#slightlycrunchy

tagged by @timmy-jims-and-the-shindills sorry it took me a few days! also i love that your name is based on your favorite song *weeps*

currently reading: about 4 fanfics (spirk, spones, mckirk are all involved. what can i say, my tastes are varied) and the book Complex PTSD: From Surviving to Thriving by Pete Walker. life changing.

favourite colour: yellow. yellow is the love of my life, my favorite flower is a sunflower and my favorite desserts are lemon, i cannot be normal about this.

last song: The Summoning by Sleep Token has taken over my life.

last movie: the first of the Hobbit trilogy because myself and the Hubs are showing my son LOTR franchise for the first time. he's loving it.

sweet/spicy/savory: i have such a sweet tooth but probably have to go with savory

currently working on: my writing, as always. there's some fun spirk fic i hope to share soon. i'm also working on some personal growth. trying to make my mental health the priority that it hasn't been in over a decade and it is...hard as hell. no way to get through it but to go forward.

OR a cat with very long legs.

Honk!

Many years ago, when Izuku was much younger and could only dream of the direction his life had taken, he learned a strange trick: if he found a thick enough blade of grass, he could stretch it between his thumbs, press them together, and blow at the grass as if he played a makeshift harmonica.

The blade of grass, if positioned right, would wail with a horrible and impressive noise. Something about the whole thing amused Izuku to no end, and considering how few amusements he had as a child, he treasured the ridiculous activity even to this day.

Still, as he searched for the perfect blade of grass, running in fingers on the tufts beneath him, he knew he shouldn't do this.

All Might's asleep, he reminded himself. We've been training all day, and he never lets himself relax.

Izuku turned to look at his mentor, who laid on the grass beside him. His hands were propped under his head, elbows jutting out, as soft wheezes escaped his lips. Everything about him was peaceful, calm, and markedly different from his waking self.

I won't actually try it until he wakes up, Izuku told himself. I'll just find the blade of grass now and then wait until he's awake.

That was what Izuku told himself. But when he found the perfect blade of grass a minute later, he told himself a new story.

It won't be that loud, he convinced himself. I can keep it quiet. I just want to see if it still works, if I remember how to do it.

Izuku pulled the blade of grass between his thumbs, pressed them together, and blew.

HONK!

All Might sat up with a jolt, coughing up a good amount of blood. His eyes were wide as Izuku stammered out an apology.

"I'm sorry All Might! I didn't mean to wake you! I just wanted to--"

"That was you, young Midoriya?" All Might blinked his eyes in confusion, turning his head from left to right as if to seek out the true culprit. "But... it sounded like a goose. How could you make that sound?"

Izuku held up the blade of grass still in his hand and demonstrated. All Might watched with confusion, then surprise, then amusement. Then, before Izuku could register what was happening, he saw All Might pick his own blade of grass and spread it between his thumbs.

"What are you--" Before Izuku could finish that sentence, All Might leaned into Izuku's face.

HONK!

Somehow the sound was even worse when not under Izuku's own control. But he couldn't find it in himself to be annoyed. He could only laugh at the absurdity of it, at how much joy a silly little childhood amusement brought him, and at the wide smile on All Might's face.

"You're in trouble now, my boy. I think I've found a new way to wake you up for early morning training."

Crunchy!! Thank you for the ask 🌻

16. What’s the weirdest thing you’ve ever used as a bookmark?

I think the weirdest thing would probably be a ruler or a dental dam??? But I don't use impromptu bookmarks very often unless I need to reference a lot of specific pages quickly and have run out. I also doggy-ear liberally.

23. Describe the physical environment in which you write. Be as detailed as possible. Tell me what’s around you as you work. Paint me a picture.

The space I usually write in has a lot of artwork and educational posters on the walls, two adjoined bookshelves arranged alphabetically by author surname (except for the tallest shelf on the bottom because it's just textbooks and reports). There are small plants and a now-stagnated mushroom colony, the sensory toy/tool box, multiple hand sanitizers, more used cups than is probably advisable, a paper recycling bin, and stationery. The ceiling/wall is light blue and slanted. The floor is padded with foam mats. There is a large wooden table, an office chair, and a 5-bulb rainbow lamp, but only the blue bulb works. There is a window, right outside of which is a linden tree (home to many bird conferences). A lot of sound comes up from outside. It's a very colourful, comfortable room. To me, it smells a bit like wet trees, but I think it also smells kind of minty/herbal because of the cleaning supplies I use.

26. How do you get into your character’s head? How do you get out? Do you ever regret going in there in the first place?

Ahh hello!! Uh I don’t really organize my tags that well on tumblr, but it’ll be tagged #enamelpins if that helps?

38. do you reread your own stories?

Absolutely! Not all of them, but most. I wrote them for myself and I love coming back when I don't remember everything and being surprised by my own ideas!

49. writing advice

Since I'm stuck in writer's block right now, I'm not sure I can give helpful advice. One thing I will say, though, is: Don't force it. If projects aren't willing to cooperate for the moment, set them aside and look at them again later with a fresh mind and new ideas. In my experience, the stuff I wrote when I wasn't in the right mindset for writing, was always the stuff I liked the least and, partially, ended up scrapping. Creative muses are tricky sometimes. But they will always come back.

Haha, I feel it!! There’s some prime questions on this thing, tbqh... This is from this ask meme.

6. Share one of your weaknesses.

Answered here (tl;dr: worldbuilding from scratch) and I think another is writing a cohesive long-form story plot. However, while the previous weakness is something I’m not sure how to address, I think this is really just a matter of practice. I actually saw a cool piece of advice recently, something like ‘write your first draft, then for your second draft, make it look like you did it all intentionally,’ which I think is honestly exactly what I needed, haha!

7. Share a snippet from one of your favorite pieces of prose you’ve written and explain why you’re proud of it.