#the plot of this is very short but hopefully understandable as I didn't feel like writing too much of it the video gives most of it away.

[potionboy3]

Brandy Crouch & Silas Ashford | HP next gen |

If you need me, I'll be right there When you're happy and when you're scared I can still be your shoulder

Silas and Brandy are great friends who start to develop feelings for each other. Brandy’s life is hard (we love his dear father Kerry) while Silas might have it even worse with the secret he’s trying to hide. In the video:  Brandy Crouch Silas Ashford Kerry Crouch Jimmy Crouch

Thank you @cursed-herbalist for being such a big fan of the Crouch brothers and taking both of them under your wing ❤️ I’ve been making this video for what feels like months but it’s finally finished and i’m free!!!

#brandy crouch #silas ashford #hp next gen #my video #the plot of this is very short but hopefully understandable as I didn't feel like writing too much of it the video gives most of it away. #sildy

[little-mouse-adventures]

A Timeline of Events in the Artemis Fowl Series

If anyone's interested, I did do an actual analysis for where I pulled some of these dates from. But because I cannot type succinctly to save my life, it's 5,000 words long, so that's below the cut. I also put the timeline there again, but in three separate images, so hopefully they load well enough to be fully legible if the above isn't.

A thousand thanks to @sadbitchapologist and @zahnie for their help and advice with this, despite neither of them having any more than the barest interest in the series and therefore having no clue what I was on about. Thanks also to @orangerosebush for fielding completely out-of-the-blue questions about the French school system, so I didn't have to attempt to navigate web search results to figure out what mandatory gym classes were like for the sole purpose of plotting Luc's birthday on here.

An Analysis of the Timelines in the Artemis Fowl Series

A Brief Introduction

The Artemis Fowl series is made up of eight books covering a range of years and events. I wanted to see how accurate the timelines present in the books were, as well as try and plot out some other details implied in the novels but not explicitly stated, to have a better understanding of the overall world-building. To that end, I went through the series and made the above timeline. I colour-coded it based on the relevance of the specific items to certain categories, namely Humans, Fairies, Villains, and the Series itself. This does mean that some things could have fit into multiple categories. For instance, you will see some items involving Opal categorized as Fairy-Specific (such as her college years, as those are fairly neutral to the main plot or her villainy), Villain-Specific (such as her setting up her emergency fund, as that is mostly related to her schemes as opposed to relevant to her existence as a fairy, or part of the main plot of the series), and Plot-Specific (such as her opening the Berserker Gate, the primary plot point for the final book).

Before we really delve into things though, we should establish the baseline assumptions I was working with. Firstly, I am only using the original series. I have not used anything written in The Fowl Twins trilogy, given that those books seem to ret-con a considerable amount of the original information, and that is far too many headaches to give myself. Any supplemental series information, such as the short stories found in The Artemis Fowl Files, or anything from interviews is also not included. The premise here is: using just the original books, what is the event timeline of the world? The second thing we need to establish is that I am using the North American releases of the novels. I did make notes on where each bit of information comes from, but there isn’t really a citation style for this kind of thing, so I’m not sure how relevant that is. The third assumption is that the first book takes place the year it was originally published. According to my copy, the original publication was 2001, with the first American paperback edition coming out in 2002, and the first mass market paperback being released in 2003. This means our starting point is in 2001.

For sake of clarity, this analysis will start with setting the dates of the books and continue on from there.

The Basics of The Books

With that out of the way, let’s talk about the first book, Artemis Fowl (AF). It is actually not until the very end of the book that we get a solid answer for when it takes place. It’s only in the last few pages of the novel that Angeline Fowl leaves her attic room after all the plot points are tied up and announces that it is Christmas Day. This might be cause for concern – Angeline had not previously been established as a particularly reliable narrator – but given that we are asked to believe that Holly’s ‘feel better’ mood booster worked, and that neither Butler nor Artemis balk at or question the pronouncement that is Christmas Day, we’ll accept that it’s true and move on. This means that, with Butler’s earlier announcement that he was stuck doing four months of stakeout, we can say with a fair amount of certainty that Artemis obtained and translated the Fairy Book in September 2001, and managed to capture a fairy in December of the same year.

Moving on to Artemis Fowl: The Arctic Incident (TAI), we are given a decent chunk of information, albeit spread out a bit. The first is the announcement that the ransom drop for Artemis Fowl I is to be held on the fourteenth. The fourteenth of what, you might ask? Well, we are told that Artemis is currently thirteen years old. Clearly, things are past September 1, 2002 (we know Artemis’s birthday is September 1 based on information in both the fifth and seventh books). We are also told that Luc Carrere has been trading with the goblins for six months, starting in July. That puts us in either December or January, but we can narrow it down further since Artemis gives us another helpful clue. He mentions they are not expecting to see the dawn while attempting to rescue his father in the Arctic. There are only a few latitudes on Earth where polar night (of any type) occurs, and at Murmansk, polar twilight occurs between December 10 – January 2. Combining all of this, we learn that TAI takes place December 14, 2002, give or take a few days to either side.

This can be corroborated by information in Book 3, Artemis Fowl: The Eternity Code (TEC). After Holly heals Artemis Senior, we are told that it takes over two months for him to wake up. Since we are specifically told two months, as opposed to two and a half or three, we can conclude that the events of TEC take place in March 2003. Mulch gives us some information that confirms this. He was living in LA “less than four months ago,” and since he was conscripted to help with the events of TAI in December, a March plotline fits the bill. We are given further confirmation as well: Spiro mentions that Artemis will be fourteen in six months. A specific date for Artemis & Co.’s attack on Spiro’s Needle can be pulled from the throw-away line that Pex and Chips are “burying” Mulch on the full moon. A quick web search tells us that the full moon in March of 2003 takes place on March 14, and the rest of the events in the novel take place roughly two days to either side of that.

In Artemis Fowl: The Opal Deception (TOD), the fourth book in the series, we are given several very clear indications of when the events take place. Firstly, Artemis is contemplating that at fourteen years and three months old, he is the youngest person to successfully obtain The Fairy Thief. Based on previously noted details that his birthday is in September, the events of TOD must take place in December of 2003. Additionally, we are told that things are the middle of winter and Opal has been in a coma for eleven months and counting as of the end of TAI, another December plot.

Artemis Fowl: The Lost Colony (TLC) requires the most math and interpretation so far to figure out when it takes place. We know Artemis is still fourteen, so the main events clearly happen sometime between January 2004 and September 2004. Beyond that, we are using a fair amount of context clues. Artemis and Butler have evidently been traveling for four months looking for demons, so we are dealing with events in at least May. But that still leaves us several summertime months to work with, so to establish a timeline here, we will need to look forward a bit. In the sixth book, Artemis Fowl: The Time Paradox (TTP), it’s noted that Artemis is not yet fifteen, and has, on multiple occasions, spent the full moon in the study. Ergo, he’s spent at least a few months back from Hybras. If he has been back for two months and not yet turned fifteen, he would have had to have returned by July at the latest, and since he returns almost three years later than he leaves, we are looking at him returning in either May or June. This would have him disappearing to Hybras – and by extension, dealing with the earlier events in the book – in June, July, or August. After his conversation with Minerva, he notes to Butler that they “are planning a June wedding,” which wouldn’t make sense to say if they were currently in the month of June. From all of this, we can extrapolate that the first three-quarters of TLC take place in late July or early August 2004, with the triumphant return of our intrepid heroes occurring in June 2007.

As previously stated, TTP mentions that Artemis is still not fifteen, but is nearly there. He has also been home again for at least two months. This would put the events of the sixth book in August 2007. At least, the events set in the current time period. TTP does bring back time travel, and with it some problems. We are told that Artemis and Holly jump back nearly eight years to Artemis being ten and trying to fund searches for his missing father. This would put the events of the past in early 2000. However, other details presented regarding Artemis Senior’s disappearance, which we will discuss later, make that impossible. Artemis also admits, in TEC, that he was eleven when his father disappeared, not ten. If we take a bit of creative license with our interpretations and base the time-jump to the past on other presented information as opposed to the dates given in TTP, we can say that Holly and Artemis instead return to early 2001. This lines up with further details, such as the sinking of the Fowl Star (as calculated a few paragraphs down in this analysis) occurring in December of 2000, and the textual confirmation in TTP that it’s barely two months past that sinking when Artemis brokers the deal(s) regarding the silky sifaka lemur. Since, at the end of the day, the time jump impacts very little in the grand scheme of things, and the year 2001 actually fits in better with other textual evidence and events, that’s what I’m going with for this timeline.

The seventh book, Artemis Fowl: The Atlantis Complex (TAC) gives us a very helpful base point! It takes place on Artemis’s fifteenth birthday, September 1. From our previous results on setting dates for book events, that would be September 1, 2007. The sections in which Butler and Juliet are fighting mesmerized wrestling fans and meeting up with Mulch are noted in the novel as happening “the day before,” which would fall on August 31, 2007.

Artemis Fowl: The Last Guardian (TLG), the eighth and final book in the series, creates some problems. If we assume that Artemis starts receiving treatment for his Atlantis Complex immediately after diagnosis in TAC¸ that would put him receiving treatment in September 2007. We are told he is certified as cured after six months. Yet we are also told that the rest of the events of the book take place in the week or so leading up to the Christmas holidays. Everything so far has said that the Artemis Fowl series follows the current calendar, in which case there is no way that six months can fit between September 1, 2007 and December 25, 2007. However, the only reference to Christmas is in two lines noting that the Fowl parents were planning on holidaying with their children on a foreign beach. If we simply say that six months have passed, and they are instead planning on spending the Irish school system’s spring holidays in the French Riviera, everything else lines up much better. So that’s what I’ve done. This would also put the resurrection of Artemis, after the events of the book and a further six months have passed, at roughly September of 2008. There is a pleasing symmetry to Artemis being born and then re-born in September, though if you want to get really technical and say the events of TLG take place during the 2008 March full moon as Opal claims (as noted in another web search as March 28), a six-month wait time for the clone to grow would put the resurrection in October. Still, there is something to be said for having a boy’s ghost haunting a clone of himself close to All Hallows. Since it’s the last plot point of the series, you can choose which you’d like; it doesn’t have to lead to anything else after it.

Let’s Talk Timelines: The Beginning of the Line to The End of The 19th Century

Now that we have our baseline book time periods established, we can get into the math used to determine some of the events in the timeline above. Several events are easy; we are given specific dates for them. Turnball Root meets Leonor in 1938, Juliet wins the Miss Sugar Beet Fair beauty contest in 1999. Other things are based on some basic math, such as Artemis claiming his parents got married fourteen years prior to AF¸ putting that event in 1987.

The majority of the items on the above timeline, however, do take some mathematics, extrapolation, and interpretation to plot out. To try and keep everything organized, we’ll start at the far left of the timeline, and work our way forwards, looking at events oldest-to-newest to explain why they are where they are on the graph. I won’t be getting too in-depth on everything in the graph, since I’m not sure how relevant the notes on the very minor side characters such as Carla Frazetti are, but I’ll at least try to touch on some of the more relevant points.

To start with, the Battle of Taillte was noted in the 2000’s as being ten thousand years ago, putting that at 8000 BCE. Similarly, the last dome breach at Atlantis was apparently eight thousand years ago in the 2000’s, so that would be 6000 BCE. Troll sideshows were legal in the early middle ages, which implies they were not legal after that. A quick web search says the early middle ages ended around 1000. The first crusades were in 1096-1099, and as those crusades are the start point of the Butler-Fowl working relationship, a point for noting that comes next on the graph.

From there, we get into more modern – relatively speaking – events. Briar Cudgeon and Julius Root are noted as attending the LEP Academy together and being raised in the same tunnel, as well as having about 600 years of history together. If one assumes “being raised in the same tunnel” is similar to the human equivalent of “growing up in the same neighbourhood,” we can assume the two were born roughly 600 years ago, in the 1400’s. Vinyaya is portrayed as being of a similar age to Root, so her birth can also be put in the same general era. We are also told that Fowl Manor was originally a castle built in the fifteenth century, that in the early 2000’s the theories of timeline corruption were first introduced over five centuries ago, and that cloning has been banned for over five hundred years, so those three events are also tossed into the 1400’s.

Julius Root is noted as doing his LEP basic training 500 years ago in Ireland, so that would have to be in the 1500’s. He would have attended the Academy before then, putting that in the mid-to-late 1400’s. As previously stated, he was in the Academy with Cudgeon. Opal also met Cudgeon in college, and competed with Foaly for science prizes there, so they were all in school at the same time.

Mulch now enters the picture. We aren’t ever given a specific age range for him, but we are told about his career. He has, apparently, spent three centuries in and out of prison after a couple centuries of success as a thief. This would make him at least five hundred years old. There is a brief mention that he tried the athletic route at college before becoming a thief, so he would have to be an adult at that point, putting his age at roughly 550 years during the events of the series.

We then enter a period filled in from one-off lines throughout the series, presumably added to give some depth to the world. Things about the wine cellar at Fowl Manor being a seventeenth century addition, Captain Eusebius Fowl and his crew dying in the eighteenth century, and Mulch first faking his own death over two hundred years ago.

Time Marches On: The 20th Century

There is nothing of much relevance to linger on between the 1550’s and the 20th century, so we’ll jump ahead to the 1900’s, when we have Holly Short’s birthday. She is in her eighties during TLC, and her father died “over twenty years ago” when she was “barely sixty” as of TAI. Based on that, she would have been in her early eighties in 2002, putting her birthday sometime in the 1920’s. What a doll.

A few more birthdays now appear, and we’ll ignore, for the most part, some of the irrelevant ones. I don’t think we are at all concerned with Gaspard Paradizo’s birthday, or Mikhael Vassikin. We are, however, rather more interested in Jon Spiro, Domovoi Butler, and Artemis Fowl I.

Jon Spiro enters the series in TEC, as a middle-aged American. A quick search on the Internet says that middle age is generally noted as being between the ages of 40 to 60. We are told that Spiro has worked in three main industries over the past two and a half decades. Additionally, we are told that law enforcement has been “trying to put [him] away for thirty years.” If we assume he entered the working world at twenty, spent five years developing his professional self, and then started going down a path of questionable legality to get the police after him, that would put him at fifty-five in 2003, and born in the late 1940’s.

It was a bit easier to determine Domovoi Butler’s age, and we can get more specific with his actual birthday. We are told that he is forty at the start of TEC, and he is still forty during TOD. From that, we can assume his birthday is not between March – December, which means it has to be between January – March. Now, we can just leave things there, but contextually, Butler says in late March 2003 that “a lot of people know [him] as a forty-year old man.” Since I doubt he’s the kind of person who introduces himself by announcing that his birthday was last week, we can assume that his birthday is not in March. Since about half the books in the series take place in December, and there is never any mention of Butler’s birthday coming up soon, we can likely assume it isn’t in January. We can therefore conclude Butler was born in February, 40 years before 2003, which puts his birth year in 1963.

We then have Artemis Fowl I. This one took the most extrapolation to determine. We know he has run an ethical empire for a few years as of 2007, which coincides with his return to his family after being kidnapped by the Mafia. He apparently ran a successful criminal empire for two decades before that, though, so in 2007 he has been working for at least 25 years. Based on the interactions he had with his own son, I’ve assumed he was also taught to take over the family business from a young age. If he started working at his age of majority at 18 (as possible in the 1980’s in Ireland, based on a web search), we can assume he was born in roughly the mid 60’s.

Billy Kong, born Jonah Lee, is one to touch on. He plays a large role in TLC, during which we are given possibly the most backstory of any villain in the series. He was evidently born in the early 1970’s, and was eight years old in the early 1980’s. Mathematically, that can only lend itself to so many birth years, so it’s easy enough to put his birthdate somewhere in 1973, and his brother’s death date in 1981.

While we’re here, let’s talk about the 1980’s. A lot of things happen in the 80’s, so we’ll be here for a few paragraphs. Butler would have graduated Madam Ko’s Academy in the early ‘80s, Artemis I would have started working in his family’s business and stolen some warrior mummies (of note, the theft is only noted as being in Artemis Sr.’s “gangster days,” but if you are a young, rich criminal, you’d likely commit a wild theft in your early years as opposed to your thirties, which is why this is put in here). Additionally, in the mid 1980’s, Holly graduates the LEP Academy and her mother dies, as noted in TTP when she is contemplating missing three years of her friends lives.

Butler would have started his five-year stint in Russia with an espionage unit in the mid-to-late 80’s, and become a big brother in 1985. Juliet is noted at being four years older than Artemis in AF in 2001, and he is twelve then, making her sixteen at the time. We can extrapolate the month from TEC, wherein she is apparently eighteen when she is called regarding her brother’s apparent death. At the time, we are told what gifts she received for her birthday, implying it was fairly recent. Additionally, Artemis was only thirteen at that time, which would make Juliet five years older than Artemis. If, however, we trust that acolytes at Madam Ko’s start their training on their tenth birthday and get one chance to graduate per year, it would make sense for that one chance to be on their birthday, or within a day or two to allow for as much training time as possible. Since Juliet was in the midst of this one graduation evaluation when she gets the phone call and joins the crew for the March heist at Spiro’s Needle, she’d have to be born in March. (We can also corroborate this with some details from AF: if AF  takes place in mid-September, that would be just after Artemis’s birthday, which puts the 4-year age difference back into play.)

Spelltropy begins for the People in 1987, if it appeared 20 years ago from 2007. Artemis I and Angeline Fowl would get married in 1987. They would have their first child, Artemis Fowl II, in 1989, as calculated by Artemis being twelve during the initial siege of the Manor in December 2001. Artemis II’s grandfather was noted as having been dead for over ten years at that point, and it was mentioned in TEC that Angeline married her husband before he really took over the family business, so those events would likely happen when Artemis was but a baby in 1990.

The ‘90s are a period where a lot of things are happening, but few are particularly important. Spelltropy has a cure found, Minerva Paradizo is born, Juliet begins her bodyguard training and her brother refuses to let her shave her hair. These, and other events in the 90’s, are mostly calculated by math along the lines of “Event A happened X number of years ago,” but since the 90’s was mostly a time of worldbuilding events rather than plot events, we’ll just skim over the specific details.

‘You Are Here’: The 21st Century, and Where The Storytelling Begins

Welcome to the 2000’s! The kick-off point of not only the 2000’s, but also the entire series, is the sinking of the Fowl Star. We aren’t given a specific date for this, but we are given enough information to extrapolate the date. Specifically, in September 2001, in AF, we are told Fowl Sr. has been missing for almost a year. In TAI, in December, we are told he has been missing for almost two years. That does have the potential to have the ship go down in either December or January, so we need to use a bit more details from TAI to make a final determination. Mikhael Vassikin and Kamar were told to dump Fowl’s body in the Kola if he didn’t wake up in “another year,” so they’ve been looking after him for one at that point. Fowl Sr. wakes up two weeks before the deadline, and as noted earlier, the ransom drop for him takes place December 14, after he has been awake for perhaps a week. From that, we can tell that the deadline for “another year” was mid to late December, putting the initial sinking of the Fowl Star in late 2000.

The analysis gets a bit confusing at this point, because 2001 is when future Artemis and Holly join the party via time travel, as well as having their regular selves in the timestream. Essentially, we’ve established the timeline for the events of TTP above, so we know the whole lemur fiasco takes place in March 2001. Artemis wakes up at the end of that book thinking about fairies, which ties in rather neatly to him then dragging Butler across three continents for six false alarms (with an assumed approximate 3 weeks between each jaunt) before striking metaphorical gold in Ho Chi Minh City in September. During their time-traveling, Holly also gets a chance to talk to Root, who wonders why she isn’t in Hamburg, which was noted in AF as Holly’s first major failure as a Recon officer and was nearly preceding the events of AF. The time-traveling would also mean that Opal would have had to harvest her DNA for future diabolical plans before March 2001, when her younger self travels to the future. Since it takes up to two years to grow a clone to adulthood, and her clone has to be ready in September 2003, we are a few months off in the time requirements, but really, for a practice that’s been outlawed for 500 years, I can offer a bit of leeway.

We are now well and truly in the thick of the main events of the series. Most of this will be tied into the initial assessments we made way at the beginning of this essay, where we established when each book occurs. Because of this, we aren’t going to spend time on anything plot-related. However, a brief note on Turnball Root and Artemis’s Atlantis Complex is likely in order. Artemis was, as previously stated, dealing with his return from Hybras and the after-effects of stealing magic during July and August of 2007. His Atlantis Complex, and Turnball Root’s plan to escape the Deeps prison, are in full swing in September of that year. We have a brief note in TAC during the evacuation of Atlantis, that Turnball had, a month before, spied on Artemis and noted his Atlantis Complex developing. Therefore, Artemis’s Complex likely came into play in late July or early August 2007. This is close enough to Artemis’s magic theft to make sense for the deterioration of his mental health, and enough time for Butler to have started to notice something was wrong, as he did. We can therefore assume that Atlantis Complex, at least in the case of magic-stealing humans who have a propensity for time travel and getting involved in supremely complicated and improbable plots, develops relatively quickly.

This leaves just one major discussion point from the last few books: the age of Artemis’s twin brothers, Beckett and Myles. The twins are first introduced at the very end of TLC. They are written as being two during the events of TTP, three during the events of TAC, and four during the events of TLG. Regardless of the time-traveling shenanigans of their elder brother, it is impossible for the twins to age two years in the eight months between Artemis’s return from Hybras in June 2007 and the finale of the series in March of 2008, so we need to look at what makes sense.

Myles has already potty-trained himself, and done so at fourteen months, so they must be at least that old. Their other behaviours would make sense for them to be two in TTP. Diapers are still a part of their lives, and their language and vocabulary fit what a two-year-old would have, at least in Beckett’s case. Since Artemis was surprised by their existence, it doesn’t seem likely that  Angeline would have known she was pregnant, or at least not have told Artemis yet, when he went to Limbo. Ergo, they can’t be any older than two, since (one would hope) Artemis would have noticed his mother’s pregnancy if the twins were any older.

Additionally, in TLG, we know Artemis gave his brother a birthday present, so he had to have been around during the twin’s birthday at least once. With this fact, the twins cannot be born between March – June, which just leaves the question of when are the twins born?

 The most logical answer is February 2005. If Angeline was early on in her pregnancy, say six weeks (which is when most women start noticing symptoms), when Artemis disappeared in July 2004, she wouldn’t necessarily have told him yet. Then, if we assume that since most twin births occur around the 35-week mark, that would math out to having the twins be born in February of 2005. Fast forward, and they would turn one in February 2006, and two in February 2007, which puts them at the correct age for the events of TTP. [One could argue, of course, that a twin pregnancy in an older woman (unfortunately, there is nothing in the series to indicate Angeline’s age) and in a woman already dealing with significant stress could result in a very premature birth, thereby voiding any of this math and leaving the whole question of the twin’s birthday unanswered. However, since I’d rather not subject the Fowl parents to the strife and misery of having one son missing and presumed dead, and their younger children in the NICU with a low survival rate, I’m working with the assumption that the pregnancy was a healthy and normal one.]

The brief comment from Juliet in TAC about the twins being three can be passed off by them being a little over two-and-a-half and Juliet not being around as she is touring in Mexico. By the time TLG takes place, in March of 2008, the twins would have had their third birthday, allowing for Artemis to give Myles his chair as a birthday present, Beckett to be old enough to no longer need diapers, and the behaviours to act more like children than infants. While this doesn’t quite allow for the repeated textual confirmations in TLG that the twins are four, we’ll go with what mathematically makes sense.

That brings us to the end of the timeline! Not everything is touched on in the timeline, and not everything in the books is plotted (we are never given enough context to know Foaly’s or Opal’s birthdates, for instance). But the main events of the Artemis Fowl series are all analyzed, mathematically or logically or textually corroborated, and plotted out, for use or ignoring as personal preference dictates.

#artemis fowl #af timeline #you have no idea how irritated I am that there is nothing - NOTHING - in the series to give ANY context #on the ages for Angeline Fowl or Arno Blunt or Damon Kronski. #i can make GUESSES but they would be entirely based on my own bias and thoughts and vibes #which is INTENSELY irritating because i have basically EVERYONE ELSE #on the timeline SOMEWHERE #oh well. i think i have most of the events of the series on there? #if i missed something i'd love it if someone could point it out so i have a complete 'map' #oh though to be clear: i did very much do this for me! #this isn't meant to like...take away anyone's headcanons or ideas or whatever #if you wanna do something that directly contradicts the above - go for it! #i am just - as my cousin put it - 'that kind of fic writer' in which i will do insane amounts of research for the smallest of details #the one i wanted this for is honestly in a fic i haven't even started #and that is in fact several ticks down the Want To Write list #but that's neither here nor there! #i now have an outline of when things happen so i can do whatever i want with it :)

[highladyjane]

Yes Elriel is so Healthy and full of passion when Azriel hasn't thought beyond his sexual fantasies ( he masturbated to headache powder 🤮 ) . You want Elain to be with a guy who thinks of her as only the third sister and doesn't even think about the consequences of Luciens Death On Elain ? Have you forgotten the part that Said mates would mad if their other half died ? And please don't start on the cauldron made them fake mates bullshit , the cauldron doesn't decide mates the Mother does 🙄

Thank you for your short rant and for being interested enough in my thoughts and opinion to warrant me with an Ask 😊

I don't really know which of my posts this directly pertains to, so I will just assume it's because I'm generally pro-Elriel. I do like Lucien as a character though, I just simply don't ship him with Elain.

Knowing myself, this will end up longer than intended since this did spark a bit of reflection for me, so I will try to stay as relevant and short as I possibly can 😅 So, to actually answer your Ask...

1. Ehm, it's not the headache powder he's masturbating to 😆 It's who gave it and what it might imply: that Elain sees him too, as well as the hope and possibilities of her liking him back after him being in love with someone else for 500 years who never returned his feelings. Hopefully, you've had the experience of fantasizing about a crush sometime? Sometimes feelings can be so consuming that one's fantasies simply strays to the explicit. We wouldn't have the ACOTAR books if it wasn't for those kind of fantasies. Also, in no way do I find Elriel "full of passion" since they haven't even got a chance to act on said passion - which is why Azriel chooses to please himself through thoughts of her instead of actually going down to a pleasure hall and a series of other women and the consequences of that... Which for you is more healthy? Are we going to ignore the times Nesta and Cassian masturbated to the thought of each other too? I don't even want to go down the path of what Nesta did in the start of her story (nor about her very particular "daydream" at that) because she thought she didn't deserve Cassian... Though I think it's what led to Nesta and Az having such a great understanding of each other too, btw 😊

2. I think Azriel knows of the consequences of what will happen (he should at least be old enough to know lol) which is why he's trying to avoid Elain and acting on his feelings for her. He knows what a mating bond implies. But he's questioning why he didn't get the third sister because he's clearly feeling a sort of pull towards that third sister specifically (not necessarily implying a bond here). He just hasn't planned for what will happen if Elain actually acts on/chooses him, because he doesn't think she will and because he doesn't think he deserves her. I don't think he'd ever kill Lucien just because; but what I think he asserts is that if it were to come to it, he would have the right to defend himself, Elain's choice, and be the one to walk away from it (remember Az vs Eris+Beron at the HL meeting and who overpowered who? + Feyre musing about Lucien in comparison to the Illyrians?) so it's not Lucien he's worried about. I'd think he'd even let Lucien win just to avoid whatever it might cause Elain and because he has enough self-loathing and insecurities for it. But I reeeeeally doubt it will come to that, since it doesn't feel like Lucien's too desperate or to keen on keeping the bond either. I mean, I can see him being upset, but he seems to feel equally "shackled" in the situation since he "can't even stand to be in the same room as her for more than two minutes" (ACOFAS ch. 18). From what Lucien's shown, he's been respectful enough about the distance between him and Elain, so I think, especially considering the connection of this plot to what his mother went through, he'd be respectful of what Elain chooses too - even if the hurt or bond might affect them both for the rest of their lives. I think he'd want true love for himself too, and not just a bond "that sometimes picks poorly[...] and is nothing more than some pre-ordained guesswork as to who will provide the strongest off-spring[...] not an indication of true, paired souls.". Also, they haven't even accepted the bond, so it's not really like Feysand level yet, and I'm not completely sure how that would affect one if the other were to die... I mean, Lucien hasn't even reacted or mentioned anything about what it felt like when Elain was taken... But someone else did 👀 I do hope that's explored in the next book somehow.

3. Ehhm... Well... Azriel questioned the Cauldron, not the Mother. Also to quote Rhys in ACOWAR Ch. 24: "Many mated pairs will try to make it work believing the Cauldron selected them for a reason". So it is the Cauldron being questioned here - and guess what CC3 confirmed 👀. I don't think Elain and Lucien are fake mates, but I'm open to the theories about it. I don't even want Elain and Azriel to be mates. I just like them together because their feelings have had a chance to grow more organically, so it feels more natural for Elain to choose him, and that Az will finally get chosen after all that he's been through (Mor + his family + the things he did for Elain etc.). To me, he's worthy. If she chooses Lucien, then I need a really good set-up for it - one that's even better than what Elriel already has imo. And most importantly, one without her losing her agency. I actually want Elain to choose to explore her bond with Lucien, just to see what it's like and what could be since it will create more angst 😆. I think she's slowly but steadily moving on from the Cauldron incident, enough to forgive him even though it wasn't directly his fault. But I don't think it too necessary, since I wouldn't want to be forced to interact, settle, or love someone I simply don't want to be with. I've personally been in that situation too many times. Love can surely grow, but it cannot be forced if it isn't there to begin with, whether or not you already have your heart set on someone else.

Lucien wants and deserves someone who (to quote himself from ACOWAR Ch. 24:) readily loves him "without question, without hesitation" and who will choose him back. Just like Jesminda did - despite the implications and consequences, and it was why he'd loved her. I want to see Lucien with someone who's a bit more like what he himself seem to prefer prior to the bond that "was thrown at him" - the kind of people he's consistently got along and chosen to be with. Elain is too polite and soft for him and he's known for liking people who snaps back, who teases and taunts him - like Feyre, who he got close to because she never balked from him nor from doing just that... And Vassa sounds similar to Jesminda in spirit (wild and free etc.) and he's actively choosing to live with her... Maybe Elain has some of those traits in her too, she seems to be growing some claws after all. But does she have to change herself just to fit into his type just because of their bond; or can she continue to stay in her essence with someone who already likes her for her even without a bond?

I do think Elain and Lucien can at least be friends and have a great understanding - they've both been dragged through everything after all (Elain with her sisters, Lucien with Tamlin, and both by the baddies obvi) and just tried to make the best out of everything despite both not being the most useful of people early in their stories, and both trying to rectify themselves. So they have that in common at least... And I think that's left room for the growth and healing that Sarah's pertained to and that they'll have to face and address in the upcoming book(s). So whether it is about Elain or Lucien, I believe it will be about Choice, and what they both equally want and deserve. Which I think is True Love - despite any bonds.

I feel like this has gotten absolutely too long, so I'll stop here 😵‍💫😅 I hope my answers suffices your questions 😊

#pro elain archeron #pro lucien #choice > mating bonds #mating bonds ≠ true love #pro elriel

[akumatizedpuns]

Courtney Defense Post

This is a post made to clear up misinfo and hopefully provide people with a better/comprehensive understanding of Courtney's character. Courtney receives excessive hate from many Total Drama fans that has only in recent years begun to dissipate. Let's get right into the post.

The Love Triangle

This post will be frequently mentioning the love debacle between Gwen, Duncan, and Courtney. If you ship any of these, especially Gwuncan, this might not be an easy read. Just letting you know in advance.

The Network

Since it will be brought up a lot in this post, lets start with talking about the cast/crew of the network. I'll keep it short.

During its active run, Total Drama ran on two channels, Teletoon and Cartoon Network.

The creator shipped Duncney and Gwent. The network coerced the writers/creator of the show into breaking up Duncan and Courtney for the sake of 'drama' and 'realism.' It's a little bit important to note that they didn't have to break up Gwent, but they did have to create a love triangle out of the scenario somehow and weren't really left with a choice.

Duncan's VA, who also ships Duncney essentially stated that Duncan didn't actually love Gwen more than he did the idea of her and them being together because Duncan liked the fact that they had so much in common more than anything else.

Of course, he's a VA so it's safe to take his words with a grain of salt, but it's likely he asked the writing team and ended up recieving this as an answer.

Gwen

Let's start with Gwen. I feel like no one focuses enough on her betrayal/actions toward Courtney. I very much believe in the 'don't blame the 'sidechick' ideology, but that doesn't rid her of accountability. The fact that the show ALSO framed her as somehow being the victim of Courtney's actions is sickening and problematic.

Even more so when you consider the way the show wrote other BIPOC besides Courtney in the show during the earlier seasons. But I'll go more into that later.

So Gwen was basically your goth, laidback, not like the other girls archetype with depths beyond her appearance. Cliche, albeit, not extremely so, so she was very likable. Personally, she was once my favorite character and one of my first fictional crushes.

What a lot of Gwen fans and people who watch/watched the show, in general, fail to acknowledge is her snakey behavior towards Courtney.

From going out of her way to assure Courtney that absolutely NOTHING was going on between herself and Duncan only to date/flirt with him hardly a season later to admitting to kissing Duncan whilst knowing he was in a relationship with her closest friend only to take it back and claim that she did nothing wrong because 'the boy was free' (which, is a plot hole, as I mentioned earlier, but still was inexcusable for Gwen to declare nonetheless).

Pretty much, she gaslighted Courtney, which is absolutely NOT okay. And when Courtney decided to place her trust in her, she played with that, too.

Gwen is wishy-washy in general. One example is when she got pissed at Trent for leaving her buried (mind you, Trent was dealing with his own fear/trauma). Then in the next episode, they'd made up. Then episodes later, she decides she's still pissed at him for leaving her buried.

This behavior was also shown through her relationship with Duncan. I'm not mad at Gwen for being moody. She's a teenager. But the fact that this is never called out by the same fans who say they wish Courtney would die jars me.

It's also crazy how people call Duncney toxic, but don't consider Gwen's moodiness and then her refusal to communicate it not toxic as well? There are episodes wherein she straight up ignores Duncan or acts passively-aggressively toward him. Meanwhile, Duncan has no clue what's even going on.

On a psychological level, it's been proven that even if you have to scream at your partner whilst you're communicating with them, it's a lot better than being passive-aggressive and ignoring them. This also happened with Trent. Except, Gwen actually appeared to eventually get past this and learned to communicate better thanks to him. Of course, with the forced writing, they ended up devolving Gwen's character back to the way it was once Gwuncan came around.

Being Betrayed

What kills me is the way fans criticize Courtney for the way she treated Gwen and Duncan. AFTER they had both betrayed her. This is no justification, but Courtney was a person who was acting out of pain, betrayal, and broken trust. Lots of fans believe she just got over it in no time when in reality she was just processing and then conveying her pain in a more crass manner.

There's also the argument used that Courtney mistreated or abused Duncan.

There is no denying that she nagged and yelled at him. But she NEVER abused him. And in multiple instances, Duncan is shown to actually enjoy the fact that Courtney's on his ass all the time. Duncan has an inclination toward feistier girls and toward the end of their relationship it was shown that he didn't like (neither did he deserve) Gwen's more laidback way of confronting issues and going about things, for better or worse because he's a slightly more high-strung person and thrives off of motivation from someone more or at least equally as high-strung as he is (this isn't to say Duncan is high-strung, he just is in comparison to Gwen).

People often bring up that list she gave him of things he needed to change to maintain their relationship. I agree that this was extreme. But she literally acknowledges this and starts to realize she likes his imperfections less than a few episodes later.

Courtney was a teenage girl navigating what was very likely her first relationship. I could understand a lot more if she hadn't been shown to learn from her actions, but she did.

Gwen versus Courtney/Subconcious Biases

Let's backtrack a bit again into the inner-workings of the show.

Total Drama was a show that ran from the late 2000s to the mid-2010s (at least this applies to most of the seasons that involved the original cast). This was a period where internalized misogyny and microaggressive forms of racism among other things were rampant in all sorts of media but wasn't really acknowledged by those who consumed said entertainment.

It's important to note that before I say this, Courtney is mistaken by some fans to be of Latinx descent.

Anyway, Gwen fits similar archetypes as the following characters in fiction: Jade West, Sam Manson, and Mal Bertha. All of them fit the 'not like the other girls' archetype I mentioned earlier. Only the first regularly faces consequences for her actions and without the narrative regularly or semi-regularly framing her as being in the right. But all of them to this day are adored by fans. The latter two also have rivalries with WOC (Women of Color). With all said women of color often being villainized in some way, shape, or form (Descendants luckily broke this trope in their final movie).

The writers usually make the women of color 'popular' or 'feisty/strong' or somehow give them the upper-hand in the story/situation in an attempt to empower them. But it ends up framing the non-woc in the situation as someone who is being victimized or someone who is saintly or morally superior. Even if they were actually wrong or the one being antagonistic in the beginning, they'll find some way to make the WOC do something to show the audience that 'Omg, (non-woc) was right after all!' This is highly apparent in total drama when Courtney's plan to eliminate Gwen ends up being exposed.

Lots of fans tend to lean toward Gwen because of her aesthetic and as a result of subconscious racism without even being aware that this is the mindset that they are perpetuating and is what they're doing.

I'm not trying to say 'Courtney's black, feel bad for her' or even trying to make this about race when I point this out. I'm just acknowledging the racist subtleties. I highly recommend watching the second episode of Danny Phantom to gain a better idea of what I'm talking about in this section of the post.

Anyway, unless someone comes with a valid reason as to why they loathe Courtney but love Gwen I'm gonna be side-eyeing them from now on. Just because Gwen is a more subtle kind of terrible, that doesn't mean she's any better than Courtney. She's actually worse if that's the case. That said, I'm not accusing anyone who does have this stance of being a racist. Just saying that they should most definitely mull it over. If you can excuse Gwen's terrible behavior but can continuously bash Courtney, then please think twice.

#total drama island #courtney tdi #gwen tdi #duncney #gwuncan #td duncan #total drama world tour #cartoon network #cartoons #old cartoons #total drama

[floralcyanide]

The Extra || Austin Butler x OC

Chapter Ten (nsfw)

Pairing: Austin Butler x OC

Warnings: smut (minors dni pls), oral (f receiving), mentions of past pregnancy scare, mentions of m*sturbation/ use of toys, anxiety, a little bit of dirty talk but nothing heinous.

Word Count: 2574

>> super long A/N sorry but pls read!! first off I just wanna say that the fact The Extra has gotten 1k more reads on Wattpad since I last updated is literally insane. wtf. thank you all so much. it is also very close to 1k hits on ao3, which I'm super thankful for. I wanna mention that this chapter's smut is relatively tame compared to chapter six, so if you didn't want to read that chapter due to the graphicness of it, then this chapter is safe lol!! I know this chapter is fairly short compared to others, but I think what I wrote will suffice for now. I wanted to get this posted since it's been a few days. I'm still trying to get my creative juices flowing again. I hope everyone enjoys this chapter despite it being a little dry, but we're in between plot points, so nothing eventful is happening for now. also if the flow of this is weird (or if any of it is, really) I apologize, I didn't feel like reading over it sksks I needed to post something asap

***if your url has a slash through it, that means your URL won't tag. please let me know if it's misspelled or anything so I can fix it.

Series Masterlist | Main Masterlist | Add yourself to the taglist HERE

June 2020

To say I’m beginning to go insane is an understatement. I’m growing more and more frustrated by the day, and no matter what I do, nothing seems to help. I’ve been patient and understanding, but it’s been months. You’d think that Austin and I would’ve had sex again by now. But that isn’t the case. I usually don’t mind not having sex, but being in constant close proximity is challenging. We only get as far as intense makeout sessions nowadays. Nothing more. I know Austin has a drive because I’ll hear him in the shower getting off. I’ve offered to please him, but he just waves me off when I ask, saying he doesn’t need it. I’m beginning to think I’ve either done something, the false pregnancy scared him, or maybe he’s not sexually attracted to me anymore. I guess it’s time to put it to the test. I ordered a lingerie set a month ago for my birthday that I didn’t get to wear. It’s Austin’s favorite color, so hopefully, it’ll catch his eye, and I can get him to open up.

Austin is in the living room watching TV, taking a break from running lines, or studying Elvis. I’m in our bedroom straightening things up and putting things away. As far as Austin knows, I’m just making the bed and folding laundry. But I’ve now completed those tasks, and I’m wearing the set underneath a silk robe while lying on the bed. I open the robe up enough to where you can plainly see the lingerie. I decide now is the time to text Austin.

Can you come in here?

After a few moments, I can hear his footsteps approaching the door, and I almost feel nervous about him seeing me like this. It’s been a while since I’ve done anything extravagant for Austin. I hope this isn’t a mistake. He opens the door to the bedroom, not paying attention to me at first. A shocked expression comes over him when he looks up and locks eyes with mine. Austin furrows his eyebrows at me, taking cautious steps towards the bed. I stare at him through my eyelashes, running a seductive hand across my body.

“Like what you see?” I ask, breaking the silence.

Austin’s breath hitches as he nods slowly. I beckon him to me with my index finger, but he stays put. He seems nervous.

“What’s wrong, babe?” I’m a little concerned now. 

“Nothing,” Austin says as his voice cracks.

I scramble up from my lying position and immediately walk over to him, putting his face in my hands, “No, something is wrong. You can tell me.”

Austin keeps his eyes downcast.

“Austin, why won’t you make love to me?” I ask sadly, moving my face in a way that forces eye contact.

He finally does meet my eyes as he takes his lip between his teeth, “I can’t.”

“What do you mean you can’t?”

“I’m scared I’ll hurt you or get you pregnant, and I know you don’t want that,” Austin says quietly.

“Why would you hurt me? If this is about last time, that was different. We were different,” I shake my head, “Condoms are also a thing, Aus. You don’t have to worry about that.”

Austin doesn’t respond, his eyes still on mine. Defeatedly, I pull my hands from his cheeks and tie the robe back closed.

“No,” Austin stops my hands, “You don’t have to do that.”

“What’s the point of showing off if you won’t do anything about it?” I frown, letting my arms fall to my sides.

“I like looking at you,” Austin whispers, tracing a finger along my jaw, “You’re beautiful, Ro.”

I avoid his eyes, quickly covering myself and tying the robe up anyway, “I understand if you’re still scared, and I’m sorry for this.”

Embarrassment doesn’t begin to describe how I feel. I know I should appreciate that Austin wants to look at me, but knowing I was nearly naked for no tangible outcome, makes me feel foolish. I should have figured he didn’t want to have sex no matter what I tried to do. I feel so inconsiderate, and I know it’s irrational, but I just want to hide. 

“You aren’t the one who should be sorry. I’m sorry for not giving you the attention you deserve. Because you definitely deserve it, baby,” Austin says as he pulls me to him by my hips.

Now it’s my turn to stay quiet with my eyes turned away. I don’t feel in the mood anymore, and it’s not like I need to anyway. Sex usually isn’t that important to me. Still, before we broke up, we never went for entire months without doing anything. And the last time Austin and I had any form of sex, it was rough, wild, and unexpected. Plus, we weren’t together and happy. Now that we are happy, not having a sex life makes me feel like I’ve done something wrong, as silly as it sounds.

“Did I do something?” I sigh.

“No,” Austin says with a serious look on his face, “You didn’t do anything wrong, Roman. I’ve just been so focused on the movie, and I’ve been worrying about possibly fucking everything up again. I’m sorry for not taking care of you.”

I nod, fiddling nervously with the robe string, “I understand. I just wish you’d get out of this weird phase of not communicating with me.”

“I worry too much about losing you,” Austin grabs my chin, forcing me to look at him.

“You aren’t going to lose me. But please go back to telling me what bothers you before it becomes a problem, okay?” I say.

“Okay,” he says before running his thumb over my bottom lip, “My beautiful girl.”

Austin leans down to capture my lips with his softly, his hands holding my head and jaw. My hands rest on his chest as he deepens the kiss, tracing my bottom lip with his tongue. I let him in, allowing him to explore my mouth slowly. The kiss is hot and open-mouthed, and Austin wastes no time pulling the string to my robe. Without breaking the sensual kiss, he pushes the robe off my shoulders and lets it fall to the floor. Austin lets his hands slide from my head to my neck, then over my chest and down my sides. He grips my hips, drawing delicate circles with his thumbs into the lace. Austin latches his teeth onto my bottom lip and pulls it forward, opening his eyes to watch as he does. He lets go of it as a trail of spit connects our mouths.

Austin takes one of his hands from my hips and cards it through my hair, letting his fingers rest on my scalp. He grips my hair and pulls my head back slightly, exposing my neck. He leaves open-mouthed kisses along the column of my neck, leaving little nips here and there. Austin isn’t viciously biting me this time. The only sound in the room is his lips against my skin and my labored breathing. He brings his other hand up from my hips and slips a finger underneath the lacy bra strap, lifting it as far as it’ll go before letting it snap back to my shoulder. He then pulls the strap down, letting it rest against my upper arm as he repeats the same action to the other strap. Austin’s lips still haven’t left my neck, and they travel to my collarbone, edging closer to my breasts. He reaches behind my back and unclasps the bra, letting it fall down my back and onto the floor. Austin pulls away from my collarbone and starts backing me towards the bed. The backs of my knees hit the mattress, and I let myself fall onto it. I move up to the top of the bed where the pillows are, letting my head rest on them as Austin cages my body with his arms. 

“Now,” he smiles, his gold necklace dangling right above my face, “Let me make love to you,” he says, referring to my earlier question.

Austin resumes his sultry kisses on my collarbone, slowly descending to my breasts. He kisses the skin of them, avoiding where I want him most. I glide my fingers through his hair once he finally attaches his mouth to one of my nipples. Austin flicks his tongue across it before taking it back into his mouth, teasing it between his teeth. My legs involuntarily squeeze together at the sharp feeling, but Austin takes notice and spreads my legs apart. He focuses on the other nipple as his entire hand takes up my thigh, pressing his fingertips into it. He lets his body rest against the mattress between my legs. Austin busies his hands by twisting and pulling at my nipples as he kisses my stomach, making his way down the hem of my lacy underwear. I let out a small whimper at the overstimulation of my breasts, squirming a little as Austin runs his tongue along the skin at the edge of the lace. Before he continues further, he sits up and pulls his shirt off. I hurriedly drink in his body until he lays back down on his chest. Of course, I’ve seen him shirtless since we last had sex, but when we’re intimate, it’s something else entirely. 

Austin plays with the lacy fringe of my underwear, pulling it and letting it snap back much like he did with my bra straps. 

“Please,” I say, putting my hand back in his hair and running my fingers through it, “I need your mouth.”

“Getting tired of your hand, darling? I’m sorry,” Austin teases, slowly pulling the lace piece down my legs.

I can’t help but scoff at his comment, “My hand and vibrator can only do so much, you know.”

He looks up at me through his lashes, darting his tongue out to lick his lips, “As much as I’d like to see that, I’ll take care of you this time.”

Before I can respond, Austin takes his fingers and spreads me open further, his eyes taking in the sight of my glistening pussy. 

“So wet for me already, hmm? Been too long?” he smirks before spreading my slick around with his fingers and bringing them to his mouth to lick off.

“Yes, it has,” I say shakily, “Now, please stop teasing.”

Austin wastes no time flattening his tongue and licking a fat stripe from my entrance to my clit, moving his tongue back and forth against the bundle of nerves at an agonizing pace. He has one hand on my hip to keep me pressed to the mattress while the other one keeps me open for him. Austin makes a point to circle and flick my clit with his tongue slowly. Almost as if he wants to relish this for time lost.

“Missed how good you taste,” he says, lapping up the never-ending arousal that seeps out.

I throw my head back against the pillows, fisting the sheets and Austin’s hair. He traces the outline of my entrance with his fingertip, and I try to buck my hips towards his face to no avail. Austin’s hand is too heavy on my hip. Sitting up again, he pulls both his underwear and sweats down his legs, kicking them off the rest of the way. Before doing anything else, he moves over to the bedside table and retrieves the box of condoms I stashed months back. Austin rips one open with his teeth before pumping himself a few times, rolling the condom on. I watch as he drags his tip along my folds, gathering the slick before pushing into me slowly. His hands hold onto my hips, grasping them as he pushes himself deeper. I let out a cry of near relief at the stretch of his cock inside me. Finally. 

“Fuck, Aus, you feel so good,” I moan, biting my lip as I look up at him.

Austin’s hair falls into his face as he pulls out before thrusting back in, slowly gaining a rhythm. He lowers himself against my body, letting go of me and grabbing both my hands. He then puts our hands on both sides of my head, holding onto them as he moves his hips fluidly against mine. 

Austin leans down to kiss my lips, “I love you so much.”

“I love you too,” I smile before kissing back.

He thrusts at a different angle and hits a spot within me that sends me reeling, “Oh god, right there, Aus.”

Austin continues moving his hips in favor of hearing me moan when his tip hits the sweet spot. I don’t even have to let him know I’m close because he groans at the feeling of me clenching around him. He slams into me at a rapid pace, chasing both our highs. Austin kisses along my jaw and down my neck as his hips begin sputtering, the erratic thrusts sending me over the edge. My cries of pleasure cause Austin to release with a shaky moan as his hands grip mine. After removing and disposing of the condom, he lays down next to me and pulls me into his chest. He nuzzles his face into my neck.

“I’m sorry that took so long,” Austin jokes.

“Honestly, the build-up made it worth it,” I chuckle and wrap my arms around his, which are encircling my waist. 

“What do you wanna do for the rest of the evening?” he asks.

“I wanna just lay here for a few and then maybe practice some lines with you,” I say, “We haven’t practiced the scenes we’re together in for a while.”

“Sounds like a plan,” Austin buries his face deeper into my neck.

While I have time to think while lying in bed, I decide maybe I should tell the rest of the friend group that Austin and I are dating. I probably should mention that we already know each other too, unless they’ve caught on as Tom and Dacre did. Still, lying isn’t necessary anymore. If Austin and I showed up to set in a few months and had obvious chemistry, it would make people confused and suspicious. Yes, we did spend a lot of time together during these few months, but the chemistry we already had is incomparable to what a new relationship’s vibe would be. Austin and I definitely do not have the same feelings we had when we first met, and since we’ve gotten back together, our bond has gotten more intense. Mainly because we’re constantly with each other, so it would make sense to just explain our situation to those important to us. 

The rest of the evening is spent running through the scene where Elvis is in Priscilla’s bedroom in Germany. Austin and I are sitting on the floor by the couch, repeatedly going over the same lines until we get them just right. We have about four more months until Baz suspects we will resume shooting; however, he is particular about getting things perfect. So is Austin. Even with my boyfriend being picky about how things sound, he still asks me for advice on how to articulate a line or where to put emphasis on a word. If Austin still asks me for guidance on line reading after working diligently to become Elvis, maybe I am cut out for this actress thing after all.

taglist: @cozacorner @onxlymnsn @anangelwhodidntfall @butlersluvbot @jolovesfandoms @austinbutler17 @slutforblueeyes @mamaspresley @mirandastuckinthe80s @bobbykennedyfan @sodonebruh @lizzymizzy-blogg @defnotreadingfanfics12 @izzvoid @homebodybirkin2003 @thatonemoviefan @kittenlittle24 @tubble-wubble @kaycinema @annamarie16 @adoreyouusugar @csmt-m @apparently-sunshine @amiets2 @emchickynuggies @mrs-butler @mesbouquins @ari-nicole @xmusse @austin-butlers-gf @feral4austinbutler @inlovewithchrisevans @shynovelist @mommy-maia @jessieeisenburg @karamelcoveredolicity @thtguyovrthere @popeheywardssecretgf @venxfinn3 @westwoodcoast @victoriastarkparker @priestessofthelyre @tpwk-hailee @urmom787878

#austin butler #austin butler x oc #austin butler x oc smut #austin butler smut #austin butler fanfiction #austin butler fanfic #austin butler x reader #austin butler fic #austin butler imagine #austin butler elvis #elvis #elvis 2022 #elvis (2022) #elvis movie #elvis film #elvis biopic #baz luhrmann elvis #the extra fanfic #floralcyanide writes

[falconearring]

Im curious since Im also trying to making one, how do you come up with the dialogue?

I showed my friend mines and they said it was bland (feedback of course and I understand because writing is my biggest weakness) just for planning it out.

Also I love your Au comic and that’s the reason why I started to make my own <33

HEY I feel very honored that my work has gotten you excited about comic making ^_^ Hopefully what I have to share here is useful to you!!

Obligatory disclaimer; I am not all knowing, and what makes dialogue interesting is subjective. This is just what I think about when I write!

A lot of what I'm about to say pertains to character and voice, because for me it goes hand in hand with dialogue. Characters reveal themselves through every thing they say and do, intentionally or not.

When you write dialogue, it's very tempting to just have a character directly convey what you as the author are trying to get across. I think one of the most common ways dialogue comes off bland is when its written in its most standard form. People don't generally speak in perfect grammar, and it can sometimes feel jarring to read a perfectly constructed sentence coming from a character. People stutter, pause, double back, speak in run on sentences and often don't get directly to the point in one go.

A character's manner of speaking is always informed by their personality, and their background. Oftentimes they'll embellish with unique turns of phrase, slang, or even terminology that pertains to something they're passionate about. When I write dialogue for Skizzleman I use a casual tone but I highlight his amicable nature. I wouldn't have him greet someone by saying "Hello, how are you?" Instead it feels more like him to say "How's it going, buddy?" Subtle things make a world of difference. If a character is blunt, they're not going to preface a statement with a bunch of fluff to soften the blow. So on and so forth.

Something I really enjoy in writing is exploring character dynamics. When characters have an interesting relationship, dialogue kind of writes itself. By that I mean, the way people feel about one another informs the way they address each other, and consequently it also informs the flow of a conversation. Some people think dialogue that doesn't directly advance the plot is just fodder, but that isn't necessarily true. Time spent developing characters is never wasted time, so long as you're not drawing attention to things that have already been made clear over and over. A lot of my favorite parts of what I've drawn in the comic so far don't actually have much to do with the plot; it's the parts where Joel and Etho have a back and forth of some kind, even if it didn't lead anywhere particularly meaningful. It just comes down to how their personalities clash in some ways and mesh together in others.

In short, interesting dialogue is spawned from having a good understanding of the character. From there, the things the character says will be punctuated by their underlying traits, and it becomes more enjoyable to read. Every line doesn't have to be a perfect zinger, but once you start thinking carefully about each characters' individual voice and how they interact with one another it starts to come more naturally.

Thanks for taking the time to inbox me and good luck with your projects!!

#asks

[tuliptic]

Hey again, here with a feedback for you :)

The reading resonates very well. Your words worked so well also in reminding me of what I can do but tend to forget or get lost while at it. Maybe also cause I am tired and the flu didn't help. Anyway... It just sounds and sticks better when it comes from someone else, we all know that!

That "as soon as you write your story" you wrote... I feel it hides much more than I am getting atm but I will decipher it. For sure I am understanding these days I don't have to/can't be in control of certain aspects of my life so... I am trying to let go and enjoy more. And following this feeling and your words I will try to take more steps as well. I have been getting about this upcoming relationship often now and IDK honestly. But again, I will just try to let things play out as they are supposed to.

Loved that you had some lyrics here, music is such a special mean of communication with above for me :)

Thanks a lot again for this game and for letting me in! Hopefully you are recovering now<3

Henlo! Thanks for dropping your feedback! And yeah, advice tends to stick better when the words come from people you trust or people around you.

Funnily, I was about to add a line of explanation on the "story" part but I didn't, and here you mentioned about it. I was reminded of how we all live differently lives, see things differently, experience things differently, and hence, we have different plots. One can't judge a book by it's cover and amount of pages. Sometimes, they may look like they have less pages, but you feel so much happiness reading what they have to offer; and sometimes, the words used in the book may be simple and short, yet they are capable of invoking the deepest emotions in you. So yeah! Maybe there's something here in this paragraph that you can get!

And yeah, let it flow! Just like what you described my situation to me lololol 🤣🤣 The lyrics just popped up and it's a really nice song. If you are interested in it just lemme know, I'll send you the link UwU

Thank you for participating and I finally slept at 4 something ahahaha oof and rest well! Hope you recover from the flu soon!!

#tuliptic #🌷 #🌷 feedbacks #random game 1 #lysshome

[artis-lined]

Regarding Recent Events

(Believe whoever you want, I don't care, I just hope this stops.)

Hey guys, I unfortunately didn't want to have to be the one to do this, but I'm sorry to say with everything happening, I have obtained enough evidence to confidently accuse @slow-snail and @luminous000 of everything. Strap in, because this genuinely going to be a long one.

Red Flags

Let's start with some things arent quite evidence yet still may be a cause for suspicion. If you'd like to skip this section, please go to the next, titled "The Stalker"

Lumi has very similar texting patterns as Ghost

I have been in multiple situations where someone I know has faked being two or more people. I feel like I know the signs at this point. Lumi and Ghost are very similar, I remember thinking that they were just the same person and it was just a back up account before Ghost said it was his bf.

Ghost makes uncalled for jokes that are not, infact, funny.

I understand humor being a coping mechanism. It is even recognized by many mental health professionals. The thing that bothers me (and hopefully many of you) is the point where it stops being a coping mechanism. Playing dead for a day and a half is not funny. It is not cute. It is, infact, hurtful and can even be traumatizing for some. It's not funny how worried we were. It was a worrying time, many of us were so shaken up we blamed ourselves. It is not funny.

Convenient timing

It seems like every time they get better something either happens to Ghost, or Lumi. If they don't recieve enough attention, the resort to drastic measures to get everyone worked up and then come back to say: "no everything's ok now, ty for worrying 🥹". Like no shit. People are going to worry if you post how you're going to jump off a fucking bridge.

The Stalker

Here I will discuss how the story had more plot holes than things that actually made sense. Please read this part, as it contains important arguments.

Texting us while on the white board

Whether he was lethargic from "blood loss" or abt to pass out, they never stopped typing. On top of that, most of the responses were so premeditated it immediately made me feel like we were all just role playing.

Usage of medical terms

Other than the usage of 'stitches', the other terms were improperly applied.

"The goal of a medically induced coma is to reduce the work of brain cells and protect them from increased pressure inside the skull or after an event such as a stroke."

"The medically induced coma is intended to reduce the metabolic demand of the brain cells."

[Another term for a medically induced coma can also be sedation]

Source

My uncle was placed under sedation when after his heart surgery, his kidneys stopped working on their own. It is different from anesthetics since anesthesia slows blood flow to the brain (and decrease brain activity). Isn't it wonderful what a quick Google search will teach you? Oh, speaking of Google searches..

Lack of News Reports

I'm not saying the news reports everything-- but I find it odd how even when googling key pieces of evidence regarding this case, there was nothing remotely similar. This includes turning off local searches.

Went Home Quickly

After about two days in the hospital, Ghost was released. It was very short considering being in critical condition (including the fact they apparently flat lined multiple times). There was also no vital organ seemingly damaged, so then why would he flat line? Blood loss is serious, but they were alive in the hospital and ambulances have O- blood on hand since it is a blood type that everyone can use.

Ghosts Suicide

Finally, the last piece of evidence. This was disgusting... genuinely disgusting. Please read this part, as it contains important arguments.

Medical Inaccuracies

I'm not going to type out the whole medically induced coma argument again, but the point still stands.

Legal Inaccuracies

Lumi would not have been the person contacted regarding medical information. They have expressed to be around fifteen, and have no legal or blood relation. It's nice that they're dating and all, but it does not make them automatically the one updated with information regarding Ghosts wellbeing. It's one thing to be updated by the parents, but Lumi has shown that Ghosts "parents" don't like him.

Death occurs when there is no more brain activity.

This part was horrible. It had so many lies in it I don't even know where to begin. First, it's illegal to just pay a doctor and say that they're dead. Second, multiple doctors are there to ensure a patients safety. There has to be evidence of brain death.

The Next Chapter

I can't be the only one who sees what they're doing, right? Lumi was in denial when Ghost came back, and it's going to end in one of two ways.

Lumi is so upset about what happened, and as they are plagued by guilt of not know sooner, they attempt to kill themself, and don't succeed. The cycle continues.

It turns out Ghost has been hacked (probably by the stalker if they're feeling like it needs a plot twist) and it turns out the hacker is going to do something horrible to Lumi.

I'm just so done. Like, actually done. I tried to make this post as informational as I could, because I don't want anyone to think I'm being a jerk. You don't have to agree, but I'm probably going to take a short hiatus or something just to get away from all this.

Thank you for reading everything.

@parma-san @i-dont-draw-stuff @aimless-aimz

[sloth-ball]

So i saw the fnaf movie opening night and have been doing a lot of thinking about it. I did like the movie and it was a really fun watch especially for me since I've been following the series since it came out (like I'm sure most of us have) but there's some stuff i wanted to talk about since i see people either only giving it a 10/10 or just hating on it.

1. I personally felt like the character of the aunt was not really needed. I know shes supposed to be the incentive for mike to get a job but i feel like her position could have easily just been filled by a CPS worker. She felt like a silly villain with her comedic relief sidekick and it felt out of place to me.

2. I felt like Vanessa being added took away from us having more scenes with William. After giving mike the job we dont see William till the end at the climax so it felt like if you didnt already know who William was going into the movie you weren't given the tools to figure it out on your own making it feel off for people not familiar with the series. If Vanessa was taken out and replaced with a few sparce scenes of William instead it would have felt more cohesive to me.

3. I don't really understand why William killed Garrett. It felt like they forced that narrative to tie everyone together when in terms of game lore it doesn't make much sense. William didn't start killing until Freddy's was made and he didn't do any killing outside of it. I know there's some theories floating around about that but until we get more context in the next movie it feels off to me. I was expecting it to be more of a trauma for Mike that would make him feel more sympathy for the spirits and be more inclined to help them that would lead to some character growth about letting go of things at the end.

4. I feel like the fort scene was very unneeded. I'm sure they really wanted to show off the animatronics hence the scene but it felt like it took too much time away from other scenes (specifically the climax) causing them to feel kinda rushed.

5. Finally the ending. It felt like it was really short to me and i was expecting at least one chase/hiding scene involving William. I also was hoping for a more silent William because if they wanted the mask off to be more of a big reveal it was kinda dampend due to how much he talked before taking it off. I also felt like he took it off really fast and we barely got to see his full costume in action. The spring lock scene was pretty good but i felt like his "i always come back" was also rushed. Plus it made no sense in that context because as of right now this is his first appearance. Its not like he's "come back" before so why would he say that he always does. I feel like it should have been saved for a later movie instead of just shoving it in for the sake of a reference.

Thats just some of my thoughts, there was a lot of stuff i did like about the movie but i really wanted to put these specific points out there, feel free to let me know what you think. Overall I'd give the movie a 6.5-7/10 and I'm definitely seeing the next one.

TLDR: some scenes and characters could have been cut out to make the plot and other scenes more cohesive and fulfilling, hopefully more context next movie.

#fnaf movie #fnaf #five nights at freddy's #five nights at freddy's movie

[apocketfullofpoesis]

Book review: The Silent Patient

[SPOILER ALERT ⚠️]

Rating: 2/5

Before y'all start coming at me, bear with me: I know for a fact that it was a debut novel so trust me when I say, I've been very considerate in giving this review :)

1. If I didn't know Alex was a screenwriter, I'd do away with my disappointment. I understand it was a debut novel. I am a writer too and I understand. I've read the debut works of a lot of authors WHO DID NOT HAVE A BACKGROUND in the field of writing like Alex. His writing style (at least in this work) is rushed, there's a feeling of emergency - maybe it was intended to set the tone of the story - but it merely came at me like he wanted to do away with the book, just finish it somehow. I wrote my debut book when I was 17 and it's been 2-2.5 years in my self-doubt and low-esteem that I still keep going back to keep editing and drafting it. So I'm being brutally honest when i say the second draft of my debut work >>>>>>>> the final draft of the silent patient. i thought I was being a bitch but trust me guys, I am being thoroughly honest. you'll see when my book comes out (hopefully before I die). The only good thing I learnt after reading this book is a new sense of confidence and leap of faith in my own writing style, especially being an Indian writer writing about an American setting.

2. Diving deeper into the narrative, which, according to me lacked depth. This semester, I studied about Longinus, the Graeco-Roman critic, who is known for his famous critical treatise, On the Sublime or Peri Hupsous - which basically advocates the importance of the quality of sublimity in a text that makes it special, elevating the readers out of their own self and transporting their imagination to unimaginable worlds. I could go into detail but luckily, someone has already explained it in a better way here . For me, the silent patient lacks sublimity and not just a bit, but in such an amount that it can't be avoided, it keeps poking at you until you give up the benefit of the doubt and accept the truth. There is no development whatsoever regarding the narration of the environment, the characters in depth, and also the one thing the writer must've focused on, he carelessly attended it as well: Ironically, the book is pivoted around the world of psychology and all things synonymous - or at least the writer has forced so - and even then, he did little to elaborate the internal reveries of the major characters, let alone the minor ones. The conversations were rushed, there was no description of contemplation before the characters arrived at a conclusion and so many more flaws that I can keep counting and my fingers would run short.

3. The writer introduced some characters, who provided absolutely no aid to the storyline or the development of the plot - if there was any. He could've either used them in a much more refined way or just shouldn't have even introduced them in the first place. Jean-Felix's existence is beyond me. Also, why did he tell Alicia that she trusts everyone around her so easily - what was the point of that? This statement piqued my interest in Jean-Felix and right after that the writer disappointed me yet again. Kathy's character was yet again wasted. I also don't understand the poor character development of Max. THIS GUY LITERALLY ASSAULTED HIS SIS-IN-LAW AND NEVER ONCE CAME TO SEE HER AT THE GROVE AND NOW ALL OF A SUDDEN HE'S EMOTIONAL TOWARDS THE END??? LIKE??? I felt like I skipped 20 odd chapters because clearly there's a lack of something so crucial for the sudden change of Max's heart. Or the writer went lazy with his character arc and wasted yet another foil.

4. Alex is part Cypriot and I respect that. I am a sucker for Greek mythologies and trust me when I read the word "Alcestis" for the first time in the book, I immediately became pumped up to finish it. Unfortunately that's all it was. A bait. I think, and no offense, that the writer kept boasting his love for Greek mythologies, throughout the pages. I had better expectations from Diomedes' character but yet again, I think he was wasted. Even though Theo wasn't Greek, he seemed to have a lot of knowledge and interest in it so I think if the writer intended to hint at his honour and love for the mythologies, he should've made Theo Greek/part-Greek? I feel like he could've mingled references of the Greek culture in a better way and not just occasionally hitting with one every now and then when you're engrossed in the story. Idk, this one's a personal reverie though (Please don't cancel me).

5. Coming to the story. I was into 100-150 pages when I got bored. I consulted it with my friends, who had extra hyped this book to me and because of whom I got hold of it. I told them how the noob writing style is really pissing me off and till then, no special development had ignited. But they told me that the climax is really worth it and so I kept reading. I was hopeful that I'll get something. But the climax was not at all original. If you've watched the Netflix series You, you could've already guessed the ending by the fourth part of the book and if you're a sucker for Joe Goldberg's ways, like me, your guess of the ending would've been much sooner and better than the real ending. I was hoping till last that the writer must've done something with Max or Jean-Felix or even Diomedes himself - wouldn't that be cathartic? But no. There's something royally wrong with Theo, granted, but if he was the culprit all along, the writer must've shaped his character in a better, more refined way. Not everyone can be Joe Goldberg. LIKE I DONT UNDERSTAND - HE KNEW IT WAS HIM ALL ALONG WHY TF WAS HE TREATING ALICIA LIKE FOR WHAT WAS HE HELL BENT ON HER FINALLY SPEAKING UP?? SOMEBODY EXPLAIN PLS.

In conclusion, the story was a whole lot of nothing and I gave two stars because the book cost me 160 bucks + i liked the reference of Alcestis. This is my personal opinion and I don't intend to offend anyone who has a different opinion than me, okay? Good kids x.

#writers on tumblr #for you page #foryou #explore page #for you #dark academia #light academia #foryoupage #literature #sylvia plath #franz kafka #virginia woolf #charles bukowski #romantic academia #the silent patient #alex michaelides #booktok #2023 reads #spilled ink #spilled thoughts #book review #reads #books #books and libraries #books & libraries #books & coffee #study aesthetic #study motivation #studyblr #studyspo

[bossfight-messages]

PLOT STUFF WOOOO

There is no dialogue in this bc I'm bad at it </3. I also don't have that much practice writing so i'll put a summary in the tags if you don't wanna read :D

This is from the canon boss's pov. Not the other, bluer Boss.

also im fairly lazy and barely proofread this </33 forgivee meeee

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Boss hopped from the tree, landing safely down on the grass below. After a chase from a very pissed off goblin hoard, a nice long nap in the sun was beginning to feel more and more alluring.

That and a couple strawberries. They could really use some strawberries.

All that.. shit. Yeah shit was a good word. For a random gemstone that they didn't even know would work or not.

Boss sighed and sat back against the tree trunk. They dug around their pouch for a moment, before producing a book. One slightly wared down, the spine cracked a bit and the ink fading. It was thin, but very important right now.

The events of the last couple days played in their mind like a broken record.

They had woken up somewhere oddly.. cold. Boss tried to avoid colder areas, they were built for withstanding more humid climates after all.

So imagine their surprise when they woke up from what was supposed to be a short nap, in an Ice People fortress. Fun stuff.

It had taken a lot of confusion, explaining, whatever, to understand what was going on. Something about alternate realities, them replacing another version of themselves, yadda yadda.

The Ice People of this dimension were oddly... nice. Well, from Boss's standards. And they had only met their dimension's Ice People once, aside from small run-ins whilst trying to get the goddamned Ice Golems to actually work as intended in-game.

Whatever, the past was the past.

Then.. there was the gem.

Sharp a bright. Harsh reds and purples clashing and fighting over the surface of it, sometimes bugging and lagging. When they had touched it..

Boss's hand stuck to it they felt a weird, gross feeling wash over them. Like something was pulling out pieces of their coding, rearranging it, deleting, adding, scrambling, deleting adding scrambling deleting adding deleting deleting dele-

They stumbled back, landing on the ground, hard. Boss sat up, dazed.

Then they realized. The glitching had stopped.

It didn't take long to realize what it was, asking locals and piecing together what they could. Obviously even more of their questions were answered when they managed to steal some books on the subject.

They chose to ignore the odd looks they got whenever their.. antennae? Horns? Whatever they were, changed to question marks or interrobangs. Especially interrobangs. Guess the other them didn't have that little feature.

Boss opened the book to one of the pages, then broke a stick off the tree.

Annnnd now. Time for the good part. Fingers crossed it actually works.

they reached into their pouch and pulled out a different gem, shaped the same as the first one they had touched, but a solid color. A dark purple, it glowed softly in their hand.

Hopefully it actually did work, seeing as the goblins protected it so fiercely, and they would need to summon a lighting demon to power the damned thing.

They sighed and placed it down on the ground, grabbed their stick, and got to work.

#OKAY SO SUMMARY: #Boss wakes up in ice people fort. yadda yadda. finds ooooo buggy glitchy gem ooooo and touches it. then they are CURED :O #they use new knowledge to find more info #a book and another gem #which they stole. #whoops #anyway they hoping it works now and need to power it ig idk #alternates arc #writing #closing my eyes as i publish this </3 #scaredd

[frobin]

I promised on twitter to give a review of movie red with a focus on FRobin.

Sadly there is not much to say about the movie FRobin-wise. So, I'll try to give an overall impression about the movie without giving (hopefully) any spoilers!

Film RED Review!

As said, there is not much FRobin in the movie, Franky and Robin stand beside each other once. But there were many scenes that were only short and so hard to analyse.

But compared to that there wasn't any shipable scenes for Robin at all! At least if you don't count the fact that she seemed to hang around Brook a lot (which honestly is in this whole debate a highly underestimated contender!!).

What I really enjoyed was the soundtrack! I'm normally not a fan of songs that I don't understand but "Film Red" has an amazing soundtrack and I don't mean the songs by Uta (Ado) but the overall motifs!

Some felt so familiar and I can't put my finger on and I can't recall the songs (my brain is more one for remembering stories than melodies).

Either way it was great because it really underlined the overall athmospheres of the scenes.

THIS IS NOT A MUSICAL! There is a lot of music but it's not a muscial!

Some things seemed illogical. There were a couple of scenes that made me think "excuse me? Who would act like that in that situation?" but compared to some other movies it was very linear and logical.

I heard before that the Strawhat crew is not as present in the movie but honestly, it felt better than some others. They all had the same amount of screentime, sticking together as a crew.

I liked that because in some movies you only get focus on a few characters and others are put on the backburner. So maybe the Strawhats overall weren't around as much (also because of the flashbacks to the story of Luffy and Uta) but it didn't feel like it! They all got to fight, they all got lines and they all worked together!

That is a HUGE plus in my book.

Which reminds me: I love Brook and good for him! Lmao

Anyway another point about this movie is something that might change the idea for some but... both Yasopp and Shanks still get the "Worst Dad" award.

Really... what the heck? XD I was not expecting THAT but yeah not going to say much more about it...

BUT SERIOUSLY?! ESPECIALLY NOT WITH THE SCENE SHORTLY BEFORE THAT?!

I WANT TO SAY THINGS! I CAN'T WITHOUT SPOILING STUFF. So I won't. God Damn It! XD

But! If you are a fan of Shanks, there will be at least two scenes where we get a full look onto his chest so look forward to that.

Also we saw a bit more of Shanks crew and how strong they are. Fascinating!

Another thing to look forward to are the second outfits for Coby and Helmeppo. I haven't seen a lot because the animation was very fast but what I saw looked really good!

One thing that got clear to me and that very fast was one plot twist. The second plot twist not so much... mostly because I hoped that would never be a plot twist in One Piece XD (I should have finished my fanfiction years ago gdi!)

But again, it was well done. Except that the whole thing could have been easily avoided xDDDD God, stupid idiots!

Special mention that Momonga was part of the movie. I love him. Also holy shit Borsalino you crazy mofo! Issho could have done more too... overall did the Marines not shine... except Coby and Helmeppo! Also Blueno, suprisingly!

The BM Pirates that were there also did a good job! I despise Big Mom and her crew but the family-love the siblings have is really cute. Can't deny that. I had a couple of good laughs too!

Now on another note... the underlying theme overall is... like... serious. There are very serious undertones in the movie I won't get into right now because again that would be spoilers. But yeah... after the movie one girl said she almost cried and while I wasn't even near to crying I can understand if that movie touches you.

Last thing! I also now know what is up with this little guy and how Franky reacted to him:

Not really but also kinda what I expected. XD

Anyway let's give it two more months and I'll go deeper into the analysis if you want to hear it!

Everyone who still looks forward to see the movie! Have fun!

#Not Frobin #Film Red #Analysis #Review #Movie Review #One Piece Film Red

[overlookedfile]

Man I wish I could write like you. All your Alfred stories have been amazing!!!! I keep trying but I know I'll never get anywhere

I appreciate the compliment. 🥰🌹

But don't sell yourself short. I've been writing stories in one fashion or another for 3 decades. And you know what? I still don't consider myself "good", only "good enough". If you're asking yourself "good enough for what?", the answer is: "To convey my stories in a way that feels true to how I feel about those stories."

I grew up reading Brian Jacques, J.R.R. Tolkien, Anne McCaffrey, Richard Adams, etc. and I was reading them all by 1st Grade (about 6 years old, for the non-Americans). I developed a very deep love and appreciation for detail and characterization and sprawling, ever-continuing stories from them.

What took a much longer time to develop was an understanding of just why I loved those authors and how to bring that into my own writing. It wasn't the minutia of jargon, elaborate meals, or their obsessive presentation of detail, although I definitely tried to copy 2 of the 3 when I wrote (I'm no good with food, unfortunately). It was emotion, specifically the way their styles of writing carried a weight that went beyond the mere list of details on the page and evoked a primal response in the reader.

My style is still a work in progress. I still get hung up in the details to the point of hurting (or at least not helping) the story. I struggle with pacing, both of the overall story and within individual scenes. Characterization sometimes drags me into a dark alley to give me a thrashing. And, in case you can't tell, I have a fondness for verbosity that borders (hopefully only borders) on being rude and pretentious.

But each and every thing I write is a step towards improving. The very best thing I've ever done for my writing, perhaps even more important than learning the technical rules of writing and identifying who I wanted to emulate, was giving myself permission to write "poorly", to allow myself to put things out there that aren't the very best, most accurate, most perfect, polished version ever. You wanna know when I started allowing myself that? May 3, 2022. I know the exact date, because that's when I published my Nervous Energy fic on AO3.

Every single thing you've seen me post has flaws. Big glaring ones, to me, in every story except the Diego Rivera fic. That one only has a few tiny things I might have changed, things that I am able to acknowledge matter to me, but not to the story. Otherwise, there are sentences I didn't write that I wish I had. There are whole scenes that are "missing" in some things. There are entire plots, thousands and thousands of words, that were written and then scrapped for my inability to articulate them the way I wanted to.

So far, I've posted about 60k words to AO3 since May 3rd and it's all messy, incomplete, and imperfect. But I am glad for each thing I've posted, because it feels like for the first time in over a decade, I'm finally growing as a writer again. I still overuse commas (as well as semi-colons these days), have questionable or downright broken sentence structure, and find myself falling into a rut of using the same words too frequently, but I enjoy those things now. When I add them or leave them in, it's not because I don't know any better, it's because I'm making a conscious choice to prioritize story over perfection.

Writing isn't a skill that develops overnight. Writing style isn't some immutable thing destined to forever shape your works. Both are personal experiences that will grow and change with you. Let it. Be messy and imperfect. Write that gratuitous self-insert, or smut, or fluff, or epic sprawling fantasy that's clawing at your soul. Write them poorly. Until you can write them in a way, good or bad, that makes you happy. And when you've done that? BE happy.

Anon, just write. If you want feedback? If you want critique? If you want help figuring out your style? Please feel free to reach out. Because you're the only one who can write your stories. And if I haven't already, I look forward to reading them.

❤️❤️❤️

#writing #creative writing #writer's dilemma #we are our own worst critics #support the arts #all the love anon #keep writing #asks

[eileeny]

For the writing game! 11, 19, 24, 26, 39 💖💖

11. Do you believe in the old advice to “kill your darlings?” Are you a ruthless darling assassin? What happens to the darlings you murder? Do you have a darling graveyard? Do you grieve?

if darlings are characters, not really? i usually write happy endings and those are pretty contingent on little to no dying.

if darlings are sentences/paragraphs/dialogue that i really, really like? absolutely. i have rewritten so many things just because the plot didn't work like i wanted it to. so many beautiful turns of phrase lost to the backspace key... and no graveyard, so they're just lost forever, i'm afraid (and if you can't tell, i do grieve. lots)

19. Tell me a story about your writing journey. When did you start? Why did you start? Were there bumps along the way? Where are you now and where are you going?

oh boy. picture this: summer of 2020, first year of the pandemic. i'm sitting at home bored out of my mind. i open ff.net and read my first fanfiction. i write some stuff. i get tired of ff.net and go to ao3. i write more stuff. i publish the stuff.

and thus, a writer is born.

no but really, the reason i started writing was because i was bored and i had inspiration about the stories i wanted to tell in the fandom i wanted to tell it to with the characters i wanted to tell it about. it's been frustrating at times—writer's block is very, very real and happens too frequently for my liking—but i think where my writing is right now is already so much better than it was two years ago because i had to figure out how to get past that mental block. hopefully where i'm going is to longer and longers fics (no hate to short fics, but i love longfic) that other people find interesting and like to read!

24. How much prep work do you put into your stories? What does that look like for you? Do you enjoy this part or do you just want to get on with it?

it really depends on the story. anything that doesn't need to be fleshed out, virtually nothing; anything that requires me to understand how the larger world works (usually the bigger the fic, the more i need to plan), the prep work is meticulous. i'm talking outlines, timelines, schedules for each day, birthdays, days of the week, location trackers, historical accuracy research, pretty much everything so i can avoid having even the smallest plot holes. it's very fun but also time-consuming, so i only do it for the projects i really, really care about.

26. How do you get into your character’s head? How do you get out? Do you ever regret going in there in the first place?

i don't think i'm ever out of a character's head ALJFLSDJFLSDJSL. it's more like i push them to the back of my mind so i can focus on real life problems, but they're always there if i find myself with enough spare time to daydream. i don't really regret going in there because that's how i understand them enough to write the story properly, so whatever happens in there, it's all for the greater good.

39. What keeps you writing when you feel like giving up?

man, that's the question, isn't it?

a lot of the time it's spite, which i know sounds like a terrible way to function, but i only use it to give myself a jumpstart of sorts so i can get to writiing again. also a lot of the time it's the knowledge that only i can tell this story the way i want it to be told, so if i don't write it then no one will.

the third option is that i take a break. i stop writing completely, or i work on a different and unrelated topic, and almost guaranteed by the time a week or two has passed i'll have fresh ideas for the project and be able to implement them exactly how i want. this is probably the most effective at getting results i'm proud of, so i would definitely suggest doing this if you don't feel like writing. just. don't. listen to your brain, it knows what it needs, and sometimes what it needs is some r&r.

#i finally got it done #sorry it's so late #AGAIN #it's just been a Week #or maybe two #anyway i probably could have written much more but let's just stop here #before i write five full-blown essays #thank you for the questions sparrow! #<33 #ask games #hersilentlanguage

[anastasia-only]

NONA SPOILERS... LAST CHANCE TO AVOID IF YOU HAVEN'T FILTERED

after reading all of Nona in the span of about 7 hours and staying up until 1:30 AM here are my initial thoughts:

-overall... i did not like it nearly as much as gtn or htn. maybe my opinion will change on reread but initially that's where I stand

-there really wasn't that much humor? i don't remember laughing much compared to gtn/htn

-liked the john backstory bits, probably more than the main plot. could've been more condensed but i didn't think it had pacing issues (unlike the main plot). most of the funny bits were here

-the whole going into the barracks rocked: ianthe possessing naberius's corpse, ianthe and corona bickering (really ianthe and everyone), the cam/ianthe duel

-god everything after beating ianthe and getting Gideon's body back just dragged on and on... super unsatisfying conclusion to number seven stuff, too much time talking to BoE, somewhat unsatisfying return to the ninth. i felt like the barracks was the climax and then the rest was a way too long denouement. maybe i was just too tired from staying up so late to read it

-nona was alright. one of the more critical reviews pointed out that Nona doesn't really have any agency and i think i agree. hard to think of instances where Nona directly affected the plot on her own initiative and not as a result of being pushed into something (draining the wards around Gideon's body) or dragged along with someone (hot sauce at the broadcast, harrow disguise at the barracks)

-idk if the mystery of Nona's identity was worth a whole separate book... i thought she was Alecto before I read it and never really wavered from it right up until the official reveal. you could maybe argue that it wasn't supposed to be a true mystery but it sure wasn't marketed/written that way

-loved Palamedes'/Camilla's arc but wish Paul had a less dumb name lol

-loved Pyrrha. wish she was my stepmom, or at least my cool aunt

-dont know how I feel about Kiriona Gaia. at first i was like wtf. this doesn't feel anything like Gideon. but i think that's the point. I'll probably like it more on reread

-ianthe was a fabulous bitch as always. never disappoints. easily the most entertaining character in the book

-corona was less of a terrible person than i thought she'd be lol

-no harrow :( (or at least very little harrow)

-disappointed we didn't get more Judith, found her a much more interesting character after ayu and then she didn't really do anything this whole book

-BoE stuff was alright, liked we suffer and pash, did not understand any of the stuff going on with the angel/aim (update: found out it was just a dumb AIM/MSN joke, never mind)

-possibly unpopular opinion: i really did not care for the gang stuff. hot sauce was alright but i thought the gang took up way too many pages in proportion to how little they affected the plot

in conclusion: i think tamsyn really should've kept this as Alecto act 1. some bits benefitted from a full book (pal/cam stuff) but overall i don't think this needed to be this long. i think i would've preferred truncating the Nona stuff and having a super long Alecto as a result. maybe put the john backstory stuff into a paperback bonus like ayu or separate short story or something if it's too long, idk. hopefully I'll like it more on reread.

#nona the ninth #nona the ninth spoilers #ntn #ntn spoilers #the locked tomb #tlt

[haloguyfttp]

Brief thoughts on YOU KNOW WHAT from 2.0 Penacony's story because I've seen a lot of complaints I don't agree with. Yes this is another Penacony rant, hopefully the last one I make.

A common issue I've seen some people bring up with Firefly and her death is that it was too quick. Commonly this goes as follow: She's someone we just met, she didn't have enough time to flesh out her character, and it was so sudden and early that it didn't make me (the people making this argument, not like, me) feel anything.

I can kinda see why people feel this way but here's my counter-arguments because goddamn do I hate seeing their "hot takes" that tumblr insist on showing me for some reason and I need to get this out even if no one will read it.

We just met and she didn't get enough screentime to care. This sounds reasonable, but I think that's the point. At the secret base, she basically lets it all out. She's clearly been forced to hold all her feelings in, and now she finally found Trailblazer, who's willing to listen and be with her even if they may have conflicting objectives. From this point forth is where pur relationship with her will build, and maybe we can figure something out and avoid being enemies.

All of that hope and anticipation is cut short by her being killed so quickly after. We don't get the time to learn about her more. We don't get to know her objective, her original purpose here, nor do we get to see the potential future we could've built towards. That's why it hurts so much more. That is why it's sad. Sure objectively yeah, she didnt get enough screentime or whatever. But that's the point. We got to the 1st high point where we get to really know her, and it all gets cut off right then and there.

Leading to the other point, her death I think keeps the plot going. End of the day a character death is gonna be tough to write. People might love them and be reduced to tears, or people might be indifferent and barely bat an eye. By doing this so early, before the 2nd half, Hoyo gets to hit both audiences.

For those who cared about Firefly like myself, it hits hard for all the reasons stated among others. But for those who didn't take to her, to put it bluntly, she's now dead and out of the picture. Which if anything should be a good thing, yet I've seen more than a few posts from this very group of people still complaining anyway.

Another complaint I don't get is "Why is Trailblazer crying for someone they met like 2 hours ago". First off, does the actual duration of time matter, or what happened within that timeframe? It's abundantly clear from the Secret Base scene that both Firefly and Trailblazer trust each other, even if they may be on opposing "teams". Also, if you watched the entire story and decided to project your indifference onto the MC, I do wonder what it takes to get you emotionally invested in anything. Just sounds like a terrible way to enjoy any media. Finally, even though that last bit was just me being annoyed, think about this: Trailblazer has never seen a death that matters.

Cocolia's death doesn't matter to us since she backstabs us and is evil the whole time we know her. Bronya's the only one actually familiar with her. Tingyun is friendly, but our relationship with her never goes beyond acquaintances. Firefly in contrast is someone who Trailblazer genuinely cares about and gets close to during their entire stay in Penacony. And she was killed right in front of them with no warning, build up, or fanfare. She's dead, and her body is gone. No big send off, no dramatic tension leading to this moment. She was in the wrong place at the wrong time, and between the walking Stellaron, Mysterious Galaxy Ranger, and Memokeeper, not one of these 3 powerhouses could save her despite being right there.

That's fucking devastating to me. If you didn't have the empathy to understand that much, then I worry for your mental health.

#rode's rants