#and i tend to interpret that as a mix of 'thank you for talking me down' 'hey we survived hell together' and 'thank goodness | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

radley-writes · 8 months

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hiya! just wondering if u can talk a bit about your process of drafting -> beta reading etc? I'm almost ready to have people read my draft (revised from cp feedback) and idk where to start or what the best process might be! thanks in advance

First off: congrats on having a completed manuscript. It sounds like you're off to a good start, having received cp feedback!

Of course, every writer will have a different method of prepping for a Beta round. I hope this is useful, and gives you some ideas for how to proceed.

Once I have a solid manuscript that's ready for readers, my next step is to ask myself a couple of questions...

What's your deadline?

I like to establish this before I start. I usually do quite long Beta rounds, around four/five months a pop - though some people prefer to work under pressure and might prefer an 8 week Beta round!

You need to pick a realistic date and stick to it. I wouldn't go any shorter than 4 weeks for a 70K novel - and personally, I think that is too tight.

What platform will you use to share your draft?

I use Googledocs just for convenience. But given The Current Nonsense (AI training) you might be more comfortable picking a different method.

I then split my doc into manageable chunks - typically 10K ish each, one part on each doc.

What do you want from your Betas while they read?

I usually make several forms, one for each part, that ask very basic questions - I've found that people respond best to this, plus a few prompts. So, 'what do you like about the story so far? (characters, style, worldbuilding, plot, pacing, etc.)' and 'what could be improved on? (any parts you felt didn't quite 'work'? Go into as much or as little detail as you like!)'

But you can ask specific questions about certain plot points you're unsure about, or whatever else you like!

I then link each 'part' of my novel to the next part and the corresponding form.

How do you want to communicate with your Betas?

I use Discord, because it's easy to set up a simple little server for Betas to join! This server is typically comprised of a few rooms for people to chat about their own projects/my manuscript, plus a couple of fun rooms full of pet pictures and memes - it's mostly just a way to socialise and get to know your Betas a bit better.

Which you should do! The friends I've made from Beta rounds have been with me for years! You'll meet amazing people, and I'd encourage you to show their projects the same enthusiasm that they have for yours!

Then we're onto selecting the Betas themselves.

What do you want to know about your Betas?

I give the Betas one chapter to read, linked to an application form. I want to know their preferred name/pronouns, a vague idea of their age (so: <18 or >18 - for YA projects I like having a mix of adults and kids as my Betas, and for Adult projects I prefer not to have kids). I also want to know their Discord handle and a confirmation that they can read and comment on the whole manuscript before the deadline.

Then I put in a free box for them to write their feedback on the first chapter.

I also list all the content warnings for my manuscript that I can think of, and ask them to confirm that they are okay with reading this novel.

Which Betas do you want?

You've had a dozen replies - so, it's time to select Betas!

How do you pick? How many should you choose? I've discovered through trial and error that I, personally, cannot handle a large Beta round. It's too much stress! Some people have 20+ Betas on every book, but I perish at the thought - so my rounds tend to be pretty exclusive, between 5-10 Betas. I usually aim to have 5, but inevitably add an extra or ...several, just because people are lovely!

I usually choose one or two 'cheerleaders' who give loads of compliments, because I'm a baby who needs ego boosts. Then I choose the rest based on who gives the most insightful critique!

You interpretation of 'insightful critique' will vary. I like critique that is clear and honest, even if that means saying 'I don't know what is wrong here, but something about this section made me lose interest'. I like people who try to suggest what might be wrong, and ways to fix it - but I wouldn't pick anyone who was obviously basing all their assumptions off of Tumblr Writing Advice For What Makes A Good Novel.

Or what they want their own novel to be.

Of course, writers can be incredibly awesome Betas - I've got a squad who I trust with my manuscripts, my life, and my entire ass. But writing and editorial reading are different skills. Some folks are good writers, but aren't good commentators. Their crit will basically be them trying to turn your story into theirs. You get a feel for this sort of critique after a while, and it'll set off red flags!

I also tend not to pick people who don't vibe with anything about the 'style' or 'voice' of the first chapter - those are big factors that affect the whole novel and aren't going to change. They'd be the sort of people who would put my book down after the first page, so they're not really my audience!

Once you've made your selection, you just have to whoosh out Discord invites, give your Betas access to the first part of the manuscript (with links to the next part and the relevant questionnaire embedded) and away you go.

I hope this helps! May your Beta-round journey go smoothly! Again, all advice is built entirely from my own preferences and experiences - if anyone else likes to do things in a completely different and radical way, please let me know! I'd love some new ideas of how to run a Beta round! :D

#writing advice #publishing #writeblr #creative writing #writers on tumblr #beta rounds #beta reading

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thegrapeandthefig · 1 year

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hi!! i was looking through your priapus tag and you talked about how important divination is when worshiping a god we don't know a lot about, i only got into tarot recently and i can't find anything abt this specifically so i was wondering if you had any resources for using it in your worship/to communicate with the gods? alsoo in general thank you!! so much for your posts!! they're all incredibly informative your blog is amazing thank you❣️

Hi!

I mostly use tarot myself, but I don't think the medium matters much as long as it's one you feel the most confident in interpreting.

I don't know of any particular resource, though I'm sure witchtok might have some. My advice comes down to practice and, when in doubt, using an alternative method for double-checking. I tend to use either an oracle tool like the homeromanteion or an oracle deck for the purpose of verifying if I got it right.

Mixing tarot with an oracle deck of your choice can yield more precise results. It's a method I use during the yearly check I do with Dionysus and I've found it very useful to identify epithets. One of the things I ask every year is to have an idea of what will be the focus of the upcoming year in my worship of him, and I will pick a tarot card first, and then pick an oracle card for clarification. This year, two of the oracle cards were "the Rescuer" and "the Liberator". This was obviously striking considering Dionysus has such epithets (Soterios, Eleutherios, Lysios in particular). So, while the tarot card I got with this made sense, the oracle brought up specific "buzzwords" that both clarified the meaning of the initial card but also gave me a very precise idea of what I should be looking up since these epithets have meanings and a history of their own.

Another thing that can help you is paying attention to details in a card, especially if you use decks which use specific imagery. I've noticed that sometimes the gods will choose a card more for what it's portraying rather than the booklet's meaning of it, or a mix of both. To give a concrete example, I am currently in the process of reworking the Artemisia in my calendar to help a member of my family. The aim of this divination session was to present the idea and purpose of the renewed festival and hopefully get some help as to what she wanted out of it. When I asked about it, I got a combination of Strength and the 4 of Wands.

The 4 of Wands here was a great result to have, it's the card of celebrations and well, festivals. Strength was also very straightforward within the context of my request, but it's a card that has so many angles of interpretation that it would be possible to over-interpret and get lost in the possibilities of what it could be about. This is a case where sticking to what the card portrays was relevant: a woman holding a beast in submission.

Here's the thing, I am reworking the festival because this family member of mine has had issues with boars and wolves on their farmland. Strength in this context had the most literal meaning. Not only was it a confirmation that the festival I am brewing for her has her stamp of approval, but the Strength card also led me more precisely to two possible epithets for the event: Agrotera and Pheraia (the huntress and of the beasts).

My last piece of advice is to be kind to yourself. Tarot is like a language, it takes time to learn and even more to reach fluency. Trial and error will be your friend for a while, and that's absolutely normal. If you know another divination method that you can use as a backup to verify your interpretations, you can do that. I find that there is, especially in online spaces, a strange pressure to learn every card one by one as if they were multiplication tables. I personally don't find this approach constructive compared to learning on the spot, with practice.

I hope this helped despite probably not being exactly what you asked for, and I wish you good luck on your learning journey.

#divination

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thesherrinfordfacility · 7 months

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hope you're good!!!✨ i did get your first one but no matter! very good thanks! you? oh well. i've lost a few emails to the connection in the last few days so i figured just in case.

also thank you re: the amv, haha!!! i ended up doing another using The Darkness, but your suggestion of using Original Sin is inspired, ive put it on the list!!! as for being on the nose... well, i did one to lewis capaldi's heavenly kind of state of mind, so make of that what you will! you're welcome! it really is fantastic! (as are your others; i'm looking forward to the abba one.) lol true about heavenly kind of state of mind and original sin is just such a good song.

i completely agree with your remarks on the implications of god... feels incongruous with other aspects of god's characterisation or indeed the theme of the story - to my interpretation, anyway. yes to this entire paragraph. absolutely celebrate everyone writing whatever they want and god getting increasingly frustrated as increasingly ludicrous fanfic like matchmaking schemes keep failing is potentially hilarious but in my opinion it doesn't work with god or the story at large for her to be involved in things.

i also love the metaphorical imagery, the poetry, of crowley being the question, and aziraphale being the answer (this sparks narrative analytical joy). oooo yes that is great imagery. i agree that free will has to be the plan and aziraphale and crowley do represent that in a way but i think that might be - from god's perspective not the authorial one - fairly coincidental. like it didn't have to specifically be those two? i don't know. i tend to consider god pretty much entirely a non entity as speculation goes. she narrates and that's it.

whilst that certainly speaks to me as being his behaviour, im not personally convinced that is his motive. i think the motive question might end up going round and round in circles once you start digging into it. where do we exactly put the line between 'god wants' and 'i want' to establish a starting point? i don't think he's trying to undermine her authority. i do think he's trying to take/has already taken over heaven but maybe he thinks that's what god would want him to do. she's not talking so he's just going to have to defer to his own judgement of what god's will is and his own desires are certainly influencing that judgement extensively. to what degree he's aware of this? tricky question if you ask me. i prefer him to be fully aware and nonetheless certain that he's doing the divinely approved good/right thing but that really is just personal preference and you do make a good case for the reverse. might just call it a mix of both and give up on the details before i accidentally talk myself into a paradox.

for me, it's the specific, simplified concept that moral absolutism doesn't exist. noone is completely evil, just as noone is wholly good. good point! this is why i agree that the metatron should think he's doing the right/good thing (even if he fulfills the function of the major villain). i guess i just feel like a bit more self awareness might give him more agency?

it would make sense, to me, for this to extend to metatron this whole paragraph also makes a very good point. i said above that he thinks he's doing the right/good thing but might it be more accurate that he believes he's doing the necessary thing? that he needs to put himself in power and do all these reprehensible things because it's the only way to preserve heaven and with it god's will and the concept of 'goodness'? that could open up a bunch of things around the end justifying the means.

i think both absolutely could be correct, a mix of them - for me, the former being personal against metatron's motive, and the latter against his character. don't have anything to add here i'm afraid; just wanted to say i like this a lot!

his questions, i think again for me it makes for a more compelling character arc that crowley has existed throughout his fall and being a demon as not getting any answers you're probably right here narratively speaking. i got attached to the whole serpent thematic but the more i think about it that does also work with just questions. the serpent only opens up the path to knowledge without directly partaking of it themself after all. and the wrong questions are still dangerous. maybe even more so than the answers.

albeit, i have a feeling that the answer will essentially be that there are no answers, and it's 'up to each of you to find your own ones' oh yeah. definitely.

thoughts [about the demons]? hmmm. i'm inclined to say seeing more demons asking questions is just because we're seeing more demons now. not to mention hastur and ligur were fairly major antagonists (and i'm not yet convinced hastur isn't coming back!). it's the same as muriel to me. just because heaven and hell are absolutely terrible it doesn't mean all angels and demons are so we're now getting nicer characters on both sides to show this and balance out each side's antagonists. as for why the short-staffing: i like the idea that demons are just defecting but i think maybe something's wrong in hell? shax tells crowley beelzebub 'put some of the lesser demons on half rations'. this is a new aka post armageddon development so presumably pre armageddon hell had enough resources for everyone to be getting full rations. now there's less demons around than before but less resources per demon. of course i'm assuming that the half rations is because of lack of resources and not some other reason like punishment but I don't think that's an unreasonable assumption to make: when eric keep interrupting to draw attention to the lack of demons he also points out that they won't be able to take the large transporter which seems like a resources issue as well. it's almost like something's draining hell. i haven't the foggiest how or what or why but i'm pretty sure it'll matter next season.

i meant 'conclusive' haha!!! ah ok. that makes a lot more sense then and in that case i agree. the archangels aren't innocent but they're not as bad as the metatron either.

but the bottom line - as i see it - for them is to preserve heaven. we can view their actions as deplorable, and that is true, but in their unique circumstances, what other action would, could, or should they have taken? i refer back to my thoughts above on moral absolutism and its place - if it has any - in GO and its characters. yep! it's very likely the archangels think what they're doing - including the things they do to maintain their power (and they infight and try to exercise power over each other but they always present a united front to other angels) - are necessary. though as i said in ny last ask i'm not sure that doesn't make them more dangerous. righteousness is, shall we say, not good.

re: memory of their time as angels, this is where i largely fluctuate on how much i subscribe to the memory wipe theory - but i don't think it's a full wipe, but potentially partial? oof. yeah there's something happening with memory but the details?

but i think perhaps that the memory wipe is attributable more to the BOL than to the metatron himself - i do think there's potentially a link between falling/erasure of grace and divinity, and to memories of being an angel gabriel though. he was going to have his memory erased - depending on whether putting it in the fly was just backup or full removal, did - while staying an angel. i feel like tht might counter the fall/memory loss connection.

as for demons not being aware of a wider issue, that's a fair point - but do demons really talk to each other? wouldn't that indicate a weakness, vulnerability? if there is a large-scale memory problem going on, which is a very tentative thought anyway, im not sure that any of the demons would in fact talk to others about it. true and why i didn't discount the collateral damage option after the first season. though if it happened to everyone it might have been acknowledged in company policy? just another part of falling. like i said i really think it might be something that happened only to crowley because of whatever specific role he played and not a large scale operation. if we can trust his drunken ramble he still remembers the act of falling itself just not what led up to it and that i would tentatively hazard the other demons do based on what we see and hear from them. p.s. this doesn't really properly fit into my speculation but i still wanted to say it: 'we are the fallen. never forget that.' 'it's not the kind of thing you forget.' gains a certain kind of irony if there's as many holes in crowley's memory as i suspect.

i have my #halo theory wherein i wonder if aziraphale was the specific angel to actually declare the war in heaven ok that is a very interesting idea for parallels and mirroring. first he declares the war in heaven, then he introduces war to humanity and finally he declares war in hell defending the bookshop in episode six. rule of three. *pauses* oh shit. and hereby i just found a narrative argument for having the scapegoat theory apply to both pre fall and present day crowley. awcw get scapegoated for the fall, the serpent of eden gets scapegoated for the fall of man and crowley gets scapegoated for whatever happens with the second coming/the still unresolved declaration of war on hell. rule of three. that of course would set them up for not only mirroring/paralleling their own story arcs but also as counterpoints to each other. ok this possibility fascinates me. might need to think on it more and then get back to you about it later! and then of course there's the characterisation element of carrying the weight of that kind of guilt around, which is plenty interesting in its own right, not to mention could add another layer to him accepting the metatron's offer.

i absolutely love your interpretation of crowley's inner conflict, i think that's so well put, and i like it a lot!!! i certainly don't think crowley is willfully ignorant or in denial of his potential part in his own - or the wider - fall, but perhaps just doesn't want to examine or confront it, as you said... or perhaps doesn't remember altogether, and has just cobbled together why he thinks he fell. firstly, thanks! i tend to the latter option, but think the internal conflict/fear of finding himself to be evil would work with either especially if we lean into the scapegoat theory which does also work with either.

but similarly, i think it's also fair to assess crowley as having some measure of the same mentality as he did before he fell; that he can be quite blinkered, self-assured, and at times quite arrogant. yep! though - without trying to excuse it away - i do wonder how much of it's also a defence mechanism at this point.

and please, please do not think im hating on him - critique of a character does not mean i dislike him or find him reprehensible, i promise; it's quite the opposite honestly!!! no worries, i absolutely do no think that! if that's how my p.s. came across i'm very sorry. absolutely not my intention. i enjoy your analyses so it was just a passing thought i had that it'd probably be interesting to see you discuss an aspect of the story and/or characters you don't talk about as much; i find it usually is when people do. (you can blame the history teacher i had in my last few years of school for that lol. she was big on that sort of thing and i guess it just stuck with me.)

the narrative would still hold and be profound if it were the other way around. just personally i like the idea of him being a heavenly Nobody to becoming a hellish Somebody is rather compelling!!!✨ fair enough. i think there's definitely great things you could do with either so i'm more than happy to just sit back and see where it'll go. 🦭

hey 🦭 anon, lovely!!!✨💕 two gorgeously long and complex asks (second under the cut) - gosh, where to start!!!

okay let's get cracking with the first!!!

the abba one has been placed on hold for the time being (inspiration did not vibe with me for it BUT another is in the works and is actually shaping up to be a Slap so stay tuned!!!)

i agree with you re: metatron, i think his motive is going to be somewhat cyclical, and mutually inclusive - to be motivated in what he determines as 'good' and as decreed by god by lack of any other instruction, and to be in his own selfish or narcissistic interests - can and i think probably will exist simultaneously.

i don't think he necessarily would be unaware of what he's doing, per se, but more that he's convinced that as the voice of god, whatever he thinks and does is sanctified as being god's will (because god hasnt told him otherwise) and is done in the name of preserving heaven - and, by extension, the balance of good and evil. therefore, of course, it must be inherently good.

personally, i don't believe that that would remove any agency from metatron (same as aziraphale who, for all of his questionable decisions, to my mind hasn't lacked agency), even if we would evaluate metatron's actions as being bad or wrong - to him, they truly wouldn't be... but like you said re: necessity, i think metatron would potentially see his actions as necessary, and what is necessary is to uphold the 'good'... so does it therefore remain up to everyone else whether those actions are right or wrong? yes, imo - but it's the context that's key.

i guess the closest i can liken metatron to as a 'villain' type character (and please, mea culpa, im not very imaginative) would be javert from les misérables. the law is created, in his eyes, to uphold justice (good); when that law is broken, he is compelled to mete out that justice (also good). it's not a perfect analogy, and obviously there is compelling context on valjean's part (his parolee papers for time served on a justifiable crime make it impossible for him to start a new life as a free man), but ultimately he broke his parole and the law, and javert, whilst operating in a broken system, is doing what he believes to be the good, right thing.

LOVE your thoughts around hell and the short-staffing/dwindling resource issue. i did some writing around shax a couple of days ago, so in hand with that I'll think on your points a little more, they're excellent ones!!!

re: fall/memory loss - possibly, but i personally don't think so. i did a little bit of speculation around the BOL and saraqael, especially in relation to the trial scene, a while ago - it's probably in my #book of life and #saraqael meta tags, if you wanted a peruse!!! but the batshit thought essentially was: what saraqael has access to, in that scene, was the BOL, and she operates it on behalf of metatron... and did during the fall, too.

re: crowley critique, no no it didn't come across like that at all!!! ive just unfortunately had asks previously where people have questioned whether or not i like him, because ive been quite heavily critical of him, and wondered if i find anything redeemable about him... suffice to say, i feel the need now to ensure that any readers do not think that i dislike him if i point out his more... questionable traits; i just find them way more interesting and compelling in a character than the good ones!!!💕

onto your second ask, and just to clarify - it wasn't my mum, unfortunately!!! (the most insight my mum ever gave on GO was this beauty -

- she gets it).

but regardless!!! first of all, LOVE your speculation and what you've thought out!!! i will honestly need to think on it more before i can come to any kind of conclusion, but i am - and i hope you don't mind - essentially going to use this as a scribble pad for some speculation. some of it is in direct relation to your spec, some is general to the fall/war, and some is just Stuff feeding into it... hope that's okay!!!

could totally see it happening - that AWCW fought on heaven's side, and was made to fall essentially at the last minute/unexpectedly for a reason he doesn't even really know, and had to rationalise after the fact

however, i think that removes, as we've batted back and forth already and in the bit above, a little bit of agency on AWCW's part. i don't think AWCW chose to fall, of course, but i do think that he asked questions/made decisions, and followed through on them/stood by them, that resulted in his becoming a demon, regardless of whether he fell or was pushed

agree that hell can't make angels fall; it doesn't make sense, and i refer back to my thoughts/theory on BOL on this

also hard-agree that, without the memory-wipe theory in play, it doesn't make any sense for AWCW to have answers to dangerous (?) questions, because of the risk he'd pose once fallen. it would make far more sense, like they planned with gabriel, to just simply wipe his memory and demote him to a lesser choir*. so i think that's where, personally, i simply do think that he just didn't get any answers at all

now this all could arguably skew the scapegoat theory, but not necessarily, because the idea that he could have been scapegoated by his own 'friends' still stands, imo

my conclusion at the moment, but it will still require more thought for definite, is that i don't think it will have been the case - i think in a way it would feel a little overcomplicated, and whilst devastating i think would erase some of crowley's accountability for his decisions... not necessarily bad decisions! but decisions nonetheless.

*this has just precipitated the unfortunate thought (unfortunate in that it's gone 1:30am and i need to sleep) that - well, what if that was what was meant to happen to crowley??? same as muriel (we speculate), and same as gabriel, he was initially intended to fall but to a lower rank, with no memories, and instead he legged it? like gabriel did? immediately i can think of multiple reasons as to why i don't think this was the case, but... still interesting to think about.

anyway! this response snowballed a bit and for that please have another apology dance 💃 but let me begin with, pure hypothesis, a rough sequence of events re: the fall:

> AWCW and aziraphale meet, he starts asking questions

> meets lucifer and co, AWCW falls in with their little group that does not consider it bad to ask questions, and maybe he reiterates his 'if i were in charge' thought because he feels comfortable to do so amongst them

> lucifer starts getting bolder, as do his closest cohort, about challenging god, and crowley gets swept up in it, or fully agrees with lucifer and actually fully supports him - and aziraphale knows none of this is going on/nothing about AWCW's association with them

> all comes to a head, god nopes out of the whole thing (free will argument), and when things can't be reconciled, war* is declared (👀 at aziraphale and his halo frisbee)

> war, etc., possible temporary ceasefire or lucifer concedes; all the rebels are brought for their Final Judgement before the metatron and the archangels etc

> lucifer implicates AWCW for leading him astray, that he was the one asking questions, and now lucifer has been corrupted or something, idk, but metatron decides all of them need to go - and yet perhaps a particularly harsh punishment is in fact due for AWCW (so yeah, actually, perhaps it is only crowley that doesnt fully remember heaven? that was his own personal punishment, to not remember parts of his time in heaven/the fall?*)

> initiate::Book Of Life Protocol

*now that im writing it out though, i do wonder if that makes sense, that the war would precede the fall...? i think it would, because it seems like the fallen would, well, fall, as punishment for rebellion, and then go off to plot their revenge etc in hell furfur confirms in ep4 that the war/"dubious battle" indeed came "just before" the fall!!! wahoo!!!

*the thing is... in leviticus, there were two goats - sacrificial goat, and the scapegoat. so this is where, i - in equal conviction which is, to say, shaky at best - also personally hold the thought that AWCW might never have been the scapegoat, and instead aziraphale* potentially was - leaving AWCW to be the sacrificial.

this last thought is slightly tangential, but stick with me:

*we know aziraphale was a cherub during the pre-fall scene, and in eden. that doesn't mean that he stayed a cherub in between these points

i recently added some ramblings to this meta on his ring, which i think is the hallmark of the archangel rank - and the fact he wears his on his opposite hand to the others, and constantly covers it, feels very indicative of some unseen backstory

it also feels that him being on earth is an ostracism, a roundabout punishment by way of being cast out but not falling...

and the thing is that genesis 3:24 (KJV) reads the following:

"So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life."

so if aziraphale, as a singular cherub, was placed in eden, it was after the fall of humanity, after original sin. we only see aziraphale arrive to give adam the sword as they were leaving, not beforehand. and after eden, it's suggested, he was demoted to principality (the angelology is debated i know but im sticking with christian/GO-confirmed combination angelology for the moment)

so it can't, to my mind, be because of the apple business that aziraphale was demoted - it's not as if he let the serpent in (if we follow genesis, he arguably wasnt even there at that point). it could be because he gave away his sword, but a) god knows and let him get away with it, and b) neither gabriel nor the quartermaster knew that he gave it away in s1

so what other reason could it have been? well, the only plausible reason i can think of is that it's because he didn't smite crawley when given the opportunity on the wall

others have debated whether or not it was aziraphale telling AWCW about the stars that led to AWCW's fall, and perhaps in point of fact it was... but im not certain that anyone would have known about it, other than them. maybe aziraphale refused to fight (after knowing that AWCW was amongst the other side?), he refused to wield his archangel power in some way (like gabriel refused?), or he actually defended AWCW (personal favourite)?

idk, but either way, whatever he did, he was punished for it with the demotion to cherub, and then demoted again to principality for not smiting the serpent of eden

instead of AWCW being the scapegoat for the fall, was he sacrificed as an example, to atone for fallen, and aziraphale was scapegoated to atone for the fall of humanity? had the blame of not destroying the serpent of eden placed upon him, and was cast into the wilderness (earth)?

i realise how ridiculous it all sounds, believe me, but my sleepiness is now officially winning so i shall leave it there (honestly 🦭 anon, im so sorry for the unrelated ramble, but it's actually so helpful for me to type this out, it helps with understanding what my own theories even are when i write other stuff... so thank you!!!)✨

#good omens #ask #the fall/the great war spec #pre-fall aziraphale spec #AWCW spec #s3 narrative spec #scapegoat theory

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petrifiedforests · 6 months

Text

20 Questions for Fic Writers

Thank you for the tag @lizardberries 🙂

How many works do you have on ao3?

36 right now, 35 fics and 1 mood board

2. What’s your total ao3 word count?

7,522, I write a lot of drabbles and no long fics

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Just Clone Wars atm and there wildly hopping between pairings and OC’s

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

A mix of fluff and angst and OC’s and canon characters

A Most Important Question Fluff, Tup & Dogma, Dogma/Hardcase

screams of change Angsty drabble about a cadet changing things on Kamino, but its changes for good

It's all in the hands Tup/Dogma or Tup & Dogma depending on your interpretation, ND Dogma settling in with the power of knitting

They didn't know angsty Wing AU about my OCs

On the Nature of Kisses Fluffy drabble, Tup/Dogma again, Dogma musing

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

I do, I love comments, be it screaming at/with me about angst or fluff and I don’t get too many, so I can keep up and say thank you or yell back a bit lovingly.

6. What is a fic you wrote with the angstiest ending

Uhhhh, I guess Tearable paperwork because while that is three unrelated chapters, it’s got two chapters about decommissioning and everybody dies. So. That’s what I’m going with as angstiest.

7. What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

That’s a lot harder because is snuggling the happiest? If so, it’s Bed warm, is it getting together? Then it might be A Most Important Question

8. Do you get hate on fics?

I only get good natured yelling or threats to kidnap my OCs. To be fair, but a handful of people read my fics, so there’s that :D

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

I don’t but I’m inching closer and have actually progressed from kisses to non-explicit sex as topic. I don’t think I’ll ever be interested in writing explicit, explicit smut. Much more interested in the emotional side.

10. Do you write crossovers?

Not yet

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

No, again, too little people know they exist.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

No, and I’ve got an author’s note that I don’t want translations.

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

Only in discord brain storming sessions

14. What’s your all-time favorite ship?

To read, Stucky or the Leverage Trio are high up there. Writing wise, I don’t think I have one (am I contractually obligated to name my OC ship here?). I’m always more interested in the characters and like to explore different ships with them.

15. What’s a wip you want to finish, but doubt you ever will?

I’ve got one about Waxer and Hics (OC) talking after Hics was named. But it's been fighting me so much.

16. What are your writing strengths?

I think emotions and twisty bits of pain or world building.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

Descriptions. No doubt about that one. I don’t tend to think visually, so I have to go back in a fic to make sure I’ve mentioned the setting or positions of characters. Or how they get from point A to B.

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

I think a bit is fun, but not to the point where it’s not understandable without translation (unless it’s the whole point if the POV character also doesn’t understand). But if you want to include it, have it checked by a native speaker. I’ve noped out of so many critical role fics because Caleb’s german was just… bad. That absolutely breaks immersion.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

The Witcher which is also the only other fandom I’ve written for.

20. Favorite fic you’ve written?

Oh that’s a mean question.

I really like the flow of It's all in the hands and I’m really proud of Please, can I?. That also might be because that is fresh in my mind.

No pressure tags: @curls-cat, @elismor and @witcher-and-his-bard

Blank copy/pasta version under the cut

How many works do you have on ao3?

What’s your total ao3 word count?

What fandoms do you write for?

What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

What is a fic you wrote with the angstiest ending

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

Do you get hate on fics?

Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

Do you write crossovers?

Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Have you ever had a fic translated?

Have you ever co-written a fic before?

What’s your all-time favorite ship?

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

What are your writing strengths?

What are your writing weaknesses?

Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic?

First fandom you wrote for?

Favorite fic you’ve written?

#fic writer tag game #tag game #thank you for the tag!#This is like deciding which of your children you like best

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cassynite · 1 year

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I'm so late to this, and you probably already got most, but how about 🍋, 🌠(probably Crow?), and 💙 for Sparrow?

I didn't get any of these!! Thank you SO MUCH for these questions, it helped me discover something new about Sparrow :)

🍋 Does your OC act petty and jealous easily? What sort of things make them feel like this and do they experience guilt for getting so worked up? How do they deal with these emotions when they get them? If your OC doesn’t feel like this often, why not?

So regarding relationships: Sparrow absolutely experiences jealousy, though it stems from insecurity and how easily it happens tends to depend on how insecure she is in a relationship. It tends to be directed internally, less "what is that other person doing my partner" and more "what am I doing wrong that my partner needs to find it in someone else." It leads to her withdrawing and she rarely acts out because of it; if she does, it would be because she interpreted the actions that made her jealous as a deliberate attack, and would focus her anger either on herself or bring it up to her partner rather than involve the other person. When it comes to non-relationship jealousy...Sparrow can get envious of others, certainly, but she rarely if ever acts on it. People who show confidence and ease in their own skin, people who have happy families or strong friend groups, all of these can inspire a sickening envy. But like with relationships, Sparrow keeps it deeply internal, and would never act on those feelings.

🌠 Who was your OC’s first friend? Do they remember them or are they still friends now? Talk about some of the people your OC has lost contact with over the years. Do they have any regrets about losing these people and would they revist them if they could?

You got it in one--Crow was her very first friend! Her relationship to him is clarified in that idealized childhood, the platonic ideal she'll never obtain again--even when she finds out he's alive and finds him again. He was definitely THE most important person in the world to her for most of her life, even after she lost him. I think besides that, though, she definitely had other friends, children her age that she played with in Dehrukani. Not a lot, mind you, and she didn't see them all the time--she and Crow lived outside of a smaller village on the cliffsides and she didn't have a lot of opportunity to see others beyond Crow's work--but there were children who let her join in on their games whenever she did visit the village. Sparrow no longer remembers their names or their faces, but she still cherishes them as an indication that at one point she was able to make friends easily. I also think that Sparrow was close with another adult--there was a glassblower that lived in the village that Sparrow would watch whenever she was able to go to the town. Saelid was a busy elven woman and Sparrow didn't know her terribly well, but she would always answer Sparrow's questions on the craft, and Sparrow was fascinated with the process.

💙 What did your OC want to be when they grew up and why? Did they have any lifelong dreams or ambitions they never got to work on or are they currently working to achieve this dream? Has their life taken a very unexpected turn and put all these plans on hold for a while or have they given up on any dreams?

Ha I should have brought up the glassblower here! While her earliest desire was to do exactly what her brother does and become an artificer and engineer, her talent never really grew in that area. However, she loved the process of making glass, and her brother had ideas on how to supplement it with magic--the plan was that when she turned twelve she'd actually go into an apprenticeship with Saelid to learn the craft. She had dreams of bigger things than the sculptures Saelid focused on--she wanted to help create buildings with glass that would not break, mixing magic and the process in a way that her brother does with his larger-scale creations. Of course, her capture and enslavement destroyed those plans. She lost a lot of her former interests in the name of fitting into the role of Lady Evaethi when called for, and while she still has a passing interest in architecture and its foundations she doesn't remember a lot of what she'd learned as a child. If she'd never been captured, she would have become a great glassmaker.

#cassy answers #dragonflytehanu #oc: sparrow #thank you very much these were SUCH good questions!#i was struck with sparrow being into glassmaking as a child. so that's part of her canon now <3

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frangipanilove · 1 year

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Backpacks, Back Pockets and the Ass End

Part Three: Finally Getting To The Point (thank goodness)

(Parts One and Two)

BACK POCKETS Alright, time to tackle the subject of backpacks and back pockets! I started Part One of this series by mentioning how in Still, while Beth was looking at the DC spoon, we saw Daryl collect money into a black backpack.

I also mentioned yesterday that when Beth put the DC spoon into her back pocket in Still, that was a case of North Star symbolism (read more HERE).

In Still and Alone we saw her with her green notebook in her back pocket. We've seen Daryl carry a red rag in his back pocket for some time. I've previously discussed the "red" symbolism, for example in THIS post.

In 10x18 Find Me we saw Daryl with a map in his back pocket. In season 10, in Carol's dream sequence, we see him pull a dollar bill out of a wallet that he keeps in his back pocket.

BACKPACKS We see Daryl collect the money into the black backpack in Still. By the time we get to Alone we see Beth carrying the black backpack, and of course we all remember Daryl finding it in the middle of the road after the Grady car has kidnapped Beth.

It was the episode 10x18 Find Me that really put the backpacks and the back pockets on my radar. In Find Me, we see Daryl go through no less than four different backpacks, which seems excessive for a frugal guy like him. Sure, he was out there for a long time, but still, four different backpacks seemed like a lot for a 40 minute episode. I'll probably do a separate post on Find Me later, and elaborate more on how it relates to the backpack/back pocket symbolism. For the purposes of this post it's sufficient to understand that there were a lot of backpacks in Find Me.

Backpacks and back pockets were already on my radar though, even before Find Me, but I had never quite figured out exactly how the symbolism around them was supposed to be interpreted. However, I kept noticing that "money" symbolism had a tendency to show up in the mix around backpacks and back pockets, and I realized they were probably connected somehow.

MONEY/COIN SYMBOLISM The "money" symbolism comes up in relation to backpack and back pocket symbolism again and again. We saw it in Still, when Daryl collected the money into his black backpack, and we saw in in Alone, when Beth had been kidnapped and dropped the backpack and the money was flowing out into the street. In Still, we saw how Beth and Daryl together set fire to the money, and used it to burn down the moonshine shack.

I've talked about how I interpret fire as a "Sirius" symbol, because the name Sirius comes from Greek and refers to "Seiros", which means "scorching/glowing" (Sirius and North Star master post HERE). Beth was the original Sirius-character of the show, and the fact that we saw her use a car mirror and a piece of broken glass to start a fire in Still established her as having quintessential Sirius-character traits, it established her as someone who's associated with fire. A fire starter, if you will. We've also seen matches being used as symbolism related to her, and matches are of course actual fire starters. Whenever we see fire in the show, I tend to interpret it as Sirius symbolism. And when we saw Beth and Daryl burn down the moonshine shack in Still, that was "Sirius" symbolism in combination with "Money" symbolism, which opens for a bunch of interesting interpretations.

MONEY But back to the "Money" and what it symbolizes.

We saw it in Still, when Daryl filled the backpack with money.

We saw it when they set fire to the money and used it to burn down the moonshine shack.

We saw it in Alone, when Daryl found the backpack in the road, money spilling out, after Beth had been kidnapped.

We saw it in Carol's dream sequence in 10x3 Ghosts, when Daryl pulled a dollar note out of his back pocket in season 10.

We saw it in Acheron 2 when Daryl finds a 100 dollar note with a message of "return/reunion" written on it. It was a 100 dollar NOTE and it had a NOTE written on it which is of course interesting because Beth specifically used the word "note" in Alone. She meant it in the sense of writing a note, but it still ties into the dollar note symbolism.

We see money when Team Eugene arrives at The Commonwealth. When they are trying to escape processing we see them pass a large crate full of dollar notes marked with X (which is synonymous with "cross" among other things). It's in a yellow crate, headed for incineration, which is the mother of all "fire"references.

We also see Princess keep a two-dollar note she's particularly attached to. It had been her first pay from her first job. The number two (as in the "one one" from Noah's t-shirt, for instance) is an interesting one in the show, but that's a post for a different day.

We also saw money symbolism in 11x24 Rest In Peace when we heard Daryl say Merle used to sell his blood for money, effectively tying the "money" symbolism to the "red" symbolism.

There are many other instances where we've seen references to money in some way, shape or form, but I'll settle for the ones I've already mentioned for now.

BACKPACKS IMO, the backpack symbolism is tied to the "return" symbolism. The word "backpack" refers to something you carry on your back. In Alone, we saw Daryl carry Beth across the cemetery before they entered the funeral home. You could say that the entire show centers around the issue of "coming back". We see the dead "come back" as undead, we see characters who are believed to be dead "come back" alive (such as Rick, or Madison from FTWD, and hopefully Beth). We constantly hear Morgan talk about how "everything gets a return".

But first and foremost, there's the Sirius symbolism, which was first introduced in a significant way in Alone. Beth and Daryl were visited by a white, one-eyed dog. The dog is a reference to the Robert Frost poems "One More Brevity" and "Canis Major". The "Frosty Cola" from their kitchen scene is a reference to Robert Frost.

The poems talk about Sirius the Dog Star, which disappears from the night sky at one point during the year, only to reappear some time later, before dawn. It's a star (that's associated with dogs), which is suddenly "just gone", and then it magically reappears one morning "before dawn". This type of "return" symbolism is abundant around Beth.

Basically; Sirius symbolism = return symbolism.

Then, there's the Sirius piggyback from Alone. When we saw Daryl carry Beth "piggyback" style across the cemetery, it signaled that she was someone who was capable of "eluding" death, which is what TD believes ultimately happened after Coda. She was carried across the "Death Realm" symbolized by the cemetery, foreshadowing that somehow, she managed to "elude" death after Coda like she symbolically did in Alone. Daryl is carrying her on his back, and she is carrying the black backpack.

Personally, I feel like the fact that she untied the red rag that held the trunk shut in Still is the most compelling evidence of Beth "eluding" death. I've elaborated on why HERE. The "Sirius Piggyback" showed us Daryl carrying Beth on his back across the "Death Realm" of the cemetery, and I have this in mind when I interpret the backpack symbolism as synonymous with the "return" symbolism and the Sirius symbolism. She was never in the "Death Realm", she soared over it on Daryls wings. She is a character that is capable of "controlling the gates", as I call it when I talk about it in relation to the "Red Controls The Gates" theory.

In 8x11 Dead Or Alive Or…, we see Father Gabriel become a Sirius character when he has escaped from Negan and The Sanctuary. He has developed an eye infection, and Dr. Carson, who he escaped with, is worried he'll develop sepsis and die unless he gets treatment ASAP. They come across a Radio Shack in the woods (a callback to the Moonshine Shack from Still), where they find antibiotics. We understand that the medication saves Father Gabriels life, he essentially "gets to come back", he "eludes" death, he "ressurects" as a one-eyed Sirius figure. The radios in the shack symbolize "Sirius" as I've explained earlier (due to the associations to Sirius Satellite Radio), and the whole episode is full of Sirius symbolism and other symbolism related to Beth.

But most importantly in the context of this post, is the "Sirius Piggybank".

Yes, we actually see a piggybank in a radio shack. The radios are Sirius symbolism, Father Gabriel losing an eye but saving his life is Sirius symbolism and a callback to the one-eyed dog from Alone. The piggyBANK is a clever reference to the Sirius PiggyBACK from Alone. A piggybank is a container where you typically save your money, which ties it to the "Money/Coin" symbolism. And as the cherry on top, inside the piggybank they find a set of car keys, which ties it directly to the "Trunk" symbolism (read more HERE and HERE) and a map. The map ties into the other maps I've mentioned, such as Daryl's map from Find Me, and the navigation theme from Beth's DC spoon.

BACK POCKETS When it comes to the "back pocket" symbolism, one obvious clue is that back pockets are nothing if not "Ass End" symbolism. It's in their nature, they're located on the "Ass End". Say what you will, but they are. This, in turn, indicates they're part of the "Ass End/Tail/Coda" symbolism, which I discussed HERE.

And it's the objects associated with the back pockets that make it interesting. I've mentioned Daryl's red rag (HERE), I've mentioned Beth's green notebook, seen here while she herself is draped around Daryl's back, similar to how he later will carry her across the cemetery in Alone on his back. Lots of backpack symbolism.

I've also mentioned the dollar note from Daryl's wallet in Carol's dream sequence in 10x3 Ghosts, and I'll get back to it shortly.

There's also the sign language book in Daryls back pocket in 10x1 Lines We Cross ( a reference to Daryl's quote from Alone : "the signs are all there, you just gotta know how to read them").

Here, enjoy a photo of Daryl's "Ass End". You're welcome!

In 10x18 Find Me, we see Daryl carrying a map in his back pocket. IMO, we can draw a line from Beth's DC spoon from Still, and the map we later see in Daryl's pocket in Find Me.

It's kind of hidden in this pic, but it's there in his left back pocket. Beth's, wh DC spoon from Still is North Star symbolism because the constellation "The Little Dipper" is where we find the North Star, which I explained in the Aurora post HERE. North Star symbolism is about navigation because as long as you know which direction is north, you can find your way. It's literally how compasses work, plus we have Carl's words to Judith from 6x10 A New World.

Maps are of course also useful when trying to navigate, and IMO, the map we see in Daryl's pocket is a reference to the "navigation" theme, and therefore ties into to Beth's DC spoon which she put in her back pocket in Still (because the spoon is North Star symbolism).

HEADS OR TAILS I believe that the "Money/Coin" references we see on the show are references to the "Heads or Tails" symbolism, which I have explained HERE. I've talked about Lance's Lucky Coin, and I've talked about how the coin decides who gets to live and who gets to die.

Heads or tails. Who lives and who dies? The coin decides. We saw Lance's coin foreshadow his own death when he placed it "head's up" in the puddle of brain matter that used to be Sebastian's head in 11x19 Variant. We did actually also see that it was Pamela who ultimately sealed Lance's fate. Remember when she let him choose his own destiny by using his own game against him? She instructed him to pick a hand, and if he picked the hand where she'd hid the coin, he would live, while if he picked the empty hand, he would die. He picked the correct hand, and got to live. For a while.

But before leaving his cell, Pamela slid the coin down his front pocket on his vest.

The significance of the front pocket versus the back pocket is beautifully (though tragically) illustrated in a couple of incidents involving Henry.

In Carol's aforementioned dream sequence from Ghosts, we watched Daryl pull a dollar note out from his back pocket. He then gave it to Carol, who looked at it, visibly confused. The confusion is a key for the audience, a key to understanding the scene. Next, we saw Henry, sitting by the table, wearing his compass t-shirt.

All of these are symbols I've discussed in my recent posts. The money, the back pocket, the compass…

Last week I talked about the "Heads or Tails" symbolism. I described how I believe the "tail" side to a coin, the side that represents the "Ass End/Tail/Coda" (and let's also add the "Back Pocket" end to the list), that's the "end" that signals survival, life, prosperity. That's the "good" end, the "happy" end.

The incident from Carol's dream sequence, it contained all the "good" symbolism, all the symbolism we see around Beth. Why did Henry still die?

The dollar note from the dream sequence was "Heads or Tails" symbolism, the same type of symbolism we see around Beth. It came out of Daryl's back pocket, so you'd think it was "Ass End/Tail/Coda" symbolism, right? I’ve written several posts now, arguing the "Ass End" is a good thing. Right?

Then why did Henry still die? Didn't the symbolism apply to him? And if that's the case, why should we believe it applies to Beth?

Because, my friends, Carol's dream sequence was just that, a dream. It wasn't real. Henry was already dead at that point. He had stepped "out of time". Carol's watch lacks both hands, because Henry had already left the timeline.

Carol was in a really bad head space in this episode. She was sleep deprived and irrational, she was hallucinating. She was angry, distraught, she made rash, selfish decisions that put other people in danger. Her anger nearly killed Connie and Magna when the cave collapsed later in season 10. Daryl was beyond frustrated with her. Carol was in deep, deep crisis.

Her happy dream represented how she WISHED things would have played out. Henry alive and well, herself still wearing her wedding ring, her family intact. TPTB cleverly gave us a blueprint to how to interpret the symbolism IF Carol's dream had been reality.

Had it been reality, we would have seen how the money, which represents the "Heads or Tails" symbolism, coming out of Daryl's back pocket, which represents the "Ass End/Tail/Coda" symbolism, would have protected Henry like it did Beth and Judith. Henry's compass T-shirt would have represented the North Star symbolism we saw with Beth's DC spoon. The red compass needle of the compass would have represented the "Red Controls The Gates" symbolism that I wrote about in the "Red Is The Living Colour" post from last week, which is the same symbolism that saved Judith's life in 11x24 Rest In Peace. If it had been real, the symbolism would have protected Henry.

IF it had been real.

It wasn’t though. It was only a dream, and Carol was in reality living her worst nightmare.

Interestingly, we actually do see the symbolic flip side to Carol's dream sequence, and we do see how the symbolism played out around Henry in REALITY, as opposed to in Carol's happy dream.

In 9x7 Stradivarius, when Daryl shoots a snake through the head with his crossbow, we see the snake get nailed to the tree. Carol is trying to convince Daryl to return to Hilltop, to look after Henry. The word "babysit" was mentioned, a callback to Beth's sarcastic "chaperone" comment from Still. This is all signaling a strong Beth-presence in the dialogue. There was always an abundance of parallels between Beth and Henry. Daryl then cuts the head of the snake and puts it into his front pocket.

His FRONT pocket, not his back pocket.

Like Pamela sliding Lance's coin into his FRONT pocket was an ominous sign for Lance, Daryl putting the snake's head in his FRONT pocket in Stradivarius was an equally ominous sign for Henry.

Daryl then put the tail end of the snake around his own neck, in an episode where callbacks to Beth were plentiful. Daryl's act of separating the snake's head from it's tail was done to illustrate the two different outcomes of the "Heads or Tails" symbolism, and the different properties of the back pocket symbolism versus the front pocket symbolism. It's reasonable to assume the symbolism was about Henry, because that's who they were talking about the whole time.

Henry and Beth were paralleled so many times through the seasons, but it was particularly noticeable in Stradivarius. Unfortunately for Henry, the snake's head in Daryl's front pocket foreshadowed his death by beheading, much like Pamela putting Lance's coin in his front pocket foreshadowed Lance's own death.

The snake's "tail"resting around Daryls neck addressed the Beth-part of the equation. It was the same old "Ass End/Tail/Coda" symbolism we always see around her. It could also have been a reference to how Daryl himself benefited from the "happy tail end" of the "Heads or Tails" symbolism. Chronologically, Stradivarius happens after the events from 10x18 Find Me, and lord knows there was more than enough death symbolism lurking about in that episode. Stradivarius represented the first time we checked in on him while he was still living isolated in the woods, after the events of Find Me. Find Me, which aired later, in reality took place before the events of Stradivarius. However, that's a rabbit hole for another day, so let's leave it at that for now.

TRUNKS It's worth mentioning that if there's such a thing as an "Ass End" to a car, it would have to be the trunk. I won't go into it here, but I've written extensively on the "Trunk" symbolism (which I like to call "Three/Tree/Trunk" symbolism) in many posts, such as HERE and HERE.

GREENBACK DOLLAR Finally, a few more words on the money symbolism. It is a fact that the US dollar was once called the "Greenback Dollar". It is still sometimes referred to as "greens" in slang and popular culture. I don't know how much TPTB want us to read into that, but the symbolism sure fits. "Green" could obviously be a reference to "Beth Greene". The "back" in "Greenback" could without a doubt be a reference to the "return" symbolism, to the "Sirius" symbolism, to the "backpacks" and the "back pockets", to the "Sirius Piggyback"…And it's definately a money reference, so ...

What if: Beth's green note book in her back pocket = a greenback dollar note

And what if: The green dollar note in Daryl's back pocket = Beth's green note book in her back pocket.

And could we even say: Carol's confused look when she got Daryl's money in the dream sequence = Beth's WTF-expression when she was looking at Daryl collect the money in Still.

I'm just saying…

#bethyl #daryl dixon #beth greene #team delusional #team defiance #beth x daryl #team beth lives #beth and daryl #daryl and beth #darylxbeth

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juniperhillpatient · 2 years

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Care to share one or more of your takes you would consider controversial for atla.

Ooh this is tough cause I feel like I’m constantly sharing my ATLA opinions so they’re mostly known 😅

A rundown of bullet point takes that I won’t budge on & think are straightforward but see people debating constantly anyway 👁👁

The Boiling Rock Betrayal was well written & did make sense people just over complicate it. Mai & Ty Lee deserved more detailed examinations of their views in other instances but it’s extremely plain what happened in this instance: adrenaline fueled actions were taken in an emergency / life threatening situation. Mai & Ty Lee weren’t wrong to save lives (it also wasn’t planned? why & how do people think it was?) & Azula was sympathetic for being hurt after the betrayal (but she was still unequivocally the villain here)

We don’t know enough about Ursa from the show to truly know what her relationship with Azula was like, making multiple interpretations of the dynamic equally valid

This is less about the show itself (though the comics & the writers being insecure about their canon ship don’t help) & more the fandom but K.at.Aang vs. Z.utara arguments are some of the most obnoxious pointless arguments I’ve ever seen & the slander toward both Aang & Zuko from opposing sides is REALLY sad considering their friendship & character arcs are at the heart of the show. It’s a kid’s show y’all calm down you can want whichever cartoon characters you want to kiss it’s not that serious. These arguments also tend to frame Katara as a prize to be won rather than one of the most badass characters in her own right & it’s uncomfortable

Anti Zuko takes from Azula fans & anti Azula takes from Zuko fans are both equally embarrassingly hypocritical & ugly

Hm okay a lot of these have had to do with the Fire Nation characters, let’s mix it up. Sokka isn’t a super genius OR a dumbass. He’s someone who would get bad grades for not doing his homework cause it’s boring but he aces every test. He’d explain some complicated physics subject to you then eat pizza out of the garbage in front of you. This one might not be *that* controversial but I do feel like I see debates over his intelligence lol

Southern Raiders is a great episode & it’s not about shipping (I mean it *can* be but that’s not the main point) it’s about opposing ideologies. Katara not necessarily forgiving Yon Rha but also not killing him is an AMAZING Katara moment where she makes the best choice for HER. If you hate this episode cause of shipping discourse or bad takes or whatever you’re missing out on an excellent episode that finally explores the anger & grief Katara has over her mother’s death. I see so much discourse over this episode but I try to ignore it cause it’s one of my favorite episodes & I don’t want fandom bs to ruin that for me

I loved Jet & felt like there was a lot to explore in this kid who’s charming & manipulative because he had to become that way because of trauma & wanted to care for other kids. I loved his dynamic with Katara & later Zuko & seeing how he’d changed. I initially thought his death, while it made me sad, was narratively fair to drill home the brutality of war. But the vagueness & later jokey callback changed my mind. Can’t drill home brutality if you’re gonna write it like *that.*

Final take & this is about the fandom at large: we forget this is an early 2000s kid’s show. It was fantastic storytelling visually beautiful & we wouldn’t still be talking about it if the characters didn’t grip us. The endless discourse & debates over things that don’t matter are tiring & ultimately a waste of time & energy - so that’s my final unpopular atla take for the day 😄 (also I’m NOT claiming to be guiltless when it comes to partaking in these debates lol) (also this isn’t about *analysis* which is always fun I’m talking more about discourse over dumb shit like why iroh gave azula a doll)

Thanks for the ask!

#asks #answered #you probably know all of these lmao #I’m not exactly quiet on my opinions 😂

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countessacee · 1 year

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I am so sorry c!pumpkinduo enjoyers but I have to get something off of my chest a lil.

Please I beg of you stop interpreting c!pumpkinduo (in manburg OR in Las Nevadas lore) as a healthy, loving dynamic. It’s like the biggest misinterpretation of a character dynamic I have seen in my whole life which has got to be an achievement. There were obviously silly and funny scenes between them, ones that made their relationship look like a good one and thats exactly the point. Toxic relationships are not a constant and unwavering hurt.

[more in Read More, this is gonna be a long one]

First reason, watch any Quackity manburg vod ever and pay attention to the semi-lore bits it is literally so obvious that for one, Schlatt did not love him back. Two, He did not respect Q, and three, anytime that was brought up it turned into threats. Anyone remember that one time Q stated c!Schlatt did not respect him and he just threatened to lobotomize Q so that he couldn’t think like that for himself? Because I sure do. It directly lead to c!Q canonically having a plan to impeach/execute him.

It was never carried through, honestly, but it’s the thought that counts. Suppose the good moments and bits of attention he got out of basically begging not to be made fun of for like two minutes worked out. Admittedly a lot of the making fun of was just them being silly, Schlatt telling him to go to the gym, calling him flatty patty and Q crying that one time but tears are tears ☠️

You guys forget the way that the two characters ended up. CQ brought up SERIOUSLY that he was tired of being disrespected and cast aside as an equal member of Manburg, and of being constantly mistreated, and Schlatt literally started to fight him. Like. Their marriage ended in a physical battle in which Q pulled out a crossbow to get him away and Schlatt taunted him for being a coward. Their marriage ended in cQuackity shooting him to death, and directly after he went to Pogtopia with hopes of actively working against him.

Though the biggest application to cPumpkinduo being blatantly toxic is the first Las Nevadas lore stream. The entire first section of it actually, which I was rewatching and gathering quotes from.

CQuackity explicitly stated several times that just the thought of being around cSchlatt makes him uncomfortable, and that he gets flashbacks/terrible memories when he’s with him. I genuinely do not know where people got the implications through any of his lore that this was a happy and loving relationship but it sure as hell wasn’t here. Cant be just me who hates ppl trying to take a canon abusive relationship and portray it as loving. Its like taking cdiscduo and being like omg best friends!! (But to what feels like a lesser extent)

Of course it wasn’t abuse to the extent that it was with cdiscduo or very typical violence you see in media, but it was still mentally abusive, and eventually they still got physical. (I could also talk ab how freaky it is for ppl to depict their relationship as s3xua11y abusive but thats for another time. Its annoyingly common.)

Another thing I notice people tend to do is, for some reason, say that c!sweaterduo is a better enemies to lovers dynamic or even ship Revived cSchlatt/Wilbur/Q, which if you think about for more than three fucking seconds youll see how weird that is. CSweaterduo legit just fucking despise each other not in the homoerotic, enemies yo lovers way, they just genuinely want each other to die. I promise making them get together at some point whether it be the elections or after revival is not the move you think it is. CPumpkinduo was a canonically abusive relationship, and adding cWilbur to the mix? Yeah, no. No thanks.

I can see cTntduo, but the complete mischaracterization of cSchlatt as a whole is just… Weird! Sorry, it’s weird. Making an abusive character loving and filled with guilt over his actions when that has never been canonically displayed (quite the opposite in fact) just to ship your favs is strange. Especially on the coumpkinduo end where cQ openly expressed that cSchlatt made him uncomfortable and upset just to think about because of the impression he left.

Anyways thats the end of my rant I hope you enjoyed.

#cpumpkinduo #c!pumpkinduo #cquackity #cschlatt #i love em as much as the next guy but #please #i beg of you #you can love two characters and not diminish abusive relationships i promise #ive made 7 million posts ab this on twitter #im spreading word here now #dsmp

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cutemeat · 2 years

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it is so impressive how many playlists you've made. i am very curious how you determine what songs belong in which playlists and how you keep track of all of them?? i've tried to make playlists before and i found that i really can't handle it

this is such a good question thank u !!!! i take my playlists Way too seriously so I do actually have a whole process LOL

and tbh i get it cuz my spotify mixes are all over the place at this point n there are times where it used to stress me out but ig i just kinda got used to it after a while n learned to just work w it fkjgdnkj

overall my process for the episode/character-inspired mixes is i like to have a few songs that sort of act as the ‘foundation’ n then go from there adding songs from my library that fit those ‘core’ songs!

for example, my “Tends Bar” mix has a few foundation songs: Crying in Public by Chairlift, Valentine by Fiona Apple, Close to You by Rihanna, and The Closer I Get to You by Roberta Flack & Donny Hathaway... so the rest of the songs on this mix are all songs that kind of fit in with those songs. overall i’m trying to incorporate the themes I see in the episode, so for Tends Bar that’s a lot of pent up emotions and the struggle to put how you feel into words etc etc.. which, luckily, is the theme of Many manyyyy songs so this one wasn’t too difficult to curate LMAO

for other mixes it takes me a little longer to really find the “theme” i’m looking for... and i think that usually went hand in hand with how far along i was in my rewatches n interpretations of the characters. charlie’s mix is probably the best example of this, it took me a good while (like i’m talking not until a few months ago) to really settle on how i saw Charlie as a character... and from top to bottom of this mix i can see my own shifting view of the character from late 2020 to now.. like at this point i’d say the ‘core songs’ of charlie’s mix are: Territorial Pissings by Nirvana, Plateau by Meat Puppets, California Wine by Girls Rituals, Animals by CocoRosie, Horse Outside by Rubberbandits, Smalltown by Chumbawamba, and Something in the Way ... so overall the themes of uh, a lot of pent up anger and resentment for the world, numbing yourself out, and an overall apathy and sarcasm that builds into something darker overtime.. cuz that’s charlie to me!

some mixes are a little less vague though when they have a more concrete theme, like my mix for “Mac and Dennis Break Up” i had a very clear idea of what I wanted it to sound like-- just really melodramatic breakup songs from the 2000s and i have a lot of those songs so that wasn’t a very difficult mix to make.

again i def take these WAYYY too seriously like theres nothin wrong with just making mixes for fun. but for me makin mixes for this show is sort of an extension of the story and characters so i treat it like telling a story!!! i know other ppl here who do a similar thing, like i really love danny (toytle)’s mixes where he does a similar type of storytelling/themed playlist thing!!

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writeblrcafe · 1 year

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Digital interview with @crowandmoonwriting

Crow orders a cup of tea and sits down in the corner of Writeblrcafé. He writes a book. His genres include fiction, fantasy, romance, mystery, science fiction, historical fiction, paranormal, LGBTQ+ romance and southern gothic. We start chatting about his writing.

What got you into writing?

I've always told stories, since long before I could read. When I began to read, it just clicked in my head: "Hey, I can do this." My mother encouraged me, and more than twenty years later here I am.

What inspires you to write?

Anything can set off my inspiration, lol. It's a problem actually. As an autistic person, I am very focused on my senses, and visual, auditory, olfactory, and culinary interests produce stories most regularly. I also have a mild form of synesthesi, and I have an intricate web of associations with certain senses and words. I interpret all writing, including my own, through this web of associations. I see it as an almost visual artform, like painting or sculpture. I am a professional historian, and am also deeply inspired by history and folklore from various cultures.

Which are recurring themes in your writing?

I explore trauma and healing quite a bit. I suffer from PTSD (though I'm doing a lot better now) and have been subjected to many forms of abuse in my life, physical and emotional. My stories tend to be quite dark, but not grim, as I want to give my characters happy or at least satisfying endings. I like writing about such things as it helps me feel liek I'm not alone with my experiences, but also because reading about such things has helped me immensely in my life, and I'd like to help anyone who's suffered like me if I can. But I write most often about obsession, passion, horror, the pursuit of art, beauty, and perfection (and the danger of that pursuit) and gay love.

How would you describe your writing style?

As descriptive as possible. As I said before, sensory experiences are extremely important to me and inform the bulk of my writing. I want to paint as complete a picture as I can, and involve as many of the readers' senses in the narrative as possible. Sights, sounds, smells, tastes, these are just as important to me as characterisation, plot, and overall form.

How do you deal with writer's block?

Cry, lol. No, really, I try to bombard my senses with inspirational input. I tailor all the things I consume (whenever I can) to the theme, genre, or aesthetic of my current WIP.

Do you have a wip? Tell us about it:

I have too many WIPs! I mostly write various kinds of fantasy, a lot of it inspired by real history and cultures. I'll talk about one of these. La Espada is a high fantasy story set in a land inspired by 14th-17th century Spain. As a Latino, I have mixed feelings about that history, and my cultural heritage. This WIP explores my feelings, but also the social and political ideologies and problems of Spain during that time period. It is a fantasy, though, and the introduction of magic into that paradigm should be a lot of fun.

Have you already published your writing? Include a link to your published work so we can share it.

Only one liiiittle thing. It's here on Tapas, but it's been read aloud (with some edits for listen-ability) on YouTube here.

You can tell us more interesting stuff about you here:

I'm also an editor! I have done professional and pro bono editing for many years, in the academic and creative spheres. One of the books I helped edit was recently published too! In the interest of personal safety, I can't share that one here :( but I'm very proud of it.

Get interviewed by Writeblr Café!

Any writer can participate. Just fill in this form by clicking on the link below. Maybe we will host interviews in an audio format if you are more interested in listening to an interview than reading it.

#wc.interview #digital interview #writeblr #writers on tumblr

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nahoney22 · 3 years

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Hey honey, I have this thought in my head and I don’t know if I’m wrong or not, maybe you can clear my doubt. You know Crosshair has that toothpick on his mouth the whole time and he tends to roll it from side to side. Does he use his tongue for that? Because then he would be very good at using it for other purposes too, maybe

Tongue Tied***

Crosshair X F!Reader

word count: 1.8k

Crosshair wants to show you what else his tongue can do.

Authors note: one of my fave requests and works I’ve done in a long time.

warning: NSFW, 18+ only. Cunnilingus, finger sucking, dirty talk, praise kink, explicit sexual content and language. Nipple play. Dom!Crosshair, Sub!Reader, non established relationship, mutual pining. Oral fixation.

Originally written August 2021. Rewritten February 2024.

You were a recent addition to Clone Force 99, and while you connected well with most of the team, there was one man who evoked both unease and warmth within you – Crosshair, a man of few words.

Initially, you dismissed him as reserved, but when he did speak, his words carried a potent mix of sharpness and calculation. While some might interpret his demeanor as harsh, you found it intriguing.

In the midst of organising your medkit, a routine task due to Wrecker's frequent injuries, you found your attention drawn to Crosshair as he strolled past. He engaged in seemingly mundane activities, like checking his rifle or casually chewing on a toothpick. Today, it was the latter. Seated across from your station, he reclined, eyes closed, a subtle frown creasing his face.

Captivated by his silence, your gaze lingered on him. Without opening his eyes, he twirled the toothpick with his tongue, eventually moving it to the other side of his mouth that seemed to have you in a trance.

Unexpectedly, he broke the silence with a sly comment, "See something you like, sweetheart?"

Your eyes widened in horror, and you fumbled, dropping gauges and bacta patches to the ship's floor.

"Sorry, Crosshair," you mumbled, feeling utterly embarrassed for being caught staring, though it wasn't the first time. He had noticed your lingering gazes before, but this was the first time he chose to address it.

Opening his eyes, he observed you with your back turned, ears tinted. A smug smirk played on his lips as he slowly approached, his steps deliberate and calculated. Kneeling down to your height, he extended his hand, offering the dropped gauge with a nonchalant grace. "Here."

You sensed his presence even before he spoke, feeling his warm breath on your face. Shaky, you accepted the gauge, managing a feeble 'thank you' as you gathered the scattered items. As you stood and turned to place the items back, he stayed crouched for a moment, his piercing gaze lingering on you, as if studying every detail.

Standing, he could practically lean against you with just one step, his proximity sending a shiver down your spine. Turning to leave and escape further embarrassment, you grunted as you collided with something lean and tall, causing you to stumble backward. Your back hit the edge of your work station, hands instinctively gripping the surface for support.

"C-Crosshair, what are you—" your words faltered as his tongue slid over the back of his toothpick, a mischievous glint in his eyes.

"What’s got you all tongue-tied?" he cooed mockingly, a gloved hand brushing away a stray strand of hair behind your ear, his head tilting to the side as he leaned in closer, his presence engulfing you.

"Nothing," you managed to say, though the sudden warmth hitting your core betrayed your attempt at calmness.

He arched an eyebrow, his hand now resting on the cupboard door behind your head, his presence looming over you. "Oh really? Don’t think I haven’t noticed the way you eye me up at every given opportunity," he remarked, his voice laced with an undeniable appeal, sending a shiver down your spine.

"I-I don’t mean to, it’s just…"

“Just what?” he smirked, cutting you off before you could finish.

You swallowed nervously, your words stumbling out, "I find it interesting how you use toothpicks… whether it be an anxiety thing or an o-oral fixation." The last words slipped out before you could stop yourself, and Crosshair found it amusing, chuckling darkly.

“Maybe so… or maybe not,” he teased, his free hand coming up to your face, his thumb gently grazing over your lower lip. “I’m sure I can find a way to fix my oral fixation.”

You breathed shakily, your eyes glancing down at his thumb on your lip before returning to meet his gaze. His hand moved away from the cupboard, plucking the toothpick out of his mouth. "Open," he commanded, his voice sending a jolt of anticipation through you.

You stared at him in shock but still, you found yourself obeying and that’s when the toothpick that was just in his mouth is gently pushed against your lips. The end of the pick was wet from his tongue which made your cunt throb at the obscure and surprising gesture.

He hums in what seems to be amusement, gently plucking the toothpick from your lips before flicking it to the ground caressly. “Cute. But, I want to feel how your tongue works.”

You blinked at him, confused and flustered and that’s when his hand raises to your face, his thumb tracing over your bottom lip. You knew what he was asking and so you parted your lips once more. “And I didn’t even need to ask you this time. You’re learning.” He purrs as his finger slips slowly into your mouth, causing you to let out an involuntary moan of pleasure.

Your tongue flicked over his digit, twirling around it. His gaze on you was strong and even though you wanted to keep watching his face for a reaction, your eyes flutter shut as you picture his finger to be… something different.

Crosshair pushes his finger in and out of your mouth, slow, collecting your spit with a satisfied glint in his eyes. “Aren’t you something special?” He ushered quietly. Eventually, he takes his hand back leaving you wanting more.

“You’ve seen what my tongue can do,” he leaned in closer to you, his forehead brushing against yours, “now feel what it can do.”

You were about to speak but his lips had attacked your neck in a matter of seconds, his tongue hit and pressed against the base of your skin before trailing it up towards the back of your ear in one slow motion.

“Umf- Cross!” You squeaked, eyes closing and your legs crossing to gain that friction.

“Say my name louder.” He grunted against your neck, followed by another antagonising lick to your earlobe. “It’s just us here. The others won’t be back for a while.”

Your hands fell to his chest, feeling his heartbeat rapidly drum against his ribcage. Jolting forward, his body presses and traps you between himself and the work station.

“You’ve been driving me crazy since you got here.” He muttered, now placing delicate and precise kisses to skin, trailing them up towards your jawline and your cheeks. “I’ve always wanted to get you alone.”

“Took you long enough.” You huffed causing Crosshair pulling away abruptly to look at you, hand coming up to clasp at your chin.

“And you have an attitude problem, clearly.” He chuckled. “I like it.”

His lips then pressed to yours in a searing kiss, mouth rough as your hands wrapped around the back of his neck, bringing him as close as humanly possible.

His tongue wasted no time in entering your mouth, the hot appendage gliding against your own and drawing pretty moans from you in the process. He completely dominates you, your back aching as he arches you back, fighting against your tongue with all his might.

“Crosshair.” You mumbled against his lips and he pulled away, reluctantly. Eyes softened as he noticed the slight discomfort on your face.

“Did I go too far?” He sighed gently, placing a tentative kiss to your cheek.

“No, just a little breathless is all.” You say softly, leaning back to him and pecking his lips. He took note of your words and picked up the rhythm again but this time, keeps it lighter.

You couldn’t comprehend what happened next and how quick it happened. It was as if the Force had pried you away from your clothes but you were soon stood naked before him in the main hull of the ship, his gaze lustful as he looked you over. “So pretty.” He utters as his lips came into contact with your left breast, tongue tracing over your stiff nipple before taking it into his mouth.

Your body jitters at the pleasure, looking down at him with blown eyes as he played with your nipple in his mouth, tongue and teeth teasing you. You knew he had a wicked tongue, you never thought it could work wonders however.

Swiftly, he drops to his knees before you, lustful eyes looking up at you as if you were a Godess, someone just for him. His hands slide down your waist, fingers biting the flesh as his breath fans over your pussy.

“You smell perfect…” he states, his warm tongue tracing along the inside of your right thigh, allowing your legs to pry open. His tongue teased at your skin, the exhaling from his nose bristled against your nub in anticipation before his tongue matched itself to your core, an explosive groan escaping you.

“Fuuuuu-“ you whimper, one hand clasping to the back of his head whilst the other grabbed the back of your own in surprise.

His mouth worked violently against your clit, flicking it, sucking it, kissing it and rubbing it. He moaned against you, eyes closed as he devoured your pussy like it was his last meal. “And you taste just as good.”

You found yourself grinding against his tongue, hand tugging into his short silver hair, his tongue now fucking you and you felt yourself become hotter and hotter by every minute. Beads of sweat trickled down your face whilst your juices mixed with his spit, slipping down his chin; not once breaking for a breath. Your legs begin to shake, more so than before.

“Mmm, p-please.” You didn’t know what you were saying, what you wanted from him other than the fact you needed more. You became numb to the sensational feeling of his tongue exploring you as you felt yourself become loose.

Crosshair licks a fat stripe up your pussy, parting your glistening folds. He trails his tongue around before dipping his tongue into your hole slightly, circling inside your cunt.

You can’t help the high pitch whine, lifting your leg and draping it over his shoulder to encourage him more. You feel him chuckle against you, vibrations panging your core.

“You’re close aren’t you? You love my tongue deep in you.” He mumbles against your aching sex and that was enough for you to cum; his voice.

You let out a wail of ecstasy, your knees crumbling so hard that Crosshair had to hold you up whilst nose deep inside you, lapping up all the juices you were spilling out to him. “Good girl.” He praises, looking up at you, your breasts moving up and down as you breathed heavily as your body glistens in sweat.

He pulled away, wiping his chin with the back of his hand and stood tall, smirking at your disheveled state.

“I’m sure you can dress yourself, sweetheart.” He claims your lips one last time, his tongue trailing against your lower lip to give you the taste of yourself - as if it was a parting gift - before he pulled away, toothpick poking into his mouth and leaving you completely tongue tied.

Masterlist

More Crosshair Works

Tags: @kriffclone @moonstrider9904 @andyoufollowyourheart @littlefeatherr r @kaitou2417 @eyecandyeoz @captxin-rex @jesseeka @ashotofspotchka @theroguesully @ladykatakuri i @jambolska-grozdova a @arctrooper69 @padawancat97 @staycalmandhugaclone @ko-neko-san @echos-girlfriend @fiveshelmet @dangraccoon @plushymiku-blog @chrissywakingup @pb-jellybeans @nunanuggets @sleepycreativewriter r @erellenora @zippingstars87 @ezras-left-thumb @tech-aficionado @grizabellasolo @therealnekomari @tech-depression-inventory @brynhildrmimi i @greaser-wolf @tinyreadersmur @seriowan @kaminocasey @marvel-starwars-nerd @ladytano420 @ladyzirkonia @thesith @raevulsix @mssbridgerton @cw80831 @imalovernotahater @whore4rex @imperialclaw801 @temple-elder @mysticalgalaxysalad @photogirl894

#the bad batch #star wars #clone wars #tbb #bad batch crosshair x reader #crosshair x you #crosshair x reader #crosshair x f!reader #nahoney22 writes #crosshair bad batch #crosshair #crosshair smut

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carpisuns · 3 years

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you know, as a creator, i actually don’t consider myself that “creative.” that’s not rly intended to be self-deprecating btw—what I mean is that i am better at repurposing or expanding on other people’s ideas rather than coming up with my own. i’m “creative” because i create, but i have a hard time creating ex nihilo. I have to have a starting point. i can think outside the box, but there has to be a box first. (this checks out because I work as an editor lol. the main focus of my job is to polish or build on something that’s already there.)

that’s one reason that fan creation appeals so much to me. I have a hard time coming up with my own stories, but I love writing fanfic because it’s like I have a sandbox to play in and there are lot of possibilities I can explore. and I’ve never made up an art OC, but I love drawing my favorite fictional characters to improve my skills and stretch my creative muscles. fandom creation is so valuable for creators like me and to a lot of other types of creative minds too. people sometimes ask me why I don’t do more original work and the answer is that I haven’t yet been able to create something on my own that inspires me to keep creating the way my favorite stories do. and I don’t think that’s really a bad thing? inspiration comes in many forms and I will create based on whatever inspiration I receive. And right now that inspiration happens to come from a kid’s cartoon, or a book series, or some other already-told story.

even within fandom i kind of see a division of creators. There are the ones who come up with cool AUs/headcanons or interpret the story and characters in a fresh, unique way, and then there are the ones like me who mostly stick to canon and create based off that. and both are good! I get involved in fandom because I genuinely really enjoy the source content, so I usually don’t feel the need to give it a makeover lol. because of that I tend to keep my work pretty canon compliant (altho not always/not entirely). but I often really admire the creativity of the fan creators who do push past the boundaries of canon to make room for their own ideas and reinterpretation. I think it’s cool to have a mix and representation of many different types of creators/creation.

maybe the kind of creativity I’m talking about is a skill you can develop—a muscle you can build—or maybe it just depends on how your brain is wired. either way, if you’re a “non-creative” creator like me and you feel like your work doesn’t means anything because it’s not unique enough, just know that creation is creation no matter what and that your creation is still unique and cool just because you made it, and no one creates exactly the way you do. you might feel like you aren’t offering much to the world but you don’t know how you might inspire someone else or just make them smile. and that is worth it all on its own, at least to me. idk about you but i can’t imagine myself ever saying, “oh man, another drawing of my absolute favorite character that sparks joy just to think about :/ boring” or “lame, I found yet another fic featuring my favorite ship and my favorite trope that always makes me go bonkers :/” haha. my stuff may not not always be super original but I know people still enjoy it and I enjoy creating so that’s what really matters tbh

I’m really grateful for the creators who inspire me to create—whether it’s a source creator or a fellow fan creator. I truly am extremely inspired by fan creators every day and I feel honored and thrilled to be able to share the same creative space with them! thank you for sharing your work, even if you feel a little insecure about it. life is a richer experience for you and others because of what you create.

#idk what came over me #im just always Thinking Thoughts #and sometimes they just regurgitate out of me at random times #anyway cheerio #positivity #art #writing #mine

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lacystar · 3 years

Text

au where enderwalk ranboo and Tommy are friends and hang out at night when enderboo lurks and Tommy can't sleep

---

“So like… do you just know how to dress yourself?” Tommy asked, “Because considering that when you get like this you forget how to do most basic functions, I don’t know how you have clothes on right now.”

Ranboo gave a, “Vrr-grrl,” and despite having been with him a few times like this, Tommy still wasn’t sure how to interpret his enderman language.

“Eh— fuck off.”

Whenever this happened, Ranboo always got somehow taller, which Tommy hated, and his fangs, claws, and horns grew in accordance with that. His eyes also tended to transform into a more standard enderman purple, and Tommy didn’t dare stare into them. So really, he didn’t look too different when he got into his “fucking weird” mode, according to Tommy. He just kinda got more… well, fucking weird.

Right now they were seated outside Tommy’s home under moonlight, and Tommy, being unable to sleep (fuck nightmares— fuck them), was trying to fix up the flowers that were overrunning his house. Ranboo was… trying to help? But he seemed less eager to weed and more eager to just pick up and hold pieces of dirt. Also pretty fucking weird.

He came up beside Tommy and dug his claws into the ground easily, bringing up another pocket, and Tommy spotted it as an opportunity. “You like alliums, yeah?” He brought over a smaller sprout and placed it in the new hole, “Fill that in for me?”

Ranboo stared at him blankly. “Y’know— like, cover it.”

Ranboo then glanced back to the small, budding flower, and then uncupped his hands, letting the dirt fall on it all at once and crushing the petals beneath soil. “No— that’s— that’s not what I meant.” Tommy pinched the bridge of his nose, eyes squeezing shut. “God— you’re like a fuckin’ stupid dog when you’re like this.”

“Vurghhhrggh…”

“Your mother.”

But then Ranboo started to hiss, and Tommy rolled his eyes. “Leave it.” Such was customary whenever Ranboo spotted an unfamiliar animal. Tommy had tried to introduce him to a cow once and seen him rip it brutally to shreds right in front of him. It was kinda fucked up, in hindsight, but Tommy had seen worse carnage— to cows and to people— and considered it no more than a failed experiment.

The hissing only got worse, boiling into a low pitched scream. Tommy shot Ranboo an exasperated glance, and was caught off guard to see the other had unhinged his fucking jaw and was bristling up like a cat. He’d seen him like that before, and though he knew it was never directed at him, it still freaked him out. “Ranboo, down, leave it alone.”

“rrrrrrRRRRRR—”

“Ranboo—”

He was knocked to the ground with practically concussing force as a shadow swooped just above him, right where his head had been. Instinctively, he rolled to the side to dodge the next hit and reached for his sword, where was his sword—

But there was no need, because when he looked back, he processed the scene before him; phantoms, two of them, circling like vultures. Ranboo had knocked him out of the way to protect him, definitely, and Tommy watched as he reached into the air and dragged one down by the wing, smashing it into the ground and stomping down on it, cracking its spine. He keeled over with another curdling scream as the second one latched onto his neck with claws and teeth. Before Tommy could run over to help, he’d wrestled it to the ground, pinning its body to the grass, and taken one wing in his fangs before ripping it clean from its body, the phantom’s screeching dying down it lost consciousness.

Tommy felt a mix of terror, relief, and, “WHAT THE FUCK!?”

Ranboo, calm now that the threat was gone, chewed on the wing in his mouth like it was a snack as he stared innocently back at Tommy.

“You fuckin’— are you crazy!?” Though, he had potentially saved Tommy’s life. It was perhaps a bit concerning that phantoms were showing up in the first place— Tommy hadn’t realized just how bad his sleep patterns had gotten.

Ranboo kept chewing away, seeing absolutely no issue with this.

“Oh my fuckin’—“ Tommy stomped over and grabbed onto the wing, trying to pull it away. Ranboo growled at him and pulled back, initiating a tug of war. “Give it— give it now—”

After a hesitant moment, Ranboo released it and Tommy tossed it to the ground with a sigh. “Thank you. You alright?”

“Rrr-rrr.”

“Christ— fuckin’ warn me next time.” Though, in hindsight, he’d kinda tried to, hadn’t he? Whatever.

Ranboo then leaned forward and thunked his head against Tommy’s chest, and Tommyy sighed again, bringing his hands up and petting down his mussed hair. Ranboo began to purr nearly instantaneously, and Tommy let the last of his adrenaline fade out.

As much as he liked being able to, y’know, talk to him and treat him like a normal person, Ranboo wasn’t so bad when he was like this.

“… Yeah yeah, thanks. Or whatever.”

“Vrrgh-vwoop!”

#I live! I am back!#and I bring you a short alliumduo Drabble! :D #also peep the new icon and look #mcyt #dream smp #allium duo #loyal duo #ranboo #tommyinnit #lacydoesherbest

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ttuesday · 3 years

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Hello there! Thank you for writing all these amazing headcanons! <333 I get so much joy when there's a new post from ya!

I had a prompt in mind: what are the gang members like when they get reaaaaly drunk? Who gets sad & sentimental, who gets all funny and jokey, who is all sleepy, and etc etc etc?

now this is an interesting one hehe

Arthur

When Arthur's drunk, he does his absolute best to try to convince everyone he isn't that drunk. He tries to walk in a straight line to prove he’s ok but accidentally walks into Uncle.

He somehow has great hearing and joins in on every sing song within a five mile radius. Arthur could be talking to you on the outskirts of camp but if he hears someone singing by the campfire, he joins in immediately.

He gets into a very jolly mood when he's drunk and talks about anything and everything. He rambles on about so much he interrupts himself a lot.

If he's sweet on you then Arthur asks to hold your hand and he won’t stop holding your hand for the e n t i r e night. No matter where you go or what you do, Arthur will potter after you with his hand still holding yours. And whenever you look at him, Arthur has a big, proud smile on his face as he looks at your hand in his.

Charles

Who is this man? Where tf did Charles go? He acts very differently than sober Charles. Whatever idea springs to mind, he wants to do it. If he wants to do interpretive dance in the middle of camp then that's exactly what he does or if he decides to go skinny dipping at 4am then off he goes, trying to find a lake or a river.

One second Charles could be laughing so much he's nearly crying, a second later he could start sobbing because he remembered that time he accidentally shot a lawman's horse when he was trying to aim for the guy. Please hug him.

It doesn't matter how drunk Charles is, he can still yeet anyone over Mount Hagen and he can go from fun and goofy to deathly intimidating in under 1.5 seconds.

And if you and Charles are dating then he just wants to kiss you. He kisses your temple all the way down to your jawline before kissing back up to your ear.

Dutch

Dutch gets quiet when he's drunk. He just kinda sits there and stares off in a daze for ten minutes. When someone talks to him, it's like he buffers for a few seconds before responding.

But when he starts talking, good luck trying to get Dutch to shut up. And this man needs everyone to stop what they're doing and give him all of their attention when he decides to say a speech. And if one person stops paying attention then Dutch storms off.

Dutch really does believe he's unstoppable when he's drunk. And if you don't believe him then don't worry, Dutch has no problem spending three hours explaining how all of his plans are apparently bulletproof.

If Dutch is sweet on you then he tries to flirt with you. But the more he drinks, the harder it gets for him to string a sentence together. "Your eyes..." he slurs his words but tries to stay composed "they remind me... of uh... eyes".

Micah

Micah is so goddamn laid back when he's drunk. Strangely people tend to get on with Micah when he's drunk but by the time he's sober again he's gone back to being... well, Micah.

He's nice ? Which is so bizarre but he actually makes an effort to talk to people without antagonising them and instead of taking offence to comments, he laughs them off and sees it as a joke.

As long as the conversation stays light, Micah keeps his happy demeanour and he isn't even a bad loser when it comes to poker and five finger fillet. In a way, seeing Micah so friendly unnerves some of the other gang members because of how baffling it is.

If he's sweet on you then Micah will continuously asks if you'd like to sit on his lap. Of course he flirts with you but he's a lot sweeter than normal and tells you that you could definitely do better than him so he understands if you reject him.

John

John comes out of his shell when he's drunk. Instead of keeping his mouth shut, he says whatever he thinks of. Yeah he gets into more fights cause he doesn't know when to stop talking.

He can fall asleep anywhere and at any time. You could be chatting with him by the campfire and slowly feel him lean against your shoulder as he starts to softly snore. He once fell asleep while standing up right with one of his hands on a barrel for support.

When John tries to go to sleep when he's drunk, he's like a kid trying to go to sleep at a sleepover. John loudly says the most random words and makes random noises before he bursts out laughing, thinking it's the funniest thing in the world.

If John has a crush on you and he's drunk, he tries to be so helpful. He constantly asks you if you need anything. If you ask him to get you something then he walks a few feet away before completely forgetting what you asked for.

Bill

Let's be real, Bill's already a hothead when he's sober and he's exactly the same when he's drunk. He's very fast to start a fight but if someone lands one punch then that's Bill done for the night. Usually he's a better fighter but he has terrible balance when he's been drinking.

He tries to be productive when he's drunk, thinking that now's the perfect time to do some chores and to go on guard duty. Everyone knows better than to leave Bill go out on watch when he's like this. One time he tried to shoot a squirrel cause he thought it was going to run into camp.

Bill rambles a lot too, mainly telling stories from when he was in the army or reminiscing about different robberies he's done with the gang.

Bill can get really anxious so if y'all are in a relationship, he needs your comfort. His mind starts racing and he worries about little things so for you to be there and tell him everything is alright truly means a lot to him.

Javier

Javier gets very goofy when he's drunk. He's keeps things light hearted, joking about things but is still able to hold his tongue when needed and have proper conversations too.

Honestly, Javier is probably one of the most level headed people in comparison to the rest of the gang but because he tends to stumble and get his words mixed up, people presume he's completely wasted when he's had a few to drink.

This man LIVES for those 2am deep and meaningful conversations. He absolutely adores having them and being drunk helps him open up more about his feelings so he has no problem expressing his emotions.

Are you ready to be swept off of your feet, both metaphorically and maybe literally depending on if you'll leave Javier do that? He's such a hopeless romantic when he's drunk. If camp is near a field or woodland then he sneaks off, picks some flowers and shyly gives them to you.

Sean

Sean manages to go through every mood when he's drunk. Everything is funny to him and he tries to make jokes about whatever comes to mind. Usually he jokes about Bill and Micah which leads to one of them arguing with Sean.

That's when Sean gets angry and thinks he's able to knock out anyone with one punch. Normally he ends up accidentally walking into a table or tripping over himself cause of how focused he is at punching the air.

Then Sean gets all sad and sentimental, feeling sorry for himself cause he accidentally bruised his leg. He has no problem sitting on the ground and pouting for a while, hoping that someone will walk past and give him some attention for a while.

If y'all are dating then Sean will tell you over and over again how much you mean to him and how much he loves you. He just wants to cling on to you for the night and make sure you know how loved you are.

Hosea

I hope you're sitting comfortably cause Hosea's gonna tell you every single goddamn story he can think of. Hosea tells you funny stories, sad stories, how he first met John and how he conned rich people. He really likes to reminisce when he's drunk.

Towards the end of the night, Hosea eventually gets quiet and if there's a party at camp where everyone is celebrating, then he goes off by the outskirts for a while.

Hosea likes to sit back and watch as everyone enjoys the night. He can get very sentimental when he does this but he likes to enjoy the little moments of the night and savour it all.

If he’s sweet on you then Hosea makes sure you know how special you are and that you deserve the best. He doesn't necessarily flirt with you but instead wants you to know how great you are.

Sadie

When Sadie drinks, she gets sad. She doesn't mean to get sad but her mind wanders and she thinks a lot about everything that's happened in her life and how she's ended up where she is today.

She doesn't speak a lot and ends up getting stuck in her head with thoughts whirling around and around. It can get overwhelming which is why she isn't that keen on getting completely wasted on alcohol.

She doesn't like how crowded camp can get so instead she likes to go off and find a nice scenic area to rest. Normally that helps calm her mind but Sadie also gets sleepy by then too.

If Sadie likes you and feels comfortable around you then she leans against you as ye both sit there in a peaceful silence. And if you suggest it, then she'll hesitantly rest her head on your lap and fall asleep as you play with her hair.

Kieran

Kieran doesn't get drunk often. He hates waking up the next morning and wondering if he pissed anyone off or said something he shouldn't have.

He's very happy when he's drunk, only seeing the positives in things and always smiling. Kieran is still a little shy but he's more open to being involved with what the gang's doing, whether that be singing along to some songs or dancing with whoever to Dutch's gramophone.

Because of how involved he can become with the gang when he's drunk, he can get involved in a few fights or arguments. But contrary to popular belief, Kieran doesn't back down and makes sure to get his points across.

Kieran gets more confident after a few drinks and flirts with you more than usual. The more accepting you are to his comments, the more he flirts with you. Though if you flirt back then he gets very flustered.

#ayo idk why these are so fuckin long #I tried cutting them down #but they’re still long #so apologies for how goddamn long these are #anywhoosies #arthur morgan #dutch van der linde #micah bell #charles smith #john marston #javier escuella #bill williamson #sean macguire #hosea matthews #sadie adler #kieran duffy #idk why I decided to add Kieran in here too lol

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