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lumilasi · 3 years

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I saw this in my feed and since I was pretty bored and FINALLY free from the said boredom, figured I could do this one. I generally enjoy question based tags, especially if they relate to art/writing/fandom/are some general things about favorite colors, music, foods, things about your home country etc.

(basically, you can tag me in stuff similar to listed above things and I’ll probably do them if I see them/have time lmao)

Fic Writer Questions!

How many works do you have on AO3?

44 total. I used to have more but I’ve deleted an old Bleach one I knew I’d never continue to write, and two bnha ones for the same reason (those two were also at the very beginning stages so nobody missed a lot anyway)

What's your total AO3 wordcount?

4 269 068......wow. It’s even MORE than I even imagined. Over 4 million words.

....Someone take my writing tools away from me lmao

How many fandoms have you written for and what are they?

Three. I started with MCU, moved on to Bleach and now I’ve done most ofr BNHA

What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

Crossroads - 3069

Family Secrets - 3015

Reanimate - 1534

The neighbor - 809

Espada and Fraccion - 782

.....Admittedly this list surprised me. Not the first three but the last two. The fifth is an one shot for Bleach that I wrote AGES ago. I also for some reason expected this list to match the bookmark list more lmao

Do you respond to comments, why or why not?

I always try to respond to every comment I get, but often times when it’s just one word or a heart emoji I don’t really know what to say, so I might not reply to those. I do appreciate every comment I get, and read every single one, even if I don’t respond

What's the fic you've written with the angstiest ending?

I don’t do angst endings typically, but Family Secrets is probs the most obvious choice, given what happens at the end.

- and its not even the real end, because I couldn’t help myself and made two more stories for the AU that was like “hey! this character I made you all love so much actually DIDN’T die, he just had unfinished business back home” lmao

Do you write crossovers? If so what is the craziest one you've ever written?

Rarely, typically they’re between my own fics (the story that crosses the paths of Crossroads and Family Secrets AU’s, literally titled Crossover, creative name I know OTL I was out of ideas)

Or between me and other people’s fics. Currently there’s two, both with Crossroads: one with Theteapotofdoom’s fic Something Good, and another with leontheneon’s fic Here with you. Both stories are basically a two part series that is non canon to actual Crossroads. The first story is finished, second one has two chapters left...that...I uh...struggle to write it seems OTL

(not tagging either person into this because Tea is very busy IRL right now so I don’t want to bother her, and Leon hasn’t been around in ages, IDK if they even use tumblr anymore)

Have you ever received hate on a fic?

Not really no? I can only remember one time with somebody kind of demanding me to completely rewrite one fic in the past. It wasn’t really hate, more just...kinda unreasonable in my eyes? This was years ago by now.

While I did understand their side and the particular struggle they had (once they actually explained it, the first comment at the time came off pretty rude and demanding), I still feel them wanting me to re-write an entire multi-chapter fic just for them is a bit unreasonable, like said.

Like it wasn’t just couple of grammatical errors that was their issue, we’re talking weeks and even months long process of completely reworking multi-chapter story, because the grammar wasn’t tip top perfect. (I’m not a native speaker so there’s bound to be some mistakes; pointing out small occasional things is one thing - asking me to rewrite an entire multi-chapter story is another)

You can imagine that is not exactly high on my priorities list with IRL responsibilities and being more focused on the actual content of what I write, the ongoing stories I’m updating. This fic isn’t even finished yet either, so...yeah. Like after they explained their side of the story I was a bit more understanding, but its still....a bit ridiculous and unreasonable in my eyes to ask somebody to do such a massive overhaul when the story isn’t even finished yet?? Like maybe once its done and I have time I can go and edit it, but not when I haven’t even finished it lmao

Do you write smut? If so what kind?

Nah. I don’t care about smut a whole lot personally. I much more enjoy writing emotional scenes, character interactions and mystery. Plot over porn basically lmao

Have you ever had a fic stolen?

I don’t...do people actually do this? It feels like such a weird and pointless thing to do. It’s fanfic. stuff you write for fun and for free, for people to read for free. I’d also imagine its pretty easy to get caught given AO3 shows when you first posted your story.

Have you ever had a fic translated?

Yes, a couple of times. In Russian and I think other one was Chinese?

Have you ever co-written a fic before?

Writing the crossovers was kinda that? Like I asked feedback from Tea and Leon on how to write them. there was also actually third crossover story that was supposed to happen (only I wasn’t going to be the one to write it) but this project has been shelved as the other person had to drop majority of online activity due to some IRL health related things. (I’m just glad they recently contacted me to inform they were doing better)

What’s your all time favorite ship?

Right now it’s..probably pretty obvious its Shigadabi, but I can never really say any ship is my all time fave, as it always changes depending on the fandom lmao.

I guess my favorite character x proper sleep/emotional stability/happiness will always be the OTP

What’s a WIP that you want to finish but don’t think you ever will?

Oof. I always try to finish every single one, and if I absolutely know I won’t, I tend to just delete them. Thankfully I’ve only done it thrice. Which I guess is still a lot, but compared to how much I write, in context not really?

What are your writing strengths?

From what I’ve gathered of feedback, its typically emotional moments/character dialogue and interaction/character arcs and so. Mystery plots too. Or maybe that last one is just me lmao

What are your writing weakness?

Personally, while I tend to get positive feedback on both, sometimes I feel like I struggle to choose a good pacing for a fic, and fight scenes are always a pain. Namely, I might struggle with making the pace too long-winded and slow sometimes. Ironically, my IRL update pacing is probs a bit too fast in turn. (To add another layer of irony, I got an update ready for Unravel that I’ll post after making this tag)

Also writing shorter stories. I’ve been trying to write one-shots more (like the Spinaraki series thing) to kinda try and get myself to pack up my stories better and not let them always spiral out of control haha

What are your thoughts on writing dialogue in other languages in a fic?

I did try to do that once with a fic I deleted, I had a native speaker help me with the canadian french bits. This person is no longer active on tumblr, and I deleted that fic because I realized I’d never finish it.

Technically tho, as a non-native English speaker, EVERY word is in other language to me lmao. I could only add Finnish as an extra one easily, and it rarely makes sense to do so anyway.

What was the first fandom you ever wrote for?

MCU. It’s what I originally made my AO3 for, as I felt brave enough to post things. I also can’t remember writing fandom related stuff before that, it was typically more oc related. Writing fics has helped me learn a lot about world-building, character consistency and all that stuff, without having to make everything from scratch (tho I do enjoy doing that as well of course). I feel like my original work writing has improved too thanks to my fic writing shenanigans in a way lmao. Tho that might just be me, IDK

What’s your favorite fic you’ve written?

Oooof. This changes a lot depending on the time. I can never really pick just one either: my current favorites are Stringmaster, The neighbor and Family Secrets

Stringmaster because I love building the Steampunk AU, and Tomura’s relationship with Dabi and his Sensei, The neighbor because I personally think the romance build up in that one is probably one of the best I’ve done so far (the character dialogue in that is among my favorites I’ve written as well) and FS, because it taught me a lot about character building through writing a character like Hisashi.

Plus I just really like Hisashi.

And baby Izuku and little Tenko are super adorable.

And Inko is the best mum.

Also the fact the whole story is so ironic in a sense its still kinda funny to me.

The only writer I know that might be around rn is @nightlilly0110 soo...I guess I’ll tag them if they want to do this! Anybody who’s a writer can snatch this too of course ;)

#tag game #writer tag #fic writing

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courtingstars · 4 years

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Notes for The Vanishing Prince: Chapter Nine

Yay, Chapter Nine is finally posted! As I mentioned over on Ao3, I’ve been looking forward to sharing this one for a loooong time. I don’t have much to share in the way of cultural notes, but I still had some pretty big things I wanted to talk about… Like info about the mental health topics from the therapy scene, plus a ton of rambling about things I’ve been researching and/or planning for a while. So if that’s something you’re interested in, well… enjoy? //laughs

As always, I updated the Pinterest inspiration board with images inspired by the new chapter. (I actually did that last month, which was when I originally intended to post the chapter before my schedule fell apart… So anyone who was checking the board during that time got an accidental sneak peak of what was coming next. Oops? ^^;) You can check the board out here.

And with that, on to the notes!

Cut for a writer babbling on and on about mental health research, references to earlier events in the series, and also violins (!!) …

Akashi’s Childhood Friendships

So the first scene of Chapter Nine features a headcanon of mine that has been popping up throughout the series… Which is that when Akashi started going to school, he attended a private elementary school that mainly catered to elite, wealthy families and their children. He was generally encouraged to spend time with his classmates, rather than seeking friends elsewhere, and he never made any close friends from a different social “class” until he started going to Teikou. (Which he joined specifically because he asked his mother if he could go somewhere that was different from his elementary school.)

As this chapter reveals, he never told his father about the friends he ended up making through basketball, because of the values he was modeled earlier in life. This was actually brought up alllll the way back in The Fast Train to Kyoto. (Though it was pretty vague!) In fact, Akashi referenced it in the very first scene:

Maybe it was the echoes of his father’s voice inside his head, just another series of frosty words he ached to forget:

“It is not for an Akashi to associate with just anyone. Your time is valuable, Seijuurou, and so is your reputation. See that you don’t waste it, on trivial pursuits, or persons unworthy of your stature.”

Akashi cringed. ‘Persons unworthy of his stature? What a ridiculous idea. Everyone he had ever known who had made his life worthwhile, had no particular wealth or rank to speak of. (With the crucial exception of his mother.) He had long ago discarded this principle of his father’s as nonsense.

I also explained the backstory with his elementary school and his struggle to make friends in a lot more detail in Chapter Three of Fast Train. (As well as why he decided to go to Teikou, and how he started making friends there, particularly Midorima.)

That aspect of his childhood turned out to be pretty important in the series, so I thought it was worth mentioning that Akashi did talk about it before… Especially since those early values still affect how he sees his friendships, plus it’s one of the reasons why he’s been trying to keep those friends as separate from his home life as possible. (Until Furihata came along and wanted to sleep over at his house, and he just couldn’t say no to his BFF, apparently? //laughs)

Attachment Theory, Disorganized Attachment, and Dissociation

So, uh… I’m not qualified to talk about any of this, like, at all. //laughs That being said, I’ll start with a big disclaimer: I am not a mental health professional, or an expert about this subject in any way whatsoever. So if anything I say doesn’t make sense or I get any of the details wrong, I sincerely apologize in advance! This is just based on the research I’ve done and some first-person accounts I’ve read over the years. As a non-expert, I find a lot of psychology theory to be difficult to research in general… Since a lot of the science is still being studied and verified, and things are becoming outdated all the time.

Okay, so with all that being said… In this chapter, Akashi’s psychiatrist brings up a theory in psychology called attachment theory. If you’d like to learn the basics of how it started, the Wikipedia article has a decent overview of the initial studies. Basically, the theory has to do with the idea that children bond with their primary caregiver (stereotypically the mother, but it doesn’t have to be) either successfully or unsuccessfully, based on how the caregiver responds to the child’s needs. A child who bonds with their caregiver in a healthy, successful way is said to be “securely” attached, while an unhealthy bond is an “insecure attachment.”

From there, it gets more complicated… There are a few different types/forms of insecure attachment, and these types can be classified in different ways, depending on the study. (There’s also something called “attachment style,” which from what I can tell is an idea inspired by attachment theory, that adults will have a general style of bonding that originates from their main caregiver bond in childhood. This idea is often used to help adults work through issues in their adult relationships.) For example, there’s generally an “anxious” form of attachment where the child is overly scared and tends to cling to their caregiver if they try to leave, out of fear that they won’t get the care they need. Then there’s an “avoidant” type where the child tends to push the caregiver away or ignore them, and can seem very apathetic and independent. (Even though they’re actually just as scared on the inside of not being cared for as an “anxious” child.)

As you can imagine, there are a lot of theories about why this happens, and what exactly in the caregiving process could contribute to it. What’s more, some children display both anxiety and avoidance… A form of this is called “disorganized attachment.” As Akashi’s psychiatrist explains, this describes a behavioral pattern where the child clings to their caregiver AND pushes them away, sometimes very close together. This style seems to often develop when the child has been through some kind of early trauma, often severe abuse or neglect. It also seems to be prevalent among people with dissociation disorders, which isn’t surprising, given the common thread of childhood trauma between the two. You can read more about that in this article here.

Actually, I first learned about disorganized attachment—and attachment in general—when I was reading a blog many years ago that was written by someone chronicling their experience with Dissociative Identity Disorder. As I researched the subject in more detail, I came across a few explanations about how children with this attachment style tend to act very confused and distressed around their caregivers, and I found the descriptions really sad… It helped me begin to better understand some of the difficulties that these children go through, and how it affects their minds when they’re still developing. It’s not hard to imagine how a child who longs to be taken care of but also has painful experiences of being denied that care (for whatever reason) can really struggle with trying to make sense of their reality and survive it on an emotional level. And that struggle causes lasting damage.

It’s important to note, though, that some psychologists will caution against assuming that a child’s attachment to their primary caregiver always dictates how they will attach to other people in their life, or in their future relationships. Also, there’s some evidence that children may struggle with attachment issues not just because of the actions of their caregiver, but also due to their own personality/ genetic predispositions. You can read more about both of these topics here.

Way back when I started planning this series, and deciding how to portray Akashi’s backstory, I found myself returning over and over to the concept of disorganized attachment… I wasn’t sure if it would make it into the fic directly, and it’s certainly not the only thing that influenced my portrayal of Akashi’s mental health. But it was definitely something I had in mind from the start, and helped shape the series, so I’m glad that I did end up referencing it in some detail.

The Akashi Family Servants

Since I just introduced the housekeeper, now seems as good a time as any to mention this… Originally, I didn’t plan for the servants who work for the Akashi family to have roles in the series at all? XD Takeda is the only one who’s mentioned in The Fast Train to Kyoto, and he doesn’t have a name. (I refer to him as either Akashi’s “driver” or “valet” depending on what he’s doing… This was actually before I’d decided that Takeda is the one who drives Akashi around when he’s in Kyoto. OTL) Then I mentioned several of the servants during Furihata’s visit in Storming the Castle… But almost no one gets a real introduction? Except for the butler, Ginhara. //laughs

One reason why I took so long to give them names/describe them is that I try to mostly stick to writing about canon characters in fics, instead of creating a ton of OCs. (I consider the families of the KnB characters to be canon, since they’re in the fanbooks. XD) But I enjoy coming up with minor characters, if it feels like a good fit for the story! Still, you can really tell that I didn’t know I would end up using these characters as much as I did, because their names are alllll over the place… Especially Takeda, which is roughly the Japanese equivalent of naming a character Mr. Smith or something? (LOL.) For a while I really regretted that I didn’t come up with a more interesting name for him, since he ended up being in this series CONSTANTLY. Also, I recently received this incredible comment on Chapter 5 of The Fast Train to Kyoto and it’s one of my all-time FAVORITES:

“Yo the drivers probs just sitting in the front like

Mmm this tea is piping hot”

(And they signed their name Yeet too, omgggg XDD)

… So yeah, I have decided this is totally Takeda’s reaction, to Akashi and Furihata’s whole “friend breakup” in the rain in the first story. //laughs

That said, I kind of love that Takeda has such a generic name now? Especially after he showed up at Seirin in sunglasses in this chapter. (Like maybe Takeda isn’t even his real name, because he actually had an exciting former life as a secret agent or something like that, and now he’s working for this super rich kid from a powerful family and maybe he’s actually hiding some epic skills so he can double as Akashi’s bodyguard if he needs to…? I DON’T KNOW, I HAVE WEIRD HEADCANONS.)

In any case, I enjoyed coming up with the characters for the Akashi family staff, even though it took a while! And I’m glad a few of them were able to play an interesting part in sneaking Akashi out of the house, so his dad wouldn’t find out about Furihata. (Though we don’t know what any of them think about that, or not yet, at least. XD) There will be at least one more member of the staff who gets an introduction, which should be coming soon. But for now, we’ve got:

Takeda, Akashi’s personal valet (and driver, sometimes)

Ginhara, the Akashi family butler and head of staff

Umagami Ichiro, Yukimaru’s groom

Inuyama, Akashi’s father’s personal valet

Hanamitsu Atsuko, housekeeper for the Akashi mansion in Tokyo

The Akashi family chef (name???)

(Plus some maids, who I also did not name)

… And as you can see, most of them still don’t have given names, even the ones with family names. That’s how disorganized I’ve been about this. //laughs

Also, I have a feeling no one was actually wondering (lol), but if you happen to remember this scene from Episode 63 in the Teikou arc in the anime:

In my headcanons, this guy is the head chauffeur for the Akashi family household, and he used to drive the whole family around. (Which would mean that he was also mentioned in The Fast Train to Kyoto, in a brief flashback about Akashi and his parents! Where he’s just “the driver.” XD) Now he mostly drives Akashi’s father to work, and sometimes chauffeurs Akashi as well, when he’s in Tokyo. (Whereas Takeda drives him around in Kyoto.) I briefly referred to him as Onoda in Chapter One of The Vanishing Prince, so… I guess that’s the name I came up with for him? //laughs

TL;DR… I’ve really enjoyed writing about the various characters who work for the Akashi family, and I had way more fun including them in the story than I expected. <3 (Maybe I should give in and post character sketches for all the OCs in this series sometime… That would be a project. XD)

Beliefs About Ghosts

I might go into this more in a future chapter, but I did want to briefly discuss how Reo talks to Furihata about ghosts, and how/why they haunt certain places… There are a LOT of different beliefs all over the world about whether ghosts are real, and why they appear. There are also lots of theories about whether they need the help of living humans to pass on or not.

For this fic, I tried to include some of the most common beliefs in Reo’s response, including the “revenge” ghost stories that are super common in Japanese folklore. But it’s not a comprehensive explanation by any means, and there are a lot of people who believe in ghosts and spirits but wouldn’t agree with the ideas Reo mentioned. (Basically, I had to pick among a bunch of different supernatural ideas about ghosts for the fic, and these are some of the ones I chose to include? But that’s not to say that they’re representative of my own beliefs, or of every Japanese person who believes in ghosts, either!)

The Akashi Family Curse (…?)

So I know some readers have been discussing this and making predictions about it in the comments for a while now… And while I don’t want to spoil anything about where the story is going, I’m really excited that I finally got to reveal another piece of the legend/rumors about the Akashi family curse:

Furihata’s mouth dropped open. It never occurred to him that some people might still think that the Akashis were cursed, centuries later. Or that these rumors were somehow connected to their catlike eyes. Was that maybe even how the peasants in the legend came up with the curse in the first place? Were they just creeped out, by this super-rare genetic thing that ran in the family?

Or… could it be true? Could the Akashi family really be cursed?

I can’t remember if anyone specifically connected the dots about the legend being connected to the “catlike” eyes or not… But if you saw this coming, YES YOU WERE TOTALLY RIGHT AND I AM IMPRESSED. <333

As for what the legend/rumors say about how the curse works, and whether or not it’s actually real… I guess I shouldn’t go into that just yet, for the sake of spoilers. XD But hopefully you can have fun guessing for now! And I’m glad I can finally point to the connection between the idea of a family curse and the “catlike eyes” to explain why I kept including so many passages like this one:

He and Akashi were walking through another long passageway. This one was lined with life-sized portraits—and oddly enough, Furihata recognized some of the faces. He had seen them in paintings in the Tokyo house.

“Are these your relatives?” he asked. They didn’t resemble Akashi very much. But a few did have the same unusual, catlike pupils.

Akashi nodded, as he glanced up at the huge frames. “They led the family, several generations ago. This one was my great-great-great-great-great grandfather.”

He gestured to the largest painting. The steel-haired man in the portrait wore a piercing frown. Even his posture was severe, somehow.

… Yeah, there are a BUNCH of descriptions in A Spark of Light of portraits of Akashi’s relatives, and how some of them have the same eyes as him. Also, as I’m sure a lot of people noticed, I mention Akashi’s eyes A LOT throughout the series. And this is one of the reasons why I wanted to emphasize it so much. XD

(Well, okay and also like a lot of fic writers, I enjoy pretty descriptions about eyes. XD BUT I WOULD’VE TRIED TO CUT MORE OF THEM IF IT WASN’T SUCH AN IMPORTANT PLOT POINT… Or so I’ll claim, anyway. //laughs)

And Finally… THE VIOLIN

Ahhh I’m so happy I finally got to post this scene! I’ve been saving the moment of Akashi playing his violin for Furihata for a loooong time… I foreshadowed it briefly back in Storming the Castle, when Furihata notices Akashi’s violin case sitting in his study. But I got the idea for this scene even earlier… All the way back when I drafted that part in The Fast Train to Kyoto, where Akashi plays his violin after he writes to Furihata to tell him they can’t be friends. (YES. IT HAS BEEN THAT LONG.)

So, yeah… I had no idea know how long it would take to get there, but I definitely knew that Akashi would have to play his violin for Furihata at some point. And I wanted it to be a Really Big Moment in their romantic arc. So I did the best I could with it. (Because, I mean… How could I NOT include a scene where Akashi plays the violin for Furihata? That just had to happen, come on. //laughs)

As I mentioned over on Ao3, I do have my own idea about which piece Akashi plays for Furi… I might even mention it directly in the next chapter, but I’m not sure yet? (Either way, if you have a piece that you’d like to imagine him playing instead, you have my blessing. xD I tried to write it in such a way that he could be playing a lot of different songs!) So here was my thought process on that…

I figured Akashi would probably decide to play something on the simple side for Furihata, rather than anything too technical/demanding on the ear. I also realized that he was probably thinking that Furihata would like a sweet, romantic sort of song, because of this scene from Storming the Castle:

“Oh, r-right.” Furihata let go of the flower. He managed a laugh. “Sorry. I’m being weird, huh?”

“I just never realized you had such an interest in roses,” Akashi said, with a hint of humor. “But it shouldn’t surprise me, really.”

Furihata didn’t follow. “Why’s that?”

The edge of Akashi’s mouth dimpled. “Well, you are a romantic, after all.”

And that was when I realized… ROSES. Like, what if the piece had to do with roses, because Akashi was remembering that conversation about Furihata’s romantic side that they had in his rose garden…? So in my head, Akashi plays a version of The Last Rose of Summer, which is this really sweet, old Irish song that was later set to a poem of that name, written by Thomas Moore. It’s an easier piece to play, so it’s a little difficult to find a nice version of it by a professional violinist. But I did find this arrangement that is SUPER old-fashioned and adorable:

And my personal favorite version with strings that I found (and linked first on Ao3) is probably this one. Though I believe the violin doesn’t start until around a minute and a half into the recording?

(My sister and I thought the first soloist *might* be a viola… Apologies if we’re wrong though!! We took band a thousand years ago in high school but didn’t play in an orchestra, so we’re basically clueless about anything with strings. XD)

Anyway, I just thought that the song would be fitting because of the whole “bonding over roses” connection to Storming the Castle, and the fact that they’re still on summer vacation in this story… Plus the words of the poem are kind of the most Oreshi thing I’ve ever heard??? It’s REALLY sad, but also all about friendship. You can hear how it’s sung and see the complete lyrics in this version by Charlotte Church if you’d like (again, the song starts at around 1:30), but I’ll also include the beginning and end of the poem here:

Tis the last rose of summer,

Left blooming alone,

All her lovely companions

Are faded and gone.

…

So soon may I follow

When friendships decay;

And from love's shining circle

The gems drop away

When true hearts lie wither'd

And fond ones are flow'n

Oh! Who would inhabit

This bleak world alone?

… TELL ME THAT’S NOT AN ORESHI KIND OF POEM. It’s all about friendship and being afraid of being alone, and I just… gahhhh. T_____T

Also, you might have noticed that the versions I linked don’t have any parts where the soloist plucks the violin strings, which I described Akashi doing at one point… That’s because I like to think that in between playing a simpler version, Akashi also slips into a few sections of Variations on the Last Rose of Summer by Ernst, which you can see the violinist Midori playing here. (Unlike the other versions I linked, this is one of the hardest pieces ever written for violin, period… Apparently it’s so difficult that many top-tier professionals won’t even play it in front of a crowd! So for those of you who want to picture him playing something more badass, I’ve got you covered. XD)

(And while we’re still on the subject of different versions… My all-time favorite when it comes to different instruments playing The Last Rose of Summer has got to be this one. BECAUSE IT’S A KOTO, LIKE OMGGGG YES. Honestly, if my series had a sound, I’d like to think that it would be this…? Because roses and traditional Japanese instruments, that’s why. //laughs)

Also, I’m not sure whether anyone was curious about this part of the scene:

Akashi chuckled as he unlatched the case. Resting on a bed of crimson silk was a delicately carved violin. Furihata didn’t know how to tell if an instrument was well made, but he was pretty sure that this one had to be.

So I do indeed headcanon that Akashi would have a really nice violin… For those who might not know, violins can be EXTREMELY expensive, most notably at the professional and soloist quality levels. As in, the famous Stradivarius violins are valued at $10 million or MORE, for example. XD Though I personally tend to think that Akashi probably wouldn’t play a Strad himself… He’d have too much reverence for the instrument for that. //laughs (Although I wouldn’t be surprised if his family owns a Stradivarius and lends it out to some world-famous soloist… Which is apparently how it works in real life, by the way!) But I still imagine that his violin would be a super fancy one, maybe somewhere in the $100k range or something? (And now I’m just imagining Furihata finding that out and freaking out, lol.)

And last but not least, since I’m already rambling a lot, I would like to credit a new favorite YouTube channel of mine that I discovered while writing the violin scene… I really wanted to make sure that I described the violin playing correctly, because like I mentioned, I understand nothing about stringed instruments whatsoever. (I was a very mediocre flute player, once upon a time. //laughs)

So while I was hunting for references, I stumbled across TwoSet Violin, and OMG THEY ARE THE COOLEST CHANNEL EVER. I’d recommend them to literally everyone, even if you don’t play the violin or have any interest in classical music! They’re two professional violinists from Australia who make tons of super-entertaining content, like analyzing the way actors pretend to play instruments in movies and Chinese dramas, or trying to play the cheapest violin they can buy on Amazon. And it’s FANTASTIC. XD They’re super skilled and funny, and they even inspired me to listen to classical music again, so yeah, I can’t recommend them enough. <3

Well, this post turned out a lot longer than I expected…? //laughs In any case, I hope it was interesting, and thank you for reading! And as I said over on Ao3, thank you again to all of my lovely readers for your patience, especially while I dealt with my grandmother’s passing. I have the next chapter of the fic drafted, just like last time, but it does have some issues so I’m not sure how long it will take to edit. (Hopefully less time than this one did. OTL) I’ll definitely do my best to post it as soon as I can. In the meantime, I really hope everyone is staying safe, and see you then!

#the vanishing prince #kat writes fanfic #text post #long post #kat writes about basketball dorks #akafuri #good lord this post was loooooong #and the chapter was long #everything I write is long XD #but I'm so glad I got to FINALLY POST THIS #I can't even begin to express how long and painstaking the editing process was #BUT WE GOT THERE IT'S ALL GOOD #and I had a lot of fun writing a lot of these scenes #the adorable dorks continue to be adorable #Takeda and Ginhara also amused me this time for some reason #and the housekeeper #oh and Seirin was back YAY #I missed Bokushi though he wasn't in this one as much XD #also yay violins <3<3<3

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noctilucentstorm · 4 years

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Fanfic Author’s Game

Thanks for the tag @gossipchii :D

AO3 name(s): JadeLeaf and JadeLeafForest on AO3 (I only recently created it, so it’s not got anything from ff.net on it yet) and JadeLeafForest on ff.net... plus another old ff.net account that is not going to be mentioned here!

Fandoms: Digimon and Psycho Pass. Although in my past life I wrote for Avatar the Last Airbender and other fandoms... wow, I’m old.

Number of fics: Let’s say over 20. I mostly stick to one-shots and ‘in-between scenes’ though, so my average word count is fairly low.

1. Fic I spent the most time on: Ugh, definitely A House A Home .

2. Fic I spent the least time on: Hmm, not quite sure as I don’t time myself. Some fics come together in an afternoon, others take a lot longer. Probably, Family. Week-long challenges are usually the ones that force me to write quickly.

3. Longest fic: A House A Home by quite a margin. I think I wrote a longer fic on my previous account, but it was fairly terrible (and unfinished - see a pattern?)!

4. Shortest fic: Given my shortest fics only end up on Tumblr... looks like it’s Bonds, followed very closely by this one between Koushiro and Taichi.

5. Most hits: Where the Earth Touches the Sky, but that feels a bit like cheating since it’s actually 7 one-shots. Of my one-shots it’s Shenanigans, because we’re all desperate for non-love-triangle Taiorato.

6. Most kudos: Because I set it up like three weeks ago, I’ll stick with ff.net favs: A House A Home, followed very closely by Readjustment.

7. Most comment threads: Surprisingly, Negotiations gets the top spot for one-shots (not that I think it’s bad - but was one of my first real attempts at trying to nail down the Digimon cast). A House A Home takes overall.

8. Favorite fic I wrote: Oof that’s tricky! While it’s not my favourite, and I can already count the flaws, I do really like A House A Home because I had always wanted to write a multi-chapter digimon fic that dealt with... things... that I have not yet gotten to... OTL (some of it is in the next chapter).

9. Fic you want to re-write: Not so much a rewrite, but I am aiming to break up the chapters of A House A Home into more manageable chunks when I finally get to posting it on ao3. I posted such large chapters due to the posting format of the Digimon Bang but really should’ve cut them down early. I know long chapters can be really intimidating. Part of the reason I don’t like multichapter fics is because I struggle to get them done in one go, then lose steam and by the time I get going again I want to rewrite the whole thing!

10. Share bit of a WIP or a story idea you’re planning on: I’m posting the next chapter of A House A Home soon, so won’t bother with that. This scene is from a story I came up with ages ago, but will never get around to writing (@xpearlshippingx I realise this is a bit similar to your prompt, but it is a genuine coincidence and I’m still aiming to get to yours):

He approached her like a shadow. Despite her best efforts, Sora visibly tensed when Yamato called her name. He chuckled, his voice low so no one else in the school hallway could hear. Without giving him time to gloat, Sora calmly turned to face him without a trace of emotion.

He was less than half a step from her, so that she had to look up in order to meet his eyes. The smile on his face was warm and in the background Sora could hear a few girls commenting. Why was Yamato paying attention to her and not me? Their jealous thoughts were like mosquitoes buzzing around her. But they didn’t – couldn’t – see the cruelty in his eyes.

“Did you need to ask me something, Yamato?”

Her tone was strictly business. It was with a heavy heart she thought back to only a month ago when he would stay late to walk her home from tennis practice and they would discuss their hopes and ambitions.

He seemed annoyed at her phrasing, but recovered quickly. Sora awarded herself a point nonetheless and her lips twisted into a smile that didn’t reach her eyes. He knew all the ways to hurt her, but she knew his weaknesses as well.

“How is Gabumon?”

There was a moment when he mentioned his partner’s name when Sora thought she saw a hint of her old friend. Unfortunately, it wasn’t the time to dwell on the hope, and whatever it was disappeared in an instant.

“If you miss him, you could always take it off.”

Yamato laughed, knowing exactly what she was referring to. His hand reached towards the upper part of his opposite arm, but jerked away before he even touched the sleeve. Sora’s eyes followed the motion with grim satisfaction, making a mental note of the dark ring’s location.

“Have you always made such fanciful suggestions?”

The bell echoed through the hallway, which signalled the end to their conversation. However, she knew Yamato would need to get in a final hit and he didn’t disappoint. He took her hand loosely in his, and bent his head down just enough to whisper in her ear.

“Good luck in your match today.”

A squeeze of her hand and he was gone. The heat of the sun shone through the windows, but it did little to ease the cold dread that settled in her stomach. Sora made it to class a minute too late, but the teacher only gives her a stern look. She pulled out her notes as quickly and quietly as possible, but stopped when the girl in the seat next to her held out a handkerchief.

Sora was confused for a moment, but her eyes blurred and suddenly she realised she was crying. Quickly, she dug through her bag and pulled out her own handkerchief and showed it to the girl as a way of reassurance, before bending under her desk and angrily swiping the cloth across her face.

However much he upset her, Sora was determined to keep Yamato’s attention. The more he obsessed over hurting her, the less he interfered with the younger Chosen as they tried to defeat the Digimon Kaiser. Maybe Piyomon couldn’t fight, but she could.

#digimon #digimon adventure #fanfic author's game #yamato ishida #Sora Takenouchi #sorato #...although not in a nice way

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hellevator-mp3 · 6 years

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Gilded Age || Part 2

Pairing(s): Hyunjin x Seungmin

Genre: Fluff

Word Count: 3,000+

Warnings: Not detailed mentions of wounds

Author Note: dflgklh hi!! i swear i’m not dead!! i’ve just been really busy with work, so this took a l o n g time to finish OTL but it’s done and i hope that everyone who’s been anticipating it enjoys it!

Whether he was a peasant or not, Seungmin knew that to commit a crime would have consequences - he just didn’t expect that falling for a member of the royal family would be part of it.

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Morning and night seemed to come too early for Hyunjin.

Nights called for negotiations and talks of peace and potential war declarations on other districts; mornings brought fake smiles at breakfast, and district visits to check on the harvests that would soon feed the whole castle, as well as the village.

Mornings also brought the maid to his room, where he turned her away, saying that he was old enough to dress himself and that she needn't bother coming in to dress him every morning, bowing low as she left the room. He pulled a plain beige tunic from his wardrobe, along with a folded pair of emerald green stockings that surely wouldn't have been picked had it been the maid dressing him. Instead, she would have leaned towards the crimson tunic situated in the back of his wardrobe, and for good reason. It was covered in dainty embroirdery that itched like something awful when it was on, and Hyunjin wouldn't be able to change from it until after the district visit, which could possibly go into the late hours of the night.

When he was dressed and his hair was moderately tamed by his hand, he made his way to the dining hall, where the king - or rather, his father - was waiting patiently with his meal set out before him. A quick apology was uttered before his father gestured for him to take a seat and begin eating, a small smile present on his lips during the entire exchange. The two ate in silece for a few moments, before a sudden commotion from the kitchen broke the silence, screams and shouts and the slamming of a door deafening in the silence, the noises so sudden that Hyunjin's father jumped, dropping his spoon onto his plate, the metal clanging loudly on the ceramic, quickly followed by the scraping of wood on brick as the two slid their chairs back and rushed through the kitchen into the courtyard to find out what was going on.

What they saw nearly made Hyunjin sick, seeing two of the cooks stripping a page of his shirt, before one hoisted him up slightly and the other drew a rope around his wrists and tethered him to the whipping pole, showing nothing but his bare back to the people gathered. Hyunjin moved to the side, closer to the maid bearing the three-strand-whip, to get a glimpse of the boy tied up. As one of the cooks, a big man by the name of Youngbae, took the whip from the maid, Hyunjin saw who was strung up - and just a second too late, as the leather cracked down on his back and the crowd watched in horror as a set of three marks began to rise on his back and he writhed in pain against the pole, but he refused to make a noise. When Youngbae was drawing his arm back for another lash, Hyunjin's mind was sent into overdrive and he threw himself between them, throwing his arms out and taking the lash directly to his clothed chest, the force from the blow knocking the air out of his lungs and forcing him down to his knees as he tried to draw a breath. The maid rushed forward, kneeling down in front of him to check him over for injuries, before Youngbae ordered the two of them to move. One of the other pages came over to help Hyunjin out of the way, even though he tried to get back to his place in order to protect the bound up younger boy, who looked at him with pleading eyes.

It wasn't until several lashings later that Hyunjin regained his breath and the other boy was nearly dropped in the dirt as they let him down, causing Hyunjin to rush forward once more to catch him, hauling him up as carefully as he could, hands resting under the others backside and carrying him like a child as he ordered the maid to bring him all the supplies he would need to tend to the younger.

A few moments later, Hyunjin had the boy laid out on his stomach on a spare bed, with bandages and the like spread out over the remaining surface area. Hyunjin let out a small sigh as he set to work on repairing his back, gently dabbing at the ruined skin with a rag soaked in wine, taking his time to clean it up as well as he could before gently rubbing a salve over the raw skin and bandaging him up. It wasn't until after he was done that he finally spoke, the disappointment slightly clear in his voice as he addressed the wounded man in front of him. "Seungmin, why do you keep doing this? You know they're going to suspect something sooner or later." He reprimanded him, tilting his head to look at the man - no, boy - in question, who turned his head to look at the elder.

"See, they may think that you have some sort of favoritism game going on, but they're never going to think that we're dating, are you kidding?" Seungmin cracked a grin, before adding, "besides, I'm sure your dad would support us." Hyunjin let out a tired laugh at the other's response, shaking his head.

Seungmin readjusted himself, letting out a pained hiss as he tried to get comfortable. "Even so, you know that most of the District would revolt if they found out that a member of the 'royal' family was dating a 'peasant'." Hyunjin replied, using air quotes to emphasize his point. Seungmin just rolled his eyes in response, muttering a small 'I don't care' as he turned his face away from the elder, closing his eyes and letting his breath even out as he fell asleep. Hyunjin just watched the peaceful boy, gently smoothing his bangs out of his face and wiping some of the blood spatter from the back of his neck away with a washrag, before getting up from the bed and leaving the room to find his father.

The two had met in a similar fashion to the way that Hyunjin found Seungmin that day; Seungmin was a member of the lower class, his mother having died off from overwork and not being able to afford the medicine she needed to cure the ailment that wore away at her, leaving Seungmin alone to fend for himself. Hyunjin was out in the District to check over the crops, when the townspeople began to file into the center. With a ruffled brow and a confused noise directed at his father, the two made their way to the center to find out what was going on. A familiar sight greeted them, a barebacked body hung up on a pole, and a broad man bearing a whip ready to deliver punishment. While most of the crowd gathered behind the boy so all they saw was his back, Hyunjin and his father had come a way that allowed them to see the boy's face, pleading eyes meeting with Hyunjin's that were shrouded in darkness from his hood. A moment of eye contact was all it took before Hyunjin was rushing forward, straight into the path of the whip slicing through the air, the hit from the hard leather striking him in the thigh. He hunched over and placed his hands over the spot, before another strike came raining down on his back, the three-pronged whip spreading out and leaving his back raw and bruised, even under the layers that clothed his body. The world turned to black as he collapsed at the feeling of another strike against him. Somebody's voice boomed around the center, but the white noise that occupied Hyunjin's ears was too loud to hear over. ~~ Somebody untied the knots holding Seungmin up in the air, allowing him to drop to the floor and scramble over to the boy that took his punishment for him. He rolled the boy over gently, trying to support him so that there was no pressure on his back - where most of the hits had likely landed - as he pushed the dark hood that hid his face from view out of the way and took in the boy's face, very quickly recognizing him as the prince. An older man with the same face, but more gray hair made to take the elder boy away, but Seungmin held tight for reason's unknown. He begged the king to allow him to care for the prince, since he was now in his debt and that was the only way that he could think to repay him for the pain he would have to endure. Reluctantly, the king agreed, allowing Seungmin to scoop the taller boy into his arms and follow the king to where a carriage was waiting, a butler jumping down from where he was perched on a box, opening the door and allowing the two to get in. Seungmin settled the elder in his lap, fingers tracing absent shapes into the outside of his thigh as the carriage rattled and shook, taking care to support the others head so there wasn't a chance that it would hit the wall, and also making sure to avoid the small patch of blood that spread from where the whip had hit, Seungmin assumed.

The king watched the two, noting the fact that Seungmin didn't seem to be present with him at the moment, judging by his fixation on a spot of the wall opposite to him and the slow, unconscious motions of his hands. He studied the young boy with interest, taking in the dirt smudged on his cheeks and the near black color of his hands. Seungmin came to when he asked what the boy had done to be whipped, which caused Seungmin to flush and mutter something under his breath that was nearly inaudible.

When the king asked him to repeat it, Seungmin stated simply that he stole. The elder asked him to elaborate and waited patiently as the other gathered his thoughts. Neither of them noticed when Hyunjin stirred slightly, regaining consciousness but faking sleep for the sake of listening to their conversation, even though he was tempted to look at the person that held him close to their chest. "You see, Your Majesty, my mother passed away just a few months ago, and I've had to resort to stealing from other's garbage to sustain myself." Seungmin replied, not a hint of embarrassment present in either his voice or on his face, something that the king admired greatly.

The two continued discussing what life would be like for Seungmin in the castle, although neither dared to discuss what would happen after Hyunjin was well. ~~ When they arrived, Seungmin was the first to get out of the carriage, waiting patiently to be shown where Hyunjin's room was as he shifted the boy in his arms. A well-dressed man descended the steps in front of him, making his way to the king and gesturing towards Seungmin as they talked, making it clear that he was asking who he was and what he was doing there. The king dismissed him with a wave of the hand, instead telling him rather loudly to show the boy where Hyunjin's room was. It took them no more than ten minutes to get to the room, where a wooden plaque with a metal face stamped with his name announced their arrival. Seungmin thanked the elder profusely, before stepping into the room and laying the other on the bed, kneeling next to him as he laid the boy on his stomach, using a pillow to prop up his hip and knee so his thigh wouldn't have any pressure on it.

The butler entered the room a few moments later with all the supplies that Seungmin might need to tend to Hyunjin's wounds, leaving the room with a bow.

With gentle hands, Seungmin lifted the prince's shirt up, letting his eyes wander over the damage that had been caused by the strikes meant for himself. With a shudder, he soaked the rag in wine and began to carefully clean the shallow marks, pausing every now and again when Hyunjin would shift or let out a small, pained noise. After slathering some ointment and covering the area with bandages, he flipped the elder over and contemplated his next course of action. After a moment, he decided that it would just be easier to roll down the other's stockings down to his knees, and pushing the leg of his underpants up to expose the bright red marks adorning his thigh. Seungmin repeated the process, making sure the wound was clean and properly covered before redressing the boy, and rolling him back over to his front and readjusting the pillows underneath Hyunjin to make sure he would be comfortable and it would maybe ease the pain. When he was done, he hauled himself up to the headboard and leaned his back on it, relaxing against the hardwood. It wasn't long before the dark tendrils of unconsciousness beckoned him, and he went with them willingly.

Hyunjin awoke with a start, taking note of his surroundings, one of which included an unfamiliar figure that shared his bed. The memories came back in a rush, along with the stinging pain that occupied his thigh and part of his back. With a stifled groan, he pulled himself up to a sitting position, crossing his good leg underneath his bad and taking in the boy in front of him. It was calm and silent for a moment, before the other opened his mouth and spoke. "You know, it's a bit creepy to stare at people when they're sleeping." Hyunjin's eyes widened and he jumped slightly at the sudden speech, before the other peeked at him and cracked a grin, before cracking up, laughter racking his body in waves, the noise booming in the quiet room.

When his laughing fit was over with, he sat up and looked at Hyunjin again, before getting off the bed and bowing in Hyunjin's direction, introducing himself as Seungmin. "Why are you here?" Hyunjin asked, curiosity getting the best of him. The younger smiled, before explaining what had happened, and how he ended up sitting on Hyunjin's bed.

Since then, it was a daily routine of cleaning his wounds twice a day until they were fully healed, and even then, Seungmin didn't return to his home. When Hyunjin questioned it, Seungmin explained that he didn't have a home anymore. "This is as much of a home to me as my old home." He had replied, gesturing to Hyunjin's room, leading Hyunjin to look around and take note of all the traces of Seungmin that littered his room, the ones that had become commonplace in the month and a half that he had been staying there. A stack of papers filled with ink scribbles that amounted to words, the ones that he was being taught since he never learned how to read. The cot in the corner of the room, to the right of Hyunjin's own bed, and even Seungmin's worn leather shoes thrown next to the cot. Hyunjin had smiled at him then, replying that it would be his home for as long as he wanted it to be. Something sparked in Seungmin's eyes, before he grinned back at Hyunjin, and promptly threw himself into the elder's arms, thanking him profusely.

When he pulled away, he took notice of the small space between the two of them, eyes flickering up to meet Hyunjin's, before he tried to scramble back. However, he couldn't pull back more than two inches due to Hyunjin's grip around his back, his eyes widening in surprise at the others firmness. It seemed as though the two had an 'aha!' moment, realizing that this was...perfectly okay, and the two were perfectly content to stay exactly where they were. Their eye contact broke when Seungmin glanced down quickly at Hyunjin's lips, darting back up when he realized what he was doing. However, it wasn't quick enough to escape Hyunjin, and he mentally debated with himself for a moment before leaning forward, catching Seungmin's lips with his own. The younger was stunned, unable to move and the elder took that as a rejection, pulling back quickly and apologizing as he released Seungmin from his grip. However, instead of throwing himself to the other side of the bed, Seungmin gently laid his hands on Hyunjin's cheeks and pulled him closer, their lips meeting once again in a soft kiss that turned both of them into mush. Hyunjin's hands settled on the younger's hips, before moving back to draw him ever closer. His fingers were quick to settle on a bare patch of skin, drawing absent circles as he settled into a quiet bliss.

It wasn't until another few kisses that they pulled away, breathing fast and hearts beating faster, resting their foreheads together and just enjoying the other's presence. They started out as a prince and his servent, morphing into friends and then into friends that shared feelings. Anything more than that, Hyunjin was unsure of, but just wanted to enjoy his time with Seungmin before anything changed.

Seungmin awoke with a start, his dream of his and Hyunjin's first meeting springing vividly to his mind in the form of a dream. The source of his panic was the man standing in the door, who accidentally let the door slam and was staring at the younger with panicked eyes. After a moment, Seungmin gestured for the other to join him, patting the bed next to him and whining, wanting to know where the other had gone.

"I told my father." He replied simply, making his way to the other side of the bed, settling cross-legged next to Seungmin, who made a questioning noise. "He told me to give you this, and he would settle the rest." A silver band was pulled from a small pouch that was clutched in his hand, the metal glinting in the soft daylight that streamed in through the window. The elder slid the ring onto the right finger, before showing the younger his matching ring, before kissing his forehead. "Now the District can't complain that I'm dating a 'peasant', you'll be royalty soon enough." The promise was almost as soft as the kiss they shared, before settling down comfortably together on the bed, Seungmin careful not to disturb the healing skin on his back as he cuddled up to his prince.

#seungjin #stray kids fic #kpop fanfiction #kim seungmin #hwang hyunjin #skz

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jikook-love · 6 years

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tagged by @bangtanseonyeontrash tanks for keeping me entertained gurled :’)

THE LAST…

-drink: orange juice :3

-phone call: MY DAD. MY ONE AND ONLY OTO-SAN <3

-Text message: my loser sister

-Song you listened to: Love Battery by Hong Jin Young (still. IT JUST CAME ON BY CHANCE OKAI but it’s goo--oop, now it’s Decalcomanie by Mamamoo dere you go)

-time you cried: idk like a week ago? out of sadness that is. i cried this morning when my sister was playing League of Legends.

Have you ever…..

-dated someone twice: nah man. once the wind blows away it won’t return (Boys Over Flowers quote that frankly, never made sense to me)

-kissed someone and regretted it: nope. i ain’t an easy woman

-been cheated on: technically that one time on LINE chat in high school I was diqing role playing around with this guy. i’m pretty sure i knew he had a waifu but chose to ignore it. but then i became friends with her and then three of us just got together to FIGHT and I’d accuse him of being a cheater and shiet so uhhh...no i guess not (just reminded me of it LOL)

-lost someone special: you’re lucky if you haven’t my friend

-been depressed: it is but a coping mechanism for me at this point :)

-gotten drunk and thrown up: i don’t drink :D

Three favorite colors…..

Blue, black & white

In the last year have you…..

-made new friends: mm hmm ^^

-laughed until you cried: OOOH YES. it’s the best feeling. until i get a stomachache and make one too many weird noises

-found out that someone was talking about you: ...maybe? idk. i feel like i have but idgaf cause they’re so irrelevant my brain doesn’t even care to remember them anyway LUL

-met someone who changed you: of course ^^ good and bad people alike ofc :)

-found out who your friends are: hmm...i guess so?

-kissed someone on your Facebook friends list: i deleted facebook so this question becomes dubious ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

-Do you have any pets?: nope.

-Do you want to change your name?: i did. until i realized how blessed it was to have a short name :)

-What did you do for your last birthday?: i had a joint b-day with my mom (that sounds so weird). but she invited her friends and i invited mine and i aggressively forced them to eat all the foods and sing karaoke :’)

-What time did you wake up?: can we not talk about this i feel so attacked rn (it was 9:30 a.m. and then somehow it became 11:30 a.m.)

-What what you were you doing at midnight last night?: reading sketchy manga. probably.

-Name something you can’t wait for: my fuqing lab results to FINALLY SHOW

-When was the last time you saw your mom?: last month :’( but it’s funny cause she’s coming back from her vacation tonight and we’re coming to pick her up ^^

-What are you listening to right now?: Troublemaker by Troublemaker (BUT WHEN WILL CERTAIN PPL COVER THIS SONG SO I CAN LIVE jkjk that’s asking too much...or is it?)

-Have you ever talked to someone named Tom?: probably.

-Something that gets on your nerves?: when people don’t give credit where credit is due ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

-Most visited website: NCBI. jk i’m not that cool. tumblr, probably OTL

-Hair color: black. like my soul

-Long or short hair: it’s getting longer again. and i indeed to keep it that way ;)

-Do you have a crush on someone?: even if i wanted to there’s just trash all around ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

-What do you like about yourself?: atm? that i washed my bedsheets and blanket on sunday and now they still feel really good and fluffy and i can’t even get out of them <3 best thing i ever did for me

-Blood type: unknown. probably O though.

-Nickname: Hoe

-Relationship status: Still irrelevant.

-Zodiac: CANCER. like the embodiment of my tumblr

-Pronouns: She/Her

-Favorite T.V shows: i only watch anime gdi White Collar, Sherlock (ish), Friends

-Tattoos: nooone.��

-Right or Left handed: meta.

-Surgery: nope.

-Sport: i used to play badminton and wanna pick it up again but other than that I don’t move :D

-Vacation: what about vacation...? Recentest one was with my sister to Montreal in the summer and it was the littest thing I’d ever done in my life :’D

-Pair of shoes: Sneakers. pretty much always.

-Eating: stress lul

-Drinking: watterrrrrr

-I’m about to: go back to work :’)

-Waiting for?: my life to be sorted out. soon hopefully :)

-Want?: to have a plan for next year upon graduating :’)

-Get married?: when you find a person who can tolerate my sense of humour and my hobbies and has a mild neglect kink let me know

-Career?: Probably gonna go to grad school cause I actually really enjoy doing research, and we’ll see who I end up preaching from there ^^

Which is better?

-Hugs or kisses?: lul. neither. idfk how to hug (or kiss) people. WHAT IS SKINSHIP.

-Lips or eyes?: EYEZ.

-Shorter or taller?: Tall.

-Older or younger?: Older. oppa plz.

-Nice arms or stomach?: ...? idk?

-Hook up or relationship?: relationSHIP SHIP SHIP

-Troublemaker or hesitant?: Balance plz. i cannot handle an extremity of either

-Kissed a stranger?: nope

-Drink hard liquor?: nah

-Lost glasses/contact lenses?: no

-Turned someone down?: we don’t talk anymore ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

-Sex on the first date?: nada

-Broken someone’s heart?: doubt it. i probably unintentionally broke some other thing instead.

-Had a broken heart?: not really.

-Been arrested?: almost. but not quite.

-Cried when someone died?: ya.

-Fallen for a friend?: yes

Do you belive in…..

-Yourself?: moreso recently, so I guess so

-Miracles?: LOL YES. I got to where I am based on miracles pretty sure

-Love at first sight?: not yet? unless you count animals then that’s different

-Santa Claus?: rn no but holy shiet when i’m around children no one tell me to calm down

-Kiss on the first date?: nah. i like making people wait when i can ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

phew that was long! i’ll tag @yildiz-blackthorne, @kaliheartsjikook and anyone else who read this until the end ^^

#tag #tag game

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junker-town · 6 years

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Why is Jerry Jones fighting with Roger Goodell and the NFL?

A handy guide for the biggest matchup of the 2017 NFL season.

Roger Goodell could be in trouble. As recently as six months ago that statement would have been, correctly, dismissed out of hand.

The NFL commissioner’s job, perhaps the most powerful position in the business of American professional sports, seemed impervious to any threat, especially the ones of Goodell’s own making.

He survived Bountygate. It was rough for a time, but he made it through the Ray Rice scandal. He skated through Deflategate too, coming out of that with even more legal precedent supporting his disciplinary powers as commissioner.

Owners opted to count their money instead of make a stink. Goodell held a fractious group of 32 billionaires together through the lockout and collective bargaining agreement negotiations in 2011. It was his crowing achievement as commissioner, a deal that saw owners get just about every concession they wanted from players and set up a decade of labor stability and overflowing coffers. Goodell was untouchable because he made the league money.

Now one of the league’s most powerful owners, Jerry Jones of the Dallas Cowboys, is threatening to turn his lobbying efforts against Goodell’s contract extension into a full-blown legal fight.

Jones is threatening a coup d'état, or about as close as it gets to that for the NFL, because he doesn’t like that the league hewed to its three-year-old domestic violence policy and gave his star running back, Ezekiel Elliott, a six-game suspension, based on the league’s own investigation.

Even if it doesn’t ultimately result in toppling the commissioner — it’s still a stretch to think that it will — it’s the most serious threat to Goodell’s job since he became commissioner in 2006.

Protecting the Shield is the root of the problem

That same labor deal gives the commissioner unilateral power over personal conduct matters and anything else that falls into the category of “protecting the integrity of the game.”

League commissioners have always had that kind of power. But it’s been Goodell’s signature issue.

Surprise, unchecked power in the hands of one person leads to problems. The examples cited above turned into drawn-out court battles because of the arbitrary nature of the punishments doled out and the flimsy evidence used to justify it.

The league’s domestic violence policy was adopted in 2014 in the wake of the Rice incident. It was supported by Jerry Jones and other owners and actually spelled out levels of discipline for players and league employees involved in those kinds of incidents, starting with a six-game suspension.

However, the league has not been consistent with its punishment since implementing the policy. For example, former Giants kicker Josh Brown got a single game despite a well-documented history of domestic abuse.

You can see why players and the union don’t like Goodell’s role as judge, jury and executioner. They could end up with a short suspension or find their careers on hiatus indefinitely, for reasons that are never quite clear.

Goodell’s given owners plenty of reasons not to like his disciplinary powers too, taking a star quarterback off the field for footballs that may or may not have been deflated, taking away draft picks for free agent tampering claims, etc.

If it bothered the owners, their dissatisfaction never went beyond an anonymous grumble here and there, and most of them, publicly, still gave Goodell a vote of confidence when asked, even during the Rice situation in 2014.

Jones was among the owners voicing their support for Goodell in the fall of 2014. He’s not been so supportive since the league started investigating the prodigious running back from the Cowboys, handing down a six-game suspension before the season started.

Why is Jones so upset with Goodell?

Jones carries a lot of weight in the NFL. He drove the league’s return to Los Angeles and its coming foray into Las Vegas. Few can lead the room full of owners the way the “de facto commissioner” can. So, when he threatens to come after the real commissioner, it’s significant.

There’s a more personal element in the Elliott suspension for Jones too, besides just the potential of losing one of his best players for six games. Jones fought the NFL over its investigation into the accusations against Elliott, who was not charged by Ohio authorities that also investigated him, from the start.

In October 2016, he confronted the NFL’s lead investigator, Lisa Friel, over the matter in a hotel bar after hours at an owners meeting. He told her, "your bread and butter is going to get both of us thrown out on the street.”

In July of this year, he told the press that there was no evidence against Elliott that warranted a suspension. At the beginning of August, Jones was publicly saying that he believed Elliott would not be suspended.

We learned this week that Jones believes Roger Goodell lied to him, telling him that Elliott would not be suspended. Jones called that an “unforgivable breach of trust.”

What’s up with Goodell’s contract?

Goodell’s current contract runs through 2018. The five-year extension would leave him in place through 2024, covering the league’s next scheduled collective bargaining agreement negotiations in 2021.

In the past, Goodell’s annual compensation varied, but reportedly was required to have an average of $25 million in bonus pay over any given three-year period. His yearly was reported at $44 million in 2014 and $34 million in 2015. But his salary is no longer a matter of public record after the NFL surrendered its non-profit status in 2015.

The argument over the new deal is whether to make it even more incentive-based. The contract the committee is working is to be as much as 88 percent incentive-based according to a Nov. 11 report by the New York Times.

But Jones and a few other owners reportedly believe that the incentives are so loosely defined that Goodell’s pay wouldn’t rise or fall too much whatever happened, even with the league facing a number of challenges at the moment — player suspensions, owners fearful of the controversy over protests, ratings in a nosedive, etc.

A curiously timed report from Adam Schefter and Chris Mortensen relayed some of Goodell’s contract demands that paint the commissioner in a very flattering light. He wanted $49.5 million per year, a private jet and lifetime health insurance for him and his family, according to an unnamed owner cited in the report.

"That number for Roger just seems too much," the owner said. "It's offensive. It's unseemly."

The league denied that claim.

We don’t know that Jones or someone from his camp leaked that information to ESPN, but the details it contains do fit with what he’s been saying about the commissioner’s salary since August.

Who has the final approval for Goodell’s deal?

A unanimous 32-0 vote by owners in May authorized the six-member compensation committee to finalize the and approve the extension for Goodell done, and normally that would be the the only vote needed.

Jones’ argument now is that the contract needs to go back to the full ownership group, instead of just the committee, because of the ratings decline, protests, etc.

Goodell is said to be “furious” over Jones’ effort to derail his contract, according to ESPN’s OTL.

"He feels as if the owners have made a lot of money and he should be compensated accordingly," a source told ESPN’s Don Van Natta Jr. and Seth Wickersham. "The incentives thing really angers him."

Jones was a non-voting ad hoc member of the league’s compensation committee, the six owners tasked with finalizing Goodell’s deal. His membership was revoked on Nov. 2 when he informed the group of his threat to sue.

What’s his basis for threatening the lawsuit?

Jones is said to be one of four of five owners who want Goodell gone. There are reportedly another six wavering in their commitment, who Jones hopes to rally to his side with the threat of a lawsuit and hiring a big-name attorney, Davod Boies, to push it.

The OTL report says Jones is trying to change the two-thirds majority vote needed to approve a deal to three-fourths majority, giving his voting bloc guaranteed veto power. Jones’ play with the lawsuit is, in part, to get Goodell’s contract back in front of the full ownership group where he could prevent it from going forward if he can rally a small group of owners to his side.

Jones was supportive of a new contract for Goodell as recently as May. His latest threatening letter to the league makes an issue of what’s happened since then.

He claims that Falcons owner Arthur Blank and chair of the compensation committee were not honest about the details of Goodell’s proposed contract extension, according to a Thursday report from ESPN’s Chris Mortensen.

Jones claims that details of the contract were not disclosed and that the deal moved away from a more incentive-based version. He also alleges that the committee is not unanimous on the deal, going back on Blank’s assurance that the committee would be in complete agreement on it.

The league disputed Jones’ claims with a very direct shot at him.

"Your description of the proposed extension is so at odds with the actual facts that we can only conclude that you are either uninformed or seek deliberately to mislead the other owners."

When news first broke that Jones was threatening to sue, it was not at all clear what the basis was for the potential lawsuit. This letter clarifies it — he’s trying to get the contract out of the committee’s hands and back to the full group of owners, in the hopes that he can rally enough of them to block Goodell’s deal and send the commissioner packing.

Still, it feels like an awfully flimsy case.

Is this the end for Roger Goodell?

Jones may not have much of a case, but his timing is impeccable.

It’s a strange moment for the NFL. The league was a juggernaut that watched its ratings climb every year, pushing toward Goodell’s stated goal of $25 billion in annual revenue.

Those days are gone.

The NFL skated through mishandled scandal after mishandled scandal without much impact on the bottom line. Now, television ratings are down for the second consecutive season. Owners certainly didn’t like the president turning the sport into a new front in the culture war, and they’re divided on how to respond to the handful of players kneeling during the national anthem to draw attention to police brutality and racial inequality.

There’s plenty for team owners to be concerned with and no real certainty for what to do about it. Jones is using those things as a cudgel in his fight with Goodell.

The question now is how many owners can he actually get on his side. Goodell’s given owners plenty of reasons to be dissatisfied with his job performance, but there’s said to be trepidation about replacing him for an unknown commodity, or worse, a commissioner of Jones’ choosing.

Jones’ moves here are certain to make him more enemies among his peers. The OTL story from Wednesday reports that some owners are upset with Goodell because they feel like he gave Jones too much power in the first place.

NFL owners are not a unified group who all think the same way. In fact, one thing that’s helped solidify Goodell’s status has been his ability to bring them together. Nowhere was he more effective at that than the collective bargaining negotiations in 2011, when he was able to hold together the rift between small market and big market teams, like the Cowboys, to get a deal that enriched all 32 team owners at the expense of the players.

There’s another collective bargaining agreement on the horizon in 2021. Negotiations for that will be even more contentious than the last one. There’s more at stake this time around. Television viewership patterns are changing fast, meaning the NFL might not be able to count on multi-billion dollar rights deals for easy money down the road either.

Having Goodell at the table for the next CBA negotiation was one of the main reasons for getting his contract extension done in the first place. Owners will be leery of switching commissioners with 2021 right around the corner. That might ultimately be Goodell’s firewall against Jones’ palace coup.

I can’t in good conscience endorse either side here. However, the NFL would be better off with Goodell instead of a commissioner handpicked by Jones to carry out his interests and his vision for what the NFL should be.

(Our best hope for 2021 is still going to be players willing to miss games to get a more favorable CBA.)

This has been the most interesting NFL season in a long time, on and off the field. And whatever two teams wind up playing in Super Bowl LII, it’s going to be hard to beat a Jerry Jones versus Roger Goodell matchup. Nothing less than the future of professional football is at stake.

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