#and. i finally got around to writing a post about it! woo hoo!
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Dancestors and Their Implications on Classpecting
For many of Homestuck's readers, the Dancestors aren't exactly fond memories. While there is a good chunk of the fanbase who loves them for what's under the surface, myself included, I would argue the majority of the fanbase sees the Dancestors as what they were likely intended to be: bad-faith mockeries of Tumblr and the Homestuck fanbase at the time.
They are not well-written characters, for the most part. Oh, there are glimpses of interesting characterization and deeper story for all of them, but none of them beyond perhaps Aranea and Meenah live up to their potential. Many of them are uncomfortable at best and downright harmful at worst.
I do not want to talk about their characterization directly here, though. No, I would instead like to discuss the impact that the Dancestors have on a far more widely beloved part of Homestuck: the classpect system.
As we all know, the classpect system has two parts: the Class, such as 'Heir', and the Aspect, such as 'Breath'. Every sburb and sgrub player has a defined classpect, and every player we see in the comic has their classpect revealed at some point in time.
For the humans, every human has a unique class and a unique aspect. There are only eight of them who play sburb, so it makes sense for each of them to get one of the twelve options, as a shorthand for character differentiation. The Strilondes may be ectobiologically related, but each of the four has their own unique class and aspect.
For the trolls, though, there's something a little different that happens. Because there are only twelve aspects and fourteen classes, and because the master classes are only seen in-comic with the cherubs, there has to be overlap between the core twelve trolls and their Dancestors. Every class and aspect is used twice, in different combinations so that every troll has their own title.
What's interesting about the Dancestors' classpects, though, is that every Dancestor's aspect lines up with their respective core troll. The Captors, for example, are both Doom players, while the Vantases are both Blood players. They have different classes, but their aspect stays the same between the two of them.
Where this gets even more interesting is in the way the relationship between Dancestor and core troll works. Troll genetics is... hard to understand at best, and complicated even further when ectobiology is pulled into the mix, but we know that they have a concept of ancestors who provide the majority of their genetic code. We also know that each of the Dancestors is ectobiologically the ancestor of their respective core troll. The Dancestor Aranea Serket, for example, is genetically the same as Alternia's Mindfang; much in the same way that Jane Crocker is genetically the same as Nanna.
While we cannot say that the ancestry rules are the same for the sgrub players as they are for the rest of Trollkind, I believe that it is more informative and interesting to read the text in that way, because when we do there is a clear and incredibly useful correlation to be found. Because we do not see the trolls' ectobiology in action, I think it is reasonable to make the assumption that ectobiology machines tend to reflect the genetic combination practices of the species playing, and so would create a mother grub-like condition for the trolls as opposed to the parent-like condition that Jegbert had.
Assuming this to be true, then, and that the Dancestors share a large part of their genetic code with their respective core trolls, let's look back at the aspect connection.
Why are their aspects the same, but their classes different?
I believe it is a matter of nature vs nurture, where aspects are determined by nature and classes are determined by nurture.
The biggest difference between the trolls and their Dancestors is the world they were brought up in. The Dancestors lived in a world much more similar to our own, with many social issues being bureaucratic and political in nature; where the core trolls grew up in a much more violent and war-focused world. This is very clear in the canon of Homestuck, and established regularly throughout openbound.
This would, inevitably, lead to the Dancestors being raised and nurtured to implement their aspects in different ways from the core trolls. In turn, this brings them to have different classes.
Let's also look at what the basic setup of classpecting: classes have verbs (eg: bards and princes destroy) and are either passive or active (eg: bards destroy [aspect] while princes are destroyed by [aspect]), and aspects are the elemental forces affected by those verbs. From the Expanded Zodiac, we can further interpret aspects as a person's core values, and extrapolate that classes are how they interact with those core values.
This, too, lines up with the nature vs nurture interpretation of the classpect system. Both Karkat and Kankri are Blood players, and we can see that at their core both of them very heavily value the bonds between people. Those bonds are, for the Vantases, the most important parts of their lives. What's different between them is how they act on that belief: Karkat, as a Knight, helps (or, more properly, serves) the people he's bonded with and make sure they're happy and prospering, and is regularly the guy any of them go to for emotional advice; where Kankri, as a Seer, knows the connections between people and knows how to work with those connections to try and minimize conflict.
Karkat grew up in a world where he was marked for death from the day he was hatched, and the only way he would survive would be to serve powerful people and hope to impress them. He was nurtured into a role where helping people he's grown a bond with was useful and practical to keep himself alive and moving forward in the world.
Kankri grew up in a world where he was effectively a highblood's pet, and the only way he could further his place in society was to understand the connections between people and the complexities of a political bureaucracy. He was nurtured into a role where understanding the bonds between people was useful and practical to keep himself moving forward in the world.
Both of them, though, are still Blood players at their core.
While it is clearest and easiest to see this connection in the Vantases, it is, to my knowledge, true for all of the troll pairs.
This interpretation of classpecting, where classes are determined by nurture and aspects are determined by nature, may seem somewhat less than useful on the surface, but I believe that it is actually a GREATLY useful reference point for writing and developing characters, both in AUs and in original works.
Let's say you wanted to write a high school AU, but you were struggling to keep Karkat in character because of his more aggressive tendancies. Knowing that his Blood aspect is determined by nature would help to identify exactly what core values should be carried over, where having Knight be determined by nurture would help identify what might change or shift in this new version. Perhaps he's still a Knight, and he was still raised in a situation that led him to be knight-like, but it now takes the form of Karkat demanding that his friends have study groups together and ensuring that they're all ready for tests and quizzes.
It's flexible, of course, and should never be used as the single point of a character's personality, but I think that using the classpecting system to identify how a character's environments affect how they interact with their core belief is a really interesting and useful usage of the system.
TL;DR: I believe that the Dancestors' aspects being the same as their core troll counterparts while their classes differ indicates that classpecting is determined, in part, by the nature and nurture factors on a person's personality. Aspects are determined by nature and genetics, where classes are determined by nurture and environment. I think that this interpretation of the classpecting system is particularly interesting when creating characters and useful in analyzing characters both within and outside of Homestuck, as a way to identify how the way a character is raised leads them to interact with their core beliefs and values.
#homestuck#classpect#homestuck analysis#classpect analysis#dancestors#my analysis#<- I hope those are all the right tags#i think about this CONSTANTLY#it's just always sitting there in the back of my mind#and. i finally got around to writing a post about it! woo hoo!#i hope this is comprehensible i have no clue if anyone else can understand what i'm saying here#i could just be writing nonsense#but. i think it's interesting ok#i think its really interesting#i WANTED to use sollux and mituna an example but sollux is a mage of doom#and there isnt really a lot of clear information in canon about mages#which sucks because i want to talk about mituna so bad#but that'll have to happen another day#also for the record. i specifically didnt use aranea or meenah#because if i talk about aranea i have to talk about vriska and im not touching that bag of worms#and i like meenah but i dont feel comfortable talking on her because i dont remember a lot of what she did super well#the other dancestors are in similar boats but to a lesser degree because there isnt much there for them
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﹥:ꔫ:+ﾟ New Years Return Notice! ⁎̩͙ ⁑̩͙̩͙ ⁂̩̩͙͙
Hi everyone!!! I'm finally back! and just on time on the beginning of 2024 woo hoo!! I didn't really get to put out a notice here about my around one month hiatus; so sorry about that TvT
my month has been busy (Dec) i had nonstop tests and ik for a fact this new year is only ever gonna get busier, but I hope to at least lurk here and keep posting even if my posting speed would have slowed due to my personal life
ik i've been away but i've only been not writing - that means i've been on tumblr most of the time just reading other's fics lol and i seen that there are a few new lune writers as well as old ones who are returning which i am DELIGHTED ABOUT! ToT seeing our community on here grows rlly warms my heart
and thirdly! I've actually prepared a little christmas + new year gifts for y'all -> my dear anons and moots <33 and will publish it right after this notice comes out! so i hope you all will enjoy it!
To any new anons following me or checking out my blog, no sadly my requests are still not open - so unless it's your personal brain rots that you'd love to share, pls don't send any asks :3 [ i'm still working on finishing all the old asks ToT ]
i'll try to post once a week at least, but if i take longer than a week or even take a few more weeks, pls note that it's cuz i'm either busy with my education or the ask that i chose to answer was a huge one :>
Lastly not sure if anyone might notice :33 but I changed my theme! ofc i did mentioned new themes only allowed for each &T comeback but hey it's a new year and i at least must gotta go from cute => sexy this year right~
That's all the updates i've got for y'all for now :3
i'll be uploading the gift after this note like i said so keep your eyes open~ and hope you'll enjoy it everyone~!
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Find the Word Game!
AND HERE WE ARE with the FINAL find the word game from my weekend hiatus!!! thank you to @andromedatalksaboutstuff for tagging me <3
My words were: SUNRISE, ROOF, DEJA-VU, HESITATE, & BUBBLE
i've been switching up the source material for these last few tag games!! for this post i'll be taking snippets from in the ataraxis of aftermath („• ֊ •„)
sunrise
ummm hmm i dont have anything for this one so ehh... fun fact i have 12 pieces of art featuring naoko, only three of which were made by me!!! out of all of my characters with designs, naoko has the third most art (only behind CJ and Tjositer!), and probably the most art that wasn't commissioned :)
roof
She made pretty good time. Naoko stepped off on the final wooden panel, shoulders finally unwinding. She took the rope from her backpack and carefully tied it around the roof of the house, then carefully made her way down the side, near the attic window. Swinging back, Naoko pushed both of her feet against the glass, doing this again and again until it finally shattered. - unagi station
deja-vu
and i dont have this one either so another fun fact ehhh... well this project was sort of the catalyst into me realizing i was a lesbian, so woo hoo? obviously there were other reasons for that as well but when i realized i was writing a wlw relationship with on accident and with really no reason i started to go hmmm at my perceived heterosexuality lmao
hesitate
She balled her hands into fists and swung them into her sides. Her mouth moved beneath her mask, shaping the words her voice was too hesitant to speak. It would work this time, she would say it this time, she could do it this time, this time was it, this time was the last warm-up, this time she’d do it for real, this time she’d say it, this time she’d actually manage to say-
“Hello?” - moru station
bubble
Naoko turned to Keyla, quickly, desperately, searching for a way to say what she meant, to express her thanks, her gratitude, her joy, her, well, anything really as long as it worked, as long as it conveyed the bubbling, weightless thing that was filling her heart.
No words made it out of her mouth, but somehow she knew that Keyla understood. Keyla got it, that was clear, etched in the dent of her smile and glittering somewhere in her chocolate eyes.
Keyla understood, and that was so much more than enough. - velas blancas harbor
i'm going to formally tag @moonscribbler , @ziyin , @authorofstories55 , @thetruearchmagos & @the-stray-storyteller , as well as keeping it an open tag as always!
Your words are: LIGHT, PROBABLE, TOUCH, MANY, & SUDDEN
and as always i’m adding my own rule that if you can’t find a word in your work then you have to tell me a fun fact about either your WIP, your writing process, or one of your characters ᕕ( ᐛ )ᕗ
have fun, writers!! drink some water!!
#writer#writers on tumblr#writeblr#writblr#writers#writing#creative writing#my writing#in the ataraxis of aftermath#helena scribbles#find the word tag#find the word game
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Three to tango
story summary: You, Harry, and Florence have a good time in your makeup trailer.
warnings: Language // THIS IS P*RN WITH LIKE ZERO PLOT // Threesome // w|w // spitting // oral (female receiving) // i have no idea what a production company is so don't come for me.
a/n: Brushing off the metaphorical cobwebs and finally getting back into writing! Woo-hoo! Ending could have been better but... meh. Also, I'm posting from mobile. If it looks weird, blame Tumblr ✌😍
REQUESTED: by @iwannaholdyoutight- and @hazgoldenstyles
And also by all these people... sorry it took so long.. 😁
>>><<<
"Stop movin'." You grumbled for the millionth time that morning. Your focus on covering up all these damn tattoos that you loved had become one of the worst things you had to do almost every morning.
"It tickles." He whined as the makeup brush ran over the inside of his arm. He instantly flinched away from the brush the moment it glided against a particularly sensitive spot.
"Harry!" You groaned, your eyes closed in frustration when he shot you the most adorable puppy eyes.
"'M sorry, kitten." He cooed, his lower lip pouted out when you sighed loudly, grabby hands tried to enclose around your waist before you smacked them away.
"H, I gotta get this done or you're gonna miss set time."
"Wanna kiss." Those big green eyes flashed up to you from his spot in your makeup chair and you knew there was no way you could say no.
"One kiss." You clarified, knowing damn well he'd use kissing you as a distraction from being tickled again.
He nodded eagerly before leaning slightly up to your level. Your eyes narrowed, still not sure you could trust that he wasn't going to divert your attention but his lips.
God, his fucking lips.
They looked so memorizing. The light sheen of chapstick he'd applied earlier was still lingering across the plush pink cushions. His tongue wetting them, taunting you to come closer, and it worked.
You were so naive to think he wouldn't do this.
You squeaked as his hands gripped the fleshy curve of your hips. His lips twitched up into a smile against your own when he pulled you forward onto his lap as quickly as he could.
You knew you should have tried to protest a bit more. You should have attempted to keep him on track but when his thigh pressed against your clothed core, you knew you were done for. His tongue licked into your mouth as his hand got a firm grip on the round flesh of your ass.
"I see what you two do in here." That sweet voice floated through the thickening air in your makeup trailer as she opened the door. Your eyes lazily blinked open to see your smug boyfriend smile wide across his face.
Whatever snarky come back that was sitting on the tip of your tongue was quickly choked down to the back of your throat when you looked up to see her wearing that.
Who knew a robe could turn you on so much?
"Damn." Harry finally commented after your not so subtle shifting of your hips against his thigh. Now he completely understood why you'd suddenly gone silent.
"Shut up." She mumbled under her breath. Her cheeks flamed red from your shameless stares.
"You look great, baby." You smiled brightly, your hand extended out for her to take. "Mhm." Harry's quick agreement had both you and Flor rolling your eyes, but a small smile formed at the corner of her lips.
"Wait til you see what he's got to wear." She smiled brightly, her silky soft hand wrapped tightly in yours as she walked towards the both of you.
"Better hurry up then," you practically jumped off Harry's lap, his lust filled eyes quickly turned fearfully as your eager hands reached for your set of brushes. "Hold him down for me."
"Gonna pay for this later, sweetheart." Harry grumbled as Florence's hand held down his arm.
"Sort of counting on that, Harold. Now, be a good boy and hold still."
>>>
The rest of your day had been absolute torture. Your core ached, your underwear were beyond ruined, and you couldn't wait another minute for the both of them to finally be off set.
Instead, the both of them casually took their time, leisurely hanging around to talk to other cast and crew while you were basically jumping out of your skin to get them back into the privacy of your trailer.
After 30 minutes of them both shooting you sweet smiles and well disguised sultry eyes, you'd had enough. Your feet carried you as quickly across the lot to your haven, your fist clenched in your hand almost as tightly as your core.
You were dripping and the both of them knew you were having a hard time keeping your hands to yourself.
It started out innocent enough, Harry's tattoos needed to be touched-up about a million times with the edge of his suit rubbing away the makeup there. You had been practically drooling over the both of them all day but when he saw your legs tighten together, he could help but lay it on thick. His hand rested on the small of your back as he circled around you, nose pressed almost completely against your ear as he whispered a raspy thank you.
Florence was just as bad and she wasn't ever the instigator out of the three of you. She couldn't help it when she heard a soft whimper leave your lips when she brushed a few hairs off your forehead when you were redoing her makeup after lunch.
She smiled sweetly, too sweetly, before those plush lips pressed tightly against your own. Her hand laced around your jaw to pull you tighter into her kiss.
She pulled away from you before you were even close to being done. "Only fair that I get to makeout with you in this chair if Harry gets to do it all the time."
You felt like you could combust from how turned on you were and you were done waiting for them to do something about it.
You practically slammed the door to your trailer behind you, making sure to lock it before laying yourself out across your couch that sat in the corner of your room.
If they weren't going to do something about it, you would. Your hands fumbled around with the pesky pants that covered your legs, until you were finally free enough to touch where you needed.
The sigh of relief, shuddering feeling that ran through your body from the contact you were craving only lasted a moment before you heard a metal key fumbling around with the locks on your door.
"Couldn't wait for us?" Harry chuckled, his keys to your trailer thrown on your table top.
"You two were taking forever!" You glared at him through your open legs.
"Told you she couldn't wait any longer." Florence giggled as she pushed her way past Harry. Her hands on her hips but a smile danced on the corner of her lips.
"Are you two going to help me here or?" You were cocky, impatient, and your fingers weren't anywhere near as good as theirs was.
"Might just watch." Harry shrugged with a smug smile as he plopped down on the end of the couch. The furniture was barely big enough for the three of you to sit normally. His hands moved your legs to lay over top of his own. Your eyes could have shot daggers through him as he loosened his tie, his legs spread wide enough that your hand bumped his thigh with every slow circle around your clit.
"Baby." You whined, your pleading eyes flashing towards Flor. Who was already wearing nothing but a smile, her robe abandoned on the floor, and if you weren't so insanely turned on you would have turned to stick your tongue out to Harry. Gloating that at least one of them was nice enough to help you.
Having sex with them always seemed to be frenzied, blurs of quick paced moments that seemed to fly by.
Her thighs rested on either side of you as Harry peeled away the drenched lacy fabric between your legs.
Her tongue dominating your own as she pulled down your top enough to free your breast. Her hands pinching and kneading across them as your back arched further off the couch.
You could hear Harry mumbling out a slur of curses, followed by the sound of his zipper. Your legs were bumped up and down in time with his strokes along his swollen cock.
"Soaking my leg, kitten." He groaned at the sight of your cunt soaking the thin material of his brown suit.
"Thought you were just gonna watch." Florence chuckled, her perfectly pouty lips swollen from how hard she'd been kissing you. The edges of them barely touching your own as she talked to Harry.
"Was gonna but she's so fuckin' wet, Flor." His voice was deeper than usual, gravelly, slow, "Bet I could jus'...."
Your jaw fell open, your back arched off the couch when his fingers filled you. A wild moan ripped from your lungs when he curled them just right.
You could already feel the cord tightening in your lower stomach. You had been so wound up all day long from looking at them you were practically ready to snap within seconds.
"Awe, poor thing's already about to cum." Florence cooed, her hand around the back of your neck, teasing your jaw with the edge of her nose.
You always loved hated how well they could read you. How their teasing words made your face burn and your pussy flood with need.
When she was harshly shifted down further into your chest, her own sweet sounding moan falling from her lips, you couldn't help your own snide remark, "who's the one going to cum too quickly now?"
She probably would have snapped right back at you but she couldn't utter out anything more than whimpers. You knew the feeling, Harry's tongue had a way of doing that, making you both shut up and he had proudly used it on more than one occasion to get you two to stop bickering about dumb stuff.
Your hand laced through her blonde locks, her lips attached to your neck whenever she could control her mouth long enough to kiss your sweet spots. Your nipples peaked at the contact of her breast against your own, Harry's hand still pumped lazily against your sweet spot, his thumb running tight circles around your clit, and while it wasn't enough, you weren't complaining. You weren't ever sure how he managed to focus on eating one of you out while fingering the other when you knew damn well he was about to combust himself.
You knew she was close when her breathing became erratic, her chest heaving against yours. Her whole body shaking as her orgasm washed across her, her panting barely broke when you felt his warm tongue slipping through your folds.
You moaned at the feeling, your hips instantly shifted downwards, craving every bit of contact you could get from him.
You could feel your walls fluttering around his fingers with every thick swipe of his tongue across your clit. Your eyes barely staying open when soft kisses were pressed lazily against your neck.
Such a contrast to the harsh grasp of Harry's free hand digging into your one thigh. His gruts and groans were only muffled by the deafening sound of your soaking core.
Florence perked up her head from your chest, carefully turning herself completely around. Her legs on either side of your head as she draped herself across you to watch Harry at work.
Her sweet honey only inches from your face and fuck did you want a taste. You wet your lips, hands pushing her thighs down but she wouldn't budge.
Your huff of protest was quickly choked down when Harry's tongue ran tight circles around your clit.
"Gonna share?" That sweet voice asking that innocent question about broke you. Your walls clenched tightly trying to not get Harry to stop his fingers from slipping out of you, almost crying when they did anyway.
"Course, baby."
You squeaked, your legs pushed backwards by your thighs, your body almost folded in half.
"Fuck, you got her soaking the couch."
You were suddenly very appreciative about the fact neither one of them could see the embarrassment burning through your face. Your forehead pressed to Florence's leg as you whined, not wanting them to point how just how turned on you were.
You heard two simultaneous shushing sounds before your lower lips were pulled apart, the cool air licked across your slick, only making you whine louder.
When you heard and felt Harry's spilt against your core you thought you were done for. Lip tucked so tightly between your teeth you could taste the faintest hint of metallic against your tongue.
Then the softest kitten lick had you losing your mind, her tongue collecting all of his saliva on your clit before swirling around your entrance.
"Fuck," you cried, your nails digging crest moons into the flesh of Florence's thighs. "please, just fuck me already!"
"Don't think she can take anymore teasing Flor." Harry chuckled, yeah, chuckled, from between your thighs.
"But I was having fun." She pouted, her tongue stopping its mesmerizing movements.
"Can 'ave fun with her after." Harry said as he started to shed the layers of his suit.
"I'm literally right here!" You complained, your huff of annoyance jammed down your throat when Harry pulled up by your legs. Your face now exposed to his smirking, mischief filled eyes.
"We know, baby," he cooed, almost too sweetly, something about the look behind his eyes made your pussy flutter but your mind anxious about how sore you'd be tomorrow. "Ass up for me."
You eagerly nodded your head, trying to roll over in your place before the tsking clicks of his tongue stopped your movements.
"Like this." He said, pulling you off the couch. Your knees on the hard linoleum floor, your elbows resting on the seat of cushion in front of you. Giving Flor just enough space to sit pretty right in front of you.
Your arms instinctively circling around her thighs, pulling her core down to mouth. Her moans filled the small space around you. Vibrating off the walls with an echo.
"Should 'ave done this in 'ere before." Harry mumbled more to himself than to either one of you as his tip teased your entrance. Your hips swayed instantly at the contact, slowly backing up the little bit you could to feel him slip inside of you.
He hissed, his fingers gripped the round flesh of your ass tightly before he surged forward, stuffing you to the brim with his cock.
"I ruin this pussy 'most everyday and you're still so fuckin' tight." He gritted out through his teeth, your walls clenched down around him at his words.
"Guess you're not fucking her good enough then."
Your eyes widened in disbelief belief, disconnecting from her core so your mouth could gape in shock.
Did she hate you being able to walk?
"That so?"
"'S what I said."
"Kitten," You squeaked when you were lifted by your shoulder, your back against Harry's chest. His hands snaked under your shirt just long enough to rip it off. "you can thank Flor tomorrow for why you won't be able to sit."
"She'll probably be thanking me." The blonde rolled her eyes playfully teasing but enjoying the fact she was getting under his skin.
"Need me to stop, just tap my leg," his deep voice husked into your ear. Your hand tapping his leg, showing him you understood, before you were hurled back in front of Florence's core by the back of your head. "good girl, now lick."
You had Harry go hard on you before but when he sheathed himself fully inside of you in one go, you knew you were really going to be in for it.
Your tongue tried to desperately get Flor off as fast as you could, your fingers slamming into her sweet spot, as your eyes rolled to the back of your head. You had a hard time knowing where to focus. Her addictive taste or his marksman worthy precision thrusts into your g-spot.
Your body felt like warm liquid was being pumped through your veins. Both of them gripping onto you at different ends, his hips grinding against your ass as he sat balls deep in your pussy. Her hips dragging against your mouth, fucking herself against your face.
The sound of their collective moans slicked through the sticky, sex filled, air around you. Your mind lost in that space of non-thinking as your body moved back and forth between the two of them.
"Gonna cum all over my cock, sweetheart?" Your walls tightened around him as her fingers dug deeper into the back of your head. Her own cord snapping only moments before your own.
The white burning light washing through your body followed by the familiar gush of fullness in your lower tummy.
"Holy shit," Florence breathed out, her arm dropped across her forehead.
"Why haven't we done that here before?" Harry asked through short breaths.
"'S company property." You mumbled against the couch, your head buried into the soft material as your legs gave out to lay on the heaven-like cold floor below you. "We literally just said fuck you to New Line Cinema."
You heard chuckling from either side of you, both of them still slightly out of breath.
"Hope we don't work with them again then."
#harry styles x reader#florence pugh x reader#harry styles x florence pugh x reader#harry styles x you#Florence pugh x you#Florence pugh x reader#harry styles fanfic#harry styles fanfiction#florence pugh fanfic#florence pugh fanfiction#fanfic#fanfiction#mine#writing#threes company#three to tango#in the middle
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2 Truths & a Lie (Spencer Reid Imagine)
Summary: A game of “Strip 2 Truths and a Lie” helps heats things up between SSA Reader and Spencer.
Prompt: “Ladies first.”
Couple: Spencer Reid x Female Reader
Category: Fluff
Content Warning: Alcohol consumption, stripping
Word count: 3.5k
✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*
“Strip poker!” Garcia slurred. “Let’s play! Let’s play! Let’s play!”
You had to interject. “No way! If Reid’s playing - I’m not. That’s so unfair.”
Morgan agreed with you. “Yeah, I’m with Hot Stuff over here. He’s banned from three casinos for a reason.”
All eyes turned to the aforementioned man, whose smug smile reached from ear to ear. “Fair enough. What can we play then?” He asked.
It was your turn to scream like a giddy Garcia. “Two truths and a lie!” You jumped up from your seat on the floor. “It’s totally fair cause we’re all profilers here. So it’ll either show how good of a liar you are or show how good of a profiler you are.”
“Excuse me, Girl Goddess. Need I remind you - I’m not a profiler.” Garcia butted in.
JJ made a disapproving noise against the brim of her red solo cup. “Hey, hey, hey - you’re like the first to tell when someone’s hiding something.”
Garcia simply smiled at this. “Ah, you’re right, Jayje.”
So it was settled. You and the BAU were gonna play “Strip 2 Truths and a Lie.”
But to make things a little more interesting, you changed up the rules.
The order the players would take turns went in a clockwise circle. Garcia, Morgan, Reid, you, Prentiss, and JJ. (Hotch and Rossi bailed last minute. Apparently, being invited to Garcia’s wasn’t an offer they couldn’t refuse.)
Instead of players guessing what the lie was and stopping once someone guessed correctly, you were all going to guess at the same time. Garcia took the liberty of handing each of your sticky notes and once the player said their two truths and one lie, you would write your guess on your post-it and put it in a pile for the “liar” to read.
Then the “liar” would declare who was stripping based on who guessed incorrectly. And just for some more fun - the “liar” wouldn’t explicitly tell what the real lie was. You profilers would just have to use context clues to do that.
Since each player was guessing on post-its, Garcia gave you each a different color to distinguish who guessed what. Granted, it was Garcia, so she had every shade of the rainbow. She gave herself the red, Reid got the orange, you got yellow, Prentiss - green, Morgan got blue. And JJ - purple.
“I’m first!” Garcia sing-songily said. “Alright - I had a guinea pig named Cerulean when I was little . . . my mom knew how to juggle, andddd, OH! I lost my virginity to a guy I met online with the gamer tag ‘FastAndFurious79.”
Morgan almost spat out the drink he was nursing from his shock at the last one. “Babygirl, you did what?!” The pitch of his voice sent the rest of you into a frenzy as you each wrote your guesses on your sticky note pads.
You guessed the lie was the guinea pig. And using your peripherals, you saw that Prentiss thought the same. You folded your yellow sticky note and placed it in the center. Eventually, when the rainbow was complete, Garcia began reading them. “I hate you guys! It’s no fun being friends with profilers.” She pouted.
“You lost your virginity to a guy with the gamertag ‘fast and furious?!” Morgan screeched. You and the team laughed so hard, your stomach started hurting.
The game continued for an entire round until it was Morgan’s second turn.
“Alright, growing up my favorite movie was Kindergarten Cop . . . um, I used to be a lifeguard, and my body count is higher than my age.”
Reid was quick to jot down his answer, but you took a little time with yours.
“What’s the problem, Hot Stuff?” Morgan teased.
“Mmm, I dunno. You’ve genuinely got me stumped on this one.” You admitted. Morgan just shot you that infomercial worthy grin as a response.
Hesitantly, you finally wrote down that he was lying about his favorite moving being Kindergarten Cop. Your sticky note was the last to go in the pile, so you just handed yours to Morgan to speed up the process. He chuckled while going through most of them and looked back up at all of you with that same smug look Reid had earlier.
“Looks like Pretty Boy and Hot Stuff are the first to strip tonight!” He declared, making you roll your eyes.
“Your body count isn’t higher than your age?!” Reid squeaked. Morgan laughed and shook his head no. Now that - that was shocking.
“Alright, what can I take off that counts?” You clarified.
“Any piece of clothing that covers your legs, arms, and torso.” Morgan happily informed.
It wasn’t fair. On a normal workday, you would have a blazer, pants, or sometimes a skirt, and a blouse or shirt underneath, but today was collectively your guys’ day off - so you only had on a fitted tee and jeans. Whereas the genius to the right of you wore a sweater vest, button-up, tie, belt, and his pants. Before, you would make fun of him for wearing so much on a day off, but now you were envious.
“Not fair! He’s got like 80 pieces of clothing on.” You whined. The rest of the group, including Reid, laughed at you. Not a single one of them offered mercy. Looks like you were just gonna have to strip off what little clothes you were wearing.
“Ladies first.”
Reid teased as if he was being a gentleman by saying this. His voice made it sound so subtly seductive that your cheeks heat up. He even said it with the side of his mouth, making his plump lips form a smirk.
You raised your brows at his cockiness. You wanted to make him eat his words, so you stood up - first, unbuttoning your jeans painfully slow. All eyes were on you as you stuck your thumbs inside the waistband and wiggled your hips, while simultaneously pulling your jeans down. You made a little show out of it, milking the situation. You dragged the denim down while arching your back to flaunt your butt as it was unhurriedly revealed. And just for fun, you angled yourself, where Reid could get the full view. When your jeans dropped to your ankles, you stepped out of them, bent over to retrieve them, and for a finishing touch - you dropped them right onto Reid’s lap.
“They don’t call me Hot Stuff for nothing.” You flirtatiously remarked.
“WOO-HOO-HOO! That was sexy, Mamas!” Morgan cheered. The girls all had faces of admiration or surprise on them - mainly admiration. Whereas Reid appeared like he’d just discovered porn or something - like a whole world of possibilities opened up.
“Hello? Earth to Dr. Reid?” You joked, sitting back down beside him.
When you felt the floor’s rug against your thong, it shocked you a little, so you moaned at the feeling. Not loud enough for everyone to hear over their laughs and cheers but just loud enough for Reid to. And he most certainly did. Because you caught his tongue sweeping over his lips while his eyes looked at yours. If you weren’t in a group setting, you would’ve straddled him right then and there and kissed him, but you weren’t gonna lose control like that. The question was - would he? And secretly - you were hoping he would.
“Wow, Y/N. You’ve rendered him speechless. I don’t think that’s ever happened before,” Prentiss quipped. “You should do that more often.” Everyone erupted into another fit of laughter.
Reid shook his head as if to re-enter reality. “I, uh, I - I’m just gonna take off my belt.” He concluded, fiddling nervously with the buckle.
“Need some help there?” Before you even finished the question, you put your small fingers around the clasp, making him shiver.
“N-no!” He whimpered, grabbing your wrists in one hand and moving them away from his groin. He continued to unbuckle it and neatly place it behind him.
The game continued on for many more minutes with Morgan losing his shirt and consequently, Garcia losing her shit (which was understandable because Morgan was RIPPED.) JJ removed her belt, while Garcia took off her cropped cardigan. Prentiss was the only one left who was fully clothed, while you and Reid still hadn’t lost any more articles of clothing since the initial time you did.
“Alright, alright! Me again!” Garcia giggled, while she downed the rest of whatever was in that red solo cup. “Let’s see. Oh, I got it! Okay, my hair has been dyed every color except for green, I’m the president of a secret club for people that love sea otters, and I’ve had sex more times on the floor than in the bed.” She squealed.
You weren’t buying that she’s never dyed her hair green, and after a quick side glance to the right, you saw that Reid didn’t buy it either. You folded the paper over your answer and placed it confidently in the center - waiting patiently for the verdict. Garcia zealously scooped up all the post its and scrutinized them. “Uh oh, I think Boy Wonder and Girl Goddess might be out of a job once Sir Hotch finds out how bad they are at detecting lies!” Garcia got so excited she started jumping up and down. You pouted and faked sobs once you heard this.
“Take it off! Take it off! Take it off!” The group started cheering.
Just to be the center of attention once more, you stood up and put your right hand under the hem of the left side of your shirt, and you put your left hand under the hem of the right side of your shirt, making your arms cross over your tummy. You pulled the shirt up (sucking in your gut once it was uncovered) all the way until it was finally over your head. You were left in your maroon push up bra and your black lacy thong - a set that didn’t match, but when you looked down at yourself, looked decently good together.
The “crowd” gasped at your figure in its entirety. Encouraging words were spewed at you, making you smile.
“Alright, your turn.” You nudged Reid. He simply slipped off his sweater vest, quite ungracefully might you add. But little did you know that he lost all coordination after seeing you so bare.
“Here.” He whispered, removing his tie from his collar. He began unbuttoning his dress shirt, which you didn’t understand why, until he shrugged it off of himself and helped you into it. You weren’t surprised in the least when you saw that underneath his white button-up was a cotton tee. Of course, he had even more layers than you previously thought.
“Aww, look at that.” Prentiss said with awe at Reid’s actions.
While Reid rolled up the long sleeves until he saw your hands peek through, all you could manage to do was look at him. He bit his lip while he did this, showing how focused he was on the task. He was absolutely adorable.
“Do you want me to button it for you?” He quietly asked. You shook your head no.
“It’s okay. Thank you.” If you could’ve seen yourself, you would’ve seen that your eyes had hearts in them. You were the epitome of lovesick.
“Yeah, of course.”
When he stopped helping you dress, you couldn’t help but notice the outfit he was left to wear. It was a plain white tee with gray dress pants and his classic black converse. How he managed to look so good in such a simple outfit was beyond you. It was quite unfair actually. You thought his normal quirky attire suit him pretty well but this outfit made you feel something you’d never felt before. Your eyes drifted up to his hair, which since he cut it last year, was growing out again but was still short. It was the perfect length and had a little curl and unruliness to it - just the way you liked. It looked so soft that you were overcome with a sudden overwhelming urge to run your fingers through it, but you willed yourself not to.
“I think someone’s in love over there.” Morgan pointed to you, making you snap out of your trance.
“What? NO!” You shrieked.
“Oh my god, you totally are.” Prentiss giggled.
“Somebody likes Reid.” JJ sing-songily teased before sipping at her drink and looking away.
“OK, enough with the crazy talk. We’re all a little too drunk to be making such claims.” You concluded. “I think maybe it’s time to go home.” You hastily said, trying to change the topic.
“Mmm-mmm,” Morgan disapprovingly shook his head. “None of us should be driving right now. Even Reid.” Reid looked slightly offended at the comment, but he couldn’t deny it. He’d only had one drink, but everyone knew Reid was a lightweight.
“Why don’t you guys just crash here?” Garcia slurred. No one objected, so the sleeping arrangement was made. Morgan and Garcia would sleep in Garcia’s bed. JJ on the beanbag. Prentiss on the loveseat. And you and Reid on the couch.
“Me and Reid?” You asked Garcia.
“Uh-huh,” She nodded rapidly. “You’ll fit. Just spoon!” She said with joyful elation.
“Uh ohh, Reid and Y/N sittin’ in a tree. C-U-D-D-L-I-N-G.” Morgan jested.
“Shut up!” Reid chucked a pillow at Morgan’s face - which he caught before it even touched his head. “Don’t worry, I’ll just sleep on the floor.” Reid told you.
“No, don’t be silly. We share the couch on the jet all the time.” You told him. Covertly, you were hoping he wouldn’t argue against it. There were certainly worse things you could do than cuddle with Reid. Just as you wanted, he didn’t contend.
“Here.” He handed you your jeans and t-shirt, which you took but didn’t put back on.
“Do you mind if I stay in this? There’s no way I can fall asleep in my jeans,” He blinked hard as if to process what you were saying but didn’t dispute. “I’ll be back.” You disclosed while walking to Garcia’s bathroom to put on your shirt and take off your bra. You came back out, feeling a cold breeze. Unbeknownst to you, the cold air hardened your nipples, but this was not lost on Reid. He let himself get a glimpse of the sight while he laid on the couch, waiting for you to join him.
“You’re really gonna sleep in your pants?” You asked him, not even trying to imply anything sexual.
“Would you mind if I took them off?” He shyly questioned.
You shook your head as if to say, “No, not at all.”
He slid them down before you took your spot on the couch. While Reid’s back was against the backrest, your back was right up against his chest. This was the position you’d normally be in if you were on the jet. Something that surprisingly - the team never teased you for. It was as if everyone just accepted it as something normal. Something totally natural.
Except in this instance, Garcia’s couch was surprisingly not as wide as the jet’s, so you had to scoot back a little to fit. However, you didn’t anticipate how close Reid already was to you. So when you backed up, (for lack of a better term) you made ass-to-dick contact.
“Oh my God! I’m so sorry!” You nervously blurted. Reid uncomfortably laughed it off.
“No, no. You’re fine.” He reassured you. It was enough to convince you to settle back down and cuddle up to Reid again.
Despite doing this countless amounts of times before, there was something about this time that made you feel differently. You thought that your heart might sooner beat out of your chest. The rhythm vibrated through your entire body, and you honestly worried that the beat was so loud that Reid could hear it. After 30 minutes of this, the whole house was knocked out - except for you. You harbored too much nervous energy to fall asleep.
“Are you feeling okay? You’re breathing really hard.” Reid murmured, his quiet voice shocking you. Damn it, he wasn’t asleep either? Leave it to him to pick up on your unnatural breathing patterns. You told Reid it was nothing, but he didn’t leave it alone. “How can I help you sleep?”Once more, you told him you were just fine. “Can I just try something? My mom used to do this for me when I couldn’t fall asleep,” You reluctantly agreed. “Turn around.” He softly commanded.
You did as asked, turning towards him. Now that you were face-to-face, Reid took his arm that was by his side before and put it over your body, with his hand on your back. You felt his warm touch move from between your shoulder blades, down your spine, all the way to the small of your back. He moved up and down repeatedly, sometimes adding pressure along the way. Your eyes closed at the pleasure.
“Does that feel good?” He asked sweetly, but even then, you couldn’t help but imagine him asking that same question in a very different scenario.
You couldn’t be bothered to speak real words, so you hummed in tranquility.
He kept doing this until he noticed your breathing started to slow down. It was working.
The last thought you had before falling asleep completely was of how you never wanted this moment to end.
✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*
“How long should we wait until we wake them?” You heard JJ ask. Her voice seemed so distant for some reason.
“Mmm, I give it five more minutes.” Morgan’s voice chirped. Now his voice seemed to be closer.
“Should I take another picture?” Garcia asked. Wait a minute - her voice was louder now too.
You groggily opened your eyes, wincing at the brightness of your surroundings.
“Oh, I think Hot Stuff’s awake.” Morgan’s words sobered you up enough to lift your head and examine your surroundings.
Reid’s face was buried into your chest, while your hand was in his hair. Your leg wrapped around Reid’s lower body, with his hand hooked on the back of your knee, hiking it up even further and keeping your leg in its place. You began realizing just how provocative the scene was, so you startled yourself out of it. Like the clumsy goof you are, you rolled out of Reid’s embrace, but with no extra space to roll over onto, you tumbled to the floor gracelessly. This woke up Reid and made the four viewers hovering over the couch die laughing.
“Not funny.” You groaned, clutching your side in pain after collapsing onto the floor.
“What happened?” Reid yawned.
“What happened was you and Hot Stuff got pretty comfortable on Garcia’s sofa.” Morgan sounded way too happy to tell Reid this.
You looked back at Reid with a frown, noticing how he looked like he was a child that had just been caught doing something bad.
“Maybe next time we play Strip 2 Truths and a Lie, they’ll finally admit they like each other.” Prentiss giggled, mentioning you and Reid as if you weren’t in their presence.
“Be quiet!” You and Reid simultaneously yelped.
You buried your face into a throw pillow that had been discarded on the floor, probably from where you and Reid took up all the space on the couch. As you hid your face in embarrassment, you heard the quartet move away from the scene and into the kitchen, leaving you and Reid to your devices.
“Sorry about them.” He finally said. His voice was all raspy from where he’d just woken up and all you could think was - YOU’RE KILLING ME. How did he make everything he did so sexy?
“Me, too.” You uttered, removing the pillow from your face to hug it in your arms like a child hugging their toy. From behind you, Reid sat up and swung his legs to the front of the couch to stand up and help you up from your sitting position on the floor.
“For what it’s worth, I don’t regret anything,” He told you when you’d risen to eye level with him. You smiled to suggest that you felt the same way. “You know, maybe we could do this again . . . without the audience.” He cocked his head backward to gesture to the rest of the group.
“Only if you promise to give me back rubs again.” You beamed.
The look on Reid’s face was priceless. It was as if he’d just been told he won the lottery. You walked away from him with the same stupid grin on your face that he had on his.
“Hey, wait I’m gonna need that shirt back!” He called out from behind you as you moved swiftly into Garcia’s bathroom to change.
“I guess you’ll have to come pick it up from my apartment tonight.” You yelled back to him, lingering in the doorway. His smile was your answer.
Well - looks like you have plans tonight.
✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*
#spencer reid#spencer reid fanfic#spencer reid fanfiction#spencer reid imagine#criminal minds#criminal minds fanfic#criminal minds fanfiction#criminal minds imagine#spencer reid x reader#one shot#mgg#matthew gray gubler
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From Song to Storyline: Comparing Lorde’s “Melodrama” Album to Hailey Upton’s Upcoming Journey
Ok I couldn’t resist, I made a comment about how Hailey Upton is in her Melodrama era (because yes, I’m an absolute Lorde fanatic) and my loving soulmate @sylviebrettsey mentioned Taylor Swift’s Reputation too, but ALSO how she was unfamiliar with Melodrama so you can thank her for this analysis of why I picked Melodrama as Hailey’s season 9 mood! It’s going to be VERY long so I’ll put everything under the cut but I hope you guys like it! (And Sky, I hope you find this Lorde knowledge to be helpful lol. This is going to be very long but I hope it’s worth it and convinces someone out there to give the album a listen)
Reputation is an album that feels inherently vengeful in all the best ways. Songs like “Getaway Car” and “Don’t Blame Me” fit Hailey’s predicament at the end of season 8 very well, especially in relation to Jay. Those two songs as well as the album in general make for a very intense musical journey and Hailey’s been through a lot of intense things so naturally, it seems like they’d fit together. But based on what we’ve seen in interviews, I picked Melodrama for Hailey Upton’s season 9 era because that whole album plays with the idea of what happens after.
Lorde mostly talks about the crash that happens after a party when referencing this “after” but it acts a metaphor for being on a high note (a relationship, life, careers, etc.) and then crashing down. It’s a gritty, heart-wrenching album that holds so many similarities to what Hailey’s feeling. Coming into season 9, we know she isn’t sleeping, she can’t eat, there’s guilt eating away at her over what she’s done and over having to be around Kim constantly while keeping her secret. We know she’s clinging onto Jay with this proposal, know she’s going to have this internal torment because she can’t tell any of them what happened but Jay’s starting to notice something’s wrong with her and catching on to what happened. So, without further ado, lemme just give you snippets of lyrics from various songs on Lorde’s Melodrama album that fit with different parts of Hailey’s journey— as well as the unit’s journey— going into the new season!
1. “Sober”
In Sober, Lorde writes and sings about her experience of getting a panic attack at a party (Hence, the “Oh God, I’m clean out of air // In my lungs, it’s all gone” line) but then having to act normal because of social expectations and adds the “Played it nonchalant” line. In relation to Hailey, this represents her covering her ruse even though it’s killing her inside. Then, when we move further down these lyrics, it talks about being alone with the truth and dancing with the truth— again, Hailey struggling with the truth of what she did. Then, at the end of this first verse it could almost be seen from Jay’s perspective. “I’m acting like I don’t see // Every ribbon you used to tie yourself to me” is SO similar to what Jesse Lee Soffer’s been saying in interviews about Jay not knowing if Hailey’s proposal was genuine, and also what he and Tracy have said about Hailey’s proposal being genuine but also a product of her clinging on to the one good thing in her life.
2. “Liability”
Ah, yes, finally! The best song on the Melodrama album and arguably one of Lorde’s best songs ever! She wrote this in the back of a cab about the struggle of trying to love herself and worrying she’s too much for her friends. If that’s not a Hailey Upton sentiment going into this season, I don’t know what is! Not only is this applicable to Hailey with the Roy situation but it could also be applied to 8x11 when she was scared that her baggage and trauma around being abused by her father meant she couldn’t be with Jay. Also, now that she’s done this huge, massive thing that she has to live with, it’ll make it even harder for her to love herself— and for her to consider the fact that maybe, if she was truthful about that night, her friends would still love her anyway.
3. “Homemade Dynamite”
Homemade Dynamite, according to Lorde, describes “the moment when you meet someone at a party and an explosive night follows”. Again, right off the bat you see motifs of lies vs. truth when she’s saying let’s let things come out of the woodworks. It also technically talks about being blind to rules and dreams which is perfect for the finale: Hailey was blind to her dream (because let’s be real, thinking she could stop Voight was a fantasy), and Voight was blind to the rules. And just like the song says, it’s all bound to blow up on Hailey sooner or later, like homemade dynamite.
4. “Sober ll”
I feel like I don’t even need to explain my thought process behind this one. Trauma, melodrama, gun fights, terror, horror. ALL OF THESE are key words for what Hailey’s been through and will CONTINUE to go through. “They’ll talk about us, and discover // How we kissed and killed each other” is also applicable to the synopsis about how the FBI is potentially getting involved in discerning what happened to Roy. If they do, it could launch an investigation into the entire unit which could uncover a lot— “kisses each other” being the relationship drama that happens within the unit and “killed each other” being what happened with Roy and Voight’s general track record of murdering criminals and covering it up.
5. “Writer In The Dark”
Ok this first line is pretty much the entire reason I put this section of the song into this post. “I am my mother’s child, I’ll love you ‘til my breathing stops” is very strongly representative of Hailey’s past. She was raised in a household where her mother loved an abusive man and continued to love him even through the abuse of her and her children. It’s traumatizing, sure, but it also explains why Hailey’s reaction to shooting Roy was to go home and propose to Jay. She gets that loyalty from her mother, to the point where she could even stay in situations that hurt her (like refusing to leave Voight in the warehouse). But Jay doesn’t hurt her, he loves her unconditionally too which is why Hailey would love him until her breathing stops— or until, as it proceeds to say, “‘til you call the cops on me”, which is applicable in a much more literal sense.
6. “Supercut”
Supercut is probably my personal favourite of Lorde’s songs. The buildup is beautiful and the come-down is slow and gradual. It’s the epitome of pop in my opinion. But Hailey most definitely plays that moment over in her head and in her head, she would have done the right thing that night. And maybe she’s hoping the unit (Jay especially) will forgive her for shooting Roy instead of letting it cause a fight. This whole song is about replaying moments of a relationship in your head and changing the scenario so that it plays out as if you did everything right. You won’t always do everything right though, because we’re human and make mistakes, but it’s more than plausible that Hailey’s trying to capture that feeling.
7. Liability (Reprise)
Last but not least, we’ve got the reprise for Liability! This one’s a little more generic because it’s just the general vibe of the song that fits Hailey and this PD angst so well but honestly “And all of the shit that we harbour // Make all the kids in the choir sing, “Woo-hoo” is very applicable to Hailey because she’s got a lot of baggage going into this new season. “And maybe all this is the party // Maybe we just do it violently” is another line that fits her situation so well. In addition, since Liability is one of the last songs on this album the outro of the song is almost like the absolute rock bottom reached in the journey the album tells. It could easily be compared to if/when Jay finds out about what Hailey did. (Seriously, just imagine Jay saying “you’re not what you thought you were” to Hailey and tell me that wouldn’t make you cry! In a good way OR a bad way!)
Anyway, IN CONCLUSION: Melodrama is a twisted, heartbreaking album that fits into Hailey Upton’s upcoming journey in season 9 with the Roy storyline PERFECTLY! If you have time to listen to the album— or at least the songs I mentioned— then please do because it’s SO worth it. But until then, we’re going to be in for quite the angsty ride this season when it comes to Chicago PD and personally, I can’t wait to see what they do with it!
#abby trying to be meta? it’s more common than you think#I’m such a lyrical nerd so this was heaven for me to write lmao#hailey upton#chicago pd#analysis#meta
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fic writer interview
Tagged by @skogrr Thank you very much! It's a while since I've done one of these, and I've missed them.
Name: Tru/"Oi you"
Fandoms (that I write for): Dragon Age, mostly. Still the fandom of my heart. Mass Effect, Deus Ex... uh, accidentally GreedFall? I don't know how or when that happened.
Two-shot: Hmm... The actual last two-shot I wrote was Terms & Conditions, a very silly Dorian/Inquisitor modern AU where Gal is the guy Dorian hires to stop his late father's house falling apart. Recently? I suspect that's going to be Driftwood, which can stand on its own as a sort of weird post-canon first-meeting AU, but is trying to tempt me to continue it. (Vasco ends up going looking for Tír Fradí, which has disappeared - and finds it. He also finds De Sardet as a highly avoidant tree god of the island, post-Bad Ending, who transformed against her will. And he ends up falling in love with her anyway.) Weird tree gods! Pining by literal pine! An eventual happy ending! More grumpy commentary by Vasco!
Most popular multi-chapter: Either An Unquenchable Flame or Distraction, probably - both juggernaut pairings, the former close to the game's release and the latter with some fancy forbidden romance, so not so surprising. But surprisingly, Prague, 10:42 PM has done really well, considering it's for a small fandom (Deus Ex) and a rarepair age/rank-difference pairing that I thought would be a one-off experiment? I get it, guys. I like sad repressed stoics too.
Actual worst part of writing: Editing - which can be fun, but that "over and over" stage when you're about to post, especially in a longfic if you fear you've lost the spirit of the thing and the character voices and you can't see the wood for the trees. And when I have to remove a whole scene which Jenga-unbalances the fic, and then I have to redux from the top. Basically, most things to do with pacing.
How you choose your titles: I like double-meanings and one word titles. If that fails: quote from a song. If that fails: quote from poetry, but very rarely.
Do you outline: Only a little. A bulletpointed list of events or noted-down major lines of dialogue, that's usually it.
Ideas I probably won’t get around to but wouldn’t it be nice: Uh... oh god. I blame so many people for some of these.
Post-Destroy ending where John is attempting to build a shed on Rannoch because that's the kind of thing retired people do, right? and Tali is far better at it than him, and it's just... disgusting fluff.
Actually, just reduxing the early John/Tali stuff with a bit more nuance and a stronger style.
Eva and Kaidan, and their mutually wary first meeting. ("Wow, that's a lot of pomade." "Wow, that's a lot of death-glare.")
AU where Gal and Dorian never met in DAI, and after everything went down, Gal tried to fade into the shadows and leave. He ended up working in Tevinter as an occasional informant/odd-jobs guy the way he was pre-Inquisition. He ends up being a gardener for a bitter, wry magister who seems to hate the entire Magisterium, has recently lost his father to political scheming and murder, and wants to take down the entirety of the remaining Venatori with one staff and maybe his teeth if he has to (hi, Dorian). But first, Dorian's going to drink his own body weight in whiskey and be a recluse for a while and start thinking about time magic again. Gal is trying to keep his head down and should definitely not be falling in love with said magister. Who's someday going to end up at one of the more southerly ports, come across a statue of the great Inquisitor, and go, Oh.
Stuff on Jensen's PT and rebuilding himself post-augs. More of Proprioception, basically.
Mer-AU where Marie De Sardet is still a diplomat attempting to make new connections, just not a human one, and it's a disaster. An awkward disaster. Highlights include her being framed as the beast trying to drown their best captain; her attempting to wobble about on brand-new legs and Vasco's coat while everyone assumes the dear captain has had a few too many; her asking Vasco if his "fascinating markings" glow; them getting into a duel, and her (fondly) getting punted off the side of the ship going "Woo-hoo." OK, I wrote a bit of that, but only a 1k doodle I'll probably never return to.
Non-Naut court AU where Marie gets promised to Bastien D'Arcy, because he's a bit of a layabout but he's also rich, popular at court, and amenable to bribe - [cough] suggestion, and the D'Arcys have prominent trading links with the Alliance. Instead she falls for his far less of a social butterfly, tired, worried-numbers-guy brother Léandre, who's pretty damn uncomfortable around Nauts because he's well aware he nearly got sold to them and he is not the favourite.
Straight-up role-reversal AU (another thing where I've put down 1k that I'll probably never return to), where Marie's Naut name is Paz, and she's a fed-up second-mate who's tired of noble idiots and feels a little strange and conflicted about her mark (and has context for it, because they make frequent crossings to Tír Fradí). Also a little more jaded, without the love of her mother, and not nearly as much of a tryhard as Vasco in canon; she ended up here because she had nowhere else to go and the Nauts were like "Ooh, free kid," and she's well aware. She gets stuck escorting the D'Arcy brothers to Tír Fradí for their new venture and is not looking forward to it. Except one of them is intensely bright and wry and keeps asking questions about the ship and noticing shit he is definitely not meant to notice, and they keep ending up in strange conversations, even if he seems really, really wary and uncomfortable about Nauts.
Some vague stuff about Vasco's thoughts on Jonas and that whole side quest, considering he's also a sea-given and implies sea-given take some shit in the Nauts, and also how damn difficult it must be watching a sea-given's parents endeavour to get their kid back when he knows full well his didn't do that for him.
Actually, just more Vasco POV in general, even though he's damn hard to nail down. I've written much pining for him from Marie's perspective, and I'd like to try things from the opposite. This guy's idea of wooing someone perfectly normally is to panic and then recite Baroque poetry. You know he's sappy as hell in the privacy of his own head, even if he's trying not to be.
Jean and Síora having the "I'm a sad healer who just lost my mother and I'm trying so hard not to crumble under the weight of assisting the leader" mutual talk way too late at night around the campfire and maybe him crying on her shoulder a little, with mutual kindness and the beginnings of attraction, and her finally getting past his jokey-smug facade to understand him.
More stuff about Jean's past in general, and how he wanted to be a doctor before he was dragged away from it by looking after Constantin and being nobility.
Síora and Eseld and the ways they changed over the years; something like an exploration of grief and growing her own will and the ways they very differently view the renaigse. Also maybe more about the en ol menawi magic, if I can worldbuild well enough?
I'd also love to do a GreedFall soulmark AU - it's generally not my kind of trope, I'm not into biological determinism type tropes - just because names and aliases and assumed identities are such a mess in GreedFall and it's a repeated plot point. That said, I feel like it's been done so beautifully in this fandom before that I wouldn't have much to add.
Callouts @ me: So. Many. Commas. So much over-explaining everything. If they get out of the car, your readers do not need a five-page manual of "and then he undid his seatbelt and leaned over to grasp the door handle, and then pulled it, and then stepped a foot out before he almost thought better of it - but no, he was going to get out of this car. The other foot joined the first, and he nearly banged his head on the doorframe."
Best writing traits: People say I have a head for finding small-but-important moments. I'm also told I write likeable protags. People have more than once said my writing makes them feel safe or makes them smile, and I really couldn't ask for more than that. I'll take those.
Spicy tangential opinion: I don't think I have any, really? Oh god, that makes me sound so very boring. Oh! Um. There should be more tree body horror in fandom. And body horror in general. *thumbsup*
No pressure tagging: @artemis-crimson, @eridanidreams,@rainypixel, @aphreal42.
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No Matter Where You Go, No Matter What Happens - fic
Characters: Damian Wayne, Dick Grayson
Summary: Damian had given up on the family, given up on the Bats. But there was one who he thought he’d lost, who’d never give up on him.
A/N: Apparently my new thing is to ignore all the ideas I’ve been building in my head or long fics I’ve started to write garbage in two hours and post it. Cool. Could be seen as kind of? a sequel to Missing The Obvious, but also not really. But the same idea of that fic/what happened in that one is what I carry into this one, if that makes sense. But you don’t have to read that one! Just have to kind of know about Damian’s current turmoil in canon. I dunno. more trash from me woo-hoo~
~~
It was without warning, that his phone started blowing up.
It was Tim. Jason. Cassandra. Stephanie. Even a few from Barbara Gordon. And that proved its seriousness – Barbara never texted him, even in emergencies.
But he didn’t read them. Didn’t care to. He’d separated himself from the family months ago. Took his own path, one unobstructed by his father or mother. One entirely his own. He knew he didn’t have their blessing, not from anyone he considered family, but he also didn’t ask for it. Didn’t want it.
No one had contacted him since he left, which was good. Even when it stung, when he thought he might miss them, it was good, because that meant for once in his life – they listened to him.
But now, all of the sudden, it was like his attention was all they wanted. He scoffed as his phone buzzed again, and he whooshed the notification away without even glancing at its content.
Too little too late.
It’d been a week of this. A week of buzzing, of ringtones, of voicemails and texts. But it was fine, he’d already trained his brain to ignore it as white noise.
He almost laughed the day it became more than that. When he was sitting on the balcony, completing some research, when he heard his phone come to life inside the apartment. When he heard it start speaking.
“I…” It crackled. Damian smirked. About time they thought about remotely accessing the device. “I think I got it, Jay…”
Tim, of course. But still, Damian didn’t rush to answer it. Barely even turned his head towards the sound.
“Damian, if you can hear me, please just listen.” Tim begged. There was static on the line. “…bered, okay? He remembered and he wants to find you. Talk…you. We told him about your…gone the next morning. So, just…just so you know?”
“And don’t fucking attack him either, got it?” Jason chimed in angrily. “We told him your request…never fucking listened in the first place.”
“…mian, if you’re there, plea…ust let us know you got this, okay?” Tim continued, like Jason hadn’t interrupted. “That’s all we’re ask…you’re doing well, kid.”
The static took over his voice for a second, and then the phone went silent once more. Damian just snorted and went back to his research.
~~
The attempts to contact him stopped immediately after the message, and Damian didn’t care enough to remember anything Tim’s half-delivered message entailed. Whatever it was, he could handle it, surely.
So he wasn’t thinking about it, when he went into town a few days later and mulled around a farmers’ market. Didn’t think about it when he bought a bushel of fresh apples, and went to the nearby park to snack while he sketched the simple scene in front of him.
Didn’t think about it because for once, he was at peace. Calm. Settled.
But he should have known better. Because peace never lasts very long.
Somewhere nearby, in his periphery, he saw someone stop in the middle of the crowd, and stand there longer than normal. Frozen, clearly not looking at one of the nearby stalls. Damian took note of the person’s presence, but otherwise did nothing. Unless they attacked someone or pulled out a weapon, a person being strange was no reason to be alarmed.
“…Damian?”
Oh, well maybe that was.
He tightened the grip on his pencil as he looked up, but almost dropped the utensil instantly. Because the person who had stopped in the crowd, the person acting strangely, was none other than Dick Grayson.
“He remembered and he wants to find you.”
…Oh.
“Damian?” He asked again, taking a step forward. Damian just stared at him dumbly. Because with one word, with just one name, Damian knew it wasn’t Ric. It wasn’t the cabbie his older brother had become in the amnesia. With just the sound of his name he knew it was his brother. It was the Richard Grayson he knew and adored.
“…Grayson?” Damian whispered back. A grin instantly broke out on Dick’s face, but there was instantly something wrong with it, like it was being weighed down. Like it wasn’t allowed to exist.
“I found you.” Dick breathed, and instantly his eyes began to well up with tears. “I…I found you. I was starting to think I wouldn’t, was just thinking I should go home, but I didn’t…I didn’t want to give up on you. I didn’t…”
Suddenly, Dick inhaled a shaky breath and began wiping at his eyes with his fists, like a child might.
Damian’s eyes widened when he saw the first tear drop onto Dick’s collar. “Grayson…?”
“I…I remembered and I came home.” He sobbed. “But…but you weren’t there, and no one would tell me where you’d gone. It took…it took them a fucking week to tell me you’d left, and why, and what happened and I just…”
Dick curled in on himself, and without warning, dropped to his knees, right in the middle of the farmers’ market. Damian instantly jumped up, letting his sketchbook and pencils fall to the ground, and ran to his brother’s side. His own knees had barely touched the ground when Dick lashed out, dragging Damian into his arms, and hiding his wet face against his neck.
People were starting to stare. Damian ignored them.
“I’m sorry.” He murmured. “If I’d have been there, I’d have never let Bruce treat you that way. Or the Titans. Or the family.” He squeezed Damian’s shoulders. “I’d have stayed with you, or…or you could have stayed with me. We could have figured this out together. I’d have helped you. I’d have listened. I wouldn’t have let you be alone.”
Despite his shock at the moment, at the complete breakdown, at the situation, Damian felt himself smile. “I know, Grayson. It’s okay. It’s not your fault.”
But Dick was shaking his head. “When I remembered everything, I remembered you first. And I came straight to Gotham because I knew…” A pause, to blubber a little. “Because I thought you’d be there.” A watery exhale. “I just wanted to see you so bad, Damian. After…after everything, I just wanted to see you.”
Damian closed his eyes, wrapped his arms around Dick’s back. “Well. I’m here now. I hope that’s alright.”
Dick tried to laugh, but it came out wrong.
“And I won’t…I’m not here to force you back to Gotham. I won’t do that to you.” Another squeeze, and Damian almost had to grunt in pain. “I just wanted…I just needed to see you. After everything.”
Damian merely rubbed at his brother’s back. “…Thank you, Grayson.” He hummed. “Thank you for coming after me.”
“As if I ever wouldn’t.” Dick promised, voice almost angry. “And trust me, I gave Bruce a piece of my mind for not doing the same. For pushing you away in the first place.”
Reluctantly, Damian pushed Dick back, holding his arms as he stared up at his red, tear-stained face. “You look ridiculous.”
“Yeah, well.” Dick pouted, sniffing and running his sleeve across his eyes. “You go spend two weeks looking for your brother, afraid the whole time that you’re never going to find him or see him again.”
“I should not be on that high of a pedestal in your life, Grayson.” Damian laughed.
“God, kid, I’d hope you’d believe me by now.” Dick scolded, cupping Damian’s face in his hands. “You mean the whole damn world to me. Always have and always will. No matter what the rest of our family and friends do or say. Bruce included.” A thoughtful pause. “Bruce especially.”
Damian felt his face heat up, the sentiment almost too much to bear. He’d…forgotten, what it was like to be cared about. Quite frankly, the lack of Grayson reminding him so every second of every day is how he ended up on this shattered, lonely path in the first place. “…How long will you be in town?”
“For however long you’ll have me.” Dick swore, wiping at his eyes one last time. “I haven’t seen you in almost two years, Damian. A few days might not be long enough.”
“Stay as long as you want, then. Forever is fine.” Damian grinned. “We’ll have to get more food from the market, though.”
“Whatever you want to do, I’m with you every step of the way. Honestly, you’re stuck with me, for now.” He gently stroked his thumbs across Damian’s cheeks. “…I love you, kiddo.”
“I love you too, Grayson.” Damian said confidently. He pulled out of Dick’s hands and stood, offering a hand to Dick to help him up. Dick took it, stood, and immediately enveloped Damian back in his arms, pressing a long kiss to Damian’s forehead.
“I missed you so much.” Dick whispered into his hair. “So, so, so much.”
Damian leaned up into the embrace. “I missed you too, Grayson.” Then childishly: “Please don’t leave me again, even if it’s just through amnesia.”
“I’ll do everything in my power.” Dick promised. He held Damian for a moment, and they let the sounds of the market wash over them. Finally, hesitantly, Dick let go, stepping over to pick up Damian’s abandoned art supplies and remaining apples. “So. Where to first?”
“Back to the fruit stand.” Damian smirked. “I’m sure you didn’t eat much in the way of healthy foods in your life as a Bludhaven cabbie.”
Dick grinned at the barb. “Brat.” He laughed, wrapping his arm around Damian’s shoulders as they disappeared back into the crowd.
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Oh hey! I got tagged by both @anaaaispunk and @honestly-shite for this. 💜 I hope you find my answers illuminating. Let’s solve this crazy little mystery called Claire!
1. Why did you choose your url? I made this Tumblr so that I could just read some of my favorite smutty fics, and I didn’t think I was going to ever actually post anything. I was also a teeeeny bit embarrassed about it, so I didn’t use any of my previous social media handles. I figured I was just here for a short time, thus “just here for the moment” (And really, aren’t we all?)
2. Any side blogs? Nah. I have an abandoned Geocities page from 1998, and an abandoned Blogspot from like 2005, but that’s it.
3. How long have you been on Tumblr? May 5, 2021... so like 27 days now!
4. Do you have a queue tag? I don’t know what that is...
5. Why did you start your blog in the first place? So this is like, rilly, rilly embarrassing to admit. I’ve been on the Internet since the 90s, and I knew what fanfics were, but I always thought they were kinda cheesy. (I didn’t go around making fun of people, I just didn’t read any.) So then around Nov/Dec 2020 I got hooked on Pedro Pascal and the very awesome PP subreddit. Well, somebody linked to “Heaven” by @pedroepascal and I was hooked. That was some good stuff! So then I deep-lurked a few other Tumblr fics from incognito Chrome tabs, like the good Lord intended. 😂 THEN, on the PP subreddit back in early April, there was a post asking for Tumblr fic recs. I made a comment about how I was too embarrassed to say publicly what I was reading, but it was a HOT Whiskey series, and @driedgreentomatoes asked which one, so I messaged her the link to “Hotel Hobbies” by @loversandantiheroes and so @driedgreentomatoes and I spent literally 6 weeks messaging each other hot fic recs via Reddit. Well as you can imagine it gets pretty cumbersome juggling 20 incognito Chrome tabs on your phone, so I finally made a fucking Tumblr account to keep track of everything. THEN I found the Dave York Pit crew, THEN my brain said, “What if Dave was a sub?” And I had to start writing it.
6. Why did you choose your icon/pfp? Because I love Wonder Woman, and I’m not gonna subject y’all to a picture of my real goober face.
7. Why did you choose your header? Because I love Godzilla.
8. What’s your post with the most notes? As of today it’s “Distraction” where Javier Pena is obsessing all day about the curve under your ass. 😘
9. How many mutuals do you have? Uhhhh, is that the thing where you’re both following each other on Tumblr? I think like 35? 40?
10. How many followers do you have? 54 as of right now, woo-hoo!
11. How many people do you follow? Probably around that number, maybe a little higher?
12. Have you ever made a shitpost? That’s like asking me if I’ve ever taken a shit...
13. How often do you use Tumblr each day? More than I should
14. Did you have a fight/argument with another blog once? Nah, life’s too short to argue with people who can’t punch me in person.
15. How do you feel about “you need to reblog this” posts? I’m a survivor of actual stamped and mailed chain letters from the 1980s. You can’t scare me into reblogging that shit.
16. Do you like tag games? Sometimes?
17. Do you like ask games? Yes I love talking about myself. Ask me about the 90s!!
18. Which of your mutuals do you think is Tumblr famous? I know for a fucking FACT that @mourningbirds1 is. She’s too good for this world. Her work is fucking phenomenal!
19. Do you have a crush on a mutual? Not unless Pedro Pascal, Keanu Reeves, or Chris Evans is secretly one of my mutuals. However I do have massive “girl crushes” on all of y’all brilliant ladies and your kick-ass writing!! If I’m following you I like what you’re serving up.
20. absolutely no pressure tags: Not gonna tag anyone for this; all y’all motherfuckers do what you like.
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no - i was not convinced yet again that it was the 7th.
luckily i still have an antiquarian post-it with the date written on it.
also, no, i dont still have holiday fics to write.
Happy Birthday
Étienne stared at his laptop screen and let out a frustrated sigh. This was absolutely and utterly ridiculous. He felt like a right old fool and couldn’t believe it had all come down to this. Here he was, sitting in front of his laptop, staring at his screen, completely and unable to hit the “send” button. Letters, he decided, were much easier to write. At least with letters, he could write it, send it off, then forget about it, and not fret over the recipient’s reaction. At least he wouldn’t sit in front of his laptop waiting to see if his friend had seen his message or responded to it (and how he had responded to it.)
But – this was the Right Thing to Do – or whatever. God, and he’d even waited to make sure it was at least January 9th in Edward’s time zone before composing his very short, and very stock standard message to his friend. This was how ridiculous the whole thing was – it had come down to that. And all because he was trying to mend broken bridges – or whatever the expression was. He was trying to do the right thing and put fear aside and be the Bigger Man – or whatever. Whatever! This was dumb!
The great thing about the twenty-first century was that it was oh so convenient to stay in touch with friends who lived far away – the terrible thing about the twenty-first century was that it was oh so convenient to see how Great everyone else’s lives were. Case in point, he now knew for a fact that Edward had gone out with Calvin (woo-fucking-hoo) and that Emma had spent the weekend at the spa with – with Lucas (of all fucking people – he was going to gag). And he had spent a rather lovely (lonely) weekend at home watching television and Not Feeling Sorry for himself. (He was trying to be a Better Person and less of a sad sack – it was a work in progress. He’d actually wanted to stay in and relax – his therapist would be So Proud.)
Anyways.
The point of the matter was that it was Edward’s birthday and he could be a Good Friend and send him a very plain message wishing him a Happy Birthday and move on with his life. He wasn’t even writing anything heartfelt and deep – just a simple “Happy birthday!” – that was it. No emojis – no funny old pictures. Nothing. Hell, he’d even written it in English (because French seemed too loaded for them at this point – English was safe.) All he had to do was hit send and then try to get some sleep (it was 2h30AM – his sleep schedule was still a work of wonder (sadness) and at this point in his life, he was convinced it would never change).
But he didn’t want to seem too … desperate. And logically, he knew he could write out the message later, or at the very least, send it later, but he was afraid he would chicken out later and just – never get it done. And then he’d forget and he’d feel bad and then another day would go by and then Edward would think he had purposely not sent him a birthday message and then it would just – blow out of proportions and where would that even leave him? Letters could only get lost. Much easier to explain.
It was a complicated matter, really.
It’s why he preferred letters. No one would ever know when he’d written the letter or when he’d sent it out.
The thing was – the real issue was that his relationship with Edward had … fizzled out spectacularly – to put it lightly – and well, New Year, new him, or whatever, but he was actually and legitimately trying to mend things, even if he wasn’t sure Edward wanted to and even if he wasn’t sure where he stood with Edward anymore. (That was an entire other complicated matter all to itself. God. Over the past twenty years he could count on one hand the number of times he and Edward had actually had some sort of Actual Conversation and he absolutely fucking hated the thought that one of his oldest friendships could just – be over. It was why he was trying. It was why he had to remind himself that that Edward had sat with him at lunch a while back – that they were talking. That Edward often said hello to him when they ran into each other at meetings (Étienne was still sending Élyse in his place. He hated meetings.))
Hence, the proper thing to do when it was your friend’s birthday was to send them a regular, plain old, happy birthday message on Facebook and just – call it a day. People received dozens of such messages on their birthdays. If he really wanted to go for a more personal approach he would have sent a text message (but he didn’t have Edward’s cell number – so there), or he would have called him (he knew for a fact Edward had the same home number – Edward had told him – when he said he could send him a letter - had reminded him he hadn’t moved) – and he could have sent an e-mail, but that seemed too fastidious for just “Happy Birthday.” (Too much empty blank space where thoughts could spin into words better left unspoken - unwritten.)
But he didn’t want more personal he just wanted to wish his friend a happy birthday and hope that even though Edward had moved on from whatever it was they were back then that they could at least be friends. (Because Étienne realised that he didn’t care if Edward and he never turned into an item again – that Edward could be with dozens of other men, that he could be married and have children for all he cared, and live the white picket fence dream and it would be fine – so long as they could be friends again. Real friends. Like before, when they could spend time together, laugh at stupid things, and enjoy each other’s company without things being weird between them. That’s what he really missed – the easiness of their friendship. The comfort he had found in Edward.)
And sure – he still had feelings for Edward – and sure, he still thought of his friend every January 9th, but he too had moved on for a while and had explored other venues. If Edward was happy, then he was happy for him– but it didn’t mean that because Edward was seeing someone seriously that he couldn’t spend time with his friends (and if that was the case then Calvin could seriously fuck off.)
Étienne was ready to chuck his laptop out the window. Really, he was. He would throw it out and then go off to live in the forest with the mountain sprites, or something. He was too old for this nonsense. Too old. Too tired. Too afraid – and wasn’t that what was really at play here? He was afraid he would get flushed away. That he would be shelved for good. (Remember, a voice in his head said, Edward was there for your last big birthday. He peeled you an orange. He still speaks to you.)
What if he was wrong?
What if he was right?
Logically, he knew he could send the message, go to bed (or at the very least, close his laptop and do absolutely anything else), and move on. Plus, the chances of Edward even seeing his message at this time were slim. The man had better things to do than sit in front of his phone, or laptop, or tablet, and wait for the birthday messages to pour in. He was probably with Calvin. They might even already be celebrating. Even if it was Thursday. (But Edward had a new life now – so who knew?)
But maybe, by sending the message now, it would get lost in the hoard of messages and then Étienne could live with the satisfaction that he’d actually sent his message instead of being a coward, but he would never know whether or not Edward had seen it. Maybe that was fine. Just sending the message would already be that.
Maybe he should just forget about it. Edward wouldn’t even notice his message. He’d get others. He wouldn’t even notice that he hadn’t sent one. Again. Maybe it was best if he didn’t break the new status-quo.
But he wanted things to change. Étienne was tired with this going around in circles. It had been twenty goddamned years. He wanted a clear answer. He wanted to know. And maybe this message could be the cataclysm to something. Maybe he just had to be a little brave.
So he finally was. (After close to another hour. Details.)
He took a deep breath. Placed the cursor over the “send” button. Held his breath. Closed his eyes. And clicked the button.
It was done.
It was done and it was out of his hands and now Edward could do whatever. He could do whatever. And whatever was to get up, go for a smoke and then maybe a vigorous walk (until he remembered that it was winter and it was cold outside, but frankly, the walk still sounded better – if anything it would give his mind something else to think about. There was too much nervous energy coursing through him. He felt like he was vibrating out of his skin. Good God he was so fucking restless.)
Therefore, he got up and he was about to do everything he had just thought of doing, when he saw he had a little red notification.
Edward a attribué la mention “j’adore” à votre publication.
Maybe – maybe there was hope after all.
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Linked Universe Fanfic Ch. 1: The Cave (pt 1)
Stop! You’ve Violated the Law!
So, you’ve stumbled upon this original post for my Linked Universe fanfiction. That’s okay, it happens to everyone. As of March 2021, I’ve uploaded the entirety of this fanfic to my Archive of Our Own page. Along with finally giving the story a name (Oops! All Links: A Linked Universe Story) I made substantial edits to some of the chapters. These range from minor stylistic revisions to fixing a gaping plot hole that kinda completely broke the character conflict in the earlier chapters. I also renamed and renumbered (but not reordered) the chapters. Specifically, this is now Chapter 2.
The AO3 iterations of these chapters are the definitive versions. So, if you would like to read this fanfiction, please do so on AO3, right here. With this embedded link. Hehe. Geddit? Link?
Note: My screen name on AO3 is FrancisDuFresne. Yes, that is me. I am not plagiarizing myself.
Anyway, for posterity’s sake, the rest of the original post is below the cut.
@ linkeduniverse I had tons of fun writing my first fanfic for this AU, so I decided to write another. My last one was mainly dialogue, so I decided to focus this one on combat. Hope you enjoy! (edit: retroactively naming it to match it with the rest of my fan narrative) Word count: 1105
The clanging of swords striking swords rebounded off the walls of the cavern. Sparks flew through the damp air, pinpricks of light dancing in the darkness. Lamps hanging on belts flickered dimly, barely lighting the scene.
Stalfos surrounded the Links. There were easily a hundred of them, bombarding the nine heroes. “Hrrk!” Legend grunted as he deflected a blow off his shield. “You know, maybe this wasn’t the best idea!”
Between parries and dodges, Wild managed a sarcastic “What makes you say that?”
“I still can’t believe—” Legend dodged a swipe at his head— “I was the only one who—“ he parried a crooked sword with his shield— “thought we shouldn’t—” with a spin attack, he sliced off the head of the nearest stalfos— “go on a stroll through a cave!”
“I told you!” Wild snapped. “The Sheikah Slate said this was the quickest route!”
Warrior butted in, “Less talking, more fighting! We can settle this once we’re safe!”
While Wind was distracted looking over at his bickering teammates, a stalfos leapt forward, tackling him to the ground. His weapons clattered as he dropped them. He had completely forgotten his sword’s ability to freeze time for a brief moment.
A twisted skull and glowing eyes stared him in the face. Wind could see the monster’s sword being drawn higher. He struggled to get up, but it had him pinned. It was bringing its sword down…
“Guys!” he screamed. He covered his face with his arms, as if that would protect him. “HELP! AHHH—”
Twilight wasn’t even the closest of them all to Wind, but he heard him first. He whipped his head toward the scream and saw his youngest comrade about to meet a terrible fate. “NO!” His shout was more of a bark than words.
Faster than eyes could track, his form changed, and a wolf was charging full speed at Wind and his attacker. Five yards from them, the wolf leapt at the monster. In midair, the wolf disappeared again, leaving a furious Twilight in its place.The hero emerged twirling in a ferocious spin attack. He seemed to glide over Wind, his sword shattering the stalfos in his wake. He landed on all fours, his finger tips and boots skidding and kicking up dust.
Wind let his arm fall to his sides and propped himself up on his elbows. He stared at Twilight in awe. Twilight ran over to him. “Are you okay?”
“Y-yeah.”
“Good. Get on your feet.”
As Twilight lifted his sword and shield again, he took a fraction of a second to pat Wind on the head. He went back and started dueling with three stalfos at once. Wind got up, shaken but unhurt. He picked up his weapons and charged after Twilight.
Hyrule had just felled another monster. “Hey, if anyone has some special trick to help us out, this might be the time!”
Four realized that it may be time to bring in his other selves. He held the Four Sword aloft, pointing at what would be the sky had they been outdoors. A split second later, a blinding light shown from the blade. After the dark of the cave, it shocked the Links and stalfos alike.
The light faded, and four Links stood where one just had. They settled into perfect formation, moving in unison as if reading each other’s thoughts. Over the din of the battle, the others swore they could hear colors being shouted out.
The four identical Links formed a square, pushing groups of stalfos together. They moved in uncanny congruence with a chorus of war cries. Back slash. “Hup!” Forward slash. “Hup!” Back slash again. “Hup!” Spin attack. “HYAH!” They began to repeat this process over and over, tearing through the enemy ranks.
They other heroes and stalfos alike snapped out of their reverie and went back to fighting each other. Sky whistled. “Did anyone else have no idea he could do that?”
Incidentally, no one had.
An idea struck Legend. “Our boomerangs! Everyone, form up!” He, Time, Twilight, Wind, and Hyrule drew their boomerangs and threw them out into the crowd of monsters. Five twirling weapons knocked heads clean off the stalfos’ shoulders, with Twilight’s dragging the skulls into a whirlwind. The gale gathered the monsters’ bones with each of them it struck. In their one throw, the five heroes defeated at least thirty of their foes.
“Woo hoo!” Wind exclaimed. “You see that?!”
Time did indeed see that. He spared a second to look at his companions. They had come far in their journey together. When they first met to take down Dark Link, they could barely work together. Now they could take down dozens of monsters with just one attack. He was proud of them all, even himself.
Now only forty or so stalfos remained standing. Sky had his own ingenious strategy come to him. “Twilight!” he yelled. “Follow my lead!”
Sky drew his whip. He swung the rope-like weapon. Its sticky end latched onto a stalfos’ head. With a yank, Sky ripped monster’s head off and started to swing it, buffeting its comrades.
Twilight saw this and grinned. Sky hadn’t made the perfect analogy, but he knew what he was supposed to do. He looked around at his companions. The Fours and Wind might make this, he thought, but I don’t want to take any chances… “EVERYONE! DOWN!”
They were confused but dropped to the ground anyway. Twilight reached into his pouch and took out his massive ball and chain. He started spinning and building up momentum. After a few seconds, the steel ball was whipping around the cave at full speed. Stalfos after stalfos had their bones destroyed as soon as they were hit.
Then there were thirteen. One monster per one hero. The Stalfos realized they were now at a serious disadvantage. They slowly started to back away. The Link’s stood together, shields leveled, swords raised. Warrior looked around and smiled. “So, what? Are we doing this one by one? Or some special technique? I mean I haven’t had the chance to—”
“No need for theatrics,” Time said. “Let’s do this nice and simple.”
Time paused a moment to observe the scene. In the flickering light of their lanterns dancing on the damp cave walls, he could see the carnage. Ninety-some stalfos lay defeated. Some simply missing heads, some whose only trace of ever existing was fragments of bones scattered on the ground.
Twelve young heroes stood together and faced impossible odds. Now able to fight these monsters one-on-one, Time had no doubt they could do this. He closed his eye slightly longer than a standard blink, sighed, and smiled. His eye, now open and filled with fury, focused on the skeletal monster ahead of him.
“Sic ‘em.”
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Home - Part Two
Joker x Reader (as daughter) x Harley
{A/N} The moment I kept you guys waiting way too long for! I am so sorry, but I do hope you enjoy this part two! Thank you guys for the love, you don’t know how much it pushes me to keep writing even when I’m feeling overwhelmed with other things! Also, I apologize for the format, I am posting this from my phone but will fix it soon!
xo Harley
Warning: Kinda fluffy!
“I don’t know about this guys..” you started nervously, chewing your lower lip. “I don’t think my dad.. Bruce, is going to take too kindly to this.”
“Don’t be silly, sugar! He’s gotta understand, ya have ta’ do what you wanna do first an’ foremost!” Harley assured you, squeezing your shoulder.
Today was special. After a sort of battle royale for days over who was to keep your attention, you finally got Bruce to allow you some time with your biological parents, The Joker and Harley Quinn.
“Do ya like it?!” Harley asked excitedly, bubbling over like champagne in a flute as she waved a hand out to gesture toward an abandoned, yet still lively fairground full of carnival games and graffiti.
“We found this old dump an’ turned it inta’ paradise,” she swooned, prancing over to The Joker, who was leaning against a large lamp post, his eyes intently on Harley as she approached him.
“We wanted to make things… homey,” he grinned, every metal tooth seeming to gleam under the flashing lights.
You looked around, clearly impressed by their own ability to run a working carnival, no matter how sinister it looked, under the cities radar. It wasn’t until you set sights on your favorite game that your eyes lit up just as much as your mother’s. You knew Bruce was worried, but something in you told you there was nothing to be worried about. It all seemed to melt away, an excited feeling replacing all of the negative.
“Oh! There’s a shooting game!” You exclaimed, running off to the other side of the makeshift fair. “These are my favorite!”
As you stepped up to the booth, you noticed the bullet holes and the worn down decor even closer. The gun that sat atop of the long counter was real, not like the plastic ones you’d handled at the actual fair. Reluctantly, you placed your hand around it, the trigger fitting just nicely under your finger as you swallowed hard. You’d never held a real gun before, Bruce never allowed anything of the sort, but something in you felt like this was all too right.
You licked your lips, leaning down a bit with full concentration as you kept your eye on the target. There were purple and green teddy bears with fluff hanging out of the seams -and some possibly tainted with blood- hanging from the booths awning. You wanted one, and not because you asked, but because you earned it.
A rush of what could’ve been mistaken for madness washed over you as you pulled the trigger, tearing a hole into the target, then another and another, and another. All until you ran out of ammunition to continue the game. The buzzers ran wild, organ music began to play, and the targets roughly reset themselves as you reached up to grab a bear.
Just as you did, you felt a cold hand grab yours, tearing it from its place in the air. Reaction had you looking toward the person responsible, and you realized it was The Joker.
“Where on earth did you learn to aim like that..?” He asked, clearly bewildered at your skills.
“I.. I don’t know. It just felt.. right,” you trailed off, your eyes set on his.
His stare was cold, but within them held a hint of pride for his daughter. You were able to find that and pull it all the way out, feeling proud of yourself all of the sudden.
“Pretty good, right?” You asked, a large grin on your face as your hands seemed to place themselves on your hips.
“Pretty good?” He repeated, as though it were an understatement.
“I say you’d give Deadshot a run for his money!” Harley chimed in, sitting atop a cotton candy stall counter and pulling bits of pink and blue fluff from a paper cone.
The Joker then reached up for the bear you had your eye on, yanking it down from its spot and handing it over to you. Though he still seemed harsh, there was a softness to the gesture you didn’t think you’d ever see from the likes of him, daughter or not. He was still getting used to the notion, it was all too clear, but you could tell he already had a soft spot for you.
“She’s not wrong..” he growled, seeming deep in thought, as though he were plotting something.
“Aw, J, look at us!” Harley swooned. “We’re a lil’ family, just like I always wanted! She’s playin’ games and you’re handin’ her bears.. We’re makin’ up for lost time already.”
You smiled, a warmth radiating through your heart as you clutched onto the bear, holding it close to your chest.
You were happy- happy with them. It wasn’t that you didn’t love Bruce, he was your father for your entire life up to this point, after all. Still, as you sat there, soaking in your father's pride and delighting in your mother’s pure joy, your thoughts trailed back to him. Clutching on to the bear just a bit harder, you tried to keep your composure. A rush of emotions seemed to flood your head and chest until they had nowhere else to go. The sound of Harley’s small giggles were quickly drowned out by the sound of your sniffles as you wiped your cheek with the stuffed animals ear.
Immediately, Harley was off of the counter and standing in front of you, her hands placed on your arms with a look of concern on her features. The Joker was beside her, his eyes on her only as his face turned back to that of a calculating coldness. It looked as though he weren’t even sure what was going to happen next.
“Sweetie, what’s tha’ matter? Don’t ya like tha’ carnival games? Aren’t ya havin’ fun with us?” Her voice pitched higher with each question, sounding as though she might break down next.
The pout on her red lips gave her away as she looked at you, pulling you in for a hug.
“C’mon, sugar.. We- we really wanted this ta’ work out..”
“It’s not that,” you sniffed quickly, looking down at the gravel beneath your feet. “It’s just…”
“What…?” The Joker asked between gritted teeth, drawing out the word as though it might last forever.
“Bruce..” was all you could manage before you heard Harley sigh, giving you a tight squeeze.
“If ya don’t wanna stay with us, sugar, ya don’t have to,” she sniffled. “I just hate the thought of losin’ ta’ that damn bat…. again!”
Her eyes flashed with anger as she pulled back, but quickly toned it back down. The Joker’s face was still coldly expressionless as he stood beside you both, never that great with the mushy emotions.
“What? No! I would love to stay with you guys,” you chirped softly, watching her eyes soften even more. “I just feel bad.. You know, dad...Er, Bruce, protected me my entire life. He loved me so much, and made sure I had everything. I’m hurt that he didn’t tell me the truth.. I still love him. And all of this just feels strange. But this feels so much like home that it’s almost scary and…” you trailed off, Harley and The Joker hanging on your every word, staying quiet.
“I don’t know if I can choose just one side. You guys are perfect, and I want to spend all the time in the world with you!” You exclaimed, your eyes lighting up like the carnival game lights the surrounded you as you squeezed your teddy bear prize. “But I can’t just cut my dad off altogether.”
Harley chewed on her blood red lower lip, clearly in thought before she perked up again, seeming to completely ignore the conversation.
“Come play a game with me!” She giggled instead, grabbing the teddy bear from you and setting it aside before grabbing your hands and pulling you towards a high striker game covered in graffiti under its colorful shining bulbs.
Before you had time to wonder what was going on, what they thought of your feelings, she was already leaping to grab an oversized mallet from behind the game.
“This is my own mallet, not much else a gal can do when somethin’ fits her just right…”
She looked down at the mallet, a nostalgic grin on her features while her eyes traveled slowly to The Joker’s, who was now leaning up against a run down truck beside it with a large, toothy grin. There seemed to be something there that the two of them shared, and while you wondered if it was supposed to be an innuendo, you curtly recalled they were your parents, inciting a slight inward cringe instead.
“But I want ya ta’ use it! There isn’t another mallet around here that’ll do tha’ trick, anyway,” she said, handing the large mallet over to you with the same grin.
You eyed her for a moment, unsure of just what was going on. On one hand, it seemed like she wanted you to use it. On the other, it seemed she’d never let another soul touch it- willingly, anyway. You held your hand out, gingerly taking it from her pale, slender fingers. It was heavy, almost too heavy, and you wondered how on earth she managed to carry it around so easily.
With that, The Joker moved to swiftly flip a switch, turning the carnival game on further with a neon buzz to play the game.
“Step right up…” he growled, holding his hand out to lead you forward and in front of the game.
You took a few steps as he suggested, lugging the mallet with you over your shoulder. As you stood before it, the voices you heard more often than not these days began chattering away, saying things you weren’t quite able to make out. The colors and the lights became more vivid than they had been seconds ago, and a sudden urge to smile crossed into your aura. As you let the feeling wash over you, you lifted the mallet and..
Wham!
The bell’s shrill ringing filled the air and springs went flying next to shards of broken glass from the lightbulbs at the top.
“Woo-hoo!” Harley cried out, clapping her hands and cheering again.
“That’s my girl!” The Joker roared, wrapping an arm around your shoulders with an excited squeeze.
The grin remained on your face as you examined the game- it was broken, completely shot from the amount of power you’d thrown into it. You had to admit, you were pretty impressed with yourself.
Harley moved in then, taking your shoulders into her hands and squeezing them.
“You’re ya mother’s daughter,” she grinned, her features soft once more.
Your smile faltered then, all of the conflictions you felt returning at once. With a soft sigh, you turned away and walked to sit on a nearby swing, your parents following lightly.
“We don’t wanna push ya inta’ anything,” Harley reassured you, sitting on the swing beside you daintily.
You thought for a moment before speaking. It was all so clear, who you really belonged to. You swung a mallet like your mother and shot a gun like your father. Never mind the similar features and the blood relation. Oh- and the strangeness that went on in your mind.
But as you continued to think, you began to grin without realizing it. Thanks to growing up with Bruce, you had a shot at growing up with a decent, law abiding upbringing. You didn’t condemn your biological parents, but you certainly were glad to have gotten the education you did, the silver spoon kind of living, and the morals. Harley and The Joker would have been great parents, sure. But you wouldn’t be the same person you became had you grown up with them. This way, you had a taste for both lives. You got to choose your own fate.
“You okay?” Harley asked sweetly.
“I am,” you said confidently, snapping out of your thoughts. “And I think I’ve made my decision.”
They both looked excited and terrified at once, facial expressions you never thought they’d ever wear.
“And…?” The Joker questioned.
“I’m going to move into my own place, whether Bruce likes it or not. And I’d like to keep all of you in my life. It would be silly for me to choose just one side in all of this, wouldn’t it? I am so much of all of you. I’d like to find out who I really am for myself,” you said quietly, nodding once afterwards.
Harley squealed with excitement and rushed over to hug you, something you weren’t expecting.
“I was hopin’ ya wouldn’t cut us out forever! When ya get your new place, I’ll help ya decorate! I’m real good at it, aren’t I, J?” She asked, and he rolled his eyes.
“Sure, sweetheart...If you call pink and blue decor.. good,” he scoffed.
She narrowed her eyes at him before turning back to you with a wide grin, nodding quickly. It’ll be like a cotton candy haven, I promise!”
“And if you need to get away from her, the club is just down the street,” The Joker grinned, lifting his nonexistent brows.
You laughed, happy to see them so content with being able to share you.
“I’d never cut you guys out forever.. Our lives, our memories together.. They’re just getting started. I need my parents. I.. well, I love you already.”
“And we love you, honey..” The Joker replied as Harley agreed happily.
They weren’t so bad, for being bad guys- at least when it came to their daughter.
#jared leto joker#the joker#harley quinn#joker x reader#fanfiction#harley quinn x reader#jared leto#suicide squad#the joker fandom#one shot#imagines#home#joker fanfic#fanfic#leto joker#harley quinn fandom#the joker fanfiction#joker x harley#joker and harley#joker
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Content Creator Interview #5
Welcome back again folks! This week in our fifth interview @vermofftiss chats to @mizjoely about her love of lists, her fantasy season five finale, and reveals the truth about who really writes her stories...
Hi, @mizjoely here, chatting with @vermofftiss about my sherlolly writing and fandom experiences, and answering some questions submitted by a few other folks. I’ve been involved in fandom in one way or another since the early 1980s, which is also when I started writing fanfiction - for classic Doctor Who and Star Trek in its various incarnations.
@vermofftiss here, putting forward the aforementioned questions. I’ll also be trying to weasel some advice out of @mizjoely that I can use for my own writing, which has been a casual ongoing thing since I published my first sherlolly fic in 2014.
Vermofftiss: I think our first encounter was in the Sherlollychat in the fall of 2014, around the time I got onto AO3. Which means series 3 was five years ago. How does it feel knowing that series 4 was already two years ago? What’s changed in the time since it aired?
Mizjoely: Oh, I miss the sherlollychat, or at least I did until Channy came up with the discord version! It’s hard to fathom that so much time has passed since I joined the fandom! (I became active on tumblr in November 2013 after discovering Sherlolly earlier that same year, btw.) Series 3 was five years ago. Series 4 was two years ago. Crazy!
As for what’s changed since then, I’d have to say one positive thing is that the fandom wank has calmed way the hell down since S4…. Another change that I’ve seen is probably common to all fandoms over time - new writers and content creators have joined the fandom while (sadly) many others have moved on to other fandoms. Of course, that’s to be expected when your show is essentially over, but it’s still kind of sad to lose folks completely to other fandoms.
V: Which series was your favourite to play with as a writer? When did you really get into writing Sherlolly?
M: I would have to say Series 4 has definitely been a great series to write for - so much angst! The I love you! Mary Watson’s very sad death, Rosie Watson becoming a character, Mrs. Hudson showing us what a badass she is, and of course Eurus Holmes entering the picture. We might not have gotten as much Molly Hooper as we wanted, but the scenes we did get with her were tremendous and gave so much inspiration to me and many other writers.
I really got into Sherlolly as a ship after seeing TRF, as I’m sure is true with many folks - especially the “what do you need” scene. And it was so much fun to dive into the possibilities of life after Sherlock’s ‘death’ between Series 2 and 3, I consider that a real golden age of Sherlolly writing. My first published Sherlock/Sherlolly fic was “Conversations With A Dead Detective”, set Post Reichenbach, which according to fanfiction.net I published on 04/11/13 (so I’m nearly at my five year Sherlolly- versary, woo hoo!).
A quick look at my spreadsheet (don’t judge me, I love my lists) shows that I wrote or at least started 37 fics that year (one of which I’m still working on, yikes! - The World As We Know It, a vamp!lock fic). I’m currently sitting at almost 500 fics for Sherlolly, which still amazes me, that I could be that inspired by a pair of fictional characters! (For comparison, my second most prolific fandom is Doctor Who, for whom I wrote a total of 25 stories over a period of 20 years. And of those 25, only about a dozen were for my main ship, Five/Tegan).
V: A couple of questions from @ohaine -
1) Based on the sheer volume of your work, I have this theory that you’re actually some sort of artistic collective rather than just one person, please tell me I’m right!
M: You have discovered my secret: I'm actually four raccoons in a trenchcoat! Seriously though, until I was bitten by the Sherlolly bug, my output was much, much lower, even though I've been writing fanfics since the early 1980s. For example, I love the Zutara ship for Avatar: Last Airbender, but I only wrote three fics for that. I wrote about 25 fics for Doctor Who, and about the same amount for the various Star Treks (not including Khanolly). Nothing set my writing muse afire like Sherlolly, and I doubt anything ever will again.
and, 2) You write a lot of AUs, and I’m wondering what inspires them?
M: Considering that I started off as a strictly Canon Universe/Canon Compliant writer in all of my other fandoms, it still seems funny to me how much I enjoy writing and reading AUs now. I started reading them after finally running out of canon compliant fics to read and discovering how much fun it was to transplant the characters into a different universe. And that, of course, made me think about what sort of AUs I could fit Molly and Sherlock into.
In fact, the very first BBC Sherlock story I started to write (never finished or posted) was an AU because I was nervous about trying to write Sherlock and figured no one would complain too much about him being OOC if it was a fantasy setting. (I ended up taking the plunge on a canon universe post Reichenbach fic and posted that and a lot of other canon universe fics before returning to AUs.)
Wait, that doesn't answer the question! What inspires them? The same things that inspire all my writing: wanting to read a specific kind of fic and not being able to find it; fics that other authors have written that make me itch to put my own spin on the idea; dreams; books I've read or movies or TV shows I've watched...inspiration is everywhere when you really, really, really love a ship. (Gawd that's cheesy but it's true - no love, no writing fanfic, period end of paragraph.)
V: This past spring I finally got the nerve to start working on my first proper AU (not CC, CU, or UA) after sitting on the idea for about 3 years. Have you ever had to wait to be “ready” to start working on a concept? How much do you need to know about a project to get going on it?
M: I have absolutely had to wait to be ready to start working on a concept. My very first attempt at a Sherlolly fic (never finished or published) was going to be an AU because I was so intimidated by the idea of writing Sherlock Holmes in the canon universe set up by Moffat & Gatiss. I was terrified I wouldn’t get his voice right, that he would be too OOC for folks, that I wouldn’t be able to make him clever enough or that I’d mess things up a dozen different ways. So I started writing the AU instead, and in doing so (over a course of several months), I finally realized that no, I wanted to start off in the canon universe. Just trying to write him at all, in any setting, made me a little less intimidated by him. But I might never have written anything if I hadn’t started that abandoned AU. (And I look forward to seeing your AU when you’re ready to post it!)
V: Does reader feedback ever impact the plots of your stories or the building of your AUs?
M: It absolutely can, especially when someone leaves a comment that makes me think about my story in a different light. I won’t go so far as to say comments have caused me to redo anything on a larger scale (such as change the ending) but certainly I’ve thrown things into the fic or expanded on ideas expressed in a comment to make the story that much richer.
That’s one of the best things about being active in fandom - the interactions between readers and writers. Of course, the reverse can also be true - I remember needing a LOT of fan-friend coddling when some folks were unhappy with the ending of my story ‘Abandoned’ (i.e., my Molly let my Sherlock get off too easily). But you have to have thick skin to be a creator, and remember that not everyone likes the same things. And you also have to be able to say yes, I could have done this better, or if I had to do it over I’d do it differently. It’s all part of the creative process.
V: Are there any scenes or aspects that were cut from a story that you regretted leaving out at the end?
M: Not really. Most things that I cut have been vetted by my betas (shout-out to ALL betas for being willing to help you make your story better!) and jettisoning those things has always made my stories better. (Plus I keep a folder of scraps that got cut and periodically review those scraps to see if I might be able to salvage them.)
V: On top of being one of the better-known Sherlolly writers in the tag, you’re also the single person behind the Sherlollbrary. As much as I love to organize my life and everything else I can get my hands on, that’s not something I think I’d ever actually want to do. So what made you decide to start cataloguing Sherlolly fics?
M: My love of lists. Seriously, that’s it. I love making lists of things - like, how many stories did I write in 2013 for Sherlolly (37, as you now know!), how many one-shots have I written vs. multi-chapters, how many were prompts...and then I started seeing people doing lists of various tropes. The one that made me decided to start my Sherlollilists side blog was one put together for Sherlolly omegaverse stories. As more and more lists were created, edited, and added (I’m currently at 140 official lists, with more than a dozen unofficial lists), I decided it would nice to organize them all (not realizing quite what I was getting into!) as one spreadsheet, with other tropes and tags and keywords for folks to help narrow down their searches. It always give me a little thrill when I open the library and see folks are browsing, so I like to think it’s a useful tool (although I am looking forward to finishing it someday!)
@writingwife-83 asked: You work tirelessly to organize all the multitude of writing this ship produces, but how do you feel that affects you as a writer? Does it make you less interested in writing your own fics? Or does it tend to help get the wheels turning and inspire you?
M: I have to admit, sometimes curating the lists can completely put me off writing, simply due to feeling oversaturated. This is especially true when I am reading or skimming over fics that are, shall we say, not the best of the bunch. Or the times when I'm just pushing myself even if I'm not really enthusiastic about doing it. Those times, I've learned to just step back, which is why sometimes the lists don't get updated very quickly.
On the other hand, rereading a favorite or a forgotten gem can really get my creative juices flowing. At times like that, I fall back in love with the ship and the fandom all over again.
V: When you’re stuck with writer’s block or just a lack of motivation, does it help you more to reread an old fave or to go back through some of your own works? Have you noticed your style has changed much?
M: It does help, absolutely. It reminds me why I love this ship so much, and helps me reconnect with others in the fandom. People think of reading as passive and writing as solitary, but to me it’s an interactive process. Reading great fics, new can old, helps feed your creativity. And nowadays the internet helps so much as well - there are awesome resources and fandom spaces to talk to other folks about their works and your own, reminding you that you’re not creating in a vacuum. (And I REALLY love the cheerleading section of the Sherlolly Discord site. That can help unstick my creativity like nobody’s business!)
As for my style changing - yeah, it definitely has. I feel like my writing has become more streamlined and less clunky since I first started. I still do a lot of semicolon abuse but at this point I’ve decided that’s just my style and will likely never change.
Thanks for the excellent questions and for letting me ramble on!
V: I’m sure we can do a lot more rambling if left on the trail. How about one last one: In the currently hypothetical series 5, how would you continue the story from where it left off?
M: Oooh, good one! If I was in charge we would see that Sherlock and Molly are continuing their relationship, culminating with a wedding at the end of the third episode. But since I’m not in charge, I’m thinking that Mofftiss would give us some subtle hints, like John casually mentioning to Sherlock that he and Rosie can’t join ‘them’ for dinner that night for whatever reason. And maybe some small changes to 221B to show hints that someone else spends time there other than Sherlock and the Watsons - a cherry patterned pillow, perhaps? A Bart’s ID card with a woman’s picture to show that no, it isn’t one Sherlock nicked to get access to a place he otherwise couldn’t get to? A woman’s coat hanging next to Sherlock’s? Something like that. And some private smiles between Sherlock and Molly, little things like that. Enough to give us hope but not enough to give us proof! They do like to tease that way!
Non-shipwise, I think Eurus would make a return because come on, how do you leave a character like that catatonic? I also think they would return to ACD canon to revise a few more cases for the modern age, and maybe (maybe!) have John start dating again (especially if they’re so married to canon that they killed Mary off - since John seems to have been married at least twice, they would probably explore that option).
I know, that last part is a bit vague but honestly? I hope they surprise the hell out of us in a good way if we ever get that fifth series!
Next Week, Friday March 22nd, @ashockinglackofsatin talks to @sunken-standard
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8 Awesome and Fun Challenges to Play in 2019 in the Sims 4!
Sims players have been creating fan-made challenges for the games pretty much since the series began in 2001. Challenges are a fun way to mix up normal game play; instead of just creating a Sim and living out a normal life, you can play by a set of rules and objectives to try to reach a particular outcome.
Some challenges are more difficult than others, but all are a creative and an interesting way to introduce a more linear game play style to The Sims' sandbox game play.
Players have been coming up with different challenges for The Sims 4 since the day it was introduced. Here are some of the most fun and interesting challenges for the Sims 4; try them if you're bored with the game and looking to mix things up!
1. The Legacy Challenge
The Legacy Challenge is one of the oldest, most classic of Sims challenges. Players have been doing it for years, probably since the days of the Sims 1. The basic rules are pretty simple:
Create a Sim of your choice, and move them onto the biggest empty lot, but they must start in poverty (only $10,000 simoleons, excluding the cost of the lot).
The "founder" has to build their house and wealth, and then procreate to make a second generation.
You play on in the single family for 10 generations.
There are various challenges throughout each generation and different flavours you can add to the challenge to make it more exciting or challenging.
The legacy challenge is pretty fun for a few reasons: you get to play through one bloodline for so many generations, it's got a rags-to-riches story to it, and you can really see the growth of your Sims' home, family, etc.
Check out this website dedicated to the Sims Legacy Challenge (with rules for the Sims 4, 3 and even Sims 2!) here.
2. History Challenge
This is quite a popular challenge for The Sims 4. Created by user Cloudseeker on The Sims 4 forums, this challenge is designed to start in the "prehistoric" age, and takes you and your Sims throughout various time periods, ending in the Modern era.
Create two Sims (your Ancestors) and place them in an empty world (delete all lots and all Sims, or download an empty world- see link for the challenge below for more details). They will start off as your prehistoric Sims.
Prehistoric era Sims can't join any jobs, but can sell collectables, paintings or woodwork. Sims can't have a "house"; they must live in a tent or on the land and can only eat food that they've caught or grown (fish, insects, fruit).
Complete the goals in the Prehistoric era to move on ("Reach level 10 Fishing, Gardening and Handiness skill on the same Sim" is one of the 5 goals in this stage).
Move on to Early Civilisation, where your Sims can now build a house in the Roman Empire or Ancient Egyptian style!
Progress through each era- Prehistoric, Early Civ, Middle Ages, The Old West, The Industrial Age, The Roaring Twenties, and the Modern Day- by completing goals and unlocking new game mechanisms!
I really love this challenge- it's an extremely unique spin on the traditional legacy challenge and the creator put a lot of thought into the eras, game play and goals. A lot of Simmers really got into this challenge too (the forum post has 45+ pages of replies on it alone!), and if you're into using CC in your game, there's a lot of themed content for each of the eras, so you can make the game even more authentic!
Check out the full challenge rules here and check out some of the amazing era-themed custom content (cheetah print loin cloths for the Prehistoric Age, anyone?), here!
3. Decades Challenge
The Decades Challenge is a variation of The Legacy Challenge/The History Challenge. It's not identical to the History Challenge though, because instead of going through various eras, it's more focused on American lifestyle between 1890 to present time.
You start off in 1890. Sims can only marry within their own ethnicity, can only marry the opposite gender, can't use electricity (obviously), indoor plumbing, can only "try for baby" (no woo-hoo for fun!), and all furniture must be wooden, among other things.
By 1900s, Sims can have electricity and indoor plumbing, but only men are allowed to get jobs outside the home.
In 1910, male Sims must go to "war", which is just feeding the cowplant and rolling dice to see whether or not they survive!
Women can finally go to work in the 1920s, but by the 1930s, anyone in a career must lose their job (the Great Depression).
Each decade continues with various challenges and things to unlock until you reach the current decade!
This is another one that gets major points for fun and creativity. There's challenging aspects and it stays pretty true to how life was in each of these time periods. This is another one that would benefit from downloading some themed custom content for your game (if nothing else, it's a nice excuse to give your Sims pretty Victorian dresses!).
Full challenge details are here! Historical Sims Life is a great blog which offers some custom content you can use for this challenge.
4. 100 Baby Challenge
Let's change it up a bit, hey? Instead of a history-based challenge, we have this extremely fun and classic, 100 Baby Challenge! This is another that's been played through most iterations of the Sims.
Have 100 babies in as few generations as possible!
Once you have a baby with a Sim, you cannot have a baby with that same Sim again (yes, promiscuity is encouraged in this challenge- have as many baby daddies as possible ;))
No cheats are allowed, but you can age up babies immediately.
You must give birth to a girl to continue the legacy. The youngest girl born to the founder continues the legacy when the founder becomes an elder and can't give birth. If you don't have any girls, you lose!
This is a fun and silly challenge that lots of people love playing. You can make it gender neutral if you like by using mods (so men can get pregnant), but either way, it's a fun challenge that'll get you and your Sims out and making woo-hoo with everyone they meet.
Full challenge rules here!
5. Black Widow Challenge
The Black Widow challenge is another of somewhat scandalous nature; the main challenge is to marry male Sims, kill them, and inherit their money!
Start with a Young Adult female Sim. She must have the materialistic, snob and romantic traits and should have the Serial Romantic aspiration. She can move into a house but you're not allowed to use any cheats for money! She also is not allowed to work- all the money she has must be inherited from partners.
Meet a Sim and get married to him.
Have a dinner party to show off your new partner, and while you're there, find a potential romantic interest.
Cheat on the husband with the new romantic interest, invite him over and get caught cheating.
Find a way to kill off the husband (some suggestions are here) and then marry the new romantic interest!
Keep all the tombstones on the lot- aim for 10 husbands to win!
There's a few other rules and goals that go with the challenge, but that's the main gist of it. The Black Widow Challenge is one that's been around since The Sims 2 as well- can you seduce and kill all the Sims in your town? Check out the full details here!
6. Homeless Challenge
The Homeless Challenge is one that I'd actually say is a bit hard! As we all know, part of playing The Sims is making sure our Sims are happy, but it's a lot harder to do that when you don't have the typical creature comforts. For this challenge, you must:
Make a single Sim- they can be male or female and have whichever traits you'd like. Buy and move them onto an empty lot. Using cheats, remove all their money.
Your Sim can not have a job, but can obtain cash by collecting, fishing, gardening, rummaging through trash, begging other Sims for money, writing books, playing instruments, painting, or any other hobbies.
In the beginning, they'll have to use public toilets and sleep on park benches until you reach the part of the challenge which allows them to start building a home. Of course, you'll need to have enough money to do that too!
As you progress in the challenge, there are mini challenges (like the "building permit" mini challenge- you deduct $500 simoleons from your Sim's money and then they can start building on their lot) that'll allow you to progress
The game "ends" when you have $5000 saved and have built a basic house!
This is another of my personal favourites. The mini challenges are unique and fun, and it's definitely hard trying to take care of a Sim who doesn't have all the necessities at hand. There's great pride when you reach the end of the challenge and see how far your homeless Sim has come!
Check out all the full details here.
7. Asylum Challenge
Time to get a bit crazy! Literally. The Sims 4 Asylum Challenge is all about managing Sims with the insane trait. Can you do it?
Make a household with 8 Sims (or find some in the Sims 4 Gallery!). All Sims must have the insane trait. You must randomize their other traits (but they cannot have the "Self-Assured" trait. Randomize their aspirations.
You can pick one Sim to control throughout the challenge.
The goal is to have your controlled Sim complete their aspiration (to prove they've gained control of their life) and they can then leave the asylum!
No cheats are allowed, and to spice things up, you can make the house only have 5 beds, 6 seats, just one bathroom, and the cheapest electronics.
This is a fun and difficult challenge; you really have to work hard to control your Sim despite their insane trait, and you also have to watch out for the other uncontrolled insane Sims in the house. I like this challenge as it's based on an in-game trait, rather than an external set of goals or objectives.
Full challenge details are here!
8. Apocalypse Challenge
Sims fans have long wished for an official post-Apocalypse expansion pack (think The Sims + Fallout), but the closest we've ever gotten was Sims 3: Into the Future. The Apocalypse Challenge, however, lets you use your imagination and pretend that you're living in a post-war world!
The year is 2015, and all of Simtopia's been wiped out by an apparent nuclear war! Thankfully, your Sim has survived in their bomb shelter, and the goal is to survive there until they die of old age.
Create a sim and a "shelter." The shelter is a single room which can only have the basic necessities: cheapest bed (the prison cots from Get to Work or the camping beds from Outdoor Retreat would be great), toilet, and kitchen appliances (stove, fridge, counter).
Your Sim cannot leave the lot (the rest of the world is destroyed and there's the threat of nuclear fallout).
If your Sims die of anything other than old age- you lose!
I've seen a few variations of this challenge online, but all of them have to do with survivalist living and gives you some unique restrictions on typical game play.
Check out the full challenge details here!
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Fukumenkei Noise (Anonymous Noice) Review
Hello~
As mentioned on my last post, the first anime whose last episode I watched is called “Fukumenkei Noise” (Anonymous Noise in English). Read below to find out what I saw, how I interpreted it, and what the anime is actually about. (Not spoiler free).
My Experience:
TL;DR of my guess: This anime is a shoujo about music and three childhood friends that perform, two guys and one girl. The two guys are in love with the same girl, but she only loves one of them in return. Music and friendship are their power as they each try to get their songs to reach the hearts of one another.
Overall, I give this show a ★ ★ .5 ☆ ☆ ☆ . Not a bad show, but definitely forgettable after a while.
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Actual plot description (Taken from My Anime List): “ Every day, a young girl wearing a mask stands by the beach and sings a nostalgic melody. After experiencing two sudden heart-wrenching partings when she was only a child, Nino Arisugawa has been singing her songs to the ocean, bound by a promise made with her two childhood friends—her first love, Momo Sakaki, and a boy who composed music, Kanade "Yuzu" Yuzuriha. Having never met each other, the boys both individually promised that if Nino was ever separated from them, her voice would be the beacon to reunite them once again.
After six long years, destiny has finally placed Nino, Momo, and Yuzu in the same high school. However, the passage of time has changed many things in their lives—while Nino relentlessly attempts to fulfill her childhood promise with the boys, Yuzu's feelings for her from the past resurface, and Momo goes to great lengths to prevent a reunion with Nino. Through music, will they be able to mend their friendship and overcome all the feelings involved in this complicated love triangle? “
Long Review of What I Saw and What I Assumed:
Okay, so from the get-go, I was understandably confused as to what was going on. The last episode starts out with a guy saying his good bye to a girl (who I am presuming is the main character). The girl was very sad and did not want him to go. This guy kept being referred to as “Momo” and “Kiryuu-kun,” so either his name is Momo Kiryuu, or his name is one or the other and the other title is some band nickname. (Also, he looks like Joker from P5!) Sadly, Momo never came back to Nino, the girl he was leaving. It’s sadder because she really wanted to sing her heart out for him this whole episode but he still left her (This was apparently the 2nd time he left her, too).
Mio Nino- or just Nino?- appears to be a performer under the name “Alice”. I did not realize Alice and Nino are possibly the same person until 15 minutes into this 23 minute episode. Additionally, I am assuming that the character Yuzu is in love with Nino/Alice because at some point in the performance he jumps in front of Alice to get her to sing one of his songs. He really wants her to sing on of his songs because he only writes them for her to possibly sing them (which she does not seem to often, whoops). Any other character in the show did not matter much since the episode centered around Mio, Yuzu, and Momo since they are childhood friends dealing with interpersonal issues.
Part of the reason why this episode was confusing is not just because I have not watched the previous episodes, but also because these characters had different get-ups when performing. Mio/Alice & Yuzu, whose band I believe is called “In NO Hurry” legit looks SO different when performing. Their outfits, hair, make-up, etc is alternative to how they actually look. They looked like different characters that I did not realize looked different in a normal setting until late in the episode. Even then, I was unsure if Alice and Nino were the same and the same for Yuzu. Only Momo remained the same. Truly, this episode is 85% a performance with the remaining 15% being filled with romance plot lines. Despite them snatching the wigs of the crowd with their performance, the wigs these characters were wearing remain tight in place despite the excitement and jumps involved. Amazing.
This is expected since the art style and the way things were being presented makes me think this is a shoujo anime. As said above, I give this show a ★ ★ .5 ☆ ☆ ☆ .
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After Reading the Actual Plot:
Turns out I only got the first names right, hah. Also, I was not too off from the actual plot, so woo hoo!
#Fukumenkei Noise#anonymous noise#anime#manga#music#review#idiot#long#romance#childhood friends#show#series#comic
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Post Three
Things to explore and think about that I learnt from my research:
Listing- I found the listing in Eloise Goes To Paris so compelling and entertaining.
The poetry & rhythm of both books was beautiful and integral to the writer's art.
Dialogue was a great part of both books as well; Eloise had such a strong voice that made you feel and love her, and Max’s character came through in his dialogue. The phonetic spelling and humour in Eloise Goes To Paris was a great was to make the character come to life, and the dynamic nature and visual aspect of Max’s dialogue in Where the Wild Things Are was captivating.
Maurice Sendak’s story doesn’t rely on an abundance of unnecessary words; he gets the point across concisely and vividly. Both stories also have an assertive protagonist which is something I need to work towards.
I adore aesthetically the abstract nature of Sendak’s writing; I think it lends well to the concept as a whole and getting children to explore their imagination in less rigid terms, and also makes the illustrations come to life and have creative licence to elevate the story.
Themes of childhood emotion, imagination and being boundless in what your protagonist can do was very inspiring to me as well.
I wrote drafts of a few different stories that were inspired by my research in order to find one that I could then edit, and use as my final story.
One:
What I am trying to explore:
Abstract concepts, interesting dialogue, themes of imagination and using repetition. Also themes of who you are and who you can be that I was interested in in my proposal.
Story:
“Hello, me!” said Sam to the mirror
“Hello, you!” said the mirror to Sam.
“I’m doing something different today.”
The mirror smiled back.
Sam liked their hair long,
Sam liked their hair short,
Sam liked that their hair had a life of its own.
Today Sam’s hair wanted to be long.
So they stepped through the time hole.
They were very very squished
And then, suddenly, hugely stretched out
And Sam popped out in one year.
They looked in the mirror
“HELLO, old friend!”
Sam was bewildered,
Their hair twirled all around.
Sam twirled with it.
Two:
What I am trying to explore:
Exploring listing & imagination. Thinking about poetry; alliteration, rhyme, cadence & repetition.
Story:
My Things
I have a million things.
They are all me,
And I am all them.
This one cost two whole dollars!
This one I found
In the middle of a tree!
This pile of things is very heavy
And very dusty
Because they stay very still
And I watch them intently.
These are my jewels.
I collect them on my walks.
I give them to friends
Who come in all sorts.
Sometimes I lose my things,
In fact I do it a lot...
Usually it's those silly Grimbles
This is a Grimble hot spot.
Flowers are my favourites.
Its ok if they get dry,
I stick them between a book
Or just paint them with my dye.
This one I made
It hangs on my wall,
If I focus and point,
I can make it fall.
This one is expensive,
My mum got it for me.
I get under the covers,
And I go off to sleep.
Three:
Inspired maybe a little too heavily by Where the Wild Things Are; inspired by the narrative structure and themes. Also playing with the use of capitals like Sendak does.
A mean finger pointed in Lolas face
A big red mean finger attached to a big mean red ogre
That looked like he was about to SWALLOW Lola whole
Lola screamed and she ran and ran and ran and ran
And her face was wet with tears.
As her tears fell something strange happened
The tears became bigger and bigger
And more and more
Until they themselves grew larger than Lola
And they swallowed her up.
Lola tucked her knees to her chest
And locked her arms around them
She closed her eyes and sobbed some more.
Lola created a bubble around her
So that nobody from outside could enter her tears
And no creatures from her tears could enter her bubble.
She was all alone.
One hundred years passed
and the tears had dried up
And Lola was alone...
“YIPPEE” she said! “WOO HOO” she yelled!
She danced around the land!
She twirled all day! And skipped all night!
And yelled into the air
“I AM ALOOONNNEEEEEEEE!”
She looked around....
She danced around the land, again.
She twirled all day.
And skipped all night.
She whispered to herself
“I am all alone.”
So she walked across the land,
And back across the hundred years,
She found her tears
And swam.
She found the big red ogre
Who had shrunk back to his regular size,
With his shirt tucked in,
And his big round eyes.
He bent down to little Lola
To show her a smile.
He was no longer red.
And she was no longer scared.
Four:
Inspiration from the craziness of the world around Eloise- I love the flamboyance of the crazy hotel she lives in and the strangeness of the world around her.
Story:
Amelias house lent to the left
Unless there was a particularly strong wind
Or you told it off,
In which case it leant to the right.
Amelia didn’t like to tell the house off
But sometimes it got carried away
And squashed her cats
And once it almost squashed Amelia
When she was sleeping
(and she had to grab bricks from her dream and pile them up
So she didn’t get squashed)
(she made sure to return the bricks later)
After that incident she had to tell the house off
Really bad
And it lent to the right for a while after that
Which made the furniture look funny.
Amelia did what every normal child did;
She made sure to pay the monthly bills
She talked to important people on the phone
She worried about money
and made sure to find as much as she could on her walk to work.
Her work was petting strangers' cats.
She loved it, don’t get me wrong, but boy was it stressful sometimes.
When she got home from work, she said to house
“UGH, will you let me put my bag down first!
Before you start harassing me for things!”
And then she poured herself a glass of something strong;
Tonight, it was lime cordial.
On the weekends she slept in
And said oh boy, I wish everyday was like this!
She made sure to read the news paper
For her news, on paper
And she shook the pages around
And flipped them back and forth as best she could
And made sure to fold it in a few different ways.
Sometimes she would grab a pen and say to house
“what's a four-letter word for flabbergasted?”
And then do a big loud “Hmpfh”
And turn the page over.
Since all of this was really quite exhausting,
Amelia was lucky to have her parents' house to escape to
If she needed it.
Five:
What I am trying to explore:
Themes of childhood emotion, actively trying to write an assertive protagonist. Using repetition & alliteration. Also trying to write so that when read out loud it will be amusing.
Story:
I put on my favorite dress,
My secret favorite dress, nobody knows
Its girly and pink and the sparkles go BOOM
And then I heard the voice,
He always comes
Whenever I put on the secret dress
The voice is slimy and dark and dank
And throws you into a deep dark hole
The hole is so deep and dark and deep
Sometimes I think I'll never leave.
He says yuck, that dress is girly
So girly pink and yuck
You look silly, didn’t sally say?
When you wore that dress to school one day?
But there is one thing that I can do
When that slimy voice comes
I pull out my sword and say GO AWAY
And I cut the slimy thing to the bone
The funny thing is,
The thing behind the voice
The slimiest sluggiest slip slop yuck voice in the whole wide world
Is the smallest tiniest silliest thing,
It's hard not to laugh at it.
Six:
What I am trying to explore:
Story:
There once was a little girl who never spoke.
Well, she had spoken once, as a baby. She said ‘baba’ which in baby talk meant “please get off my bed, big brother, I would like to be alone now”
But her brother laughed, and pointed a big red finger at her and called their parents in.
“What, what?” they said, “hurry up boy!”
“Look at Amelia trying to talk!”
They crowded her and staired at her with their big round eyes, waiting.
Amelia tried to say: “I'm not sure what the commotion is about... I know what I want to say, I’m just figuring out how to get it out. I’ll figure it out soon, mummy, daddy.”
But only a loud babble came out: “Mmm gaba.”
Her family scrunched up their faces and started laughing at her.
“Well, she's not going to be the brightest of the bunch!”
And they left her all alone.
Amelia was so embarrassed from that day forward that she didn’t say a word again.
That was nine whole years ago.
Since Amelia’s family didn’t believe her to be bright, they never sent her to school.
But Amelia learnt in her own way.
She taught herself how to read and how to paint using things from around the house. Marmite was a great black, and if she cut out parts of magazines she could create great images of colour and people.
She sat in her garden and learned about the bugs and the trees, and about how the leaves on the trees fell when it was getting colder, and how flowers started popping up when warmer weather was on its way.
Amelia was lucky to have the kindest next door neighbour in the world; Miss Andrews.
Miss Andrews was as loud and chatty which made up for Amelia’s lack of words. She also played violin.
I also wrote an alternate path for this story, but wasn’t able to finish either due to lack of time.
Amelia walked to school by herself every day.
She crossed busy roads and walked down dark alleys.
She walked past bullies who pulled her pigtails and stole her lunch;
Not that they were very impressed with it, Amelia's family weren’t big cooks
Usually, her lunch was packed with ice,
or sometimes a lemon found its way in.
Amelia never said anything to the bullies.
She was too scared to talk.
Amelia had a horrible teacher who picked on her in class.
She forced all the children to read their work out loud
And if they could she would yell “PAAASSSSS!”
But if they couldn’t she would yell “FAAIILLLLLL!”
And make them run 100 laps around the field,
rain or shine.
Luckily, Amelia had a friend.
Her name was Lola.
Lola ran laps around the field with Amelia,
Even when she didn’t have to.
Lola made fun of the bullies when they weren’t looking,
And Lola shared her lunch with Amelia, so she wouldn’t be hungry.
Amelia walked into class and took her seat next to Lola.
Seven:
Laura wasn’t good at anything.
She didn’t know how to be good.
She tried drawing but she did it wrong
And her parents told her off.
She tried reading but she didn’t know the words,
She tried writing but it came out all wrong,
The words were lopsided and fell off the page.
She tried cooking but she made a mess
She tried tidying but somehow... made it even messier.
She hid from her mum after that,
But she wasn’t good at hiding.
Laura felt silly and strange so she sat in her garden
And she closed her eyes for a very long time.
When she woke up, she got quite a shock.
Her garden had grown into a tall dark forest,
With flowers and vines and big dense bushes.
Laura looked around. She was lost, and cold. A howl echoed far away.
But then – she heard a smaller howl. A tiny one. She turned to see a little wolf.
The wolf looked at her and growled – he was scared too.
Laura crawled slowly to him and held out her hand.
“Come here, little wolf. Its ok, I won't hurt you.”
The wolf whimpered and cautiously sniffed her hand.
She pet him on the head and he came into her lap.
“Where do you live, little wolf?” asked Laura, and they heard another loud howl in the distance.
The little wolf tried to howl back but was so quiet Laura barely heard it herself.
“I see.” she whispered. “I’ll get you back home.”
So Laura and the wolf took off looking for home.
I ended up choosing my three favourite stories and working on them to find what my final story would be.
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