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mishacakes · 6 months

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how do you connect to your character? like how do get to know them so well? how do you pick out their likes, dislikes, habits and those itty bitty bits about them? I've been struggling to do that for sooo many of my ocs, and i'm also at a lost of how to design them. like i once had a clear idea of what kind of character they are, but i wanted to change them a bit, make them a little better, and i feel like I've lost that character and that character i'm working on doesn't exists, no matter how much i loved them and enjoyed writing an drawing them. this has happened with every single character i made and it just makes me think that i may not be cut out for drawing or writing characters. i look up to you so i thought of asking you for help

sry for the long rant idk wat im doing

HELLO HELLO THANK YOU FOR ASKING!! So basically I took this question and turned it into a 1.6k word essay on writing characters and how I like to do it, so, uh, hope you enjoy!! and hope it helps!

OK!! character writing. How do you do it? or, well, how do I do it. I’ve got a few methods that help me out the most and are the most fun for me to think about. Here’s my big secret, if it’s not fun I don’t do it. I’m not here to do homework I’m waaayyyy out of school. I’m a legal adult. I pay my taxes. I’m not gonna do something that doesn’t give my brain the good fun juice. Anyways. My methods are: symbols, archetypes, and character inspiration. I use all these to figure out the CORE of a character, their very beating heart, and most importantly, what haunts them. Everything about a character, in my opinion, comes from this core and their ghost. Their habits, their fears, their joys, their coping mechanisms. So long as you have a clear grasp on their heart, you won’t go astray. Let’s dive into it! The characters I’m going to be using to describe how I use these methods are Alice and others characters from my webcomic—namely Edith, Hatter, and Rougina—and Tomiko (you know her you love her, catgirl supreme).

Symbols! I love using symbols, they’re something that can describe a character through metaphor, even without going into detail about their whole backstory and habits. Tomiko’s symbols are lanterns (specifically light), cats, ghosts/yokai, shapeshifting, and gold. They all work to further her character as a rough around the edges monster cat with a heart of gold, who uses shapeshifting as a method (both literally and metaphorically) to mold herself into what others need her to be. Alice’s symbols are hearts, eyes, and flesh in general. Try picking one general symbol (the ocean, the forest, the city), and see how specific you can get from there. Or pick a god or goddess that resonates with your character and see what symbols are used for them. Rougina (the antagonist in my webcomic) is a war goddess fallen from grace, and is symbolized with land and volcanoes, so I’ve used volcanic plants to evoke her. Personally I also love going through the tarot for symbols, assigning a tarot card to characters (of the major arcana) is a fun exercise. Which leads us nicely into our next method:

Archetypes! The tarot deck’s Major Arcana is pretty much only archetypes. The Empress as the Mother. The Magician as the Wise Mentor. The Tower as The Worst Thing That Could Possibly Happen Oh Jesus Shit. These can help a lot with who your character is. I’m extremely storytelling oriented, so it helps me knowing What Role a character serves in the story they inhabit. Another thing I love in archetypes in the Zodiac. Yes, I am an astrology bitch. The whole reason I love talking about my methods is my Sag rising, I love giving my wisdoms. But astrology can be used for writing, and not just for excusing and not reflecting on shit behavior (can’t help being a gemini!). The zodiac is FILLED WITH ARCHETYPES!!! From elements to how they function! The four elements (you A:TLA bitches know this), and three modalities. If you’re interested please watch Eugene’s Rank King video, it’s very informative on the signs. Also many symbols! For example, Alice is a Taurus—May 4, Alice Liddell’s birthday—so she’s pretty stubborn while also loving creature comforts. Tomiko’s birthday is August 23, making her a Virgo, so she likes being precise in her work. More archetypes you can look for are DnD classes! I love using that to design costumes. One of Edith’s recent costumes is very wizard inspired, since that’s the class I see her having as she’s very studious and driven. Heck, all of Alice and the Nightmare is derived from the character archetypes of the Alice in Wonderland characters! Rougina is specifically the Red Queen, NOT the Queen of Hearts!! The confusion started with the 1951 Disney animated movie when the two characters were merged!! Lewis Carroll himself said the two were different! The Queen of Hearts is an “embodiment of ungovernable passion” and the Red Queen is “the concentrated essence of all governesses”!! GOD!!! Tim Burton meet me in the fucking pit you’ll pay for your alice crimes. anyways.

Archetypes help a lot in costumes too, figuring out what kind of fashion they’d like to wear. You can start broad and get more specific with it (like going from a wizard type character to a wizard character with steampunk themes). Fashion is just an extent of character. What are they comfy in? Are they confident in their body? What colors do they like? Bright high fashion or simple dark sweaters? Ryoko Kui is a master of character design I HIGHLY HIGHLY recommend checking out her work.

Another method I like using, specifically for Alice and the Nightmare characters, is what I call the “three trait method”. When I was in middle school we did a production of Alice in Wonderland (I was the White Knight), and too many girls auditioned for Alice. So the director’s solution was to split the character into three parts, and assigning each part to an actor. Her temper, her intelligence, and her innocence, all used in different scenes. Now I use that to think about my own Alice character, except with “polite, temper, and curious”. Edith’s keywords are “nervous, tactical, and intelligent”. Hatter’s are “kind, enthusiastic, and intuitive”. Using keywords can help figure out how they’d react in a situation, what side of them would shine the brightest. Hatter’s want to help everyone is his kindness, but overstepping his bounds can be attributed to his enthusiasm. Edith can know what path to take in a pinch, but her nervousness can freeze her in place. Reading the source material helps a lot with Alice characters too, which brings us to our final point:

Character inspiration!! The art of taking things you like and shoving them into your own characters and stories. DISCLAIMER THO!!! If you take things without really EXAMINING what about them you like, WHY you like them, and how you’d like to evoke that same love in the things you make, the interpretations can come off as shallow. (for more on this subject, watch HBomberguy’s RWBY video essay, specifically the section on “anime homework”)

Tomiko’s biggest inspirations are Izutsumi from Dungeon Meshi, April Ludgate from Parks and Rec, Power and from Chainsawman, San from Princess Mononoke, and Mei from LMK. It’s a good cocktail of aloof, biting, vicious, weird, fierce, loving, and bright. Figuring out what I love about the characters and what I want to write in a character like that helps a lot in writing Tomiko. It’s also really fun in a sense for screenshot redraws and memes.

Music is also a HUUUUUUGE source of inspiration for me, I love making playlists. And even as playlists can change as characters grow and change, having a couple of core songs still helps me ground to that character’s center. For Tomiko it’s “Make Them Gold” by CHVRCHES, and “Nice Girl” by Ashnikko. Alice’s is “Headlock” by Imogen Heap and “Demons” by Hayley Kiyoko, Edith’s is “Warrior” by Kimbra, and Hatter’s is “Dementia” by Owl City.

Ok, we’ve gotten though symbols, archetypes, and made a couple of banger playlists. Next is something that can help write your character, the Big Lie. The thing that keeps them up at night. Their biggest fear, their ghost, what haunts them. What’s holding them back from their goals? What do they need to overcome? That can be as central to their theme as any symbolism. For Tomiko it’s the lie that her emotions don’t matter, only what she can do to be of service to her mother. Her arc is about overcoming her dismissing her own emotions and learning to not run away from the people who she truly cares for. Alice dismisses the literal ghost that is haunting her believing that that will let her have a normal life. Edith pushes down abilities that come naturally to her for fear that she’ll be exiled, not just from society, but the world. Rougina believes she must burden the world’s problems on her own shoulders with no one’s help. The outer character and the inner ghost can reflect, mirror, and inform each other.

Now, listen, sometimes characters are hard to get to know! Tomiko was lol. Quinn was for a looong time. And in times like this, I just, let them be. I listen to some music to get inspired, and let them tell me about themselves when they feel like it. And they will, it just take a little while. And a few dozen quick exploration drawings. But they come through. Also, try not to get bogged down with habits and little details of their character, keep their core in mind, what their heart is. Start broad and get specific. That way, if you feel like you’ve lost your way or the character feels different to you, recenter yourself at their heart and go from there. Or, if you find that their center no longer fits, don’t be afraid to change it! Characters are meant to be fun! First and foremost!! I make characters cause I like writing and storytelling, and drawing little comic for fun and me time. Sometimes characters stick around, sometimes they fall by the wayside. You really have to find what sparks joy, and chase your bliss!

So as long as you have your character’s essence in your hands, and you WANT to keep working on them and drawing them, there’s really no wrong way to go. This whole essay I’ve given is just a set of tools that works for ME, and I HIGHLY encourage you to find stuff that works for you! I really really hope that all this has made sense and isn’t just the ramblings of a madman. Good luck and happy charactering!!

#meesh blabs #misha writings #character writing #happy reading and happy writing!#THANKS FOR ASKING <3

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clowncorz · 23 days

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a song for you

pairing: captain john price x reader

warnings: alcohol, painful yearning and longing

notes: 'a song for you' by donny hathaway is The Song okay... also this is my first time posting a fic on here... this fic has been out for a while on my ao3 but i need to start posting on tumblr cause this is where the girlies are

You and Price had worked together here and there, there and here... The job didn’t matter. It never mattered. All that mattered to him was that he was getting paid and he was doing some good in the world. All that mattered to you was that you were with him. That was all that ever mattered to you. He was all that mattered. It was rare when you got to spend time with him outside of work. And even then, all he would talk about was work. You felt broken, in a way. You were split into pieces. One was strictly professional, only interested in getting the job done. Another piece was desperate for the touch of a man. Another, way larger piece, was longing for him. Only him. This larger piece must have been your heart. Your heart ached for him, when you went to sleep at night and when you awoke in the morning. You longed for him. You yearned for him.

You decide to take a leap one night. It was all beginning to feel like too much, that pull in your chest. The pull towards him. It was like heartburn. Metaphorically and sometimes it literally felt like indigestion. He’s giving you a ride home when you pop the question. The car is freezing, or maybe not. You’re anxious, you feel like it’s freezing but you know he’s good at keeping his car at a normal temperature. You’re shaking like a dog. He looks over at you for a second, you see out of the corner of your eye. You feel like sinking into your seat. You cut him off before he even gets the chance to ask if you’re alright.

“John,” it feels strange coming from your mouth. You never call him that. Now that you think of it, you have probably never called him that the entire time you’ve known each other. You muster up the courage to turn and look at him as he’s driving. He’s completely focused on the road, one hand on the wheel and the other hand—the one closest to you—resting on his thigh. He smiles. God, you love his smile. Oh, God, you don’t think you can do this. There’s that feeling again, burning in your chest and in your throat. You feel like you’re gonna hurl. His sweet smile, his eyes crinkle and he turns to you for a second, noticing your serious expression.

“Am I in trouble, miss?” Ugh. You can’t help but smile. Your face is burning, you feel like you’re smiling like an idiot. You have to look away. You can’t keep staring at him like this. Your smile falls and you look down at your hands. You feel him nudge your arm gently. “What is it? Something wrong?”

You shake your head. “No, of course not. I just…” I love you. I need you. I want to be with you. Not a day goes by where I’m not thinking about what it would be like to wake up in your arms. “Do you wanna go for a drink?”

He chuckles. You swallow so hard that you have to squeeze your eyes shut tightly. Like a child trying to get a pill down. Your face feels so hot, your chest feels hot, your fingertips are tingling. He takes a wrong turn, or… What you think is a wrong turn. But he pulls the car over. As it slows to a stop, you wonder what it would be like if he just took you right there in the backseat. You blink, remembering that this is reality. To your left is a bustling bar. Well, there’s a bustling club. Next to it, is a bar. Where twenty-somethings are being kicked out and tripping over their feet. Before you can realize what’s happening, your door opens. You think, God, I must be dreaming. But no, if it was a dream, he’d hold his hand out for you and oh God, he’s doing it. He holds his hand out, waiting for you to take it. You take too long.

“Fine then, have it your way.” He has that little smile painted on his stupid fucking face as he raises his arms in surrender. You huff, climbing out of the car. You feel like you can’t breathe, your body is so warm that you aren’t even phased by the brisk air of the night. He walks ahead of you, making a beeline to the bar. You look over at the club and think about how you should be there, with people your age. But you turn your attention to Price, who is being as gentlemanly as always and holding the door open for you. You can’t help but smile, you follow him into the bar.

The music that’s playing is quiet, you immediately recognize that it’s older music. Stuff your parents used to listen to. There’s a man with grey hair whose head is buried into the bar counter, he has a glass of whiskey in his hand, you swear you can hear him snoring. The bar is made up of different types of woods. If you asked someone to picture a bar, this is what it would look like. The way Price interacts with the environment—and the people in it—tells you he’s been here before. More than once. You both pull a seat up at the bar, he orders a beer for himself and an iced tea for you—he knows you don’t drink. Why does he know that? Have you ever told him that? You can’t even remember. You can feel something inside your chest tugging you towards him but you know you can’t get any closer. If you did, you’d be in his arms. God, you’d love to close the gap. You feel like crying. You’ve felt like crying this entire time. For months. His knee is touching yours, his fucking knee is touching yours. You watch him carefully as he takes a drink. Your eyes following his hands wrapped around the glass bottle, your mind wanders. You feel like you suddenly feel like you’ve got superhuman senses—a microscopic droplet of beer dribbles down his chin, through the hair there. He says something, you know that because you’re watching his mouth. You don’t know what he says. You feel something on your knee. His hand. Oh fuck.

“Is something bothering you?” Yes. Yes. Fucking yes! You shake your head. Think of something. Quick. Jesus fucking Christ!

“Been distracted lately.” You say, looking down. He’s already moved his hand away from your leg.

He chuckles again. “Might need something a little stronger than iced tea, hm?”

You nod. He says something to the bartender, you don’t bother paying attention. Part of you feels embarrassed. Embarrassed that you got yourself in this situation with your fucking coworker. You’re ashamed to be feeling this way, There’s no way it’d even work. He’s like, twenty years older than you. The bartender places a drink in front of you, you look at Price.

“You’ll like it, trust me.” He takes another drink.

You take a sip of your drink. He’s right. You were never much of a drinker, so you’re unsure of the customs when it comes to drinking at a bar. But by his reaction when you take a bigger sip, you know you’ve made the wrong move. He laughs, which makes you laugh. Suddenly, you’re at ease. He’s smiling at you. Before you know it, you’ve downed your first drink and you’re back to your simple iced tea—you have a nice buzz going and Price is on his… Well, you’re unsure of the number of beers he’s had because you’ve only been paying attention to his lips as he takes a swig.

“Ah… Fuckin’ love this song…” He says. If you were a dog, your ears would perk up as you listen to the song. You’ve heard it before—from your parents. You remember. You watch his reaction, his cheeks are flushed slightly, you know he’s a bit more inebriated than you are. His eyes are closed, he’s really into the song, his fist is clenched slightly as he moves his head. Suddenly, he nods, dropping his hand to the counter. He looks at you and leans in a bit closer. “Dance with me, yeah?”

“Okay.” You nod, allowing him to take your hand and drag you to the empty space near the jukebox. You can’t help but giggle as he takes you in his arms and starts to dance with you. Sloppily, but it’s sweet. He holds you delicately and the both of you are smiling brightly as he starts to sing to you. He pulls you closer to him and that tugging in your chest is slack. You let out a sigh of relief. This is what you needed. This is what you’ve been craving. Not just from anyone. Him. This is what you needed with him.

You feel a familiar tingling in your sinuses, your tear ducts getting a bit itchy as your head rests on his chest. He’s humming along to the song and you squeeze your eyes shut tightly. Don’t cry. Do not fucking cry. He starts to caress your hair and you feel a tear slide down your cheek. You listen to his humming through the rumbling in his chest, he’s petting your hair softly. You’re crying. You have never felt such a rush of emotion in your life. He sways with you in his arms, singing a beautiful song to you. A song he loves. He knows you’re crying, you think. That’s why he pulled you in so close. No other reason. It doesn’t matter, though. This is everything you needed. This is all you need. To be his.

#captain price #captain john price #captain price x reader #x reader #call of duty #cod mwii #captain price cod #john price #price cod

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stevetonyweekly · 1 month

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SteveTony Weekly - March 24 - Week 12

Happy Sunday, my friends! Check out this week’s five recs, and be sure to kudos and comment on the ones you enjoy!

non functional requirements by lazywriter7

“Morning Tony.” Someone greets from close to the front row. Gwen, who’s waiting for her Macbook to complete its primeval, laborious booting up procedure, feels her shoulders sag even further down. God, not this shit again.

“Did your coffee machine explode again?”

“Implode, and no.” The lecturer – Tony – cracks a brief smile. The band t-shirt he’s got on is mostly just wrinkles, his hair flattened straight down the sides like it hasn’t been washed in a couple days. Really gives Gwen such an inspiring picture to look up to for her own prospective career in academia. “And just for that not-so-subtle commentary on my opening salvo today, I’m gonna teach this entire lecture using a metaphor.”

Gwen Stacy isn't having the greatest day, and that's before her System Designs Engineering professor starts explaining the material through the lens of his strained-sounding relationship. With his boyfriend in the audience.

arei’s thoughts: I really loved this. It’s outsider POV, and Steve is the ‘bad’ boyfriend in this, but they’re both trying--sometimes failing--to make things work. The way they lean into each other and learn from their mistakes is lovely.

An Educational Experience (The Good Things Come To Those Who Wait Remix) by valdomarx

Ults Tony has a nice day.

aka Tony talks Steve through sucking his cock.

arei’s thoughts: it’s no secret that I adore Ults and this one is so lovely, Steve is so grumpy and pining so damn bad if he’d get out of his own way, he could be SO HAPPY. And then it’s just hot. Check it out.

take a long line by ShanaStoryteller

Steve knows that Tony Stark is going to be a problem from the first line in his file.

Designation: Alpha

arei’s thoughts: I love the a/b/o dynamics in this. The way that Steve kind of fumbled them on account of his coming from a different time, and the way Tony was so anxious to care for EVERYONE around him. The scene where he tries to feed Steve a sandwich is quite possibly the cutest thing I’ve read in months.

Even the Score by Sineala

After Tony risks his own life to save Steve from the deadly Bloodwash gas, he's in bad shape, and he needs immediate treatment. Thanks to the treatment, he doesn't quite remember what's going on, but he does remember that people have been trying to kill him and that he can't trust the government. Since the Secretary of Defense did try to murder both of them today, Steve can't exactly tell Tony he's wrong about either of those things -- but, unfortunately, Tony doesn't remember who Steve is. And, even more unfortunately, Steve taught Tony to fight.

arei’s thoughts: I love this fic. It’s a very simple plot and premise pulled from the comics but it’s just so well done, and I love seeing Tony competent and dangerous even without the suit. Sine’s characterization in this--on both Steve and Tony’s parts--is just so lovely and well done.

pretty baited trap by Areiton

The first time Tony walks into the Trisk, he’s following Tiberius, his eyes downcast, a perfect five steps behind his Alpha. He’s wearing a suit, cut in traditional omega style, because he’s an asset, a part of the display of wealth and power as much as the car they arrived in and the expensive watch Ty is wearing, the deliberate slight of being late and the bottle of wine that hangs from three fingers, careless, like it’s not worth several thousand dollars.

It’s the same display Ty has put on a dozen and more times since they Bonded. The only thing that changes is the location, the Alpha that Ty is trying to impress.

Where Tony ends up. His role in the evening’s proceedings. Those are already determined. This is a business deal and he is the pretty baited trap.

arei’s thoughts: well, I wrote this one but. I’m adding it to the list because I kinda love it. It’s very soft, and a little dark, but the devotion that grows between Steve and Tony is…lovely.

#stevetony weekly #steve rogers #tony stark #stevetony #stony #iron man #captain america #stevetony fic #stony fic #fic rec

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elysia-nsimp · 4 months

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Heyyyy buddy pal friend, *cough ( sorry ). I was wondering if you could write a poly fluff romantic scenario between overblot Azul and overblot Jamil with a male reader, preferably an interation between the trio. thx and here have a follow and a cookie 🍪

HIIII oh my gosh thanks for the follow and cookie !!

And thanks for your patience too, I know it’s been a WHILE since you sent me this ask. I kinda lost my twst spark for a bit there then was hit with the dreaded “ohhh what if my writing sucks”

Anyway I decided to not worry about that too much. This is mostly unedited because I just. REALLY wanted to get something out for you. I promise I didn’t forget! :’)

——

Contents: established relationships, polyamory!! Both Jamil and Azul are dating you as the reader, but not each other, mild Book 3/4 spoilers, reader uses he/him pronouns ! ^^

With both Azul and Jamil overblotting, it’s already a recipe for disaster.

Azul and Jamil aren’t all that different in some aspects. Both crave the power and control they lacked in their childhoods, and seek to stand over the rest as a result of that.

One thing they have in common for certain though, is their love for you! You were dating them both before this whole thing happened, and although they don’t get along that well, they’re both glad you’re happy with the relationship.

However…this does lead to them fighting over you when overblotted.

Both of them want your undying attention, although for slightly different reasons. Oh, what is a poor reader to do?

On one hand, Jamil’s over here like “praise me please!!! i want to be called a handsome young man!!!!!” while Azul wants cuddles because he is full of embarrassment and pain and suffering.

Poor you is stuck in the middle of them, metaphorically being tugged back and fourth between them.

Azul’s like, “Actually, handsome, I believe he will be spending his evening with me.”

While Jamil’s like “ACTUALLY I require him to be here with ME as my cheerleader while I run Scarabia!” (I’m afraid he can’t provide the pompoms though)

Despite their back and fourth, when you step in they both turn to you with no hesitation.

“Who do you choose, Yuu?” Azul looks almost desperate, silently begging you to pick him. Meanwhile, Jamil crosses his arms, convinced he’s already won.

“Do I have to choose?” you ask.

Utter silence from both of them. They glance at each other, then back to you.

“What do you mean, ‘do you have to choose?’” Jamil sounds almost taken aback by your question.

“What if I don’t want to pick?” you retort. “What if I choose both of you?”

After some mild side glares at each other from your partners, they agree that it’s a win-win! Jamil will put up with Azul and vice versa. You end up smooshed between two slightly agitated overblots. As you run your fingers through Azul’s hair, you tell Jamil how very handsome he is and tell him he’s done a good job, even if it didn’t work out in the end. This makes both of them very happy.

Their overblots both die down after a while, leaving you with your two partners asleep, one on your shoulder and one in your lap.

Congrats!! You’re a hero for being gay. /pos

——

I’m not gonna lie, I thought this was a really cute dynamic. Very fun to write, even if it wasn’t super long. Again thanks for waiting for so long while I got my stuff together lol

#twst jamil viper #twst jamil #twst azul ashengrotto #twst azul #twst jamil x reader #twst azul x reader #jamil viper x reader #azul ashengrotto x reader #eely asks #eely’s writing

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asexualzoro · 5 months

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it's december 9th, meaning today is my 23rd birthday (which is my favorite number!), which means it's time for...

Lew Writes Wrapped 2023!!!

im including anything that happened after my last bday, so we have some works from december as well. this one's a bit of a weird one for the total word count, you'll see why

it's all treebark from my sideblog / alt ao3. i cannot change. i will not change. for these im just gonna specify the relationship that's the main focus bc thats easier than fandom bc all but like one are third life

dandelion wishing

(Dec, 2.4k, treebark, oneshot) (link)

op movie 6 au for dogwarts in which Martyn is the baron and Ren doesn't know he's dead

id actually plotted out a whole third life au for this movie like months prior and really wanted to write it, so i took it for treebark week and focused it just on these two. it's my fave movie of all time and i obvs had to give it to my fave completely dead team <3

i will admit tho. it did make me back search martyns twitter to see if hes ever posted abt watching this movie. bc i know he likes One Piece and i realized this would bring me into the danger zone (he hasnt ever posted abt it if hes seen it)

A Romance Route for the Doomed Villain?!?

(Dec, 5k, treebark, oneshot) (link)

treebark dating sim isekai parody that spiraled out of my control made in a day-long possession

im still baffled by this one. why was the response to this one so insane?? there was smth in the water the day i posted this bro. a 1:2 kudos to hits ratio for the entire first day is literally fucking unbelievable. 70 comments?? what hold did this fic have on you people. i got fic written about this one?? my friends goncharov'd me in front of my face

really fucking fun to write and the insane response was smth im always gonna remember. i appreciate you guys so much

treesekai also turns a year old in a few days!

Until the Angels Realize You're Not One of Them

(Feb, 7.2k, emerald duo, oneshot) (link)

a traitor phil au which was mostly just me talking about all the reasons i love technoblade

this one... wasnt actually written this year for the most part? i didnt want to not acknowledge it, since it's on my ao3 in this year, but i wont be able to count it toward the total

still. traitor phil au my beloved. hearing him say on his stream he and techno wanted to do a betrayal arc made me feel insane bc i already had this written at the time

missing or obstructed

(2022-present, 12.9k, Grian & Ren, ongoing) (link)

post 3L fic about Ren and Grian seeking out closure with a lot of funny little sleep metaphors

same deal as the last fic, i, uh dont think i actually wrote anything new for missing or obstructed this year either? just uploaded chapters i wrote last year,,, i didnt wanna now acknowledge it, but i wont count this in my total later

i miss her. one day ill actually sit down and write more missing or obstructed. in my doc im JUST at introducing Martyn and i havent written it yet

to reach my mangled debut

(Sept, 4.2k, treebark week, ongoing) (link)

it wouldnt be me if i didnt have an execution somewhere in here. another op au!

THIS. I LOVE HER. when rev and i were plotting out the whole storyline for smop renchanting i was begging please give me this scene i need it and i had so much fun writing it. i rlly need to finish soon but i haven’t had time but please. please check out smop. she’s top of my priority list to update

Three-Dog Night

(Sept, 6.7k, treebark week, oneshot) (link)

BIG DOG. beauty and the beast au!

god im so fond of this au. there’s some rlly good scenes written for this and unposted bc i just need to link them together. honestly i think if i took a month and focused it on this fic alone i could fucking finish it but i don’t have the time ;-;

that said i’m so enamored w this au genuinely. o dunno what else to say i just think. puppy

Cover Me In Roses

(Sept, 3.3k, treebark week, oneshot) (link)

lamplight roleswap! put Martyn in a flower pot

i don’t feel as motivated to work on this one when i have lamplight unfinished so it’s lower on my priorities but know i have like an entire arc of this written and unposted. we just have a few paths for this one and i have to decide which one to use

it’s so wild to me lamplight has like. aus. like this isn’t even the only one? a roleswap. that’s insane? it’s wild that you all like lamplight enough i can even get away with this

First Sign of a House Fire

(Sept, 2k, treebark week, oneshot) (link)

i love superhero stories for two reasons: plots about secrets and adapting the characters to give them powers. this had smth fun for both of them

yellow rose isn’t super high on my list of priorities to update (i think the oneshot is interesting on its own) but one day,,,, it’s part of the many aus cherri and i have but it’s the longest for sure. the doc for just this au is like 100k words long on its own. at the time i draft this cherri and i are actively writing smth else for it in another tab. theres like 4 offshoots and im obsessed w all of them. we had to make ocs about this one. i’m excited to eventually add more to this series

actually that’s one of the scenes i’m most excited for and most dreading adding. we made a backstory oc and im SO attached to him and im excited to post a thing out there w him but. ough. whatever cringe is dead i’ll get there eventually and brute force my way into attaching you to our funky little robot guy

also love that this fic forced me to be decided on a docv characterization that i have to stick to. he may be a canon guy to martyn’s vtuber lore but he’s my oc now too

Blindsided

(Sept, 2k, treebark week, ongoing) (link)

pirate au and royal au based on a big secret and also stuffing a guy in a box and it's all stupid dramatic literally what else do you want or need in life

this is my wife. my favorite. my most beloved. blindsided gives me new illnesses and diseases. i have just one scene to write before i can update it and then i can continue unleashing her. god i love this fic the drama of it is SO fun.

the funny thing abt blindsided is i know all the plot chronologically but now how to Present it which is part of why i haven’t continued too much. eventually i will but until then know that one of the scenes im sitting on which has been fully written is one i think about constantly. hopefully when i post it cherri’ll let free the comic she did for it

i actually have the ending of this fic written i just need to get there lmfao. second on my priority list after smop i think

Cradle of the Leviathan

(Sept, 1.5k, treebark week, oneshot) (link)

i just love mer aus man. whats the point of it all if you cant have mer aus. just get a big ol fish

i have the ending of this au written as well and literally so little of the lead up. but this is pretty low on my priorities. i think this one stands just fine on its own. mer aus are nice like that

we actually have a few mer aus but for now i’ll be focusing on this one. i do have a few sweet post story things written for this one. maybe one day i’ll write enough to post em lmao

Lamplight AU

(2022-present, 47k, treebark, ongoing) (link)

renchanting dnd/fantasy au, martyn's a paladin and ren's a lamp

so i started this au last year. my wrapped last year said my total was 20k, so that means this year's total is.... 27k!

and… it was just lamplight’s birthday and i did all my appreciation for the fic and its readers then, but god. i love this fic so much and i love you all who have read it and been so kind about it. the amount of popularity it has makes it a bit nerve wracking to work on, but i still really want to see it finished. i hope to see the bulk of it done by this time next year!

Six Sentence Sunday

six sentence sunday is a challenge where i try to post six sentences i wrote that week every sunday, to keep me writing every week of the year! i do it over on my writing blog, @driflew

i did not keep up on my six sentences,,, i had a lot of sunday fencing tournaments. i did for ~33 weeks this year! thats a pretty good amount! i’ll have to be more on top of it next year tho

unpublished work

the last few years i havent included unpublished work, but with the extreme bulk of it, i wanted to note it down. cherri @/cherrifire and i have been writing a lot back and forth at each other in discord dms this year, and i wanted to include those in my count! bc holy fucking shit is there a lot of them

i didn’t include collab pieces, just pieces i wrote alone. i also only included the renchanting aus i share w cherri and scarian aus i share w flowey, nothing else—no unfinished lamplight or other independent pieces or oneshots, no original fiction for class, nothing. i also missed a few u haven’t moved to docs yet. so i’m lowballing by a few. thousands. of words

the total for those is...... 135k words! there is,,, something wrong with me

total and end notes

our total this year is...

187512 words!

that might be my highest word count yet! because i caught treebark disease. wild.

something really fun about this year to me is i really loved everything i wrote.

if you want to get me a gift or support me on my birthday… maybe try reading my work and reblogging it or leaving a comment! you can find my writing at driflew or skelew on ao3, follow my writing blog at @driflew, or even consider tipping my kofi!

thank you for sticking with me and supporting me this year! i really appreciate it! hopefully i can break 100k next year too!

#lew writes wrapped #lew writes

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ticklishfiend · 26 days

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FEEL FREE TO USE THIS PROMPT WITH WHOEVER YOU WANT. WHATEVER YOU WANT. IF YOU WANT TO USE IT. it's horribly evil and i trust you with it:

character a wanting tickles in some way, and character b (who knows about their deal and is totally being evil) picking up on it and character b somehow "forgets" what tickling is and how to do it and needs a little memory boost, convincing character A to explain it to them and tell them exactly what to do in order to get what they want 😌

"where do i put my hands?" / "now what?" / "where else should i try?"

- 🍓

i never finished this and im soooo sorry dude, i fell out of my hyperfixation and the motivation just floated out of my body bruh. anyways, here's the unfinished drabble, i hope u like it anyways!!

Aziraphale shifted in his seat. Crossed his legs, then uncrossed them immediately because it felt wrong. He rubbed his forearms against the couch arms uncomfortably, nails picking at the fabric.

Aziraphale knew why he felt so off. But admitting it feels so improper.

Instead, his eyes stayed fixed on Crowley lounging about on his designated couch spot. Aziraphale waited anxiously for him to notice how off he was acting.

Crowley continued picking at his nails, not even bothering to look up at him. The one time Aziraphale wouldn’t mind a little teasing behavior from Crowley and he’s looking at his hand.

Fine. Fine. He’ll say something, something small to get Crowley jump started. It never takes much to get him going anyways, so Aziraphale will have him in no time.

“Ahem,” Aziraphale fake-coughed, a little obvious but if it works it works. Crowley looked up, brows furrowing at Aziraphale’s tense form, noticing his finger tapping impatiently at the arm.

“You alright?”

Aziraphale gave a small shy smile, not looking Crowley in the eyes. His own nails seemed of more interest all of a sudden. “Just feeling…a bit antsy, is all, dear.”

“Oh,” Crowley squinted his eyes, suspicious and curious. “Any particular reason you’re so jittery? Got ants in your pants, angel?”

“Nothing of the sort.”

They were both quiet for a moment. A staring contest. Well, Crowley stared him down at least. Azirphale actually did everything but stare.

Crowley hummed, going back to his hand.

Are you actually joking.

Aziraphale huffed. Okay fine. Again. Maybe Crowley’s just a bit slow today. Yeah, that’s it. He needs a more obvious push. It’s more embarrassing, sure, but the metaphorical ants in his pants feel like they're crawling around faster now and he’s gonna need some relief soon.

So Aziraphale took a big, long stretch. His arms raised above him, a satisfying groan just to call Crowley’s attention to his very exposed and vulnerable torso. And, of course, this did catch Crowley’s eye.

He chuckled. Bingo.

“Can’t keep still today, can ya?” Crowley sat on the edge of his seat, elbow propped on his knee to rest his chin in his hand. He watched Aziraphale settle back into his chair with a grin. “Anything I can do for you? Anything at all?”

Aziraphale felt himself will back a blush. “Oh, well, I…I’m not sure. Anything you’d like, I’m sure I’d appreciate.”

“Mm…” Crowley hummed with a smile, eyes trailing Aziraphale up and down. Aziraphale was having a really hard time looking at him right now, it was very cute. “Seriously, angel, I’m not sure how to help you here. I cooould…make you some tea? Maybe grab some cakes by the coffee shop?” Crowley really couldn’t keep that cheeky grin off his face for a second, could he? “But maybe you can throw some suggestions out since my mind is drawing quite the blank.”

Aziraphale truly couldn’t tell if he was being serious. Was that smile devious or just him offering a nice gesture? Crowley had his sweet moments, if anyone would know it’d be Aziraphale, but was this that?? It didn’t really feel like it, but he didn’t want to flub.

“Maybe we could figure something out easier if I…sat next to you?”

“Brilliant idea,” Crowley sat back against the cushion, patting the spot next to him. “Make yourself comfy.”

Aziraphale threw a tight smile his way as he got up, feeling very peculiar about this whole thing. Usually Crowley jumped right into this, eager to get his hands on him and make Aziraphale cackle. Now Crowley’s acting like he’s never tickled him a day in his life.

Aziraphale hopes his brain is just working slower today than usual. The alternative is something he’s becoming very wary over.

Finally seated, Aziraphale sat up straight as a board. He knew exactly what he was doing, too. If he looks too tense or stiff, Crowley always finds the excuse to tickle him into relaxing. Really, Aziraphale can be quite the schemer when he wants to be.

Crowley just watched him for a moment, taking notice each time Aziraphale nervously glanced his way. Crowley reached and gave Aziraphale a soothing rub up and down his back, not stopping when Aziraphale tried flinching away.

“Wow, you’re tense. Really, I’d love to help, but you are funny about your massages,” Crowley purred, giving Aziraphale a pat on the back before leaning back.

Aziraphale ringed his hands. “Ah, yes well, that’s only sometimes,” he bluffed, trying to find any excuse to get Crowley’s dexterous fingers on him right this second. “I don’t think a massage sounds so bad right now, actually.”

Crowley chuckled, “Really? Usually you get all huffy when I offer you one of my famous massages,” he squeezed Aziraphale’s shoulder, which would’ve felt affirming if not for the teasy tone lacing Crowley’s voice right now. What a devil.

Aziraphale did get huffy at that. “Well that’s because you always…” he waved his hand about in the air as if it would jog Crowley’s memory of all the very tickly massages he’s given Aziraphale in the past. Innocent rubs and firm presses to start, but eventually Crowley always trailed a little too close to Aziraphale’s sides, a little too gently, everything was always a little too much. Admittedly, Aziraphale thought that sounded perfect for his current mood.

But Crowley just quirked his head, like a confused puppy. “What are you on about?” he pressed, before physically adjusting Aziraphale to lay down on the couch, back up. Crowley straddled his waist, “I always what?”

Aziraphale’s face felt like it could burn through the pillow he hid himself in. “You do know. Stop messing about.”

“Angel, if I knew what you were talking about…” Crowley leaned his face close into Aziraphale’s exposed ear, giving a hard press into his shoulder blades. His breath tickled as he whispered, “…don’t you think I’d be doing it right now?”

Oh for heaven's sake. Aziraphale felt he could bust through the seams with how on edge he was at the moment. He felt squirmier, hands pressing into spots in an extremely un-ticklish manner that made him want to whine. This is so unfair. Crowley knows exactly what he’s doing, he’s figured out a way to make Aziraphale squirm more than usual and he is not taking it for granted.

Aziraphale’s not sure whether to be excited and thankful, or hit him over the head with his pillow.

“You’re being cruel,” Aziraphale muttered into his pillow, fingers squeezing the cushion in anticipation. Maybe he’d start when Aziraphale least expected? Maybe Crowley’s getting impatient too? But he couldn’t know any of this for sure, so he had to wait, and isn’t that just the most internally ticklish feeling there was?

“Cruel? I’m giving you a massage, for Satan’s sake. I think if anyone is being cruel it’s you. I know you’ve got something you won’t tell me. I can hear those cogs turning in that pretty little head of yours,” Crowley gave his scalp a quick scratch, chuckling at the flinch that came with it. “Jumpy, are we?”

“Yes, okay? Just get on with it, please. I don’t think I can take much more of this. I’ve gone red, Crowley,” he whined like Crowley had made his body malfunction. He was getting a little desperate now. If his very obvious advances won’t work, asking must do this trick. It had to.

But Crowley hummed again. And Aziraphale knew he wasn’t finished with his little tricks.

“Gonna need you to be a little more specific. I’m a bit lost, you see,” Crowley’s hands trailed to hold Aziraphale’s sides firmly. Bastard.

Aziraphale exhaled deeply into the pillow, close to pulling his hair out. “I would like you to…tickle me. Please.”

There was a hesitant silence, like Crowley was pondering his next move and Aziraphale was waiting with bated breath for it.

Then Crowley spoke. And Azirphale almost wished he hadn’t of.

“What’s tickling, dear?”

Fuck. Fuck.

“Nooo,” Aziraphale groaned, pressing his palms into his eyes, beyond flustered and frustrated.

“What? I’m not allowed to ask questions now?”

“It seems like asking questions is all you’re doing, actually…”

“I can’t do what you want if I don’t even know the definition,” Crowley said, and Aziraphale could hear the grin in his voice. Sometimes Aziraphale forgets he chooses to room with an actual, real-life demon. “You gettin’ the picture?”

“Cruel. Cruel, wily serpent. Hell spawn, you are.”

“Yeah, don’t wear it out, angel,” Crowley’s hands squeezed a very non-ticklish squeeze against Aziraphale’s sides, as if just to remind him of where he was above him. “Let's get you flipped over. Can't rightly tell me about this whole tickling thing if your face is smushed into the cushion.”

“Hhhnn,” Aziraphale groaned through a whiny giggle, adjusting under Crowley to lay on his back. Having his flushed face now on display is not helping whatsoever.

Crowley smiled down at him, and Aziraphale swore he saw a forked tongue peek through his sharp teeth. Evil thing. “Why hello there.”

“Hush.”

“I don’t get a hello back?”

“Not after all this teasing you don’t,” Aziraphale would cross his arms if he could, but a certain someone was blocking him with his knees.

“Teasing? Me? I think you really have lost your marbles, dear. I would do no such thing,” Crowley lied through his teeth, settling on Aziraphale’s waist. His hands drifted back to Aziraphale’s sides, firm all the same. “Now…about this tickling thing?”

“You know what tickling is, Crowley. Stop messing with me,” Aziraphale stood his ground, though he found it hard to look Crowley in the eyes right now. Something about those pointed irises and the yellow surrounding them felt truly piercing at the moment. Sharp enough to cut through Aziraphale’s wavering boldness.

“Really, darling, I haven’t a clue. But I'd love to find out if you’d be so inclined?” Crowley caressed Aziraphale’s sides, seemingly to comfort, but the angel nearly shivered. “Especially since you’re so eager for me to figure it out, hm?”

Aziraphale huffed. He’s been huffy since this whole thing started, but now that he can sense what he really wants is just over the horizon, breathing is becoming something of a manual task. “Is this really what it’s going to take?”

Crowley smiled a wicked smile. “I think you’ll find I’m a very fast learner.”

Aziraphale rolled his eyes, if only to distract himself from that fluttery feeling in his belly at those words.

Closing his eyes and taking a sigh, Aziraphale was ready to get this over with. “T-tickling is…it’s, well…we created it together many, many years ago. If you touch certain parts of the body, my body, I’ll laugh. Involuntarily. So…” Aziraphale coughed awkwardly. “So there. That’s tickling.”

Crowley snickered. Azirphale shoved at his face playfully, his own face feeling warmed by the second. “You’re terrible, Crowley.”

“Aren’t I just?” Crowley said, taking Aziraphale’s hand and pushing it down against the cushion. “So…parts of your body, huh? Wanna be more specific about that?”

“Goodness gracious, you are insufferable,” Aziraphale chuckled through a whine, twisting the wrist in Crowley’s hand. “My…well, my sides are pretty sensitive.”

“Sensitive…you mean…?”

“Ticklish, yes, ticklish! Crowley I swear if you d—dohohoahaha-! C-Crohohowley!” Azirpahale giggled happily when he felt precise fingers finally digging into his sides.

“I think you deserve a little reward for your knowledge,” Crowley grinned, his pinching endless on Aziraphale’s sides. He basked in those silly giggles, happy his little game is over so he can finally hear his angel sing

#tickle community #tickling #tickle fic #good omens tickling #good omens #lee!aziraphale #ler!crowley #ask #prompt

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low-keygee · 5 months

Text

i am once again here to offer things about the thing 1982.

probably gonna be shorter bc i’m at work and don’t have much for this but i just needed it out of my brain.

at the very end of the movie when macready and childs are leant up against the barrels, they both share the sentiment of how tired they both are from the cold, the final showdown, the everything. i feel like macready letting on just how tired he is to childs was something of a last word, to let his vulnerabilities show.

in macready’s background he was a pilot in the vietnam war which was meant to explain why he was awake when the dogs were being attacked and why he tells the group after having been locked out that he’s a “real light sleeper”. so he obviously isn’t afraid to acknowledge what the war has done to him in that regard. but the end of the movie, plus this next scene show a bit of humanity for him.

when the drunken macready is recording the cassette for someone to find if/when they have been taken over/die/what have you. he talks about how the storm has been constant for two days and the long johns windows finds until he releases a small bit of what he’s feeling to the cassette.

“nobody.. nobody trusts anybody now. and we’re all very tired.”

he plays the tape back and starts speaking into it again, indicating he tapes over that line before saying “there’s nothing else i can do”.

macready’s insomnia really does seem to be a weak point for him. as much as everyone is aware of his poor sleeping habits, he doesn’t seem to want to admit just how tired he is. how powerless he feels in that regard.

in the defibrillator scene a while afterwards childs antagonizes mac with sleep (“you’re gonna have to sleep sometime macready”) which is where we get “i’m a real light sleeper” which then leads into a vague threat that mac never finishes (“and if anyone tries to wake me…”) which may mean the line prior is just meant to be taken more metaphoric (i think is the right word) than literal. like if childs tries to stir the outpost into taking out mac, mac will then do his dot dot dot.

then (i believe) the last mention is at the very end of the movie.

mac can hardly speak loud enough for childs to hear, his voice doesn’t hold the same command it has throughout the movie. he’s very much leaning against the barrels for support and is out of breath. he’s freezing, running on likely zero hours of sleep, after having faced off with the thing and sprinting out of the outpost before it blows. and he admits to childs as they both sit in the snow, knowing death will come soon for them both whether it be at the hands of the cold or the man before him, that he’s tired.

“if we’ve got any surprises for each other, i don’t think we’re in much shape to do anything about it”

“well.. what do we do?”

“why don’t we just.. wait here a little while. see what happens.”

mac finally lets on how tired he really is and lets himself sit and share a drink with childs before he dies in the snow.

i think his military past is important to talk about in this context as well. he was likely either taught or learned not to let on any weakness as a soldier as it would only earn him a knife in the back (hehe clark reference) and after leaving both the military and his previous job as a helicopter pilot to work at the outpost all he knew to do for his pain was to drown it in booze. he left to work at a research station where all he had to worry about was the weather and staying sober enough to take the chopper up. don’t think about macready being a war vet wanting peace of mind at a quiet research outpost in antarctica don’t think about it.

there’s been a few theories that childs was a thing and macready was testing him with a malatov cocktail but i think that they both died as men, and macready was able to rest knowing he’d served his outpost well.

idk if this was anything or if i’m reading too deep into mac’s 3 comments about sleep but his moment with the cassette and at the very end with childs always makes me so so sad and i needed to say the words out loud bc i heard a song that reminded me of mac 🫶

#the thing 1982 #the thing #horror #cosmic horror #rj maccready #the thing childs #jesus christ its 12:30am #headcanon #film theory #childs the thing #macready #this is long #sorry not sorry

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archduke-enver-gortash · 1 month

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Sorry if you've explained it before, but how exactly did gortash and zeke become aware of each other?

no problem i can summarise!!! (or at least attempt fuck this got long sorry)

so, i often refer to gortash and zeke as the machine vs the wild and the inevitable war that comes with that. so, there’s the time that the machine becomes aware of the wild and then there’s the time it meets its blood/essence in flesh as zeke.

so, if you read any of my fics you know that gortash narrates them in second person, addressing zeke as ‘you’ and this ‘you’ has been addressed by gortash since way before zeke was born. it’s the endless new lives of the wild. ripping out flowers just to rip them out. stomping on ants and destroying their hills. and then the event that made gortash distinctly aware of his antithesis as a young boy of no more than 10—a starling he caught. he writes in his journal about it and narrates to that same ‘you’ about the cage its kept in, the beautiful song and how much more beautiful it got when he clipped its wings. later on i headcanon that gortash takes up a ‘hobby’ (he technically sees it as work) as matador. keeping his own pigs and slaughtering them. making leather and carpets out of extinct animal species. these little things are all encounters he had with his archnemesis, or more accurately aspects of it. paving himself a road through conquest & consumption towards the wild’s beating heart.

he becomes aware of zeke specifically during the blood in baldur’s gate murder series, about 2 years before they meet and 1 year before zeke becomes aware of him. i think he saw baldur’s gate always as ‘his’, so he is highly aware of anything going on in his city, and as a result of zeke’s highly unusual and more importantly completely feral but most effective killing pattern, he starts stalking zeke fervently. i mean visiting & acquiring his childhood home types of fervently. the realisation that zeke is the wild itself and his archnemesis as the machine comes later after careful metaphorical & physical dissection of him. learning to know to invade to conquer to destroy and all. he has finally learned who, or more accurately, what ‘you’ is and digs the machine’s instruments into this heart.

of course zeke has one of these more figurative experiences with the machine too, and that being orin capturing & shackling him in a room for a red room like bhaalist gathering he did NOT want to attend (for no more than 60 seconds no one is capable of restraining zeke except for gortash. zeke ends up killing everyone instead of just the targets he was supposed to kill lmao)

i’m gonna paste an old post here because i honestly couldn’t summerise it better but add on to it, but zeke is essentially this child prodigy detective who gets hired to look into a series of cases that all seem unrelated at first but are actually all have one thing in common: gortash. zeke finding out about gortash not because of his well hidden tracks but because there aren’t any in the end. zeke is a hunter, THE hunter, and he catches every person working for gortash sooner or later, but then there’s this enigma above them, controlling them, and he’s just scared shitless. how he goes from calling him ‘the spider’ to him just being this massive enigma, a blinding light but utterly unknowable to the wild. the apex predator would have been able to kill a spider, no matter how finely woven its web is. but this? this isn’t anything natural. this is like the shackle that bound him, this is the rifle that shoots the apex predator, this is that shackle. it’s the inherent unknown in ‘god’ and the inherent ‘god’ in the unknown. and then there’s the endless fear and terror that comes from this. that comes with perhaps not being able to see the direct source of that light, but to see the god-machine’s work around him everywhere, taking over everything. gortash is and always will be this unknown thing to zeke but there’s one thing he does know, even subconsciously first, that this is true horror.

#i hope uhm. this makes sense. sorry if it’s badly worded but i am so exhausted all the time rn so words hard pls forgive 🙏#bg3 #enver gortash #oc: zeke #gortash #baldur's gate 3 #gortash & zeke #the dark urge

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heycarrots · 8 months

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My entire life, I thought I had straight hair.

You might ask, how do you NOT know your hair is wavy? Doesn’t it wave naturally?

It does, but only if allowed the opportunity and the encouragement to take its natural shape.

Growing up, if you were a girl, you got up early before school, showered, and then gave yourself an EXHAUSTING salon-level blowout every single morning. If you didn’t, if you let it *gasp* NOT be flat and shiny, you were considered dirty, unkempt, not feminine enough. The only exceptions being the CURLY folks, the female identifying goddesses who could NEVER ever be mistaken for straight-haired girls because their hair slingshots back into shape the moment any moisture hits it.

Over the years, I laid on more damage that society demanded, or so I believed. I bleached it to match my Marilyn aesthetic at the time. Platinum blonde, ramrod straight and then, ironically, hot rolled into submission to create the look of artificial pin curls.

All that bleach and all that heat, of course, destroyed the strength of my hair. It was brittle and, while it looked beautiful from the outside observer, I was losing a battle with it.

Growing up in South FL, the heat and humidity were my constant source of struggle. No matter what I did, how much I ironed my hair silky straight, it would fluff up like a chia pet within 15 minutes of going outside.

Looking at other girls around me who did not share this same struggle, I felt defeated. Why can’t my hair just lay flat? I mean, it LOOKS straight in the morning, I’ve always been able to shock it straight since childhood . . . What’s happening to my hair?

Well, motherhood happened. I was too tired to continue my battle with the blow dryer and flat iron every day, so I said fuck it, and just started letting it air dry.

At this point, my strands had been beaten down to the point where they were like, yeah . . . we’re not gonna lie flat and be cooperative, but we also don’t have the proteins and care required to spring back to life. So I got what could best be described as slightly bent frizz. I was very close to accepting this as just my lot in life when someone said, look at all that frizz! It looks like your hair is trying to curl.

My initial response was . . . No way! It’s definitely straight! It’s always been straight. I’ve worked really hard to assure it’s straight because, for me, the alternative was unattainable.

This kind soul turned me onto the curly hair method and assured me that If I put in the work to undo the damage I’d done to it over the course of my entire life, I would see significant change.

The day I finally accepted this was when schools shut down in Japan and I lost my job during the pandemic. I no longer had a reason to conform.

So, over the course of the next few months, I implemented the changes she had suggested and my hair improved dramatically! I won’t say it was always pretty . . . It was super awkward at first and I had to endure cold silent judgement when out and about in ULTRA conservative rural Japan, where any texture in your hair is equated with moral decay (not even exaggerating . . . try going to an onsen with a visible tattoo).

But now . . . my hair is thriving. As soon as water hits it in the shower, it clumps up and beings to curl. I haven’t straightened my hair myself in years.

If you’re thinking this sounds a bit like a metaphor, that’s because it is. Yes, this IS also the truth about my hair journey.

But just like my hair, I went through my entire life assuming I was straight. I’m married. I was married previously. I’ve had some very good relationships with men. I’ve had some REALLY bad relationships with men, but my relationships with my female friends have always felt a bit desperate, a showering of affection I tried to mentally attribute to my being on the spectrum.

Events in my life have recently caused some serious reflection . . . on female friendships I’ve had over the years that felt entirely one-sided, a longing for something deeper that just wasn’t reflected back at me. At a certain point, after losing my dearest friend to cancer in my early 20s, I shut down female friendships. They were too painful for me and I never understood why.

I am not straight. Never have been. I’m bisexual. This doesn’t change my relationship with my husband, any more than the fact that I appreciate most men would cause me to dart off after the nearest alternative. However, accepting this about myself has unlocked a sea of understanding about my past, about my role in those failed friendships, the expectations I was unknowingly placing on these girls which, because they were hidden, even from myself, they were destined to fall short of.

Over the course of the last month, I’ve been reeling with this paradigm shifting revelation and one thing I’ve come to understand is that I’m not my own type. I’m not drawn to girls who look like me (or at least look like I DID, with the pinup makeup and exhausting beauty routine). There’s nothing WRONG with that, but I’m not attracted to it because it holds no mystery for me. I know how hard they are working. I know the art and the artifice. Because I never looked at a woman as beautiful as Max and had FEELINGS, I assumed I had to be straight. If one of the most beautiful women I’ve ever seen makes me think *meh*, then I guess I must not be attracted to women.

But then, there are those women who simply do not give a fuck. Not a single one. And yet, they glow. They know no shame and have always known who they are and fight for the world as it should be, not as it is. And look at that! It appears I do have a type, after all. I guess you could say they are the Madis of this world, the Mirandas of this world.

To those women, thank you. I intend to approach life brackets emptied. Unredacted.

Love is love.

#know no shame #black sails #madi scott #miranda hamilton #coming out #bi awakening #wavy hair #hair journey #straight hair as a metaphor #some of you know my story already and thank you for the care you took and your kind guidance #I am eternally grateful #lgbtq positivity #max

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fogwitchoftheevermore · 6 months

Note

👀 martyn and/or rendog for the mcyt blaseball au?

Oh my god ok so time to divulge a secret. While I said there were three legs of this AU (Empires, Hermitcraft, and the Life Series) I just cannot get the Life Series branch to Totally work. I don't know why, I just have a much more difficult time assigning teams to the Life Series players than any other SMP. I think it’s probably got to do with how wildly different everyone’s story is in any given season and something to do with the fact that dying in a Life Series is just wildly different that dying in Empires or Hermitcraft and that difference just doesn’t transfer quite right to a Blaseball AU.

However the Life Series branch of this AU does exist, and it has basically just become a treebark AU at this point, so you're in luck. You're especially in luck because Martyn still exists in the Hermitcraft AU, so I'll give you them in both!

Let's start with Hermitcraft, because that's the simple one.

Ren Dog is a shortstop for the San Francisco Lovers with the Charm modifier. He spends his time off the field as the test dummy for Doc’s experiments or Martyn’s video games, making any given reporter fall in love with him, and watching a lot of Flormula 1.

The Charm modifier is one that allows players who have it to periodically charm their opponent into failing. In Ren’s case, this means getting the pitcher to throw an extra ball or two with a well timed smile or wink. All the lovers have it, but ladies (and gentlemen and others) get in line, because Ren is particularly good at it. Ren is also the captain of the Lovers- self appointed- because he thinks he’s good at that (he’s not but they let him have this).

Martyn isn’t a player in this universe (but it’s not off the table! It never is off the table to become a player, if the Hermits are looking to add anyone to season 10). He’s just a regular guy doing regular guy things. He and Ren are at the very least living together, I’ve not decided if they’re married. I don’t know why but something in my bones is telling me that Martyn is a video game dev for his day job.

Ren’s Assigned Garages Song: i’m in love with a blaseball player

Sorry I’m not giving Martyn one because he doesn’t play

Martyn Inthelittlewood is our Parker Macmillan in this AU because I am nothing if not consistent.

Martyn I started his career as a first baseman for the Alaskan Immortals during Pre-History. He was one of the best players in the League and made the Fans, some of whom are Watchers, because the metaphor is literally right there, lots of money due to his Profit modification, which increased idol payouts x10. Fans of teams that weren’t the Immortals got jealous and cursed him with Non-Proft, baring any Immortals fans from making money off of him, as well as Firewalker, which would curse any team he left with team wide instability. If the Immortals Watchers wanted to make money off of Martyn, they’d either have to leave the team that he was single-handedly bringing to every championship or risk his leaving the team killing the entire team.

The Watchers chose to risk it.

And then a lot more stuff happened to Martyn I that I’m not gonna get into, and I’m going to assume that you’re a Blaseball fan, anon, so you already know all this anyways. If you’re not, I’d absolutely be willing to explain but this post is already so long without it. Anyways, Martyn I gets trapped in the Vault for an undisclosed number of years and clones get made of him that don’t remember any of this.

We don’t know what happened with Parker II, so we don’t know what happened with Martyn II either. This will never fail to make me deeply deeply angry.

Martyn III is made the intern-interim commissioner of the newest era of Blaseball, the era in which Ren was a season 1 player.

Ren Dog was a first basemen for the LA Tacos while they were still the LA Tacos. He’s our Wyatt Mason in this AU, if you haven’t gathered. This also means he should be way worse of a player than I made him but I felt bad doing that. When the Grand Unslam happened and the world fractured around him, every member of the Tacos suddenly lost their names, the only identifier Blaseball players had at this point, and became Ren Dog. Martyn III guided the Fans (Watchers and Listeners alike cause why not) in restoring all the members of the team, except for Ren. Because that’s just not how this works. It never is.

Ren dissolved into static and became the Microphone, his own entity separate from the gods and management of Blaseball. He plays by his own rules and helps save the world from the guys in charge. Martyn III might not be a fan of the guys in charge, but he doesn’t understand the Microphone, and it scares him, and he doesn’t know why.

It should be known that while Blaseball was running I was a diehard for Parker/Wyatt, and so that heavily effects this whole thing. Specifically, a very important thing to me was that Wyatt/Ren was a normal person during pre-history when Parker I/Martyn I was playing Blaseball for the first time. The Boss (the Watchers) weren’t his biggest fan and maybe, just maybe, the Watchers pulled some strings to put Ren in the latest iteration of Blaseball so they don’t run the risk of him and Martyn III meeting each other and talking for too long. What happens to Ren in the Grand Unslam is just helping keep them apart even more.

However, what Ren is doing as the Microphone is bad for business. Very bad. So maybe they pull another few strings to send Ren very far away for, ideally, a very long time. And maybe they equally orchestrate some bad things happening to Martyn III and Martyn IIII so that they finally get the perfect puppet with Martyn IIIII.

But nothing ever works out the way they want. Because the game, the business, is falling apart at the seams. Because Martyn I is still in the Vault, dead set on getting out, and when Martyn IIIII finds out that he isn’t his own person? That he’s a clone of a man that’s still alive and still angry? That he’s missing memories most of his life because they were taken from him?

Yeah he doesn’t take it so well.

He finds himself asking the Microphone- Ren- for help. He doesn’t know why. But Ren can’t reach him where he is, so Martyn takes ahold of the Microphone himself, directs the new generation of Fans into taking down the old ones, the Watchers, who are now management and straight up ending the world. And he does take them down, but the world still ends, and inside that Black Hole, everting gets weird for Martyn.

It’s a side effect of taking up the Microphone- you don’t do that and not get weird.

Ren’s still not quite around, never really will be again, but now that Martyn’s taken up the Microphone, they can talk. And this Martyn is not the one that Ren knew and loved long before all of this, but he also kind of is? He used to be, even if he doesn’t remember it? But admittedly, Ren isn’t the Ren that Martyn knew either. They’ve both changed beyond belief, and maybe they can have something new together now. And maybe having something new means having it in the void at the end of the world but, well, at least they get to have it.

I care about them a lot in this AU they make me crazy.

Martyn’s Assigned Garages Song: firewalker with me

Literally what else did you expect

Ren’s Assigned Garages Song: ENCORE

I’ll be frank this one’s a bit of a cop out because Rain is a Garage and this is a Blaseball song but it wasn’t released under the Garages label. But look it’s just so good.

#mcyt blaseball au #treebark #rendog #inthelittlewood #op i REALLY hope you were a blaseball fan cause if not i’m sorry this is missing SO MUCH #if you weren’t and you want me to explain i would genuinely love to #but i also understand if i have scared you away forever

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tinyboxxtink · 9 months

Text

"Summer Of '87" (Chapter 8)

I know, i said it would be less of a wait. I'm sorry! But this chapter's a bit longer, i hope it makes up for it. I haven't been on, so I don't really get my notifs after so long so if you do ask to be on the tag list please message me!

Tag List:

@gingertimelord

@witchwolflea

@loliakeoghan23

@fancytragedything

@eg-dr3amer3

@wanniiieeee

Also if you've asked me for a one shot I promise to get on those too!!!

Chapter 7

Chapter 9

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

Soon you were back at Eddie’s trailer, which was still empty because Wayne was at work.

“So, your uncle lives here too?” you asked uneasily as you looked around the room. It was clear there was only one bedroom, and you hoped it was Eddie’s.

“Yeah, don’t worry though he works most nights. He’s picking up a shift right now.” Eddie explained, hearing the tone in your voice.

“And he sleeps on the couch?” you asked while rubbing the back of your neck.

“Y’know if it makes you this uncomfortable princess you can sleep on the bus,” he said in a rather haughty tone. He knew it wasn’t much, but it was all he had.

You seriously debated for a minute in your head. It wasn’t like it would be much bigger in the bus anyway.

“...Would you stay with me?”

“Uh, no.” he laughed bitterly. “I’m not gonna act too good for my own home, Y/N,”

“I’m not saying it’s not good enough!” you gesture wildly. “It’s just…weird, thinking about sleeping in your room with your uncle on the couch.

“He’s used to--” he walked down the hall to his room to see the bed was unmade, and several of Wayne’s clothes strewn about the place.

“Huh,” he said plainly. “Guess he’s been sleeping in here. Well, that makes sense.”

“So maybe, you let him keep it…?” you tried not to sound too relieved.

“....Yeah, I guess it would be pretty messed up to just come and take it back after being gone for so long,” he sighed.

“But we’re not sleeping on the bus.”

“Oh?” you raised an eyebrow. You half wondered if he was going to make you camp in the woods just to spite you.

“I’ve got plenty of money to crash in a motel for a few days,” he explained as he walked back out to his van.

“A motel?” you made a face. “Gee don’t break your wallet with the big spending there, Scrooge,”

“HEY,” He stopped and spun around abruptly. “I get that you were born with a silver spoon up your ass princess, but I grew up with NOTHING. You learn how to stretch pennies real far raised that way.”

“Wow,” you huffed. “Y’know it’s not my fault who or where I was born Eddie, same as you. I can’t help I’m used to…certain lifestyles,”

“But you can help it by opening yourself up to things less than your ‘standards’, princess,” he crossed his arms. The way he used your nickname like that, it sounded so condescending.

“Is that what you think, Eddie?” You asked with tears brimming. “You keep calling me that because what, I’m Molly Ringwald? Conceited? Spoiled? And your Bender, the poor burnout who’s daddy didn’t love him? Is that it?”

“Hey, at least his dad was AROUND,” He stepped towards you angrily. “My old man dropped me here when I was born. Him AND my mother wanted nothing to do with me! I would’ve KILLED for a carton of cigarettes for Christmas, at least that would mean I’d see them!”

“...Wow,” you said softly. You didn’t realize he’d take the metaphor so far. Or that his parents were that horrible.

“Yeah, wow,” he chuckled sadly as he leaned against the van, pulling out a cigarette and lighting it.

“I’m sorry,” you put a hand on his shoulder. “I shouldn’t of--”

“No, you’re right.” he cut you off with a drag of his cigarette. “I shouldn’t expect you to be like me. I’m hella simple. Give me a room with a bed and I’m happy. And I know now I can afford more, I’m just waiting for the other shoe to drop and this whole ‘fame’ thing to go away. And I just wanna have enough that Wayne doesn’t have to worry about working so much. I mean, I’m even thinking about getting him a small house for Christmas. If i still have enough to, I mean.”

“I get it,” you nodded softly. “And if that’s what you want, I have no right to ask anything more of you. But Eddie…”

You rubbed his shoulder tenderly.

“The other shoe won’t drop, I know it won't. You're too talented, as are the other guys. You worked hard to get where you are, that doesn’t just ‘go away’,”

“Yeah, I guess…” he muttered under his breath while taking another drag. “Maybe we can get a nice hotel, with a pool and everything,”

“A pool?” you had to giggle at the specific detail.

“Yeah, I’ve always wanted a pool.”

“Well,” you cleared your throat. “My parents have a pool…”

“Wasn’t the whole point of staying with Mandy a way to AVOID your parents?”

“Well, yeah I mean i did wanna spend time with her, but I’m pretty sure they’re in Italy for the summer.”

“Pretty sure?” He raised an eyebrow.

“Absolutely sure.” you admitted. “And if you want a free room AND pool, then it’s what you’re gonna get, metal head.”

“Really?” his eyes lit up.

“Really,” you giggled. “And who knows, it’s a big house. Maybe we can convince your friends to come over for a pool party,”

“That is an AMAZING idea!!!” He almost jumped up and down with happiness. “That is definitely one way to Dustin’s heart.”

“Good,” you smiled. “Any other ways you know of?”

“I’ll make a list,” he chuckled before putting out his cigarette and letting you in the van.

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

After a few days of settling in and letting everyone cool off, Eddie decided to bring up the idea of the pool party at a special session of Hellfire Club. Obviously they didn’t usually play in the summer, but since Eddie and the guys were home Dustin who was now the DM, made a special exception. Even if he was still a bit frustrated with him.

After the meeting when everyone was just hanging out, he took his honorary little brother to the side.

“Y’know Henderson, you’re not such a bad DM,” he chuckled while ruffling his hair.

“Ay, not the hair!” He grumbled while pushing Eddie’s hand away. “And really? Ya think so?”

“Definitely,” he nodded with a sly grin. “Almost as good as I was,”

“Oh right,” he rolled his eyes.

“So, I was thinking,” he said carefully. “We should have a party in your honor,”

“Oh really?” his eyes lit up. “A party for me?”

“Yeah of course, why not?” he patted Dustin’s back. “A pool party even,”

“A pool party?!” Dustin was now giddy. “But who do we know who has a pool? Are we gonna break into Steve’s parents house?”

“Well, not exactly…” Eddie became nervous. “Y/N offered…”

“Oh there it is,” Dustin’s happy bubble was burst. “You wanna set up some kind of ‘happy reunion’ with my so called ‘dad’?”

“No man!” Eddie shook his head wildly. “No, they’re out of town. We’re staying there, and I told her--”

“So you ARE shacking up with her!” Dustin scoffed. “Dude I knew it!”

“There were extenuating circumstances, Henderson!” Eddie raised his voice to match Dustin’s, making the rest of the group stop their conversations and zone in on theirs.

“Wow, don’t choke on the big words Munson,” Dustin rolled his eyes.

“Hey man, I’m smart sometimes.” he said in an offended tone.

He wasn’t the best speaker, but he had a decent vocabulary. And Dustin was supposed to be his little buddy, someone who looked up to him. Not this condescending little twerp.

“Dust, lay off him.” Mike walked over. “You know you missed the shit out of him,”

“...Maybe” Dustin looked at the floor.

Eddie paused for a moment, letting his wheels turn.

“...Is that why you’re pissed, Henderson?” he leaned his head down to meet Dustin’s eyes. “You think she’s taking me from you?”

“Eddie I waited a whole YEAR to see you! And now you come home with some random girl claiming to be my sister, and she’s got you on a leash!”

“A leash??!” Eddie had to laugh. “Henderson look where we’re standing! I’m here with you, aren’t I?”

“And the last few days?”

“Dude I figured you were pissed at me. I wanted to give you a few days to calm down,”

“Just because I’m pissed at you doesn’t mean I don’t wanna see you Eddie!!!” Dustin was surprisingly emotional as he spoke. “I…you’re my brother, Edds.”

Hearing those words broke Eddie’s heart. Here he was trying to make you happy by easing the tension between you and Dustin, and he hadn’t thought twice about things between him and Dustin.

“Hey, Henderson,” he held his hands out. “You know you’re my little brother first. Everyone else is second to you,”

“Gee thanks!” Lucas rolled his eyes.

“Sorry SInclair, shouldn’t have played for the dark side.” Eddie shot him a tongued smirk before turning his attention back to Dustin.

“Look if you really don’t wanna do it, we won’t. But you know I wouldn’t wanna do anything that would hurt you. Even if you don’t believe Y/N is your sister, she’s still a nice girl. I swear. And she really just wants to do something nice for everyone, honest.”

“Yeah man, POOL PARTY!!! Come on!!!” Gareth chimed in the conversation.

“....Well, I guess if everyone’s there.” Dustin shrugged. “I guess it’s cool,”

“Sweetness!” Eddie hugged Dustin. “I swear man, you won’t regret it,”

“I hope not,” Dustin said softly. He’d never admit it to anyone, but he sort of wanted to believe you. He’d always wanted an older sibling, and Eddie was great, but another one would be nice.

He hoped this party wouldn’t blow up his hopes.

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

The day of the party soon arrived, and you were buzzing with nervous energy. Your parents’ backyard was decked out to look like a D&D dream. You had made giant paper D20 dice and stuck them along the gates surrounding the yard. You had a custom cake made into the shape of a D20 with “DM MASTER DUSTIN HENDERSON” written in the middle of it. It was double chocolate fudge, his favorite.

A picnic table on your deck held a D&D board all set up for a campaign designed especially around Dustin. Of course that was for later; you had planned to let the whole Hellfire club stay over for a campaign sleepover.

All the food and refreshments were D&D themed; potato wedges called “dragon eggs”, chicken legs called “troll’s legs”, burgers named “+1 health”. Fruit punch labeled “Dragon’s blood,” stuff of the like.

The pool also came equipped with a water basketball hoop, and a net across for water volleyball. A large slide was set up in the deep end; it was literally a teenage boy’s dream.

And if you had any doubts about it, Dustin and the other boys faces and excited chatter when they entered the backyard proved you right.

“Holy shit,” Dustin whispered in awe. “This is AWESOME!!!!”

“I’m glad you like it,” you gave him a small smile.

“I love it, thank you,” Dustin smiled back, giving you a small hug. It made you take a small sharp inhale while you glanced happily at Eddie, who gave you a thumbs up.

“CANNONBALL!!!” Quentin didn’t waste any time; he was ripping off his t-shirt and jumping into the pool. The rest of the boys quickly followed suit, already starting to play with the basketball.

Soon the older teens were walking into the backyard with the two younger girls in tow.

“Sorry we’re late, the girls were taking forever,” Jonathan apologized, causing Nancy to hit him.

“We weren’t that long!” She pouted as she walked over to grab some “dragon’s blood”. The two younger girls immediately took off their overalls and jumped into the pool with the boys.

“Hey let’s get a game going!” Lucas suggested.

“This is a pretty nice setup,” Steve commented while pulling off his shirt. “My parents never sprung for a slide.”

“Well clearly you were never spoiled as I was,” you joked.

“I already assumed that was true,” he winked before joining the boys in the pool.

“I’ll kill him for you if you want me to,” Eddie said under his breath in a half teasing manner.

“I’ll let you know,” you kissed his cheek before going to the shallow end of your pool to sit and sunbathe.

---------

It ended up being a lovely night; you bonded with Eddie’s friends, Dustin had a great time, all in all you’d call the whole thing a success. Now, everyone was hanging out in your house for a sleepover.

The Hellfire members played the special campaign Eddie had made in the living room, while El and Max watched a movie upstairs in your TV room. You and the older teens were drinking and talking on a couch in the living room, careful not to disturb the game.

“So, you and Eddie huh?” Steve asked in his best non condescending voice.

“Me and Eddie what?” you raised an eyebrow.

“You guys doin’ it?” he asked rather abruptly in a buzzed tone.

“Steve!” Nancy elbowed him harshly.

“Actually no, Harrington.” you took a swig of your beer. “I’m not a little slut like you,”

“Hey!” He cried defensively. “Former slut, thank you,”

“Oh sorry,” you rolled your eyes with a smile, “But no, we’ve barely kissed.”

“OOOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHH!!” Robin laughed in an overexaggerated tone, causing the HFC members to look over.

“Robin!” Steve hissed. “Who’s the dingus now?”

“Shit,” you said under your breath while glancing at Eddie with a bright red face. You probably shouldn’t have said that.

“What?” Dustin asked curiously as he also glanced at Eddie, who was clueless.

“Nothing, nothing.” You assured him while getting up to go to the kitchen for some water. No more drinking for you tonight. Eddie instinctively followed you, sensing it was not “nothing”.

“What was that?” He leaned against your kitchen bar.

“Noting…” you said in an innocent tone.

“Oh that sounds believable,” he chuckled as he walked towards you.

“I may have let it slipped that we kissed,” you blushed up at him.

“What?!” Eddie suddenly took a step back. “Why?!”

“Well Harrington goaded me into it!” you whined.

“Sure, everything’s Harringrton’s fault.” he rolled his eyes.

“He asked if we were sleeping together, rude.” you stuck your tongue out. “And I said that we barely kissed,”

“Barely?” he crossed his arms. “I’d say it was more than ‘barely’ a kiss,”

“Well, then why can’t i remember it?” you smirked.

“Probably because you’re drunk, princess.”

“I am NOT,” You protested, stepping forward but tripping on your heels into his arms.

“....I might be a little tipsy,” you added with a small voice.

“Uh huh,” he shook his head with a small laugh. You were so adorable he couldn’t stand it.

“Well here’s a reminder,” he grinned before pulling you into his body with the softest of kisses.

You knew you shouldn’t risk making out in your kitchen like this with literally everyone you were trying to convince you weren’t banging him in the next room, but you were indeed tipsy and you wanted him so badly. Your arms immediately wrapped around his neck and pulled him forward, jumping up and wrapping your legs around him. He set you on the counter while continuing to kiss you, not wanting to admit he really wasn’t strong enough to hold you on his own.

“I knew it!”

Dustin’s voice knocked you both from your lustful haze as you broke apart immediately and stared at him in horror.

“Dustin, man we weren’t.--”

“Save it,” he sighed as he turned around to go back to the living room. “Do whatever you want, I don’t care,”

Eddie ran after Dustin trying to explain you weren’t a thing for the second time, even though at this point why weren’t you? You couldn’t think about that now, you had to get your shit together.

“Shit!!!” you yelled at yourself as you ran upstairs to your room.

You needed a break from all this drama for the night.

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

if you llke what you read, please considering buying me a Ko-Fi☕, it's the only source of income I have right now. https://ko-fi.com/tinyboxtink

#summer of 87 #eddie munson imagine #eddie munson #eddie munson x reader #eddie munson x you #eddie munson x y/n #eddie munson fanfic #eddie munson angst #stranger things 4 #edddie munson fluff #stranger things

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raayllum · 2 months

Note

hey I have some thoughts and theories on season six that I want to post but I feel like they’re kind of in cohesive and all over the place and rambly and I’m not really sure the best way to get them across especially when I’m more of a brainstorm type of personof like 10 different ways something could go I’m not really sure how to organize it or make it comprehensible to the average Tumblr scroller do you have any tips for this? because I want them to get reach cause I do feel like I’m contributing something but sometimes I think what I’m saying makes no sense at all or no one’s going to read all that you know. or, TLDR: Do you have any tips on making meta in general since you seem to be the main producer of it in the fandom ha ha, your input would be invaluable

So I actually did start writing a post a while ago about well, a kind of how to guide for writing meta, but it felt very self-gratuitous so it got semi-banished to the drafts although I still might finish / clean it up and post it someday

That being said your ask does make me realize that your query is not something I had considered going over, approaching it from more of a "here's how to train your brain to notice things that can be fun to write meta about" > organizing said thoughts, so thank you for bringing it to my attention! I hope some of this advice will be useful, and it may even have some overlap with other thoughts I had planned

The most useful way I've found when it comes to meta is treating it like an essay, with an introduction, body paragraphs / sections (and sometimes headers), and a conclusion of some kind when warranted. This means looking for similarities or main ideas with possible consistent threads (i.e. avenues Aaravos' evil plans could go might be split off into branches, each one detailing a different avenue). So that would be my best advice when it comes to organization.

However, most concerns about "not making sense" comes down to thinking through what context you have to provide for your audience to understand what you're discussing, depending on the length and depth of the leap / analysis. Are there any symbols being drawn upon we will want to explain in more detail before theorizing how they relate to the show? Are there any smaller details or scene summaries to include when putting these things together?

For example, when I wrote a meta about Rayla being the metaphorical light to Callum's darkness (pre-S5), I first had to establish why I associated her with light, drawing from visual examples from S1, S2, and S4, as well as the "Dear Callum" letter. Callum's side of things was more straightforward with dialogue in the text. Then I could take it one step further and talk about why this light-dark duality indicates that she will likely save him from possession after possibly leading to the fall in the first place. But I had to go from a bottom-top approach in steadily building the layers rather than starting from the top and working my way down, as for more symbolic matters in particular, that can often be confusing.

Although sometimes more simplistic, consulting the 5 Ws (who, what, where, when, and why) can likewise be useful in meta in terms of 1) tracing where certain ideas are coming from in the text, 2) what is being posited/suggested, and 3) why these things might be conflated, and 4) who might be involved. Obviously meta tends to be more "what" heavy, particularly when its predictive, but it's kinda like explaining why one character might be more involved in one plot line than another, etc. There's going to be a Why to that Who, and those things both combine to form the What (otherwise known as theory or just plain analysis).

And don't be concerned about if people are gonna wanna read it. I find most people in TDP fandom are pretty down to theorize even if they may not necessarily write a lot of it down themselves (and often have cool ideas/contributions too!) and I am the king of making things overly long, yet people muscle through anyway!

That's about it for me without more specifics (a character study vs foil vs theme vs prediction are all kinda different in their own way) but I would love to hear more if you'd like to message me off anon or if you have more thoughts/questions you'd like to leave in my inbox once that's opened back up! Have fun theorizing, have fun writing, always feel free to break longer metas up into smaller bite sized ones as you go, and I look forward to seeing them int the tags!

#writing advice #meta #the english major strikes again

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prettysymbiosis · 10 months

Text

the gang gets cursed

“how long’s it been?” “too long” 🙊

“what if they edit it to make me look stupid or something?” yeah what if charlie was in a show that made him seem dumber than he actually is? that would really suck

does mac consider the good luck to be that someone could come in and save them from themselves? like does mac just want to be on tv or does he want to be fixed?

dennis: “how the bar comes across is a reflection of how I come across” charlie: “yes!” the bar is the show… they don’t want to make a silverfish show. they’re finally trying to clean up the rot inside their characters :)

charlie is mad at mac for messing things up as he’s trying to fix them - in a literal sense I know that’s an old charlie work dynamic but also charlie in an emotional sense has been getting his shit together this season, like he is doing the real Charlie Work and he’s sick of the gang sabotaging themselves and him!!

charlie’s face when he realizes he might’ve called an old lady a cunt too… I’m telling you he’s becoming a better person

I love this magical, mysterious side of sunny btw! it’s more playful and cinematic

“well if you’re gonna whip it out, we’re on the clock” you tell him cricket! that line makes me laugh every time

also cricket telling mac he’s gotta pick a lane like bro you don’t even know. this guy finally admits he’s gay as hell but he won’t stop eating nuts and believing his mom loves him

big mac lol

CHARLIE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (this was when he was telling uncle jack to fuck off and that was my only note)

“do I look like I’m at sea, mom?” “I don’t know…” I think this has metaphorical significance

dennis saying “I get that now” about what leads to curses… okay so maybe you should try being a better person and then you’ll feel better idiot :)

I really liked the way the storylines came together via the pet cemetery, definitely got a kick out of the writing there

I almost forgot to say anything about maureen but rest in power and the fact that dennis is finally burying her and everything she represented seems pretty significant!!!

“cause what they believe influences their actions. but actions do have consequences. like lying, mac.” YEAH MAC (and then he gets lied to next episode... when will it end)

“we know we should be at work” I love when the gang acknowledges never being at the bar

mac may or may not be lucky, but he sure as HELL is devoted. we know this!!!! it’s crazy he’d really be perfect for a guy like dennis… huh weird

there was never any luck one way or the other was there

the ending 😎

so far two mentions of mac having kids and two mentions of “the bigger picture”... not sure what to think yet but I am paying attention

#sunny #always sunny #iasip #it's always sunny in philadelphia #s16e3 #the gang gets cursed #sunny meta #I've enjoyed every episode so far like no flops for me #it's fun to have fun :)#can't wait to see uncle jack die tbh

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thelilbish · 1 year

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Cat’s Cradle or The Cat’s Cradle?

The analysis is based on the novel Cat's Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut (thanks to @to-bone-bigfoot for the recommendation)

Well, the book turned out to be way too complex than I expected it to be. I’m not saying I got the entire message correctly or completely but I can’t stop thinking about the author’s warning at the beginning of chap. 4. (Btw, I’m not gonna dig deep, just a few thoughts)

“Anyone unable to understand how a useful religion can be founded on lies will not understand this book either.”

Religions are supposed to be a salvation but man turned them into some instrument of control. Even Beatrice started doubting all of it at the end of S1 (and in S2 when Superion got back to life)

“Father, if Adriel’s bones really are driving people to belief, wouldn’t removing them weaken the entire Catholic faith?”

Those bones are a means of control. As Vincent stated, “A devil’s bargain to keep people reliant on the Church. As long as there is darkness in the world, people will turn to us for light”.

By naming that convent The Cat’s Cradle they claim that it is all a lie (except for the relationships the nuns established perhaps).

The walls that are supposed to be a shelter of truth is nothing more than a shattering of lies.

Also it’s all about technology. That Cat’s Cradle is a metaphor for a trap woven from the achievements of science and technology. For too long, man has considered themself the supreme creation of nature (Heart of a Dog by Bulgakov proves why this thought pattern is disastrous), who is allowed to engage in uncontrolled violence against his own kind and destroy the planet. In the hands of representatives of one species are "toys" that are dangerous for billions of living beings.

The Arc is dangerous and I know Jillian’s intention was to save her son but as Vonnegut stated “anything a scientist worked on was sure to wind up as a weapon, one way or another”.

So, my guess is that they named that ancient church The Cat’s Cradle in order to show the danger of science even though tons of inventions are made with good intentions, and the way religions can be a control means changing its original purpose.

#warrior nun #warrior nun season 2 #warrior nun season 3 #ava silva #kristina tonteri young #alba baptista #save warrior nun

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doublecheekedkinard · 7 months

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Fuck it Friday

I have been tagged a multitude of times in the last few weeks by @wildlife4life @monsterrae1 and various others and i've had nothing but since we're saying fuck it today, there was a conversation between @cryinginthebronco and I because of a student I dealt with a work today and this was the result - which may or may not get fleshed out, I really dont know.

"Henry - Darling -" Pez lets the word drip from his tongue, drawn out and slow, as he slips the book from Henrys hands and slots himself into the same space that it had occupied, propped on the edge of the table, his socked feet coming to rest on Henrys thighs. "Rude," Henry blinks, though he cant help the smile that appears across his face for his best friend. "Do you know what day it is today?" Pez asks "I believe it's a Wednesday." Henry nods, his hands wrapping around Pez's ankles, looking for somewhere to go in the absence of a book. Pez wrinkles his nose. "You mustn't be afraid to dream a little bigger, darling, think - special occassion." Henry rolls his eyes at the reference. "If you're asking whether or not I have forgotten the date of my own birthday then I can assure yo-" "A very particular birthday," Pez cuts in, booping Henry on the nose with an index finger to emphasize the 'particular.' "Ah." It's solemn, an understanding nod. "You have come to make good on our arrangement." "Henry Augustus Edward Percival Bruce James whatever the hell your middle names are-" Henry scowls and somehow manages to hiccup a laugh at the same time, Pez knows full well what his names are. "-Will you marry me?" "Percy Okonjo," he pauses, letting it settle in, "I will. I think we've been spinsters long enough." Pez paddles his feet on Henrys knees and lets out a loud, gleeful yell. He takes Henrys face in his hands and kisses both his cheeks, wet, a little sloppy. "I'll rally the witnesses!"

Several years later.

“I’m gonna marry the shit out of you one day, sweetheart.” Alex drawls, lazy with a sated post-coital delirium.

Henry doesn’t mean to squeak.

Alex shuffles over onto his side, squinting at Henry suspiciously, “-what was that?”

“Um – Alex,” Henry sounds more panicked than he really wants to, he sits up, suddenly a lot less sated. “I haven’t – you mustn’t take this the wrong way – it’s a matter very easily rectified given the situation…” He’s chewing at an already worn-down fingernail, staring off at the wall, seeing nothing.

“Henry, spit it out, I’m getting nervous.” Alex sits up too, crossing his legs so he’s facing Henry, eyes roaming across the side profile of his face.

“Well – the thing is, Pez and I had an arrangement, you know, we were 23 and chronically, god, depressingly single and maybe a little bit drunk but we agreed that if neither of us were in a serious relationship by the time we were 30 we would – well, we got married.”

There’s a silence that spans the length of Henrys nerves.

“You’re married?” Alex deadpans, his face a straight line “to Pez?”

“It’ll be a very simple divorce – annulment even, we never-“

“Nope, you’re not gonna finish that sentence, I don’t want the metal image.”

“You’re not - I don’t know, mad?” Henry hesitates.

“Not a fan of the neurotic girlfriend stereotype, babe, i’m a feminist.”

Henry snorts.

“I’m sorry, it completely slipped my mind.”

“Oh, it’s easy for you to just forget you’re married? Shit, maybe we should-“

He point blank refuses to hear the last part of Alex’s comment, banter or not, so he talks over him.

“Forgive me if i’ve spent the last three years with my face buried so deeply between your arse cheeks, physically and metaphorically, that I forgot i’m in a platonic marriage of convenience with my best friend.”

#shush chloe #rwrb

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