s.

For me it's not about "tell me my writing is amazing and stroke my ego"

It's more about "please engage with me so that I can experience your joy secondhand and foster a connection with you"

I understand that not everyone wants this in their reading experience, some people are shy and a million other reasons why maybe someone wouldn't want to engage and that's perfectly fine!

But what I'm trying to steer away from is being a passive content creator with passive consumers. What I want to steer toward is fostering a community that is essential to fandom. I want to see your reactions because it makes me feel like I'm a part of something.

On encouraging reblogs —

I understand that not everyone is comfortable reblogging, especially explicit content. This is ok!

But just consider that the only reason you were able to enjoy a fic or fanart is because someone else shared it, and by not sharing it yourself you are potentially robbing someone else of the opportunity to enjoy it as much as you did.

As OPs our reach only goes so far and this website relies on reblogs in order for anything to truly get seen by a wider audience.

So that's really it! That's why I encourage these two things at the end of every story I post. Not because I'm trying to be demanding and "make people feel bad" if they don't do it.

- claire loves baking, like, loves it. it’s her escape, bad school day? baking. feeling sad? baking. can’t sleep? baking. grace would wake up to use the toilet and see the kitchen lights on and claire will be baking but nobody says anything about it bevause it’s claire and we’d rather have her bake than do drugs

- ruby would bake with claire and they would be in such a trance cuz they fill out eachtoher so perfectly—their baked goods always turn out good.

- also nobody interrupts them when the two of them are baking, liam tried once to taste the batter and got a spatula with the batter thrown at his head. He hasn’t tried since

- one time everyone was at their house and they collectively decided to bake together: ruby, claire, and zu actually knwo what they’re doing, vida’s arguing with chubs that not everything has to be measured out perfectly, priyanka goes with the flow—she hasn’t touched a recipe in her whole life. Roman is the only one who weirdly knows how to bake pretty well and claire actually trusts him to do stuff, liam is trying, cole isn’t. he can’t bake for the life of him and he’s not gonna risk messing stuff up so he’s sitting there giving extra commentary like it’s a football match.

The POV of a Character Trying to Survive a Funeral

☽ the quiet horror of being surrounded by people but feeling absolutely alone.

☽ trying to remember how to stand, how to breathe, how to body when grief makes everything mechanical.

☽ hands trembling for no reason except that the world feels wrong-shaped now.

☽ staring at the coffin because looking away feels like betrayal, but looking too long feels like breaking.

☽ noticing stupid little details, like a crooked flower, someone’s too-loud shoes, or the way the wind refuses to cooperate.

☽ the guilt of thinking about anything except the person you lost.

☽ that surreal moment where you expect them to walk in late, because your brain hasn’t caught up to the truth.

☽ the way voices sound muted, like they’re being filtered through water and cotton.

☽ replaying the last conversation on loop, trying to find words you should’ve said differently.

☽ the painful intimacy of watching strangers cry over someone you loved.

☽ holding back tears until your head hurts, trying to be “composed” for no real reason.

☽ the numbness that feels safer than the grief beneath it.

☽ the strange, unfair anger at people who aren’t crying.

☽ the strange, unfair anger at people who are crying.

☽ wanting to leave, but your feet won’t move; wanting to stay, but the air feels too heavy to breathe.

☽ the body remembering the weight of their touch even as the world forgets their voice.

☽ feeling like you’re underwater while everyone else is above the surface.

☽ searching the crowd for someone who understands you without needing words.

☽ being terrified of the silence after the funeral, the moment when everyone goes home and the grief stops being shared and becomes yours alone.

☽ the private ritual of whispering a goodbye no one else hears.

☽ the small, cruel moment of stepping back into normal life and hating that the world keeps going.