Hi, I'm Anna. I've been on the writeblr side of tumblr since June last year, and I figured- new year, about time for a new intro. I'll be doing new WIP and character intros as well very soon.
About the Author
20-something years old / She/Her / Aroace
A burntout gifted kid, (sorta late diagnosed) Autisic and ADHDer
my sideblog for nerdy and fangirly stuff (mainly about my ocs and fanfics about them) is @cherrybombfangirl that i'm currently trying to revive
Favorite Movies: Captain America: The Winter Soldier /// Wonder Woman (2017) /// Wonder Woman 1984 /// Lilo and Stitch /// The Amazing Spiderman 1 & 2 /// Black Widow /// Ghostbusters (the entire franchise, all of it) /// LEGO Batman /// Megamind /// Pirates of the Caribbean Trilogy (what other two movies?) /// How to Train Your Dragon Trilogy /// The Nightmare Before Christmas /// Coraline /// Boxtrolls /// Enchanted /// The Little Mermaid /// Maleficent /// Princess Bride /// The Great Mouse Detective /// Anastasia /// Ocean's 8 /// Kung Fu Panda 1 & 2 /// Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves /// Dead Poet's Society /// Puss in Boots: The Last Wish /// Rogue One: A Star Wars Story /// Nimona ///
Favorite Books: Trollhunters /// Land of Stories /// Micheal Vey /// Percy Jackson series /// How to Train Your Dragon series /// Peter and the Starcatchers /// Cry of the Icemark /// Reflection by Elizabeth Lim /// The Unwanteds /// Alex and the Ironic Gentleman /// The Hunger Games Trilogy /// Mysterious Benedict Society /// Dealing with Dragons Series /// Cry of the Icemark by Stuart Hill /// Iron Widow by Xiran Jay Xhao ///
Favorite TV Shows: Tales of Arcadia: Trollhunters /// Tales of Arcadia: Wizards /// How to Train Your Dragon: Race to the Edge /// Supergirl /// Ninjago /// The Mandalorian /// Kenobi /// Lockwood and Co. /// A Series of Unfortunate Events /// The Dragon Prince /// She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (ND Stevenson’s Reboot) ///
I like to write big casts, with lots of diversity
My characters tend to be very aro/ace coded and adhd/autism coded because I like to project onto my characters a little bit too much
been dreaming up little worlds with little characters in my head since i was little, started writing fanfic at 12, and finally started to draft out my ideas last year
I love love love fantasy and sci-fi, especially the more high stuff, but i like low/urban fantasy and sci-fi. more realistic fiction isn't really my cup of tea, if there's no fantasy or sci-fi elements it doesn't do it for me
My WIPs
Fractured Stars Falling
Intro /// Playlist
My dark fantasy, 9 book series of very queer retellings. Including people of color, mentally and physically disabled, and many flavors of queer representation. Themes include trauma and how we deal with it, and tropes include magic that can kill you, chaotic found family, and 'i would kill for you' romances. And it's possibly going to have a prequel series about my thousand year old wizard who is an AuDHDer and a burntout gifted kid and how she got to where she is in the series.
Tags: #wip: fractured stars falling
The City is Ours
Intro /// Playlist
My low fantasy, 5 book series about a bunch of chaotic teenage superheroes. More people of color, physically and mentally disabled, Jewish and Muslim, and lots of different queer representaion . Themes include forgiveness, are you the hero of the villain, and tropes include domesticity between the action, teenagers being teenagers, and the checkov's civilian.
Tags: #wip: the city is ours
Galaxy Destroyer
Intro /// Playlist
Previously known as Before the Stars Burn Out, this is my high sci-fi book series about a bunch of morally gray criminals and the "i tried to kill you" to found family pipeline. Like my other wips, lots of representation, including people of color, disabilites of both the physical and mental, and different kinds of queer representation. Themes include what really defines good vs bad, what to do when the system is broken and the two solutions you are presented with suck, and tropes include space criminals accidentally adopting a baby, humans being space orcs, and cool laser gun battles in space. Not sure if it's going to be a trilogy or duology yet.
Tags: #wip: galaxy destroyer, wip: before the stars burn out (for older stuff)
unnamed witchy wip
Intro (coming soon) /// playlist (coming soon)
a one-eyed (and it's actually disabling) aroace witch. her two familiars, a white cat and blue crow. on the run from a cult of witch hunters that are taking control of the realm by storm. she befriends an undercover witch hunter, no knowing his identity. the witch hunter has an arc with their faith crisis and getting a redemption arc where they end up saving their new friend the witch. Themes include the abuse of religion and finding friendship (but on a very personal level), and tropes include snarky familiars, very personal stakes for the characters, and platonic soulmates. Probably going to be a standalone.
Tags: #unnamed witchy wip
unnamed historical fantasy vestal virgin wip
Intro (coming soon) /// playlist (coming soon)
it's a baby wip that I don't much on yet. All I know is that it's going to be about one of the vestal virgins in Ancient Rome actually making contact with Vesta (the roman version of Hestia), they become besties and end up protecting each other both from the human and mythological. Also I'm going to get dragons in there somehow. much platonic soulmates <3. Probably going to be a standalone as well.
Tags: #unnamed vestal virgin wip
edit: i removed taglists from this post because there is a tag limit, i have them saved somewhere else tho!
I don't understand how people who are so "LOL magas don't believe climate change is real!!! How stupid!!!" are so blithely skipping to chatgpt as a search engine at the same time. Like you cannot be "haven't you noticed the lack of bugs this year" and simultaneously "here's how I made my 17 step skincare routine using chatgpt!!!". It beggars belief.
tagged by @calicohyde, thank you! my words are pretty, water, crush, steal, and mouth. today’s snippets are all from Valloroth.
[ID - a green and black decorative divider]
pretty
Vren. What an odd shape for a name to have. Short, more like punctuation than a word, stuck in his mind like a stone in his shoe. Sorrow turned it over, working his tongue silently around the sound. After calling the man the Wraith for so long, it felt slightly bizarre to have something real to call him.
At least it served as a distraction. The nightmares had left him scraped raw, more drained than the lack of real food or proper water. He felt almost hungover, as if the vicious visions and confession of who they contained had been a potent and poisonous brew. He only counted himself lucky that Vren— that pretty piece of syllable, his to hoard like Cidra’s gold—hadn’t brought the subject up again.
water
Zander dragged him down to the water’s edge—the ground became white sand under their feet as they went, iridescent with strange shells and the taste of spun sugar.
crush
If he’d been possessed of the physical strength necessary to crush a highly enchanted infernii artefact carved from a silver of Archdemon bone with his bare hands, the communication stone would have turned to dust right then and there.
steal
“Stop watching me eat,” [Vren] grumbled, scooping up sauce with his bread.
“What other entertainment have I got?”
He rolled his eyes. “Go steal something from Sorrow. That’ll occupy you.”
“Yes, because being tied up in whatever dungeon they’ve got hidden under this place will be much more fun than bothering you.”
“Here I thought you were a grown woman, not a twelve-year old girl.”
mouth
As the door swung shut behind her last visitor for the day, Aspiration put her head down on the desk with a groan. There was a reason Sorrow was the K’zinla’s face: he was good at it. She could organise, she could plan, she could manage their people and all the little dramas of a young clan—she hated politicking with everyone outside of that. She was action, he was words. He could say things that from her mouth would sound rough and aggressive, and whoever he said them to would not only agree with him, but think it their idea in the first place. His horns were gold, his tongue was silver, and this was his damn office and his damn rats nest of associates and paperwork and she missed him so much she wanted to scream.
[ID - a green and black decorative divider]
no-pressure tagging @reininginthefirewriting @sunset-a-story @cwritesfiction and @sarandipitywrites with the words keep, along, distress, and dismay.
Thank you for this one, @cherrybombfangirlwrites! And don't pay any attention to how long ago you gave it to me, hahahahahaha.
Here's something I just wrote this afternoon...I've been having trouble recently where I write a long time and then sit back and think...is this even productive or am I just going to trash this scene later? I'm usually pretty good at telling when something is meandering on too long, so I don't think it looks good, which is so frustrating...but this part of the scene is alright, so I think I'll keep it :)
“Crazy eights?” Kumar suggested. “Gin rummy? Um…poker?”
“Oh no, I’m not about to play poker with you,” Takahashi declared. “You are going to take all of my money, dignity, and reputation.”
Kumar rolled her eyes at him. “Just say you’re a coward, Takahashi, and get it over with.”
The two of them had a brief wrestling match so they could decide they were tied – although Takahashi had to be pulling his punches, Steve thought, he was nearly twice as tall as Kumar – and settled back down again. “What do you want to play, Steve?” Takahashi asked kindly.
I'll tag @avrablake @indecentpause @revenantlore @halfbakedspuds @talesfromaurea @new-royston-cursebreakers @pluttskutt @phantomnations @italiangothicwriteblr and anyone else who sees this <3
In the End it Doesn't Even Matter (I Had To Fall to Lose it All) [Full Version!!!]
I almost forgot that I said I'd post the full version of the flashfictionfriday snippet I did a while ago (it's here), so here you go, enjoy the angst in it's full glory :). This is the current ending I have for Sleeping Beauty's Bodyguard, as of Draft 0.
Wordcount: 2870 (a little ridiculous ngl XD)
Warnings: main character death (kinda), angst galore, Raven sad boi hours, really creepy with lots of horror elements, I'm not kidding i didn't pull my punches with this one, so many feels
Fractured Stars Falling, Book 6 - Draft 0 - Plot and Character Dynamic Exploration
The fight raged around outside as they raced through the palace, searching for a safe place to hide. Shouting, the clash of blades, and the evil cackles of someone echoed through the air, shaking the castle down to its foundation. Fire and lightning rained down outside as the Witch Queen’s dark sorcerers attacked.
Some of the dark sorcerers made it into the palace and came right for them. Harry and several others jumped in the sorcerers’ path, swords up and ready for a fight.
Raven didn’t hesitate to use the chance his comrades were giving them, and ran- keeping Sapphire in front of him.
She kept insisting that she was fine and didn’t need protection, trying to go back and help.
Raven’s voice sounded more and more fearful by the second as he tried to convince her to let him take her to safety.
She couldn't figure out why for the life of her, but the panic edging into his voice made her heart ache. Sapphire had never heard or seen him this scared before.
Finally, she gave in and stopped fighting to go back. Anything to help him feel less scared.
They both ran around a corner, and Raven led them up the stairs. The staircase wound upward in a spiral, getting tighter and narrower as it went on.
At the top, a narrow hallway led to the next tower over, and a door was directly in front of them. The door in front of them led to one of the astronomy observatories on the other side. The hallway led to another one, or one of the attics.
Down the staircase, the echoes of combat got louder.
Raven opened the door in front of them, and glanced down the stairs. “You stay in here, I’ll lead them away.”
“What about you?”
“I’ll be fine, I need you safe.”
Sapphire stared at him, dumbfounded. “Why are you still trying to protect me? My stepmother wants you dead, and you’re not my bodyguard anymore.”
Raven looked up from watching the staircase for danger, staring at her- from her lips, to her dirty dress that still made her beautiful, to her dark blue eyes, to her messy auburn curls that looked better messed up, back to her lips- He grabbed her hand, looking at it. “I’d protect you even if it wasn’t my job.”
Time seemed to freeze for a moment as they both stared down at their entwined hands, the sounds of the fight below dying away.
He was holding both her hands in his in front of him, squeezing for any source of comfort. They both started to lean in, thinking the same thing as they pulled each other closer. Their faces were so close their noses brushed, and both could feel the light puffs of each other’s hot breath on their skin.
A loud clash echoed from below, announcing the dark sorcerers getting closer.
Raven pushed the observatory door open. “Lock yourself inside, stay quiet and hidden, don’t let anyone in. I’ll come back and get you once it’s over.”
Sapphire bit her lip, looking between the room and the staircase below. Finally, her gaze landed on him. “You come back alive and in one piece, promise?”
He lifted her hand, gently kissing her knuckles. “I promise. Don’t let anyone in unless it’s me, got it?”
Reluctantly, she nodded and entered the observatory room. As she closed the door, she stole one last look at Raven as he drew his sword and started down the hallway to the next tower.
Once the door closed and the lock clicked, Sapphire tried to make herself comfortable. The old observatory was dusty, old charts and stargazing equipment laying forgotten. There were three windows in the tower room to use for looking at the stars, all of them wide open, with telescopes poking through two.
Not wanting to be spotted, she started closing the windows. Before she could shut the last one, there was a noise.
The whoosh of a breeze.
A footstep.
Cackling, muffled and faint.
Sapphire quickly shut the window and whipped around. There was no one behind her that she could see. Not taking any chances, she snatched up a nearby book and raised it in defense.
There was nothing. No more noise, other than the muffled and distant sounds of dying combat.
Walking to the middle of the room, she slowly lowered the book, her back to the door. Despite not seeing or hearing anything unusual, the hair on the back of her neck stood on end.
Sapphire could’ve sworn she was alone in that observatory. She had locked the door behind her, it was empty when she came in, it looked and sounded empty now…
And yet her instincts told her that something dangerous was near and she needed to run far away. She lowered the book slowly, taking a deep breath to steel her nerves. Maybe she was imagining it, or the thrill from the fight was making her hyperaware.
“There you are, you little rat.”
Long bony arms grabbed Sapphire, one pinning her arms to her sides. An unearthly chill filled her, freezing all the way to her core.
She opened her mouth to cry for help, father, Constance, Raven- but her scream was quickly muffled by a cold hand with ashy skin, long knobby fingers, and sharp fingernails like claws.
“Oh yes, scream for your precious Raven all you want, he can’t hear you, but he’s coming back isn’t he?” The voice was so sweet it was sickening. The woman gave a small, dark chuckle. “Don’t worry, I’ll let you see him one last time before I- well it’s not exactly killing, since you’ll still be breathing and everything, but I can’t have you spilling my little secret. I can promise you won’t be waking up anytime soon.” Her claws tightened, digging into Sapphire’s skin. The woman giggled. “Or ever.”
Sapphire struggled harder, not wanting to find out what she meant.
“You know the more you fight the longer this is going to take,” the woman pulled Sapphire’s head back. The woman was in her early twenties by Sapphire’s guess, with ashy gray skin that had black cracks spiderwebbing across it. The woman’s hair was a black, tattered rat’s nest, and her eyes were glowing purple, filled with a crazed glint. The robes she wore were tattered, old, and musty. The woman grinned. “And if you keep fighting it’s only going to get more painful, so I suggest you sit back and relax, little rat.”
Sapphire’s breath caught in her throat as her heart hammered wildly out of fear. She fought harder. If she could just get a hand free, she could grab that book and bash the witch’s head in with it.
“Feisty and brave little rat, aren’t you?” The witch said. She released the hand covering Sapphire’s mouth, but her jaw and lips stayed forced shut, as if by some invisible iron hand was clamped around her face.
With her now free hand, the witch snapped her fingers, and a sewing needle appeared, hanging by an invisible thread. The witch turned it in the air so it stood up- the sharp point glinting sinisterly in the light. There was no way to know for sure what the needle could do- but Sapphire knew it couldn’t be good or pleasant.
Sapphire froze as all of the pieces fell into place and she finally realized who this witch was.
The Witch Queen.
“Ah, you’ve finally figured out who I am….” The Witch said. The arm pinning Sapphire’s arms to her sides tightened painfully. Keeping her other arm pinned, the witch grabbed her wrist, lifting it towards the sewing needle as she held it up.
Fear surged through Sapphire, and she struggled even more, yanking and jerking her hand away, curling it into a tight fist. Panic rising, Sapphire fought harder still, kicking and trying to throw The Witch off.
Then the invisible hand that was clamping her jaw shut plugged her nose. Sapphire’s eyes widened as her lungs started to scream for air. The harder she struggled, the more air she needed, making it worse.
After what felt like ages, just before she passed out, the invisible hand released her nose and she could breathe again. The Witch didn’t say anything, she didn’t have to- the warning was clear as day.
The Witch just smiled, and continued- wiggling Sapphire’s first finger out of her fist and holding the tip towards the needle.
Fighting back was no longer an option, which sent a wave of panic through Sapphire. She always hated the feeling of being trapped and helpless, but this was the absolute most terrified and trapped she had ever felt in her life. Her chest was rising and falling rapidly as she tried to keep her finger as far away as possible from the needle.
Outside the door, she could hear Raven calling for her, telling her the fight was over. She felt a tiny glimmer of relief, and shouted as loud as she could through the hand.
The Witch Queen chuckled and smiled wickedly. She lifted one finger, and flicked it- a small shadow moved, unlocking the door.
~~~
The fight finally started to let up, and Raven sighed with relief. It was going to be fine, the danger was gone.
While the sorcerers started disappearing and the other soldiers celebrated, Raven started making his way back to the tower where Sapphire was. Indigo headed over to the stable to see if he could find a snack after all the fighting, and Little Stripe followed.
Raven could barely contain his excitement and ran all the way up the stairs and down the narrow hallway to the observatory tower. As he got closer, he called for her, but no answer came, and the door stayed locked.
He swallowed, trying to stay calm. Maybe she just hadn’t heard him, the door did seem pretty thick, or maybe he hadn’t been as loud as he thought he was-
The door unlocked, and Raven’s muscles relaxed as he smiled tiredly. Unable to wait a second longer, he pushed the door open-
An older woman with a rat’s nest for hair and ashy gray skin was holding Sapphire against her. A black shadow of a hand covered Sapphire’s mouth, keeping her from talking, and the witch was about to prick her finger on a sewing needle floating in the air.
Raven glared daggers at the witch, drawing his sword, and his voice deathly even and low. “Get your hands off her.”
The witch gave him a crazed, wicked grin, and pricked Sapphire’s finger on the needle. Sapphire struggled against the witch’s grip, shouting behind the black hand- a small whimper escaped her, stabbing right through his heart.
Raven gripped his sword so tight his hand shook, but he didn’t care. He started to charge over, sword raised- when the witch released her. Sapphire stumbled away, gasping for air. She looked up, and her expression softened at the sight of him.
Then she looked down at her hand, at the red dot of blood blooming on her finger.
Her eyes started to roll back and she would’ve crumpled to the floor if Raven hadn’t dropped his sword and caught her first. She was still breathing and he could feel a heartbeat, but she was sound asleep and completely limp in his arms as her eyes closed.
The witch, who Raven finally recognized as the Witch Queen, cackled. “Good luck breaking the sleeping curse. It’s a sleep like death, and an unbreakable one at that.” Then with a giggle of glee, she waved her hands and disappeared in a puff of smoke.
Hesitantly, Raven cradled her head with one hand and rubbed the knuckles on one of her hands with the other. “Sapph’?” His voice came out barely louder than a whisper. “Wake up, come on… Please…” He shook her, but she didn’t stir in the slightest.
There was maybe one time when Raven had felt so helpless in his life, and that was when he was a small boy and was being picked on by a bunch of bigger kids.
That was nothing compared to the overwhelming dread and helplessness that filled him now. It was so suffocating he was drowning in it.
A sleep like death, the witch had called it. Raven was beginning to understand now, much to his dismay.
She was still alive, technically, as she was still breathing and her heartbeat could still be felt.
But she was never going to wake up.
It was almost worse than if her death had looked more like death- at least then it wouldn’t mock him with the feel of her heartbeat and movement of her breathing that amounted to nothing.
Getting desperate, he shook her again. “Sapphire, please, you can’t do this to me… you have to wake up, please, please-” His voice cracked at the last word as his hands started to shake.
She didn’t stir or make a noise at all.
Down the stairs, he could hear people shouting and looking for the princess. Someone mentioned that they saw the traitor- him- take her up the stairs, and the voices got louder, joined by footsteps racing up the staircase behind him.
“I’m so sorry,” He whispered to Sapphire, and pressed a kiss to her temple. “I’m gonna fix this, I’m gonna fix this I swear.”
Then he gently laid her down on the floor, and made his escape through the open window.
~~~
Four days. That was how long he waited.
Raven managed to slip under the radar at the castle, hiding in plain sight with the help of his brothers Harry and Arthur. After Sapphire had been found, Queen Constance was livid and convinced that Raven had been the one to put her under whatever spell was keeping her asleep and unwakeable.
While the Queen and her soldiers searched high and low for him, Sapphire was laid down in the most defendable room of the castle.
At night, his brothers volunteered to guard the room, and would let Raven in once everyone was asleep, and cover for him should anyone be up at those hours.
The servants had cleaned her up nicely, she was in a new dress, a dark green one again. Her hair had also been washed and brushed, now weaved into an intricate braid. A few flowers were tucked under her hands, which were folded gracefully on her chest.
For four nights, Raven sat next to the bed, hoping and praying for her to wake up- no matter how futile it was and that the curse was unbreakable.
He gently adjusted her pillows and blankets to make her more comfortable, braided her hair, held her hand and gently kissed it, and talked to her. He talked about everything- mostly about how sorry he was, what was going on in the castle, and all of his questions and promises on how he was going to fix this.
He started sneaking into the library, scouring through every book he could find on magic. He narrowed his search to curses and magic related to sleeping- but didn’t come up with anything helpful.
So he broadened his search to all magic, for anything.
One night when he couldn’t stand sitting next to her bed and praying for her to wake, he slipped into the library again.
He dug into the section of magic books on dark magic (there were too few), and found something, a spell.
It wasn’t much, a long shot at best- but it was the only thing he had. Raven picked out all the pages in the book related to that spell, and carefully tore them out. He found a detailed map of Eltya as well in the topography section.
With the help of his brothers, he found and prepared a small wagon. Indigo, being stronger than Dante, would pull the wagon. Raven would ride Dante for mobility.
Harry helped him sketch out the best route on the map. When he asked Raven what his plan was exactly, he didn’t have the heart to say.
Then, in the dead of night, they made final preparations for Raven’s quest. Making sure no one was anywhere near her room, Raven gently wrapped her up in blankets. Once he had the all clear from Harry, Raven carried her out, cradled in his arms, her head resting on his chest.
Just outside the stables the wagon, Indigo, and Little Stripe were waiting for him. Harry was packing his saddle bags and securing them to Dante, while Arthur kept watch.
He laid her down in the carefully arranged pile of blankets and pillows, tucking a few more around her. Raven brushed a strand of hair out of her eyes, imagining that she was awake and smiling at him with those deep, dark blue eyes- eyes he was terrified that he’d never get to see again.
Something hot and wet trickled down his cheek. Raven quickly wiped it away, steeling his nerves. He clutched the small leather bound journal in his hand that contained the map and the pages from the books.
tagging: Open Tag and soft tagging @violets-in-her-arms-writes | @asher-orion-writes | @nopoodles | @dogmomwrites | @avrablake | @sarahlizziewrites | @odysseywritings | @ink-fireplace-coffee | Your words are: glitter, wild, speak, and round!
I finally have enough for one of these, it's been a while. Some of these are from snippets I've actually posted on here, I'll link them in case people want to read more!
White
(from Snow Knight, FSF series) Read the full snippet here
Then they entered the dining hall.
All of the finest dinnerware was laid out, bright white lined with gold contrasting sharply with the roaring fireplace and black curtains. Despite how dark it was outside and the curtains that blocked any outside light, it was much lighter in the dining hall thanks to the fire and all of the candles that had been lit.
Storm
(also from Snow Knight, FSF series) Read the full snippet here
Her stepmother’s glare bored into her, making Snow instantly regret what she said.
Before her stepmother could say anything else awful and the words got inside her head, Snow shoved herself away from the table, scraping the chair along the floor.
With her head full of awful screaming words and eyes burning with tears, Snow stormed out of the dining room before her stepmother could say a word.
Love
(from The City is Ours) Read the full snippet here
TW for mentions of ableism/racism, struggles with mental health and cluster b disorders and implications of domestic violence
“No,” Chase growled, “You can say whatever offensive shit you want to me, and it doesn’t hurt more than what I’ve had to deal with my whole life.” His voice got dangerously soft and even again. “But you do not get to say shit about my mother. You know why?”
Jason looked to the others for help, and they looked everywhere but him, not saying a word. “Um… why?”
“Because you will never understand that my mom tried to love me. She really did. You will never understand what she went through to get me as far away as possible from my sperm donor. You will never understand what she went through to try and keep me and stay with me, despite how having me triggered much worse and longer depressive episodes and she could barely care for me. You will never understand how it was in vain because even with her mom’s help, she ended up getting sent to a psych ward when I was four, and hasn’t left since.”
Desk
(From The City is Ours) Snippet I haven't posted yet, but hopefully I will soon
Asher barely looked up, staring at the feed on the monitor and the little clock in the corner of the screen.
V walked over and said, “Shouldn’t have Damian checked in by now?”
“He should’ve,” Asher said, “But it’s been half an hour and there’s been nothing.” He swallowed, gripping the edge of the desk tightly.
Taglists below as well!
FSF Taglist: @rose-bookblood @chalcid @evethenovicewriter @writing-is-a-martial-art @mjjune @fiercely-raging-writer @wildswrites @corishadowfang @surroundedbypearls @serenanymph (send me a message to be +/- from the taglist <3)
TCIO Taglist: @friendlyneighborhood-writer @jessica-writes22 @rose-bookblood @yejidoesthings @space-writes @cljordan-imperium (send me a message to be +/- from the taglist <3)
General Taglist: @enchanted-lightning-aes @thatprolificauthor @wip-nook @writeblrsupport @outpost51 @dustylovelyrun @thelaughingstag @jacqueswriteblrlibrary (send me a message to be +/- from the taglist <3)
A/N: just a tale of someone attending an event, only to be left underwhelmed. and how she tries doing something while it's on pause.^^
Word Count: 598
T.W/C.W: None
***
"Howdy, folks!" an announcer called, carrying a microphone. She extended an arm, flourishing the spacious stage. "Thanks for showing up! And you know what tonight's gonna be all about, eh?"
A small crowd let out some cheers, putting some of their hands up.
The announcer smiled. "Yeah, that's right! It's comedian night, everyone! So, get ready to witness aspiring comedian's, who'll be sharing their humor with us! Let's give a big welcome to Estelle!"
With her ears ringing, she winced as she tried blocking some of the volume. A woman sauntered onto the stage, waving at the crowd.
Honestly, Nerriah hadn't anticipated so many people here. She had assumed it would be a small type of event, which a small amount would be willing to attend. Not this much and heck, she didn't have to pay for a ticket.
Estelle cleared her throat, standing near the microphone. "Hey, everyone! How can you help an insecure password?"
The crowd made noises of confusion.
"By helping it improve it's confidence," Estelle continued then regarded them expectantly. "Get it?"
Nerriah arched a brow. Okay, not too shabby. Some crowd members clapped while a few others pulled faces.
So, it went on as Estelle's jokes ranged from tech to engineering. And two more comedians joined after she left, making social-based sort of jokes. Ones that she understood and some she managed to laugh at.
However, something seemed to be missing. She couldn't figure out what exactly.
"We're having a short break!" The announcer laughed. "We'll be back by ten minutes, so see ya later."
Getting up from her seat, she dusted her jacket and jeans.
Maybe some snacks could keep her company.
Ambling towards a food cart at a corner, she browsed what it had. Popcorn, chips, fries, and plenty of other snacks. Along with water, milkshake, and smoothies.
"Hey there," the clerk said with a chipper look. "What can I get for you?"
She dug onto her wallet, collecting some cash. "Gimme your best shot of energy drinks and stat."
It might be too early for any drink yet screw it. If she had to endure it, she needed something to keep her system afloat.
"Unfortunately, we're out of drinks," the clerk replied, grimacing. He tilted his head to the side. "Yeah, I know. It's a travesty."
Nerriah sighed. "Of course, you don't have any."
The clerk raised his brows. "First night here?"
"Yup, I've heard this show's worth sticking around for," she answered with a small shrug. "I showed up to see if that's true."
"And how's it so far?"
"Meh, it could have some improvement."
"Well, that's certainly a statement. Oh! Sorry, I didn't introduce myself. I'm Ghali."
He stretched out a hand and she exchanged a brief shake.
"My name's Nerriah. Cool meeting you. Anyways, I know these people are giving what they got. However, there isn't much pizzaz if you ask me."
"Do you wanna sign up? There's a sheet form, somewhere."
"Ah, no way. Maybe at a different time, I'd be interested."
"Gotcha. So, anything else I can get you?"
"Some fries and a mango smoothie, please."
Ghali scooped up crinkle fries, putting it in a platter. He filled a cup with smoothie and set them on the counter.
"Here you go," Ghali murmured.
"Thank you." She slid some money towards him, which he stashed in a drawer. "I guess I'll wait for this to wrap up."
"Good luck." Ghali gave a thumbs up.
With a laugh, Nerriah nodded and gathered her snacks onto a tray. She marched towards her seat, picking a piece of fry.
it's amazing to me that the cishet perception of transition as destined-to-fail is so omnipresent and such a big controller of trans lives, yet we never really discuss it. the subject feels like barely an afterthought despite it contributing a ton to medical gatekeeping
like, when a trans girl informs the doctors "hey, i'm trans" they'll expect an obviously crossdressing man with fake boobs and body hair and a testosterone-dominated body. no cis doctor ever fucking expects trans people to actually have long-term physical changes from hormones or surgeries, aside from the handful of trans specialists who go out of their way to work with us. it's always at least a mild surprise for them.
i say it's a part of medical gatekeeping because (other than specialists) the medical world still views transition as this thing that never "works", never changes the immutable and eternal biological sex. transition, to them, is a crude facsimile of the ideal cisgender at best, and suicidal self-mutilation at worst. they see medical transition as ineffectual and pursuit of medical transition as extreme desperation from trans people. this informs the decisions of medical organizations and governments alike, and perpetuates the stereotype of "always-visible, never-passing crossdresser" amongst greater society.
it goes without saying that this attitude greatly harms the trans community. we all know medical gatekeeping has blood on its hands. however, i truly think it's an under-discussed narrative with regards to general cis attitudes towards transness. the idea that we can only ever disguise ourselves, that our birth bodies are immutable, that passing is impossible. it's "we can always tell". it's "he/they with boobs and eyeliner". it's "YWNBAW" in my inbox on a sunday afternoon. it's at least part of the masculine bathroom predator myth. it fuels so much transphobia yet we never talk about it.
thank you prev you're absolutely correct. it's tied into the concept of immutable natural biological binary sex, which is something that goes hand in hand with intersexism as well as transphobia. intersex and trans bodies' existences both challenge this narrative which is why cis society does everything in its power to make us conform or hide us away.
i think you're also right about trans men, i can't say for certain because well. i'm not transmasc. but it is an attitude that i've noticed towards cis women (particularly from the modern right wing) and i can totally see terfs using this as a defense for the "poor lost confused woman/lesbian" narrative
and yeah the whole natural immutable biological binary sex narrative just drives. almost all of this. i don't think it's possible to have any in-depth discussion about transphobia of any kind without acknowledging it. particularly transmisogyny because look at how dominant the "unpassing male crossdresser" stereotype is these days
The reason we don't talk about this is because the queer community, including trans people themselves, have deeply internalized it.
It's stored in every "sex is binary, gender is not". It's stored in the fear mongering about HRT. It's stored in essentialist "born this way" rhetorics. Its stored in every disparaging comment about "binary trans people". I've seen positivity about certain traits (a good thing!) wrapped in a package of "trans people will never get this so we have to be positive about it". I've seen so much positivity overextend and beat down other trans people it's ridiculous.
Created with who is quite possibly the best co-writer of all time, the Chrysalis exists as a personal project of @ohagiwrites and mine. It has slowly been put through many different developments for just over a year now, and as of the time I’m writing this, it’s officially made it through its first arc. The story is one I’m proud to say I’m very pleased with, and hopefully one that you, the reader, will learn to enjoy too.
With a large cast of diverse characters and an intricately designed dystopian universe, this modern-fantasy thriller web novel is, at its core, all about growth. With a myriad of storylines all connecting throughout grief, humanity, and breaking out of the learned nature of those around us, the story blends its fantastical, superhero premise with real, emotionally-driven storylines on identity, queerness, and broken relationships.
With themes of grief, oppression, corruption, brotherhood, freedom, vengeance, control, war, fascism, monstrosity, and loss of innocence surrounding the whole story, it truly encapsulates the feeling of growing up in such a complex and terrifying time.
If any of these things are of any interest to you, feel free to go and give a follow to @chrysalis-thestateofchange, the official blog for the project!! There @/ohagiwrites and I do our best to keep up posting brand new chapters within each arc, as well as give light to the universe inside the story with lore and worldbuilding posts, and character introductions.
We also post things like future fics, character explorations, drawings, and et cetera on our main blogs, so look out for that as well.
Thank you to everyone who shares our work, whether that be likes, reblogs, comments, fanart or et cetera. We’re so fortunate to have such lovely fans around for the ride ☕︎
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ᛝ﹕ 𝐃𝐫𝐚𝐛𝐛𝐥𝐞𝐬
Beautiful Stranger ── .✦
atlas and alastair centric; takes place in the maximus arc
The Boy With No Memories ── .✦
atlas and eilian centric; takes place in the number 792 arc
Sick of It ── .✦
atlas and wren centric; takes place in the avoidance arc
Unspoken ── .✦
atlas and daphne centric; takes place in the avoidance arc
I’ll Be Clean ── .✦
alastair centric; takes place in the avoidance arc
One Final Time ── .✦
atlas and alastair centric; takes place in the aftermath arc
𝐓𝐚𝐠𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐠 ┆ ⤿ 💌 ⌗
The tagging system for Chrysalis is pretty simple and straightforward. For pretty much every post about the story, I’ll have it under #story tag -> chrysalis. That helps to differentiate from my other wips.
But for specific things, like certain characters, you can find them tagged under #oc: [name].
And as for things like certain character rants or in-depth essays about certain aspects of the story, you can find that under the CHRYSALIS RAMBLES tag.
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As for a taglist, I have a post right HERE you can click on to join!! But if that doesn’t work for you, my DMs, asks, and comments are always open for requests to be added.
the fucking budget bill of hell passed the house that removes HRT from medicare, general medicare spending cuts, student financial aid cuts, and oh yeah lets the teump regime ignore court orders even harder and lets for even harder executive overreach. they did this shit at motherfucking 2 am so people wouldn’t notice too
it passed house like i said but still needs to pass senate.
tell your senators to invoke byrd rule which is a goddamn real thing apparently
call your goddamn senators i swear to god
and if you’re in DC there’s a protest going on as we speak
y’all ever read a fanfic that you cannot believe an author just wrote for free?? what an honor it is to read a piece of someone’s soul they shared out of nothing but love for a piece of media. what a privilege it is to be allowed their talent because you share an interest!!
the hanged man tarot card / The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch / text post by me (@/six-improbable-things) / Easy Dreamer by Young Rising Sons / ship in a bottle by fin / Orange Afternoon by The Astronomers / post by @/gyrovagi / Straight Razor by Matt Maeson / Black Sails / quote by F. Scott Fitzgerald / post by @/valtsv / edited reddit post, og by u/Rakna-Careilla / from House of Spirits by Isabelle Allende / Rational by Matt Maeson / abandon ship by fin / post by @/mostmagical
I don't understand how people who are so "LOL magas don't believe climate change is real!!! How stupid!!!" are so blithely skipping to chatgpt as a search engine at the same time. Like you cannot be "haven't you noticed the lack of bugs this year" and simultaneously "here's how I made my 17 step skincare routine using chatgpt!!!". It beggars belief.
Distinct from fine art, it’s also about avoiding developing the skill of written composition (forget vocab, spelling, grammar, appropriate word choice, proof-reading), it’s about avoiding developing any ability to express yourself, and failing to develop reading comprehension (if you plug something into it, asking for a summary). It’s just about being lazy and incompetent, and insisting that laziness and incompetence is fine, actually.
