#But they're also doomed and that's the poetry

[xinganhao]

🌸 jihoon x poetry account!reader.

the one where jihoon reads all the poems you think he'll like. headcanons & bonus content under the cut. ➤ see also: svt burner accounts series

🌸 jihoon and the languages of love .ᐟ

jihoon claims: he can live without receiving gifts. he's never been particularly materialistic to begin with. he appreciates the bits and bobs he gets from fans, although he will also be the first to insist that no, you don't have to do this for him. spend your money on something more 'important'. save for a rainy day. he is fine without it; he is happy to just be remembered.

this is the same jihoon who will wear the socks he was given until there are holes in them. (even then, he'll try to hold on to, believing they serve their purpose.) jihoon who keeps all the gift tags from presents tucked away in a shoe box underneath his bed. jihoon who, with every poem you tweet, feels like he's receiving a little gift in itself.

jihoon claims: he's not a fan of physical touch. a lot of his members have chipped at his distaste for skinship over the years, but even then, he's not the type to seek out affection that way. he will indulge fans at fan signs. hold their hands when they ask. still, it is not something on the top of his mind when he thinks of the word 'love'.

this is the same jihoon who will stick to his members' side when they're out someplace unfamiliar. jihoon who will bear the weight of his twelve brothers' crushing bear hugs with little to no complaint, his expression exasperated but impossibly fond. jihoon who, when you mention loving the lyrics of hug, wonders briefly what that might be like— to share something like that with you.

jihoon claims: he doesn't deserve acts of service. he reasons that it's because he's nobody special. he's just a guy, not anybody you have to expend too much energy on. and he's an adult, at that, one who has always viewed himself as independent and self-sufficient in day-to-day. it's alright, he'll say. i can do it myself.

this is the same jihoon who almost cries when he realizes a blanket had been tucked over his shoulders during his sleep. jihoon who remembers like the back of his hand the snacks that his members love, the birthdays of all their own families, the names of their pets. jihoon who feels a dull ache in his chest when he thinks of people like you and what more he can do to keep you around.

jihoon claims: he's terrible with quality time. he's busy, always so busy, spending more time in his studio than anywhere else in the world. he works like he has more than just 24 hours in a day. he feels guilty at this one in particular, at the knowledge that he can only give so much of his already portioned minutes. it's the life he chose, though, and he takes care to remind himself of that every day.

this is the same jihoon who has a special ringtone set for the people he loves so no matter how deep he is in his work, he will know when he has to look up and check. jihoon who purposefully carves out time to respond to texts or meet up with someone, even if it's only for half an hour. jihoon who lets himself be selfish, lets himself be just a teensy bit greedy, when he doom scrolls through the poems you leave him. (five minutes more, he'll barter with himself. just five minutes more, please.)

jihoon claims: he could be better with words of affirmation. he tends to be blunt with his words, which may sometimes be interpreted as coldness. he jokes around sparingly. he doesn't have the cutesy text-speak, the suave pickup lines of the other members. there are days, even, when the three words that matter the most catch in his throat. when all that comes out is a helpless, flustered stutter of i— i— i— love you.

this is the same jihoon who means every damn lyric he writes. jihoon whose entire discography of love, and heartbreak, and yearning, and home, and family, is made with specific faces in mind. jihoon who stutters and stammers when it comes to saying things outright, so when it comes to you, he borrows words from people who say it better than he can; he loans quotes and phrases and lines, hoping that somehow it will all still reach you. he can be more fluent in these languages of love, he knows. but he trusts that you can hear and see what he means all the same.

BONUS CONTENT .ᐟ

⌗ ┆this is a slight homage to one of my favorite twitter accounts ever, poemsfornamjoon. i like to believe jihoon would also love a good poem (´• ω •`) ♡! hcs were also heavily inspired by this tweet (THE ENTIRE THREAD!!!), which i think of A Lot when it comes to jihoon: "woozi is always like, i'm so sorry i can't say saranghae. i can only write, compose and produce 100+ songs and counting for our band. i can only maintain a vast mental encyclopedia of 12 people's little things. wooahae. wooahae. wooahae. wooahae. wooahae. wooahae"

[hikarielizabethbloom]

The thing about Galadriel and Halbrand is that they were both broken people starving for something (revenge, redemption? Who cares?).

And then they met and they started feeding on each other and if felt complicated but good.

And then everything went to hell

and now they're doomed to spend the rest of their lives starving (for each other)

[razz-matazz143]

"oh what inspired that work?" "what inspired that poem?" "An old relationship? someone you like?" No actually it's two doomed yaoi characters sorry :(

[pilferingapples]

as a big les mis fan, i have loved your blog for ages but recently you have especially piqued my interest - in your recent explanatory amis post, you referenced historical metacontext around jehan's death being first. i have a theory about what that metacontext is, but i am FAR from certain and hoping you could offer me some clarification

(also do you have any other pieces of interesting historical metacontext to share with the class)

OK you gotta tell me your Theory too!!! if it lines up or it was something totally different , I wanna hear it alllll

anyway! it's pretty solid that Prouvaire as he finally appears is largely an homage to Hugo's old friend Gérard de Nerval, who had died in 1855; a LOT about Prouvaire's description overlaps with how people talk about Gérard, and the conversation where he's arguing with everyone about the old gods still existing lines up EXTREMELY with conversations that other people remembered having with him ; there's THIS :

Jean Prouvaire was in love; he cultivated a pot of flowers, played on the flute, made verses, loved the people, pitied woman, wept over the child, confounded God and the future in the same confidence (LM 3.4.1, Hapgood)

“God is dead, perhaps,” said Gerard de Nerval one day to the writer of these lines, confounding progress with God and taking the interruption of movement for the death of Being.(LM 5.1.20)

(Hugo still trying to still have this conversation with his friend via novel guts me more than a little!! People are people and we never stop wanting to find the right thing to say oh geez I'm crying for real)

Bahorel , who dies in the same first-charge attack that takes Prouvaire, is also a (even more obvious) homage to a friend; Petrus Borel , who had died in 1859.

They're considered pretty minor figures today, but they were both really noteable names in their day, which is to say...about the late 1820s/early 1830s; they were two of Hugo's most trusted lieutenants in the battle of Hernani, held in French Romantic memory as a breakout event for the movement. And, importantly, they were the first of that core group of more radical Romantics to die.

So while i think there is a lot going on character- and symbol-wise with them being the first two Amis down, I also think there's definitely an Acknowledgement in them being the first of the named group to go; they get the sort of heroic deaths they'd have liked, and maybe the closest thing to Good deaths on the barricade until OFPD? and agh I'm emotional, QUICK tell me your theories before I start crying harder

[bumblingbabooshka]

Ok. Get closer why don’t you.

[disguisedcheezed]

what made you like dirkjohn so much? like how did the ship pop into your head?

"how did the ship pop into your head?"

Okay. So, I just did some digging through my old abandoned accounts, and it turns out dirkjohn was my main reason why I read Homestuck in the first place. XD

They got me with their dumb looking faces and I thought I should just ship them because they're my favorites. And the fact that they were a blue orange color combo, which is the color combination I am very obsessed over, is just a mere coincidence that just made me like them more.

I don't even remember other shit from 2020-2022 because I was busy fighting for my life. 😭 I did knew that they had one interaction, so I just read the comic without expecting much of them as a ship but I loved them as their individual characters.

"what made you like dirkjohn so much?"

I don't just like dirkjohn. I LOVE dirkjohn. It's not even an exaggeration. I couldn't talk about dirkjohn(or just themindividually) without making poetry.

Anyway. The depressed weed boyfriends dirkjohn 2016-2019 shippers were right this. It was made sometime after the release of the snapchats where John is alone in his room for quite a while. And then there's other people who say like "of course they're being paired because they're the left overs of the kids ships", but what if it's like they were meant to be that way? What if they finally get to talk to each other and call out on each other's destructive behaviors? What is more romantic than being understood? Everyone else has figured out what to do with their lives.

Dirk helps John be grounded back into reality and tell him that there are friends that care for him. John tells Dirk to get out of his head, stop over thinking about the future and take care of himself. They inevitably take care of themselves by taking care of the other. They should take care of themselves for the other. And over time they get to share interest in watching animes, shitty movies and pranks.

The above is only showing "the good part" of dirkjohn.

"The worst part" ? Dirk and John were created in love of Everything, but they were doomed to be Nothing.

Similarities : They heavily mirror each other through almost all aspects of their lives.

Ex. (only a few. this isn't even the half of it.)

John: Rise up / Prince: Rise up

Liv Tyler / Lil Seb (puttin the bunny in the box)

Dirk sending gifts to his friends through a sendificator(red box) that helps/interacts with his friends physically(robots). John sends gifts to his friends through mail(blue box) that would give them their unique identity forever.

These conversations have the same vibe where they wanted to know what the other is really like apart from them knowing their adult counter parts:

In what aspect are they The Same? :

They hate themselves. Dirk dwells in it. John pushes it in the back of his head and doesn't want to think about any of it.

Dirkjohn Conclusion/Bare essentials: They effortlessly make the appeal themselves.

This is also why looking at HS^2 through a dirkjohn perspective just makes it a huge dirkjohn fanfiction. X

They ascend the need for a label in their relationship/any form of romance because of how intertwined they are to each other that they are a concept as a whole. (looks at the camera)

Dirk and John are the very threads of what makes Homestuck, Homestuck... Which means nothing.

End of ask mood moard;

My body is a vessel that collected every piece of Dirk and John's showed it back into the audience piece by piece and I will never stop doing it.

[randomthefox]

Saying that the Space Colony Ark is representation for Shadow the Hedgehog is such a cop out. The level design only incorporates mechanics from Final Chase, and all of the promotional material for the game only compares those levels to Final Chase. Most people associate the Ark with Sonic Adventure 2 anyway.

Instead of getting a level from Shadow the Hedgehog, we got Chaos Island. An environment from a game that Shadow wasn't in, in a game all about revisiting his past. The only explanation is that Sega either didn't give Sonic Team enough time, budget, or both.

How cool would it have been if we got Digital Circuit instead? Digital Circuit and Mad Matrix are level themes unique to Shadow the Hedgehog. It would make even more sense to meet Rouge after finishing Digital Circuit than Chaos Island because Digital Circuit is the level in Shadow the Hedgehog where you team up with Rouge. I'm sure you could seamlessly integrate the Doom Morph into the level (I also just love Digital Circuit).

And another thing, I don't get why Black Doom keeps using Radical Highway instead of Westopolis. What association does Black Doom have with Radical Highway? Or even better, have the final level be Final Haunt after we've already spent the entire game revisiting Radical Highway.

I love this game, but god, do I hate that they made "Shadow Generations," a game all about revisiting Shadow's past, and didn't include a single level from the game where he's the title character. Heck, let him use weapons for the Shadow the Hedgehog levels while you're at it. It's not like Shadow was shooting people in this game; he was only killing inhuman, non-sentient, evil aliens. If Bayonetta and Joker can use guns in Super Smash Bros. while keeping the game at E 10+ so long as the use of guns isn't realistic, then Shadow could have too.

It doesn't NOT represent Shadow the Hedgehog lol.

Makes more sense than saying Sonic Adventure 2 got two levels representing it. And the ARK level actually takes place before the Time Eater shows up, so it's chronologically a Present level and not a past one. So it IS the ARK from Shadow 2005, as that was the game that depicted the ARK in its post-Sonic Adventure 2 state. The ARK in Shadow Generations is very explicitly NOT the time traveled past version of the ARK that existed within the timeframe of Sonic Adventure 2.

Also not sure how saying that a level existing in the game is indicative that Sonic Team didn't have enough time and budget? X3 not quite sure how the logic works there. Surely it would be the ABSENCE of a level that indicates that, not the existence of one? Like, what? I don't even know how to explain how that doesn't make sense because it's so patently ridiculous on its face. It's like saying that someone being drenched soaked to the gills and dripping all over the floor is proof that they didn't jump into a swimming pool. Like, what?

I can't imagine any other level from Shadow 2005 getting picked for a Generations visit besides Westopolis, the ARK, or Black Comet tbh. So considering the ARK is a significant location to Shadow and it thematically makes sense to start his new game in the same place that his last game ended, naturally they're gonna pick the ARK. The game literally starts in the same room that Shadow 2005 closed on.

And having the Sonic Adventure 2 level of Radical Highway be the final level of the game makes Shadow's story cyclical. The last level we play as Shadow is also the first level where Shadow was ever playable. It's like poetry it's like they rhyme.

I also don't really see what gameplay utility guns would have had. The boost and open zone formula isn't really conductive to anything involving guns. They worked in the Adventure style gameplay of Shadow 2005. But Shadow has pretty much outgrown any need for them. It's like going back to riding a tricycle after you've mastered trick stunt motocross.

Iiiiiiiiiiiiiii liked it. People said the same "why not THESE OTHER levels INSTEAD!" complaint about the original Sonic Generations so, like, it's all whatever to me =P

[coldalbion]

Dis/nomers: On misnomers, magic-metaphors, and life in general

So, here's the thing: a lot of societal and cultural metaphors around magic and occultism are in the so-called West, frankly, bad and a product of the imprecision in the English language about "power", which themselves are inherently modelled on industrial-capitalist frameworks thanks to the Industrial Revolution, and steam power. Think about what you mean when you use the word "power" or "intent" and ask yourself whether you are once again running on 19th Century (colonialist ideas: for example see non-Indigenous misconceptions of mana) that boil down to thinking you're a steam engine or some sort of closed system - because that's what the whole popular idea of energy comes from. Why? Because willpower doesn't really exist. Now something seems to be going on, when we do certain things. But are we hoodwinking ourselves - barking up the wrong tree, being led down the garden path -by the porting in pop-metaphor? Sure, it's easier, but is the apparent ease and clarity obscuring insights? Is it preventing us from taking our place as part of a living world; not clockwork and piston but inter-and-intra-relating, inter-and-intra-being in an 'animist' cosmovision? Consider the metaphors you use, and wonder how they're using you. Because they are - we are thinking-with-and-being-with the ongoing worlding of a daimonic (agential) kosmos. And that All is doing the same-with-us. Remember, changing the metaphors we use can change the way we think, and how we are in the world. This is why I mutter about kenning, as found in Old Norse poetry, but also as a method of indirectly approaching experience by folding in the world. Kenning is, in one sense creating a poetic metaphor, a circomlocution that describes a thing without direct nominalisation. A wheelchair user can be a throne-walker; the sea is not just the sea, it is the whale-road and also Aegir's-cauldron, Poseidon's-stable, etc etc.

"It is no coincidence that a kenning is a poetic term of art, a doubling and metaphoric circumlocution of a singular noun or thing – the sea becoming the “whale-road”, a sword seen as the “icicle of red shields”. A singular referent now exceeds itself, drawing the relationality with the whole world of those present. This indirectness, far from detracting from the referent, deepens the knowing. Each portion of the kenning exceeds itself also, thusly thickening the field of the sword or sea, and, in enhancing its relationality, enlivens each further. Further, this means that the poet acknowledges the excess of the referents, comprehending that kenning may build on kenning, and the full, totalistic mapping of a referent is doomed to fail in terms of completion. This goes even beyond the usual aphorism from astronomer Carl Sagan: “If you wish to make an apple pie from scratch, you must first create the universe.” For each element of the apple pie is capable of being defined by the relationality of all presences, in all forms, positions, and configurations in all possible and impossible universes – and each of these in turn relate to each other as they will. This then, is the joy and horror, the wonder and terror of an animate, fluxing kosmos – there is always more." - Goêtic Atavisms, Frater Acher & Craig 'VI' Slee (See link above: also available on Amazon as well as from the publisher if you need that)

Do we want to live in a world circumscribed by misnomers, grandfathered in with extractive and clunky ways of perceiving the world? Or do we want to embrace the dis/abling wyrd strangenesses of the numinous? The liberatory power of the dis/nomer - the radical proposition that there is always more than can be named, can be contained? That we might ken more if we embraced blurry, uncertain periphalisms which spiral endlessly inward and down into pandaemonic, living, breathing labyrinths? If we immersed ourselves in relational eddies, tides and gyres eternally returning-and-coming-forth-again - dis/membered and re-membered anew? To dive into currents and flows - the multiplicitous assemblage of influences which are the very bodyof the oceanic river which Herakleitos warned us that we could never enter in the same place twice? What might we notice is already happening, already ongoing, that we are amidst, then? Might we spot the plurality of Minotaurs engaging in their diasporic fugitivity, nomads in their myriad labyrinths, far older, wiser, and weirder than we thought we knew? Spaces of monstrously numinous sanctuary, far beyond the ken of the Theseus (their supposed slayer) and his identitarian regime of denial, his heroic ever-intact status quo. Pity the ship-builders in their labour; they work do so under the threat of sword - or is it gun and bomb, these days? But while Theseus abandons Ariadne, Dionysos does not! And while Theseus eschews the sea route to perform his labours in order to gain heroic glory and satisfy ambition, his oceanic ancestry has the last laugh - both mortal father Aegeus (thrown into the sea that bears his name) and he (thrown off an island cliff - presumably into the ocean) were reclaimed; seized by the sea and its thundering white horses. What might it be, to be oceanically possesed as that hero's mother was? To have one's soul-sea stirred by the Earthshaker? We can but dream on the matter - while also slyly noting that Athenians kept the Ship of Theseus preserved, as mark of divine heritage in their feted city ruled by the demos. What matters now, in these days when even politicians talk of the so-called "will of the people", is matters of ancestry and history dismissed; lineages of language and its many influences ignored - no entanglements here, vine or otherwise, we assure you! But thankfully, the ship-builders know the way of wood and net and weave. They know how many planks pass through their hands, how many nails struck, how much pitch is brewed. They know there's more. They're craftsfolk after all - assemblages are their business, whatever the material - they know what mattering is. And isn't it interesting that the Temple of Hephaistos in Athens was once mistakenly called the Thesseion - The Temple of Theseus, before the moderns realised their mistake? Watch the words we use, and how they use us. Be seeing you.

[paragonrobits]

more weird Calvin and Hobbes details!

One running gag in the comic strip involves Calvin dealing with the monsters under his bed. Much like how the reality of whatever Hobbes is, is a recurring element with all kinds of fun blurrings (such as him taking his baths by getting put into a washing machine and simply complaining about it making his fur frightful), Calvin is regularly menaced by monsters beneath his bed. They're pretty vocal about wanting to kill and eat him, and a lot of the jokes around them are blended with genuine (if incompetent) menace from these monsters.

They seem to be products of Calvin's imagination to at least some degree; in one strip, he actively attempts to avoid thinking about them, only to pop open an eye in terror as one looms over him with only its eyes and massive claws visible, and the monsters complain that he lied to them.

Calvin is legitimately terrified of them; one collection includes a story that is a mix of poetry and artwork, portrayed from Calvin's point of view detailing him being afraid of the monsters under his bed eating him, with some borderline graphic depictions of his bones being left behind as his parents wail about how they should have listened to him; its operatic and dramatic, but it was pretty damn freaky to read as a kid.

These monsters are also never entirely seen clearly. They are ALWAYS depicted completely in shadow, and the most we see of them at one time is their eyes as they bicker with each other under his bed, or glimpses of their claws as they loom over him to scare him. As best as can be seen, they are apparently pretty intimidating and they're extremely big, looming over him.

They're also extremely dim-witted. As much as Calvin is afraid of them, he pretty regularly plays mind games with them or tricks them to exposing themselves in the middle of trying to trick him into lowering his defenses. At one point Calvin remarks, after they ineptly try to convince him that there's nothing under his bed despite TALKING to him from underneath there and awkwardly claiming they're just tiny dust bunnies, that they've got no brains and are just digestive tracts.

So they're genuinely malicious and honestly kind of threatening (fully intending on killing Calvin if they can get away with it), though comically inept and extremely unintelligent, but really scary seen through his eyes. So you might have noticed that the comic strip is called 'Calvin AND HOBBES' and Hobbes wasn't mentioned in this so far. So how does he deal with them, you might ask?

Hobbes rarely interacts with them, though he's always sleeping next to Calvin. He occasionally is shown waking up to offer Calvin advice or make gloomy comments on how annoying they are to deal with, however, whenever he DOES directly say anything, the monsters usually shut up extremely fast. Remember that poem from earlier?

This is how it ends:

apparently Hobbes' presence scares the monsters so much that they never actually physically threaten Calvin deliberately, they just lurk and try to lure him to his doom, but they're so scared of Hobbes they avoid him completely. Hobbes himself, as noted, never interacts with them directly, though he's aware of them and complains about them causing trouble from time to time.

[tarabyte3]

Top 5 favourite fanfic tropes?

For my follow up I will allow you a light cheat:

✨️ Top 5 fics (any fandom/pairing)

and (if you would like)

✨️ Top 5 Andy blorbo fics

You know, those ones that live rent free in your mind and you find yourself coming back to even years later (also your choices don't have to specifically follow your trope picks!).

😘

Before I start, I want you to know I only saw the first bit in the preview and was like, "Oh that's fun!" And then got sneak attacked by the rest when I opened it 😂😭 Anon, I respect tf out of you for this, but also I'm going to have an existential crisis lmaoooo

✨Top 5 fanfiction tropes

- Mutual pining/"un"requited love

Especially if it's paired with angst 🤌 want them longing. Yearning, even. Throw in something like forbidden love to kick it up a notch, and, baby, you've got yourself a stew.

- Sex pollen

Particularly if they aren't in a relationship yet to add extra pining and angst. This is a sacrifice (I shouldn't want this). I would do this for you (please let me). I can't stand to watch you suffer (this will break me, but for you it's worth it). That and the smut of it all 😌

- Hanahaki

Being so in love with someone it's literally killing you. It's love made manifest so violently you choke on it. The pain and suffering would end if only you could let the words out, but the thought of rejection—of having to live with that instead—is worse than death. Plus, there's something a little beautiful and poetic about combining pain and suffering with love and flowers. Doom and bloom. Life and death. The Japanese were so real for this.

- Fake dating

I love it when they're both fuckin dying the entire time because they've caught a glimpse of the thing they want more than anything and it isn't real. It's bliss. It's torture. They don't want it to end, but it will destroy them to keep having it just out of reach.

- Getting together

A simple classic, but there's just something about two people falling in love and coming together in spite of everything. And if it's a slow burn? With constant missed opportunities and misunderstandings?! Staple crop of tropes.

✨ Top 5 Fics

I'm going to go with Qui-Gon x Obi-Wan (shocking, I know) because that is the bulk of what I have been reading non-stop so it's at the forefront of my brain. It was difficult to narrow down my 100+ bookmarks because there are SO many incredible works and writers in that fandom that inspire me, and some of them make me want to eat dirt. (I mean that as an exceptional compliment.)

- Shorelines by outpastthemoat

This is what Qui-Gon has done each morning for the past three days, returning to Obi-Wan with handfuls of treasures he has found: Bits of broken glass, polished by the waves, or intricately spiraled shells, a broken piece of chain; perhaps a stone as wide and flat as his hand. But he always returns to the shoreline the following day, and begins his search anew.

This is one of my favorite QuiObi writers (I would highly recommend ANY of her other works at the drop of a hat as well), and I have reread this fic at least once a week for months. Like, I have it open in a tab and think about it constantly. It's an introspective piece—an exploration of a connection and the peeling back of layers to try to understand what waits underneath. There's a beautiful sort of simple yearning, melancholy, and poetry to her writing that makes my brain go brrrrrr. So much is said in all of the things left unsaid. It's two parts of a series and they're both incredible.

- Malalignment by Tohje

The first time is a pure coincidence, all parties could swear it on their deathbeds. The pelta frigate GRS-20 - informally Generosity - is a huge, maze-like, rusting piece of a stronghold with multiple medical wards and cantinas. It is a sheer stroke of luck that 212th and the River Company are accommodated in the adjacent, overstuffed compartments and share the same cantina for their short recuperation periods. There is no thing such as luck, or coincidence, only war (and the Force, according to the Jedi).

Another writer that I adore who has multiple bangers. This one is an AU where QuiGon lives and is part of the Clone War, but in the most Qui-Gon way possible. Combined with Obi-Wan's lingering hurt from the situation with Anakin, the war, and a several year estrangement and by god it's delicious angst. Plus, I love self-sacrificing depictions of General Kenobi. (The smut is also very good)

- That Cold Affliction by Orphan Account

Obi-Wan tries to surprise his Master on a mission with few comforts by making Qui-Gon's favorite tea. Or trying to, at least. As it turns out, tea is a . . . complicated affair. (A little bit like love.)

Short and bittersweet. Forbidden love. Beautiful angst. I'm so sad I don't know the original author because I've seen several of their works pop up that are also orphaned (they have a very specific summary style) and they're all so good and full of similar themes, but I have no way of seeing if I've missed one or not 😭

- Taking Root by sanerontheinside

Obi-Wan thought he was terribly obvious, really. Qui-Gon thought it was Obi-Wan’s secret to share or keep, as he wished.

*banging pots and pans together* QUIOBI HANAHAKI!! This author does a deep dive into the affliction and combines it beautifully with Star Wars world building, plot, and characterization. It's everything I could want from the trope AND the pairing. They're also another one of my favorite writers. And if you're looking for an abundance of excellent smut, you'll absolutely find it in their body of work.

- How to Grow Vegetables and Alienate People by Meggory

Why had Obi-Wan agreed to this? He had exactly no experience growing anything—hell, he'd killed a cactus once, and he'd heard someone say that was impossible—but now he was taking over Bant's community garden share so she didn't feel she had wasted $150 on the plot? He had $150. He should have just given it to her and told her to get blitzed on the plane.

Cute modern AU with a funny af meet cute, excellent characterization, humor, and a simple, lovely plot of two idiots falling in love. Oh, plus gardening. 😌 AND Qui-Gon has a dog. It's the soul comfort food of fics. This author does an incredible job with AUs (pssst you like time loops?) that are great stories so it was very difficult to pick just one!

✨I both adore and dislike this last part. Because on one hand, it gives me the chance to brag about and hype up my friends, who are not only kind, wonderful people, but also very talented writers that deserve it and more. So I truly appreciate you so much for that. On the other hand, there are more than 5 of them that have written Andy Blorbo fics, and some of them have multiple stories and blorbos. And we've all gushed over or discussed many of them at length with each other, so they hold a particular fondness in my heart. Choosing only 5 from that feels like an impossible task.

So I WON'T be narrowing down my top 5 (I'm so sorry, anon, I'm not god's strongest soldier), but I will be taking the opportunity to drop their Masterlists/AO3 accounts 💖😌😇

afogocado | Alfred Pennyworth

amywritesthings | Kino Loy

citrus-moonlight | Ulysses Klaue

eupheme | Alfred Pennyworth, Ulysses Klaue

squidlywiddly87 | Kino Loy, Ulysses Klaue, Liam Black

stargirlfics | Alfred Pennyworth (+ lots of Alfred and Klaue headcanons and blurbs!)

tarrenterror | Alfred Pennyworth, Ulysses Klaue (+ Alfred, David Robey, and Kino headcanons, blurbs, and edits)

viceofdionysus : Alfred Pennyworth, Ulysses Klaue

[somuchbetterthanthat]

Jonelias week day 4! I've been meaning to write this for soo long. So of course nothing will end up being satisfying. I wish I was going enough at poetry to write this moment the way it should be written :(. Setting: hurt/comfort ; prompt: last words

In the moment, Jon's eyes are merciless, and they're the most beautiful they've ever been. A perfect, dark reflection of what Jonah had glimpsed into mirrors for centuries and long learnt to embrace. His fingers find Jon's sweater and the pain that bubbles up his chest is only second to the terror that grips him, the cold knowledge that, at last, he is dying, and he is dying despite everything he's done, everything he's given up, everything he's ever tried to accomplish running from the end of it all.

A minute, two at most, beholding whispers. It doesn't turn its Gaze away, not yet, not fully -- it will give Jonah that last grace and insult of watching the blood pour out of him until there is nothing else of its servant -- but everything else is already slipping away as he coughs, tries to breathe, and wavers when he realizes he can't without hurting anymore.

When does Jon begin to tremble against him? When does Jon's righteousness start to fade, as their God welcome home, at last, its favourite child? One moment Jonah is blinking, panicking, dying, the next he is staring back into Jon's endless gaze and seeing, properly seeing, the magnificent creature that he's become and the terrified man that had loved Jonah, once, before Jonah had led him right here to both their personal doom.

A mirror, Jonah thinks again, but that's not right. Jon might be swallowed by the Eye, might be trapped by the Web, but above all he is what Jonah has made him, what Jonah has chosen for them both. Yes, he is Jonah's end -- but he is also and foremost Jonah's legacy. He's his.

It takes the last of his strength to raise his hand up to Jon's cheek. Jon's eyes flutter. In that miraculous second, in between two difficult heartbeats, as the impossible weight of a ruined world fades away from Jonah's gaze and begins to gleam into Jon's, Jonah leans forwards and kisses Jon, mouth filled with blood.

This will be so much, without Jonah to share half of all of this with him. He Knows that Jon understands it now, from the desperate way he kisses him back, from the way he starts to weep, but Jonah isn't scared anymore -- certainly isn't scared for his Archivist at all.

Jon will succeed, whatever he decides to do. Jonah, after all, has made him perfect. He only needs the reminder; he only needs that one, last comfort.

Jonah's thumb brushes against Jon's jaw. He is so, so cold, and Jon is so warm, so alive, so powerful. He opens his mouth; murmurs against Jon's lips "good..luck.." and, with one, last, satisfied smile...lets go.

[one-squash-one-end]

once again rambling about Adam Parrish

Hi! This still belongs to my big Raven Cycle analysis, click here for the masterpost.

For most of the characters I obviously read a lot into subtext and speculate about how they're absolutely not straight, but lucky for us, we do get canon queer characters!

So let this be me talking about Adam as bi representation and also throwing in (other people's) gender headcanons. As always, please tell me your thoughts in the notes <3

c) Adam Parrish

Sadly, I cannot speculate too much about Adam’s sexuality, as he is canonically the mean, witchy (and bitchy) bisexual.

There isn’t much I can say, really. Throughout the book series he displays interest in both Blue and Ronan. And also Greenmantle, but I would like all of us to ignore that because I want to believe Adam has good taste. Blue and Ronan as his love interests are essentially seen as equal. While I would say he had already had some repressed attraction for Ronan (see: him calling the swearing melodic, black-painted poetry- you normally wouldn’t feel like that for someone who just called you a motherfucker) in book one while dating Blue. Yet it becomes very much clear that he did have romantic feelings for Blue. Yes, the two of them were doomed from the start (but still pretty cute I’d say! Until things went to shit, that is), however, Blue is not treated by the narrative as some mistake before Adam figures out he’s actually gay (looking at you judgingly here, Rainbow Rowell). Neither was Ronan a quick, silly thing to see how it would feel to kiss the same gender. That is, like, very much very obvious, through the last five books. They are boyfriends, your honor.

At this point I would also like to give a shout-out to Adam Parrish and the Crying Club (which would make for a fire band name, just saying). This little group of queer people Adam collects at uni (in Call Down The Hawk) has my whole heart and I so wish we would have seen more of them, I am forever mourning their potential of silly, reoccurring side characters. What I’m trying to say though is this: The fact that Adam builds a group of queer people around himself (another one apart from the Gangsey) proves his sexuality even more, because we all know queer people flock towards each other.

Either way, canon bisexual, we love that. Moving on.

Honorary mention to the transmasc Adam headcanon that Tumblr user @barbaricpoetic compiles especially well in a post. I personally do not follow that headcanon, like of course I do not think Blue is supposed to be written as genderfluid in the books, but somehow I believe even less in trans Adam, but either way I do agree there is a lot of strong source material to support that headcanon. Check out the original post for a lot more detail, I don’t want to plagiarize all of that here either way, but here’s two especially solid hints: First of all, he does everything to appear more masculine, like working in typically male-dominated fields and dressing accordingly to that, while orientating his behavior on Ronan and Gansey, who, ironically, do not try as hard as him. Secondly, there’s physical descriptions, Adam being a lot more “elegant” and delicate than the other (Raven) boys Blue knows, with unusual features, and “blue eyes pretty enough for a girl”. Yeah, might be a coincidence, might be solid, queer truth.

This would all make so much sense, even within the books and all, there is just one, considerably big thing, that would not add up with this in canon. Adam’s rural-conservative shitbag of a father would never use the correct name and pronouns for his ftm child.

Either way, there might still be something fun going on with his gender that defies the binaries. Why do I think so? Well, Gansey says a very interesting thing. “Henry was a boy. Adam was a─ Gansey didn’t know.” I wish he would have told us what makes them different. What is it that Adam was? A man? A demiboy? A nonbinary person? A dinosaur in disguise? Please do enlighten us, Gansey. I’m assuming it’s got something to do with Adam being more mature than Henry (he definitely is), but like with Blue and the 300 Fox Way Women, it might be a gender thing, at least you can very easily lay it out to be that way.

To conclude as I will conclude every character part, I think Adam might possibly wear a crop top (might take him a while to accept masculinity is everything you want it to be and not just a certain aesthetic standard though), but absolutely not regularly and not around strangers or his parents.

[cowboybrunch]

writerly questionnaire tag!!!

finally getting around to this, thanks a million @the-golden-comet (here) @harmonic-melodii (here) and @fortunatetragedy (here) <3

About You

When did you start writing?

as soon as i could hold a pen. i have notebooks FULL of little me's stories (i keep everything ive ever written. for nostalgia.) it was mostly silly escapism for a lonely child but now it's sweet to look at and giggle. from when i was maybe eight? nine?: "Pain and fear, like a perfect recipe. Pain and fear, milk and eggs"

Are the genres/themes you enjoy reading different from the ones you write?

mmm probably. when i say ill read anything, i mean ill read ANYTHING. i dont think ill ever write a hockey romance but im down to clown

Is there an author (or just a fellow writer!) you want to emulate, or one to whom you’re often compared?

poetry-wise Bhanu Kapil has been a massive inspiration for me. also Kaveh Akbar and Ariana Reines (Mercury sits in a place of honor on my bookshelf). for novels? i feel like i emulate whatever i last read. Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver did horrible (affectionate) things to the way i write

Can you tell me a little about your writing space(s)? (Room, coffee shop, desk, etc.)

my office! my favorite place in the world!! cozy lights (that double as gamer lights), diet coke can graveyard, comfy office chair big enough for me to sit in a way that absolutely destroys my posture. sticky notes everywhere (a fun challenge! can i read my own handwriting?) AND!! i have an audience

What’s your most effective way to muster up some muse?

reading something else, talking to someone about whatever im stuck on, setting a timer and just dumping everything in my brain (something in there HAS to be worth pursuing)

Did the place(s) you grew up in influence the people and places you write about?

HA!

Are there any recurring themes in your writing, and if so, do they surprise you at all?

overbearing parental figures that believe they're acting in the best interest of their kid... surprising when i realized that it's in almost everything i write characters that are good at heart but commit atrocities due to their circumstances... less surprising oh! and death. i write a lot about death (someone pointed this out recently and i was like huh. you right)

Your Characters

Would you please tell me about your current favorite character? (Current WIP, past WIP, never used, etc.)

Missy and Theodore staring at each other like

sorry! Theodore is my favorite!! he got here first!!!! he's my precious loser baby boy who HAPPENS to be the heir of death but he's trying his best! he's pathetic!! he's doomed!! but he means well! he doesn't want anyone to die alone! he wants to be good! he wants to be good soooo bad!! he hates rivers but loves the ocean!! he lies to everyone, including himself! he's simultaneously full of self-loathing and self-righteousness!! AND... he's bisexual!!

Which of your characters do you think you’d be friends with in real life?

i would kick it with Robbie for SURE. snarky little smarty pants that can't sit still for more than five minutes, we'd be peas

Which of your characters would you dislike the most if you met them?

*looks around nervously* ... Marcella (BOO!! TOMATO!!) im sensitive and she would be mean to me!! i feel like we'd warm up to each other eventually but not before she made me cry

Tell me about the process of coming up with of one, all, or any of your characters.

they just kinda... show up. and reveal more about themselves as i write them

Do you notice any recurring themes/traits among your characters?

ougffff. lots of anger in these parts. most of my characters are angry, esp the women. as they should be

How do you picture them? (As real people you imagined, as models/actors who exist in real life, as imaginary artwork, as artwork you made or commissioned, anime style, etc.)

depends on the character! for main guys, they get listed descriptions but i cant picture them in my head (thank you picrew). but others? they're like. blurry shadows moving through the story (do NOT ask me what Uriel looks like! i DONT KNOW!)

Your Writing

What’s your reason for writing?

words in brain make story in head. need story out of head so i can focus on literally anything else no but seriously. that quote that's like "the only thing worse than writing is not writing." it's like. a maintenance activity. if im feeling especially wound up it's probably because i havent written anything lately

Is there a specific comment or type of comment you find particularly motivating coming from your readers?

if you leave me ANY comment i am kissy you on the forehead. just knowing that someone read it let alone enjoyed it... waoh

How do you feel about your own writing? (Answer in whatever way you interpret this question.)

i am... trying very hard not to fall into self-deprecation here. i think there are things that i do well and things that i can improve on, but even if i write something and think it's "bad" i can still learn from it. all practice is good practice!!! (said through gritted teeth)

If you were the last person on earth and knew your writing would never be read by another human, would you still write?

yea! i would find comfort in it i think, same way i do now. have my little characters for company

When you write, are you influenced by what others might enjoy reading, or do you write purely what you enjoy? If it’s a mix of the two, which holds the most influence?

i am my own target audience. i am the conductor of the self-indulgence train but there's room aplenty if you wanna hop on

tag! @illarian-rambling @writingrosesonneptune @sarandipitywrites @mrbexwrites @mysticstarlightduck and a wide open tag if you havent done this yet. gimme a peek into your brain!!!

[mylittleredgirl]

finally, m*a*s*h update!

season four disc two! ("quo vadis, captain chandler" to "dear ma")

there is a LOT going on in the frank and margaret department

i kind of tipped my hand here when i posted about my new obsession, but even if you are not circling the drain on this doomed ship... the Unresolved Breakup Tension is fuckin WILD in this disc

she literally punches him in the face!!! how was that not a breakup!

but then he buys her something or does something to charm or impress her, and it works! then he blows it again!! rinse and repeat!!!! i am 👀🍿

sam and diane from cheers are still theeee platonic ideal of slap-slap-kiss but these clowns definitely walked so they could run

i literally jumped off the couch when his wife found out, aaaaa it's so juicy

I'M SORRY i realize this doesn't speak well of me as a person, but those long close-ups on her face as she voluntarily eavesdrops on him dismissing their relationship (twice!!) and her heart gets fully crushed??? i could eat popcorn to this all day.

this is the kind of dysfunctional relationship that my artist friends would choose in our youth so that we could Suffer and Make Art, so i really hope margaret is writing terrible poetry about it

anyway, we're peroxide-roots deep into GIRL WHY??!??

and then bj very gently explains to radar that well, see, frank and margaret both kinda suck and we're in the middle of nowhere, so they're all they've got

and i had to spend three or four days staring at the ceiling about it, because YEAH. it's not just that they're each other's only rank-appropriate source of star-spangled orgasms

(and they both care far more about military hierarchy than they do about marital fidelity)

but they are so consistently unkind to everyone around them that they have no other choice for any human connection full stop.

i'm not even talking about their ongoing bullying war with hawkeye and trapper or bj, because that's dirty pool on both sides, but i could count on one hand the number of times either of them have interacted with a subordinate nurse or enlisted man without threatening them. like they literally would not have anyone else to talk to.

but the reveal that she still wants to MARRY HIM? oh god. ohhhh honey. noooo.

that fake proposal prank was so genuinely mean. mostly because they ruined her hot date! 👏 let 👏 margaret 👏 fuck 👏 random 👏 dudes 👏

"isn't general barker the one who wanted you to spank him?" lmaoooo

OKAY i swear i can talk about other things:

hawkeye continues to just NOT pull without trapper here. the nurses are fully dismissing or ignoring his efforts, and honestly is he even trying that hard?? have we seen him get even one date?

i've been trying to come up with an "intricate rituals" joke about hawkeye and trapper but where the rituals are... girls. you get me.

i re-watched the pilot and the desk ep (for frank/margaret reasons DON'T JUDGE ME), and hawkeye and trapper LITERALLY end the pilot handcuffed together, and in the next episode talk about sharing a nurse. how am i supposed to take this???

speaking of nurses, you know that little 🙄 you have to ignore in 2024 whenever the women on m*a*s*h get called honey and sweetheart and baby on the job (though tbh i worked on a construction site and an ad sales office in the 2010's and got the same treatment -- but in the modern day it's done ironically babe)

BUT when potter calls margaret "good girl" after he gets shot??? total opposite feeling. i literally had to pause and take a moment. he's her dad now.

also when he tucks radar in???? everyone's dad actually

in loving memory of radar's other dad though, two important points:

how proud would henry have been of drunk & disorderly radar??

and henry's "i've always wondered if i might be radar's dad" bit is genuinely 900% funnier now that we know radar's mom looks EXACTLY like him.

i don't think i have ever circled back to talk about klinger, who became so so so awesome

it's so funny that in klinger's very first appearance and 30 times since then, he has been told straight up that wearing women's clothes will never work to get him out of the army. there's no explanation for his commitment to this particular form of passive resistance except that he genuinely loves it

the swamp rats built a still and klinger got a sewing machine and learned a craft. he's so good at it!! his looks are 🔥

i feel uncomfortable when i see him in fatigues tbh. it happened a few times in this disc and i would like it to Stop actually

also precious baby father mulcahey... Protect Him.

i LOVE that everyone showed up for his church service when the grand poobah chaplain was in town. they love each other!!! (also the life magazine jeep shoot!!!)

"quo vadis, captain chandler" was really good. i'm still over colonel flagg's whole deal but i now understand why everyone loves sidney freedman, and the guest actor they had playing not-jesus was incredible

bj continues to be the best little brother hawkeye could have asked for

also he maybe invented cpr?

i didn't say much about him here but I LOVE HIM and also his off-screen wife

forward and onward!!!

[practically-an-x-man]

Which canon character does your OC respect a lot?

Does your OC have a crush on anyone?

Who has your OC made cry?

Who does your OC love? (platonic)

Does your OC love anyone? (romantic)

Did your OC bear witness to anyone’s full character arc?

Is there anyone who your OC would die for?

For Spider and Quinn

Thank you so much!!

Fandom OC Ask Meme

Which canon character does your OC respect a lot?

Spider: There are only like 2 other main characters in the movie but here we go- Sam (Lupita Nyong'o's character), for sure. She's going through all this with a terminal disease, in a lot of pain at every given moment, and he's got a lot of respect for how she still holds herself up through that.

Quinn: She's actually got a lot of respect for Five, and it's the only reason she's managed to stick through physical therapy so consistently with her. Five can be friendly, but she also doesn't take any bullshit from anyone (including Quinn), and that's exactly the kind of person Quinn respects. Yes, please, call her out when she's being an asshole! At least you've got the guts to be honest!

Does your OC have a crush on anyone?

Spider: I mean, they're all a little too focused on the impending doom and destruction of society to be thinking about that sort of thing, but... there might be a budding thing with Eric (Joseph Quinn's character) there. I mean, the guy reads poetry and does close-up magic, he's such a goofball, what's not to like?

Quinn: She's had a crush on Billy for about eight full years at this point. Has this changed now that they're together? Absolutely not. As far as she's concerned, he's still the hottest guy in any room and will always be a total catch.

Who has your OC made cry?

Spider: Honestly... I can't think of anyone. Maybe it's just that he's a new OC and I haven't sorted out all the details yet, but I can't quite picture this. He's not quite a ray of sunshine the way Jimmy is, and he can admittedly be a little out-there at times, but he's still a pretty nice guy.

Quinn: Out of the canon group... I don't think any of them, really. They're a pretty hardy lot, I don't think anyone would cry particularly easily. But I'm sure she's made plenty of people cry in the past, intentionally or not - she's tall and kind of intimidating-looking, and her sharp wit doesn't usually go over as well as she'd like it to.

Who does your OC love? (platonic)

Spider: He had a lot of friends before the apocalypse, mainly in the film circles (they just get him, and they're the same type of weird, like they're on the same wavelength), and one of his main goals post-Death Angels is to try and see if any of them have survived.

Quinn: As much as they get on her nerves, she loves the other Ghosts. She just loves being a part of a crew, there's something about it that's always been close to her heart.

Does your OC love anyone? (romantic)

Spider: Not yet. Again, imminent apocalypse, not much time for romance. He has had relationships in the past and did love his partners, but none currently.

Quinn: Again, Billy. They're absolutely inseparable.

Did your OC bear witness to anyone’s full character arc?

Spider: I mean... does anyone ever bear witness to a full character arc? Isn't everyone always changing and adapting in some way, just by the nature of life? Anyway, philosophy of it aside, I don't think so. He comes in at a very specific point in time, just like how Sam and Eric end up meeting in the movie, and he witnesses some character growth throughout that, but perhaps not a full arc.

Quinn: If it's anyone, it would be Billy. She met him when he was still pretty inexperienced with leading the crew, stuck with him as he got better about being a leader, stuck with him while he was with Lex, with Kyiv, and then when they finally get back together again, she sees the way he's matured after a few near-death experiences and all that time apart. The guy she'd known back at the start of the Wolf Pack would not have been so patient with her disabilities, let's just put it that way. He's a lot more open and understanding than he was when she knew him before (and it's mainly because of her...)

Is there anyone who your OC would die for?

Spider: No, but I don't mean that in a selfish way. He can't really imagine dying at all. He takes risks, sure, and he knows there's danger in those risks, but if he's going to die he imagines it'll come from some kind of accident or unforeseen circumstance, not something he'd seek out even for the sake of a loved one.

Quinn: Oh, sure. She really does have faith in her cause, and while she certainly isn't throwing herself into the paths of all the bullets she comes across, she wouldn't hesitate to give her life for any one of her teammates if it really came down to it.

[kariachi]

It just feels really important that the Reboot made it clear Kevin's home life was shit. After UAF tried to portray it as a problem with him rather than his circumstances that aimed him down the road he took, and OV didn't touch on the topic at all, having the Reboot come out and go "yeah, the implication in OS that he came from a bad home where he was mistreated is because he came from a bad home where he was mistreated" not only does a valuable job in sticking a pin in a piece of Kevin's backstory- something OV left in the air after it's retcons- but also solidifies a layer of the character. Fuck, it adds a whole new layer of tragedy to him.

Because in OS Kevin's situation is blamed on his parents having a problem with his being a mutant- something that unfortunately is very believable, especially with some of what we see of mutants over the course of the franchise- but we see in the Reboot that that's not the sole cause. Kevin was always doomed to be, from what we're shown, neglected and from looking at his poetry likely verbally abused at the minimum. Likely OG!Kevin just got it worse due to being a minority with seemingly bigoted parents. But you notice that even Reboot!Kevin cut and ran as soon as he had some sort of means to do so. And the fact he hasn't turned around and is just continuing to run around homeless...

Says a lot.

And again on the importance end of things- the Reboot not only backs up what Kevin says in OS, but at no point is he blamed for the shit he's dealt with. Fuck, even with the adults he deals over the course of the show he isn't blamed when they're shit to him, even when him doing bad is involved. Because they're the adults here, they're supposed to be better than that. That sort of thing is always important to have- a kid who has been and continues to be abused by adults, especially one who acts out and misbehaves, not being to blame for that abuse. Held accountable for their actions, yes, presented as the cause of their own problems, no. Especially after UAF went "oh no, his parents were just good people doing their best with a bad kid and did nothing wrong ever, his situation was always his own fault", completely removing the results of most likely straight up bigoted abuse from the backs of Kevin's parents by placing all that blame on him.

Just, it's good to see it.