Re that post on cultural Christianity: I fundamentally agree, but one example bugs me. The idea that a marriage needs witnesses: is it originally Christian, or did Christianity pick it up from Roman law? This doesn't really matter for contemporary culture, since the concept spread via Christianity anyway, but I'm trying to remember historical trivia here.
I’m pretty sure they picked up from a Roman law - which originally picked up from the Greek wedding practice (not sure if you remember, but marriage wasn’t done by law like forging a contract in Ancient Greece, it was the ceremony where the bride would go to the groom’s house in a sorta of procession and the people would know she got married to her husband because they witnessed it). Like I’m 85% sure of it.
I think it comes pretty easily for the most part. It definitely changes depending on the relationship I’m writing and the circumstances.
28) What is something you wished you’d known before you started posting fanfiction?
No matter how much love and care I put into a story, there will still be people who will read it and just not like it. And that’s okay. Sometimes people may not read it at all, and that’s okay too!
33) What’s the biggest compliment you’ve gotten?
Anytime a big fandom writer comments on one of my stories I feel pretty complimented! Honestly, I just love compliments when someone points out something specific from the piece that they enjoyed.
i may have combined “anger” and “at the wrong moment” into one drabble- a quiet moment after Spacewalker
“They stand there, in a deadlock, and Bellamy can feel anger radiating off of her body. Her gaze flickers over his mouth and for moment Bellamy wonders if he’s feeling something else entirely.”
Bellamy finds her a little after the body has been carried away. Her back is against the Ark, gaze straight ahead. Empty. He clears his throat before approaching her.
“Raven,” he says gently. She doesn’t blink, “You okay?”
Raven doesn’t answer, just stares at her hands in silence. Her fingers are trembling. His hand reaches out for her shoulder, but she shrugs it off.
“I would’ve killed them,” she says finally, voice barely above a whisper. “I would’ve killed all of them.”
He says, “I know.”
Around them, life goes on. People are chatting and laughing as if nothing happened. Maybe to them, nothing did. Someone died tonight, but at the end of the day, lives won’t change. Finn is gone. Life goes on.
But not for everyone.
“Clarke-“ he starts, regretting his words as they pour out of his mouth. “Clarke did what she had to do.”
Raven looks up at him then, eyes bleary and red.
“And if Octavia was tied to that pole?”
Bellamy drops his gaze to his shoes and nods, a small swallow. He knows the answer to her question, and he’s sure she knows it too. Maybe she needs to hear it.
“I would have killed every single one of them.”
She has cold steel running through her veins now. Bellamy can see it in the sharp direction of her eyes, the flat line of her mouth. He could reach out and touch her again, but she’s further away than ever. One false step and he might end up with knife at his throat.
It’s silent for a long time then. Bellamy doesn’t dare leave her there alone, but he can’t will himself to offer her any words of comfort either. They just linger quietly until Raven finally speaks again.
“That wasn’t him, you know,” she says, voice weak. “That monster who killed all those people. That wasn’t Finn. Not really.”
Bellamy regrets his next words before he even says them. Yet, he says them nonetheless.
“Yeah,” he says softly, “It was.”
Raven’s arm immediately goes up and Bellamy catches her wrist to stop the hit. Within seconds she raises the other and he anticipates the blow, catching her hand. They stand there, in a deadlock, and Bellamy can feel anger radiating off of her body. Her gaze flickers over his mouth and for moment Bellamy wonders if he’s feeling something else entirely.
So he kisses her. It’s rushed and messy and he pulls away almost immediately. Her wrists are still in his hands.
“Sorry,” he mumbles, dropping his gaze. “I shouldn’t have done that.”
“No,” Raven says quietly, “You shouldn’t have.”
Within seconds she’s on her tip toes, crashing her mouth against his in a rough and biting kiss. Bellamy feels an ache deep in his stomach that he hasn’t felt in a long time, not since the first time- the last time- and he feels it pulling as he pushes Raven up against the wall of the Ark. He has her arms pinned against steel and he can taste anger in his mouth. He would swallow it all, take all of her anger and all of her pain away if he could.
He can’t.
Raven’s teeth sink into his bottom lip and he can’t help but groan, reeling when she shoves him away with so much force he stumbles backwards. Her mouth is bruised and red. They’re probably a matching set. He can barely catch his breath before she’s gone, disappearing around the corner.
“No,” he whispers, mostly to himself. “I shouldn’t have.”
Hi! I just wanted to say big thank you for your response to that post about straight cis people writing m/m fic. I had no idea how to react to the initial exchange, and then your response was just a perfect expression of what I was feeling but couldn't express.
thank you! I had to take a while to breathe after reading that original post, ngl 🙃
I just wanted to say you're some miracle worker. I managed to squeeze out a chapter last night, and I 100% don't hate it! Thank you :).
I’m so happy to hear that! :DD
(I’m putting the link here in case anyone wants to take a look. Victorian Braven AU with a marriage of convenience, I’m sure a lot of people would appreciate the rec :P)
