#cssardonic

Lethiality

Going into the gymnasium, I feel butterflies kicking up a storm in my gut. It’s the first time that I’ve been invited into this particular training room. Reserved solely for those in Leadership, it’s in better shape than the general rooms that I’ve checked out to work out in with my squad. There’s still the lingering smell of iron and disinfectant, but the floor and surfaces don’t have old rust-colored stains. The people here follow through with the clean-up routines.

I’ve beaten Eric here and I’m thankful that no one is there to question why I am encroaching on this space. It gives me time to walk over to the empty target practice panels and clip in a new foam disk. The familiar routine soothes my nerves, but the feeling doesn’t last long.

My… friend? Trainer? - Eric walks in with the crossbow on his shoulder and a smug grin on his face, though the grin doesn’t appear until he’s spotted me standing by the firing line. “Why am I not surprised that you’re here early, Prior,” he chuckles. “Or were you hoping to show up and then run before I got here?”

“You’re just not used to anyone wanting to train with you,” I shot in reply. “It’s fine, we’ll get you some friends eventually.”

He sidles up right to where I am, dropping a bag of bolts on the table next to us. “I’ve got you now. Why do I need anyone else?”

The banter is familiar. He needles me. I jab him right back. It’s all good fun.

Our bantering takes on a layer of heat when being purred at close range, so close that I can hear his teeth click when he clenches his jaw. The best way to be shown the subtle changes to my crossbow stance is to have his hips behind mine and arms reaching around my torso.

“You want to breathe normally. Tensing up will just make it hurt,” he murmurs just before my bolt slams into the very edge of the target. The recoil hurts my shoulder, too, which only adds actual injury to the metaphorical one.

When I turn my head to tell him to back off, the words die in my throat. I have to look up with just my eyes because if I move my head another inch I’ll be just that much closer to his… face. Eric raises his pierced eyebrow and leans to rest his arm on my shoulders instead of hovering under mine. “Do you want me to show you again?” he asks.

Send me asks about my fics / writing~!

Z - Major character death–do you ever write/read it? Is there a character whose death you can’t tolerate?

Oh man, I feel like people are SO AFRAID of major character death. We’re in this bubble of fic (or maybe it’s just gotten bigger since we’ve escaped FF.net’s awful publishing system and I was never part of Livejournal) where there’s a lack of purely plot-driven fic. Or, not even “purely plot driven” but even just ship-fic that has a plot beyond THEY FALL IN LOVE IN XYZ SCENARIO. So there’s just not a lot that I find where there’s even a chance FOR anyone to die, if that makes sense?

But I would love to write it. I have a plan for one fic where that may happen. It’s tough though. You need the right buildup otherwise it’s just bleh. My only fic so far with that warning is “Catch and Release” and it wasn’t even Kylo or Rey who died, so I don’t consider myself having truly executed a major character death fic that could wreck hearts.

X - A character you enjoy making suffer.

I would like to say all of them because it’s TRUE. I love making everyone suffer, even if it’s just through an awkward encounter at the mall. So far I’ve whumped the most on Rey just because I could? And it kinda fits with her backstory and putting her into situations with the FO. 

V - A secondary (or underrated) character you want to see more of in fic?

*slams fists on keyboard* …I don’t actually have anyone that I can think of rn where I feel adamant about this?

In Divergent fic there’s a lot of putting the secondary characters into really rigid roles. Will is The Boyfriend to Christina who just treats Tris like a dress-up doll. Tori gives advice and isn’t as badass as VRoth tried to make her (and failed a bit) in Insurgent. Lauren is either a New Bestie for Tris or her romantic rival. 

So I guess just… I want people to break them out of those boxes? Use other characters in those roles (make OCs that aren’t just stand-ins for yourself to romance the character of interest) and give the real secondary characters a purpose that helps the plot in another way.

U - A pairing you might like to write for, but haven’t tried yet.

I need to fill a Reysma prompt for TA hahaha. That should be fun. I also kind of want to go back to The Hollows (an awesome book series which I need to read the last two books and haven’t because dammit I hate the end OTP) and write some Ral because dammit they should have had a chance. 

S - Any fandom tropes you can’t resist?

BEDSHARING. Who can resist? I can’t. It’s universal.

I also can’t resist “retelling the beginning of Divergent” because I just want it to be done for MY SHIPPPPP.

R - Are there any writers (fanfic or otherwise) you consider an influence?

Hmm. I think in my personal writing I’ve been fairly influenced by Kim Harrison and Jim Butcher. I madly respect @tamorapierce for her fantastically built worlds. I’ve kind of lost respect for some of the fanfic authors that I used to talk about so that list is currently empty. There are some like… “classic” fic authors in the A:TLA fandom that I respect and love, but I don’t know their names anymore bc they don’t write. I also had drawn inspiration from the author of “Dark Times” in the SW fandom (treenasthal or something similar) but they update even less frequently than I do so I haven’t re-read anything of theirs in about 2 years now. 

L - What’s the weirdest AU you’ve ever come up with?

That I’ve come up with personally? Oh god. “Sunburn” was hilarious but I had gotten the inspiration from TA. “Sharpest Lives” is my crackiest AU, so that certainly could count. Within my Divergent fics, I guess the whole Colorfest idea is pretty weird and probably the farthest stretch for being a viable event in the canon universe. I tend to not write totally weird AUs.

OH I KNOW ACTUALLY. I haven’t written an actual fic for it, but I had answered an ask from @lucidlucy with a tentacle porn style AU that I turned into “the hunt for the wild space whale” Kylux/reylux concept. I would love to actually write it but ugh. Where is the TIME?

I - Do you have a guilty pleasure in fic (reading or writing)?

There are certain interests that I have when reading lmao. Some are not for polite company so I’ll keep those to myself ;DI do SO adore a well done “good guy is on the bad side” fic. Dark!Rey fics are my fave. Or just any sort of “darkest timeline” sort of feel like how I’m doing Ash and Torment. There’s something about that kind of fic that’s really interesting to me? Probably because we all KNOW what it’s supposed to be like and just want to see how things will ever get closer to that sort of feel.

D - Is there a song or playlist associated with Prove It?

Copied from the other ask

There is! I’m not fancy enough to bother with 8 tracks or actually make the playlist flow, but I have a Google Play playlist with songs that I put on when I’m writing almost anything Eris. Usually shuffled. Here’s the link and I can make a fancy post about the songs for the 98% of the world who doesn’t pay for monthly GPlay service when I’m back home with a mouse :3

C - What character do you identify with most?

I know this is going to sound SO DUMB but I love Eric. My Eric, that is. Taking his aggressive side and toning it down to a realistic character (instead of a caricature of a villain). Because I’m just… I’m that irked? And annoyed? All the time. And if I had earned the role of Leader in a post-apocalyptic era, I too would make my nemesis’ twerp kids fight to blackout like he did with me in our training days. I’m just not a people person unless I KNOW those people and ugh. Yeah. 

I’m not industrious enough to be Rey. I like the concept of people but I don’t know if I could be selfless like canon!Tris to die for a whole city. 

Goal: Tag 9 people to get to know them better.

I was tagged by the amazing @darkelf19

Relationship Status: I’m in one, and it’s awesome.

Favorite Color: Purple, the color of my hair

Lipstick or Chapstick: Chapstick

Last Song: “Fire Meet Gasoline” ~ SIA

Because I just wrote a drabble with this title.

Last Movie: Guardians of the Galaxy II

Top 3 Shows: I only write Avatar fanfiction, but I watched the show years ago. My current shows are: Game of Thrones, Dare Devil (or most shows in the Netflix Marvel lineup) and Stranger Things (can’t wait for S2!)

Top 3 Ships:

Zutara - Some serious plot momentum and beautiful symbolism was lost when this didn’t become endgame. Not to mention the suffering of character development and missed opportunities to teach lessons about love, sacrifice, and healing. That’s OK, though, because where canon failed, the fandom has picked up slack!

Kallura - Voltron (the new one) is entertaining for me, but I only see hints of any shipping so far, and it’s between Keith and Allura, IMO.

Jonsa - I don’t know? I read really good metas on this one.

@cssardonic replied to your post “There is a small hype train leaving the station at some point today :3”

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