Don't let this world spoil you.

If it’s the Tiktok I saw, the creator only read six chapters of Manacled and then was reacting to the trigger warnings on the fic. If anyone who has read the entire story wants to bring examples of where they believe I’ve romanticized rape, I am more than happy to have a conversation about that with them.

But I’m not going to spend my limited free time endeavoring to change the minds of people who themselves admit to either having skim-read or only partially-read Manacled, and then proceeded to go to a public platform and make sweeping judgements about me and my intentions as an author, and why they think people have read and enjoyed the story.

Personally I have never regarded Manacled as a romance. It is romantic in certain gothic romance regards, but in my opinion, fundamentally, Manacled is a dystopian horror story and a tragedy, insofar as literary categorization goes. Admittedly the characters don’t die, but the structure of the story is not actually very romance shaped. Tragedy and romance have many similarities, but the form of their climax is distinct, which is part of why many people are dissatisfied with the epilogues, because they don’t do the things that readers expect to feel at the conclusion of an epic romance. They’re not supposed to, because it wasn’t.

Horror and romance are also closely related, they have many of the same beats, but they’re inversions of each other. One of my favourite tumblr posts puts it thusly:

something about horror as a genre is very inherently similar to romance, but it’s differently romantic. it’s like if romance could be compared to a rabbit, then horror is a hare. a hare is the same shape-ish as a rabbit, but it’s different; it’s upturned and eerie and comes at you from a sideways angle.

i think this connection between the two genres is the presence of love. love as a concept. romance is the genre that beautifies love, and horror is the genre that explores love in ways that aren’t beautiful. horror is the monstrosity of love gone sour, or the absence of love, or the emotions that the intensity of love and pain birth. slasher horror is monstrous obsession, while existential horror always has a narrative that makes you rethink what love means, what being human means. just like romance.

That’s very much the way I see Manacled. It was intended as the Black Mirror version of JKR’s power of love premise in the HP series. The question I wanted to ask in writing it was what kind of love is truly enough to win a war? Manacled is the horror version of Harry Potter, where love is monstrosity.

Lucille sharpe : But the horror... The horror was for love. The things we do for love like this are ugly, mad, full of sweat and regret. This love burns you and maims you and twists you inside out. It is a monstrous love and it makes monsters of us all.

Manacled by @senlinyu

I know it has been talked about before but I want to talk about wizarding tattoos and piercing again. Here’s just a couple ideas.

A tongue ring that you wear to ward off minor hexes and jinxes.

A Tattoo of a tree where the leaves change depending on the season.

A pair of matching tattoos of a piece of parchment that can be wrote on to send messages.

You see this dagger I have tattooed on my calf? It comes off into my hand as a real weapon when I’m in danger.

A little dragon that flies around your left forearm. 

A pin-up witch that winks and waves at you. 

A tattoo that starts off as a rune but once you fall asleep and wake up in changes into something that is similar to your patronus, something that symbolizes who you are.

A tattoo on somebodies wrist that warms up and changes color when they need to take their medications.

Ear piercings that translate everything around you into your native language. 

Lip piercing that do the same, except when you speak you speak the language of whoever you’re speaking to.

A small bird tattoo behind your ear that chirps and whistles to you when you’re anxious.

 A tattoo of your child that ages with them.

A tattoo for those that are hard of hearing or deaf and are unable to read lips at that moment that displays the words of the person speaking to them on their hand.

A nose ring that is charmed that long as you are wearing it you will never lose your keys.

A flower scene where some flowers only will bloom at certain times.

little nocturnal animal tattoos like raccoons that only show up on your skin after dark.

a tattoo of digital numbers on your wrist that tell the time.

being the new it girls of the mcu

1) Even though Clint tried to kill Natasha Romanoff, not only did they make up, they became best friends. Natasha even taught Clint her secret whistle.  

2) He gave Wanda Maximoff the courage to fight back against Ultron. 

3) Even though their interactions were short, you can tell that Pietro Maximoff liked messing around with Clint. They could’ve had an uncle-nephew type relationship.

4) It’s heavily implied that Scott Lang became best bros with Clint. I mean, Scott gave Clint access to Pym technology, he wouldn’t do that for any random person.

5) Clint just met Grills and the LARPers the other day and by the end of the week, the LARPers dedicated themselves to him. They literally became the Hawkeye army.

6) Lucky the Pizza Dog immediately became attached to Clint, as if he was the dog’s owner the whole time.

7) He stopped Yelena Belova’s attack with just words and kindness. 

8) Should I even discuss Kate Bishop? We have six episodes of how she looked up to Clint as a child. 

Wanda: *Tenderly holds onto Vision as he fades out of her reality*

Yelena: *Plants a kiss on her sister's grave*

Loki: *Puts himself on the line, only to be tricked into a timeline where his friend has no idea who he is*

Meanwhile, Sam and Bucky: