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imagination-overreaction · 11 months ago

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More tf2 ships lets go

Soldier x Demoman / Boots n Bombs

Starting off with a Demoman ship cause this man does not get enough love I think. These two enable each other's stupidity to an incredible degree. They're both geniuses in the art of reckless stupidity, and with their brains and hearts combined they could be making new inventions like "ultra turbo sticky-nade launcherator" and it flings them 8 miles in the air and they die instantly (but they both cheer and think it's awesome once they're revived and they do it again. Medic doesn't care, but he's getting a bit bored of piecing together the same two bodies over and over again). These two would become masters of destruction. I also can imagine them passed out on the couch on top of each other, or Soldier waking up to do drills at 4 am and Demo telling him to fuck off (Soldier can't help it, his love language is explosives and boot camp </3). I like them a lot.

Scout x Sniper / Speeding Bullet

I will admit, I am a bit of a Scout hater when it comes to ships... Actually I'm just a Scout hater in general. However, I do think the dynamic of "annoying little shit" plus "gruff weird guy" works. Scout is the type to press his partner's buttons for the funnies (although he does this with his friends as well) but given how he was in Expiration Date as well as the Cold Day In Hell comic (if I remember right), then he would be genuinely caring and considerate toward his partner's feelings. Scout would push his buttons, but an hour later he'd be splayed out on top of Sniper and rambling about his day. Sniper is more blunt and to-the-point with affection, I think. He'd bother Scout right back, of course, and he'd just as happily sit there and nod along to whatever the hell Scout is talking about. These two would stay up until 5 am together several nights in a row.

Heavy x Pyro / Bear Grill

Since it's such a rare pair, there's some debate on what the ship name actually is. "Russian Wildfire," and "Heavy Fire" are the alternatives I've seen after scouring the tags. I'd like to toss my own suggestion in with "Firing Squad," although that could probably work for other ships too. I personally really like the hc that Pyro is (maybe aro?)ace, and I think that works well with Heavy (I also hc it/they Pyro but any pronouns work for this lil guy tbh). Heavy would support his little maniac's vested interest in fiery homicide just ignore the fact that he says he's scared of them in Meet The Pyro that's not important right now, and I think Pyro would really like watching Heavy use Sasha (the muzzle flash would be really neat in Pyro Vision). Outside of battle, I can imagine Heavy taking care of his guns while Pyro talks to him and tells a (very muffled) story. Heavy would listen to it when it talks about all the wonderful things it sees during their battles, and Heavy would maybe defend it when the other mercs start talking about how terrifying it is... Maybe. They're still very concerning.

Engineer x Heavy

There is no damn posts about this. "Heavy Metal" is a slightly popular one but "More Gun" has been suggested a lot, as well as "Mechanical Literature." I personally like More Gun(s), and I honestly really like this ship, and I feel like it works really well for the same reason that they both work well with Medic--they're both relatively calm and amicable compared to the rest of the team. I feel like Engie and Heavy would be the parents of the team, telling people to go to bed before 3 am and not to explode things in the house (it doesn't work but they can try) (and Engie probably has been the source of one or two fires but not necessarily on purpose). These two would be sickly together. Engie'd be going "good morning Misha 🥰✨" and tap Heavy's shoulder until he leans down far enough to let Engie kiss him on the cheek, and Heavy would give a quiet happy hum as Engie whistles away and they make me sick. I love them so much.

I also think that Engineer would give Heavy some absolutely monstrous artillery as a gift. They absolutely enable each other's horrific acts of bloodshed. More Gun <3

Part 1 - - Part 3

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epiphainie · 7 months ago

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Hey, I know you said you don't wanna get into fandom discourse so feel free to ignore this but I wanted to add something to you metioning yesterday how people talk about Bucktommy always bringing in bvddie/eddie somehow. I feel like a lot of people also expect this from canon including Bucktommy fans? like all the posts about which one will feel like the third wheel or which one's gonna get jealous over the other two spending time together and I find that kind of weird. I don't know if I got my point across but you know what I mean?

Hi anon,

Yeah, I think I get what you mean. Gotta say what I saw in my little corner of the BuckTommy fandom, people are usually having fun with those situations/headcanons than actually expecting something out of canon. But I can guess how a certain part of the fandom really thinks how Buck's relationship with Eddie in the context of BuckTommy must be addressed by the show. And I agree with you in that I find this expectation odd because why must they?

Is it because Buck is into men now that his significant other must address how he is/isn't okay with his friendship with another man? This was never an issue or even a topic of conversation in the narrative for Taylor so I cannot think of any other reason for why it would be for Tommy. Or on the flip side, is it because Buck is dating a man now that Eddie will feel like his time with Buck is being limited? Buck has been in a relationship for the most part of their friendship, why would this one be different that the narrative would need to address it?

I think in general in the fandom, regardless of whether people ship them or not, there's this sentiment that Bvddie has such a special relationship that needs to be addressed by their romantic partners / lampshaded by the narrative which strikes me as odd. Not because they don't have a special relationship - they have a very special relationship - but because the perception and related expectations over how the canon should treat this relationship is very different from something like say Hen and Chim. For every very intense Buck and Eddie story beat in this show, you have an equally insane Hen and Chim one. But you don't see anyone reading that relationship as something that needs to be acknowledged (as a threat or something they're okay with) by their spouses. It's an emotionally codependent friendship between a straight man and a lesbian. Not that sexual compatibility matters but they are not interested in each other that way and their partners don't even think about that.

So why would this be any different for Buck (a bi man) and Eddie (a straight man)? Like, even the idea that it must be acknowledged differently by the narrative kinda brings me back to negative stereotypes about queer men and their straight friends even though I know most people don't mean it that way.

Honestly, I kinda think it just comes back to fandoms' urge to read the intensity of relationships as romantic when it comes to two attractive men in a way we don't do with other characters. I say we because I've had my share of fandoms and almost exclusively shipped the two guys who were not canon; we just read more into these relationships regardless of whether we actively ship it or not. Like I said, Hen and Chim have some of the insanest relationship moments in this show. Like, can you imagine if something like Jonah happened to Buck and he thinks he's gonna hurt Tommy to get to him but he actually has Eddie and tortures him in front of Buck? Or if Eddie opposes Buck and Tommy getting married like Hen did with Maddie, for example. They would most certainly be read as romantic even if we had the same textual explanation as we did with Hen and Chim.

But the truth is, there is no relationship hierarchy. Platonic relationships can be as deep as romantic ones, what sets them apart is not the degree to how intense they can be, it's the flavor. And as it stands, I don't think the show treats Buck and Eddie's relationship with any different flavor than it does Hen and Chim despite how we treat it in the fandom. And sure, this does not mean realistically no love interest would be weirded out by their friendship (and negative stereotypes about bi people exist in the lgbtq community as well so that could happen too) but I don't see why the narrative would need to go there with Tommy. Like, what would be the purpose of it in-story? The acknowledgment of it would just further perpetuate the queer man in love with his bff thing that we know they said they don't wanna do. They should (and imo will) treat it as they do treat the other platonic relationships on the show.

I'm sorry, this got derailed at one point but whatever, send.

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bulbabutt · 1 month ago

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Thank you for being a bastion of sanity amidst the growing "but proshippers! But incest! But RPF!" purity culture's nonsense.

I'm so tired of being afraid to admit that I've even read a fanfic/fancomic because that same person might have a DIFFERENT ACCOUNT where they indulge in a problematic ship. And therefore they are "bad" and by association, I could be labeled "bad" for having looked at something completely unrelated and tossed on a block list.

It's asinine. Yet I'm too afraid to even get off anon because I know I don't have the mental fortitude to survive a potential online witch hunt.

So thank you, I wish you all the strength to keep screaming the words I cannot.

honestly youre not the first person to send me an anon about this, i just tend to feel just as afraid of responding to them as much as you are afraid of coming off anon. i think because while ill post things in vague context, it becomes another thing when someone says it out loud, yknow? but i appreciate it, knowing im not just screaming into a void where no one likes what i have to say.

i think what i will say is im not the only one who THINKS like i do, but i am just dumb enough to be loud and annoying about it. its kind of a thing where i'd never say anything specific because like... some people are so vicious and will demand blood if they get a whiff if i mention anything vaguely. the fact i have to be afraid to say 'people dont mind' for their own safety is crazy, huh?

i think that thing youre saying about being worried by association from association was the same first time i had this thought. i was reading something so good so deep something that effected me so deeply from how well it was talking about the realistic effects of incestuous abuse, and then i went to see what else the author had written and i was like. oh. theres just regular incest in here too. and that was kind of a moment of hm.. perhaps i need to think more about what really matters here. the fact i can engage with what i want and just say 'oh i see what else you do, thats not for me so i will just not engage with that'

so it hurts worse when theres the idea of someone engaging with art they like that has nothing 'weird' going on, then suddenly getting hit with screaming that that artist has a side account theyre not advertising where they make weird art that they are keeping FULLY separate from the account in question. like i do not see how that helps anybody in that situation.

then theres the generalization of it. the idea that maybe all you did was draw like. 19 yr old versions of two 15 yr olds kissing, and suddenly that gets you put on a list of people who will draw literal children in sexual situations, gets you put in that same boat without question. that shit is so cruel to me, that these things all get painted with the same brush. equally as bad, equally as deserving of being ostracized. or the idea that you get put on that list for not caring about if strangers ship things on the internet, makes you just as bad as someone who makes it. i really just hate this entire culture.

idk im... old school i guess? back in my day youd watch a shitty cartoon that had over 20 characters in it so you could smash them together in whatever ship suited you. crack ships were the bread and butter of me and my friends, shit that made no sense but in your own head. the idea of being anti... shipping at all is so... thats very weird. shipping as a thing is very much what fandom was ever made for in the first place? like. im not kidding, learn your history if you dont know that (middle age women shipping kirk and spock)

back when i was a kid i watched this tv show called kim possible, and i was a kid who didnt know shit about themselves seeing a pretty villain lady for the first time who called the main character who was a girl princess. i didnt know what to make of that, i didnt know the age difference between them i was a dumbass child, they were both drawn the same way! then im like 12 years old on the internet, i see theres a ship of the teenage girl and this like 30 yr old villain woman. do you think my 12 year old self saw the problematic nature and thought deeply about the morals of said ship? no. i was like 'holy shit i wish i was the teenage girl dating shego. why do i like this? oh god im a lesbian'

again. i was a child. what are you gonna do, go back in time and arrest my 12 year old ass for looking at pg rated fanart of women kissing on the internet? we didnt HAVE real representation yet! there was no korrasami, no rupphire, no bubbline, no lumity! shipping was the only place you could see stuff that was gay! and it being GAY would get you in more trouble than it having an age gap!

the fact is people WOULD cancel me now for that, wouldnt you?! thats where we're at. that IS a problematic ship, id be put on a blocklist in todays internet for being a child who crushed on villains. i didnt make it, i didnt create for it, i just looked at it and that would get you in trouble now!!! thats crazy.

i know thats a random tangent to go off on, but like..... hhhhh i dont know man. sometimes it seems like people want the internet to pass by broadcasting standards and practices and thats!!! bad!!! let people experiment with their weird shit as they figure themselves out, its so fucking normal. youre not a bad person for looking at things on the internet, youre not a bad person for engaging with things, youre not a bad person for being horny online! especially if you make your own fucking space for it?? a space easily blacklistable, with trigger warnings and EVERYTHING... we didnt have those when i was a kid, so some things are better, but culture is just worse.

i dunno. i just think i would not have thrived in this environment as a teenager. im glad im old and know better, but i worry about the lessons kids are learning from this. to feel ashamed, to bottle shit up, its not good for you. be kind to yourself, be kind to others. we're all working through shit in our own ways.

sorry for another long annoying post

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heloflor · 5 months ago

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So this was supposed to be part of my other fop post but it got way too long (both posts did tbh) and is a different topic than the other one. So yeah here’s a bunch of random thoughts about the show in general from what I’ve seen of it. For context I’ve only seen the first 4-5 episodes + “Battle of the Dimmsonian” + the Cosmo-Wanda-Peri scenes in “Lost in Fairy World” and “Operation: Birthday Takeback”.

SPOILERS for “Operation: Birthday Takeback” for the last three dashes (2.4k words below):

- Putting it in first since it’s still related to Peri but I’m pretty amused by the whole “Tumblr sexyman” situation. I mean, less than two weeks ago all canon pics we had of him were baby pics. It’s the same deal when I see people call him a father figure to Dev, I can’t help but be like “wdym father figure? He’s barely an adult! He’s too young!”

It’s like imagine you have a neighbor who have a baby when you’re 9-10, then they move out and 20 years later you meet their kid as an adult. You can clearly tell they’re an adult and treat them as such but also it’s a bit weird bc your last and only memories of them were of a baby. Idk, I see Peri’s character as an adult but also he’s still a bit of a kid, you know? I feel like I explain this better in the other post tbh.

- In retrospect it’s also very funny to see how, when people talk about the decline of fop, they point at the inclusion of the new characters, including Poof. Yet look where we are now! If you thought the baby was the problem, apologize to him, now! /j

But yeah more seriously, personally I never minded Poof. He was definitely a useless addition, like outside of the handful of episodes focused on him he mostly just stands there looking at the other characters, but he was also a cute baby, so I’ve always been fine with him being around. He’s a useless but inoffensive addition, and I think the decline of the show around that time had less to do with him and more to do with the writing as a whole.

- Last thing about Peri before moving on to the show in general, which tbh I could've put in the other post: I've seen people talk about the idea of Hazel and Dev switching fairies and I kind of agree with it.

Not only because Cosmo and Wanda have the experience needed to help a kid like Dev (though it wouldn't be all sunshine and rainbows) while Hazel's situation is easier for Peri, but also it's worth noting that Dev needs a parental figure, which Cosmo and Wanda can be, while Hazel misses her older brother, who Peri is around the same age of. Idk, I feel like this could work, or at least make things easier for everyone involved (but also especially for Dev).

- Something I originally wanted to put in the tags of the other post but fuck it: I’m really not a fan of them releasing the episodes so soon one after the other. With serialized shows, I’m always been more of a fan of having an episode a week you can chew on and theorize about, rather than being given everything at once. Also it takes a while for the cargo to get on the ships if you catch my drift.

I’d also complain about seeing all those plot-related episodes one after the other with none of the more casual stories in-between that give us more character moments, but honestly that’s on me for looking up spoilers.

- Going to the early show, I think the first episode is such a good introduction! I especially like the amount of focus on Cosmo and Wanda, it’s good to have them reintroduced given how flanderized they became in the og show. I’m especially happy with Cosmo! He arguably had it worse than Wanda in the og and it’s so good to see him shine this much in this first episode (also I love his human form having a bit of a gut)! On that note, they did a fantastic job having them around a lot while still giving Hazel enough time to be introduced properly and get us to care about her as the MC!

But yeah I really like this first episode, fantastic beginning to the show! The only issue I “really” have with it is the way Cosmo and Wanda go back to being godparents just because Hazel made a strong enough wish or something, it felt a bit arbitrary rather than them just telling her who they are.

And on that note, big fan of that one scene where they immediately notice her trying to run away and try to talk her out of it. I love the contrast between them starting off as disasters being barely capable of passing off as humans at the beginning of the episode, and them being perfectly in their element the second they start talking to Hazel about her running away in this scene. It’s such a good way to see how much experience they have with taking care of kids!

- I’m not going to go episode by episode but one thing that bothers me a lot in the second one is that rule of “kids should get whatever they wish for”. Doesn’t that...go against the whole concept of having rules in the first place???

They should’ve replaced it with something along the lines of “a kid should always get the fairy that fits them the best”, not only bc it would work perfectly well for the episode, but also from what I’ve heard Foop (now Irep) is coming back and I could 100% see him use that rule to his advantage given Peri and Dev were such a bad match (I’m guessing anti-fairies don’t actually follow Da Rules but maybe they could still use it as an excuse regardless since fairies do have to follow them or something?)

- Call we talk about the fact Hazel is clearly autistic? Like is this a canon thing in the show? Are there people out there talking about it? No because seriously:

The fidget toys (Cosmo and Wanda’s disguises), her special interest for rocks, her anxiety over making new friends which is reinforced as uncommon when that one girl she befriends comments on how easy and not scary it is to approach other people (also Hazel’s “what am I supposed to talk about with them? School lunches?” comment in the teachers friend episode), her liking for fries which could be seen as her being potentially picky (bit of a stretch tho), her comment about liking the DMV if only for the reaction she gets that makes her seem “different”, her struggles to come up with a wish on the fly with minimal/vague instructions (episode 2), her character arc throughout the show apparently having to do with her not wanting things to change (me too girl), her being considered mature for her age, the angry outbursts when things don’t go how she hoped, pretty sure there’s also a lot of stimming that I have yet to pick up on (see if any of them repeat often). Like, there’s no way ALL of that was a coincidence!

I’d also like to mention at the beginning of the Dino episode, when her dad is explaining things to her, he starts talking louder and louder in excitement until his wife tells him to quiet down. Makes me think her dad’s likely neurodivergent as well. Also this moment hurts my soul a bit, as someone who’s both been on the receiving end of it and done it to someone else, in both cases it sucks.: /

- Took me until like episode 4 to realize the town she lives in is named after the Dimmadomes, with the hat in it (the very first shot of the intro). Also you can see their infinite house in the background, both in that shot and the show in general, and I absolutely adore that they committed so hard to this joke! That giant ambiguously-shaped-like-a-hat skyscraper that we never see the top of is just *chief kiss*.

- On that note Dev’s introduction in the first episode made me laugh, if only for the references. I also find it kinda funny he has such a big speaking role considering he doesn’t do anything for the rest of the pilot and the next few episodes. Then again I guess it’s in character for him to make such a show of introducing himself.

- Still on general stuff, I’m a bit curious about how the timeline went in regards to Cosmo and Wanda retiring and going on vacation “right after” Timmy (iirc they don’t voice it like that in the show). Like I’m having a hard time believing they would just ditch their then-child son to go on vacation, and then come back when he’s an adult. So I ended up having a bunch of headcanons.

Basically, after leaving Timmy they do take what was supposed to be a short leave to think of their future since it feels strange to get a new kid after so long with the same one + I like the idea that Cosmo and Wanda’s marriage did suffer while living with Timmy and they want to work on it before getting a new kid (the whole thing about them feeling confined, made worse if the “stopping time for 50 years” wish is canon) + Poof/Peri is struggling with the reality of having to leave Timmy behind and is nervous about his parents having a new godkid because of it.

Eventually they decide to retire, got to marriage counseling, possibly get Poof/Peri into therapy, and raise their son until he’s an older teen/young adult, at which point they leave for their vacation. And while the vacation is 10 thousand years for them, it’s like, 5 years at max in their present. And in that meantime, Peri starts his godparents studies (or however it works), leaves the house and changes his name.

Btw Cosmo and Wanda would 100% invite him to the vacation, he’d just refuse in a mix between wanting to be away from his parents for once, wanting to maybe surprise them a bit with his work and/or just get started with work, and not knowing how long the vacation would be. He’d also probably tell them to just use this time as some new honeymoon to finish rebuilding their marriage (though by that point it must’ve gone back to being strong). Oh and Cosmo and Wanda would send Peri postcards every so often, which would also let him know how long they’ve been gone.

Once they come back from vacation, I’d imagine there’s like less than a month between them “moving to the human world” and meeting Hazel, hence why they didn’t reconnect with Peri. They didn’t really know how to contact him and were busy with the move, and afterwards they had a godkid to take care of so they couldn’t exactly go back to Fairyworld.

As for Peri, he hears through the gravepine that his parents are back, and would be happy until he realizes they’ve been gone for 10 thousand years, hence him freaking out about meeting them again (he doesn’t know how much they might’ve changed with how long it’s been). Also he can’t contact them bc he’d hear about them coming back due to them taking in Hazel, meaning they’re in the human world and he doesn’t know where. Also he might be intimidated to contact them, which doesn’t help his decision-making.

So yeah, that’s all for how I could imagine this whole vacation thing going and how it fits with them having a child.

- Since I’m talking about Cosmo and Wanda’s marriage, I’ve heard about the whole “they fixed their marriage” before watching the show and oh my god I can’t get over how fucking adorable those two are in this show!!! I fucking love them.

- And on that note I’m incredibly amused that this show had the balls to reference the mpreg. Twice. Especially since it doesn’t even specify the whole “that’s just how fairies work”! In the eyes of people who never watched the og show, “A New Wish” just casually dropped the fact that Cosmo’s a trans man (bc let’s be real, how else are you supposed to interpret those lines if you haven’t watched the og show?) or you get the vibe that the writers wanted to make him trans (+ Wanda by proxy since she’s Peri’s bio mom) but weren’t allowed so that’s how they got past the censors.

And I love this because you just know Hartman would be furious about it! With our current society more aware of trans people and how men can in fact get pregnant, I could definitely see him sweep the whole mpreg thing under the rug, hoping people would forget about his “”accidentally-progressive”” (and also very sexist 😒) episode, but nope! New show said Cosmo was pregnant and gave birth! And better yet it didn’t even elaborate further! It just goes “btw this guy has an uterus and was once pregnant, here’s his bio child if you need more proof” and then walks on like nothing happened, I love it!

- Going back to the episodes talk for the last three dashes, there’s that shot at the very end of “Operation: Birthday Takeback” that I really dislike. It’s the one when Dev lashes out on Peri, with him hovering over Peri who’s laying on the ground in fear.

Really not a big fan of this shot bc 1. It makes Dev look way too much like a villain, especially with the way Peri’s laying like a servant that gets beaten up, and 2. Peri, honey, you’re a grown ass man; why are you so scared of that 10 years old scarred kid that’s lashing out while in a very vulnerable mental state? What are you doing on the ground buddy? I’m not asking for him to fight back but at least stand up! Don’t act like that kid can actually hurt you! Btw I’m completely fine with Peri afterwards looking like a dejected puppy (after Dev makes his wish), it’s just that one shot with him on the ground that I dislike.

- Obviously I’m genuinely curious to see how things are going to go in the next episodes (which apparently air tonight?). Like obviously Dev is going to spiral but if you have a scene at school how will it go? How will Hazel feel about the whole thing? What about Peri? Is he going to be gone for a few episodes? Be a temporary third fairy to Hazel? Crash at Cosmo and Wanda’s for a while?

(Personally I’m hoping for the third option, it would be a good way to still give him appearances to show the main plot’s still going without giving him to much screentime, which could take away from Hazel. Also given how much he wants to appear independent, I don’t see him being a third fairy to her, though I think he’d be ok with staying at his parents for a bit, if only for emotional support (though tbh I doubt they’ll do that, most likely he’ll be doing his own thing off-screen for an episode or two). Also I want to see a “human” design for him)

OK so I wrote this yesterday before the Irep episode came out, so on one hand nevermind all that but on the other hand I’m letting it in bc I AM curious as to how things are going to evolve with our main cast, especially with Dev spiraling and pushing both his bestie and fairy away.

- Btw is nobody going to talk about how Vicky’s dress might be a reference to one of the “Oh Yeah” shorts?

- VERY LAST SECOND ADDITION, SPOILERS FOR IREP: So yesterday before I finished both this and the other post the new episodes dropped, with a few clips shared on Tumblr. And OH MY GOD IREP’S DESIGN!!! The fact that they kept him as a cube makes me so happy!!! I was HOPING at least ONE part of him would be a cube and they delivered!!! He looks like absolulte dogshit I love it!!! Bc yeah for some reason I remember Foop as a character you’re not supposed to take seriously at all? And as a result I really like how stupid Irep looks. A+ design right there! /gen

#fop #fop a new wish #fop a new wish spoilers #fop spoilers #fairly oddparents a new wish #Flor talks #Fairly Oddparents #long post #really enjoying the show so far !

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onebizarrekai · 4 months ago

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Fic Author Interview

I've been tagged by @unmaskedcardinal! been a while since I talked about any of this stuff, particularly as a very inconsistent fic poster haha

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

the visible number linked to my account is currently 60, no idea if this is counting the bizarre saga from my archive account or not. technically I've posted more, but they aren't part of that number.

2. What’s your total AO3 word count?

567,314.

3. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

ibvs season 1 & season 2 are (thankfully) the top two on my account, considering they're… well. ibvs.

number 3 is formal humiliation, a utmv fic back in 2019 where I wrote 3 oneshots all with different pairs surrounding the same idea. it's uh, it's something.

4 is behave, a saiouma despair disease fic I wrote sort of ironically in 2020. I did not realize this weird oneshot would be the thing that jumpstarted my kage obsession.

5, for some reason, is glow, a ds fic I wrote in 2019. I do not know why this is the ds fic with the most kudos. I am just really glad that it's not one of the ones I wrote in 2018.

4. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

lately I have been trying to respond to more comments, if they're on a recent enough story and I can think of a way to answer.

5. What’s the fic you’ve written with the angstiest ending?

most of the fics I've written right now have been Random Spot In Time fics with no articulate ending, but game over is pretty edgy. I think. I've written a similarly edgy ending but it's in an anonymous fic. it occurs to me that edgy doesn't necessarily mean angst, but it can.

6. What’s the fic you’ve written with the happiest ending?

somehow everyone lived happily ever after in the bizarre saga, no f'ing idea how they managed that

7. Do you write crossovers?

I have. I have as comedies. I tend to take a bunch of guys and put them in a new setting that they definitely shouldn't be in. poopenster high is an example of this, but none of that has ever touched the internet and I haven't touched it in like 2 years.

8. Have you ever received hate on a fic?

oh my god like. maybe once? maybe? I don't even think it counted as hate. I think like several years ago some rando complained that season 2 of ibvs was trying too hard to be funny. I barely remember what it actually said, I just remember it being annoying.

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

when I was in my v3 phase I wrote some, I think "feelings with smut" describes most of it decently. the nature of the kcu meant it was like, almost all trippy.

10. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

I dunno. I hope not. I think I've had people repost stuff without permission.

11. Have you ever had a fic translated?

probably?? when I was a teen I had people say they wanted to translate my utmv fics, I don't know which ones actually followed through anymore.

12. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

(sigh) yes.

13. What’s your all-time favorite ship?

oh god, I think I honestly just phase around stuff. I don't think I've ever permanently latched onto a pair, it's just that I've had fandoms and I have pairs that I've ended up liking in them and they just sort of stay that way even if stop paying attention to the fandom. I like most ships that happens to fit into my favorite criteria (that being protagonist/morally ambiguous deuteragonist or antagonist). if you asked me what my favorite series is, it would be an easier question. it's zelda. but I don't really have any permanent favorite ships in zelda.

14. What’s a WIP that you want to finish but don’t think you ever will?

this is a scary question because I have a number of major wips that I want to get back into once I get back into writing and I refuse to accept that they may not get finished. I don't know. moose hill? for a little while I wanted to see if I could come up with a whole side story, but it is extremely unlikely that will happen. maybe a better example is a continuation of shuichi and kage's blackout adventure, which is pretty low on the priority list for if my brain every gets infected by danganronpa again.

15. What are your writing strengths?

the jokes are very important. I put my heart and soul into them. I hope that people can see my vision when I tell them.

16. What are your writing weaknesses?

actually doing the writing getting from point A to point B. I come up with this whole outline and realize there's 2000 words of empty space that needs to happen. and it's like dull shit, too. just plain old events. like look at them, it's the lunching hours again. because lunch is a thing that happens every day. is it redundant to have lunch too many times? it can't possibly! it's the only time they can talk to each other! do I need to pan the camera again because this 3 sentence exchange has dragged on for too long? help

17. What are your thoughts on writing dialogue in other languages in a fic?

makes sense to me. or like, depends on the context. if the POV is a character who can speak the language, the reader should probably get to know what they're saying (think like, subtitled sections of a movie), unless it's really easy to decipher. but if the POV can't understand it, the reader shouldn't necessarily know. it gets more complicated if it takes place in a setting where they should logically be speaking a language that is not english for example. like, if they're in a country where they are not speaking english but the fic is in english. it wouldn't really make sense to insert interjections in their home language because they're not speaking english in the first place. I guess it all depends on what you're trying to convey.

18. What was the first fandom you wrote for?

sonic. does it count. I started writing once I was old enough to type. but I think the first story I ever put online was zelda.

19. What’s a fandom/ship you haven’t written for yet but want to?

on occasion I entertain the idea of writing for corpse party, but that's probably not going to happen.

20. What’s your favorite fic you’ve written?

I'm going to not include that one anonymous fic and my pile of unfinished longfic wips that I've been proud of in past years is way too big so… maybe game over?? it's complicated. I have a ton of comedy pieces that I love but they're just… not completed!!

[ feel free to fill this out yourself if you're a fic writer! ]

#random stuff #I've gotta locate some kind of motivational groove at some point. I guess #I have a lot of unfinished projects that I haven't finalized or posted any chapters of #because I'm always thinking 'something's going to need to change later' especially if there's an inconsistency down the line #or I just want to see if I can finish an entire thing before thinking about posting it #and I'm usually like 'ok but working on ibvs more important anyway'

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roadhogsbigbelly · 1 year ago

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ok i didn't really want to do this because i deleted the original posts when it had only 70 notes because i was under the assumption noone would see it but t/xttletale ended up reblogging it anyway and now i have people telling me to kill myself in my inbox so i guess i might as well give details

honestly did not know she was trans until people accused me of pedojacking her, for some reason it never registered because i guess i only see her blog when her posts pop up on my feed but you know my bad i guess

2)yes it's true the term "loliporn" never shows up but someone does say "don't say you're pro-kink and nasty gay sex if you're not supportive of ageplay, cnc, or incest shipping" and than she said "yes, and" which like. seems slightly like an endorsement? but i assume that loliporn was just kind of included with the package, because i do have evidence that toonimal would not be against that

3) i never directly called her a pedophile just that it's really fucking bizzare to have that hot take about "wholesome games" when you agreed with a take that said not liking incest porn or ageplay is "anti-kink or whatever

now did initially censor the names in the post because of reasons i'll explain later but i did realize with no context it looks like both posts were from the same person so i did end up mentioning in the tags that there were two different people before later deleting it all together. but i honestly don't feel THAT bad attributing it to her because she did both reblog the post and than also add on to it, which kind of negates the possibility she didn't fully read the post? still i did censor it again for reasons i'll explain later.

4) i kind of went out of my way to not attribute anything to her. when i talked about her weird stardew valley take i still censored them, because after being told to kill myself for having a lukewarm hot take on sex work last year i usually always censor posts when criticizng/making fun of them. i'm honestly surprised she managed to find it because i deleted it when it only had like 60 notes, and the only reason i found out she found it is because one of her followers sent be an ask telling me to kill myself. and out of curiousity i checked her blog.

i deleted this post before i post this just so her follower doesn't get harassed or whatever. but you know. not fun.

and 5) while i insist i didn't directly accuse her of being a pedophile i DID in fact accuse the person she was agreeing with of being a pedohpile. cause they are.

i'm not going to post the entire callout post cause it's honestly really fucking gross but tldr they run a "contact positive paraphilia forum" which is a basicly code for "actually fucking pedophiles" which kind of recontextualizes they entire post right? that's also why i went out of my way to censor txttletale's name and than later specify there were two different people before deleting it. because i assumed she didn't know the person she was agreeing with was an actual pedophile, but accidently agreeing with a pedophile is uh. not good. i think, someone actually informed her that toonimals was a pedophilia and she said this.

now i'm not saying you have to do a background check on every person you reblog from but if that post talks about "how pro-sex freak people need to be more supportive of people who are into incest" than actually yeah you do sort of have an obligation to make sure they aren't an actual fucking pedophile. the entire basis of that post is "people should stop being mean to actual sex freaks" and you not only reblog it but add onto that yeah that's a fucking issue because 99 percent of time the people who make those posts ARE actual fucking pedophiles, so yeah you probably should be a bit wary. because like.

this is my issue, i don't think you're a pedophile because you don't think there's anything wrong with fiction/sex acts that depict immoral things, my issue is that that logic is used and agreed upon by actual pedophiles. pedophiles are agreeing with you! that's not great! there's my issue with your logic!

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justheretoposttrash · 5 months ago

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day 8 of me ignoring how long a week is so i can keep talking about endhawks:

i find it hilarious how, once i'd put the shipping goggles on and strapped in for the ride, the endhawks rabbithole just got ever-so-gayer by increasing increments. the promotional materials, the official art--

like, sure, i know hawks facing the same way as the interns in image 1 is supposed to give "looking towards the light of the future" and that the over-the-shoulder in image 2 is supposed to give "ambiguous feelings, double-agent-ness, and being cool alongside teamwork/rebirth", but...why is it also giving wistful-soul-bond in the first and femme fatale in the second. who is responsible for this

"oh biiiig deaaaal two 2D characters exist in 2D space relative to each other congratu-fuckin-lations" and honestly,,,,, yeah!!! so true! lmao

i'm also including the image below bc i only stumbled upon it the other day and it's pretty darn cute. (this kinda makes hawks appear more essential to the interns/that particular arc than he actually is...? he and endeavor really are a set)

and these are just the tip of the iceberg--it really does just keep going. "oh they have merch? 😊 --oh there's a LOT of merch--whattaya mean there's a RING???"

also tumblr didn't let me post multiple vids yesterday and is weird about audio so here's a tacked-on spotlight of another voice acting moment i liked from the anime. i just really got a sense of the devastation hawks feels for endeavor's sake in the AFO fight:

the whole onlooker-who-cares-for-person-now-upset-over-said-person-receiving-horrible-knowledge is such a very specific trope (it's giving riza hawkeye grimacing right before roy mustang goes ballistic and roasts envy in fma) and i love it, even when it necessarily gets less time to breathe in the middle of a shonen fight.

#endhawks #i had saved the high end audio from the day 7 post as “high end more like high GAY”#and the audio for today was “fighting AFO---more like fighting the ALLEGATIONS”#anyway i've got 1-2 more days' worth of posts in me #also y'all have been very nice regarding my ramblings so ty!#mha s7 spoilers #fr the endhawks promotions get so specific and for what #mainly it all makes me very happy but ig capitalism is the biggest winner in a ship war

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am-i-the-asshole-official · 1 year ago

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AITA for arguing with someone over ships?

🧀⛵ so i can find this later

Yes, this is ship discourse AITA #294729472 you can scroll away, english isn't my first language, my apologies.

So I (16M (But 13-14 at the time)) am in a very niche fandom. As in, we didn't have any new content for the past 5 years and media is old af (2013), very few fans, most of us know each other already.

I used to have these mutuals Cheese (Not their real name) (around my age i think?? I can't remember) and Breadstick (Not his real name) (18M).

We all had our little ships, ok? I like the little (dumbass golden retriever boy) x (badass traumatized man) ship, Cheese liked the little (badass traumatized man) x (literally the same thing but evil and abusive) and Breadstick liked both ships.

I met Breadstick before meeting Cheese so we were already friends before i met Cheese. I thought "Cool, another person likes this little niche thing i'm hyperfixated on!" So we became mutuals.

I didn't anticipate that we would argue about ships, but oh well. So, i'm a very chill person regarding ships, literally any, although i do have NOTPs, i'm not really toxic about my hatred, i just go "Ah, not my thing" and scroll away not without blocking the person, but really nothing personal and no hard feelings, i can perfectly be friends with someone who loves my notp.

In fact, that was the case with Cheese. They shipped my NOTP, like A LOT. But I was okay with it, i mean these are just characters and all we're doing is being silly. I didn't take this THAT seriously. However, when I seemed to talk about my ship, Cheese seemed uncomfortable in some way.

When I was talking about my fankid (call me cringe idc) of my OTP, Cheese got very confused and asked who was i talking about. Breadstick came in and introduced my fankid to them, since he knew about it before. Cheese just started being rude, literally saying swear words (Not against them but, the context didn't really call for it? No one was being mean or mad), saying, and i quote as best as i can, "I don't know what the fuck made you think i knew who the hell [Fankid] was".

I got very mad about it, so i privately dm'ed Breadstick about Cheese's attitude. We began trash talking about them, which, i admit was a very trashy thing to do and definitely asshole material™.

Reason why may i be the asshole: over time, Breadstick just started complaining a lot about Cheese, and I could honestly agree, it came to the point of us disliking them to some degree but not telling them and not breaking the mutual, that could be considered two faced behavior.

This was partly influenced because of another incident. So Cheese and Breadstick where rambling about an OT3 (3 person ship) they had in common, basically sharing ideas and stuff. I thought it would be fun and went "Hey, I have an OT3 too, maybe i should post about it too". So I went and posted about it, but Cheese felt very uncomfortable with that, since basically my OT3 was exactly like Cheese's OT3 but one character is different, "basically".

They said "You have your thing, let US have ours". Felt bad and honestly, maybe i shouldn't have intruded their ot3 rambling. I didn't expect such negative reaction out of them.

In other occasions they complained about me posting a little too much about my ship, even though they did the same thing with theirs. And they also had a mutual that said "If you ship [this character] you suck and i fucking hate you. [character] is too abusive to be shipped with anyone and you can't just make an AU, that would just change him as a character completely" which, dear god, that language wasn't needed, right?. And despite that crazy person saying that, Cheese agreed with their take, despite literally shipping the character in question with another one. And abusively too, which like you do you, lord knows i do that too, but agreeing with a take like that while doing exactly what it is complaining about is weird. On the other side, that person wasn't my mutual, so it's unrealistic of me to expect Cheese to control their mutuals over me, Cheese can mutual whoever they want, but i can still be weirded out right?

That is without including them telling other people to kill themselves over shipping, so it was clear that Cheese took this shipping thing seriously while me and Breadstick to some degree didn't. Honestly another reason why i might be an asshole, clearly they felt their otp was personal and me not liking it + ignoring it caused a bad environment, mala mía, but what else could i have done?

So, clearly Cheese is kind of an asshole to some degree. But i think what makes ME an asshole too is when I trash talked behind their back and cut them off way later than i should've. And also, i guess i shoved my ship down their throat taking by how mad they were about it? I didn't do it intentionally though and i could definitely say they did the same thing too when 80% of the fandom and character tags was them posting about their ship. Again, small niche fandom for old unpopular media, we are keeping it alive ourselves.

What are these acronyms?

#aita #am i the asshole #ship discourse #posts that make me crave one of those lil cheese dip breadstick snack packs #which i have not eaten in roughly uhhhh at least a decade and a half #but the taste. you never forget that taste

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ryuichirou · 1 year ago

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Since you have some headcanons on fem Floyd/Riddle, do you have any other genderswap ship headcanons for say Rook/Vil, Ace/Deuce and Idia/Azul? Sorry if that’s a bit too much

Anon, thank you for this ask! I’m always happy for the opportunity to talk about them, so I was actually excited to write this reply lol Since there are three ships there, it ended up being a bit lengthy, but I hope you enjoy the headcanons.

Just like in the FloRid post, the majority of the headcanons are more or less sexual, because the general dynamic between the characters wouldn’t change much.

Ace/Deuce:

They are pretty much “these two girls who always mess around with each other and it’s obvious that there is some sexual tension between them but they can’t acknowledge it”… yeah, just like the regular Ace and Deuce lol But with more boob grabbing… Well, usually from Ace’s side. Deuce also grabbed Ace’s boob one or two times but only as a revenge, and felt super weird about it. In general, sometimes it feels like they just try to come up with excuses to touch each other.

Which means they are also “these two girls who secretly kiss each other and say it’s some kind of practice”. This was also Ace’s initiative: Deuce only agreed because she didn’t want Ace to think that she chickened out. Or maybe there were other reasons hmmm? But yeah, they “practice” kissing every night, sometimes with Ace telling Deuce to imagine that she’s kissing her future husband or something, but it kind of makes Deuce’s kisses more stiff and awkward, which Ace finds hilarious.

Their kissing sessions would definitely lead to them touching themselves under the same blanket first, and then to them just touching each other. And they’re really a bit dumb and honestly think that their roommates don’t know what they do… but in all fairness, they really try to be secretive about it. Sometimes they even bite each other not to make any sounds.

One night they had a whole room to themselves, and got so excited that wanted to try something other than touching each other sneakily under the blankets. In short, they tried to do the scissoring thing… and didn’t really do it right, couldn’t find the balance, long story short they ended up falling off the bed.

Like I mentioned in another post, both of them wear sports bras, but own other sets too. And there’s been a couple of times when Deuce had to wear a regular bra, and just couldn’t make the little hook thingy in the back work. So yeah Ace helps her to put it on sometimes.

Rook/Vil

Like I already said in another post, Vil (just like the regular Vil) wears whatever she wants, and Rook prefers something functional (albeit stylish), so it’s not unusual to see Vil in a beautiful dress accompanied by Rook in a pantsuit. But if they were to get married, both of them would probably wear suits.

Not necessarily a headcanon, but a thought: with these two being girlies, Vil forcing Rook to take care of her hands and fingernails makes even more sense lol The first time was kind of rough for them. It wasn’t bad at all, but Rook was never allowed to touch Vil with her hands unkempt anymore.

Rook is skilled enough and knows Vil’s body well enough to make her orgasm in less than a minute, but she also likes to take her time and torment Vil a little bit. She likes it when Vil is having a hard time keeping it together and is getting impatient. Vil, however, sometimes just needs Rook to grab her, make her cum and then be free to do whatever she was doing before that. So whenever they sneak out, and instead of hitting all the right buttons at once Rook starts to tease her through her underwear, Vil gives her this very angry yet aroused look that Rook adores.

They are one of the couples who know everything about their own preferences, but also experiment from time to time. The catalogue of positions they like is quite vast, mostly due to both of them being flexible + Rook being very inventive. These are also the reasons why these two have absolutely mastered the art of scissoring lol

Rook is also very skilled with her tongue, because Vil is kiiind of hard to please, so one has to learn and improve to be able to satisfy her. One of Rook’s most absolute favourite indicators that she’s doing a good job is the fact that she can feel her head and neck being squeezed by Vil’s merciless thighs.

Azul/Idia

Azul is a bit of a touch-me-not: she likes being complimented on her looks, but is very uncomfortable with people touching her. Which is why Idia is a perfect partner for her: Idia is a bit intimidated by Azul’s natural sex appeal, so she never touches her and just lies on her back and accepts her fate.

That being said, sometimes Idia is allowed to rest her head on Azul’s lap. “No no, I’m good” Idia says at first, because this position is way too romantic and awkward, but then Azul forces her down and Idia just drowns in just how comfy Azul’s thighs are and how sweetly her perfume smells… if only Azul stopped squeezing her shoulder so hard to keep her down…

Sometimes they have sex a couple of times per day, sometimes they don’t have sex for a long period of time, and it’s because of Azul. She is a mermaid and doesn’t get human periods, but she must have some sort of cycle going on, because in general it’s like she doesn’t think about sex at all. Sometimes Idia looks at her and thinks “I wonder if Azul-shi knows how sexual this pose/gesture is”, and chances are, she doesn’t, because she’s too busy thinking about the lounge. But the next day Azul suddenly gets into the mood, tosses Idia, mounts her, kisses her, almost purring like a cat.

Azul (wo)manhandles Idia a lot in general. She tosses her, moves her around, throws Idia’s legs on her shoulders and stuff. Idia finds it both way too intense (not a bad thing lol) and a bit funny, because Azul tries so hard to look like a lady, but her actions are almost like of a hentai manga mob. Azul doesn’t fully understand what Idia means, but slaps her butt for that. It sounds offensive.

Azul is scarily good at cunnilingus for someone who doesn’t have much experience with sex. Or maybe it’s only good for Idia because she likes it when it’s strong and intense?? In any way, it doesn’t happen too often, but when it does, Idia isn’t sure if she is going to die faster because she’s overwhelmed or because she’s embarrassed.

#replies #headcanons #genderswap #rookvil #azuide #adeuce

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lookinghalfacorpse · 1 year ago

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You don't have to respond to this one, but @ your last tags on the found family trope post, I can't say I haven't been curious if anything like that was ever the case. You've been so careful in painting everyone's relationship to be on trust and healthy reliance on one another in times of need, and Techno + Dream definitely have something more intimate and close going on (which I deeply appreciate btw- I couldn't bear it if someone tried to stick itwall!Dream as a brother to Techno, or put him in alongside Wilbur as a son figure to Phil :shudders:), so I'm VERY curious how detailed those thoughts have gotten at any point in time /lh /but genuine

(talking about my semi-cursed tags on this post)

yes i can talk about this all day !! i think the dynamic that doomsday trio brings is fascinating, and i don't blame those who see it as a nuclear family dynamic because i think the comparison does work in some places, but it's more complicated than that. i touched on it (in vaguely poetic terms) in this post, but i can give more detail here.

c!philza is an old man and an experienced father, and his instinct as a guardian is strong. this is the closest we get to a nuclear family format in itwall; phil definitely calls on some of his skills as a father when he helps dream, but it's a bit more complex than that. phil recognizes that dream is an adult in human years and doesn't need to be babied (hell, he doesn't even baby Wilbur, his own son who's around the same age!). dream needs care, he needs a mentor, and he needs a better self-preservation instinct before he kills himself. i think their relationship is closer to ancient grecian mentorship than fatherhood/sonhood, the only difference is that the mentee is on death's door for a while and needs some extra attention. phil sees himself in dream, dream sees phil as someone he might like to be, and there's a level of mutual respect there.

i also think that techno and dream have a sense of brotherhood, but in the same way that two athletic teammates have a brotherhood. they have a long history of trust between them, with room for playfulness and teasing. there's a lack of touch aversion (which is HUGE for dream), and dream initiates more of their touches (as opposed to phil, where he tends to be more submissive) (i'm thinkin about ch 12 & ch 19).

and, of course, techno & phil have a complicated relationship of their own. i'm always annoyed by headcanons that techno is phil's son-- we see plenty of interactions where they mutually worry over each other and care for each other. the will is Not written like a boy talking to his father. these two are lifelong partners, and that letter is written to someone who techno knows will understand him and trusts to carry out the more sentimental, intangible tasks, like talking to niki and ranboo, with very little instruction.

highly oversimplified but this is the idea. Techno and dream have similar relationships with phil but it's not really sonhood. all built on trust. they've proven to each other that they will keep each other safe.

and honestly.. none of those relationships would have to exclude sex or intimacy. equals/partners can have sex. comrades can have sex. mentors/mentees can have sex (i think people feel weird about this one, but again: think Ancient Grecian). i have Quite A Few scenes in my head about how their sexual relationships might work (especially in the early days when dream isn't feeling good...). i guess in light of everyone being more open about shipping i would consider writing them, i'd just keep them here instead of ao3.

i think both phil and techno consider dream to be heartstoppingly lovely. i think dream would love to be loved. i think phil&techno and techno&dream may have had some encounters Before the start of itwall, so it would just be a matter of tying it all together.

#asks #itwall #sorry i'm writing essays these days i'm just thinkin a lotta thoughts #affections

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skepticalarrie · 1 month ago

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Larry questions

1. Do you think larry has read fanfics like TTS and y&b. A lot of people say no but to me that is SOOOOO HARRY LIKE. and Louis tries to always act like he’s not deep or meaningful (talking about how the tattoos mean nothing or whateve) but I feel like his real personality? definitely reading fics. Being harry and Louis doesn’t change them from being human. They’re jus like us with experiences and money we won’t be able to comprehend but yea

2. Do you think larry uses this “ship” for promo? Like have you seen things when they’ve been off duty that’s shows larry is real? Or is it always during a fine like promotion, a FITF promotion that they’ll do soemthing larry like. For walls the tattoos as cover pages … yk? Like was that a declaration or promo reasons. and frankly I do not think harry needs to do that anyways 😭 but it gets to me. Obviously what we saw in the band was pure love 100% and afterwards as well. I just sometimes think. Afterwards whether or not people think they’re together, using Larry for promo would be so smart. I know they’ve gotten tatttos and have transcended a different level of love trust and commitment. But …. I jut think. But again I don’t think thoses boys could be in love and then out of love and using their love for promo years after. I don’t know. What do you think?

3. Do you think larry was trying to pull a friendship narrative around July? As far as I know they were both off work (not relaising anything or touring) but they chose to be pictured CLOSE to each other in the same room. I feel like that shows that they wanted to introduce themselves to the public as friends slowly. Before the passing happend ofc. What do you think? Alor of people think they broke up. It would be funny after they broke up they’re like ok let’s start to show them we are friends!!!! I feel like they couldn’t just be friends thoses two. They were always soemthing more.

4. What’s your favourite year of larry? One that’s your favourite to look back at and all that happend that year? Mine is 2015😋

4.5. Your favourite 1D friendship?

5. People are so dumb to excuse Larry when there’s been a constant theme in the songs harry has written that shows he’s been in a long term realrionship. Kacey Musgrave saying Harry Harry larry and then the still the one situation…. The interviewer who said 16 years is a long commitment… so many songs on fine line showing devotion and a strong sense of love that wouldn’t develop that’s quickly (it can but yk)

Do you have a post on larry having the same braincells? Like liking the same artist, being around the same people, having the same values?

And also do you have a thread on Larry friends —- not exposing but yk what Kacey musgrave did. “Exposing larry” do you know what I mean. Larrys friends showing that they’re larries and /or connected?

Lmk ur thoughts you’re very insightful.

Hi, anon! Wow, that's a lot to unpack, so I'll answer everything under the cut to avoid bothering people’s dashboards with a massive post. 😊

1. I think they’re definitely aware of it, but I really don’t believe they read it. Honestly, it would be so strange to see yourself in that kind of context. While we might think something feels “so Harry” or “so Louis,” the reality is that we only know a tiny fraction of their lives. Fics are amazing for us as fans, but if I were in their shoes, I’d feel pretty weirded out by seeing myself portrayed in fictional scenarios through someone else’s perspective hahah so if it were me, I’d avoid it completely and that's I also believe for them.

2. I do think they use Larry for fan service, especially in recent years, as I feel the small signals they give are more about giving something to the fandom/larries than anything deeper and meaningful for them.

But I don’t think it’s entirely accurate to call it “promo.” I think both of them have leaned into this treasure hunt dynamic over the years, using the fandom’s (larries) incredible cryptic-solving skills. I mean, we've been trained for that with the bears. And Louis’ fanbase, which has a higher percentage of Larries, might be more directly impacted by these little hints... maybe in his lyrics or actions, but I don’t think Harry’s promo strategies rely on it at all. His fanbase is massive, and larries are just a small fraction of it. So this kind of signaling doesn’t seem aligned with his career approach.

3. No, I don’t believe in this “friendship narrative” thing at all. It’s just not going to happen.

4. I’m going to say 2015 too, anon! There was so much entertainment hahaha and I loved seeing them together, I miss that dynamic so much.

4.5. Lilo!

5. Completely agree! Harry is so creative with his lyrics, but it’s also incredibly clear how devoted he’s been to this one particular relationship over the years. His songs are full of consistent themes—he keeps revisiting the same emotions and ideas, for sure!

I don’t have super consistent tags for the things that you asked, but here are a few:

SHARING IS CARING

MATCHY MATCHY

FAMILY AND FRIENDS

OUTINGS

EVERYONE KNOWS

Hope this helps! 😊

#ask

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serial-serializednovelreader · 5 months ago

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Do you think a Dracula MBS AU would work? If so, in what way? Hope you are doing well!!!

Sophie, I love this question!! It’s actually something I have thought of, but wasn’t sure if I wanted to make into a post on its own. And I’m doing well, hope you are too :DDDD

Yes, Dracula MBS AU could be a thing, but I would definitely need to make a few tweaks. Us Dracula book fans aren’t a huge fan of “tweaks” for…certain reasons (*side eyes adaptations*), but this one would still be faithful to the spirit of the book. :)

Note: Heavy spoilers for Dracula, and the Mysterious Benedict Society. Also, I’m basing this AU on the MBS books, not the series (Curtain is not really redeemable in this one, though he is the gremlin man you know and enjoy!). As a disclaimer, all of the MBS characters that are kids are adults in this AU — in their 20s to be precise. Everyone else retains their original ages (except for the one who is playing Dracula, of course).

Jonathan Harker -> Reynie Muldoon

You know I had to start off with my one of my favorite blorbos and honestly, this just works. These two characters are a lot alike, more than you might assume. Both are considered “average” by others, and are constantly underestimated, which they shake off in different ways (Reynie with his abilities, Jonathan through the power of Tumblr’s book club). They have a kind heart and love helping others. They are meticulous and can be bold when needed, sometimes using clever words to talk themselves out of a situation (Jonathan several times in Dracula’s castle, Reynie when Curtain catches him looking at the Executive’s list). Jonathan and Reynie are also leadership material, though you probably wouldn’t think it by looking at them.

Mina Murray -> Kate Wetherall

Yeah, so those who know I ship these Reynie and Kate may have expected this one. I can’t help it! Still, I think these two work as well. Mina is very much an extrovert and will talk to everyone she meets, just like Kate. Mina may not carry a bucket, but she does carry her journals and writing around with her! Kate and Mina are both silly at times, adding their own personal flair to situations. I would see Kate embodying Mina’s bolder side and being excited about journalism for the chance to meet people. She is fine with studying and typing (especially to help/bond with Reynie), but it’s not her favorite thing, if that makes sense. Or, alternatively, she could have more of Mina’s affinity for typing and thoroughly love it! Up to you. Those who have read Dracula all the way through also know that Mina and Kate are also alike in their need to be *in the action*, not sidelined. And they’re absolutely correct.

Dracula -> Ledroptha Curtain

Yeah, this one is pretty obvious. Both are cackling villains, both like their cat-and-mouse games: it just fits! Plus, if you compare Curtain’s weird lecture/manipulative speeches to Reynie in the first book to Dracula’s speeches to Jonathan…it’s almost uncanny how similar they are!!! Dracula and Curtain honestly use a lot of the same tactics to draw their victims in (making them feel special/isolated, puffing his own ego, etc.).

Renfield -> Crawlings

I’ll be honest, Crawlings is my favorite Ten Man and I can just see him as Renfield. He’s soooooo weird and I love him for it!!! Bro has one eyebrow and was constantly being quirky. Can I see this man eating a fly and being locked in an asylum in 1800s England? Yes, yes I can. Plus, his name is Crawlings and he follows Curtain. ‘Nuff said.

Van Helsing -> Nicholas Benedict

You probably also saw this one coming after I paired Dracula with Curtain. This Dracula AU fits a lot better than one first assumes and here is another example. Van Helsing in the novel is very much a quirky professor, befuddling his former student (Seward) with his metaphors and laughing far too much to be in the horror novel Dracula, let’s be honest. In the same way, Nicholas Benedict is a jovial, unassuming man, who one wouldn’t think to be a genius instrumental to saving the world, yet he’s in the very name of the book series! In the same way, Van Helsing has garnered a name for himself that has far outlived his first appearance in the novel: as much as Dracula lives on in the public sphere, Van Helsing is right beside him. I think this fits Nicholas to a tee. Plus, Nicholas and Van Helsing are capable of great seriousness and emotional depth when the situation calls for it.

Aaaaaaand this is where things get switched around. I’m going to list the characters first, then describe how exactly their arcs would be changed, but I want to make it clear that this Suitor Squad would not be a Suitor Squad anymore in my AU. I do not ship these characters!!!!! Just want to make that clear upfront.

Lucy Westerna -> Constance Contraire

This one is a bit of a stretch personality-wise, but it’s the clearest fit in terms of leading/supporting characters. Lucy is obviously a very sweet person and Constance is…well…the society says it best: “Constance is Constance”. However, in RoA, we do get a glimpse of a sweeter Constance and I do believe this is how Constance will be once she matures: still her feisty self, just able to let her empathetic side show more. And really, that’s who Lucy is. She has a defiant and bold streak within her: this is just held back by the confines of Victorian society (though not in the way adaptations want to portray her — I just mean she could be more sassy if she wanted to). Whether Constance adapts more of Lucy’s bubbly and sweet personality or retains her sassy and grumpy self is up to you. Either way, her and Kate (Mina) would definitely still be best friends and have a similar relationship they have in MBS, perhaps with a dash of maturity (LOL). Lucy/Constance is also the youngest, clocking in at 19, to everyone else’s mid- to late- 20s.

Quincey Morris -> Milligan

You can probably see why I emphasized the importance of not shipping these characters. So yes, Milligan now takes the role of an American cowboy and I think he would adopt this role with gusto! Of course, in this AU he’s never lost his memories so he is his cheerful self. He is a lot like Quincey in being perpetually cheerful, compassionate and a good friend to the rest of the Crew of Light (plus, earnestly cheering them up when needed and kicking Dracula/Curtain’s butt — both of these characters excel at their job). Quincey is known as the oathmaker of Dracula, always keeping the promises he makes. Readers of MBS know that Milligan also takes his promises seriously, so much so that his last promise became his very name (how his name is still Milligan when he didn’t lose his memories doesn’t make sense, but…you know…uh….*magic*). Is he Kate’s father in this AU? Perhaps. 😏 I once commented to @nobodysdaydreams that these two would be father/daughter in every universe, so I think even if they’re not biologically related, they would certainly fit that dynamic and adopt each other as such.

Jack Seward -> George “Sticky” Washington

Seward is definitely on the darker side of what Sticky is capable of, but I don’t think this is out of the realm of possibilities for Sticky. I honestly think he could’ve become something like this, had he not been exposed to Mr. Benedict and his friends at a young age. Not that Sticky is “bad” or “evil” in this AU — Jack isn’t either!!!!!! I would just say he has bad coping mechanisms and needs therapy for depression…so just hand that over to Sticky without the strongest support system and I think these two meld together well.

Arthur Holmwood -> SQ Pedalian

For all my SQ lovers, this one’s for you!!! SQ and Arthur are both sweet guys who really shouldn’t be in traumatic situations, but, unfortunately, are. Fun to be around and a beacon of light to those they meet, SQ and Arthur always try to make the best of a bad situation! I think SQ would fit right into Arthur’s role, though it won’t be easy for him as the book goes along…

Three Vampire Sisters -> Martina, Jillson and Jackson

I believe it makes sense for Curtain’s most trusted executives to also be in his castle as his vampires in this AU. Oh, and Jackson’s here too — for the vibes. :D yes, they do try to “seduce” Reynie. Yes, it is weird (though, as a reminder, minus the vampire thing they’re similar in age — Reynie is in his 20s and the vampire siblings got turned into vampires around the same age). No, I don’t want to dwell on it.

Mr. Hawkins - Miss. Perumal

While it wouldn’t make any sense for Jonathan/Reynie’s boss to be a woman in this time period, I am making Mr. Hawkins Miss Perumal anyway because I do not care. Jonathan basically calls Mr. Hawkins his adopted father and that is what Miss. Perumal is to Reynie. Whether you want to make Miss Perumal a guy or just make Victorian England less sexist in this AU is up to you (I’m rooting for the latter).

Captain of the Demeter -> Captain Noland

I think this one explains itself. Noble captain of The Shortcut becomes the noble (and, unfortunately, doomed) captain of the Demeter. 🫡🫡

First Mate of the Demeter -> McCracken

My choice here might seem strange — and it is — but I honestly think this first mate that gets more and more desperate is better filled by McCracken the Ten Man than anyone else. I truly believe if something supernatural happened to him, he would not believe it and would scoff at anyone who did — until it was too late. Then, he would try to fight the monster (as the First Mate does), and if he had no option left…flee. That’s my interpretation of McCracken’s true character anyways — just give him less weapons and less self-confidence. Plus, I wanted McCracken to be a part of this and had no good place for him (lol). 🤷‍♀️

Second Mate of the Demeter -> Canonball

The bravest “mate” on the crew, I chose Canonball as Second Mate instead of First Mate because he would be exactly the type of man to volunteer to keep watch and let everyone else get some sleep; unfortunately, that kind of selflessness is not rewarded by Dracula. :( RIP Canonball in this AU, you will be missed. 🫡

Mrs. Westerna -> Number Two

I’m envisioning a different kind of relationship than mother/daughter for Lucy/Constance and Mrs. Westerna/Number Two. I’ll explain it more when we get to my “changes”, but suffice it to say, Mrs. Westerna/Number Two is an aunt or mentor figure to Lucy/Constance rather than a biological mother. I picked Number Two for this role because she has Mrs. Westerna’s strict adherence to rules down and an anxious streak, though to a lesser extent of course. These qualities would be dialed up to 11 for the AU.

“Correspondent” -> Rhonda Kazembe

According to a number of posts I’ve seen on here (though I haven’t been able to find anything when I looked it up — doesn’t mean it’s not true, just means my research skills needs work!), Stoker originally envisioned a woman reporter who ended up working with the Crew of Light to take down Dracula. Whether due to time constraints or too many characters to keep track of, he dialed this character back to a “Correspondent” (gender unidentified) who reports on the Demeter’s landing, and what has become of the ship. While we don’t get much from this Correspondent, they show a lot of personality in just two entries: boasting about their running abilities and reporting about villagers wanting to be friends with a dog. I would definitely select Rhonda for this role because, while she may seem quiet and ordinary, she hides a ton of inner personality! I think I would give this Rhonda a little bit of her energy from the show because her actress just did such a good job of embodying her character and giving her an even more distinct personality that I think would go great with the Correspondent. Other than that, I do think she would work with the Crew of Light in this one, as Stoker originally intended, though how much and in what capacity, I’m not sure of.

Mr. Swales -> Risker

I was honestly thinking of picking one of the Ten Men for this one, but I think “kooky old man who you can’t tell what he’s saying half the time” fits Risker perfectly. 😂😂

Now that we have all the chess pieces into place (yes, that was an MBS reference), how do they move around the chessboard? Most Dracula fans by now will probably be shouting at me “But Nova, if there’s no Suitor Squad, how will you fulfill Lucy’s arc?” Well you see, there’s one relationship we need to consider here: that of Van Helsing/Mr. Benedict and Lucy/Constance.

So for those who may not know (on both sides of the fandom), Van Helsing considers Lucy to be his daughter in a sense. In MBS, Mr. Benedict ends up adopting Constance, though this is not an easy process, as her papers are lost to time. I intend to merge these two story arcs.

So to start, Lucy/Constance would be an orphan, not being born from a wealthy family like in the original book. She would meet Jonathan/Reynie and Mina/Kate and they would all be childhood friends, as in the original book, though perhaps Lucy/Constance understands the other two on a deeper level — as they all three know what it’s like to be orphans and to want for friendship and parents.

Somewhere along the way, Van Helsing/Mr. Benedict meets Lucy/Constance (she’s in her teens at this point) and he starts to see her as the daughter he wants to have. Unfortunately in Victorian England, there’s no legal adoption process. So basically, Lucy/Constance can only have the feeling of having a father, no papers to prove it. And just like in the MBS series, this causes her to feel frustrated and insecure (though with a bit more maturely, since she’s older lol). Another issue is that she rarely sees Van Helsing/ Mr. Benedict since he’s working on research in Germany. He doesn’t want to take her with him, since he presumes she should be out living her life and learning how to be a lady (more out of a desire for her to fit in with other girls and make friends than him sticking to the confines of society). Which is why he’s entrusted her with Mrs. Westerna/Number Two, providing her a permanent place to live. We can also work something in there about Milligan/Quincey (a family friend of his) adopting Mina/Kate along the way or them being father/daughter (you could swap Mina and Lucy’s roles here). I personally like the former option, but the latter works as well!

Living with Mrs. Westerna/Number Two is nice, but not what Lucy/Constance wants. She only wants to be with her father :(. At this point, she’s an adult and can make her own choices, so she asks her father if she can go on a trip with him. Surprisingly, he says yes!

Rather than the three iconic proposals here, I envision Lucy/Constance telling her three family friends (because Van Helsing has a LOT of those) about her impending trip instead, which they all take in different ways. Seward/Sticky does not take this well. Van Helsing is kind of a father figure to him as well and having him be away has been difficult for him to handle. Now, hearing that he’s going to “lose” someone he considers to be his sister as well is just too overwhelming for him to hear. He accepts it, but doesn’t like it. Milligan/Quincey is excited for her, but sad to see her go. He feels a “loss” as well, since he considers Lucy/Constance to be his daughter, though he’s never said it. Arthur/SQ is the only one truly excited for her, giving her travel tips, as he’s traveled himself and wants her to have only the best experience. It may not be as dramatic or exciting as proposals, but I do think this works with hitting similar emotions from the three men (grief, bittersweet, and joy).

Then we come to the sad part of our story. Lucy/Constance begins experiencing symptoms of a vampire bite and while Sticky/Seward tries to care for her himself, his last resort is to call in Van Helsing/Mr. Benedict (which he doesn’t want to do, because he doesn’t want him to see her like this and it feels too much like the end…). When Van Helsing/Mr. Benedict arrives, he understands very clearly what is going on, and it pains him to see his daughter in this condition. However, for her sake, he keeps to his jovial self (and he retains his narcolepsy, so you can play a lot with him trying not to give in to this emotional turmoil).

At first, it seems like things are working in their favor: they put up garlic and it seems to keep the evil bat away. Unfortunately, Mrs. Westerna/Number Two doesn’t get the memo and takes the garlic down, leaving poor Lucy/Constance exposed. That’s when the bad turns to the worse.

If you want maximum angst here, you can go with the canon ending…which is that Lucy/Constance dies. And if you thought Van Helsing’s reaction to Lucy’s death was bad (which is a full on mental breakdown, by the way), this is oh-so much worse. Van Helsing/Mr. Benedict is inconsolable. He won’t talk to anyone. He keeps waking up and passing out for a full day, he is SO full of emotion. He mourns that he was never able to take her on a trip or able to legally adopt her. Not to mention, Dracula/Curtain took Mrs. Westerna/Number Two from him too, so he’s mourning THAT death as well. So yeah, needless to say, he’s not in a good place. And he’s determined to avenge the people he’s lost at any price. Also, he would have to be the one to stake Lucy/Constance when she eventually turns into the Bloofer Lady (which he would be in denial about at first, though he would see all the signs). Because I need this to be more heartbreaking, apparently. By the end of this AU, him and Jonathan/Reynie are very much silently sharpening a knife, waiting for their moment to strike at Dracula/Curtain (who looks eerily similar to Van Helsing/Mr. Benedict, that’s strange…).

Since MBS is included in this, though, I don’t know if this would be what happens. I kind of believe Lucy/Constance would make it through in this AU. So either Mrs. Westerna/Number Two actually listens to Van Helsing/Mr. Benedict (which is likely, let’s be honest) or they’re able to save her in some other way. Bottom line: Lucy/Constance makes it, and she’s infinitely grateful! Van Helsing/Mr. Benedict vows to take her on a trip very soon and makes her a little adoption certificate thing. It’s not real, but to them it is! On the inside, however, Van Helsing/Mr. Benedict is very angry at Dracula/Curtain for almost killing his daughter and that’s not something he takes lightly…

So yeah, those are my ideas for a Dracula MBS AU. Hope you like it! :D

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ghoooooooooooooooost · 10 months ago

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i only shared it w a friend before but can i tell you all my death mark 2 au/rewrite... here (spoilers obvi, also body horror + insects warning)

(edited so theres more details smile)

most things r the same except for the departed (and no naked girl cgs OFCOURSE)

making it so that the departed pretends to be daimon instead of the two high school girls

normal daimon is around but he’ll gradually get sick n every now n then something weeeeird happens (as in yashiki accidentally talks to fake daimon. also maybe you see the weird bug ghost that hovers above everyone near endgame with him first)

crowbar scene happens w fake daimon while real daimon is actually passed out somewhere. mashita comforts yashiki n then they both realize its a fake

(that's what these doodles were referencing)

my dearest friend chip suggested the departed could also be konoe so n that would make sense n make him more present in the plot so byeah

we both agreed that they didn't push the bug + mold horror theme far enough so i tried my hand at it. mold can be really gross irl ewwww

my design for departed daimon is actually toned down from the og tho, just bc i thought the weird spider face was more goofy than scary. personally bugs are scary to me when they're crawling on you n burrowing into your skin n making holes n laying eggs in there - like the bees in death mark 1. there was some real-stories tv show abt that specific thing happening that aired when i was a kid n it freaked me out a lot

why was hime's mold just ourple swirls boooriiiiiiiiiiiing

edit july 15th 2024 adding this into the main og post since wonderful chippard linked it (basically a neater rewrite of everything i just said + what i said in the reblog addition. i rewrote it for a solo zine hence the proper capitalization lol)

Instead of Himeko and Michiho being The Departed, it’s Daimon and Konoe. Normal Daimon is still there but every now and then he’ll start acting strange or feeling sick due to The Departed’s possession. The “love” aspect would be shown through Daimon specifically too so Doctor Duo ship is canon in this. Konoe basically uses Daimon to try to get to his Dear Husband. In place of going into a coma like in the original, his behavior intensifies and condition worsens until he suddenly runs to the bathroom. When he comes back… dun dun dun… that’s The Departed – Yashiki doesn’t know…! Crowbar scene ensues. But!? After Yashiki tells Mashita, they see Daimon perfectly alive in the infirmary. Yasuoka found him collapsed in the hallway at some point.

The plot would play out basically the same with some changes (no fanservice girl cgs; more Konoe screen-time; Michiho + Himeko act differently; Saki or Abe partner? more school-related ghosts...).

Maybe the game could be longer to give the new characters more time to shine while not removing the returning ones. Not sure how that would work exactly… One possible solution would be to have day segments where we get to play as Yashiki while he's actively teaching (which would also address the "why'd they even pick a school setting" problem bc damn they barely did any school specific plot shit outside of Hanako & Kashima). Would be awesome and in-line with how the first game brought up war if they kept addressing problems with the education system. Also I think I wouldn’t have any unavoidable human casualties after Hanako’s chapter? All the unavoidable deaths made my friends confused about if they were doing something wrong or not and it honestly felt off to me too. It would be compelling if after failing to protect the first student(s), Yashiki actually successfully protects the rest of them in the good route. Making him feel like he’s become more steadfast after the first game and staying true to his word. Especially if Naomi survives in my opinion - ‘she almost dies but is spared if you make the right choices’ or something like that. She could even be in the room when Yashiki sings the school song.

Not sure how I'd make The Departed feel even more connected to the school... Maybe there's a romantic superstition popular among the students that's based off their "wedding ceremony" -- but it's innocent enough to not give away how they died.

#dm2 au #text post #ok to rb if u want btw?

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procrastinatorproject · 2 years ago

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Fuck it, I'm gonna start posting my own shouty thoughts on season 3 of Picard rather than just commenting on other people's stuff.

I'll keep taggin everything "#picard spoilers" (assume I'm talking about everything up to the most recent ep, I'll warn seperately for leaked/promo stuff about ep 10) and "#picard saltiness" so you know what to blacklist (or look for, I'm not telling you how to internet 😋).

I'm sorry/get ready.

Here's the thing. I would like to watch season 3 of Picard and think "Oh well, this wasn't made for me, the same way season 1 wasn't made for the type of TNG fan who is in heaven right now. And I'm sad my favourite characters and main reasons I liked the show in the first place got written off, but I'm glad these other fans are having the time of their lives. Good on them, I'll just mentally file this away as a season/new show that I don't connect with as much as I'd hoped." I really, really want to be able to think that and approach season 3 this way.

But the writers won't let me.

At every turn, and I mean every turn, the writers have gone out of their way to not just pretend the previous two seasons didn't happen, but to remind us they happened and they were stupid and you're stupid to ever have enjoyed them.

It's not just that Picard, in the middle of his disillusioned identity crisis, when he has been holed up on his vinyard for over a decade, talking to nobody, and feeling deeply disappointed by Starfleet, gives an impassioned speech to a bunch of young people about how Starfleet is the only family you'll ever need.

That's a type of discontinuity/soft retcon I don't particularly enjoy, but if it were just that, I wouldn't be writing this way too long screed.

It's not even just the implicit "we will do it right this time" on display e.g. when Picard "flies" the Titan out of the labouring nebula. In that scene, Picard walks up to the captain's chair to take the conn, the TNG theme swells, he sits down, the music becomes bombastic, and he gets to be the Heroic Captain We All Remember. That scene is, in my opinion, something of a parallel to the season 1 scene where Picard tries to hijack La Sirena to take Soji to her people. In the season 1 scene, he sits in the captain's chair, the TNG-inspired music swells, he is about to be the Heroic Captain We All Remember -- except then the music fizzles out and the moment deflates because Picard has been retired for a decade and a half and has no idea what he's doing (and is certainly not the most qualified to do it on an unfamiliar ship).

That parallel in season 3 rubbed me the wrong way, because it felt too close to a refutation of season 1. Too close to "See? This is how that scene should have played out!" But that is a me problem. If the writers were remotely aware of the parallel (and I honestly doubt it, because I'm not sure they know season 1 well enough), it's just as likely they wrote it as a tongue-in-cheek reference, more than a rebuttal. Assuming the worst would have been on me and my unwillingness to give this season a fair shake. And if that sort of scene were the worst of it, I wouldn't be happy about it, but I wouldn't make it everybody else's problem.

Except the writers didn't stop there.

I would (eventually) be okay with it if the writers had just quietly abandoned, ignored, or even outright retconned some characters, history, themes, and plots from season 1 and 2 they disliked. But instead, they repeatedly acknowledge the existence of these elements only to then dismiss them in frankly viscious ways.

It's not enough to ignore the Jurati-Borg in all their Eggness glory and how they would be incredibly relevant to this story season 3 is trying to tell. It's not enough to pretend that storyline never happened and move on. Instead, the writers acknowledge the existence of the new collective, but the only sentence where it's mentioned is a character talking about "That weird shit on the Stargazer."

Yes, Shaw is a dick, yes it fits his character, yes Watsonian reasons. But it was still an active choice by the writers to only bring up one of the major plot developments of season 2 in the most derisive way possible.

Another example: The writers apparently felt that the Troi-Rikers didn't belong on Nepenthe. But it's not enough to have them move somewhere else between seasons, or even to let them have a discussion about how Nepenthe is steeped in loss and grief and they want to move somewhere else and start over.

Instead, the writers have to take time out of their already shoddily paced season to have these two characters extensively shit-talk one of the brightest momenst of season 1 (figuratively and literally). It's not just "they don't like it on Nepenthe anymore", it's "they never liked it, everything about it is terrible, everything season 1 showed you about their life there is a lie, and it has always been shitty and cringey and stupid, and you were stupid to like it!"

It's not just "we dumped our diverse characters, challenging themes, and relatively fresh view on the Trek universe from outside Starfleet for starship porn, great (white) men, and more Starfleet nostalgia than you can even comprehend". It's not just "we're going to ignore the existence of season 1 (and to a degree season 2), because it's not doing the things we want to do." It's not just "we're making this show, knowing (and not caring) that it will alienate a large chunk of the people who enjoyed season 1".

It's "we see what previous seasons were trying to do, and we need you to understand, really understand, how much contempt we have for these seasons and the people who enjoyed them."

I know some people felt this way about season 1 and the way it deconstructed Picard's image as the Great Heroic Captain and laid open his flaws and the flaws of the Federation. And I now empathize with them more than I ever thought I would. But I think there is a big qualitative difference in there.

In season 1, Picard gets put in his place. He has women people telling him when he's wrong, where he has failed, where he should have stepped up and needed to do better. But the show is still deeply sympathetic towards him. By the end of the season, Elnor has forgiven him, Raffi has forgiven him (without ever getting an apology), and he gets to save the day [whether the end to this particular arc is well done (it's not) is a rant for another day].

The failures Picard is being reproached for in season 1 pretty much exclusively happen between TNG and PIC. They tie in to patterns and tendencies the character has always had and attempt to deconstruct some of them. But there's no direct evisceration of specific things that happened on TNG.

At no point does Picard get out his Ressikan flute to make a glib comment about what a useless trinket it is, and how he should have thrown it out years ago. At no point does he turn to Riker and say: "Man, do you remember that Darmok and Jalad shit? What a waste of time! I wish we'd blown up that ship when we encountered it."

Season 1 is critical of Picard's character, yes, and it might feel crass or unfair at times (not least because we're still not used to seeing Great (White) Heroic Men Of Our Childhood get deconstructed that way). But any reproach the season 1 writers levelled at Picard pales in comparison to the petty contempt the season 3 writers regularly display towards the show they've ostensibly taken stewardship of.

Season 1 might have been a bit glib or inconsiderate of the legacy they inherited. Season 3 is viscious. And I am so, so tired of it.

#star trek picard #star trek picard season 3 #picard spoilers #picard saltiness #and to head this off at the pass: 'the writers aren't trying to be mean they're just making jokes'#doesn't really make the situation better.#if you don't understand the material you inherited and your own writing well enough to realize your being a petty dick #that doesn't say anything good about you as a writer or the people who let you be in charge #last week i was incandescent with rage #this week i am just so so SO very tired #just make it stop #please #can it please be over?#i have deep respect for all the people who decided not to watch this season #you are stronger than me and you have made the right choice

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