#400 pages of complaining

[uygfiug]

:) my dutch teacher with similar taste in books as me seems to be the one picking what we read this year :DD

[dead-set-goat]

I have this new oc, she’s so cringefail losercore, spinning her so hard in my mind rn… I made her a little tune too..

Sadly I just can’t seem to be able to outline a clear story for her. Guess I’ll just isekai her to an already established (in my mind) universe and watch what happens🤷

Worldbuilding is more fun to me anyway, but I really ought to start writing soon, it’s always been so daunting though… but if I can make shitty little art and shitty little music, why not make shitty little writing about the tropes and things I love huh?

[lightgaswaterelectricityrent]

my question is why did donna tartt need to invent a fictional middle eastern country that had no impact on the events of the book whatsoever. like why did we need a confusing name drop of that 3 or 4 times in the midst of a book that seems to be otherwise entirely set in the real world

[tripleaxeldiaz]

i don’t understand people complaining about the percy jackson show. yes things are different again, i know we’re all scarred from the movies. yes there are things that got cut. it’s a 400 page book condensed into 8ish hours of tv — things move quicker because we’re not in the characters heads anymore, and watching minutes and minutes of them puzzling through things would frankly be boring to watch. the things they HAVE changed, with medusa and hephaestus and all the nods to the gods being truly complex and terrible beings, is SO rich and fresh and exciting for people who have read the books 27 times over

just because it’s not a page for page adaptation doesn’t make it bad. you want the book story? read the book

[celticcrossanon]

Harry is back to doing royal tours again, Celta, only this time, they're faux royal tours. After 400 pages of complaining in his memoirs "Waaaagh!" of being forced to do royal duties, Harry is back to doing faux royal tours again. I don't understand what this guy (Harry) wants.

19th Aug Ask

Hi Nonny,

It is odd, to say the least, that Harry is willingly doing what he has complained about in the past. I don't know why he is doing it either. My guess would be money and attention, as they seem to be his motivators, plus sticking it to the BRF in a 'see, I can do this without you and better than you' kind of way, but it is still contradicting what he said in his memoir. Maybe his truth has changed and this is now his one true path in life? (I'm poking fun here).

[spicysix]

Lui, congrats on 400 followers! 🩵

For the celebration, if I may request: 📖 + stuck in an elevator + steve and fem!reader

thank you babe!!! hope you like this! 💖

join the celebration!

if it rises fast

“Oh, no. Not this again,” you complained as you felt that robotic hesitation as the elevator went up, as you heard its gears trying to work and not fully doing it.

It slowed down... slowed down... before stopping. Completely.

“Shit,” you mumbled as you rubbed your eyes.

“What’s going on?” The voice behind you startled you a little.

You forgot there was a guy with you, he was so quiet as the elevator rose the first few floors. You turned to face him, and got a little blown away by how beautiful he was. Like, magazine front page beautiful. Shiny hair carefully coiffed up, pretty peachy lips, a little mole or two that gave him an extra charm.

You got lost in the dude’s beauty for a little while.

His lips perked up a bit, as if he knew why you were staring at him for so long.

“Oh, uh. The elevator gets stuck sometimes. Such an old thing, y’know. Lots of complaints, and they haven’t updated it yet,” you finally answered, and his lips and eyebrows turned down into a frown.

“It’s happened before?” he questioned.

“Yeah. With me in it, two times already. I’ve heard it from five other neighbors too,” you said, remembering how much Ms. Durvall from sixth floor yelled when she complained about it. She gave you the creeps. “You’re new here? Or visiting?”

“Uh, new. Moved in with two friends, we just got to the city a week ago. We’re from a- what are you doing?” he stopped his life story when he saw you sitting down.

“I’ve pressed the help button,” you nodded to a little button pressed all the way in the control panel. “Don’t know what it does, maybe it calls the fireman? But, anyway, it’s gonna take some time. Maybe a few hours.”

“A FEW- Jesus, Robin’s gonna kill me,” he hid his face behind his hands, and you had to suppress a giggle at how adorable his whine sounded.

“Don’t worry, your girlfriend will understand when she finds out you had no choice but to stay stuck in an elevator,”

“I’m not so sure, she’s terrified of elevators, told me to get the stairs. She’ll probably be all like, ‘oh, I told you so!’. Ah, and not my girlfriend. She’s actually dating our other roommate,” he said as he sat down too, pressed against the other metallic wall, facing you.

“What floor are you guys in?”

“Eight.”

“And she goes up the stairs every time?” You didn’t know whether to be scared or admired.

“Yeah. Got some killer calves,” he smiled. “We have a terrible history with getting stuck on elevators. I worked my ways through… well, a lot of therapy. Now I can ride them again after a few years, but she never got past it. I can understand why.”

He said it in such a way that you didn’t feel like prying. There was something else in that story, something he probably didn’t wanna talk about, so you didn’t ask.

“You guys from around here?” you asked instead. You were going to be stuck for a while there, it wouldn’t hurt to make some small talk and get to know your pretty new neighbor.

“No, actually, we’re all the way from Indiana. Small town,” he shrugged.

“Why San Francisco?” you asked, and he searched for something in your eyes, your face, before answering.

“It’s safer,” he answered only, again not giving you space to ask further. Maybe he didn’t find what he was looking for. “You’re from here?

“Born and raised, yeah.” You went quiet for a little while, trying to come up with something to talk about. Then, you noticed: “I don’t know your name yet.”

“I don’t know your name either.��� He smirked. “I'm Steve.”

You introduced yourself and Steve asked more about you. You lost track of time talking to him, learning how charming he could be, but also really funny — in a bitchy way. He talked about Robin, his best friend and platonic soulmate, and their friend Nancy, who he used to date but now they’re great friends (you got the impression that Nancy was the other roommate that Robin was dating, but didn’t ask, not wanting to make him uncomfortable). He told you about two other friends of theirs who lived back in Sacramento, one who lived in LA, and a bunch of other younger friends who were scattered around the country all chasing their dreams. Talked about his work as a school counselor, how it took him some long years to figure out what he wanted to do professionally.

You told him about yourself too, answered everything he asked honestly and openly. Talked about your job, your own roommate, your other friends and family. Gave him tips on the best places to visit and shop in the city, ways for him and his roommates to contour the ‘new citizens’ weird phase. You talked about music, movies, books, food, your favorites and the ones you hated, anything you’d come up with.

He was sweet and charismatic, and always found new topics for you to talk about. He read you like a book, figuring you out in no time and swerving the conversations so easily. Flirted a lot too, which was great for your self-esteem.

He came closer at some point, sitting beside you, and then you faced each other more closely. And from that distance you could see every little detail in his pretty face, studied him with precision. You could look at him for however long, to be honest, and you wanted to memorize every tiny inch of what made him, him. The curves of his hair defying gravity, the scars on his forehead and nose, every little green spot in his hazel eyes. Count every and each one of his eyelashes, and get blinded by the way he smiled.

More than that, you could talk to him for however long, and you wanted to. Wanted to learn about all of his many friends, who he talked about with so much love in his voice, who all sounded like a big family to him. Wanted to learn the story with the elevator trauma, wanted him to trust you and open up to you, and wanted to do the same back with him.

It was weird to you, you’ve never felt this way before — so magnetically pulled to someone’s orbit. But Steve’s voice was like a Siren’s call, and there was a funny bubbling in your stomach that wanted and wanted and wanted him.

You never thought you’d be disappointed with the sounds of the elevator’s gears running again, and yet you hid a frown when the doors opened to show you a fireman, the building’s janitor and a tall, skinny girl with a strawberry blond bob pacing anxiously behind them.

“Steve! Oh, my god, Steve!” she said when she noticed you and Steve sitting on the floor, and she wasted no time getting past the other two men to throw herself at the one by your side. Robin, you figured. “You fucker, I told you to use the stairs!” you heard her saying, a little muffled from where her face was buried into Steve’s neck.

He looked at you over her shoulder and you smiled at the way he was right about her.

“I’m okay, Robs, I had good company. Didn’t even have time to get stressed,” he said, running his hand up and down her back in a soothing gesture, his eyes still on you, his smile just for you.

Robin sat up and looked at you, and you introduced yourself and she did the same. She thanked you for being there for Steve, as if it hadn’t been a total random accident, but you were also happy that you’ve met him. More happy that you could say out loud.

You all got up from the floor, left the elevator, and you offered a day to throw them a welcome diner, you’d invite your roommate and they could call their other friends. Robin seemed excited, all big gestures and loud voice. You liked her.

Goodbyes were said, you were going back to your place — through the stairs this time, thankfully you lived on the second floor — and they were going grocery shopping. Robin walked to the front door of your building, but Steve stayed planted in front of you for a while as you looked at each other and you tried not to smile too wide.

“Can I take you out on a date?” he asked after a while, fingers twitching and you wondered if he wanted to touch you. You wanted him to touch you.

“First one in the city?” you teased and he huffed a laugh while running his hand through his hair.

“One of many with you, I hope. No one else caught my eye, if I’m being honest.” The man was straight forward. You felt you cheeks burning, couldn’t hold back the wide grin anymore.

“You’ve been here just a week, Steve,” you said, warned him almost, because you wanted so much with him, and you were afraid of were this could go if it went wrong.

“Meh, it took me a while and some bumps to the head, but now I’m pretty good at knowing what I want. Don’t gotta search for so long anymore.” His eyes were staring deep into yours, and you felt his hand coming to find yours to hold.

You bit your lip and his eyes traced the movement, and there was a butterfly party in your stomach.

“Someone told me there’s a great restaurant just at the end of the street,” he said, referencing one of the tips you gave him early.

You laughed. “Yeah, okay. Take me out on a date, Steve. Next Friday?”

“I’ll be counting the days.” He took a step closer, his thumb was tracing patterns on the back of your hand and your skin was tingling. “Can’t believe I’m glad to have gotten stuck on an elevator. Well, create good memories to overlap the bad ones, I guess.”

“I’m looking forward to create other memories with you,” you almost whispered, because being that open was scary, and the way you wanted him so much was scary, but he smiled at you again and it was blinding in the best way.

“Me too, honey. See you around,” he said, before pressing a kiss on your still burning cheek, and you could smell his scent of soap and fabric softener, hairspray and fancy cologne, and you had to hold yourself back not to get buried in his skin.

God, it was pathetic how far gone you already was.

He walked away still facing you, holding your hand until the very last possible second before letting go, and you could hear Robin laughing in the background but you only had eyes for him.

Yeah, you’d also be counting the days.

[literary-illuminati]

2024 Book Review #27 – From the Ruins of Empire: The Revolt Against the West and the Remaking of Asia by Pankaj Mishra

Yet another work of nonfiction I picked up because an intriguing-sounding quote from it went viral on tumblr. This was the fifth history book I’ve read this year, but the first that tries very consciously to be an intellectual history. Both an interesting and a frustrating read – my overall opinion went back and forth a few times both as I read and as I put together this review.

The book is ostensibly a history of Asia’s intellectual response to European empire’s sudden military and economic superiority and political imperialism in the 19th and 20th centuries, though it’s focus and sympathy is overwhelmingly with what it calls ‘middle ground’ responses (i.e. neither reactionary traditionalism nor unthinking westernization). It structures this as basically a series of biographies of notable intellectual figures from the Islamic World, China and India from throughout the mid-late 19th and early 20th centuries - Liang Qichao and Jamal al-Din al-Afghani get star bidding and by far the most focus, with Rabindranath Tagore a distant third and a whole scattering of more famous personages further below him.

The central thesis of the book is essentially that the initial response of most rich, ancient Asian societies to sudden European dominance (rung in by the Napoleonic occupation of Egypt and the British colonization of India) was denial, followed (once European guns and manufactured goods made this untenable) by a deep sense of inferiority and humiliation. This sense of inferiority often resulted in attempts by ruling elites and intellectuals to abandon their own traditions and westernize wholesale (the Ottoman Tanzimat reforms, the New Culture Movement in China, etc), but at the same time different intellectual currents responded to the crisis by synthesizing their own visions of modernity, and tried to construct a new world with a centre other than the West.

I will be honest, my first and most fundamental issue with this book is that I just wish it was something it wasn’t. Which is to say, it is a resolutely intellectual and idealist history, convinced of the power of ideas and rhetoric as the engine for changing the world. Which means that the biography of one itinerant revolutionary is exhaustively followed so as to trace the evolution of his world-historically important thoughts, but the reason the Tanzimat Reforms failed is just brushed aside as having something to do with europhile bureaucrats building opera houses in Istanbul. Not at all hyperbole to say I’d really rather it was actually the exact opposite – the latter is just a much more interesting subject!

Not that the biographies aren’t interesting! They very much are, and do an excellent job of getting across just how interconnected the non-Western (well, largely Islamic and to a lesser extent Sino-Pacific) world was in the early/mid-19th century, and even moreso how late 19th/early 20th century globalization was not at all solely a western affair. They’re also just fascinating in their own right, the personalities are larger than life and the archetype of the globe-trotting polyglot intelligentsia is one I’ve always found very compelling. While I complain about the lack of detail, the book does at least acknowledge the social and economic disruptions that even purely economic colonialism created, and the impoverishment that created the social base the book’s subjects would eventually try to arouse and organize. And, even if I wish they were all dug into in far more detail, the book’s narrative is absolutely full of fascinating anecdotes and episodes I want to read about in more detail now.

Which is a problem with the book that it’s probably fairer to hold against it – it’s ostensible subject matter could fill libraries, and so to fit what it wants to into a readable 400-page volume, it condenses, focuses, filters and simplifies to the point of myopia. Which, granted, is the stereotypical historian’s complaint about absolutely anything that generalizes beyond the level of an individual village or commune, but still.

This isn’t at all helped but the overriding sense that this was a book that started with the conclusion and then went back looking for evidence to support its thesis and create a narrative. Which is a shame, because the section on the post-war and post-decolonization world is by far the sloppiest and least convincing, in large part because you can feel the friction of the author trying to make their thesis fit around the obvious objections to it.

Which is to say, the book draws a line on the evolution of Asian thought through trying to westernize/industrialize/nationalize and compete with the west on it’s own terms (in the book’s view) a more authentic and healthy view that rejects the western ideals of materialism and nationalism into something more spiritual, humane, and cosmopolitan, with Gandhi kind of the exemplar of this kind of view. It tries to portray this anti-materialistic worldview as the ideology of the future, the natural belief system of Asia which Europe and America can hope to learn from. It then, ah, lets say struggles to to find practical evidence of this in modern politics or economics, lets say (the Islamic Republic of Iran and Edrogan’s Turkey being the closest). It is also very insistent that ��westernization’ is a false god that can never work, which is an entirely reasonable viewpoint to defend but if you are then you really gotta remember that Japan/South Korea/Taiwan like, exist while going through all the more obvious failures. One is rather left feeling that Mishra is trying to speak an intellectual hegemony into existence, here. (The constant equivocation and discomfort when bringing up socialism – the materialistic western export par excellence, but also perhaps somewhat important in 20th century Asian intellectual life – also just got aggravating).

It’s somewhere between interesting and bleakly amusing that modernity and liberal democracy have apparently been discredited and ideologically exhausted for more than one hundred years now! Truly we are ruled by the ideals of the dead.

I could honestly complain about the last chapter at length – the characterization of Islam as somehow more deeply woven in and inextricable from Muslim societies than any other religion and the resultant implicit characterization of secular government as necessarily western intellectual colonialism is a big one – but it really is only a small portion of the book, so I’ll restrain myself. Though the casual mention of the failures of secular and socialist post-colonial nation-building projects always just reminds me of reading The Jakarta Method and makes me sad.

So yeah! I felt significantly more positively about the book before I sat down and actually organized my thoughts about it. Not really sure how to take that.

[masons-tours]

Hello 👋 I’ve been sitting on this for a few hours wondering if I should post this or not but I’ve decided fuck it so let me just double down and clear a few things up

I have repeatedly said I think they are casual but yet I’m pushing an agenda that they are in a committed relationship. I’m embarrassing & delusional because I have a feeling it might turn out to be more (we all know my feelings are always off so maybe I should just consult to the magic 8 ball). If I’m wrong & she ends up like just the others big deal I was wrong who cares.

I know I haven’t stalked anyone & I don’t stalk friends, people send me links or ask me to go look, I don’t go looking for him in tagged locations (except game day I love those arrival videos) & I don’t send people to go do it either. Everything I post is from public accounts readily available to everyone else or throwbacks found in the depths of my phone.

My blog has been the same from the start so don’t give me the moral superiority of ‘her page used to fun now it’s just gossip’ because it hasn’t changed.

I get asks so I answer them if I don’t answer people say I’m pushing a narrative to fit a fairytale when in fact it’s probably because I’ve already answered similar asks, your only “pushing back” to cause drama because you think you will catch me out on something or I’ve just run out of bandwidth to deal with the conversation, pick any of these way and I can’t win so I’ve decided not to try. It’s my blog I get to decide what I do and don’t answer if you don’t like it no one is stopping you from going away and starting your blog to talk about what you want.

I’m not some big account who controls Masonblr I’ve got 400 followers which is considerably less than most accounts so If you don’t not wish to be one of the people who follows me anymore because I irritate you so much the unfollow button is located at the top right or you can stay continuing to check up on me dissecting & complaining about everything I do including this because I know you will 👋👋👋 just know you’re wasting your own time not mine.

Please don’t go a defend me or send death threats anywhere because it makes it seem like I’ve sent you (seriously you 🤡 why would you send death threats). So……… Anyway this turned out way too long asks will be back later when I’m ready.

[ladylokilaufeyson5]

I'm looking for a romance one shot with Draco Malfoy and the female reader reading a book together. Thanks

A/N: there's less reading than i expected but...

Pairings: Draco Malfoy x Reader (established relationship)

Warnings: potentially implied sexy times depending on how you want to take it

Words: 400+

Draco has always loved to read. As a little boy, he loved the Tales of Beedle the Bard, and had ordered his mother to read it to him over and over until he could read it himself. As he grew older, his tastes grew as well, and (although he would never admit it) muggle literature was something he enjoyed greatly, and that was due to you.

You, the muggleborn who had captured his heart, even though he had thought it to be impossible. You, who had opened his mind and made him realise that maybe his parents weren’t as right as he used to believe.

He enjoyed reading with you. Whether it be him reading to you or vice versa, he adored spending time with you, even if it was just the two of you reading in silence together. It was the closeness he craved.

He currently sat with you in a secluded part of the library, your head on his shoulder while he read aloud. He was aware of your every move – your breathing and the way it shifted your body against his, and the way you fiddled with the sleeves of your robes.

“I should probably get going now,” you sighed as Draco finished a chapter, and his fingers halted on the page.

“Do you have to?” he asked, knowing what the answer would be.

You groaned softly and turned your head just far enough to press a kiss to his cheek. “Unfortunately. Detention with McGonagall, remember?”

“My little trouble maker,” Draco laughed lightly.

You scowled at him, which made his grin grow wider.

“That was entirely your fault, Draco,” you complained.  “It’s not my fault you couldn’t keep your hands off of me.”

Draco laughed again and kissed the hollow of your throat, his hand dancing across your waist. “I thought you liked my hands on you.”

You let out a little noise of frustration before sighing loudly.

“If I’m late to a detention that I got for being late to class, I’ll probably get another one, which means you won’t be able to have your hands on me.”

Draco sighed in disappointment, turning his head to get one more kiss from you before you stood up and smoothed down your robes. You blew him a kiss as you walked away, and Draco smiled softly as he thought about how lucky he was to have you.

[ruby-red-inky-blue]

a couple of years back i was pretty vocal about not getting when people complained about their art not getting "enough" notes. but i'm getting to recognise a sub-category of that frustration these days that, in fairness, was maybe what people were talking about all along? but i've also seen other posts mention how fandom spaces feel changed since the last few years, so maybe it's a new thing or at least a thing that hadn't reached my fandom corner until now.

i truly don't mind if my writing doesn't garner a lot of attention (although i say this from a place of priviledge where my writing has so far always garnered some attention, and often a lot more than i anticipated). but what is really starting to grate a little is the amount of attention vs. the amount of reaction. For example, before the latest update on my big multichapter fic, it sat at ~ 33,050 hits. since then the fic has been clicked 400 times. the kudos count went up by maybe three and there were three new bookmarks - this isn't super surprising because i don't expect to be reaching a lot of new people with an unfinished 100+k word fic in a dwindling fandom, and if they're return readers they can't leave new kudos. but five people have commented on the fic since the update. One percent of readers who have clicked on this fic have reacted. Did all these people see it on the recently updated feed, started to read it, didn't vibe with it and moved on? That honestly wouldn't bother me. But it's been steadily gaining attention for the last few weeks, long after it moved off the first page of the recently updated view for the fandom. so rather, I think it's mostly subscribed users (the fic has a little over 400 active subscriptions so that would make sense) or people actively checking back on the fic. in which case they must be at least somewhat invested in it.

and again, i'm not owed any feedback. i put my work out for free and people decide what to do with that. but fandom is a collaborative space, and it's been feeling like less that for a while. people seem less ready for conversation, and i think that's sad, and quite demoralising for creatives (at least for me personally). fandom work isn't meant as bingeable content that you consume and then leave. if you do that on netflix, that's fine, because you're paying the platform and they're at least supposed to recompense the creatives who made the show you just watched. fandom artists don't get that. we make things for the love of it, and because we wanted to share that love. it doesn't feel like sharing though when you put something out there and nothing comes back. it feels like standing in an empty warehouse telling my stories to nobody. and, again, i'm personally lucky enough that it's not like that all the time, but i get why people stop doing it. and i get that engaging with art as an audience member doesn't come easy to everyone, but fandom culture needs it. it's supposed to be an exchange. it's supposed to go both ways, and i think if you want to sustain the culture, you simply need to try and give something back, whatever that is.

because putting something you made out there and nobody looks at it is definitely not a great feeling, but having anonymous masses file by and look at your thing and then meet you with deafening silence feels... worse.

[arizonaconservativegal]

In anticipation of Speaker Mike Johnson heading to the U.S. southern border on Wednesday, the White House issued a statement accusing House GOPers of ducking the chance to address the issue they’ve been attacking.

“Actions speak louder than words,” White House spokesperson Andrew Bates said in a statement first obtained by POLITICO ahead of two days of Republican border visits. “House Republicans’ anti-border security record is defined by attempting to cut Customs and Border Protection personnel, opposing President Biden’s record-breaking border security funding, and refusing to take up the President’s supplemental funding request.”

Republicans have been critical of Biden’s handling of the southern border since the beginning of his term, often saying he’s downplayed, neglected or worsened a historic migrant influx through Mexico. They are now aiming to make the border a key 2024 election issue and place responsibility for the increase in migrants at the president’s feet.

My 2024 prediction is that we will see the Inflation Reduction Act 2.0 this year for the border. They'll call it the Border Security Plan. The BS Plan will provide subsidies for electric car chargers and dog washing stations in Vermont or something and not mention the southern border once in 400+ pages. The Dems will campaign on how much money they put into their Border Security Plan and complain that no Republicans voted for the BS.

[fixaidea]

*sigh*

One problem with trying to get into any bookish space (from Goodreads to Youtube all the way to Facebook groups) is how so many people treat reading as a competitive sport. There's this one sapphic recs group I'm a part of where someone will periodically ask how many books everyone read so far that year. Last round was just now, mid-August. Most of the anwers were 100+. Some over 400.

And this isn't in any way unique to this one group.

Obviously I'm not complaining that people are reading and not even concern-trolling about how much they may or may not retain if they carry on like that.

(Okay, maybe a bit, about that last one.)

What I'm trying to declare is that this is an insecurity I refuse to develop. I've read like five books so far this year. Sue me. I'm slow and my allocated page-time is mostly my daily commute. I also like to sit on stories and Fandom about them.

Bottom line is despite having a TBR through the roof I'll never set a yearly reading goal, I don't need one more way to disappoint myself.

[isadorajaneschaos]

so recently i got very excited and was animatedly talking to my dad about how i had read an 100k word fanfic in a day, specifically because that is the equivalent of reading a 400 page book in a day which i felt like i could never do. he generally doesn’t mind my ramblings but he made a comment that kinda hurt my feelings, which was “if only you could turn that into reading real books”. i didn’t respond at the time but did eventually complain to my mom about it and she told me to ignore it, as long as i was enjoying myself, what i was reading didn’t matter. but i had a thought i want to share

what is the difference between me reading a trashy, smutty romance novel and me reading fanfiction?

how is reading a trashy romance novel more “high bar” than reading a well written fanfiction?

really? i feel like people think fanfiction is poorly written with bad grammar and bad plot and bla bla bla but it’s not. sometimes it is that but mostly i reads well written, good quality stories. the difference between it and a novel is that it’s just done by an independent author in an already made universe. plenty of fanfiction has been re-published into “real” books. plenty of good books are published independently. so why is what i’m reading any worse than reading “low-bar” books. which i am not trying to shit talk romance novels, all types of writing has a place in the world, but that’s exactly what i’m saying, why is fanfiction not “real” reading?

anyway, that’s my rant.

[lauraroselam]

I was supposed to be able to ignore social media all this month, but I keep having stuff to announce. Anyway: 1. Dragonfall got longlisted for the British Fantasy Society Award, which was unexpected but delightful. If you're a member you can vote for the shortlist until Feb 20th. Not really expecting the shortlist since the list is stacked, but still happy to be longlisted. I'm aiming to bring a different approach to gender in epic fantasy with this book, in a genre that is usually fairly traditional in its depiction of gender roles in the name of 'historical accuracy.' Side note, but I've found it...interesting when one of the early, pre-pub reviews I saw (before I stopped looking) complained that the book 'ranted about my gender agenda' when the book has two very short scenes explicitly about gender. Maybe 3 pages in total in a 400+ page book? The first is the last male dragon who has been raised among only women getting a quick primer on how gender works in Loc after he's fallen to the human world and is trying to pretend to be a human himself (he's not very good at it), and the second is the nonbinary character sharing their own experiences of gender. The rest of the time it's just embedded since it's a queernorm world.

I've felt a bit hurt by that, to be quite honest--as a femme presenting AFAB nonbinary person, it reminds me of the occasions where I try to remind people that yes, I am nonbinary, and they'd rather still pretend I'm a woman because I look like one and it's easier for them to not have to think about it. Also no group is a monolith, so even some other NB readers might bounce off the way I want to talk about gender, which is fine. On the flip side, I've received really, really lovely notes from nonbinary and gender non-conforming readers who have felt it's one of the very rare times they've seen themselves represented in fantasy. and that's been really lovely. It's basically why I published the book, even though it was quite personal, and, as the years go on, I find myself increasingly bruised by trying to release art that means something to me in late-stage capitalism. I spent a lot of time last year seriously wondering if I was going to quit publishing once I finished my contracts, I found it so exposing this time around. I cherish every note from a reader that helps me remember my words connected with someone. 2. I thought Dragonfall was only going to be 99p for one day on Amazon UK, but it's still cheap. Grab it if you're in that geographical location if you like. 3. If you're in the US, Barnes & Noble is doing a pre-order sale so you can use PREORDER25 to get 25% off the paperback of Dragonfall, out in June, or you can go to the B&N Emberclaw page and maybe see the cover for it even though it's not yet been officially announced. You didn't hear this from me and when it's officially revealed you have to promise to still act surprised, okay? https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/dragonfall-l-r-lam/1141941880?ean=9780756418922

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/emberclaw-l-r-lam/1143890903?ean=9780756418441

Thank you for reading. Ask me about my gay dragon gender agenda.

[pedropascalunofficial]

STORY TIME - THE FANDOM STAIN

My response to THIS post from stainsofpascal/thesweetestdecline earlier today

@thesweetestdecline

I am going to number these since you’re going to get tired.

1.      FAKE IG ACCOUNT

You said I made a fake account in your name on IG? No. That fake stainsofpascal account isn't me. I'm in Ireland. We don't have Threads in Europe. And a VPN can't get around that. Please check your receipts before wasting all of our time with this bullshit narrative you're trying to deflect with.

2.   LONG POSTS

You complained that my posts are long. That's because your bullshit is prolific. I don’t mess around. I like to give detailed accounts of what’s happening with receipts to back it up so ppl can clearly see what's going on in the fandom they're now ashamed to be part of. It's also to prevent ppl like you from deflecting by saying your accusers are "crazy" or "obsessed" with you. The receipts don't lie even though you’d like ppl to believe they do.

3.   “BOT ATTACK” ON IG

You accused me of attacking you on IG? No. I haven’t done shit on IG. I haven’t attacked your stainsofpascal or thesweetestdecline accounts. You realise I’m just the loudest of many, many ppl who wonder why you're in the fandom?! Getting you suspended would only feed your need to be seen as an underdog. I’d rather watch all this play out as ppl wake up to your clout chasing. It's not me or my friends who will be your downfall. You'll manage that just fine by continuing your bullshit.

4.  FOLLOWER COUNT ANOMALIES

You’re gas. Always playing the victim to deflect from your own misdeeds. Are you ever going to explain any of the unusual increases in follows or would you like us all to ignore the fact you can get 400 in a matter of hours and drop 500 the next day? Should we believe your version of accounts because you're...... an upstanding member of this community? Stop trying to compare your jumps in followers on your stainsofpascal IG account with other ppls. Your account numbers go up and down faster than a whores knickers on Paddy’s Day in Times Square. No one else has this but you and your dodgy minions who hid their dodgy numbers in a recent attempt to hide their ratios.

5.      COME CLEAN

What have I done in this fandom? I'll admit it (again). I bought Pedro’s white pages and socials info via a website. That was stupid. I regret doing it. What was really stupid was that I shared some of it thinking it was for a laugh and your mate, (let's call her Ms Peacock) used it to trade with ppl across the fandom to gain clout and to gain more information about Pedro. I've tried to make amends but it's far too late as it snowballed into much bigger information getting traded. So to attempt to make amends, I decided to get closer to the psychos and report back. Shitty, I know, but at least the right ppl know about the stalking bullshit and Pedro can protect himself better.

6.  MS PEACOCK AND STALKER REDDIT

After sharing his old info with you and Ms Peacock, I realised neither of you were looking into Pedro's old info just out of curiosity. You were tracking him and his friends around like they’re characters in a story. It’s my bad for not noticing the crazy when it was staring me in the face.  I shared info which was traded from person to person in exchange for info that has been used to help Ms Peacock not just stalk Pedro online but get physically closer to him. First, driving past his old house and now, three years later, she’s living "#twoblocksaway" from his gym according to a recent post. Zero shame.

I shouldn't be surprised since she used to frequent his actual neighbourhood even though it was a three hour round trip from her town. Before all that, she told us she used his personal email for a project where a group of us had raised money to adopt an elephant for his birthday. I never did get the info on the elephant since she dipped on the group chat after getting what she wanted. Ms Peacock traded info some of us had given her with others in turn for more info and clout. Just like a fandom Gollum. We didn’t realise that stuff we shared was being traded so it could be added to in order to feed her need to feel near him and grow her influence here. You’ve been part of supporting that behaviour too. When Ms Peacock asked you to find out where Pedro was one day, you went straight to the airline staff and lied about possibly being on the flight in an attempt to get the flight details. You ran right back and gave her what you had. I hope you realise we’ve all been played. Some of us learned our lesson and tried to be better but you stayed with her and you guys took it to another level. When you ran out of info, you created a stalker reddit where you share info you gather through lies and deceit with some real psychos in the fandom. I hadn't realised what I fed into until I saw the levels you guys cranked it up to. Now I see what a bit of info in the wrong hands can snowball into. I have a lot of regret about that. (I also have receipts)

Do you regret being part of that? Have you even stopped tracking him?

7.   CHASING CLOUT

Some of us did some of the stuff you continue to do but we woke up and realised this shit isn't a game. YOU and your shitty friends levelled up and are fucking with ppls lives. You treat him like shit for clout and not because you want him to be a successful human being. You need to grow up and admit that to yourself. Impossible though right?! Coz then you might lose clout. That is why you're here right?!

If it's not, then why?

TO CREATE COMMUNITY?

I've seen screenshots of your IG posts and what type of community you're cultivating in your comments. Ppl who shit on Pedro's career, his sexuality, his physical appearance, and you've collected a fine assortment of fandom psychos all sharing your posts. You feed them with likes even when their comments are hate filled. Ppl have noticed.

TO STALK PEDROS FRIENDS?

You've posted about contacting Pedro's friends through social media. Going so far as to add trackers to your Tumblr and watch their online status on Instagram. (I’ve got receipts)

TO INTERFERE PEDROS FRIENDS?

You’ve admitted reaching out to Pedro’s old friends. They’re said they’ve unknowingly given information to stalkers they've had to add extra layers of security to their social media. They aren’t there to be used as “sources” during playtime. (I’ve got receipts)

TO STALK PEDRO?

You guys contact his friends, hotel and airline staff for more info on his whereabouts. (I’ve got receipts) If that's not stalking then what do you call it?

TO SUPPORT PEDRO?

Pedro is the punchline of your account. You encourage ppl to drag him by liking their hate filled comments. What’s that about? It would be cute if you weren’t also stalking him but publicly negging the fuck out of you’re victim is a bit tasteless, no?

8.      OBSESSED

You say I'm "obsessed" with you and you've "done nothing to my friends"? No, try, a lot of other ppl in the fandom and I are sick of your holier than thou act when we’ve seen you abuse and attack ppl competing accounts who did nothing to you. You can't fuck up ppls lives and expect to skip off into the sunset. You do shitty things, refuse to acknowledge them and continue to be the best example of what's wrong with this fandom and why it has the reputation it does.

9. WHY DO I "COME FOR YOU"?

I challenge you because you came at others first and like magic, shit hit the fan for them.

Early on you were copying Aude’s style of posting. It's undeniable that your posts were very similar. No one really cared but ppl talked about it in forums and someone sent an anon to @pedrohub who decided to post it for some reason🤔. You decided to attack her in a reblog and accuse her "friends" of sending poorly spelled hate. Then you gaslight her all because she had....stopped liking your posts as much as before. Like wtf?

Then you blamed Arte for hateful anons you were getting. You said it was her because she had blocked you. You said it was definitely she because she's from Ohio (btw Arte doesn’t talk about being from Ohio so how did you know that?), ignoring the fact another fan is from Ohio and is well known in the fandom to send vicious hateful anons (let's call her Wendys License-Plates Girl). You didn't like Artes reason for disliking you and your account. She blocked you so she just didn’t have to see you. She had never said anything bad about you at that point. You produced screenshots of conversations which were had after you accused her but you ran with them as your "evidence" that she had it out for you in dms and was directing a campaign of hate against you. When nothing came of that, you then blamed her for getting you blocked by Sebastiano Mauri because you.....liked her dog pic? Again wtf. There's a trend brewing here.

You created these monsters in your head and you took your anger out on unsuspecting fan accounts. Meanwhile, you were posting shit ppl just weren't feeling and stalking SM in dms. You were tracking him and baiting him to speak to you so you could see his activity tracker in IG. I was the one who got you blocked for your fucking stalker bullshit coz you bragged about it.

You blamed Arte and Aude for bullshit you made up in your paranoid mind. You were told they were innocent by the person you suspectdd of ratting you out but you chose to doggedly go after both of THEM AND NOT ME. Talking shit in dms with whoever would listen. Spinning your usual holier than thou victim routine.

Now, let’s see….

Who has magically lost their account – pascalisfrenchpunk

Who has magically received a death threat – artedepascal (also runs mh_creatives on IG)

Who was bore witness to your bullshit, Known to be friends with Aude and Arte, Known to have connections to get info to Pedro?

Me.

Why didn’t you ever target me since you had vague posted about me being a rat? You knew I got kicked out of the stalker reddit once the Fleetwoods-rumours blog got published for the guys to read.

But...

I don't use IG so I guess you didn't see me as a threat to your clout chasing on there. You only went for ppl with competing IG accounts because all you want is to be noticed by Pedro and to be the Queen Clout Chaser of the fandom.

NO ONE WAS RUNNING A CAMPAIGN OF HATE BUT I SURE WAS COLLECTING A COLLAGE OF YOUR BULLSHIT TO HELP YOUR VICTIMS.

If you have missed who the fans are that are giving this fandom a reputation for being psychos, please see the Story Time series (so far) below✌️

[sincerely-sofie]

I’m actually cooking up individual personalities for the sableye rn! I haven’t gotten down to the nitty-gritty of each individual, but they’ve all got names and a few have some details to help separate them from each other in terms of look. Here’s some notes for a teaser:

Jasper is a very intense character, despite being an incurable prankster who you’d expect to be more lighthearted. He takes pranks very seriously— they were his passion when the Dark Future was a thing, and now that whole mess is all wrapped up, they are his life. Do not spoil a prank he’s planning if you value your kneecaps.

Jet was pretty much a secretary for Dusknoir back in the Dark Future. Very organized, responsible, and obsessed with punctuality. He was the sableye who got distracted by Shinies the least, though that’s not to say he never saw a pretty piece of seaglass and jumped out of the time travel equivalent of a moving car. He has a notch in the base of his right ear-looking thingy.

Tourmaline (often just called Tourmi) is impatient and bossy, but means well. Fond of cooking, and uses way too many spices in his dishes. He just dumps an entire shaker of black pepper into a small pot of soup and calls it good.

Cinnabar just wants to spend all her time reading. The fact she’s got terrible insomnia is not a major inconvenience to her— it is a superpower. Everyone will turn in for the night and she’ll go “Okay time to start another 400 page novel!! I need to know what happens next!!”

Jade likes teasing her friends and making horrible Pinterest fail-looking crafts. Has a small gemstone beneath her left eye that resembles a beauty mark. Loves drama and gossip.

Smaragdus doesn’t understand anything that’s going on around him at any given point. A major ditz, a bit of a philosopher, very creative, and extremely confused by the types of humor his peers enjoy. He wears an earring as a memento from a dear friend. Loves fighting.

I can totally see Jet tagging along with Dusknoir to the Present, though he would need a steady stream of busywork to stay sane in such a peaceful environment! He’s very timid and would also struggle keenly to adapt to socializing in a non-post-apocalyptic scenario. He only ever really spoke to Dusknoir and the other sableye in the Dark Future, after all, and he’s known them for most of his life! I think he’d end up getting along really well with Chatot, once they both got over their individual rigidity enough to ask what the other person does for fun. (They both like cleaning and organization. They look at each other after answering in the same way and they both think to themselves, Oh my goodness it’s the only other sane person in the world. We’re going to have so much to complain about together.)

On a side note 83.33% of the group are memers and neither Dusknoir nor Smaragdus understand the majority of what comes out of their mouths.