enough. Particularly likes shower sex, something about the hot steamy water and your slippery wet skin really gets him going. Doesn't hurt that he has to pin you to the wall whatever position you opt for.

M Motivation

(What turns them on, gets them going)

His mood is a huge determining factor, if he's angry or frustrated or keyed up after sparring he knows the quickest way to burn that off and get control of himself is to lose himself in you and you are usually more than happy to help. If he's tired and not in the mood initially wearing nothing but one of his t-shirts will change that fast. He's also more than happy to help you burn off any excess tension letting you use him as you need. You don't often get that worked up, but he can't help but get turned on when you stomp into your apartment in a towering temper, even more so when it’s directed at him strangely. 

N NO

(Something they wouldn’t do, turn offs)

He's not opposed to rough play such as light choking, biting hard enough to leave a mark or just rough handling in general, leading to bruises but he'd never seriously hurt you during sex even if you asked him to. Firstly, he doesn't want to cause you any serious harm. Secondly, he'd doesn't want to push his scary reputation that far and his girlfriend walking around with any visible injuries not sustained in the ring would do exactly that. Lastly, he worries just what he might do even to you if he lost control.

O Oral

(Preference in giving or receiving, skill, etc)

He loves to go down on you the noises you make are so sexy he could listen to them all night and has once or twice, he's very talented with both his tongue and his fingers having long since perfected his technique. He's just as happy receiving, he doesn't think there's any view in the world better than you on your knees with your lips around him. 

P Pace

(Are they fast and rough? Slow and sensual? etc.)

As with location his mood plays a major part so again, he changes it up, often the exact opposite to what you'd expect always keeping you guessing. Usually when he arrives home in a bad mood you can expect to get railed (happily) against the nearest wall. But on occasion he has dragged you into the bedroom tied you to your bed and proceeded to tease you mercilessly, slowly and sensually until you're begging for relief. He switches it up the other way too on a lazy day off you wake up expecting slow passionate morning sex, but instead he flips you over and pounds you into the mattress. Sometimes you swear he's doing it just to keep you on your toes and you'd be right.

Q Quickie

(Their opinions on quickies rather than proper sex, how often, etc.)

All depends on mood, time and opportunity but as a general rule he'll take you anyway he can get you luckily, you're in full agreement.

R Risk

(Are they game to experiment, do they take risks, etc.)

He definitely likes to experiment especially when you first got together, he wanted to know what you liked and what would get you to make those noises he loved to hear. He wanted to know exactly what he had to do to make you scream his name and forget your own.

S Stamina

(How many rounds can they go for, how long do they last…)

Eric's stamina is deceptive, on days on long physically draining days you'd expect him to be too tired but those are also the days when he can go all night and does. It's the long tedious days when he's been stuck in his office not doing anything physical that drain him the most. Those are usually the days he pulls you into his arms and falls straight to sleep.

T Toy

(Do they own toys? Do they use them? On a partner or themselves?)

Handcuffs and rope are a staple of a good sex life as far as he's concerned. He's used a few of the more exotic toys manufactured by Erudite in his time but found he got bored of them quickly, preferring to make use of his own hands in new and different ways. He'd be lowkey offended if a toy could be better than him anyway. 

U Unfair

(How much they like to tease)

When he's of a mood to tease you will be in agony, tears running down your face begging for relief before he'll give in, but those are also the most earth-shattering orgasms of your life, so you don't complain too loudly. You couldn't take it every day however so you're grateful it's more by exception than rule.

V Volume

(How loud they are, what sounds they make)

In the privacy of your apartment, he doesn't bother to control his volume but he's not overly loud or effusive anyway. The sounds he makes are usually more grunts of effort, and moans of pleasure than actually words, he's not one for dirty talk. 

W Wild Card

(Get a random head canon for the character of your choice)

I'm so bad with this question my mind always goes blank!

X X-Ray

(Let’s see what’s going on in those pants, picture, or words)

He's not comically pornstar large but he is above average in length and girth. Unusually for someone of his size he also knows how to use it to full effect rather than just resting on being a bit larger than average.

Y Yearning

(How high is their sex drive?)

Before you he masturbated every few days, more if he was frustrated or didn't have a girl of the month to play with. Now he has you it's not often you go more than a few days between sessions, both of you getting frustrated if it goes longer. It's noticeable to the people you work closest with, not that they'd ever dare say it to either of you, but they can tell when one of you has been sent on some task for a few days, leaving the other alone in the compound. They can also tell when the other returns because the following day you're both much more relaxed than usual.

Z ZZZ

(… how quickly they fall asleep afterwards)

Eric gives you his all whether it's a long session or a quickie so if you're in bed and not due anywhere else you're both going to drift off wrapped in one another’s arms very quickly.

#eric coulter fluff #eric coulter fanfiction #ericcoulter #eric coulter smut #eric coulter imagine #divergent imagine #divergentfanfiction #divergent fanfiction #divergent

[laundrybiscuits]

Found myself reading some old Inception fic and felt the urge to poke at an AU idea—I know ST fandom skews a little young, so I genuinely don’t know how many people will even get this. If there are Inception primers out there, I haven’t bothered to find them, so…you’re on your own, kids. 

“Absolutely not. I do my own forges.” Eddie sweeps the file off the table and directly into the trashcan; admittedly, it’s not the most mature thing he’s ever done, but Henderson’s getting on his last goddamned nerve. 

The little twerp has the fucking audacity to roll his eyes and groan, like Eddie’s the one being unreasonable. “I know this guy, don’t be a dick. He can do it. Don’t you wanna focus on your super special architect stuff?”

“What you and every other dumbass dilettante drowser don’t seem to grasp is that my architecture is alive, and I breathe life into it via my meticulously crafted characters. I create richly textured worlds, Henderson, and I populate them myself. That’s why I’m the best in the fucking business: because I understand that the people and the setting are one and the same, and I can handle both.”

“Eddie.” Henderson crouches to grab the file out of the trash, and smacks it back down on the table. “I’m running this team, and I’m saying I don’t want anything like what happened in Munich to ever happen again. Okay?”

“Low blow, kid,” snaps Eddie. “Munich wasn’t on me.” 

“I know, jeez. I just…” Henderson takes a second to tap the loose sheets in the file back into place, then stands there with his lips pressed together like he’s keeping something in. After a moment, he just says, “This isn’t going to be Munich. Because Steve’s going to be here.”

———

It’s not Munich. It’s not Munich at all. It is the furthest fucking thing from Munich possible. 

Eddie’s never had a job go that smoothly—and it’s not down to Henderson’s obsessive prep, because it should’ve been a slippery one. The kind of job that twisted partway through into something frustratingly unexpected, forcing them to improvise and take whatever half-win they could squeeze out of the mark’s subconscious while dodging completely unexpected security. 

Instead, it’s so incredibly not-Munich that the client gives them a fucking bonus, and when was the last time that happened? The bonus is generous enough that Eddie’s share can cover a whole new safehouse in Melbourne, which should have been great news, something to celebrate, except for the absolutely unholy amount of smugness now radiating from Henderson.

Eddie avoids the I-told-you-so conversation as long as he can, but he can’t run forever.

“I told you so,” says Henderson, flopping unceremoniously into the dark wooden chair next to Eddie.

“This is a library, dude. Keep your fuckin’ voice down,” says Eddie, without much hope. He’d heard Henderson was supposed to be meeting up with Sinclair in Lima this week; so much for that intel.

Henderson waves a dismissive hand, gesturing vaguely at the domed skylight high overhead. “It’s not like a library library. It’s basically a museum.”

“The goddamn State Library of Victoria is absolutely one hundred percent a library library, genius. See all the books? But also, do you think people go around yelling in museums?”

“Maybe they should! What we should be focusing on now, though, is that I was right about Steve, and I think it’s important for our working relationship that you acknowledge I was right.”

“I don’t have to acknowledge shit,” says Eddie, slumping down and ignoring the glares they’re starting to get from everyone in the atrium. “Anyone ever tell you you’re an egomaniac, kid? I don’t even get why you’re so hot on the guy, anyway. He’s like—the least imaginative forger I’ve ever met.”

It comes out a little harsher than he’d meant it. It’s just that forgers, as a people, tend to be easily swept into flights of fancy.

Eddie’s always sort of thought it was a requirement of the profession: when he’s inhabiting a character, part of his mind is always working to generate the little details that make them feel like a whole person. Their secret fears and even more secret hopes. How they deal with boredom or anger, what their gut reactions are. The small gaps between how they see themselves and how others see them. That’s where Eddie thrives, and he thinks that if he were less hooked on the magic of spinning up entire worlds for marks to wander through, he might forge full-time, just for the thrill of riding that uncertainty. It’s how he was taught, but clearly, Steve learned something different.

What Steve does isn’t really classical forging—not in the way Eddie thinks about it, usually. Steve just…walks into a situation, says some stuff, maybe gives the mark a smile all warm and private like a whispered secret. And then the mark folds. It’s maddening how easy Steve makes it look. Oh, he’ll pull on the right costumes and tweak his physicality a little, but it’s always still just Steve underneath. 

Maybe that’s the trick. Eddie’s forges work because he crafts lavishly detailed lies; Steve’s forges work because there’s some kind of real, solid honesty at the core. 

“I’m going to ignore the hurtful thing you just said because I know you hate to admit it when I’m right and you’re wrong,” Henderson informs him. “You really gotta work on that. More importantly, I’ve got a lead on a new job, and Steve already said yes.”

It’s not like Eddie needs the money. Henderson’s a nightmare to work with. And there’s the, y’know. The Steve Harrington of it all. Eddie has a million reasons to say no.

“Yeah, whatever,” he says instead. “When do we start?”

#not the start of a new thing! just a napkin scribble! #weirdly I think the most challenging part of writing this was shifting my core concept of the boys away from Just Some Guy #personally I'm not super drawn to rockstar or royalty AUs for them bc they're so intensely Just Some Guy to me #more specifically I find it fascinating how they deal with the absence of social validation in different ways #Inception AU

[that-nerd-who-writes-fanfiction]

Angsty fight/venting alternate ending

(Part two to this)

For @guiltyscarlet and @aceauthorcatqueen who asked for the angsty ending

CW for major character death. I’m not sure if this counts as dark!Arthur but there is murder scene so mild description of injury. There’s also self destruction from Merlin, possibly self harm, I’m not sure where it falls, and a mental breakdown or two here as well. Also canonical character death right at the end but it’s not graphic.

You’ve all been warned. You’re responsible for your online media consumption so take care of yourselves and don’t read if you think this will negatively affect you.

(Click more for angsty shit.)

I imagine this version to happen around season 5, if it was the hurt/comfort version, I’d say between season seasons 2/3 but the angst needs more time to have the full effect. Merlin is worried because of Mordred and the disir and everything else going on.

After Arthur says “Really. All you do is follow orders. It’s not hard.” Merlin looks over, angry and upset, but when he sees Arthur’s attempt at caring, tears start pooling in his eyes.

Arthur looks startled, unsure what to do, when Merlin looks away, shakes his head and whispers brokenly “Fight me” and it sounds so defeated, like really the last words of a man who’s officially given up. Arthur doesn’t move, and Merlin looks up again, something pleading in his eyes, as he begs, “Fight me. Please.”

Arthur’s in new territory now, their fights have never had anything other than frustration or anger or irritation, occasionally jealousy after that one time where he thought someone was flirting with Merlin Arthur would never admit to. But Merlin seems like he’s just going to use it to get beat up and hurt more. It goes against what they do, and he’s seen Knights fall to similar fates after such things got too far. So Arthur is terrified, he doesn’t want to lose Merlin and doesn’t know how to help so he can keep him.

So he asks “What’s going on?” Breaking the script and throwing Merlin off. Which definitely isn’t something he needs, while he’s that close to a breakdown all he really wants is to remember that the world will keep going forward so he can figure out how to keep going forward too, he really just needs a constant that he can rely on. Arthur’s attitude tends to be a pendulum swing between an array of things depending on multiple factors out of Merlin’s control so he can never figure out what side he’s going to get. So he’s resorted to their fight vents. It’s also not what he needs, but it’s consistent. He can shout or scream, throw a punch, take a punch or two, and then focus on the ache in his muscles instead of the pain in his chest and head.

Merlin doesn’t reply to Arthur’s question, instead he stands up and drops his stance, telling Arthur again to fight him. Arthur knows he isn’t going to get anywhere so he stands up too and as soon as he’s on his feet, Merlin is throwing a punch at him. Arthur manages to partially dodge, taking a hit to his shoulder instead of his face.

It’s right over the questing beast scar, if anyone’s wondering. If I was properly writing this, I’d have a parallel between Arthur’s scars from times Merlin’s saved him and where Merlin is hitting. Probably something about all the times Merlin saved him and how because they’re two sides of the same coin, destroying himself is destroying Arthur too.

Anyway.

Arthur realises how much it hurt, and how Merlin really isn’t pulling any punches now. He starts fighting back, properly defending himself while Merlin dances around him. With each punch there’s choked back sobs or hitches in his breath.

Arthur realises Merlin is crying and tries to help him with something of their normal routine. It helps Arthur, so hopefully it’ll help Merlin too. It doesn’t, of course. But he does try.

He tries taunting Merlin into talking about it, “don’t cry, your fighting skills aren’t that bad.”

Merlin growls through his tears, biting back, “Why? Not worth my tears?” As he attacks viciously and relentlessly.

It confuses Arthur, because that’s what he said about the dragonlord years ago. “You can’t cry over every fallen soldier.” Arthur bites out, dodging a particularly harsh punch aimed at his jaw. And he’s known that lesson for a long time, he kept it with him when he lost young knights while he was still a prince, all his fallen comrades, his best knight, his brother in law, all of them.

“He wasn’t a soldier!” Merlin screamed as Arthur felt his head snap to the side with a punch to his jaw. It’d definitely bruise, but he could blame it on training. “He wasn’t supposed to die!” Another punch knocks Arthur over, “I was supposed to save him!” Merlin jumps on him, and Arthur can barely process that, only just rolling out of the way from instinct alone. Merlin doesn’t move away to come after Arthur, just crumbles on the floor, punching the stone weakly while sobbing.

“It’s my fault.” He says brokenly, “I couldn’t save them, how can I save you?” His body is wracked with sobs, he can hardly see for the tears blurring his eyes, and Arthur is behind him unsure what to do.

Merlin gets a ringing in his ears, sharp and piercing and he can hear his heart beating, breath comes short to him, images of Mordred thrusting a sword into Arthur’s middle playing over and over in his head.

“I- I couldn’t- I can’t-“ he’s clutching at his throat, trying to breathe, trying to think of anything to say, as he scrambles at his neckerchief, he can’t get it off. In a moment of clarity, he desperately cries out, “Arthur?”

Arthur is there, ripping through the fabric and rubbing up and down Merlin’s back to get him to breathe.

“Why is it your responsibility to protect people better equipped to handle dangerous situations than you are?” Arthur asks quietly, not fighting anymore but Merlin shrugs him off.

“They aren’t knights.” He’s gritting his teary and the words have a bite Arthur knows means Merlin isn’t done. “Will, Freya, Balinor, they weren’t knights.” Merlin gets angrier and angrier as he’s speaking, “and I’m not some hopeless wimp like you think I am, Sire.”

Merlin pushes himself up and paces the length of the fire place. “It’s my duty to keep you safe.”

“You’re not a knight!”

Arthur stands up too, yelling in frustration at not understanding what’s going on with Merlin. He’s frustrated at Merlin for being stubborn and at himself for not knowing what to do. Clearly, Merlin wants to fight. Both times he tried letting him speak, Merlin went back to biting and anger and whatever else was left as a result of his pain. Now he’s hopelessly letting Merlin lead him but Merlin isn’t in the mental state to know what he needs.

It’s a new situation for them both, and they’re struggling.

They argue some more, Merlin shoves Arthur back a few times when he’s unintentionally insensitive. “Balinor wasn’t even necessary for defeating the dragon!” “I can protect myself just fine without you cowering behind trees ten feet away!” “William was a sorcerer!”

At some point, Merlin snaps, shoves Arthur back again though not hard enough to fall, and yells that he has magic. Arthur, feeling betrayed and already frustrated from their fight not working, throws a full force, vicious punch. Merlin palms it, and starts yelling about everything he’s done.

Arthur’s getting angrier, and angrier, and angrier. And he isn’t truly angry, he’s hurt, betrayed, confused, lost, afraid, and a billion and one other emotions all at once. But anger is easier to feel, so he defaults to that.

Arthur stars really fighting Merlin, yelling about the lies and “how could he keep this a secret? Why would he lie for ten years?” Merlin doesn’t even have a chance to reply, too busy dodging or minimising the damage Arthur can do. It’s reversed at this point, and Arthur is the one trained to kill with hand to hand.

Merlin is struggling to keep up.

His nose is definitely broken, he’s covered in bruises, his muscles are burning and he’s more focused on just getting Arthur to calm down.

It doesn’t work, and at some point, Merlin ends up pressed against the wall with Arthur pinning him by the throat. Arthur’s still yelling his questions and accusations about Merlin’s magic. It takes a while, he’s pinned and loosing air for a few minutes.

It never even crosses his mind to use it to get away when Arthur starts pressing too hard against his windpipe and Merlin’s vision starts blurring and fading darker.

Arthur notices this and yells at Merlin to defend himself and fight back, Merlin only rasps out, “won’t hurt you,” before going limp. Arthur steps back, and Merlin crumples to the floor.

It’s at that point that he sees Merlin bleeding from a gaping head wound and notices his knuckles broken from where his rings have shattered them during their fight. He panics and pulls off his shirt to press to the head wound.

Arthur is left trying to stop the bleeding, he scoops Merlin up, calls for guards and grabs the first aid kit Merlin made him keep in his rooms a few months after working for Arthur (after the Sophia incident) the guards come in and he immediately sends them to Gaius, starting to stitch Merlin’s head and doing everything he can.

Merlin’s breath is fading and his heart rate is sluggish at best.

It takes another five minutes for Gaius to get there, by that time it’s too late and Merlin is going to die.

Gaius knows this, and the most he can do is give Merlin pain killers, but even if he survives he won’t wake up and he’ll have a few weeks at most of being comatose because of medieval medicine. (This is not historically accurate, but I can’t be arsed with research)

Arthur can’t accept this. He keeps trying to stop Merlin’s bleeding and covering his head in honey to fight infection and anything else that isn’t doing anything. Gaius tries to pull Arthur away but he refuses, and threatens Gaius with execution if he stops Arthur from saving his Merlin.

In the end, Arthur is working on Merlin’s head for two hours before he stops breathing and his heart gives out fully and half an hour after he’s died. Gaius declares Merlin dead and Arthur can do nothing but scream. It takes four knights to hold him down so they can take Merlin’s body away.

Arthur still doesn’t understand why Merlin wanted to fight him, and it takes him a long time to remember anything Merlin said about magic, or Balinor, or protecting Arthur. By the time he remembers, Gaius has left Camelot in his grief so he has no one to ask for answers.

Arthur goes mad, seeking answers from Druids and other magic users, all the stories about Emrys make him believe people are lying to him because Merlin couldn’t be the most powerful sorcerer and not tell him about it. After Merlin lied for ten years, Arthur closes himself off and doesn’t trust anyone. He’s paranoid and in his Paranoia, he’s killed by Mordred who’s angry that Arthur killed Emrys, the golden age doesn’t happen and magic fades from the land.

The end :)

—

Thoughts?? Hope you enjoyed :)

I tried to keep it as mild as I could, if I wrote this properly it’d most likely end up a lot more graphic and with a lot more character analysis and emotional shit. I don’t know what I’m allowed to post on here but this is about as mild as I can make it without loosing any of the important bits.

I could easily write 20-30k of this but I’m not starting anything new at the moment. I might come back to it at some point to turn it into a full fic but it won’t be for a while yet. I’ll see what the dopamine decides when I have time and energy for another project.

#bbc merlin #merlin #merlin emrys #arthur pendragon #merlin bbc #angst #hurt/no comfort #merlin fanfic #merlin fic #merthur #sort of #I never said it was happy merthur #i’m bad at tagging

[lqtraintracks]

Is there a difference between what you find the hottest in smut and what you find the hottest in reality? Are there parallels?

You sure came in here with a banger, didn't you?

I let this marinate for a few days (a week?) something like that. The trick is probably going to be in giving a genuine answer that also doesn’t bare all of me and my secret fantasies to the internet. The answer would be a little more detailed in a circle of friends rather than shared on the tumbles. 

Be that as it may (under a cut because of sexual topics):

Is there are difference? Yes. Are there parallels? Yes, and even hell yes.

I write things I would never want to try myself. Watersports. Great on the page. SUPER hot. It can be hot to me when other people engage in it; under certain circumstances I could watch it. Have less than zero interest in doing it.

There are plenty of things I find hot both on the page and in my own mind that would be hard nos in reality. Deep-throating? Hot in fic. Sometimes in porn, though it has to be ~just right~. In reality, it’s a hell no for me. No shame to people for whom it is a hell yes! That’s why I love writing it! It’s hot. In theory. And when I’m in control of how it happens and to whom, and I can zoom in on their inner thoughts and desires while it happens. That’s what makes it hot for me more than even the thing itself. 

That said, yes, there are plenty of parallels. There are plenty of things that I write that I also love to do, have done, etc. I will leave that to your imagination! But I’ve realized pretty recently that I’m sort of gray ace and demi as well as queer. I would rather read about most things, write most things, than do them. Doesn’t mean I haven’t done and enjoyed a lot of them or won’t again. I’ve lived what I can safely say is likely more than half the life I’m going to get. I’ve done a lot. I’ve tried a lot that I loved, that I hated, that I’m neutral about, that was bad with one person but then great with another. I’ve been top, bottom, Dom, sub, tried lots of positions and role plays and places and kinks and sorts of people. I’ve had traumatic experiences and ecstatic ones. I’ve had boring sex and off-putting sex and one night stands and years-long relationships, good and bad. I have an extremely prolific sexual imagination, and I enjoy my own company. If you know what I mean.

But there’s a reason I write so much smut. I absolutely love it. When I’m writing sex, I’m both in complete control and absolutely uninhibited. I bare my soul with all my clothes still on. I write characters having near-religious experiences with each other and can simultaneously give them orgasms and soul-shattering love. It’s messy but only in the ways that I decree. If I want to do something realistic and have someone stop in the middle of anal sex because they feel like they’re about to shit themselves (and their partner) I can—but I don’t have to! It’s idealized, which makes it both less and more than real sex. I can experience hate sex without hating anyone! I can explore pain play more than I could probably stand in real life (giving or receiving). It’s a different kind of creative act, sometimes fueled by actual sexual fantasies but just as much by my writer’s drive to try something new with my art and to explore characters without limitations.

I hope this yes-and-no answer isn’t too unsatisfying. If so, just go read some smut instead! I’ve found that tends to do the trick. :D

Thanks for the balls-out ask! I had fun thinking about it! <3

#saucy asks #lovely asks #lqt talks about sex #lqt talks about writing smut

[souonsu]

Genshin Modern AU Headcannons: Texting Styles

Warning: There’s cursing (because someone was being rude and an ass to one of the characters OTL) and mentioning of 18+ things.

Characters: Diluc, Kaeya, Dainsleif, Ajax/Tartaglia All imagines are with a GN reader. 😘

(Note: I’m listing these headcannons under my Genshin modern AU, but these headcannons work as standalones regardless of my AU ideas.)

Diluc: He keeps things simple and to the essentials.

Proper Grammar.

Keeps autocorrect and autospelling, auto anything is kept enabled. If there's quality-of-life functions to be utilized, they will be used.

Will definitely unsend/delete messages if there are enough errors or just doesn't like it and then retypes and sends it again. Otherwise, he’ll follow up with text correction with an asterisk (though it's rarely seen unless it's a particular slang or name spelling).

Rarely uses "lol" in favor of "haha" OR even rarer, the laughing emoji when he’s actually laughing harder than usual.

He does use some some abbreviations and convenient shorthands that just help with cutting down on time spent typing. 

On that note of emojis, Diluc uses emojis sparingly, but you'll see it more often if he feels that he’s close to you and will sound a little more casual.

He is most often using the normal smiley, 🙂. 

Tends to keep his texts short and to the point, but once in awhile....you may see longer texts from him if he’s explaining something. Nothing outrageous because he gives rather clear instructions and cuts all the fluff. That’s typical of him.

While they are to the point, they aren’t curt or cold (unless your POV is kaeya....in which that case Diluc really becomes curt).

You’ll feel his emotions come through. His warmth will show up in his text when he’s concerned or his silent anger....when he’s angry....(I encourage all to evacuate the premise if you feel endangered in any way.)

How long does it take for him to reply: He’ll usually get back to you or he’ll give you a timeframe of when he’ll get back to you or answer your text/inquiry. He’s usually on top of his responses unless he’s super busy, in which he’ll apologize for the long wait and get right into responding.

He’lll try not to leave you on read, unless of course the aforementioned busy state he could be in considering his workload or assignments OR unless you’re Kaeya. Yeah, he can be cold to his bro. Just doesn’t have time for his shenanigans sometimes. 

Sample of getting back to you about your proposal:

D: Just looked through it. I have made notes on the margins for suggestions. Of course, these are just suggestions. Feel free to ignore them if they’re irrelevant.  D: All right, ttyl. Send me your revised proposal if you want me to look through it again.  D: Just finishing up my own and submitting it before the end of the week.

Sample of him texting you if you two are dating:

D: Morning, y/n.🙂 D: Just wanted to text you that before you get out today. D: I’ll be honest. I couldn’t sleep last night. Probably just nerves. Kaeya would laugh at me if I told him, which is why I won’t. D: I can’t wait to see you in a bit. D: Please text me if anything comes up.

Yes, yes. He’s so sweet. Please let me have him. Also, he definitely debated which emoji to send in that second to last text.  “Is another smiley emoji too eager? How about 🥰? No...no. That’s too much.” It reminded him too much of what Kaeya would do and he just mentally eyerolls or groans in response. The reminder causes him pain and makes him feel embarrassed. “Maybe I shouldn’t add an emoji at all? Ugh. There...I sent it.” By the way, he really wanted to send this emoji, 😌, because that’s how he felt, but didn’t. Although, he immediately starts second guessing himself and wishes he could retract it, but ultimately accepts it. He accepts his fate. 

When the two of you start dating for longer, he won’t have to second guess himself anymore because you’ll know him so well. Be easy on him, he doesn’t have any dating experience, but boy does he try. He tries his best on top of Kaeya laughing at him at every turn.

As a side thing, Diluc would be real shy and quiet whenever you guys are talking on the phone because he feels like it’s surreal to hear your voice over the phone. He feels like phone calls are more intimate. Staying quiet is a good way for him to hide his nervousness from you.

Kaeya: He keeps things classy and relatively chill. 😉

Proper Grammar and stylistically due to his literature background.😏

Keeps auto-punctuation enabled, but has autocorrect/auto-spelling off because he knows how to spell (occasionally forgets the spelling of the flavorful and less used words), but also because he just likes to use slang and make sure his phone doesn’t autocorrect the names he types.😕

He’ll use abbreviations in texting like your lols and lmaos, ttyl, imo, and so on, Not the type to make up abbreviations of his own unless they’re inside jokes between you two.😀

Yes, he’ll use quotations as “air quotations” and expect to see italics for all things sussy. 

If you haven’t caught on yet, yes, the smug emoji is representative of him 😏 and is seen in most of his texts because he knows the tea and wants to know other people’s tea.

You can kind of expect him to use all the emojis at his disposal except the really loud ones like: 🤬🥵😭🙀. Yeah sorry, he doesn’t do cat emojis...but he might make exception if the person he’s dating likes cats.🤭 Anything to please his partner or bring a smile to his friend’s face.

Definitely changes the hand emojis to match his skin tone. No doubt about that.💅

His text lines is variety just depending on what he’s talking about or replying, there’s no real limit, except I don’t think he would ever do those longgggggggg paragraph texts. Yeah, that’s not very classy to him.😕 If he needs to type that much, he might as well call them or meet up.

It might be hard to discern if Kaeya is being sarcastic or genuine sometimes because he always seems to be hiding behind his emojis. Sometimes he’ll use emojis deliberately to mask what he’s really feeling... 😟

How long does it take for him to reply: He almost always has his phone on him and on hand, so it’s safe to say he’ll respond relatively quickly if not right away, but once in awhile he might just leave some people on read if it’s the non-essential or some pesky acquaintances. 🤭

The thing about him is, he talks to nearly everyone, but how close he is to each is varied and actually only talks to a few on a daily basis who he can share all his gossip and personal updates like Diluc, Dainsleif, Rosaria, and Lisa. The list goes on for a little longer...

Sample of texting to Lisa:

K: Remember how I told you about Beidou from L College being Ninggaung’s lackey for the week?👀 K: Well, I think they’re dating now.🤭 K: I have heard so much from my sources as of late, I can’t wait to share it with you. K:🧐 K: I think this is enough to warrant a phone call or a coffee break. You let me know.

Sample of texting you to go out on a date:

K: Hey there, y/n. K: I wanted to ask you in person, but I didn’t get the chance with you speeding off to your next class. As usual...😩 K: But I was hoping we could meet up for a coffee date at the spot I was talking to you about. 😏 K: Anytime is good with me. I’m pretty flexible. 😉

Confident guy, but secretly hoping you have time and won’t reject him right away.  He was typing, “unless you don’t want to...,” but then deleted it because he really wanted you to say yes and doesn’t want to leave an inch for you to turn away from him.

He enjoys phone calls more than Diluc for any situation. Hearing him laugh or chuckle through the phone is a treat. Not to mention whenever he hums a “hmm” lowly. Ohhh, it’s delectable.🤭 If only he knew how it makes Kaeya simps feel to hear all that.😩  

Dainsleif: At this point, he really should just trademark the thumbs up emoji.

I’m sure you can pick up from the short blurb that Dain really doesn’t type much at all and will mostly just uses some hand emojis to respond to most texts. Honestly, it should be talent.

Sometimes it can drive some people nuts over what he means when they’re texting him something urgent like “omg, I’m having a panic attack,” and he just goes “👍.“ Like do you mean, “cool story bro” or “good on you for dying right now.”

Maybe he doesn’t care, but people will never know because he doesn’t really make it known. I mean...you have to be either the bravest or angriest person ever to confront him about it. Most times, I think people just leave it at that because it might hurt their pride a little knowing what he really thought. The guy can be pretty blunt and cold.

Honestly, he might not even get to text a thumbs up emoji when you’re having a panic attack because he’s not always on his phone. Especially, when he’s working and he’ll see the text like....god knows when. Although, as someone who I consider as tech-savy, he can always link up his texts to his laptop. So, I guess he straight up either silence the texts or ignore that text....I’m kidding, he would have never ignore something that dire if he has the person on his contacts (and kept that contact...) Thank goodness he’s not in the medical field.

He’s definitely the type you want to talk to in-person if you want his honest answer. Texts are only so good to a certain point. 

Texting is for scheduling for meet ups or phone calls. Or simply a way for him to get quick updates from someone.

Needless to say, his texts are super short, if he types anything, and even more to-the-point than Diluc’s.

Yeah, he’s not a great conversationalist over texts at all.

He’s quite infuriating to those who are fast texters or prefer texting over to phone calls.

However, he’s not entirely neglectful. It just depends on who is sending him texts.

He doesn’t use a whole lot of punctuation, but his texts aren’t long so they’re very clear  

How long does it take for him to reply: Well.....it depends. If you’re not high on the list of priority, maybe never. He’ll straight up leave you on read like what he does to Kaeya sometimes, but Kaeya finds ways to grab his interests, which leads Dain to reply sooner than usual.

Sample of texts with someone from the same major as him:

Monday 7:06 PM Guy: Did you manage to recover the files for Fred? Dain: 👍 Guy: Awesome👍

Wednesday 8:23 PM Guy: We just arrived at Jerry’s party! where u at? Dain: 🦶 Guy: I’m assuming ure walking over then... Wednesday 9:30 PM Guy: Dude, it’s been like a hr, where u at? Guy: People are starting to wonder if ure coming at all... Guy: Please get here soon! Wednesday 11:43 PM Guy: Dude, did u leave early? I don’t c u anywere. [Left on read.] 

Thursday 1:45 PM Guy: Man screw u. I heard u left with cynthia! Bet u guys screwed!! Guy: Fak u, thinking ure the shyt or something! [Contact deleted. Conversation deleted.]

They did indeed have s*x only because she asked nicely and Dain was not in a relationship. Dain’s a gentleman who doesn’t mind casual s*x, but also who is he to deny a nice lady asking politely (or anybody asking politely in general😉). Beats hanging with douchebags. He has no time for drama or toxicity. He cuts them off right away.

Sample of a text to you when you’re dating him:

Dain: Hey Dain: I thought I should text you something like you told me to  Dain: I’m having PM classes today from 5 to 10 today Dain: But I’ll be free outside of that Dain: Let me know if you need me for anything Dain: We can meet up for lunch if you want You: Sure! Dain: 👍

Now, I know what this all sounds like, but let it be known, he is not a player. In fact, when he’s dating someone, the other person is more likely dump or cheat on him because he’s actually super faithful to his partner. S*xy times are reserved only for his partner if they so wished it. Unfortunately… sometimes the other person just doesn’t share the same level of commitment as he does...🥺 By the way, that’s considered a lot of texting by his standards and expect it to continue because that’s how committed and serious he is.

Ajax/Tartaglia: He’s normal, I don’t know what to talk about.🙃

There’s not a whole lot of characteristics to be picked out from his texting styles other than the fact that he always seems to reply to you when you least expect him to like....immediately replying to you even though you’re sending him texts at 3 AM. Like...does he even sleep?

That and his arsenal of emoji usage: 🤗🤭😑😧😲🥺😩😈 🥰😘🤯😃😉😎🥳🙃

He is one emoji beast and every one of them can immediately help you evoke the expression he has at every given moment. At least it’s nice to know how he’s feeling.

How long does it take for him to reply: Not long as long as he’s conscious. If he’s sleeping, well sometimes he’ll wake up to the sound of his phone pinging because he doesn’t really set it to silent mode except when he has class or during a movie. He usually has his phone on ring because he’s always there when you need him. He’s there for both his family and friends, and as long as he’s alive, he’ll continue to commit to his loved ones. (This only possible for someone as crazy as he is...or beastly...)

Sample of him replying to your 3 AM texts:

3:21 AM Ajax: Everything alright? It’s not like you to text this late...😐 You: Yeah, but isn’t that same for you? Ajax: Er...I might’ve had coffee too late in the afternoon? Ajax:😩 You: 🤭 A latte again? Ajax: Yup, couldn’t resist.... They were having a chestnut praline latte promotion and they were HALF OFF!!!!😋 Ajax: I may or may not have drank a little more than I should have🙃 You: And you didn’t invite me... You:😞 Ajax: Hey chin up, it’ll be my treat tomorrow 😉 Ajax: WAIT! I mean...my treat in a few hours🤣🤣 You: That’s true!!!🤣🤣 Ajax: So I’ll see you in a few...and then you can tell me what’s going on ok? You: Yeah, that sounds good  Ajax:😃👍

Best bro and he’s the same if not more with his siblings. He’s always there to support his people. He’ll schedule a meeting with people as soon as he can if he senses anything is wrong. Heck, he might just show up on your stoop or front door if it’s serious enough. He’s just that kind of guy and you can’t hide from him either 🙃... “You can run, but you won’t get far...” (Cancers are lowkey scary in how much they care sometimes....)

Sample of him texting you when you’re dating because:

Ajax: y/n..... Ajax: I miss you....😩 You: Ajax...it’s only been 2 days? You:🤨 Ajax: Yeah, but we could have shared 6 meals in those 2 days you know? Ajax:😧 You: Ajax, don’t ask for the impossible. Ajax: It’s not impossible if...say we’ve moved in together somewhere?🤗 You: What You: Wait! You: Hold on! You: Woah, let’s slow down a little bit here... Ajax: ok....😞 You: Right You: We can’t rush... Ajax: If you say so...😉

Be careful with this one.... If you have your own place, don’t be surprised if he starts sleeping over at your place more often or him trying to get you sleep over at his....he’s already started to get you comfortable with the idea and he won’t stop there. No...then he’ll start luring you in with his traditional style home cooking. Ho ho. Don’t let him lure you into it. No, you must resist! Resist those Russian pancakes. Hey, you! I meant food not the Russian pancakes on his body. *slaps your hand* No touchy! Once you’re onto him, you’re a goner.

Btw....here are those Russian Pancakes and a recipe. Yumm.

Thank you for reading this far!!

These headcannon posts are pretty experimental for me, but they’ve been fun to type up and think about.

Low key Kaeya’s texting style to ask someone out on a coffee date is pretty similar to what Tartalini would do as they both enjoy using winky emojis and are pretty flirty, but gotta diversify the texts and situations to deliver a breath of scenarios.

I had headcannons for Ayato’s texting style too, but I ran out of steam towards the end. So, I’ll just have to save those for another time.  I really wanted to elaborate on why I would think Dainsleif is open to casual s*x, but I feel like that could be a whole post on it’s own, so I tried to refrain from it taking over his section. After all, this is suppose to be on texting styles and their tendencies. 😉

I just hope you enjoyed reading it! If you’re interested in more of my modern AU headcannons, you check it here!

#diluc ragnvindr #diluc imagine #genshin headcanons #kaeya alberich #kaeya imagine #genshin imagine #genshin impact imagine #dainsleif #dainsleif imagine #childe imagine #genshin childe #childe #tartaglia #dainsleif x reader #diluc x reader #kaeya x reader #childe x reader #tartaglia x reader

[mimbotomy]

more writing asks!! 5, 9, 28?

5. What's a tag you never want to use for your works even when it applies?

If you asked me this a few months ago, I would have had a different answer for you, but I recently feel like I got over some of my weirdness about tags! For a long time, I was super picky about my tags because I didn’t want to overwhelm anyone like I’ve been overwhelmed scrolling through my feed and having to keep scrolling and scrolling through a fic that tagged absolutely everything the author could think of. So while I would sometimes include personal notes like “I don’t know how the Isu work and I don’t care,” which fyi that applies to all my fics, I wouldn’t necessarily tag all the major characters or even all the ships. I didn’t tag any ships for the Children of Kephallonia until a few months ago because I was worried doing so would make it too long, but I got over myself eventually.

I also don’t really tag genres like angst or romance or fluff, although all of my fics tend to be majority fluff, but I think that’s because I don’t think any fic is just angst or just romance or just fluff. There’s always so much emotion in a fic because the author had to have a lot of emotion to write it, and so searching for one specific genre just feels like a disservice to the author a little bit. And tagging it sorta feels like a disservice to me if that makes sense?

9. Thoughts on cliffhangers.

I have a love/hate relationship with cliffhangers, which I’d argue is the norm lol. I think they’re hard to get right though, and while I’ve definitely read some stories that do cliffhangers so well, a lot of times I feel like they’re just mean and done for shock value rather than to add anything of value to the story.

For me though, I don’t feel like I use cliffhangers in my work that much. Or maybe it’s more accurate to say that I don’t really see them as cliffhangers? I like to have each chapter tell a relatively self contained story, so any cliffhanger I might have feels less like a cliffhanger and more the natural end of one storyline and the jumping off point for the next, at least to me. Plus I don’t think my work is that groundbreaking or full of twists, so I feel like it’s pretty obvious that whatever trouble the characters find themselves in will be resolved pretty quickly lol.

28. Any writing advice that works for you and you feel like sharing?

Not going to lie I think these are all pretty weird but they work for me 😂

First off, I act out a lot of my scenes, albeit in my head so my dog and husband don’t look at me weird, kinda moving around the space as I run through and refine dialogue in my head. Like I will legitimately stand on one side of the room pretending to be one character and then go to the other side of the room pretending to be the other. I think it helps me figure out people’s vibe and mannerisms and visualize the scene before I put it onto paper.

I also draw a lot, although I don’t finish a lot of my drawings to the point of being comfortable posting them, but those are more to force me to think about character relationships. For example, for my drawing of Kassandra, Barnabas, and Herodotos all hugging, I sat there for a long time thinking about how they would hug each other, and there’s a lot of symbolism in like the ways their arms are wrapped around each other, at least in my opinion. Down to explain that in the comments if anyone’s interested but that would make this way too long and it’s already too long lol.

Lastly, and I’m not quite sure how to say this without sounding like an asshole, but I literally just write until I can’t write anymore. Like whenever I find myself stuck, whether I’m stuck on a specific line or a transition or even an entire scene, I write XXX and either add a short note or a little drawing about what I’m imagining and move on. And then I’ll go back later and search for every instance where I wrote XXX and fill in the gaps. Or if I’m unsure about which direction I want a scene to go, I will write brief snippets of all my options. Sometimes they aren’t very brief - for example I have five different half written versions of the Arkadia arc of my fic the Children of Kephallonia because I know how I want that storyline to end but I just keep changing my mind about what should happen in the middle RIP.

But if I’m just totally stuck on a story in general, I will literally open up another doc and work on that one, and I do that again and again until I am all out of time or creative writing energy. I’ve talked before about how I have way too many WIPs, but those are also just the ones I talk about. I have a bunch of stories that probably will never see the light of day but are fun to write, like a super weird modern AU or ridiculous crossovers that make no sense or just a bunch of random unconnected scenes of various Kassandra ships. So if I’m stuck on all of my actually published or planned to be published fics, I go work on one of those until I become unstuck on one of my real fics or need to close my laptop/put my phone down for a while. Probably why I’m pretty slow at updating but it works for me!

Imma be honest this doesn’t read overly coherent to me, but I’m really tired and I have a lot going on this week too and so I will probably continue to be tired. So I’m not going to edit 👍🏼 If you would like to read more my semi incoherent ramblings about my fics, more prompts can be found here! These are always fun to do and I could definitely use the mental break this week.

#ask game

[hamartia-grander]

OKAY so I finally did my own run of the Hunger Games simulator. I’m just gonna put all of them in one post but under the Keep Reading so I don’t take up anyone’s dashboard. Not because I’m nice or anything but because I’m too lazy to keep reblogging my own post. Anyways. @itsybitsybatsyspider and @detroitbecomeonline this is for you nerds

My cast is: DISTRICT 1: Connor, Nines. DISTRICT 2: Gavin, Hank. DISTRICT 3: Kara, Alice. DISTRICT 4: North, Simon. DISTRICT 5: Chloe, Kamski. DISTRICT 6: Markus, Leo. DISTRICT 7: Josh, Echo. DISTRICT 8: Luther, Zlatko. DISTRICT 9: Sixty, Tina. DISTRICT 10: Shaolin, Fowler. DISTRICT 11: Rose, Ralph. DISTRICT 12: Jerry, Amanda.

None of the districts or characters are determined on any actual canon I just put them in randomly lol

As the tributes stand on their podiums, the horn sounds.

North scares Gavin away from the cornucopia. (yeah)

Zlatko runs into the cornucopia and hides.

Amanda grabs a backpack and retreats.

Leo takes a spear from inside the cornucopia.

Fowler sets an explosive off, killing Ralph. (NAUR)

Connor snatches a bottle of alcohol and a rag.

Luther scares Markus away from the cornucopia. (lmfao real)

Hank runs away from the Cornucopia.

Kara grabs a shield leaning on the cornucopia.

Alice runs away from the Cornucopia.

Echo runs away from the Cornucopia.

Josh gathers as much food as he can.

Chloe runs away from the Cornucopia.

Simon scares Jerry away from the cornucopia.

Kamski finds a canteen full of water.

Tina kills Sixty with a hatchet. (NOOO SIXTY😭)

Rose runs away from the Cornucopia.

Nines breaks Shaolin's nose for a basket of bread. (dear lord that bread basket amiright)

North constructs a shack.

Zlatko makes a slingshot.

Markus begs for Kamski to kill him. He refuses, keeping Markus alive. (oh thank fuck. Makes sense though I mean Kamski’s not gonna want to kill his creation. I think.)

Leo and Echo work together for the day.

Josh camouflauges himself in the bushes.

Connor practices his archery.

Nines questions his sanity.

Simon overhears Fowler and Gavin talking in the distance. (They’re discussing Gavin’s bad behaviour in the workplace)

Kara chases Tina. (Get her girl)

Hank steals from Chloe while she isn't looking. (HANK YOU BITCH)

Shaolin receives medical supplies from an unknown sponsor.

Amanda hunts for other tributes.

Rose receives clean water from an unknown sponsor.

Jerry begs for Luther to kill him. He refuses, keeping Jerry alive. (aw)

Alice receives an explosive from an unknown sponsor. (who giving a 9yo an explosive🤨)

2 cannon shots can be heard in the distance.

Ralph, District 11. Sixty, District 9. So sad.

Kara and Markus sleep in shifts. (FUCK YES MY TWO FAVES)

Zlatko, Shaolin, and Rose get into a fight. Zlatko triumphantly kills them both. (NOOO)

Gavin goes to sleep. (for once)

Leo tries to sing himself to sleep.

Hank stabs Tina in the back with a trident. (Hank is so mean in this)

Chloe, Connor, Echo, and Alice sleep in shifts.

North, Jerry, and Kamski sleep in shifts.

Amanda and Nines huddle for warmth. (Nines would be mom’s favourite)

Luther climbs a tree to rest.

Simon receives an explosive from an unknown sponsor.

Fowler attempts to start a fire, but is unsuccessful.

Josh receives fresh food from an unknown sponsor.

Kamski chases Chloe. (HELPSFJGDH)

Kara is pricked by thorns while picking berries.

Gavin tends to Josh's wounds. (???? OKAY)

Fowler steals from Nines while he isn't looking.

Simon thinks about home.

Zlatko sprains his ankle while running away from Leo.

Amanda kills Markus with a hatchet. (NOOOOOOO she would tho)

North and Echo hunt for other tributes. (Oh my God. Holy fuck. Oh my. Ima need to sit down a moment. Holy shit. Oh my God. Not to be a lesbian but oh my fucking god. oh my god. jesus fucking christ. Imagine these two hunting you down. Nah I’d roll over and let them have at me. Holy fucking shit.)

Jerry tries to spear fish with a trident.

Alice and Luther fight Hank and Connor. Alice and Luther survive. (SO DID THEY KILL HANK AND CONNOR??? LMAO)

6 cannon shots can be heard in the distance.

Shaolin, District 10. Rose, District 11. Tina, District 9. Markus, District 6 (crying). Hank, District 2. Connor, District 1 (I hope Alice killed him).

Zlatko begs for Nines to kill him. He refuses, keeping Zlatko alive. (Damnit, Nines)

Leo cries himself to sleep.

Chloe, Josh, Echo, and Jerry tell each other ghost stories to lighten the mood.

Amanda decapitates North with a sword. (OH MY GOD NOOOOOO NORTH MY BELOVEEDD she’d wanna get killed by a sword tho tbh)

Kara lets Kamski into her shelter. (Kara baby nooo)

Fowler tries to sing himself to sleep.

Simon, Luther, and Alice get into a fight. Simon triumphantly kills them both. (SIMON WHY)

Gavin sees a fire, but stays hidden. (coward bitch)

Gavin steals from Zlatko while he isn't looking.

Chloe collects fruit from a tree.

Jerry tends to Echo's wounds. (he would)

Fowler, Amanda, Kara, and Nines raid Leo's camp while he is hunting. (LMFAOOO)

Josh receives medical supplies from an unknown sponsor.

Simon and Kamski hunt for other tributes.

3 cannon shots can be heard in the distance.

North, District 4 (screaming crying sobbing throwing up). Luther, District 8. Alice, District 3. This is the worst.

Kamski receives medical supplies from an unknown sponsor.

Kara bashes Leo's head against a rock several times. (OMFG SDGHJSHDAH SHE WOULD)

Jerry, Fowler, Simon, and Nines sleep in shifts. (Everyone who teams with Simon is in danger)

Echo thinks about winning.

Josh sees a fire, but stays hidden.

Zlatko lets Amanda into his shelter.

Gavin cooks his food before putting his fire out.

Chloe sees a fire, but stays hidden.

Gavin makes a slingshot.

Chloe diverts Josh's attention and runs away.

Amanda injures herself.

Kamski goes hunting.

Fowler, Echo, and Nines hunt for other tributes.

Simon sprains his ankle while running away from Kara. (ar naur)

Jerry is pricked by thorns while picking berries.

Zlatko tries to sleep through the entire day.

1 cannon shot can be heard in the distance.

Leo, District 6.

Zlatko cooks his food before putting his fire out.

Kara, Josh, Simon, and Fowler sleep in shifts.

Jerry shoots an arrow into Amanda's head. (JERRY OH MY GOD???)

Echo sets Chloe on fire with a molotov. (NO ECHO HOW COULD YOU)

Nines begs for Kamski to kill him. He refuses, keeping Nines alive.

Gavin is unable to start a fire and sleeps without warmth. (lmfao bitch)

Kara, Josh, and Nines hunt for other tributes. (Now there’s KARA HUNTING??? Holy fucking shit. not to be a lesbian bu)

Kamski tries to spear fish with a trident.

Jerry attacks Fowler, but he manages to escape.

Gavin discovers a river.

Zlatko poisons Simon's drink. He drinks it and dies. (NOOOO)

Echo dies from thirst. (That is so sad)

4 cannon shots can be heard in the distance.

Amanda, District 12. Chloe, District 5. Simon, District 4. Echo, District 7.

Kamski questions his sanity.

Fowler screams for help.

Nines receives medical supplies from an unknown sponsor.

Kara stays awake all night.

Gavin and Jerry talk about the tributes still alive.

Josh passes out from exhaustion. (pfft)

Zlatko cooks his food before putting his fire out.

The cornucopia is replenished with food, supplies, weapons, and memoirs from the tributes' families.

Kamski sets an explosive off, killing Kara, Jerry, and Nines. (NO NO NO NO KARA MY FAVOURITE MY MOST DEARLY BELOVED I WAS ROOTING FOR YOU😭😭😭)

Zlatko decides not to go to The Feast.

Josh bashes Gavin's head against a rock several times. (HAHSFHSJDHG FUCK YES)

Fowler cannot handle the circumstances and commits suicide. (NAUURR)

Zlatko and Kamski work together for the day.

Josh travels to higher ground. (“I have the high ground!”)

The remaining tributes begin to hallucinate.

Zlatko survives.

Kamski survives.

Josh survives.

5 cannon shots can be heard in the distance.

Kara, District 3 (😭😭😭). Jerry, District 12. Nines, District 1. Gavin, District 2. Fowler, District 10

Kamski looks at the night sky.

Zlatko and Josh run into each other and decide to truce for the night.

Zlatko stalks Kamski.

Josh cannot handle the circumstances and commits suicide. (NO NOT JOSH)

1 cannon shot can be heard in the distance.

Josh, District 7.

Kamski severely injures Zlatko and leaves him to die. (OH MY GOD WAIT-)

The winner is Kamski from District 5! (helpdfjgkdjh)

Not what I was expecting lmao. This is literally just the Kamski ending.

#dbh #hunger games #dbh memes #helpsfhgjhdf

[lemonthepotato]

Muffins: Enneagram Analysis

[Art by Reitanna Seishin, DA]

The Enneagram of Personality, or simply the Enneagram, is a model of the human psyche which is principally understood and taught as a typology of nine interconnected personality types. There are nine types, each with their own adjacent wings and tritypes. The enneagram relates back to your childhood, and our wounds inflicted onto us. Where will seven highly traumatised ill ponies land? Well, that’s what we’re here to discuss.

I’d like to say, the irony that I so confidently type these characters, when they’re so obscure (in this context) and the fact the only other typology analysis I’m working on is for Daigaku Gurashi is very telling. I did guess the Yandere Simulator enneagrams. But like, that’s a can of worms I’m not getting into now. Point is: there’s a reason I stick to obscure characters.

I am not confident in my analysis. I’m getting better at typing characters, but ultimately, I have a hard time reading others. Character analysis isn’t my forte. Luckily for me, I had a hyper fixation with muffins on and off for a very long time, on and off. While the hyperfixation has passed, and I no longer care for this fic, you know I had to do it to them.

LET’S GET IT CRACKING.

Pinkie Pie - Muffins Pinkie Pie is a butchering- I mean re-imagination of canon Pinkie Pie, who is commonly seen as a sp2 or so7, but analysing Muffins Pinkie Pie paints an entirely different idea. First of all, let’s go through the Muffins quiz, which I have all the results to saved on my phone. The answers indicate a cognitive dissonance, or perhaps faux-affably evil persona. Reitanna paints a complex image of Pinkie. Pinkie is manipulative, lacks any care, and truly evil. (“High acts of cruelty require empathy.” - she knows what she’s doing.) She’s prone to anger outbursts when her friends are disrespected, and has a god complex. She uses others as a means to an end, only showing genuine love to the other 6. She hates when things don’t go her way (“You ruined everything!” To Twilight) and On Trial gives us the most characterisation of Pinkie Pie. She pushes the blame onto others for her actions, truly not caring about anyone but herself and her bakers. Pinkie says she “controls” others, showing a desire for control. Pinkie is a SP7. with a 6 wing? “Ichazo called SP7 "Defenders", people who have a need to band with others who have similar interests, having a passion for inclusion that leads to relationships of mutual protection…”

“The conservation E7 has become an expert at getting what he wants without asking for it. His basic conception is that things are not achieved by asking for them: either they take them, or they cheat or speculate to obtain them.” “He questions everything and has a certain degree of anger with life, little manifested. Basically, it underlies the difficulty of character for devotional love and recognizing the other. Similar to the E1, in the feeling that others are not trustworthy, that people are imperfect, but without taking the trouble to try to correct others, conservation E7 isolates itself from the world in its particular garden: that of the “family” or the feeling of involvement with a network to link, as a defense against a life that it understands as chaos and that reinforces its idea that pleasure and non-stop are the only possible escape routes.”

“They tend to sweet-talk those they are close to, and are very persuasive; anyone will be welcome as long as they get what they want. In their conversations, there can often be hidden motives and if they can sell you something on the way, they will. Making business is one of their passions. In addition, they are capable of even tricking and cheating themselves while maintaining the charming facade that allows them to get what they want when they want it. You could say if the occasion requires it, they can become quite manipulative and clever.”

I think this summarises Pinkie pretty well, but I’m not 100% sure of this typing.

Inkie Pie

Inkie is self-confident and doesn’t care what others think about her. She uses others and doesn’t view them as humans. (“I see... a toy. A plaything put on this world for my amusement. These toys are sentient, they have thoughts and feelings, they make decisions that impact how they live, they have desires and fears... but I find I just don't care. There are only a few people in this world that I would never harm. Everybody else is worthless, their lives mean nothing to me.”)

She resents peace ("I just can't stand peace. I find the beauty in the dissonance.")

She bottles up her emotions to avoid getting hurt. (" guess bottling everything up wasn't very healthy..." just wanted to keep from getting hurt, but it hurt me more emotionally than a smack from mama ever could." She met the yellow eyes of her sister. "I'm sorry. I know that must've been a pretty ugly sight.")

Textbook Eight. I just don’t know what subtype. “Eights are self-confident, strong, and assertive. Protective, resourceful, straight-talking, and decisive, but can also be ego-centric and domineering. Eights feel they must control their environment, especially people, sometimes becoming confrontational and intimidating. Eights typically have problems with their tempers and with allowing themselves to be vulnerable. At their Best: self- mastering, they use their strength to improve others' lives, becoming heroic, magnanimous, and inspiring.”

I’m gonna guess SX8w7, but I’m honestly not sure. The way she treats Stella, like an object to own over a person, is really telling. The thing is, despite being a SX8 stereotype, her writing is sorta inconsistent in this regard. So I have no clue really.

Blinkie Pie

Blinkie is a hard character to type. Her only personality trait is “angry,” though I suppose there is some complexity beneath the surface. She’s still very barren and doesn’t have a single chapter outside of All That Glitters. Reitanna heard “hey, you should write more Inkie and Blinkie stories” and wrote 3 Inkie stories.

Blinkie is vain, materialistic and judgmental. She despises those that has what she doesn’t, and has an extremely low self esteem. She views herself as an average mare, because she was told being a pretty mare was something to be ashamed of. Ironically, we learn the most about Blinkie in Inkie’s Stellar Obsession. Blinkie is shown right off the bat trying to start a fight and mocking Minkie. She spends the whole chapter in resentment of Inkie for choosing a pretty mare to kill.

Blinkie shows an interest in being special and unique. "Why are you so pretty and perfect? Why are you so special?… I hate pretty mares because I want to be pretty like them! We average mares have to work hard to look good, but it just comes so naturally for you, doesn't it?"

She’s also very self critical. ("Your theory is good, but what if we mess up?" asked Blinkie Pie. "If I do this wrong, I'll hate myself for weeks, you know how I am!")

From this information, and outer context “She thinks that everypony is below her, all except her sisters, apple bloom, and Derpy.” “Blinkie pie is easy to tick off, and very prone to jealousy and spite. she barks orders, seeming to not know the meaning of "please" or "thank you," and specializes in jeering and taunting at those she considers lower than herself. she likes things to go HER way, which isn't usually a problem with her sisters or rest of the team because they coordinate so well. if one of them does something wrong, she will groan and play captain hindsight, stating that they shouldn't have done that.” So, from this, we can determine she is a SX4. That might be suspicious sounding, but let me explain.

“They then make others suffer as an unconscious way of trying to rid themselves of painful feelings of deficiency. They are the kind of people who’d rather be hated for who they are than be loved for someone who they are not. They stick out from other 4s due to their harsh and aggressive attitude, often described as shameless and feeling a strong rejection by the world as their inferiority gets replaced by aggression. Often they have a underlying hatred for their rivals and their rivals are the ones they personally feel is worth striving for…” “someone who believes that if someone is popular they must be worth striving for[1], resulting in hate, competitiveness and an aggressive outlook caused by suffering in childhood.”

“E4s are not afraid of originality and often enjoy feeling different. He loves to be special, unique, and original. And he succeeds. You can speak very explicitly without conforming to good manners, as well as dress flashily and against the grain. His desire to be peculiar makes him also brave and adventurous, minimizing risks and dangers.” She wants to be pretty and not average.

I wouldn’t say she’s an 8, as there’s more vanity and self-image issues beneath her.

Minkie Pie

Minkie Pie is also a 4, so4. She is spiteful, angry and unforgiving. She takes her anger out on anyone she sees, and looks down on those less hurt than her, while seeing those who endure pain as stronger. She is convinced her destiny is to remain locked up, and wants to be accepted for who she is, which is only her trauma. She feels dead, only feeling accepted by her sisters. She is no one without her trauma. She judges the world for her own pain, and wants her “play dates” to know her story.

Minkie isn’t a very well written character. But this is how she comes off. She’s been hurt, so she wants to hurt others. She views herself as damaged, and that she can’t be fixed.

“The Social Four appears emotionally sensitive (or oversensitive), feels thing deeply, and suffers more than most people. For this Four, there is a desire to be witnessed and seen in their suffering. They hope that if their suffering is sufficiently recognized and understood, they might be forgiven for their failures and deficiencies and loved unconditionally.”

“Naranjo explains that Social Fours are people who lament too much and who often put themselves in the victim role. They can appear self-sabotaging when they broadcast their suffering and their victimhood as a way of engendering sympathy in others, but they also undermine themselves by being too attached to the causes of their suffering.” “In public, social fours repress “frowned upon” emotions like anger or hatred and may appear sweet, friendly, and soft- (like in ‘meet the team’) but in private, they may express their emotions they store up in social situations and become aggressive. Generally, they prefer to swallow their own poison rather than externalize it to the people around them (this is the only exception for Minkie-) , and they typically have difficulty finding their place in a group and in society. These fours may experience themselves as misfits, and yet they also tend to generate social situations of rejection to confirm their shame. They see themselves as victims and may view others as “perpetrators,” and they don't always take responsibility for their own actions or aggressiveness.”

Someone on Reddit wrote it like this, *Social 4 is the softest and most tender. They have a shy sadness, and a deep sense of poignancy. They wear their sorrow like a cloak, and they hope that their pain and despair will be accepted. If someone is willing to accept them despite their flaws, they feel as if they can finally take their cloak off. In this person there is an abiding awareness of rejection and of being an outsider or an outcast. This person possesses great sensitivity to any slights or signs of being different than others, as they often feel unworthy to be in their presence anyway. They feel out of place, with inherent flaws, and they fear they will be rejected for them. This can be surprising to other people, as they often have unique gifts and a keen intuition.*

*Social 4 can be drawn to outsider / counter-cultural movements, where one is accepted for being “different” or “against the norm”. They make a virtue of these differences, and often display them openly once they feel comfortable, as an expression of their identity. Sometimes they even take pride in them and become a little elitist. However, there is a secret wish that one was born ordinary (like everyone else) so they did not have suffer their differences so deeply. “Why didn’t God make me normal?”*

*Personal identity is all important to this subtype, and often they undertake a mission of self-discovery and actualization. They seek to make their differences matter, and even avenge themselves for their oddities that were once mocked or exploited. They daydream about accomplishment, but unlike the 3, they are prone to self-sabotage and emotional inhibition in the name of authenticity, and may back out when others begin to value them solely for their public image. They dream of the day when none of their flaws will be mocked, but appreciated for what they are.*

“In this Four, envy fuels a focus on shame and suffering by providing a constant source of pain: a feeling that others have what the Four wants. However, they believe that their suffering is also what makes them unique and special- there is a kind of … of others through suffering.”

Apple Bloom

Apple Bloom is a walking contradiction. A hypocrite, fake and optimistic. She doesn’t take responsibility for her actions, and can easily manipulate anyone around her. Blinded by rage, she becomes a horrible person over time. She re-iterates this in Apple Bloom Gets Her Cutie Mark and Silence Is Silver. ("Who cares if yer a good pony after all? Who cares if ya'd be a good friend? I sure don't! Yeah, after I cutcha open, I could totally fix ya right! But I ain't gonna. If everythin that happens happens, then ya can never really do the wrong thing, can ya? Yer just doin what yer s'posed to.")

IT GOT ERASED AGAIN. APPLE BLOOM SO3. DERPY SX7/IDK FUCKING SP6 IDC. BABS IDFK SP5?? SO5?? FUCKING SP8 dawg I’m too angry to care.

Not only did I get toothpaste on my phone, but I also found an mbti for Muffins. And I disagreed hard. Here’s the original post if anyone’s curious. Don’t hate though, I just want to credit them cuz taking an interest in the first place in MBTI AND analysing the silly horse creepypasta ponies is admirable. We are one in the same. Gotta say though, INFJ Minkie, ISTJ Apple Bloom- OUTTA THE POCKET.

Anyway this was my analysis. Muffins moment. Blinkie best girl. I’ve always loved her the most of all the bakers. I used to value Inkie as my 2nd favourite but idk if I agree anymore. Minkie is my least favourite, absolutely unbearable. I just like Blinkie cuz she’s just like me. I mean I’m a SX3… or am I?… fuck.

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this analysis. Do you guys want an MBTI Muffins analysis? Attitudinal psyche? Oh, and put your own thoughts down below! If you also like this silly horse fic, and don’t identify as a “1w5” (AKA you understand the enneagram and THE FACT THAT WINGS MEAN WINGS) feel free to comment your thoughts. It’s ok if you think you don’t understand it well. :) I’m happy to provide you resources. be careful of mistyping!

#enneagram #muffins #my little pony #minkie pie #inkie pie #blinkie pie #apple bloom #derpy hooves #babs seed #pinkie pie #enneagram analysis #typology #lemons random rants #enneagram 1

[blueinsomnia]

Fic Writer: Five Favorite Fics

Thanks for the tag @typewriteringalaxy.  It’s been a while since we’ve chatted and I hope you’re doing well these days.  Reading everyone’s lists has been interesting.  I didn’t know you wrote a Cloak & Dagger story, so I’ll have to check that one out.

Anyway, choosing five of my favorite fics in the Firelight Stories series was hard.  It was like trying to choose a favorite among my children.  They’re all my favorite in one way or another, but in order to not cop out, I’m gonna narrow it down to five anyway.

Also, before I continue, I wanted to say that I really enjoyed @letters-to-rosie‘s “The Fire Next Time”.  Really well done and worth a read.

Ahem, on to the main event.  My top five (in no particular order).

Joint Megalomania (Ekko/Jinx, M, 26/26),  - This was the first fic I had ever written and before I started, my wife told me to avoid writing it if I couldn’t finish.  I promised myself that I would make it to the finish line...AND I DID!  Shocked the hell outta me, but it’s a story I’m most proud of.  A good bit of mystery/suspense with some cool interactions between Ekko and Jinx.  A bit of angst in there, but that’s kinda par for the course for Ekko/Jinx stories, to be honest.  I had no idea what the hell I was doing, but I think it turned out well in the end.

Love & Food (Ekko/Jinx, T, 9/9) - This started off as a joke about Ekko and Jinx eating pancakes. However, I suck so hard at writing comedy it didn’t turn out the way I wanted.  I did enjoy the premise and thus decided to change it from a one-shot to a full-blown story.  The final product is something I’m happy with and I feel like it ends on a good note.  Coming up with the “dish of the week” was fun.  Chef Ekko will always be cool as shit to me.  The crazy thing is that this turned out to be the first long story I ever finished of ALL of my works.

An Outlaw’s Tale (Ekko/Jinx, M, one-shot) - I wanted to write a period piece with Ekko and Jinx and was stuck on what to write when my wife suggested I write a western.  I had never written a western before, so I did a ton of research about the 1800s and went from there.  Imagining Jinx as some badass outlaw was fun.  It’s one of the few Ekko/Jinx stories I’ve written where I keep the same origin story beats from Arcane.  I tried to tone down the racial issues, but it was still hard to ignore if I wanted to stay true to the time period.  Not sure if that’s for everyone, but I think I handled it with a bit of tact.

The Madness of the Feeling (Ekko/Jinx, T, 3/3) - My more radical stories tend to involve Jinx for some reason and that led me to writing this one which focuses on Ekko.  This story hits me the hardest, if I’m being honest with myself.  I dove deep into my early relationships to craft this one and there’s something raw about it that leads to a bit of introspection.  I actually crunched on this one trying to release it on Christmas Day, only to fail, because I didn’t take into account server locations.  Oh well, it was fun to write and while the subject matter was a bit depressing, I love how it came together.

The Celestial in the Moonlight (Ekko/Jinx, M, 7/7) - What started off as a monster horror story that was planned for Halloween, turned into a heartfelt journey of a monster falling in love and finding her place in the world.  I originally lamented the fact that I had abandoned the horror story, but as I went on, I found the new direction to be a better story.  It’s also the first story I have two characters actually get married AND have the ceremony.  Writing the dialogue for that was challenging.  Still, kitty monster Jinx turned out to be one of my favorite depictions of her as a character.  Glad I changed my mind on that one.

Honorable Mentions:

Guardians in Twilight (Ekko/Jinx, T, 6/6)  - Tackling the mess that is the Star Guardian universe was challenging.  I spent WAY too much time trying to connect the dots and to stay lore compliant.  Not sure if I’ll do that again, even if the final product is something I’m proud of.  I actually played League to research this one and I definitely won’t do that again.  Gotta admit, I love the interactions between Ekko and Jinx in this one.  Writing an “anime date” was definitely new for me.

Goodbye and Hello, My Friend (Ekko/Cait, M, one-shot) - I won’t say much about this one, other than it was a period piece set after World War 2 that I wrote because someone dared me to.  Should I have done it?  No idea, but what’s done is done and the final story turned out to be a nice commentary on soldiers putting themselves back together after the war, especially black soldiers.

-----

I don’t know many people here, but here are a couple:

@vanilla107 (I know we’ve never met or even chatted before, but I loved your Ekko/Jinx stuff and I’m curious which ones you liked.)

@jm-chrome (What are your favorite art pieces?)

#timebomb #arcane timebomb #ekko #jinx #ekkojinx #ekko x jinx #jinx x ekko #ekko x cait #star guardian #fantasy #writing

[dinitride-art]

Byler and Water - Water is Bad

Hi. 

I have a two-liter tub of fruit-flavoured dairy-free sorbet, a book hangover (just read Nona the Ninth, and no. I am not okay.), and an assignment due in less than two hours. This is a disclaimer: ethos and pathos don’t exist here. Only logos and a tired bitch remain. 

But anyways, let’s start this. (this is also off the top of my head so i might revisit this later- like in three weeks to six months- if i feel like it)

S1:E1 - Rain (#1)

[Eleven standing in the rain, scared, in a large yellow t-shirt.]

Imagine there’s a picture there. So, right off the bat, we’re got rain. Weather symbolism is important, always is, but what I want to point out is the rain. Specifically, the water. 

Start of the show, end of episode one, we’ve got water. 

(finished my assignment, we’re not in danger of failing any classes. *puts on sunglasses with like, zero functionality* it’s analysis time)

So, let’s talk about water. But to talk about water, we’re got to acknowledge that the first time that we really see it emphasized is with the weather. It’s after Will is declared missing, Mike as our main character alongside Joyce, they’re both miserable this season. Losing Will in season one sets off everything. 

Also important to note that the Upside Down, has an ever-present raging storm. 

S1:E3 - The Quarry

[Will’s fake body being pulled out of the water.]

[Mike yelling at El.]

Just continuing with running through the major moments concerning water in season one, we’ve got the scene where they (the party) see Will’s fake body pulled from the water. Mike breaks down and yells at El and goes home. We all know the scene, alongside Jonathan and Joyce embracing in the middle of the street and heroes playing in the background. 

Water-wise, we’ve got a whole lake full. At this point, water seems to have taken on some negative connotations. When Barb is taken and killed, she’s right over Steve’s pool. Bad vibes from water all around. Will’s missing, Barb dies, it seems like Will is dead: things are not looking good. 

S1:E6 - The Quarry (Pt. 2: Electric Boogaloo)

[Mike looking down at the water below.]

[Mike jumping off of the cliff.]

Really, this is the quarry pt.3. The first occurrence of this was with Hopper. A funky little bit of foreshadowing in which we’re told that a fall from that height would kill anyone. 

So, Will’s body gets pulled out of there. It’s most likely implied that they think he fell off of the cliff. (again, water’s bad. hot water, choppy water, hell or high water. Water is bad. I swear this is all going to make sense by the end of this. I do have a very clear point I’m trying to find my way to.) I say most likely because it’s never really stated, but it doesn’t seem like they were implying that he just drowned in the lake by swimming. 

Anyways, Mike parallels this by basically doing the exact same thing as both Hopper was investigating and how Will’s body was implied to have gotten into the lake. In this episode we also have El screaming at her reflection and making the water in a pond ripple. So, there’s that too.

S1:E7 - Bathtub

[El in a make-shift sensory deprivation tank.]

(sorry, this was the only picture I had the energy to search for. I miss having half the post be pictures. But moving on-)

This episode is one I’d also like to mention because there are flashbacks to El’s experience in the lab with the sensory deprivation tank. The lab? Bad. Water? Bad. (There is a far better way to explain this, but I’ve got three more seasons to power through before I get to where I want to be. Please bear with me.)

Also, when El enters into the mind (scape?) she’s walking on water. While this may be the Jesus/religious allusions that tend to follow El, it’s also another way that tells us that water? Is bad.

When El finds Will, we see that he’s completely soaked. He’s shivering and weak and damp, and this is a bad sign. Water being associated with this, also indicates that the water, is a bad sign. 

S1:E8 - Slugs

[Water running from the tap in the Byers’ home’s bathroom.]

[Will coughing up a slug into the sink.]

Water is present when something bad happens. And it is very present and shown to us very clearly. Will coughs up a slug into the sink and turns the tap on. The whole thing with the Quarry. El and the sensory deprivation tank. Rain. The storm in the Upside Down. 

Water is bad, it’s clearly established now, at the end of season one, as a very bad sign. 

And I’ve still got a point to make, so we push forward into season two.

S2:E4 - Likes it Cold

[The bathtub running in the Byers bathroom.]

The water in the scene where Will says, “he likes it cold” or something like that, is bad because of Will’s refusal of it. It’s warm water, a bathtub, and water and bathtubs also don’t have the best connotations based on previous uses of them. 

But anyways, it’s still saying that water is bad.

(at the moment I’m running on summaries by episode online, which, isn’t the best way to try and remember visual symbolism at 12 AM but. It’s what’s happening. So, sorry season 2 Byler. I could only find one. Also, on a side note, when I was looking at the season one summaries, for the heroes scene in one of them- they literally didn’t even mention Mike. Like they skipped over him and Karen and went, welp, here’s Nancy and Karen in this episode. Like. m’dude. but anyways- season three)

Before I move on here, I’d like to take a moment to shout out to the storm in the Upside Down. It really starts to shine in this season. Water is bad. The storm is bad. Y’know? 

That’s just how it is sometimes. 

Season Three (Uhhh, couldn’t find a recap by episode. Welp.)

So, water. In season three. (i may have to come back to this one because I’m blanking.)

Straight into it, Byler rain fight. 

Yes, this is the only one I’ve got pictures (scrounged for prior to this analysis-like three months ago) for.

Rain is never really a good thing. I mean, everything can change with context, but the context in Stranger Things says rain is bad. So I’m sticking to that line of reasoning. 

It starts raining in this scene (and it rains when Hopper gets the shit kicked out of him, and when El and Max see weird shit with Billy, and basically when shit starts getting bad fast. All around, the rain is bad.) because Mike and Will are fighting. 

I’d like to note that the same emphasis is placed on this scene as is placed on every other scene with this rain. These two are so plot-relevant that it hurts. 

Anyways, Mike and Will’s relationship starting to crack, the rain pouring, the ‘Mid Flayer’ being back- all bad things. 

Water. 

Is bad.

Season 4 (i don’t even have the pictures i need for this one. And I have so many pictures of season four. Jeez.)

The absence of water. 

And rain. 

And storms. 

They’re doing pretty alright here.

Then we get here. 

Water.

Is. 

Bad.

So, to recap a few things here so this makes sense: Mike and Will and their struggling friendship/ambiguous relationship, mending said relationship, Will lying about the painting. 

Water is bad. It’s always been bad, it will always be bad, the baths are bad, anything to do with water is just a bad sign. 

And Will is making the water run. 

And him and Mike are working (as a team) together to fill up the freezer. 

Basically, they’re gonna mess everything up. 

Why’s Will looking at Mike with anticipation? Because he literally just told him to fix his and El’s relationship. 

But the water is the key here. Because the water is such a bad sign. 

This part of the scene where they’re getting everything set up, is to show just how bad Mike and Will are gonna fuck up. 

Water

IS

BAD

Thank you for coming to my ted talk.

#byler theory #byler #waterisbad #mike wheeler #will byers #stranger things #it's 1AM #I am tired #but i can finally be free #and not being able to get the exact pics i wanted hurts me to #it just looks so sad #water theory #watergate

[robo-milky]

Wait, if Epel still thinks Cloche is a boy, that means he’s gay?

YESN’T

Personal Headcanon Territory:

As a personal thing, I tend to set my characters’ sexualities/romantic attraction or HC other characters as Bi by default UNLESS stated otherwise

Quick general ramble about sexuality/gender norms in TWST:

So we know in TWST, the romance culture often seems heteronormative— like in Ghost Marriage, Grim’s remark about wanting to take out Epel (before finding out Epel was a boy), many parents have been in a straight relationship— but I don’t think that’s all.

Since it’s Disney that made this game, I’m assuming many of the established or mentioned relationships are straight because they want to appeal to a wider audience but if I were to separate that, I’d like to believe there’s more diversity within the universe.

We know TWST is almost parallel to Earth but with fantasy elements like magic, but who’s to say sexuality, gender identity/presentation, and attraction has to adhere to that? Boys wearing make up normalized, and when some of the boys Overblot— they’d wear an extravagant dress.

BUT we do see that in Harveston, and from Epel— his views of gender is very conservative. Since it’s only in Harveston, we can’t say those heteronormative values apply to everywhere else in Twisted Wonderland.

Epel’s Dynamic with Cloche:

If we assume Epel happens to be more hetero on the spectrum, I suppose he’d have… “gay panic”?

(Though it’s a harmless phrase we often meme with, it’s a phrase that can be a little uncomfy DEPENDING on the context used in. If used right, it makes for a great reform in irony! If not? Uhhh… there is a possible homophobic undertone if used wrong.)

Either way, whether if Epel has a preference for the same-sex/gender, opposite sex/gender, or those non-conforming, the ClochEpel dynamic stays the same. They’re supposed to be so close to each other, that they blur the lines of platonic and romantic attraction. If Epel finds out that Cloche is a girl, he would still be salty and feel a little betray that Cloche “doesn’t-actually-get-his-struggle”.

The reason Epel got so close to Cloche in the first place, was because he thought Cloche was another boy mistaken to be a girl, like him—. A camaraderie came first.

When Epel is in denial of attraction towards Cloche, I don’t see it as gay panic, but more so of a “I can’t fall for my best friend! That’s weird!” (They do intermix— but they’re not the same). Plus— it’d be kinda wack if Epel had gay panic and then was relieved finding out Cloche is a girl cause uhhhhh *homophobic undertone and implication???*

Cloche’ Gender:

Cloche is indeed a cis girl pretending to be a boy, and she is more feminine presenting— but I imagine that’d be thrown out of the window the moment you step into NRC.

With students like Epel, Vil, Lilia, etc, I don’t think anyone would think twice or bat an eyelash at Cloche— they’d assume “he’s like everyone else”. However, Epel is singled out for being the only one “mistaken as a girl”, while Lilia is cute and Riddle is short. I imagine this gag only applies to Epel, and everyone else is an exception (since from a writing standpoint, his whole schtick is that he’s really a country boy despite looking so pretty).

Conclusion: ????

I honestly didn’t think I’d write this much but… I feel like it deserves a deep explanation? It’s a complex subject where many factors and bases should be covered ;

I’m cool with any and all Epel headcanons tho!! I happen to prefer him being bi <3

If you read up until this point— then wow— you are the true MVP.

#tldr: Epel is a bicon <3 #this is just my take— I am not the CEO of anything #I’m giving him the greatest honour— Y’know? I’m bi he’s bi #thanks for the ask— anon?? I imagine you didn’t mean any harm by this question #meowing 🌸 #ask 🎊 #twisted wonderland #twst #twst oc #clochepel #epel x cloche #cloche x epel #epel felmier #twst epel #oc: cloche🎊

[krikeymate]

Hey, I just discovered your blog and I’ve loved reading through your blog. I’m happy to find other people as obsessed with Sam and Tara’s relationship. They’re really the heart of the movies. I keep thinking about the scene where Sam suggests giving herself up to ghostface and thinking of a scenario where instead of saying the idea out loud, she quietly snuck away from the other three to do just that, convinced it’s all her fault and that with her dead Tara and the others will be safe. Imagine Tara realizing Sam is nowhere to be found and finding out where she went. I feel like once Sam was saved and everything was over, she’d be furious with Sam. What do you think?

I'm so glad you're loving what I'm throwing down. They truly are the heart of the past 2 movies.

Honestly, Tara's not letting Sam out of her sight. Not after that. Not knowing how hard Sam took Gale's near-still-might-happen-death. And I don't think Sam wants Tara out of her sight either, what happens if Tara is attacked and Sam's not there? The problem is: after that scene, everything happens so rapidly and there are so many characters around that it would be literally impossible for Sam to sneak off alone, and that's actually Tara's fault. Tara is the one who begins the 'we should all go and trap Ghostface' plan, and then it escalates from there. If Sam had tried to walk out those doors, Tara would have just followed after her.

But if Sam snuck off to try and take on Ghostface alone and Tara wasn't able to follow her? Oh yeah, she would be furious. Furious in an emotionally devastating way, crying and how dare you's and fisting her sister's top as she clings to her. How could you do that to me and what would I do if you never came back and you left me. again. Just a lot of 'fuck you Sam don't ever leave me.' Then Tara would give Sam a taste of her own medicine and never leave her alone. After all, Sam broke her trust, she's got to earn that back. Except Sam doesn't mind. If Tara's always following her then at least she knows where she is. She's a little concerned, after all, trouble tends to find Sam, but she always feels strongest when her sister is near.

I'm also envisioning a scenario where Sam thinks she's snuck off, but Tara is following behind her all the while. Tara, clever little thing that she is, hiding back while Sam takes on Ghostface, ready to reveal herself when Sam needs her.

#/mp #ask box #Scream #Sam Carpenter #Tara Carpenter #Scream 6 #scream canon divergence

[improbabledreams900]

Maybe it’s because I read Murderbot at the same time I’m watching Star Trek TNG, but there are some fascinating comparisons to be made about the nature of personhood re: Data and Murderbot.

Both Data and Murderbot begin their stories legally classified as equipment. Data is considered an asset of Starfleet's and is able to be seized by a random scientist interested in running a (deadly) experiment on him. Murderbot is rented out by its company to clients, who often shoot it for fun and torture it with no repercussions, because it is considered property.

Data wins his personhood in a court case where Picard & co. argue on his behalf. Murderbot has to be effectively bought out of slavery by its human friends, but even in their liberal-minded system, it has to have a human guardian (owner).

During Data’s court case, Picard makes an argument that, when you think about it, humans are just organic computers. At a fundamental level, what difference is there between neurons and logic gates? And that wonderfully fuzzy area is where Data and Murderbot sit: not human, but perhaps still people. Where do you draw the line of personhood in relation to machine intelligence?

Exhibit A: The impossible distinction between instinct, habit, and programming. Murderbot has stock phrases loaded into its buffer that it says when it’s too busy to properly respond—how is that different from humans responding “on autopilot” to customer questions? (we even use a computer term to describe it!) Data justifies his ability to be friends with the Enterprise crew because he simply spends time with them and his visual sensors get used to them being there and miss them when they’re gone.

Exhibit B: The role of emotion, and the impossibility of an outsider to determine what another being feels. Murderbot feels plenty of emotions, most of which it hates experiencing, and even low-level bots in the series have enough emotional capacity to feel worried or relieved. Meanwhile, Data denies the ability to feel any emotion. Yet he says he is incapable of love while naming his daughter “beloved” and doting on her. He romances a woman by writing a custom program tailored for her, bringing her flowers, and spending time with her. He denies feeling anxiety while nervously tapping his fingers. Even if these behaviors were programmed, how does that make them any different from humans “faking it til they make it”? How is the performance of love different from love itself—especially where aromantic characters are involved? How can Data know that he feels no emotion, except because outside individuals have told him so?

Going back to neurons and logic gates, on a larger level there are still so many direct analogues between human and machine functions. Murderbot’s performance reliability drops and involuntary restarts are equivalent to a human passing out. Data can be turned off, which does much the same thing. We use the word “sleep” to describe a suspended computer, like we suspend our own consciousnesses. A computer that’s restarted, like a human who’s had a nap, performs better. Both can be overwhelmed by too many tasks. Both perform functions and communicate, and Murderbot and Data can even create and adapt! Murderbot can creatively hack any system it encounters, and Data paints and plays the violin in his spare time.

The biggest difference between Data and Murderbot is that Data wants to be human, and Murderbot wants to be itself. In that regard, Murderbot is more like Spock, who suffered the presence of annoyingly emotional humans but never believed that there was anything wrong with him for being different.

The biggest similarity between Data and Murderbot is that they are fundamentally kinder than other sci-fi robots, which tend towards world domination. And consider why that might be. Statistically, most humans don’t want world domination, and androids and constructs are human creations. Is it so much of a stretch of the imagination to think we would create robots that are a reflection of ourselves? Humanity, who famously packbonds with anything it encounters, from roombas to Percy the Mars rover. In the Murderbot series, the crew of the Perihelion call it Peri, and Peri loves them to pieces. Murderbot, after some soul-searching and trauma recovery, realizes it just wants to hang out with its friends. Data becomes a Starfleet officer because Starfleet officers were the ones who saved/discovered him, and he wants to be able to help others the way he was helped.

Murderous sci-fi robots are a reflection of the idea of humanity as fundamentally violent, but Data and Murderbot reflect the full spectrum of human nature—from Data's grief over losing Tasha to Murderbot's desire for alone time to watch its favorite media—and that is what makes them fundamentally people.

#murderbot #star trek tng #meta #long post #mine

[atlasdoe]

hi!

firstly, i am SO intrigued by your blood stained flags fic!! what am interesting concept! one thing about me is i love a morally grey character so the fact they all are is perfect to me! how long are you planning for it to be? i normally tend to read fics once they’re completed but i’m thinking this time i read along as it’s being updated! i just don’t think i can wait

also i have never ever seen remus/sirius/mary but wow am i intrigued!! i’ve never considered them before but it does make a lot of sense to me, and am excited to see how it looks!

so yes that is all ! from maraudersmary (i didn’t want to post this from my other blog)

HIIIII

Thank you so much!!! As for how long the fic will be I don't have a chapter or word count that i'm really aiming for but i do know that it will be longgggg

Im planning for the fic to have three parts

Part One is called Apart and it will focus on the gryffindors as theyre separated

Part Two will be called Together and it will contain flashbacks to the characters while they were at school and while they were on the run

And then Part Three will be called One and it will be where the gryffindors are reunited and fucking shit up to put it bluntly

My advice is to read along as i'm updating mostly because this fic will take a long time for me to get through. My plan currently is to update at least once every two week

And i haven't seen much Remus/Sirius/Mary but they're really gotten me in a chokehold recently. I have always shipped wolfstar obviously and remary and when i was imagining certain scenes with the concept of this fic i kept jumping back and forth between remus being with mary and sirius. I don't usually ship sirius with anyone who isn't remus but through reading @saintchaser posts about sirius and mary i've come to really love them also so i decided to just stick all three of them together. they really do now have my heart

thank you so so much for this ask it makes me so happy to know that people are interested in this fic!!!!

#fic: blood stained flags #ace gets asks!!!