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Aftg is so jam packed with parallels and mirrors and matching details its actually insane, its like that wrote “so chekov just left all these guns lying around,” because well and truly what do you mean erik was nickys host brother? What do you mean character with a hard life goes to a new place unsure and it seems like a good place and there is a technical brother figure who either confirms or ruins it and sends the character to south Carolina after having a huge impact on the trajectory of their lives and complicates their relationship with Luthor Hemmick. What do you mean erik and drake are tilted mirrors. Are characters who match in such broad ways before veering off prolifically, erik into a saint Nicky’s knight in shinning armor who shows up at christmas and the championship game and supports nicky from afar throughout the whole trilogy and drake is the true monster lurking behind andrews trauma who shows up at not-thanksgiving and haunts andrew throughout the whole trilogy, what do you mean andrew and nicky stand as foils to each other, nicky out and proud and loud and affectionate and andrew quiet and sturdy and brutal. What do you mean nicky defaults to humor and smiles as a mask for any sort of discomfort and pain and andrew spends the first two books choking on artificial cheer.

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"the other ravens didn't know jean's age!!!"

think of any 16 year old boy you know. does he look like an adult to you? would you call him a whore if you'd found out he'd gotten into five different men's beds in less than a week?

no?

then think of a scrawny, underfed 16 year old boy. his face is bony, but not quite sharp. his nose is crooked, and a part of you thinks that maybe he just hasn't grown into his own face yet, at least until the bruising makes you want to look away before you can think about it any harder. none of his clothes fit him quite right, and you can always hear his joints popping in and out of place. he has the thickest accent you've ever heard, and you still don't quite know what he's saying most of the time, even if he swears it's english and looks close to tears if you insist it's anything but too loudly (he's only been in america for two years and it's hard to grasp much when all you have to develop your language skills from is cruel insults).

he's not as tall as the rest of the court yet — actually, he's far from it. he's not spared enough to build any muscle, even throughout the relentless practices, and he always looks five seconds from passing out by the time the drills even start. he's sweating, panting, and there's a rattling in his chest when he does... has he broken a rib? why is he even here? he's not as big, not nearly as strong, and the other ravens zero in on him until he's a puddle on the floor. he can barely keep his own racquet steady in his hands, and when he props it up to lean on, you realize he isn't much bigger than the damn thing itself. the captain is always dragging him around, sometimes by his wrist, sometimes by his hair. you think it's just messy hazing for a while, and maybe you dare to spare him a pitiful nod and hope for his sake it'll end soon, but months go by and it never does. he's doubled over one day, then running laps the next, and god, why does he always reek of blood? you start to notice his fingers as they change colors, once bony and milky pale, now bruised black and blue and crusted over with scabs. they're misshapen... broken, almost every one. he shouldn't be playing like this, but he tugs his gloves on with his teeth and plays through the pain.

you pass his room on your way to bed, door wide open. he sleeps curled up in a ball, back pressed so hard against the wall, knees into his chest. you can hear his shaky breaths, how his lungs rattle uneasily, even in his sleep. he shakes himself awake from nightmares, gripping the sheets, dry heaving as he forces his own face into the pillow to muffle the sound... but he does not scream. he does not cry. poor kid, you think, because what else could you call him? he's far too beaten down to even think to consider an adult. a puppy kicked one too many times.

the captain calls everyone into a room, arms folded over his chest, face smug as if he'd come up with a solution to the entire world's problems. but there's something strange about the meeting. only backliners. gigantic, sneering, male backliners. he asks for volunteers, a few good samaritans to "fuck some sense into him," and you watch as five greedy hands fight to be the first in the air. riko makes his pick, makes his promise, and for the next week it's all you can hear at night. you wouldn't call it moaning, but... screaming. fighting. teeth and claws and fickle words. "please. please stop. please stop. please—" and then silence. the last night all you hear is defeated silence.

and suddenly it's the child's fault, isn't it? everyone else is saying it, that he slept his way onto the lineup, that he's nothing more than a braindead whore. if everyone's saying it, though, does that make it true?

or is it just easier to stomach?

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“let’s run away together” trope fucks me up bc it’s almost always doomed. but what if it’s not this time.

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It’s that time of year. Reblog with how many you’ve heard of.

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hero: IS THAT THE BEST YOU CAN DO???

villain: *choking back tears* uh, yeah, i'm actually trying really hard here man

hero: *now looking uncomfortable* oh

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i never want to read the words "live action remake" ever AGAIN!!!!

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Putting another reminder into the world that authors on Ao3 can see your bookmarks. If you didn’t like a fic and want to leave a note to yourself so you don’t accidentally start reading the same fic again, fine, but make it private.

No writer needs to open their bookmarks and see your snarky comments.

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I think the most radical thing the hunger games does is tell young people that the most revolutionary thing you can do is have unconditional love for humanity. Katniss throughout the entire series is guided by a deep sense of compassion for the people around her. It is what causes her to volunteer, to bury rue, to mercy kill cato, its why she tries to save peeta, why finnick telling her to remember who the real enemy is works, and even though her compassion for the larger world falters when peeta is kidnapped, it comes back when she visits hospitals and asks for mercy for other victors and ultimately, it is love and belief in a better humanity that makes her kill coin. Through it all, she maintains an unfaltering belief in the fundemental goodness of humanity, which is diametrically opposed to dr gaul's and snow's worldview. Peeta is even more unwaveringly compassionate

So the series tells young people that the most revolutionary thing you can be is compassionate. Let compassion drive your politics. Let yourself believe in the fundemental goodness of people. And i think that's deeply important in a world that touts the superiority of pure reason or logic, to allow yourself to be guided by something as emotional as compassion. Katniss everdeen tells us that your politics should be rooted in compassion in a world that thinks detatchment or cynicism is intelligence and i think thats v cool

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Do they know that reading is not mandatory? Nobody is forcing them to read?

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btw if we're moots you're like. a friend by default to me. unless you dont want to be. thumbsup

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A writer friend told me something that broke my heart a little bit today; they're going to quit publishing their fanfic.

My instant thought was that they had been trolled or attacked or that something terrible had happened in their life because this person is so passionate about their writing. It wasn't any of that. Engagement with their works has been going down, as it has for many of us. Comments are like gold dust a lot of the time, and just looking through the historical comment counts on old fics on ao3 demonstrates this trend very clearly. It was not simply the comments dropping off which caused them to decide to stop posting, however.

My friend came across a discord server for their fandom (I should point out here that their fandom interest and mine diverged a couple of years ago, we stay in touch but don't currently read each other's posts because I'm not into their fandom and they would rather gouge their eyes out with a wooden spoon than read anything Star Wars) and specifically to share fic in that fandom. They joined, because we all love a good fic rec, only to discover that their latest multichapter fic, which has almost no comments and very few kudos, is being hotly discussed in this server as one of the best stories ever. Not one of these people has bothered to say this to them on the fic. When they asked, none of participants could see the point in telling the author of the fic they apparently loved so much that they love it.

This discovery has absolutely destroyed my friend's love of sharing fic. They share because they love seeing other people's enjoyment, and fic writers do that through comments and kudos/reblogs/likes because we don't get paid. There is no literary critic writing a blog post/article about how amazing the story is for us to copy and keep/frame. There is no money from royalties. All we have are the words of the people reading our works.

Those people on that server could have taken five minutes of the time they spent gushing about how amazing my friend's story was to other people and used it to tell the one person guaranteed to want to hear that praise how much they loved it. They could have taken a moment to express their opinion to the person who spent hours upon hours plotting, writing, editing, and posting those chapters. Instead, they deprived my friend of thing that keeps them sharing their writing, and in the process have killed their love of it. My friend now feels used and unmotivated.

I won't be sharing a link to their fic, they said I could share their experience but not their identity. I know they plan to post one final chapter. I know they intend to express their hurt at being excluded from the praise for the thing they created, and I know they intend to announce that as a consequence they will not be posting for a long while, if at all.

So please, I beg you, don't hide your love of a story from the writer. It's just about the only thing we have.

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Ooh, I like it, ooh, ooh, I like it, like it ♪

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just saw a fanfic on ao3 have a dedication for chatgpt... that section is meant for your horny perverted mutual who proofread your work, you violated sacred law and you will be torn apart and laid bare btw

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"the world isn't kind" ok??? Much more importantly are you?????

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Kevin/Seth is such a ship that found me in a rarepair fic and it grabbed me the collar and forced me to read it.

Anyway here is some Kevseth headcanons because I can:

Seth lives and plans to make Kevin's life even more of a hell on court than it was before. Enough that Wymack does have to step in and tell them to settle their differences or there were going to be consequences. Kevin is reluctant to be civil and Seth doesn't want to lose his scholarship or prevent himself from getting another one. (Seth still has grad school ahead of him)

So the series of events that lead to them getting together is just them accidentally being alone together -> purposely being alone together after realizing that the other isn't Just an Asshole (ofc they don't tell the other its on purpose) -> A fight that leads to a kiss and the rest is history

They pinch each other and hit each other's arms when the other is being a dick. Depending on the damage done dictates how much it'll hurt (but they wouldn't ever draw blood or try to bruise the other)

When the others find out everyone is shocked except for Aaron. Mostly because he couldn't care less

Matt and Dan call them "The 2nd Cutest Couple" just to piss them off ("We aren't cute, Seth." "You're right, we're the cutEST, fuck you Matt." "Seth--")

Kevin calls Seth "Bryan" once as a joke and they don't talk for a couple days

Kevin can't sleep on his back when Seth is with him because he will just snore, so Seth has to hold him to make sure he doesn't roll over (he says its just so he can "Get some goddamn shutteye"... sure buddy)

Kevin makes an effort to become more knowledgeable on addiction for Seth, but also to understand the other addicts on the team. It makes his relationship with people like Aaron and Matt better as a consequence

Seth might not be as into Exy as Kevin but they do sit down and watch games together. While Kevin is analyzing strategy and players' tactics--Seth is yelling at the TV (he'd just seem like the type even if its a Baking Show or whatever)

Kevin, being involved with Seth, means he becomes better friends with Allison. (Seth & Allison here just remain very good friends that keep in touch beyond graduation) Which means Allison sometimes buys him clothes she makes Sure he wears and Kevin kind of has no choice (Kevin thinks that maybe making friends with Allison has been one of the best calls he has made in his life)

As Seth learns to be more open and less temperamental, they both end up saying lovey-dovey shit that embarrasses both of them. Seth once said "I love your smile" and Kevin had to leave the room cause he felt like he was dying

Not to say they aren't rough around the edges, a couple fights had to be taken to Dobson's office because one or the other feared that something would end them.

Dobson is never their first choice though, Seth goes to Matt for Advice and Kevin goes to Neil (finds out that is a bad idea) and then goes to Allison.

Their first big fight surrounds the area of Seth's insecurities that we see in TFC and Kevin's large ego when it comes to Exy. It led to angry sex, but lingering resentments that Kevin knew had to be resolved after ranting to Wymack (who told him to stop whining and apologize). Which resulted in a very awkward apology conversation

After a bit they get a hang of how to handle arguments but they are rocky in the first year or so of their relationship

Seth figures out Kevin's strange relationship to food and tries to cook (and fails) to make meals more tolerable. Kevin tries to be grateful but he ends up insulting the food anyway

Whenever Seth comes along to Eden's the rest of the Monsters wake up to find Kevin & Seth in the strangest positions asleep on the couch the morning after

Adding onto Seth coming to Eden's he pulls Kevin onto the dance floor and they always end up making out in the corner or in the bathroom

Seth wears Kevin's clothes but refuses to wear the USC Hoodie Kevin has.

Seth kissing Kevin's tattoo and sarcastically saying "Your Highness" whenever he does

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Hey do y'all think that anyone has told Jean "I love you"? Like, ever? Or will Jeremy be the first?

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sometimes when I'm writing I'm like oh fuck i dont know what comes next uggghhh guess I'll just have to make it up :////// bitch... ur making the entire thing up ...it's fiction... thats the fuckin premise