#you get my haphazard english

[quotidian-oblivion]

Helloooo! Don't think I've done one of these in a while :)

Tell me about a time a kid younger than you (sibling, cousin, child you babysat) did something you were proud of them for, but you knew an adult would not approve of.

bye now!

I love this one. Thank you.

Boy oh boy, with three little siblings, you know I have stories. Many of them.

Oof, which ones to choose...

Sister B, when she was around two, cat-fought another toddler-age boy over a balloon which he was trying to steal from her very own hands at McDonalds. His dad was around but didn't stop him. My sister won the fight against that boy with her own two violent toddler hands.

Sister A, she goes picks and chooses friends like one does strawberries, never minding their feelings, and putting herself first. Though I do lecture her about being nicer to people, she managed to do something which I could not: dictate her own life with the people she wants to hang out with.

Sister C, when she was in her toddler years, just. did whatever she wanted. She was the embodiment of "do what you want with life". While the rest of us were keeping a five foot distance from a dog and trying to be on our best behavior for the adults, she was there, slaying, getting licked by dogs twice the size of her, and entering an unknown apartment and eating their washing powder while the whole family ran up and down looking for her. She doesn't do that now, but by God, was she a handful.

Regarding other kids, I've worked with children a lot and since I'm the eldest daughter, I've looked after them a lot at parties and such too.

I've seen a kid say "No" to someone who wanted to cuddle them, horrifying the adults and her mom.

I've seen a kid run a line of questions over an order their parent gave them which was perfectly logical and warranted while the parent was frustrated they just didn't do what they were told.

I've seen a kid on the bus who stared at their grandmother with the most neutral face and responded to her very public yelling with calm, yet firm statements and handle her temper in such a diplomatic way, it would put any president or monarch to shame.

I've had a student who was the class clown and disrupted the class so much that he even drove me crazy, who talked back to me with statements and comments which had the understanding and knowledge level of a young adult while he was just a 10-year-old boy that he ended up being my favorite despite making fart noises to make everyone laugh in the midst of me explaining something.

I've had a kid who continued crying and wailing loudly in the face of someone telling him that he's not allowed to cry because he's a man.

I've seen so many kids display such brave, confident, intelligent, kind and admirable actions. I don't know why or how so many adults get irritated with them just because "they're kids" and are "supposed to do what they're told".

But overall, my absolute favorite and top moment, is with my youngest sister when after a line of questioning, she admitted that a bad thing she did was her fault and she did that by herself, moving me to tears because grown, mature adults would never admit to something that was their fault, but a 7-year-old said it with genuineness and regret so freely by herself.

Hell, so many children display strong levels of emotional intelligence but are squashed down by adults undermining them instead of supporting them and teaching them how to use their skills for good.

#quotidian asks #children #humanity #kids #parenting #child development #parents #emotional intelligence #kids are the best #parenthood #boundaries #understanding #personal growth #parenting tips #good parenting #tristi <3 #i'm not proof-reading this one sorry #you get my haphazard english #quotidian&sisters

[thedvilsinthedetails]

Microfic for @wolfstarmicrofic written with the prompt ‘ardent’

Word count: 684

(split this in two halves, second half coming out tmrw)

EDIT: second half here

“Mm I’ve come to an important conclusion. I’m completely irresistible.”

Sirius proudly announced with a grin. They were all sat in the common room, Sirius leaning against James on the sofa. Remus was sat in the arm chair next to him, on his other side Lily, Mary and Peter were taking up the other sofa.

Peter and Lily looked at each other comically before turning and raising their eyebrows at him.

“Sorry yeah, I’m irresistible to everyone that experiences attraction to men.”

Mary laughed then.

“Sure you are.”

Sirius huffed out angrily.

“I am! I’ll prove it to you.”

“Oh please, been there done that. I’m just saying irresistible to everyone who feels attraction to men might be a stretch.”

Sirius whipped his head round to James.

“Tell her she’s wrong.”

“Of course she’s wrong, if I didn’t have an amazing and super hot boyfriend already I’d definitely be a Sirius Black groupie full time.”

“You basically already are.”

Remus chuckled, gesturing at the array of multicoloured hair bands James had around his wrist for Sirius to tie his hair up with at every given moment because Sirius never remembered to bring any. James was an ardent Sirius Black supporter.

That’s when Remus knew he’d made a mistake, the moment Sirius’ eyes landed on him they sparkled mischievously.

“Moony you’re perfect!”

“Huh?”

“I’ll prove it by getting you to kiss me. One month, if Moony hasn’t kissed me by the end of the month I’ll- I’ll cut my hair short! I bet you.”

Everyone gasped. Sirius’ hair was- well- it was Sirius’ hair. 

They were all a bit drunk, Remus had thought it would pass. He’d be fine. The urge to kiss Sirius senseless was something he’d learnt to control early. Remus. would. be. fine.

•••

Remus wasn’t fine. It hadn’t passed at all, in fact it seemed to grow every day. And Sirius was good at it, bloody good at it all. Remus was lanky and awkward, he didn’t flirt. Sirius did though, really fucking well. It had begun with small touches to his arm as Sirius let out little laughs and squinted smiles, hands lingering just a bit longer than it ought to, trailing down to his own hand before dropping away. 

Then it was Sirius wearing Remus’ jumper that was far too big for him, practically swallowing him up as he leaned forward, against Remus as they watched television. A little contented hum as he dropped his head onto Remus’ shoulder and nestled his head against his neck.

Then Sirius started getting bored of subtly.

•••

“Moooony.”

Sirius smiled lazily as Remus entered the dorm room, eyes twinkling.

He was dressed in a white tank top, far too tightly fitted for Remus’ sanity. His leather jacket was discarded next to him on the bed where he was sat cross legged in little faded black denim shorts. 

“Help me braid my hair, would you? It’s sooo hot today, for once in like the entirety of English history. I can’t have it against my neck.”

Remus nodded and Sirius flashed him another cheeky grin. They were both well aware it was only 20°C. Well aware Sirius could braid his own hair. Well aware that whenever he was hot he actually put it up in haphazard top knots, not braids. Still Remus walked towards Sirius, sitting himself down gingerly next to him. 

He gathered Sirius’ thick black hair at the nape of his neck, trying to ignore the jolt of electricity when his fingers brushed against warm ivory skin, trying to ignore the little sigh Sirius gave at the touch, trying to ignore how soft the glossy black hair was and how badly he wanted to just run his hands through it. He braided it quickly. It wasn’t very good, he knew. Remus was pretty shit at hairstyles honestly. It didn’t stop Sirius from biting his lip, gaze slipping to Remus’ lips as he thanked him. Leaning close and whispering so Remus could feel the warm breath against his face.

“Moony you’re just the best.”

As soon as he could, Remus fucking fled the room.

#Me and my old black biro #wolfstar #marauders #dead gay wizards #harry potter marauders #marauders era #marauders fandom #the marauders #remus loves sirius #remus x sirius #remus being remus #remus lupin #sirius loves remus #sirius being sirius #sirius black #remus john lupin #sirius orion black #sirius x remus #sirius x lupin #marauders fanfiction #fanfiction #microfiction #wolfstar microfic

[tgcg]

Im an English language learner and I LOVE your comics but I have a hard time knowing what part Im supposed to read next (my home language is set differently) is there anyway you can number them? If not that's ok!! Sorry if my English isn't perfect! Love your work!!

oh shit yeag no thats, actually somethin i kinda used to address -- i would put lines between textboxes (/ use actual speech bubbles) to show flow of dialogue. i can definitely bring that kind of thing back if itd help.

i kno my text placement can be really haphazard so i 100% get how itd be harder 2 navigate.

if youre ever confused on prior stuff, i put the raw text under the readmores on my comics, so that'll give a set reading order. generally its left to right, top to bottom. i hope thats helpful for now.

thanks so much for dropping in & for your kind words, hope your friday has been great 🙂

#randytime #ill consider my text arrangement more in da future

[daydreaming-en-pointe]

A very Spidey Christmas - Pavitr

CMON THAT FIRST PHOTO IS LITERALLY HIM

Pairing: Pavitr Prabhakar x fem!Spider!Reader (Margo, 1610!Miles, Gwen and 42!Miles are here too [not coloured means no lines, just mentions])

Word count: 742

Warnings: CHEESY AS HELL! Nickname used (meri jaan), Pavitr kinda falls off a building, Mariah Carey lyrics (those deserve a warning don’t they 💀), lil bit of desi coded reader if you squint??

A/N: I know I included lyrics in this but now if I have to hear Mariah Carey crooning about Christmas one more time I will scream 😞

“Pass me those scissors, please?” You managed to mumble around the roll of tape in your mouth, your hands occupied with holding down the corners of wrapping paper which were stubbornly refusing to sit flat and cover the gift properly.

Margo glanced up and shot a web, grabbing the scissors and handing them to you. “Here. Watch out, they’re really sharp.”

“Got it, thanks.” You shifted your elbow onto the layers of paper where the corners met, snipping albeit uneven pieces of tape to secure the haphazard folds. “Wait, where’s Pav? Didn’t he say he would get the ribbons-”

“Meri jaan!”

The familiar nickname drew your attention to the terrace of a building just opposite the balcony. You squinted at the shape of a person, all characteristics hidden by the sun’s glare except for the fact that they were waving their arms hysterically at you and seemed to be holding a megaphone of some sort.

“Pavi…?”

You shared a glance with Margo, who was nervously studying the way that Pavitr was rather precariously standing at the edge of the right corner of the terrace, right next to the safety railing — which didn’t even reach past his knee. Some safety railing.

“This one’s for you!” He yelled, bringing the megaphone to his mouth. “I don’t want a lot for Christmas, there is just one thing I need…. I don’t care about the presents, underneath the Christmas tree — I don't need to hang my stocking there upon the fireplace…”

Look, you adored that boy, you really did - everyone knew it. And you knew that he could sing Bollywood songs beautifully if he wanted to. English pop songs, though… specifically Mariah Carey… not so much.

The megaphone crackled and slowly faded out for the next few lines, until Pavitr stopped and bashed it against his palm thrice and it fizzled back to life in time for the most iconic line. “All I want for Christmas… is y-”

Before he could finish his onslaught of mildly terrible singing, too many things happened at once — Pavitr, who had been unknowingly inching toward the edge during his spectacle, toppled off the side of the building, Margo dropped the scissors with a sharp clack, and both variants of Miles leaped through the kitchen window and crashed into the dining table, followed by Gwen gracefully sticking the landing in a crouch before stumbling over the rolls of decorative tape you and Margo had left on the floor and almost falling flat on her face.

Whoops. But then again, you probably had bigger problems.

Namely looking out for the absolute dumbass you had fallen in love with.

You leaped out the window that Miles and Gwen had dived through, shooting a web to the side of the building and using it to pull yourself toward it, then lever yourself down into the small alley on the ground beside it.

“Pavitr, where are you? Wh- Pavi!” You were almost frantic as you spotted the familiar blue-and-red fabric of his suit. You knelt beside him, rolling him over onto his back, your heart in your mouth. His shoulder were shaking, maybe spasming…. was he…

…laughing?

“What the hell, Pavitr,” You complained, watching him get up easily by himself, now in peals of laughter, and pull you in by the waist. “I was worried!”

“I know you were. I’m fine, meri jaan. And I had to profess my love for you in a dramatic, Christmas-like fashion, right? After all, aap sabse achchhe tareekon ke hakadaar hain. (You deserve the fanciest/best stuff) Even if it means belting out Mariah Carey on a random rooftop.”

“Uh-huh. Did Hobie say something that inspired you to do this?” You asked, raising an eyebrow skeptically and biting the inside of your cheek to prevent a smile from breaking through.

“Nope. All my own idea. It had that certain flair, didn’t it? Did you like it?” He widened his eyes in that way that made him look like a sad puppy, still holding onto you.

“…of course I did, my love. But, good grief, you’re such an idiot sometimes,” You sighed, puffing out your cheeks as you blew air through your mouth in exasperation. You gave into his hold, wrapping your arms around his neck while he dipped his head to press a kiss to your forehead.

“Well, I prefer the term hopeless romantic,” Pavitr corrected, giving you one of those sunshiny, I’m-here-with-you-don’t-worry-everything-is-fine grins that, for some reason, could reassure you every time without fail.

“Of course you do. Come inside and help with the presents. No more dangerous stuff, you hear me?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

Meri jaan - my light/my life 😁

@vhstown @l0starl @tatumis-a @deritosmi @hobiebrownismygod @therealloopylupin2099

#⋆·˚ 🌹 ༘ * — 𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗶’𝘀 𝙧𝙤𝙨𝙚𝙨! #⋆·˚ 🌺 ༘ * — 𝙝𝙞𝙗𝙞𝙨𝙘𝙪𝙨𝙚𝙨! #across the spiderverse #atsv #atsv x reader #pavitr prabhakar x fem!reader #pavitr x you #pavitr prabhakar x you #spiderverse pavitr #pavitr my beloved #atsv pavitr #pavitr prabhakar x reader #pavitr prabhakar #pavitr x reader #pavitr atsv

[123pixieaod]

Tried to write a fun little fic about why Daniel unfollowed on Instagram Zak, Michael, Fernando, and Nicki, the most random quartet possible, only to end up with this lol

Daniel finally answers a call at just gone 4.30am, Max's time. It's 5.30am, Daniel's time, which admittedly is only marginally better, but maybe the hospital he's in has some crazy Get-Up-And-Seize-The-Day sort of ethos. Although from what Christian has told him, Daniel might not be seizing anything, metaphorically or otherwise, for some time.

"Daniel," Max says as soon as he hears the line clicking through. "How are you? How do you feel? Is your wrist alright? Do the doctors and nurses take care of you, do they speak English, or did Red Bull send a Spanish translator and I hope I have not woken you up and-"

He cuts himself off. There's a sort of stunned silence on the other side of the line. Sometimes, Max thinks his need for Daniel is a bottomless pit, something that has hollowed him out and leaves an ache echoing through him.

"Max?" Daniel says, incredulous. High, drugged up, gone on pain medication. "How did you get into my phone?!"

Max squeezes his eyes shut. His mouth is twisted, making some shape. A smile, a frown? He doesn't know, nobody can see him in his old childhood bedroom.

He wants to be with Daniel. He wants to brush a hand through his curls and run his fingertips along the lines of his faded tattoos like how a child would first begin to trace letters and numbers.

I miss you, he wants to say

I want you

I need you

"I'm not in your phone," he says instead, tone light and soft. "I called you. I am in the Netherlands."

"Oh," Daniel says, as if the fact Max had not been magically transformed into his phone is mildly disappointing. "What are you doing there?"

"We had a race, remember?" Max says. He's stretched out on his old bed. His feet dangle just slightly off the edge, and each year, he's promised a new one, bigger and larger and finally a grown-up bed. But it never materialises and Max has stopped bringing it up now.

The room is unchanged. Around him, the faces of former racing legends watch him, tapped to his wall. Above, stars look down, stuck to his ceiling in haphazard patterns. The day his father got to play God and created universes and cosmos splayed above his head.

"Of course," Daniel huffs good naturedly. "You won, Maxy."

"I know," Max replies softly.

"It was your ninth consecutive win," Daniel continues, his tone strong and proud, as if it's Daniel who has achieved it. Maybe he's so high on meds he thinks it is, that him and Max are some sort of Jeckyl and Hyde being, two sides of the same life. Max doesn't know. A headache is building behind his eyes. He hasn't really slept since Friday, three days previous.

"You're now equalling Sebastian Vettle. If you win the next race, you'll beat the record." Daniel continues before pausing, as if realisation is only just dawning. "I don't think I'll be there."

"No," Max murmurs. "I don't think you will be either."

"My wrist is really fucked," Daniel goes back to his jubilant tone, like a child with the best show and tell in school. "I have a metal plate in it, isn't that neat?"

He laughs. Max closes his eyes, just listening to the sound. "Imagine if it goes off at every airport security, Maxy? How annoying with that be?" He laughs again, the prospect sounding delightful to him in that very moment.

Max hums softly, and then shifts on the bed, turning away from the stars his father hung up for him. Instead, he moves to his side, facing a giant poster of Micheal Schumacher celebrating one of his championships. At the bottom, Max, to great things! MS. He was six. It was one of the best Christmas presents his dad had ever gotten him.

"How do you feel?" He asks. Daniel is humming a tune under his breath, the theme song to some gameshome Max barely recognises. He stops at Max's question.

"Good," he says happily. "I have gained deep clarity."

That shocks a laugh out of Max, as only Daniel, even doped, drugged Daniel, can do. The longing feels physical, the hole never ending in his chest. He closes his eyes, blocking out the stars and racing legends whose shine has faded and whose records he's now beating.

In another life, he thinks, he would be there. He'd be the first face Daniel would see, the first hand he'd get to hold, the first for nearly everything, just like Daniel had been for Max.

But instead they're a time zone apart and Daniel is alone in a country where he can't even speak the language and Max is in his childhood bedroom, surrounded by his family who are fast sleep and utterly oblivious to the fact he's gay, let alone in a relationship with Daniel Ricciardo.

"Clarity," Max forces his mind back on track. "How so?"

"Oh you know," Daniel says with ease. "Cleared my mental space."

Max huffs another laugh. His chest aches, empty. He wonders does Daniel know how hollowed out he is without him.

"Go on."

"Well, I deleted a shit ton of apps. That wellness app you made me download last year? Sorry Maxy, but that went," Daniel makes a popping noise. "And the fertility tracking app Scotty downloaded at his bachelor's party."

"Presumably he just got his and your phones mixed up, right?"

"No Maxy, it was a prank because I -" Daniel breaks away, finally understanding, laughing as if Max has made the funniest joke possible.

"Okay so you cleared up some space on your phone," Max prompts him.

"Oh yes, and then deleted twitter and went to WhatsApp and left about a billion groups and then I went to Instagram, and went through who I followed, and unfollowed tons of people."

"Oh? Did I make the cut?"

Daniel tutts as if Max is being purposefully dense.

"Naturally Maxy. In fact, I sort of debated unfollowing everyone except you, but then figured you might've been pissed at me."

Max can't tell if Daniel is joking or not. He doesn't know which he wants it to be.

"So firstly I unfollowed a bunch of people I had met years ago at business deals and stuff, and then Craig and Rebecca from school because I never really liked them anyway and they definitely never liked me and then Zak because the vibes were Not It and then my high-school teacher who I definitely only ended up following on a dare and -"

"Zak," Max says, picking out the familiar name in the sea of chatter. "As in Zak Brown?"

Daniel hums. "Yeah, the vibes were Not It. And then I also unfollowed Fernando -"

"Alonso?" Max splutters out another laugh of disbelief. "What on earth did he do to you?"

"I don't like how he acts around you."

"Me?!" Max voice goes up an octave. "What? But he's always nice to me Daniel. I like him."

"I know Max, that's the point," Daniel says, and before Max can even begin to comprehend what he means, he's continuing. "And then also Richard, from McLaren because I swear he used to tell Zak everything I did and then Michael, and then Sam, this old hookup, and -"

"Michael," Max cuts in, sure he's mistaken, "as in ..."

"Yeah," Daniel says after a beat. "That Michael."

Max swallows. Michael has been a constant strain on their relationship, the fly in the otherwise smooth ointment. Max had told Daniel he wasn't good for him, he wasn't looking after him. That friendship and business rarely mixed, and that in this case, it had congealed into something of neither, a strange, interdependent relationship which drained them both.

Daniel had said Max hadn't understood it, hadn't gotten how much Michael helped him, how good it was to have a physico who was also his mate. Max replied by saying that as far as he was concerned, Michael was proving himself to be neither.

Jealousy. That was what Daniel had pinned to him, had washed all rationality away with. Max was jealous.

He remembers feeling like he had been slapped. Jealousy. Fucking jealousy.

He never mentioned Michael again.

"But," Max begins slowly, mind whirling. "You had lunch with him last week." Even though you never mentioned it, even though I had to find out through fans' blurry photos.

"Yeah," Daniel draws the syllable out. "But... the vibes were not immaculate."

"Right," Max says, hating how terse the single word sounds. And the vibes were fine when he encouraged you to do that fucked up intermittent fasting? When he recommended yoga and gym sessions instead of therapy?

"And then I unfollowed Nicky Latifi, because unfortunately, he's going to do a masters in London, and following him online will simply remind me of all the missed possibilities I had in the academic world," he goes on.

"Daniel," Max says, trying to force his mind to move on, Daniel has unfollowed Michael Daniel has unfollowed Michael. "You dropped out of school when you were seventeen. In the most loving of ways, I would hardly call you an up and coming scholar."

"Details, Maxy," he says, but then goes quiet, and so does Max. He opens his eyes. His room is painted in shadows, sunrise still distant. The trophies he won as a child are carefully displayed in neat rows, their plaques opaque with dust, now thick and heavy. He remembers winning them, young and already starving for more, remembers the weight of plastic, the way sugary pop soda dried sticky on his skin.

"I think you were right," Daniel says softly. Max nods, face pressed against his pillow.

"I mean about him. Michael."

"I know who you meant," Max murmurs.

"Okay good, because you're definitely not write about my academic prowess, I was one hundred percent on track to be this world's Stephen Hawkens."

Max laughs softly. "It's Hawking not Hawken."

"Once again Maxy, details."

There's another exhale of quiet between them, and outside Max hears the world beginning to rise. Birds waking, their whistles winding their way through the crack in his window.

"I miss you," he says softly, as if the words are barely permitted to be spoken aloud.

"I love you too Maxy," Daniel replies with ease. Then - "you should come. I think it would be nice. If you were here too."

"I think so too," Max says. The longing grows. The trophies are dusty on his shelf, forgotten. His feet hang off his childhood bed. Birds begin to sing.

"So will you?" Daniel persists. Max squeezes his eyes shut.

"I don't know. I do not think you would be saying this if you weren't off your head on pain meds," he tries to joke. His chest aches. Hollowed out, always wanting more than he's allowed.

"Of course I would," Daniel says confidently, even though he ends it with a yawn. "I anyways want you around."

Max keeps his eyes still tightly shut. He tucks his knees up, bringing them to his chest. When he was very young and his parents were still together, he'd do this. Curl up on the bed with his eyes squeezed closed. The door shut, their shouts muffled; as distant as the bird song is to him now.

"Maxy?"

His sister said the same. Maxy? Climbing on his bed, tugging at his arms. What are they talking about? Nothing, nothing, it doesn't matter.

"How's your wrist?" Max asks. He opens his eyes - the room has grown lighter, dawn finally creeping in.

"Good," Daniel says, already forgotten what he said. Like a butterfly, moving onto the next topic, nothing permanent. "Sore. I'm on some strong shit though." He laughs. It sounds so near.

Max imagines it. He could do it. Book the ticket to Spain. It wouldn't even be that bad. People know him and Daniel are mates, and mates visit each other in hospital. And that's if it even comes out, which it might not. Nobody has to know.

"I love you," he blurts out, cheeks warm. Daniel laughs again, soft and delighted.

"Good, because my right hand is currently out of action, so I might need help over the next few weeks with a few particular things."

Max laughs, cheeks warm. He's not being quiet any more. His family can probably hear him through the walls, just like he could hear his parents all those years ago.

He can imagine his sister asking him, echoing their childhood as she questions him on words she's grasped through walls. This time, though, he thinks he will tell her the truth.

"I've heard Spain is very beautiful at the end of August," he says.

Daniel hums, "I've heard something similar, Maxy."

Outside, birds sing. The dawn continues on, filling the emptiness of night.

#shhhh nobody mention the fact the time zones are back to front please #i only realised while editing and I'm too tired to try and fix it #big thanks to Isabel and Lily for talking all about Maxiel longing with me! #lotsa longing here #believe it or not this was meant to be a fun fluffy piece #but apparently I am incapable of not writing angst #parallels! #max unable to differentiate longing for a stable upbringing with longing for Daniel #and so the merging of childhood trauma is occurring with the loving of Daniel #indistinguishable and Max can't figure out which longing is good and which is bad #because as a child he wasn't allowed to want more from his parents #and not Daniel had so much more to give him #but Max had to accept the fact he's allowed to want it before he can have it #jealous dan lol #my fic #my writing

[astranite]

Notes- Christmas TAG secret santa fic.

Because of this post and @janetm74 and @edutainer2022 here are my additional notes for my 2023 thunderfam secret santa fic.

It contains brainstorming that became part of the og fic and notes as a continuation for the car ride. It was actually these that I came up with first and intended to write but got side tracked with explorations of getting ready, especially given the prompt i was given was “Every day is a school day” with Jeff and Lucy. Also deadlines!

Mind that this is pretty much as is from my notes in its entirety, complete with spelling errors, partial sentences and utter lack of cohesion as I jumped between ideas.

Link for the fic proper on ao3.

---

“Every day is a school day” Jeff and Lucy. And everyone.

Car drive to spent christmas with Grandma and Grant at Gran Rocha. The preparing and road tripping shenanigans.

getting all five kids plus themselves and luggage into the car on time as chaotic as a school day. Jeffs line?

S15, J13, V12, G 6?7, A3

Wake-up call. Alarm going off Lucy tired and grumpy where Virgil gets it from. I’ll get the kids up and you can head straight to the coffee. Jeff fooling around like mock drill sergeant. Scott’s grumpy teenness and chucking a pillow at him with surprisingly good aim for supposedly asleep. Scott getting up. Bed hair mess that Jeff runs a gentle hand through pulling him into a hug. Virgil and John. John and Bagel the cat curled up together. Both hissing at him in unison. Virgil needed to be hugged and woken up more slowly. 

Down in the kitchen. Jeff kissing Lucy and trying to steal her coffee. No you cannot steal my coffee Jefferson Tracy, you have your own.  Lucy’s massive science pun mug. Hair in her face looking like little Virgil. 

HURRICANE LUCY. Time skip to about to go?

packing- John wanting to fit telescope. Or “But I did leave my telescope behind” but bag full of books. 

Last min shoving presents in. Neighbour to feed the cat.

Scott nabbed the car keys first on massive ** many different  keychain so neither Lucy nor Jeff could lose them. Swinging them around his finger, “can I drive” Parental chorus of “No!” Doesn't have license yet but is learning to pilot. argument of Grandma lets me drive on the ranch. Thats the beat up old ute and theres nothing much out there to hit any way.

And they were done. Bags were in the car, kids were in the car, last final bathroom stops had been had.  Lucy patted down her pockets. Keys! She didn’t have them, so Jeff must except that he didn’t. Surely the couldn’t have lost them with the neon pink rocket ship key chain attached to prevent this. Until they both spied Scott leaning against the drivers side door and swinging them around his finger.  

“So, can I drive?” Scott asked as if he didn’t already know the answer to that question. 

“No,” came the parental chorus. 

Then the other kids repeating them, picking up on it slightly behind. 

Scott grinning and tossed the keys in the air one last time then caught them. He passed them to Lucy’s waiting hand prompted by a stern eyebrow. 

7 seater beat up car. Drive- Kansas to Texas. approx 9 hours to 8 1/2. Lucy english thinking its ages. at least america had good highways. and from her mothers tales at least kangaroo spotter was a redundant position. 

Panic at dress clothes for Christmas day

someone packed no underpants. Gordon only packed underwear and swimmers. Trying to sort laundry at last minute. Jeff’s haphazard packing of his own clothes with getting everyone else in military order. Lucy remarking jokingly, “Mightve gotten to mars adn forgot your space suit. 

Jeff the nerd, calling Grandma to tell on our way, “Houston we have take off”. Kids dramatic countdown. A “finally”. FOnd eye rolls. 

John and Virgil at back seats. Johns already long limbs folded up.

Scott getting the dubious privelige of the middle row. but centre seat between Alan and Gords car seats and on big brother duty. 

Lucy hoping but not expecting to get some rest on the trip. Up all night getting ready. has mystery novel to read. but trying to wrangle kids. Putting Jeff’s cowboy hat over her face to keep the sun off as she sleeps.

Stops for toilet breaks. Lunch fast food. “Do not let gordon have soda.” Johns burger order. Virgil picking pickles out to give to john. The chips stealing. Trying to eat and drive. sending older ones in to fish younger out of the play area. losing Scott to it too, send in John planning it like a mission.

Jeff adn Lucy discussion over what coffee is supposed to do. ADHD Jeff. starting with Scott asking for coffee, cheekily. No, we dont need you any more hyper. Jeff’s confident, “Coffee doesnt do that” Even same with Aa. spirited debate. JSSo that means I can have some? eff still saying no coffee for Scott.

Lucy driving at some point. 

If Lucy had to hear one more rendition of baby shark she was the one who was going to get out and walk.

music and Lucy and Virgil comparing synesthesia.

John reading massive heavy text book, splayed out across knees. not getting car sick, serve well for astronaut. for fun, reminded he didnt need to study. 

Scott bored and restless. tinies asleep. no phone signal. twisting around, being told off for seat belt, trying to see what Johns doing. seat swap and he and John are in the back doing maths and physics, heads bent together. virgil eyes closed but awake or leaning around car seats to look out the windows, bobbing head to music through headphones. 

when John adn Scott get stuck, calling questions out to Lucy. Jeff snoring in front seat, head on lucy;s jumper, went from wide awake to clonked out even after the coffees.

Virgil using breath on fogged up windows to draw. Scott and John used it for math.

Gordon are we there yet. Alan copying him. 

naming animals and animal sounds. then naming sea creatures. then sounds of sea creatures. some known, some gordon happily making them up.

car sickness. Scott getting car sick, in spite of crazy spins and flips but then hes in control. another reshuffle, Jeff wedged into the middle seat, Lucy laughing and looking in rear view mirror at tall, broad shouldered husband folded awkwardly into the back. John and Virgil back-back. Scott getting shotgun, window open and nauseous. Vomit bags in glove box because learnt from past fiascos and puke in hat story. Scott grumps would be fine if I was driving 

some point tinies and Jeff all asleep.  John and Virgil happy together. Lucy getting to check in and chat to scott. 

on destination. everyone there, big family.  Lee? Kayo adn Kyrano and Kayo mother. Jeff brothers? packed into the big ranch house. noise and merriment. hot dry texas air. smell of good food cooking. some slight odour of burnt. 

explain lucy parents farm????

“The eagle has landed” finding rooms, unpack car. eldest three in together. youngest. 

John overwhelmed after trip, not wanting to talk to anyone. near tears at thought of going into party. going to stable to spent time with horses. 

Virgil running up to Grant and talking his ear off, to much delight of both parties. Grant, still broad shouldered and strong from farm work, charcoal black hair now salt and pepper grey. 

Achievements getting caught up with. Jeff telling grandma about scotts, Scott proud but a bit uncharacteristically shy, leaning into a side hug. 

the comments of how big the kids were all getting, and theyd better not be having more. Lucy laughing and very nope five is plenty enough. 

somewhat tired cranky, sticky dusty kids. Gordon spilling something sticky on him in the last hour, waiting to get there to wash him off. Recovering excitement at bath. 

grandma’s welcome cookies. 

——- other fic. Graduation. car crash. Injuries—the bruises. Scott burst into tears with brothers because he wants mum

#thunderbirds are go #thunderbirds fanfiction #astrawrite #jeff tracy #lucy tracy

[klaineccfanficlibrary]

Could you recommend me some enemies to lovers? I love this trope! Thanks for your work ^^

Here's quite a few suggestions, I forgot how much I love this trope. ~Jen

True Like (or Looks Can Be Deceiving) by dualwielding

Kurt loves his job at the off-Broadway theater. As for Blaine Anderson, Kurt might have to work with him, but he doesn't have to like him.

~~~~~

Feel my heart's intention by @kurtsascot

Blaine started to hate Kurt on his first day. And it was a shame, really, because they could have been cute together. 

~~~~~

Clinging to this hating game by notarelationship (justpracticing)

Based on this prompt from the Klaine-prompt-a-fic blog on tumblr:

Kurt and Blaine couldn't stand each other in high school, maybe one was a jock/cheerleader and the other a nerd/glee clubber. Or they were bitter rivals for competition solos if they were both in glee club. Now they both live in NY and their friends set them up on a blind date, not knowing they went to the same high school.

~~~~~

Home away from Home by @lilyvandersteen

Cooper buys a hotel sight unseen and asks Blaine to run it for him over the summer. Only, the hotel is a health and safety hazard and Inspectors Hummel and Abrams are hell-bent on closing it down. Can Blaine spruce the hotel up in time and save Cooper's investment?

~~~~~

Make Food and War by @kirakiwiwrites

What if Blaine and Kurt met another way?  AU Meetings with the theme of: Food. We all know how our boys met on the show. For this creative challenge, let's play with how the boys might have met in alternate universes. And this time, use the topic of food to be the through line of your creations.

~~~~~

Living Haphazard By @shame-is-a-wasted-emotion Anna_Timberlake

Have you ever thought of getting cheated by a house broker and getting to know that you had to stay with another stranger who was also cheated? What if you are getting stuck up with the stranger in the apartment due to unavoidable circumstances? What if you hate him as well as have a crush on him? What if you had to fight your inner self and the stranger? What if he agreed on helping you which can only happen in dreams? This is a real living haphazard, isn't it?

~~~~~

The Hating Game by orphan_account

Blaine can count on one hand the amount of people he has hated in his life. But Kurt Hummel is definitely The Worst.

Or: That co-workers AU where they hate each other (until they don't)

~~~~~

Anyway, Here's wonderwall by @honeysucklepink

Inspired by the story of the Oasis cover band and pub goers who got stranded at a pub in a snow storm.

Adam Crawford is the proprietor of a tavern and music venue in the English countryside. Just before Christmas, he hosts a Battle of the Bands, unaware of a forecasted winter storm. A blizzard traps the patrons, the final bands standing, One Three Hill and The Warblers, and their bickering leaders, Kurt and Blaine. The two have been rivals since their NYADA days, but their friends and bandmates can smell the unresolved sexual tension a mile away. If circumstances had been different, so too would their relationship. So their friends decide to give fate a little nudge...

~~~~~

About-Face By @quizasvivamos

At the start of the Marching Band season his sophomore year, Blaine is the youngest Drum Major in McKinley High history. However, none of his peers believe he deserves the title, especially a handful of embittered upperclassmen, including one particularly stubborn Color Guard Captain, who challenges him in more ways than one.

~~~~~

Mendacious By @forabeatofadrum maanorchidee

Blaine Anderson is McKinley’s biggest star. Everyone in school loves him. And he’s gay. Blaine Anderson has what Kurt Hummel wants. When Kurt finds out that Blaine’s hoping for the same scholarship at the prestigious NYADA, Kurt knows for sure that he deserves it more, but no one seems to agree. There has to be something wrong with Blaine. If Kurt could expose that, it’ll all be over for him. With a scholarship at stake, Kurt’s willing to go very far to find some dirt on everyone’s favourite student.

~~~~~

Turn Into a Pose by @little-escapist

Singer-songwriter Blaine Anderson wants to come out of the closet. When his publicist sets him up with movie-star Kurt Hummel, he’s ready for anything, but the last thing that Kurt wants is a relationship with anyone, let alone Blaine. He hates his publicist for setting him up, hates the idea of lying to the world, and hates letting the world invade his personal life. But maybe Blaine Anderson is exactly what Kurt Hummel needs.

~~~~~

French fries and Milkshakes by BlurglesmurfKlaine

Cheerio!Kurt and Nerd!Blaine don't exactly get along. So what happens when they get paired for a glee club assignment? They're polar opposites. They're voices shouldn't work together, neither should their personalities. Or their chemistry, for that matter. They're two very different things that shouldn't blend together, but do. Kind of like French Fries and Milkshakes.

~~~~~

Bites by foxxed

Kurt Hummel is a Chef de Cuisine with a tongue as sharp as his knife. But when the restaurant across the street finally opens, Kurt is confronted with an old culinary school rival - the always smiling and opera-singing Italian Chef Blaine Anderson and things are about to heat up faster than the average stove.

#klaine fanfiction #fic finder #enemies to lovers

[absolutebl]

This Week in BL - I’m Bored & Conflicted

Dec 2022 Wk 2

Being a highly subjective assessment of one tiny corner of the interwebs. Organized by which ones (in each category) I’m enjoying the most.

Ongoing Series - Thai

My School President (Fri YT) 3 of 10 - Honestly Tinn acts and talks like the voice inside of Sarawat’s head (from 2gether), I’ve never seen a bigger simp. The private tutoring was a good idea (Tiew is another one up for best wingman of the year). The way Tinn keeps getting accidentally defeated in his attempts at flirting is fun, and I love how they keep teasing us with tropes and then flipping or subverting them. GMMTV is being clever with audience expectations around the history of Thai BL and I love that. Also finally Gun is starting to feel something back... we enter phase two of a HSBL - moot pining but they both idiots. YES! 

Never Let Me Go (Tues YT) 1 of 12 - GMMTV’s answer to KinnPorsche this is (mafia lite?) spoiled prince + attack dog (whipping boy + bodyguard) suspense BL that’s actually a lot more like Golden Blood. It’s a pleasure to see PondPhuwin in something that’s not FUTS. Jojo (3 Will Be Free) is directing and daddy got himself a bouncing baby drone! We got a very dramatic opening with Paa shot on 18th bday. Puwin’s English is v good. Who knew? And Pond is v good at portraying insta-crush on poor little rich boy and I am not mad about any of it. IT’S GREAT. 

Between Us (Sun iQIYI) 6 of 12 - I still like WinTeam but I’m beginning to get annoyed by how many couples there are (5!) and how many of them were (DeanPharm) or are (BeePrince) in an entirely different show tonally. I understand they needed to pad-out this story, but they shouldn’t have, they should have just given us a shorter show. WATCH ALONG HERE.

609 Bedtime Story (Fri WeTV) 4 of 11 - We are finally getting Dew’s side of the story! And… its kinda dull. 

Remember Me (Sun Gaga) 10 of 12 - So Name is talking now? And they put Ja in a wig too? Did UWMA teach us nothing? Now I’m just annoyed with this show. Some more marriage equality schilling, because Thai BL has an axe to grind these days. Good luck boys! 

I Will Knock You (Fri Gaga) 5 of 12 - Honestly, the costumes in this show are insane and I also kind of like them in an odd way. There’s a Grease thing going on, and thus I keep expecting them to break into song (and being grateful that they don’t). The wardrobe is like the plot and the acting: loud and obvious and not very good but weirdly entertaining. Do I like it? Not really. Am I still watching it? Apparently. 

Ai Long Nhai (Mon iQIYI) 12fin - Yes, Ai did use particles to claim Nhai again. Jealous boy. Honestly, this was kind of an epically boring final ep. 

Ongoing Series - Not Thai

My Tooth Your Love (Taiwan Fri Viki) 11 of 12 - They are so stinking cute together. They also now have all the matching jewelry (not taken by MarkKit). This was a quintessentially them episode 11 of doom, in that they were parted because of communication issues and a maturing relationship occupied by immature characters. Still the leads were apart for most of the episode and that made it a lot less interesting as an episode.

Oh! My Assistant (Korea Thurs Viki) 5-6 of 8 - Kisses and separation! As drama llama episodes go, the reasoning is typically flawed and manufactured, but after watching Why R U? anything goes in an ep 11 (or its equivalent). So I’m still enjoying this show a lot. I don’t need my panicking gay boys and confused bisexuals to behave logically, certainly not in a KBL.

Candy Color Paradox AKA Ameiro Paradox (Japan Fri Gaga) 1 of 8 - A stakeout throws reporter Onoe together with photographer Kaburagi. Kaburagi's haphazard work style and player personality go against Onoe’s ethics. Yet, in joint pursuit of a scandal, these opposites attract move from enemies to lovers. Adapted from manga Ameiro Paradox by Natsume Isaku. Oh no! Our reporter is an unbelievably adorable pouty baby. Also big-ish cast and high production values in a BL, even for Japan. Even though it’s only been a little while since the last JBL, it’s such a pleasure to have one on my watchlist again! And the love interest is a big time flirty player. Very cliché (I still hold that the actor playing him looks like First of JaFirst). This is a lot more serious and a lot less slapstick than I was expecting, and I’m enjoying it because of that. But because it is serious, and this is Japan, we now cannot expect it to end happily. If you or someone who can wait, or likes to binge, and is very invested in an HEA you might want to consider holding off on this one. 

The Director Who Buys Me Dinner (Korea Thurs iQIYI) 1-2 of 10 - A new employee whose director claims to have lived 300 years and insists that they have to date (eat, hug & kiss) if baby doesn't want to die. Office, fated mates, and that’s kinda my jam. I’m always annoyed when I really like a show that’s on iQIYI or WeTV. Sigh. But I really like this show, it has a lot of Japanese elements to it not the least of which is the office setting, but also the personality of the uke character. Hilarious to watch Korea deal with a plot that requires physical contact. It’s weird, but I like it, it’s also extremely short. Like shorter than most KBLs even. Each app is so padded there ultimately less than 10 minutes long (which is why is is 10 esp rather than the usually KBL 8, it’s gonna end up the same length in the end).

Choco Milk Shake (Korea Strongberry Tues YT) 11fin - airs Dec 20th

Happy Ending Romance (Korea Thurs Gaga & Viki) 7-8fin - I actually LOVED the ending, very hinting at poly, and mature. But this show ended up not really being a BL, no tropes and not really a romance either. 

It’s Airing But I’m Not Watching It

War of Y (Thai Gaga) 20 eps - it’s just all too much for me.

2 Moons 3 (Thai) 10 eps - Possibly a future binge watch. Rumor is it’s banal.

Love Bill  (Vietnam Sat YT) - Bah Vinh is back but I’m too distracted. Also there’s a lot of fund raising stuff going on. I’ll wait and binge.

The Star Always Follow You (Vietnam YT) - same Team RL peeps we have seen before (Sunshine, Stupid)

Till the World Ends (Thai YT) 10 eps - ?

Why You... Y Me? (Thai Weds YT) 10 eps - It's not primarily a BL, but another meta show about BL shipping, with side BLs. @heretherebedork is watching it, ask them about it.

Ended This Week

Happy Ending Romance 

In this series, all the gay boys romantically behave like lesbians and professionally like straight dudes. It’s... odd. As a BL it kinda isn’t (sorry to say), there’s no tropes dropped and no real romance beats. This is about ego and dishonesty and pride and there is an elegance to the plot. Which is essentially the idea that possession is not love, and therefore, both men who love the Writer have to prove their love by letting him go. Honestly, I’m not sure how to rate this show. This is a blog about BL and this wasn’t it. 8/10 RECOMMENDED (but not if BL is what you’re after). Full review.

Ai Long Nhai 

Look this show was just a typical Thai BL university pulp about a confident gay and a clueless manic pixie dream boy. It had potential, chemistry, and earnestness going for it, but no plot and not enough side dishes. In the end, it was boring and you know I always rate boring lower than hot messes (because at least the hot mess TRIED). Still, Ai Long Nhai is better than your average Thai BL pulp, nothing happens but at least the nothing mostly shirtless, the gay dads are the BEST, which is about all I can say for it. 6/10 WORTH WATCHING BUT FLAWED

In Case You Missed It

With the help of @isisanna-blog, here’s a cobbled together a Domundi line up (peeps behind Cutie Pie) for 2023 Thai BL. Lots of established pairs and it looks good if they can actually make them all, includes beautiful historicals, paranormal, other high concepts, and a royalty bodyguard romance (knight/prince) with ZeeNew! 

Next Week Looks Like This:

Still coming:

Dec 21 - The New Employee AKA The New Recruit AKA Shinib Sawo from Korea, (prob Gaga or Viki) - From WATCHA (Semantic Error) virginal Seung Hyun scores the office internship of his dreams but on his first day at work he gets into it with his cool reserved boss. As you do. Stars Moon Ji Yong (Once Again). Based on Moscareto's web novel of the same name, directed by openly gay & queer activist Kim Jho Gwang Soo (Just Friends?). 

Dec 28 - H5: Love in the Future from Taiwan (prob Gaga or Viki) - A cheerful and energetic student from 2000 travels to the future (2022), works as a deliveryman, and meets his first customer, an heir with a domineering personality. Directed by Nancy Chen (HIStory 4, Papa & Daddy).

I’m working on my end of year wrap ups, trends lists, and BL stats reported. Let me know in a comment if there is any specifically you want to know of have deep feels about. 

THIS WEEK’S BEST MOMENTS

Beautiful pining work you’re doing there, Palm. Yearn, baby, yearn. (Never Let Me Go)

Fated mates, always a favorite of mine. (The Director who Buys Me Dinner)

GMMTV got itself a drone. Not sure how I feel about this. 

Games is my spirit animal (609 Bedtime Story) 

(last week)

#this week in BL #BL news #BL gossip #upcoming BL #best BL #new BL #BL reviews #Thai BL #Korean BL #Taiwanese BL #Japanese BL #live action yaoi #Rakutan Viki #gagaoolala #GMMTV #My School President #Ai Long Nhai #Domundi #Mandee #Cutie Pie #Happy Ending Romance #Never Let Me Go #Between Us #609 Bedtime Story #I Will Knock You #My Tooth Your Love #Oh! My Assistant #Candy Color Paradox #Ameiro Paradox #The Director Who Buys Me Dinner

[pop-punklouis]

*LITTLE LONGER DETAILS ABOUT THE SONGS*

Written all over your face: a mixture between grunge-rock and pop-punk. the guitars were absolutely insane. such a fast heat, and it hits you immediately from the moment it starts. it has such a sass punk edge to its chorus, and that’s what made me headbang so hard that both of my earrings came out lol. you guys are not ready for this song in particular. she's the main character of this era 1000% pop punk princess! it has a rowdy-rough energy offering a pop-rocks-like sizzle. it’s difficult not to imagine the absolute charge this song will have in a live setting. an anthemic track that rattles about with such an air of confidence both in sound and in vocal tone. for anyone who listens to the maine, this song 1000% feels like it could fit perfectly into their American Candy album era. that’s the best description i can give.

face the music: the heat only grows as we slip into this song. as i said yesterday, this one was heavily influenced by the early pop-punk, alt-rock scenes. it’s a much more condensed and slicker version of written all over your face. while WAOYF is rough and jagged, this song is tighter in production. the bridge is such a shining moment in this song. it has infectious chants that settle into bands such as reliant k, jimmy eat world, all-american rejects, the nothing personal era of all time low, and even english bands such as blur. the “WHOA WHOA WHOAs” that build right before the last chorus had us all absolutely barking and racing around each other to build up energy.

saturdays: from the moment this one came on, we just did a little group huddle and swayed together throughout its runtime. it’s definitely a sadder track. as i mentioned yesterday, it’s one of the best if not the best ballad he’s ever written. it has a very laidback feel. his vocals and harmonies with himself shine bright throughout this song. the bridge of the saturdays has such a soaring quality to it, and i wish i could understand or pay attention to more lyrics throughout the whole listening portion but we were having so much fun just living in the moment of it all. the only one i remember vividly from this one is: “saturdays used to take the pain away” which ends the chorus. it’s melancholic and nostalgic. i think this song transcends its surface meaning once you really get into the meat of it, and it could be about so many things both externally and internally. excited to hear how everyone interprets the song.

all this time: another laidback tune, but it has such a resistive melodic undertaking. fuzzy synths, mellow charm, wavier feel. it has the influence of 2015 tame impala, and it just feels right to listen to it on a night drive, wind whipping through your air, friends in the passenger seats singing along. it has a very ambient, chill wave foundation. definitely one of the tracks louis talked about implemented more dance-like elements to. and it fits perfectly in that indie-electronica arena.

when it comes to the departure from walls, FITF so far feels more deconstructed. it isn’t slick. it isn’t perfectly packaged. the colors are meant to bleed, the scissor lines purposefully jagged, and the lyrics raw. it doesn’t stand out for its polished appeal like walls does. it stands out for being everything opposite— everything red hot and haphazard and gritty. it’s louis musical mind and influences all packed into the four songs we got to listen to, and if this is just a taste of the record…. i cannot imagine what it feels like to listen to it in whole. its just so authentically louis.

#wrote this in my larger post about the day as a whole but wanted to post this separate for everyone who was curious!!! #louis tomlinson

[gidaryeong]

Twenty Questions

@angryteapott Thanks for the tag! <3

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

35!

2. What's your total AO3 word count?

748,763

What fandoms do you write for?

Mostly television: kdramas and cdramas, and some English-language shows. The only films I have written for are Decision to Leave and Cyrano de Bergerac.

What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

All of them are Mr. Queen:

Mrs. Queen - A rushed fix-it that I began one day after the show ended and then published daily for two months straight. It was a super fun writing exercise bc I tried to work in as many reader prompts as possible to salvage all of our broken hearts after the horrid ending. It was also the unfortunate beginning of my haphazard style of posting first chapters with no clue what the rest of the story will be. (100k)

The White Grass- Non-magic AU. I really enjoyed writing this because 1. it's my only properly beta read story and it was sooo fun to go over things with Sarah in advance! and 2. it features a noncon scene that was really divisive and led to a lot of very interesting discussions about power and consent on Twitter. (74k)

The Raw Ingredients - Bong-hwan finally returns to Joseon, but not as a queen, but a chambermaid!! So she has to scheme her way back to Cheoljong with the help of Minister Kim Soyong. I loved writing this, it was pure wish fulfillment and lowkey I think the most hilarious way a season two could have gone (if I may toot my own horn). @lady-guts has made theeee most beautiful fanbinding of it which has made me appreciate it more <33 (41k)

And I, and Silence - Soyong wakes back up alone inside her body with no memory of what has happened and has to fend for herself. I loved writing Kim Byeong-in's pov and also Jo Hwa-jin's pov and also their freaky love story!! (99k)

Whatever Souls Are Made Of - After almost drowning Soyong ends up with the complete memories of her future self (Bong-hwan). So suddenly she is both a Joseon woman and a South Korean man and has to grapple with that. Also there's a sweeping romance crossing time and space. (61k)

Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

I try to respond to all, because I think those connections is what makes fandom worth engaging in. Currently behind on answering though :(

What is a fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

I'm a HEA gal, but my Kingdom fic Something Rotten ends with hate sex that isn't maybe only hate but more hate than love. (Also, at least one of the main characters is gonna get eaten by zombies in the future.) I wrote a short My Liberation Notes piece called These Winter Fields where I let Mr. Gu attend Alcoholics Anonymous, but his recovery is left open-ended. Writing it felt very bittersweet to me personally, as someone who has been close to an addict.

What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

Most of them have tooth-rottingly happy endings! But the ones that felt the most healing to me were my The Hour fic not even the rain because I had been hurting for a decade over its cancellation, and my Beyond Evil fic Splinters where I unfridged Kang Min-jeong and let her live a vibrant poly life without having to die to fuel other people's manpain. Also very much enjoyed saving Comrade Gu in my Crash Landing on You fic Allegretto, not so much for his own sake as for Seo Dan, who deserves to have everything she wants.

Do you get hate on fics?

Not really. Sometimes people have expressed disappointment. I think the most hate I got was a person on Twitter who got really upset that I wrote a ship they didn't like and in a way they didn't like, but I don't think that had very much to do with my actual fic (since they hadn't read it).

Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

I do! Mostly het. I think I have progressed from more tender depictions to, like, trying to hone in on the slightly weird or awkward parts of sex, and also to describe the scene more straightforwardly and let people's imagination do the work for them?

Do you write crossovers? What's the craziest one you've written?

A Six Flying Dragons/My Country: The New Age crossover, and a Rookie Historian/Sungkyunkwan Scandal crossover. Neither feels very crazy to me because the universes fit so well (the two former because they feature the same historical people and events, and the two latter because they are both fluffy fusion sageuks with perky heroines).

Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Yes, or at least reposted without credit.

Have you ever had a fic translated?

No, but I would love if that happened!!!

What's your all-time favorite ship?

Gotta go with Goo Hae-ryung and Min U-won because they are sooo delightful to write, really grew on me (I didn't ship them immediately), and the fandom are such lovely people!

What's a wip you want to finish, but doubt you ever will?

I hope I will finish all of them in time.

What are your writing strengths?

Funny dialogue! (At least I think it's funny.) Readers mostly seem to appreciate the heart-wrenching confession oneliners.

What are your writing weaknesses?

Pacing, repetitive descriptions, that classic hyperfocus on the main ship to the detriment of other characters, and action scenes. There's probably many cultural misconceptions as well, especially since I mostly write historical pieces (ranging from the Joseon Dynasty and Tang Dynasty to 1950s Britain). I try to research, but being a foreigner means that there will always be a gap.

Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic?

Since I'm not a native English speaker, all my dialogue is in another language! In the kdrama fics I sometimes include familial terms, honorifics, and other forms of address in transliterated Korean, because I think that helps remind people reading it of what the sentence "actually" sounds like within the fiction, and also maybe allows them to recall what those particular words sound like when spoken by the actors of show. It gives the appearance that the fic only translates the character's "real," embodied, Korean conversation and keeps the readers immersed. At least that's my intention.

First fandom you wrote for?

On AO3 it was for Supernatural, since 15x20 enraged me enough to finally post something. But I also wrote Buffy and Harry Potter fic on FF.net when I was a kid. Including Snape/reader inserts, which I recently told a friend about and she gave me the most repulsed look I have ever seen :)

Favorite fic you've written?

I don't actually know!! Whatever Souls Are Made Of is probably one of the best pieces I have written, but all of them are dear to me in different ways.

Tagging @drivingsideways and @comfect and @elderflowergin and anyone else who wants to do it!

#my fic tag

[prairiesongserial]

23.13

The rabbi’s study hadn’t changed in eight years. The tower room was a hexagon with windows on three sides and bookcases on the other three. The rabbi’s desk took up most of the space, but there was also a little couch pressed against the wall under one of the windows. The boys piled onto it so they could peer down at the forest and the town below.

Cassidy’s gaze slid over the familiar spines on the rabbi’s bookshelves. They recognized a stack of books that Rabbi Alterman would “just be getting to” sitting in a haphazard pile on a chair, only now the chair’s legs had begun to bow under the weight.

Despite the clamor of all five of them entering his serene sanctorum, Rabbi Alterman still had not looked up from his book. There was a pencil balanced above his lip. Rabbi Alterman was eight years older, which came as a shock. He was overdue for a haircut–usual, for him–but instead of familiar salt-and-pepper curls, his hair had gone almost entirely white. It was hard to imagine this man energetically leading the first years in outdoor games.

“Rabbi,” Cassidy said, finally.

He looked up, blinking from behind large glasses. The pencil fell from his lip.

“Little Cassidy?” the rabbi asked. He stood up, disrupting a pile of books. Cassidy’s heart beat faster. “Your hair is orange?”

“That’s the first thing you have to say?” Cassidy said. “After eight years? I’ve returned, Rabbi, after eight years of wandering in the desert, but yes, my hair is orange.”

Rabbi Alterman blinked again, as if he couldn’t understand Cassidy’s complaint. The last time Cassidy had been in this room, it had been just after failing his final exams. Cassidy had always passed every floor on their first try, except the last one. They hadn't been able to bring themselves to give the answer the floor master was looking for.

The rabbi had blinked at them with the same strange combination of surprise and patience. Cassidy had ranted at him, pacing the rug, about scholars who locked themselves away in towers not knowing the first thing about right and wrong, and the rabbi had only nodded every so often to show he was listening.

“I noticed you’re still doing the trolley problem,” Cassidy continued. “Honestly–”

“Ah? Did you finally pass this year? Mazel, Cassidy.”

Cassidy was caught so fully off their guard that they fell silent. Rabbi Alterman stared back at them, then slowly smiled.

“Still so much energy. You look well.” The rabbi got up from his desk and walked around to Cassidy’s side. “I like the orange.”

Cassidy pulled a face. 

“Now,” Rabbi Alterman said, “you have brought me four strangers. I have heard a little about this from the floor masters, but I would like to hear it from you.”

Cassidy glanced behind them. John paced the short length of the study, looking tired and dirty, and with a knife stuck through his belt. Val looked a little better, though he stared distractedly out the window, Gawain’s bids for attention so far unheard. Percy had pulled himself away from the window. He resembled a little prince again, standing with shoulders square and hands behind his back.

Cassidy switched to English for the others’ benefit. They let Percy introduce himself, and prompted him to explain a few key points–such as, who were John and Val, and why were two English princes on the lam.

Rabbi Alterman stroked his beard. “I know of Hemisphere. A few years ago there was an attempt to unify the German states–unsuccessful. That name was bandied about. It didn't ever come to anything. So, England has thrown in with that lot…”

“If you can call a coup ‘throwing in,’” said Cassidy. Rabbi Alterman waved down their comment.

“And now you are here,” the rabbi said. His gaze rested heavily on Percy. “And you have something to ask me.”

Percy swallowed. “Well, we are in a good bit of danger.” He seemed to be actively resisting the urge to glance to Cassidy for help. “And we were hoping that you would hide us here. Cassidy gave us new names and everything.”

“Did they?” asked the rabbi. He narrowed his gaze at Cassidy. “Ah, Menashe and Ephraim. Yes, how like them.” Cassidy fought down a grin, not in the mood to be happy. “That does explain some whispering from the lower floors. I didn't think I had forgotten the existence of two students.”

Percy looked hopefully at the rabbi.

“Well, young man, you make a compelling case. It appears to be a matter of life or death,” said the rabbi. He heaved a sigh. “And so you understand why you cannot stay.”

Percy’s face fell.

“Rabbi?” Cassidy asked. “Rabbi, you can't be serious. It goes against Jewish law to turn them away. This kid tested out of every floor just to see you.” Cassidy raised their voice, switching to Yiddish. “It's the fucking trolley problem all over again. Are you serious? You won't let them stay because intervening might put blood on your hands? You can’t divert the train away from these two because you can’t foresee what lies on the other track? In that case, why do anything? Why adopt me? Didn't doing that take meat out of the mouths of wild dogs? Rabbi–”

“Wait, Cassidy, I can’t think,” said Percy. Cassidy just barely held their tongue. Percy’s face was screwed up in concentration, as if this were another test. Cassidy ground their teeth. They looked to John, who looked just as upset.

“I think I understand,” Percy said. “You actually will allow us to stay here, but you’re asking us to think for ourselves why we can’t.”

The rabbi smiled at Percy. “Go on,” he said.

“We might have been followed, I suppose,” Percy said. “In any case, we will be searched for. And eventually we might be found. When that happens, this town won’t survive, not if the Queen doesn't want it to. The German states don’t tend to rally when things like this happen; it’s each village for itself.”

The rabbi nodded for Percy to continue. He took off his glasses and started to clean them on his shirt.

“And…” Percy fumbled. “And, er… as former heads of state, it would be irresponsible to divert a disaster headed towards ourselves onto dozens of other children, not to mention all the woodsmen and farmers and artisans in town. The only responsible thing to do is to try to outrun the train, I suppose. Metaphorically.”

“Rabbi,” Cassidy said. “You can’t do this to them.”

“Not quite full marks,” the rabbi said, holding his hand up to Cassidy. “Percy, when you can save everyone, you must save everyone, yes? But that includes you and your brother. I have a friend in Switzerland who runs her own yeshiva in the mountains. It’s little known, and not easy to get to unless you know the way. I think she will be able to take you in at little risk to herself. And I have a few thoughts about disguising your trail; perhaps Cassidy will help me narrow them down?”

Rabbi Alterman directed his smile to Cassidy now. It was the sunny smile he liked to use when he’d taught one of his students something. Cassidy rolled their eyes, turning away so that the rabbi wouldn’t see.

Percy made a strangled sound of relief, then went to hug Gawain. John’s nostrils flared as he took a deep breath; he looked less anxious at the price of looking more tired.

“I’ve always hated the trolley problem,” Rabbi Alterman said. “Everyone gets so serious.”

23.12 || epilogue 23

#story

[middle-earth-mythopoeia]

In the absolute nicest way possible: how many languages do you speak? I know English, of course, and I have passable Spanish, and I’m simultaneously working on my Italian and French but I don’t even know enough to get by in either of those. And you’ve mentioned quite a few languages that you speak, or at least, that you’ve studied, and as someone who knows the struggles of trying to be multilingual, the amount you know is amazing and very, VERY impressive!

I also happen to love linguistics and language theory in general and I’d love to hear anything you might have to ramble about and discuss when it comes to linguistics in any languages, because it really is such a fascinating area of study.

Speaking of Tolkien linguistics specifically: I’m not someone who has actually really STUDIED a language. I grew up around Spanish speakers and did it for all four years of high school, but I never studied any of it from a scholarly perspective. It was always just learning about how to speak it, how to write it. What sort of linguistic quirks does Tolkien have when it comes to creating his languages? Do you see specific or obvious influences from real life in any of his languages? What are some of your favorite things about his languages, and the EVOLUTION of his languages?

Basically, please talk Tolkien linguistics at me!!

Hi, thank you so much for this ask! :)

Oh no, I don't really speak that many languages fluently! To start with, Latin I certainly don't speak, even though I took it the longest, but it's not a spoken language of course. (Plus when I was studying it in the later years and we were reading the Aeneid and stuff, you have like a page of vocabulary notes next to each page of Latin text to help you with the translations.)

I became reasonably conversational in Japanese after taking it for three years, but I'm definitely not fluent, and my skills are a bit rusty now. And I only took one year each of Russian and German, so that's not much. But I love learning languages and I would really like to polish up my Japanese, and revisit the other languages I've studied, plus study other ones :) I took at least one language each year of college, sometimes two at once, and I really miss it.

Yes yes yesssssssss let's talk about Tolkien languages. So, the obvious inspirations are clearly Finnish > Quenya and Welsh > Sindarin. But it's not a case of simple borrowing. Tolkien was too creative for that. Most people would struggle to create even one invented language. Tolkien, as you know, created multiple languages AND histories of how they all related to each other! I LOVE HIM! THIS MAN WAS INSANE! Exhibit A:

WHO DOES THIS? Also, he had beautiful handwriting.

Anyway. I don't even know where to START I have so many thoughts about Tolkien's languages. This will be very haphazard.

Okay, here's one that I think about a lot. Aegnor's name in Quenya was Aikanáro, which means "fell fire". The aika part means "fell, dire, terrible." Which is descended from an Eldarin root word gaya, "awe, dread". That same root word is the origin of part of the Sindarin word Belegaer. Beleg means great, and aer means sea. But aer is derived from that same word gaya, "awe, dread".

I just find this really cool because this is how etymology works in the real world! It's not a simple case of an ancient word for the sea turning into a modern word for the sea. It's a case of a word that means one thing being applied to another thing until it comes to mean something completely different than before. And I love that! And I especially love that you can trace root words from Eldarin into both Sindarin and Quenya!!!!!!!!!!!!! HE CREATED AN ACTUAL, FUNCTIONAL LANGUAGE TREE. I'M SCREAMING

Like, if you know enough words in Quenya, it's not hard to translate them into Sindarin, and vice versa, because they're actually, functionally related. IT'S GENIUS. IT'S AMAZING.

Not ONLY can you trace Eldarin root words into both Sindarin and Quenya, I also think it's so cool that Tolkien came up with multiple etymologies for things sometimes (party because he kept changing his mind!). For instance, he came up with both an Elvish etymology and a Valarin etymology for Taniquetil. In Quenya, it means "high snow peak". But another theory (yes... Tolkien came up with a theory for a word he created) is that it is simply the Elvish pronunciation of the Valarin word Dâhan-igwiš-telgûn. He came up with multiple (and conflicting) etymologies for the name Felagund too, among other things.

It will NEVER cease to amaze me that Tolkien not only made up etymologies for his invented words, he also sometimes went back and forth on which etymology was "right"! I remember reading a note in one of the volumes of the History of Middle-earth that said something along the lines of, "One of these etymologies for Balrog is correct, but I don't know which one." YOU MADE UP THE LANGUAGES, TOLKIEN! But I honestly love that he thought of himself more as a recorder of what was already there than the person making the decisions.

For example, there's that video of Tolkien writing in tengwar where he says, "My writing is very inferior to the Elves..." !!!!!!!!!! TOLKIEN, SIR. YOU INVENTED THIS ALPHABET. I love it so much. You have to watch it if you haven't seen it already! It's wonderful:

The way he talks about languages here is so quintessentially Tolkien... the delight connected with discovering a new language like a "new wine or some new sweetmeat or something". It reminds me of what he had to say about "cellar door"—and I'm sure this is not new to you, but for those who don't know, it was a phrase that he considered to have a beautiful sound independent from its meaning. He said in one of his lectures,

"Most English-speaking people...will admit that cellar door is 'beautiful', especially if dissociated from its sense (and from its spelling). More beautiful than, say, sky, and far more beautiful than beautiful. Well then, in Welsh for me cellar doors are extraordinarily frequent, and moving to the higher dimension, the words in which there is pleasure in the contemplation of the association of form and sense are abundant."

Hence, the influence of Welsh on Sindarin. In creating his Elvish languages, Tolkien wanted to create beautiful languages, but not in the sense that they would be frivolous or flowery, he wanted them to be beautiful in the sense that they would be very pleasing to the ear, like "cellar door". Well, I'm extremely biased, but I think he succeeded. He DEFINITELY succeeded.

Oh, and back to the inspiration for Tolkien's languages for a second, there's been more discussion of the phonetic/grammatical influence on his languages but less discussion on what influenced his alphabets. I want to know how he came up with tengwar! And sarati! I would think that Japanese and Chinese would have had some influence, not on the sound or grammar of the languages themselves, but on the script. Tolkien sometimes wrote the sarati (the alphabet that preceded tengwar) vertically, like Chinese and Japanese, and his visual art drew some inspiration from Chinese and Japanese paintings, so I wonder if there is a connection there. Some people have also noticed similarities between Chinese characters and Tolkien's symbol that represents his initials:

One thing that I find really amazing about Tolkien's languages is that they were so fully formed and so interconnected that there are some cases where there are probably connections that he just didn't spell out, leaving Tolkien scholars and linguists to come up with their own theories. For example the potential relation between Valarin and the language of Mordor! Basically, the Ring of Doom in Valinor was called the Máhanaxar, the first part of which is derived from Máhan, "chief Vala", a loan word from Valarin māchanāz. Máhanaxar is the Quenya pronunciation of the Valarin word Māchananaškad. Here's what's so cool... David Salo, a Tolkien linguist who worked on the LOTR movies, theorized that the second part of this word may mean "ring"—it is the name for the Ring of Doom, after all—meaning that the Valarin word naškad could be the root of nazg, as in Ash nazg durbatuluk and Nazgûl. It would make so much sense for the language of Mordor, which was created by Sauron, to have similarities to Valarin.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It's very late so this post has no rhyme or reason, but when asked to talk about Tolkien's languages I will HAPPILY do so! :) Thank you for the ask!!!!!

#asks #thank you for the ask! #linguistics #Elvish #this post has no organization #I'm just rambling

[jadesreadingblog]

good morning/afternoon/night & welcome to my blog!

if you didn’t know already, my name is jade! my pronouns are she/her. my sun sign is sagittarius, and i hope to have a deep dive into my star signs here soon!

i am nineteen years old, and i live in the big ole city of st. louis. i work at a local hospital as a medical information specialist, but i plan on going to university soon to complete my bachelor’s degree in English.

my hobbies include reading, writing, cross-stitching, baking, and playing cozy games on my nintendo switch (such as stardew valley and animal crossing).

my plans for this blog are a little haphazard, but i’d like to make this a space for me to delve into my mind palace a little bit, on a platform that i know some will understand the ways i think. i’d like to have some book talk, some self reflection, things like that. but i don’t want things to get too serious, let’s be silly sometimes too!!

if you made it this far, thank you! i look forward to making new friends and creating new ideas with you all :)

here are some of my platforms

bookstagram: jadesreadinglog

instagram: jadebozovich

#reading #bookblr #bookish #books #book blog #writers #bookworm #currently reading #books and libraries #new blog #nintendo switch #stardew valley #animal crossing

[dogmadiary]

Here I Go Again (And Again And Again And Again)!

When I was in middle school, my friends (many of whom I now know were not my friends) and I (I didn’t really participate, just stood and watched some of the more rowdy crowd do so) would go outside and get ahold of one of the Gaga balls and play ball with it. Our version of playing ball was a haphazard, self-destructive ritual that involved a small horde of depressed—and often quite violent—preteens chasing around the one depressed and possibly violent preteen who possessed the ball. It was passed around, alliances being made and broken within seconds of each other, and it would last all 15 minutes of our recess. I think tackling was against the rules by default, but it certainly happened—we sat together at lunch and we played ball at recess every day but it didn’t mean we all liked each other.

I had forgotten about our impromptu ball games until I came across a passage mentioning them in Anaphora yesterday. In a scene where Martyn and Atlas are investigating a certain uncle’s mysterious disappearance, Martyn calls back to her days in middle school playing ball with Atlas and Gossamer. Their game is explained similarly to my own, minus the overpowering undercurrent of dislike and malcontent.

Martyn’s middle school is my middle school—I’ve written flashback scenes for fun that bend to its geography. Gossamer goes missing during a social in the cafeteria, like the ones we used to have. Vaughn’s classroom is the same one I took 8th grade “biology” in. I remember taking a test in the back of the room while anxiously weeping, and I remember thinking about Martyn and Atticus while trying to write my answers to calm down.

So since the very beginning, Anaphora has been an object of comfort for me. This is why I refrained from publishing it my senior year and opting for AKN instead. I was sort of resentful of this decision for a while–I lacked some passion for AKN that I had for Anaphora and The Leviathan, and I hated that I was now being forced to acknowledge the fact that it was going to be very difficult for me to part with this story and put an end to it once and for all. For the past seven years of my life, I have occupied most of my waking life trying to finish this puzzle while simultaneously spending more time simply admiring the parts I'd already put together (because it brings me some comfort knowing that I am capable of creation and such).

I sat down last night on a whim and decided to start outlining part two. It has no name right now, but it will follow my obnoxious english major theme and be named after a rhetorical device (The third one is called Epistrophe for those who don't know! Epistrophe is Anaphora at the end of a sentence, and also a fantastic sounding word). I don't know if it's the new year or the new school or the new state, but I've been ushering in change with no problem. It used to be that the longer a detail stayed the same, the more fixed it became, but my remixing is proving more fun than frightening.

What if Constantine and Gwen lived together? Makes more sense, right? And what if Rose's jacket was a letterman's jacket with her name stitched into the chest (I was at a vintage store in the mall with my mom, and we found a rack of old letterman’s jackets. I looked through every single one to see whose names I'd find, and I found my mom's as well as "Eddie," which has awoken an entirely different potential change)?

I don't know, man! Just some weeks ago I was laid up in bed for hours unable to sleep because I was like, God, there is no way that AKN is actually any good. And sure, I could go and fix that, but that would mean opening that horrible google document again, and messing up my formatting again, and manually indenting 200 pages worth of unindented paragraphs again. It made me physically ill to be frank with you.

I wish I could allow myself to really, truly love what I create. I am working on that very hard. It's not that I don't love AKN–I think there are some things I need to work on before I can get there ( And one of those things is changing the fucking dedication jfc).

Another little secret of mine is that I made a resolution with myself to be more honest this year. I have no idea if anything will come of it. I think the word "honest" is partially a stand in to mean something larger–yes, I want to be honest. That doesn't just mean "stop lying."

I will start here. Today, my brother asked me if I still write, and I said yes of course. Then he asked what this book was about, and I got very flustered and was only half able to tell him, which is usually what happens.

I hope I can sit down with my friends one day and they will have the encyclopedic knowledge of Anaphora (and The Dark Tower) and AKN that I do. I am a little afraid that that is what it takes for people to Know Me. I am sitting in my bed alone right now, but I'll take advantage of it.

Apologies for the long post. Here is an in depth (spoiler free) description of the premise of Anaphora for all those interested. Here's to a lovely and productive 2024–maybe I'll even get to tell you about the Green Unicorn someday soon :) Thanks for reading.

Anaphora follows Martyn Fowler as she returns to her hometown for the first time since she was 15 after being mysteriously contacted by the kind but aloof Alder Beckett, asking her to come work as his personal assistant. Despite the obvious strangeness of his offer, she eagerly takes the opportunity to finally return, planning to reconnect with the one person she is sure still lives in town after all these years–the mother of her three best friends, Detective Rose Bordeaux. Martyn and Rose are both shapeshifters, and Martyn finds herself in urgent need of guidance.

Her plans take a fortunate/unfortunate turn when instead, she finds Rose's two remaining children, Constantine and Guinevere, instead. Rose has been missing for a month, a frightening reminder of the fates of Constantine and Rose's twins, who both went missing as young boys in upsettingly similar ways.

After finding a strange note in the pocket of Rose's old jacket, Martyn becomes sure of who is behind not only Rose's disappearance, but her brother and son's as well–but lacks the evidence to prove it. With the help of Beckett's parrot, Evergreen, and Ollie, a strange woman who insists on helping her (as well as some other for-now unnamed parties), Martyn makes it her mission to locate Rose, and thus repair her relationship with Constantine and Gwen, which seems to be becoming more strained every day.

It should be easy for Martyn, who spent many years in the care of Rose's partner, Abraham Fowler, and who has grown tough from years of lumber work up north. There's just one, glaring issue–Martyn hasn't been able to shapeshift for years, and Rose's captors might be a little more-than-human after all.

#I LOVE YOU

[parragone]

i guess this is a follow up to the rant I posted before, but-

TL;DR: Deimos looks great, but feels empty

even if this is a return to form for Rainbow, it's really, really bitter. Like... I don't know if I'm explaining this right, and please be aware English isn't my first language, but -

It's kind of like... slapping a band-aid over the awful narrative that revolved around Harry. Like 'look, we know you all hated what we did with him and his leadership so now he's dead!' sort of thing, mixed with sub-par writing in the comics and what feels like a rush job of conflict, all while still leaving the major reason for Rainbow's formation - the White Masks - again a loose end.

Like, yes, okay, return to form, but... I feel like there were better ways to pivot the narrative to begin with. The fact it got to this point in the first place with the excuse of better 'mirroring' the player experience feels gross and a little... cheap, to me. It's not a return to form if the form itself has been warped. The entire presentation of the lore is permanently tainted by the fact that nothing about these characters is secret anymore, everyone knows who they are. They can't actually return to secrecy. It went from 'less than one hundred people know who rainbow is' to 'wow, everyone knows who they are!' and nothing is going to change that except a retcon. And I guess we should've seen that coming when Harry mentioned a 'selection board' with Clash; like I said in my previous bitch about the narrative, the fewer people know about a secret, the easier it is to keep.

Deimos looks - besides making my love for masked villains go up a tick - well, fucking amazing, I'll be straight up. He looks and behaves very well, and I wouldn't be surprised if there's some tie in to previous Rainbow games. It this were done pre-Harry, with Arnot - or even post-Harry, but without the decimation of the pretense - maybe it would have been... better? I'm looking forward to seeing him again, but the narrative he's part of feels empty and ultimately not... engaging, I think the word is? I'm not sure.

And the squads feel weird. I'll admit it. It makes sense with a team this large, but at this point it feels kind of wrong? It feels somewhat haphazard, with certain people in weird places [ i've said it before, i'll say it again - why is Mute not with Ghosteyes when his whole deal is information control/codebreaking/signals intelligence? I get that he's a 'career soldier' but come on he's specialized ].

Ultimately, to me, this doesn't feel good, not in a narrative form, not for military fiction. It feels clunky, half-hearted, like a 'whoops, sorry, forgot what our baseline narrative was!' that wouldn't fly with other games. You could have retconned part of your lore, you do it kind of often. The fact we only get bits and pieces of lore than doesn't really flow together all that well only once every few months doesn't lend itself well to the situation, either. They're not even large bits, they're decently small and clunky pieces.

Maybe it's just me, but it feels like this new direction is empty. it lacks substance. It feels...

Well, it feels less-than.

#r6s #venting about the narrative again

[shame-is-a-wasted-emotion]

20 questions with author: my edition.

Thank you so much @special-bc-ur-part-of-it for tagging me. And I am tagging (of course I will be happy to read any body's list. So invite yourself and play the game) @rockitmans ,@kirakiwiwrites ,@hkvoyage , @fallevs

1. How many words do you have on ao3?

11. 2 are wip so 9 actually.

2 What is your ao3 word count?

187,023

Well that's surprising!

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Glee Klaine for now. Just them. I could write for charlie/nick .

4. Top 5 fics by kudos?

5.Do you respond to comments? Why and why not?

Hmm some of mine are hit by kudos . So we'll see.

1. One step closer(86)

2.living haphazard (29)

3.juliets boudoir and Paris of my childhood (23)

4.A cradle is an art(20)

5.Warm milk? Really?(18)

I do every single time. I get comments very rarely so it's like a manna.

6.What fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

None. May the one I started writing yesterday. But as of now, none.

7. What fics you wrote with happiest ending?

I am a sucker for hurt/comfort. So almost every fic. Maybe this one:

These are fully husbands fluff.

8. Do you get hate on your fics?

Fortunately nope. I got one which was weird but it's not a hate. The fandom is so sweet.

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

I've never written one. I wanted to do. I want to do a wedding night fic. And further more .

10. Do you write crossovers? What's the craziest one you've ever written?

None. I know I'm not adventurous. But I am thinking of a klaine(maybe with brittana) and rwrb crossover..

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

I can't per se say it was stolen. I hear someone collecting random fics like mine and other amazing authors and posting on their website.(do you remember that @datshitrandom ?)

12. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not aware of. But I would love to. I'll let Google translate my fic and have fun ;)

13.Have you ever cowritten a fic before?

Nope. But I would love to.

14.favourite all time ships?

Klaine are my first babies. Alex/Henry are great too.

15. Wip you want to complete but doubt you will?

The first ever fic I wrote One step Closer. I have to clear up all the grammar shit cause I was worse back then.

16. What are your writing strengths?

The flow. If I write, I can write so much. And the picturization. I guess.

17.what are your writing weakness?

Vocabulary and grammar. No way I can save myself. I need a beta mostly.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in a fic?

I love that. Google translate always gives a helping hand. Though I know a little French, English and tamil,I have to use Internet.

19.First fandom you wrote for?

Klaine.

20. Favourite fic you've written?

I've got a lot.

Thank you so much for asking. It was fun

#anna writes #20 questions #fic author games #i loved it #answered