#I have some posts abt my favorite fandoms lined up already

[aromaticbugle22]

Hello Again!

I am - once again - checking in to say that I am still kicking around on this ball of dust we call "home."

.........In case anyone was curious (they weren't), I've gotten up to a fair bit in the last few... uh... hm.... let's go with 'a while.' I've started college, for one! That's neat. I'm on a fast-track to my associates and I'm not looking back!

I've also started learning graphic design, which I'm hoping to use to help improve this blog a fair bit! I'm really enjoying it so far, and I'm excited to see where it takes me.

Lastly (and probably the only thing you really care about): I plan on posting more to this blog! I have so many fun facts I've had bottled up for this almost two years?!? what??? I've been gone, and I'm excited to share them with you all! That's all for now, but stay tuned for more info and news, and keep an ear out for my call!

[antiv3nom]

Bedman (Romeo)

omg havent had an excuse to talk abt bedman in a hot minute thank u anon...

favorite thing about them:

i love the tragedy of his story arc... that feels like a weird thing to say but its the first thing that came to mind! just. look. the road to hell paved with good intentions bit taken to the extreme really works here!!! the idea that he remembered the name of every person he ever killed because he was under the impression he could bring them all back, only to have the rug pulled from under him? hurts me! in the best way!!!

other than that i do enjoy his design, both romeo himself and the bed :] i wanna give my bedman cosplay another try sometime for sure, it didnt work out for various reasons but i have most of the components and would enjoy cosplaying him fr in the future

least favorite thing about them:

i think i dont really dislike anything about the way bedman is written in the source material strongly enough to point it out here? i think my main gripe is the way the fandom treats him to either extreme, like theres "bedman did nothing wrong ever" people and "bedman is horrific" people and i wish both camps would chill out and recognize hes like. a complex character? but i do think most people do this already which i can appreciate

favorite line:

im a little obsessed w his win line against may in xrd

"I do not understand humans who are motivated by love. A person is born, lives for a number of years, and interacts with up to eight billion people. What proof is there of something they can't even define?"

bc like. buddy. you dont even realize it. YOURE driven by love. all this shit wasnt just for yourself but it was for delilah too!!! fuck!!! you dont even see it as love you see it as necessary because shes that important to you!!! and dont even get me STARTED on the bed in strive and how its still running because of his last minute code additions which almost act as the last part of his will to protect delilah. GAHHHH

brOTP:

BEDMAN AND AXL INTERACTIONS. PLEASE. PLEASE. their dynamic is so interesting as characters with such fascinating ways of interacting with the world...gah. GAH. and no one fucking talks about it!!!

OTP:

sinbed. must i wlabo.

ok but i will, im not as into them as i was like a year ago but i still do really enjoy their dynamic. sin being such a beacon of hope and being so willing to see people as good contrasted with a post-xrd living bedman (bc all my sinbed stuff exists within au but im having fun out here so sue me) seeing himself as inherently evil due to his actions despite his intentions and believing no one would ever care for him? it hits for me

nOTP:

i dont know of anything off the top of my head that ive seen for him??? nothing prevalent at least.

actually on second thought i think ive seen like one instance of bedman and ram in a romantic sense, and that im not a fan of but i guess i could see the appeal, just not my thing

random headcanon:

this motherfucker would have gotten heated in some internet forums or wiki talk pages, DEDICATED to accuracy out here and he WILL fight you about it

unpopular opinion:

not entirely certain i have one? i think the "bedman while flawed is not actually a terrible person and was doing his best given his extremely fucked up circumstances" is a pretty cool take by this point for most people

i think the only thing i have is that my interpretation of bedman has always been as like a young adult rather than a kid but like i dont really have a concrete opinion on that and i totally understand people who do see him as a kid like its entirely understandable to do so

song i associate with them:

other than his character themes, its GOTTA be dramaturgy by eve, which just. it gives the vibes. read the english lyrics it will make sense i prommy

favorite image of them:

THE EEPER...

OTHER than this one its more an animation but his 6p in xrd is so silly i love it so bad...and for a more serious option his instant kill is really cool

[master-of-the-railway]

Sue me for this if you wish but I think Big World Big Adventures: The Movie wasn't actually as bad as everyone says it is and it's high time we gave it the appreciation it deserves, like it's a bit too overhated in my opinion. Maybe it's just my inability to be overly mean and aggressive abt pieces of media that line up with comfort interests but I genuinely don't get the hate towards the BWBA movie....like nothing was bad abt it in my own opinion? The songs were fire all the way through, the visuals are very pretty (the LIGHTING!!!), and I mean like Nia is there and how can you possibly hate anything that features Nia she CARRIES that movie so hard. I've seen some ppl say the movements are too much but like...it makes the engines far more expressive and I highly prefer them having a bit more movement to being entirely stiff because being stiff restricts their expressiveness even more, and tbh realism was left behind the second the cgi series made its debut (Ex: D51s were first produced in 1936 and yet Hiro was somehow the first engine on the island of Sodor) so I don't really look for realism too hard when it comes to TTTE because I mean...the trains talk and are fully sentient, and that's already grounds enough for me suspend my disbelief a TON.

Maybe it is just my Nia bias (AND YONG BAO IS THERE AT ONE POINT!!! Absolutely love him.) but I think BWBA is pretty good, it's one of my favorite TTTE movies. It's just really whack that half the fandom seems to hate or at least mildly dislike this movie, which was a huge shocker to me because I was happy stimming the ENTIRE time on my first watch. It was fun and colorful and expressive and thinking about how it introduced so many international machines to the lineup...like I physically cannot hate a movie that caters to my favorite thing EVER in shows with sentient machines (seeing the machines from other countries). I don't mind the fact that ppl dislike it at all (bc everyone's entitled to their own opinions and all that jazz) but it's more just I can't really find any negatives about it, the only character introduced in it that I dislike is the one they (assumedly) want you to dislike and even then I gotta admit his song slaps. To each their own in the end, I suppose, but the point I'm trying to make is that I think we gotta be at least a LITTLE bit nicer abt this movie. (And if anyone interacts w/ this post, please don't like. Start fights on it or anything. This post isn't mean to spark any discourse or aggression, it's just my personal thoughts that I'm sharing with the fandom because so far all of you that I've met are EXTREMELY kind and understanding and so I trust you all to be normal abt it.)

[spiri-a]

Ello ello ello this is a rant about a Good Omens fic I like

(Pssst.... TL;DR: It’s One Miraculous December by @journeytogallifrey)

Just a while ago I was agonizing over what kind of post I should post (even though no one’s gonna read this and this accounts only purpose is to spitball all my thoughts at a rapid pace) and I suddenly realized: hey! I like fanfics! And good omens! And sometimes I finish fanfics and I have so much thought vomit stirring around inside me I need to write it down somewhere! Then BOOM this is that this is my ramble baby. This is just my poor excuse to talk and talk and talk for several paragraphs straight. Please do not enter if you don’t want to be bombarded by what is probably several thousand words sorted into 5 or 6 sections.

This will probably be part of a series where I talk uh *cough* extensively about different fanfics, different series for different fandoms probably because I don’t think the Good Omens fandom and Carry On fandom interact with each other very much at all (maybe I’ll do books in general later on down the line, but that’d be a separate series too)

Just to be safe I won’t talk about anything too spoilery, giving some minor spoilers that get talked about in the first chapters anyways. This is a pretty lighthearted fic anyways so nothing much to worry about this time!

Ok now actually let’s get started. Anyways this is a fic I read a while ago that I really really liked:

One Miraculous December (T)

By @journeytogallifrey

Ok so this was the first fic I read by journeytogallifrey, and I read it during a time over the summer where day in and day out I had nothing to do but walk and walk and walk and occasionally read on my phone (Doesn’t make sense to read a Christmas fic over the summer but whatever)

I thought this was just gonna be a casually good long fic to fill up the time but boy was I wrong I LOVED this

Let me tell you this fic was the love of my life for the week and a half or so I was reading it. I was SO INSANELY shocked and confused when I realized this fic was 187,00 WORDS after finishing

But anyways I’m getting off track again (this post is my ramble baby after all) so let’s start with what this fic is abt and then I’ll talk about my favorite things

Spiri Stfu Whats The Fic About Already

Summary (pulled from fic):

Candles. Mistletoe. An entire frozen lake. Festive memories from their past together keep appearing out of nowhere.

Crowley's sure he's manifesting them accidentally out of sheer romantic desperation. It's bad enough trying to hide his unrequited love as they grow closer post-Apocaloops - what if Aziraphale sees the objects for what they are, a window into his yearning soul? Unfortunately, the only way to banish the objects seems to be talking about each memory...

Meanwhile, Aziraphale is just trying to woo his demon boyfriend with big gestures, ready to prove his devotion. And if Crowley acts awkward about the miracles? Surely that's just his difficulty accepting affection. The solution: shower him with as much of it as possible...

Eventually these two will communicate, even if it takes 'til the end of the year. For now there will be cuddling, excuses for closeness, sappy words, flashbacks, nostalgia, bickering, and an obscene variety of holiday foods. Oh, and footnotes. That's right. We're doing those too.

Fills for the Ineffable Holiday 2020 prompt list by Caedmon. Updates every day through the end of December.

Basically TLDR: Sappy reminders of soft moments between Crowley and Aziraphale throughout history keep popping up. Crowley thinks he’s doing it subconsciously and is worried about his super duper secret feelings being revealed, meanwhile Aziraphale is executing the least subtle (but somehow still too subtle) seduction plan ever concocted (it will take these two sillies a WHILE to get sorted out)

Ok now let’s move on to all the lovely things I love about this lovely fic in special lovely little sections (Once again, I’m sorry for the sheer size of this behemoth)

Pt 1: Charming Little Footnotes, My True Love ❤︎❤︎❤︎

From the very first chapter, I was completely and utterly enchanted by one silly little thing: the footnotes!! Those who have read the Good Omens book will understand: footnotes are amazing!! They often offer absolutely ZERO important information, and you could go practically the entire book never reading the footnotes and get the same general ideas as someone who did. BUT, they’re just so charming, why would you NOT read them?? They’re often unnecessary, but in a perfect and wonderfully niche way. I don’t need to understand the backstory or fun fact behind this randomly selected instant, moment, or person, but it’s so stupidly heartwarming to that I love to do it anyway. It’s like I’m being let in on a secret between me and the author, like they leaned over while someone else is talking and made a somewhat silly comment into my ear that makes you try to suppress your little smile in response.

Journeytogallifrey does this AMAZINGLY. They offer heartwarming insight on the most mundane things, and I enjoy every second of it. One of my personal favorite instances is funnily enough in the very first chapter, the footnote that first captured my heart and that I remembered throughout the entire fic. In chapter one, Aziraphale miracles for the floor of the bookshop to become a frozen lake, and he convinces Crowley to ice skate with him, reminiscing on a time they skated together centuries before. And THIS was the footnote that followed midway through the chapter:

*In fairness to the skates, they’ve had an intense couple of hours.

Mere moments before they found themselves in a 2019 bookshop, they’d only just been set down by Crowley and Aziraphale in 1860 and were debating the finer points of their recent skating adventure. Two of them, having hosted a lovely angel with excellent manners, were of a firmly positive opinion. The other two, terrorized by a demon who had berated them for trembling with fear, were engaged in a thorough character assassination of not only their tormentor but also anyone who would willingly befriend him.

“But they’re desperately in love with each other,” posited the skates worn by the angel.

“That’s beside the point,” answered the others, and that was when a miracle scooped them up and catapulted them a century and a half into the future**.

**Aziraphale, somehow, picked out the same two skates to wear in 2019 as in 1860, despite shoe sizes being less a concrete number for him and more ‘something that automatically sets itself to rights upon entrance of the foot’, so further experience has offered little to settle the argument.

THIS FOOTNOTE, THIS MOMENT, was perfection in my eyes. The completely absurd idea of two pairs of ice skates having a conversation, this conversation being about their wearers, a judgement of their character, a silly argument and observation of their silly hemming and hawing romance, was all so charming. It’s so unnecessary but also just. Completely STEALS your heart. Then there’s the footnote-ception of a footnote within a footnote, a casual disregarding of order and professionalism for the sake of being novel and silly. Not to mention the double footnote commenting on Aziraphale’s incredibly charming naïveté on the more specific parts of human inventions, such as the concept of shoe sizes. As you may have noticed from my using the same exact word like 20 times, the only word that fits the entire charmingly unnecessary but delightful footnotes thing is silly. It’s perfect because it’s perfectly silly, and that just made my heart melt.

Journeytogallifrey keeps up these footnotes throughout the fic to a certain degree, and as a reader of the Good Omens book, it’s always such a joy to find fics that bother to use footnotes. And journeytogallifrey does this wonderfully, stuffing so much life and humor into them very similar to what I found great about the footnotes in the GO book. So that is reason one (in no particular order) that I love this fic

Moving on to reason 2!

Pt 2: YOU get a flashback, and YOU get a flashback

A large amount of this fic relies on the art of flashbacks, being directly tied to Aziraphale’s Plan of Seduction™︎, which just so you know goes as follows:

Every day of December, miracle up some kind of thingy (object, place, activity, etc)

Said thingy will function as the perfect reminder to reminisce about a not-a-date date you’ve had at some point throughout history

Really drive home how close you two are and absolutely drown him in affection

Keep seducing all through December

Confess at some point (exact date TBD)

Profit

As you might have noticed, the whole reminiscing thing works as an opening for truckloads of flashbacks. But let me tell you, these flashbacks are WORKS OF ART. Unfortunately, unlike the footnotes, I can’t single out a single FAVORITE flashback, because they’re practically ALL amazing.

Journeytogallifrey very obviously did a butt ton of research for this fic, something I find so incredibly amazing about the Good Omens fandom! Many GO authors will do extensive research for the sake of their Aziraphale and Crowley throughout history scenes, which is something I’ve always heavily admired within this fandom compared to others. And journeytogallifrey does this amazingly and extensively throughout this fic!

Each flashback had so much love, charm, and most interestingly historical depth in them. Each flashback acts as a charming little mini story of the various adventures the two had throughout history. The highs and lows of their relationships, the hidden affections, moments that were fun, stressful, intimate, scary, or just simply peacefully domestic, ALL of it was present in these flashbacks, and just utterly captured my heart. I managed to learn quite a decent amount through the little historical details mentioned throughout, especially if a specific detail caught my eye and I wanted to research further. (Because of this fic, my dream is to move to Iceland and celebrate Jólabókaflóðið every year)

I love the way these two act around each other throughout history, and the writing when describing everything from the setting around them to their clothes to their care for each other is phenomenal. Normally I don’t really use words like aesthetic, but the way the different places dotted around the world are described and how the two are described to fit into them, I feel like I’m transported TO that place in history. I can see the churches, deserts, orchards, streets, markets, or wherever they are right in front of me, and it’s frankly gorgeous.

I LOVE historical flashbacks like this in general in the Good Omens fandom, but this fic does this AMAZINGLY, and it does it A LOT, so that’s a serious win in my books.

Something I also found extremely lovely about the flashbacks, as well as the present day parts of the story, brings me to my next part:

Pt 3: Gender who? Gender what? Gender none, gender all!

The gender fluidity/fluidity of gender expression of both Aziraphale and Crowley makes my heart flutter like nothing else. Like seriously. This is one of the main reasons I love this fandom.

It has long been stated that angels and demons have no inherent gender, and within the show Crowley presents as male and female in varying instances. Neil Gaiman has heavily implied Crowley being gender fluid before. In response, the fandom has completely flourished into a beautiful thing of gender acceptance and flexibility.

The fanart of the Good Omens fandom makes me so happy, because people will draw Aziraphale and Crowley in any manner they choose without feeling the need to explain it or label it as an “alternate universe.” The simple casualness around the topic of gender in this fandom sets a precedent of tolerance for the rest of the world, and also just warms my heart in ways I can’t explain.

Journeytogallifrey embraces this part of the fandom with open arms, with both Aziraphale and Crowley taking on a variety of appearances and roles throughout the flashback. The detail of changing Crowley’s pronouns depending on the flashback whilst Aziraphale maintains he/him no matter his form is a wonderful touch, and made me stupidly happy. The same goes for Crowley changing appearances to fit the alias of Nanny Ashtoreth later on in the fic, as well as his discussion with Warlock that it is all still himself, no matter what form he takes.

In my opinion, the fluidity and ease in which gender, masculinity, and femininity is expressed by Aziraphale and Crowley, both through the flashbacks and in present day, is done wonderfully, and serves to demonstrate the reason why I love this fandom so incredibly much.

Pt 4: Stabbing me gently in the feels (that’s gotta be a song lyric somewhere)

Another thing is I thought the push and pull and tender misunderstandings of these two throughout the fic is AMAZING. The delicate handling of this relationship is super wonderful and feels so stupidly softly heart wrenching. Like you’re not ripping my heart to pieces, but just kind of tugging on it. Seriously, I just wanted to hold these two and hug them and explain all their misunderstandings and send them away holding hands. The angst is so soft and tender I really can’t complain too badly.

The setup conflict between the two is, like, absolutely genius. I love it. Aziraphale trying to woo Crowley with as many gifts and miracles as possible while also playing cutely dumb about it, meanwhile Crowley is freaking out because all these miracles his lovesick heart is creating subconsciously might expose his super special secret feelings to Aziraphale, and that’d be baaaad news huh?

It’s some wonderfully sweet irony that Aziraphale innocently playing dumb is convincing Crowley he’s conjuring little mini proclamations of his super confidential feelings, and that Crowley is desperately trying to hide signs of said super duper confidential feelings while Aziraphale is actively trying to woo said demon.

This creates a lovely pushing and pulling dynamic full of tenderness and love, and it KILLED ME SLOWLY. 10/10 high quality soft angst.

Side note: I really liked the way Aziraphale and Crowleys relationship with Warlock was covered in this fic, especially Crowley’s attachment to Warlock as his nanny who raised him ever since he was little. I thought the desire to reach out to Warlock post Apocalypse was really heartfelt and sweet, and it made me feel stupidly warm seeing Aziraphale help Crowley reach out and later on solidify that relationship with Warlock.

Pt 5: How are you still here?? If you are, here have this

So um…….. this ended up being really long. My bad. I mean no one’s gonna read this anyways but I still feel a little awkward standing at the end of this VERY long ramble baby.

I just wanted to end this off by saying that One Miraculous December was SUCH a great fic, full of coziness and charm and silliness and tenderness and a lovingly crafted holiday vibe unlike no other fic I’ve read. I will definitely be rereading this fic around Christmas time, the digital equivalent of snuggling up beside a warm fireplace with hot cocoa and a good book. I seriously loved this fic so much! Like, it was just good vibes the entire way through, and I have obviously been keeping up with journeytogallifrey’s works ever since I read this one. Please please please, read this fic and give it some serious love, because it deserves it so much. I don’t know how you did it mysterious person who probably doesn’t even exist, but you got to the end. Thank you for reading my dear little ramble baby about One Miraculous December by journeytogallifrey.

Now that was technically the end, but as an extra little thingy, here are some other recommendations of fics from journeytogallifrey, because they are a seriously talented author and have some amazing gems in there!

Here’s a list of my favorites:

Everything That’s Meant (T)

One of journeytogallifrey’s more recent and more popular works, this is an only slightly meta fic in which Aziraphale and Crowley are human actors playing the angel Raphael and the demon Asmodeus in the tv adaptation of Agnes Nutter’s novel Prophecies. The two actors have electrifying chemistry, but much stands in the way of the two of them, from Aziraphale’s complicated family to a haunted tv set to the things spread by the press about the two.

105,000 words (a big guy!), with 39 chapters, but such a joy to read! It’s a bit heavier in plot and emotions, and the romance is a little bit of higher stakes, but the soft moments between the two as they grow closer 100% makes up for it.

Scenes from an Italian Restaurant (T)

The shortest one of my favorites at 7,000 words in a single chapter and lightly inspired by the Billy Joel song of the same name, it tells the story of childhood friends Aziraphale and Crowley both from in their youth and reunited as adults as they dine together at (surprise surprise) their favorite Italian restaurant. There’s some hidden feelings, light angst, high school gossip, and a whole lot of stuff that happens at the tables of this Italian restaurant. In general though, it’s a wonderful, lighthearted, bite-sized time.

Infernal Escapes (T)

Roughly 37,000 words, this fic is a cute and lighthearted romance set in an escape room place. Crowley is the long suffering employee of an escape room, and is enamored by the intelligence and enthusiasm of escape room newbie, Aziraphale. The two strike up a friendship built on their love of escape rooms, and a cute and easy romance ensues. This was such a joy to read, and their easy chemistry based on their shared passion for escape rooms is infectiously sweet. There is very little to no conflict or angst in this story, so it’s a slightly lengthy but incredibly easy ride, entirely smooth sailing. If you just wanna watch two strangers meet and fall in love without all the extra things (because like, same honestly), please read this.

[ghostboyjules]

about me

omg tagged first by @mathomhouse-e and then right as I was abt to post this @wordsinhaled tagged me too!! so delighted and honored to be in this wonderful group of mutuals, y'all make my heart warm 💖🥰

Nickname: Jules, I guess, counts? other than that I don't really have a current one... @weirdfishy has been calling me ghostie tho, which I absolutely adore 🥺💕

Sign: Aquarius Sun, Aries Moon, Gemini Rising (Cap Mercury, and if y'all wanna talk astrology my dm's are always open lmaaoo)

Height: 5'7 or 5'8 on a good day (a.k.a when my sciatica isn't elbow dropping me to death)

Last thing I googled: "piercing places" and before that, "images of a shrimp" which I'm including because I thought that was very funny

Song stuck in my head: surprisingly I don't have one up there right now?? well.. I guess kinda,, but it's like a mix of a couple. All Up In Your Mind by Beyoncé, Genghis Khan by Miike Snow, Go Your Own Way by Fleetwood Mac, and In a Week by Hozier.. weird combo of songs but they're kinda cycling through my brain like a weird spirit box-esque radio station

Number of followers: 713 (😳, most of these are like, weird bots or deactivated blogs but still woah..)

Amount of sleep: hmm generally I get anywhere from 3-7 hrs, but as of right this moment (10:38pm) I've had 4hrs 36mins of Actual Sleep (from last night to when I woke up for work this morning) and then a 2 hr nap (before I started dinner this evening)

Dream job: Archivist of Some Sort™ in the Library of Congress,,, with a specialty in Thanatology?? I don't really know the specifics yet but something along those lines ig, if at all possible

Wearing: ..... a gray Cowboy Garfield t-shirt with the phrase "when I die I may not go to heaven. I don't know if they let cowboys in." and black underwear (THESE ARE MY PAJAMAS, OKAY? had to include the undies so you would get the Look™, I can't just say I'm wearing a t-shirt and leave it at that obvi... ajdjakfkg)

Movies/books that summarize you: my brain can't decide which way it wants to take this, so I'm just gonna answer with the Books/movies that I feel has shaped who I am as a person, currently. LOTR & the Hobbit trilogies, The Raven Cycle series by Maggie Stiefvater, the Conjuring (only the first one 🔪), Spirited Away, and The Labyrinth. OH SHIT almost forgot, Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children.

Favorite song: this changes daily 😐 rn tho I think probably Blood Upon the Snow by Hozier and Bear McCreary

Favorite instrument: Pipe Organ, Cello, Bass Clarinet, and the voice

Aesthetic: uh... weird goth gay uncle who is lazy and also a witch? is that anything?

Favorite authors: oof alright, well. Maggie Stiefvater, Neil Gaiman, Nora Sakavic, Gege Akutami, Lemony Snicket (Daniel Handler), and a handful of Fanfic Authors that I won't list here because I'm terrified of forgetting someone, but know that I am absolutely counting them and will forever remember their names

Random fun fact: I really love playing guitar hero games but I've never once really tried to learn how to play the guitar

thanks again for tagging me, you two 🥺🥰🥰 y'all have already tagged a lot of the peeps I would have tagged in fandom (so if I tag you again, my bad beloved homies just ignore me lmao), but let's see here... @weirdfishy, @watermelon-mafia, @rabooots, @aquilathefighter, @leave-me-alone-doctor, @eel-divinity, @an-asuryampasya, @pacospandora, @rainbowvamp, @runningheadless, and @howlittleweare <3 WHEW no obligation to do this at all obvi, but if you don't, this is just a reminder that ily 😘 if you do tho, I also love you 💖 okay g'night, loves

[epickiya722]

I think fandom is also a place in which the majority of people who are really passionate and most active abt it are fans that happened to be queer in some way, so logically, there is going to have quite a big amount of people making these M/M and F/F ships in general. But ALL of the things in that post applies perfectly in one way or another.

For context, this is post!!

Yep, agree with you, Anon. In fandoms, the majority of the fans who are passionate are queer. That's not to say that there isn't passionate fans who aren't queer, before anyone acts up on me.

While it's on my mind, the part of that post that stuck out to me the most is this one...

Yeah I don’t really ship but I do write a fair amount of fanfic, and in most franchises working with the female characters is a chore.

You have to do so much of the work yourself, because the canon left them unfinished, with huge gaps or unexplored contradictions that you have to somehow resolve. Every female character you decide to integrate into your fanwork in some major role constitutes an undertaking in her own right as you patch together an understanding of her sufficient to model a consistent set of reactions and priorities &c.

The dudes just get handed to you. Even the ones whose canon is a mess have properly developed character cores.

That you don’t have to unearth and piece together like some sort of volunteer archeologist coming up with theories way more complex than the available artifacts truly support.

I really felt that as someone who has been writing Miruko-centric fics since March 2022. So, I'll be using BNHA as an example here.

I talked about it in another post of mine, but to summarize; writing Miruko in fics have so far been a wild ride. But a fun one because I get to add onto her character. Compared to male characters, the female characters are blank canvas and honestly, to me, that's what gets my attention more because then my imagination had more freedom.

[I would like to apologize because I had no intentions to make this ask this long (pictures are here), let alone one about BNHA, and I do tend to ramble, that is my bad. So I cut it from here.]

If you asked me now which character I find more interesting between... Miruko and Hawks (I don't hate Hawks), I'm going to say Miruko. Not because she's my favorite. Because Hawks does indeed have too much given about him and it puts me off sometimes. With Miruko, I continue to have questions and those questions turn into my thought posts or fics.

She was already a favorite, but over time I appreciate her more because writing her in fics surely helped me explore more of what I can do in my writing as well as her as what she could have been as a character if she gotten a lot more to her in canon.

It also made me realize that even though a lot of the fandom is queer, when it comes to shipping, there's not a lot of love for F/F ships. Again, comes with the fact that a lot of the cast is male and the male characters have a lot more given to them.

Here's the current count! Look, at the number of F/F fics compared to M/M and F/M.

Looking at this makes me think back to that post about how female characters are often treated to be more accessories to male characters than actual characters or something along those lines.

With F/M coming second to M/M, I wouldn't be surprised if a lot of those fics are written with more male focus perspectives and the female characters are treated as tools to push the fic along. Or those Dekubowl fics where Midoriya is shipped with every single female character. *shivers*

Now, not saying M/M and F/M ships are bad, I have ships within those labels I like.

It just makes one think, you know?

I pressed on the Miruko tag and these are the top results I get. [Press to see full image!]

Now watch when I reduce the number for just Miruko-centric fics.

And you wanna know something crazy? I'm just learning this bit of info about myself. I didn't realize I was doing this!

First page of those 38 fics, the majority of them you will see are my own fics. Most of the additional tags and the top two relationship tags are tags that I used. Out of those 38 fics, guess how many are mine? 19 fics... HALF OF THOSE FICS ARE MINE AND I'M JUST LEARNING THIS!!

[m1ckeyb3rry]

THANK YOUU so nice to be back to being unproductive LMAO

USHDDKSJA DW IM BACK FOR MORE OAEU JOKES AND OTHER GOOFY RAMBLINGS wait bro people are already actually taking it too seriously??? I was gone for three days and this is what happens dw Im back and ready to slander and throw hands /j also damn was it ever that serious like people have opinions so even if you were serious??? Smh glad to be back and will fs be stepping up my Mira defender game wtf

NO FR Barou in a diff universe cmon you KNOW Karasu is right up your alley take the bait Barou fans take the bait…..but SAME???? The first ep really did him wonders probably also because eightbit put extra effort into the first ep….

MY RIDE OR DIE WE’RE IN THIS TOGETHER!!! Yeah I’d never join itoshiopolis because the fans there are actually kinda insane but ig I won’t slander him for being emo looking as often

Pursuit tabieita fr my favorite I can’t wait to see them introduced and having their dumbass moments LMAO

Aikuniko unexpected duo my Roman Empire I never expected to like either character LMAOOO ok wait speaking of I saw some profiles floating around from the new bible??? I thought it was releasing later but????? Ok I tried to grab the link from Reddit (ew I know) but it wouldn’t let me for whatever reason without like sending it as a thing through Reddit but I don’t even have an account and I’m not about to make one (maybe technology hates me atp or I should start cracking out an industrial grade computer to do shit) soooo but if you just scroll in the main blue lock subreddit there’s a bunch of profiles posted including Aiku kiyora Hiori Nanase etc! Aikus has me dying but I think I just got my shit rocked reading hioris what the fuck LMAOOO anyways um happy reading!!

FRRR im already interacting with every bllk post that comes my way to try and influence my fyp but it gets taken over by like random shit idek but yeahhhh definitely more slideshow looking this time HAHA the way they animated chigiri running really had me crying because why did they just drag him across the screen like that but I mean either way KARASUUUU HE FR LOOKED SO GOOD AND OMG YEAH THE HANDS >>>>>> i agree he did look more majestic in the manga LOL yeah i think the smirk makes the animators exaggerate some proportions and whatnot but the extra Bambi panel thank you eightbit the way I screamed when I heard the villain line LMAOOO

FRRR nagi Karasu majestic panel when!! Maybe we’ll get one from epinagi if it ever gets to the MC vs PXG match LOL

15K FOR AN OPP IS CRAZY LMAOOO no because you’re serving even FOR the opps that’s actually crazy if I had to make content for an opp I feel like I’d half ass it but anyways GOGO YOU GOT THISSSS

- Karasu anon

HOORAY FOR BEING UNPRODUCTIVE 🙂‍↕️💖

OAEU JOKES ON TOP they will never not be funny to me sorry not sorry…please it really never was that deep i’m afraid!! people mostly keep it cute and idm diff opinions but sometimes it’s like okay well i fear you missed the point a bit here. i fear i was just joshing with ya. i fear i was being overly dramatic to prove a point. SORRY I WON’T DO IT AGAIN 😭💔

BAROU FANS PLEASEEE KARASU FANS ALREADY LOVE BAROU LETS FORM A COALITION PLSSS and yeah they def put more effort into the first ep KDJFJS maybe it’s because nagi’s in that ep so they had to lock in…also the barou cameo in this ep had me giggling he looked rlly good in it too he’s so #bae

RIDE OR DIESSSS FR okay wait this is insanely controversial but it has to be said idc abt itoshi bros angst i just don’t think it was ever that serious idk how people genuinely cry and feel sad abt it…maybe it’s because i’m coming from fandoms where characters die and shit but like it just isn’t sad to me??? like okay sae doesn’t want to play soccer w rin anymore…maybe rin just needs more hobbies or smth LSHFSJJDSN IDK IDK TOP TEN OPINIONS THAT WOULD PUT A HIT ON ME FR itoshi fans do NOT play

I CAN’T WAIT EITHER UGH I JUST NEED TO FINISH THIS REQ AND THEN I’M ON IT

OKAY i just read through them 😭 KIYORA’S HAS ME CACKLING WHY IS BRO FREAKY LIKE THAT 😫 maybe karasu and otoya were onto smth when they decided to bully him…also kurona and his multiple pet hedgehogs?? hello??? that is SO random yet somehow also in character…pls hiori’s insane celebrity crush is so funny and AIKU omg the way he has a gambling and underage drinking issue is so him i can’t he’s so insane and him hating chocolate is SO in character somehow like he would be the one 😰 just patiently sitting and waiting for more karasu barou and yukimiya content now 👁️👁️ nagi has his own spinoff manga so i’m pretty fed in terms of nagi info but the other three GIVE IT TO ME NOW wait also aiku having an older and younger sister just like otoya is hilarious what is it abt that combo that creates absolute VILLAINS ⁉️

hold on related to epinagi i have to say i did not care abt himizu’s backstory bruh literally who even likes him he’s done nothing in the main series 😭 i’ve seen predictions that he might somehow injure chigiri in barcha vs mc but i don’t think he would just because chigiri’s leg is such a major plot point that idt they’d do smth to it without isagi around?? if that makes sense?? idk though

PNG LOCK WE ARE SO BACK 🙂‍↕️ i’m laughing at least they didn’t fumble too much w the art style…i feel like we knew going into it that the majority of the budget went into the u20 match so it was kinda expected ngl…HEARTBREAKING as a karasu fan but THRILLING as a nagi/barou fan 😭 sacrifices must be made ig at least karasu is incapable of looking bad and does have some scenes in u20 too so all hope is not lost!! plus we get the scene of all of them shirtless in the locker room and one thing abt 8bit they eat UP shirtless scenes LSJFJDJD expecting smth glorious for shirtless karasu’s anime debut

omg wait actually now that you mention it epinagi might have smth usable in the current match i’ll have to go back and lurk…epinagi artist LOVES karasu his panels are always insanely good the problem is like he has so few panels that if i make a karasu theme my blog will look exactly the same as every other karasu fan’s and my individuality complex will not allow that /hj

OUT SOON I PROMISE I’M FINISHING UP had to take a break for dinner and some internship application stuff but i’m back to the grind now TRUST

[angeltism]

HEHEH IM HONORED TO HAVE BEEN GIVEN SUCH A TITLE... i honestly also wanna keep talking with you.. seeing you flustered makes me really happy im gonna be honest :3 its a talent of mine to be really smooth with words you see but only specifically for These situations HDJAHRJSJR if you wanna know more about me feel free to just. ask whatever questions you have! im a huge fan of answering questions honestly so GO!!! GO AND ASK EVERYTHING AND ANYTHING YOU WANT!!! you can also not worry about the whole me being kinda nervous of you knowing who i actually am thing because im 100% certain nothing i answer will give you many leads. sorry i like teasing with this kind of thing i have never had the opportunity of doing it HSHSJSHJW good its already 2 am there? FIRST LOVEY ANON FACT i live one whole hour behind you... you are a time traveler.. woah...

- 💌 anon

twirling my hair ehehe omg yay I definitely have like . . . many questions I'm curious 2 ask uu !!! they'll purrobably be under a read more at the end of this post so this doesn't become 2827472 lines long for my mewtuals n followers sake fufu,, and lol no worried abt the "teasing" bit , I get nawt wanting to tell me who uu are just yet , this can be kinda fun , being able to speak with me anonymously and for me to have the mystery of nawt knowing who I'm speaking to so I suppose I understand :3 also woahh . thatmeans uu stayed up until 1-2am at least last night tsk tsk (ignore that I stayed up until 2:51am uu need sleep my dear !!)

questions under the cut . . . again just for the sake of nawt having this be 1000ft long bc they'll be in a list ig

ok so feel free to answer any of these or ignore some or whatever if uu would like . . . no pressure to answer all of em ! ♡

Do you have any fandoms you're really into? Especially any in common with me, so purrhaps we could chat about em . . . ? fufufu idk also just in general to know what uu like :3

Pronouns? I'm assuming at least they/them is okie because that's what I've been using for uu so far and I imagine uu would have said somethin if nawt but if there's something uu prefer, even like, nounself or something, or want me to alternate I wanna know !!

Music taste? This is an opportunity for uu to tell me specific artists or songs if uu want . . . I'm soso curious :0

Favorite color? This is a little basic idk but I think it'd be nice to know :3

How long have uu . . . liked me . . . . gasp !! Also like Why I mean I suppose I am awesome and the 2nd greatest in the whole universe but nawt many really . have liked me in that way in a while I suppose ? Idk just curious if there's anything specific about me that uu especially like ehehe ~ ^_^

And finally . . . favorite foods ? Something savory and something sweet , if sweets are somethin uu like ! :D

[dreamboatmomota]

19 45 97 im going to give you hate anons

YOURE SETTING ME UP FOR DISASTER

19. Who do you think is an underrated character?

both nekomaru and ryoma 😭 these are like two of my favorite characters from the entire franchise, i think that both of them have so many interesting characteristics and have such gold-hearted personalities with so much to give that i think both deserved more love within their in-game casts (moreso ryoma) and just as characters as a whole

45. Unpopular opinion?

im sure i have a lot packed away in my brain but they probably arent that interesting or controversial haha. while being ouma mischaracterized is pretty commonly discussed, i notice that kaito is deeply misread a lot of the time on the other side of that and it has much less acknowledgement so i wanna talk abt that. i think some portions of the fandom fail to acknowledge that kaito is a very layered character and tend to see him in a very straight-forward, badly painted light. well actually thinking about it more, this has two spectrums to it 🤔 some people see him as a shallow douchebag going solely off of single lines that are like, 1% of kaito's entire character and/or completely misinterpreting his actions (ex. punching shuichi). but on the other hand, some people only see him as the persona he portrays himself as, making him out to be an indestructible person and never consider the extremely anxious, insecure and extremely self-contradictory character he is and that he's very fragile HAHA. i always like to call him an onion when i talk about this particular subject bc the fucking. shrek line applies to him so much he has so many layers. look at his clothes hes just meant to be a layered character

97. Overrated ship which is your NOTP? i could go the komahina route but i have more opinions about saimota, i honestly don't mind if people ship it because it is a good ship on the surface, but i personally believe it isn't a mutually beneficial relationship getting into the heart of it. kaito's whole hero/sidekick charade in itself was already extremely unhealthy since all it did was ask him to constantly be the beacon for the others while getting nothing in return or putting others before himself despite being at constant internal war with himself and on a more severe case, being. literally terminally ill HAHA. and even though this is self-inflicted on his part, shuichi easily falls for kaito's lies when he says that he's alright and that he's invincible and shouldn't be worried about. this applies to kaimaki too in some areas, but i just feel that saimota and kaito's sidekick dynamic is a very heavily imbalanced relationship. i love it platonically though, kaito in general is just a very good friend and i think they have a good bond 😭 disclaimer i promise i am not trying to shit all over the ship and i really do get why its appealing, i mean i used to ship it if you go back through my art tag and posts and stuff but its just. not my cup of tea anymore so im really sorry if this upsets anybody 😭

[mixkeymilkovich]

tagged by @10x12 to do this get to know me, shamey style, meme thingy! hell yeah, ty kam <3

When did you start watching Shameless?  very, very recently compared to others but i started (and finished) watching shameless this past april (2021. i finished literally a week after the series finale) i actually have a screenshot of the moment i decided to ruin (affectionate) my life by starting shamey

How did you start getting involved in the Gallavich fandom? idk, i blacked out and when i woke up suddenly i had a shameless sideblog and had followed like 20 new blogs and now, here i am! (idk? i think i just went through the gallavich and mickey tag and everytime i saw a post/read a take that made me go “hell yeah” i would follow op)

Favorite Shameless character? (Other than Ian & Mickey of course) lip!! phillip my beloved!!! second only to mickey as my poor little meow meow… my bestie who watched shameless since the beginning (the person i was texting in the screenshot) actually had lip as her homescreen in like 2013 and i would tease her about it like “who is this weirdo are you for real?” but. oh how the turn tables….

What plotline from the show irked you the most? oof…. the most?? i mean. gay jesus bc. yk. but also maybe the whole throuple plotline.. idk i just. Did Not Care For It.

Favorite line from the show? i have two, the first is so like, cliche but “what you and i have makes me free” genuinely drives me and my little gay heart insane. i could literally write an essay on it but i’ve already talked to much so i will not but. god!!! fuck!!!!!!!!!

Fanfic(s) you can’t stop thinking about. cooperative gameplay my beloved!!!!! i don’t think i’ve ever loved a fic this much, like i literally think about cg mickey and ian almost as much as i do the actual characters.

some others- boy in the box, teenage dirtbag, the southside forever series and like real people do all have special places in my heart <3

The best concert(s) you’ve been to: ooo my first fob concert bc it was their first tour after coming off hiatus, my third time seeing bad suns in 2017 in this teeny tiny venue was amazing bc every fan in there was screaming along and the band was ON and i think abt it often. julia michael was also amazing and surprisingly cathartic

Comfort Movie Franchise: uh, idk about a franchise but clueless, it (2017) & coraline are what i would consider my comfort movies.

Piercings/Tattoos: i’ve got two tatts, (a triangle on one forearm, and a fob piece on the other) and i’ve got 7 piercings!

Most Rewatched TV Show: bob’s burgers. excluding this current season, i have seen every episode of bobs burgers at least three times. not even kidding.

Pet Peeves: i work in a very busy mall and people who walk like they are the only ones walking & groups who feel the need to spread out in a horizontal line literally make me wanna commit a felony.

Random fact about yourself: i own 22 pairs of vans. (the shoes.)

gonna tag @phillipgallagher @gallavichsbitch @mrsinistertype @milkimick @parmesan-event @emmyrussum and anyone else who wants to! (sorry if you’ve already been tagged; i can’t keep track 😣)

[bronanlynch]

reverse unpopular opinion: game of thr*nes

oh boy. oh boy. what a question. what a can of worms you’ve opened.

see, the thing abt having a love-hate relationship with something is that on some levels I do love it a lot. it also makes me very angry, and sometimes makes my depression actively worse (the spring that the final season was coming out was like. not a great time for me in general and watching a season of television in which the thematic takeaway, inasmuch as there are coherent themes [which uh. there aren’t. only incoherent themes here, but what can you expect from writers who said that themes are for eighth grade book reports], is that nothing matters and nothing changes and fuck you for caring, was not the best thing I could’ve done for my mental health. however, unfortunately, I do not control the hyperfixation)

that being said, I love a series with in-depth worldbuilding. I love when fake places have detailed in-universe histories and legends and like, contradicting narratives about what happened in the past. (not all of the worldbuilding is good and plenty of it contains a whole lot of unexamined racism and misogyny and homophobia but that’s a different, longer post) also as a fic writer I appreciate how much detail there is so like, if I needed some random person to appear for a couple of lines, that person probably already exists and has a name and that’s both fun on a worldbuilding level and makes my life significantly easier.

also, despite being eternally disappointed that he made the viking-inspired culture ahistorically misogynistic (and weirdly against the ideas of trade, when actual early medieval scandinavia famously did quite a lot of that, and farming, which. do they exclusively eat fish?? when fishing is barely mentioned as a thing people do??? hello???? how did they not all die of scurvy???? george please take my calls????) I am fond of and fascinated by the iron islands. yes I know most of them suck however they’re the only people in the series who care about the sea. let me have this. everyone else, despite living on a big ol island, does not give a shit about the ocean. george please (my nickname in the sff soc got watch party groupchat was set to ‘yara gayjoy’ I am not immune to lesbian pirates)

the other thing I like is the characters. I’m constantly thinking about that post that’s like “grrm knows women are people, he just doesn’t respect us” and tbh that kind of sums up how I feel about like. a lot of the characters. there are some really interesting character concepts! there are characters that I got attached to when I was fifteen and will never be able to pry out of my heart! however very few of the characters that I care about got arcs or endings that I found narratively satisfying but that’s what fanfiction is for and oh boy do I sure have a lot of that (I haven’t actually finished or posted any of it but it’s there, lurking in the back of my hard drive, waiting for my current interests to fade because I do always end up going back to it).

specifically regarding the show: the costumes and the music are both fantastic. like, in general, and with some exceptions (the lighting is the last season was. bad), it’s a very competently made show. it’s visually very pretty, and the costumes (with a few exceptions) are gorgeous and interesting and well-designed. and the music fucking slaps. ramin djawadi knows his shit.

the other thing abt got is like. sappier and that is that it’s something I’ve bonded with people over bitching about, because not all of it’s good but there’s so much to unpack and that can be fun with the right people. and also zan and I have spent a significant percentage of our friendship coming up with elaborate AUs to make things better or at least more interesting for our favorite characters and it’s kinda nice knowing that even though we both have plenty of other interests, that will always be something that we care about and can like, fall back on as a shared fandom

on a shallow note, my loras tyrell cosplay is a work of art and I look very pretty in it (wow I miss conventions...... when will I once again drink an overpriced cocktail in a hotel bar while dressed as a fictional character.....)

[swarmkeepers]

fic writer interview

tagged by: @myclericalromance and @nonbinarywithaknife, two writers (and friends) whom i admire so much, thank you!! <3

name: you can call me sola! mordredmanor on here, SolaSola on ao3

fandoms: it’s full speed ahead dimension 20 rn but i’ve written for ngozi ukazu’s omg check please! and e. jade lomax’s beanstalk trilogy in the past! both of them are still unfinished oops and maybe someday if i can actually think of ideas i will finish them but i have fallen in far too deep with d20

where you post: fics are all on ao3 and i try to crosspost tumblr meta there if it starts to approximate fic! i don’t post full fics on tumblr though

most popular oneshot: far and away a soft and heavy weight (i never really know what makes a fic “popular” but it has the most hits, kudos, and bookmarks so this one is pretty easy lol), which makes me happy because i still adore it, literally just 5k of gorgug and zelda sharing hoodies that’s it 

most popular multi-chapter: only one d20 multichapter lol so it’s almost by default actualize (the first attack) my d20bb fic! gorgug/zelda/ragh mutual pining/shenanigans/groupchat textfic during a game of assassins

fics you were nervous to post: my bb fic might qualify, but i think by the time i got to posting i was more relieved/excited for ppl to finally get to read it than nervous, though i was definitely nervous in the week running up as i scrambled to finish it. genuinely, though, i think i’m most nervous to post gift fics like slow fall / otherworldly leap and nightcap (just fall in the bed) bc i never know if i’ve written something the recipient will like!!

how do you choose your titles: rule number one is it’s gotta be three or four words MINIMUM and all lowercase that’s just how it’s gotta be but otherwise i love a good quote from the source material or a song lyric. bonus points if there’s a parenthetical somewhere or the lyric crosses a line break

do you outline: i don’t think anyone would call it an outline but i do do notes before i start writing anything! usually it’s little snatches of dialogue or what will eventually become the summary or a numbered list from 1 to 6 if it’s a 5+1. i did have a longer outline for my bb fic but my artist partner + beta could tell you that there were three separate outlines as i started cutting stuff out lol

favorite story i’ve written so far: stream this is me trying it was so cathartic to write, seven maidens rights!

complete: all of them :D (for d20 anyway) i have learned from previous fandoms that i am not to be trusted with multichap fics

in progress: none :D again i truly cannot be trusted with an update schedule or multichaps

coming soon: i think i’m gonna let myself chill for a while after d20bb and d20december exchange which were truly so fun BUT i do have a couple of wips in the folder including a 5+1 rickyesther, some brainstorming abt transracial adoptee/diaspora!gorgug whom i adore dearly (and who my d20december gift has made me newly excited about!), and of course more seven maidens/zelda thoughts! i gotta say though, the fics i love the most are the ones i spent less than 24 hours on that just come to me spontaneously, so maybe an ep of tuc2 soon will inspire something :D

prompts: oh my god yes please my inbox is always open, and i think i’m gonna try to reblog more prompt memes + work on some if new ones come through the tuc prompt meme in 2021! i love doing prompts they are always welcome!

tagging: i’m not 100% sure who hasn’t been tagged already but please please feel free to do this meme and say i tagged you if you want! i’ll tag @supercantaloupe @aelwynrights @lizznotliz @frill-shark

[fandomlurker]

A Ponderous Rewatch: Prologue

You know, I didn’t think this would happen. I didn’t go into bingeing the 2020 renewal of Animaniacs with the thought “I’m going to watch this and then go and watch the original Pinky and the Brain shorts and spin-off show and do a rewatch and loose analysis on the whole franchise with special attention on queer subtext and themes”. What I initially set out to do was simply watch the renewal and see if it lived up to the show I watched pretty regularly as a kid in the 90s…or at least what I remembered of it through the haze of decades worth of time.

Pinky and the Brain was my favorite set-up on Animaniacs back in the day. Back then I probably wouldn’t even have been able to tell you why beyond “I think it’s funny and the characters are fun to watch as they screw up trying to take over the world”. Other segments were funny to me back in the day, too. Slappy the squirrel was great in that she was basically just like the classic, near-timeless Looney Toons a la Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck, but as an old lady toon who’s seen it all and tries to relate to the changing world while proving that the ol’ slapstick ways still work. The Goodfeathers were entertaining despite the fact that I was a literal child and didn’t even know that it was a big ol’ spoof of Goodfellas. Hell, I’ve still never seen Goodfellas, but three pigeons trying to carry themselves like macho tough guy mafia folks while being goddamn pigeons is still funny with or without that context. And as for the Warner siblings themselves? Their skits were pretty consistently great as well. Lots of that Bugs Bunny-like energy of putting terrible folks in their place when they annoy you while coupling it with the dynamic of three child siblings who are very, very active and much too clever for the average person. It was fun!

But as I watched the 2020 reboot with its stripped-down cast now largely consisting of just the Warner siblings and Pinky and the Brain segments for the season (And I’ll be honest, some of the segments from the 90s like Katie Kaboom, Buttons and Mindy, and the Hip-Hippos are ones I’ll be happy to never have return because they were godawful even back then), it brought into focus the strength of those segments compared to most of the others from the old 90s line-up: The strong dynamic and chemistry of the relationships between the main characters of those skits. The Warner siblings are a trio of kids who, despite being truly cut from the same wacky cloth as the most beloved of Looney Toon characters, also very much tap into a very realistic depiction of sibling relationships. Sure, they get on each other’s nerves sometimes. Sure, sometimes they have disagreements on how they view a certain situation. At the end of the day, however, they care about each other more than anything else and work in such perfect sync despite differences in who they are individually.  Sure, Yakko is a talkative theater kid jackass who sasses back at the drop of a dime. Sure, Wakko is kinda quiet and spaced-out and he has the appetite of a garbage disposal. Sure, Dot is adorable and witty and loudly and proudly feminist with an oddly feral streak. But if any one of them is inconvenienced or picked on or threatened in any way by someone, even if that someone is a powerful celebrity of some sort? You bet your ass the other two will immediately back their sibling up and make their tormentor’s life a living hell for the next however long the skit lasts. They’re little gremlin children who love one another, and have a surprisingly tragic backstory that actually speaks to a lot of fans on several levels.

But, okay, the bond between the Warner siblings is great and fun. What about Pinky and the Brain? What makes their dynamic stand out?

Folks, that’s where things get a little more…interesting. To me, at least.

So, watching the beginning of the 2020 reboot got me to slowly remember the parts I loved about the Pinky and the Brain skits from Animaniacs…were actually from their spin-off show. And the things I remembered most clearly from the spin-off were the more heartwarming moments that showed how much they cared about and loved one another, despite Brain being exhausted by Pinky’s dimwitted antics at times. And for a supposedly continuity-light cartoon show, there was a surprising amount of consistency to the main duo and their motivations. There was even a handful of reoccurring side characters the audience was expected to recognize from past episodes, as well, which is a bit strange to have for a show that initially seemed to aim to be strictly episodic. I remembered the odd amount of depth there was to the series. Nothing groundbreaking, mind you, but definitely something more than the average comedy cartoon.

So after watching the first few episodes of the reboot, I took to Tumblr to see if anyone remembered the old 90s show and to see how they were reacting to the new one. In doing so, I came across this post:

“i love that ppl make jokes abt a pinky and the brain version of the destiel confession because that. already happened....... the only difference is that brain pulls pinky out of superhell instead of dying on a barn nail”

Now, look, I’ve never watched Supernatural and only know it through Tumblr cultural osmosis, and at the time we were all riding off the high of the madness that was the finale of that show and the fallout from it. But ANYWAY…

This piqued my interest because 1. I didn’t remember watching an episode of Pinky and the Brain where anything like that happened, and 2. I was already picking up strong gay vibes from the reboot only a few episodes in. So, basically, I just had to hunt down this episode to sate my curiosity and see for myself if there was subtext in this 90s cartoon that I hadn’t quite picked up on as a kid.

I found the episode and started watching it. “Wow,” I said to myself, “this is a lot gayer than I remember…” And after finishing the episode, memories came flooding back to me:

That time the Brain fell for a girl mouse that was looked and acted lot like Pinky.

All those moments where Pinky would wear drag to disguise himself as Brain’s significant other in one way or another to further their plans for that episode, and how I could never remember it being ridiculed.

That one time they accidentally had a child together via a science mishap.

The ending of the Christmas special!...

And as I sat there, dumbstruck and searching Tumblr’s tags to see how far this particular rabbit hole (mouse hole?) went, everything finally clicked in my little bisexual mind.

This was one of the big reasons as to why I loved the Pinky and the Brain skits so much above all the others on Animaniacs all those years ago when I was a kid. It was the same sort of thing that subconsciously drew me to many of the cartoons and anime and media in general I loved as a child, back before I had the proper knowledge and self-awareness to know or express it.

Looking back on my life, I’d always gravitated to and resonated the most with stories and media with queer content in text or subtext. And sure, this cartoon was/is no Sailor Moon or Revolutionary Girl Utena with explorations of gender roles and queerness. It’s no Steven Universe or She-Ra with out and proud queer characters. It’s no The Little Mermaid or The Happy Prince where the stories were made by queer authors and subtextually about queer experience.

However…

However…!

I was surprised to find how deep the gay subtext went with Pinky and the Brain. Hell, I still am. This little Warner Brothers, Looney Toons-pedigree, continuity-light show about two lab mice trying to take over the world in bizarre, hilarious ways has such a weirdly continuous, heartfelt, touching, engaging, and sometimes outrageously raunchy queer undercurrent to it. All done in the 90s! It’s kind of baffling.

This is not to say that the creators and writers of the shows deliberately set out to do this. I don’t believe that anyone involved sat down and said to themselves “I’m going to make this so fucking gay!”. Sure, the voice actors of both Pinky and the Brain have said that they played the dynamic with “the energy of an old gay couple” and they’ve said plenty of suggestive or outright not safe for work things in the character’s voices in interviews and at convention panels. I firmly believe that they’re just having fun as the characters, just as much as I believe the writers were probably just having fun and putting in the gay subtext and suggestive lines as a kind of long running joke and seeing how far they could take it.

(By the time of the Pinky and the Brain comics, however, I’m not so sure. Some of the stuff they got away with in those issues is…amazing, to say the least.)

Regardless of actual intent, I think the writers of Pinky and the Brain (both old and new), have accidentally created a sort of subtextual, yet pretty powerful love story. And you know what? I want to rewatch this story for myself and write down my thoughts as I go along. I tried something similar quite a while back with Droids, and while I kind of ran out of steam as my life got busier and never finished, I have time now for something like this.

I should also say that I’m not out here to, like, convert anyone into shipping cartoon mice together. I imagine most people see Pinky and the Brain as nothing other than very close friends, and that’s a completely valid viewpoint to have. I doubt there will ever be some sort of canonization of a gay relationship between the two, as I imagine most of the writers on the new show (and hell, on the old one) are heterosexual themselves and would view such an idea as “ruining the comedy and the dynamic of the characters” or something similar. I’ve been in the fandom game long enough to know better than to hope and expect any media to sincerely tackle queer relationships in stories that only have the subtext there, especially in comedies.

I guess I’m doing this more to explore something I loved as a child and to see if I can find just as much if not more enjoyment from it as an adult, albeit maybe for different reasons. Hell, it’s also an opportunity to peek into a kind of time capsule from the 90s regarding how far queer subtext could be pushed back then, even when heavily couched in comedy. This is just a little project I wanna do for fun in my spare time. And hey, maybe a few of you out there will have some fun reading it too, who knows?

Either way, see you sometime soon in the new year.

[asideofourown]

Happy anniversary to the Good Omens TV show! I didn’t get the chance to write a fic specifically to celebrate (where did May go?  Perhaps I’ll do something in June for my own go-versary), so instead here I am with 25 recs :D  Thanks so much to @forineffablereasons​ for the bingo board (here is her original post)!  And thanks so much to the Good Omens fandom for countless hours of incredible fic to read and enjoy <3  Obviously, this list barely scratches the surface of what’s out there, but here are some of my favorites!  

A fic you’ve read several times: South Downs University series by @nieded​

I’ve read this series probably... ten times, and I still love it.  It fits (one of my absolute favorite) very niche categories with Crowley and Aziraphale being cryptid professors and utterly confusing their students, and i am HERE for it

A fic not abt Aziraphale and Crowley: Bridge over troubled water by @moondawntreader​

LISTEN this fic is so good, I’ve read it probably four times and it’s incredible.  Short, but so powerful in so few words.  Leslie/Maud is the true otp ;D

A fic published before the show aired: Slytherin Vaguely Downwards by @saviobriion​

This fic is really, really well-written, and does a fantastic job transporting many Good Omens characters into the HP universe in a way that works really well!

A fic you followed as a wip: on the same page by @thechekhov​

Still a WIP, and still incredible!  Az and Crowley as authors with their own Arrangement is already fantastic, but add in the fake-dating-while-pining-desperately?  Incredible!

a human AU: secondhand smoke by @paintedvanilla​

This is probably my favorite fic in the entire good omens fandom tbh... human au set in the 1990s, and so so so well done-- this is another fic I’ve read several times, and every time i notice something new.  The characterization and prose is fantastic, the development of Crowley and Aziraphale’s relationship is really sweet and realistic, and this was also the fic that definitively got me on board for Newt/Anathema as well!

A fic shorter than 2k: For Holding by theycallmeDernhelm

Ahh this one is really soft!  Post-apocalypse hand holding is my jam, and the author does a lovely job of saying so much in so few words <3

A fic you stayed up way too late reading: Not So Different by effing_gravity

I stayed up until maybe... three in the morning reading this fic?  After every chapter I would tell myself to only read one more, but it was so gripping I read it all in one sitting!  Reverse omens meets the canon husbands in a super interesting and thrilling fic!

A south downs fic: The consciousness of loving and being loved by yolkinthejump

This is like... the platonic ideal of a South Downs fic imo.  The author does an absolutely incredible job of conveying the depth of their relationship, and it’s so sweet and soft and <3

A fic with a favorite trope: There goes the neighbourhood by @jasmine-cottage-uk​

so technically I’m cheating because the ‘favorite trope’ in this one is ALSO south downs (like above), but.  This fic is so funny, and the author does a great job of capturing Aziraphale and Crowley’s voices and the way the care for each other, it’s very sweet <3

A dowling years fic: Floriography by Frenchmeister

This fic is very cute!  Excellent Dowling-era pining, complete with misunderstandings and veiled communications :D  And the author does such a lovely job weaving the narrative to show Aziraphale and Crowley’s growing relationship

A historical fic: Phersu by JCutter

This fic.  THIS FIC.  Is so fucking incredibly detailed and immersive, oh my god.  I’m still (admittedly) in the process of reading it, but it’s a GEM.  The characterization is on point and the whole thing is beautifully written and wonderfully interesting!  It’s super clear the author knew what they were writing about, and that knowledge and passion really shines through

A favorite canonverse fic: England's pleasant pastures seen by @heavens-bookshop​

this fic is my JAM-- overhearing a conversation, implicit marriage proposals, post-canon sweetness... this one’s got it all!  And, as with all of their fics, squiddz does an incredible job of writing Aziraphale and Crowley in character and so wonderfully in love <3

MY FIC: A Guide to Fame for the Enterprising Demon by me!

This is my favorite fic I’ve written for Good Omens, and quite possibly my favorite fic ever.  Listen, Crowley getting accidentally famous is SO funny to me, as is outsider pov, so if I write about it a lot... ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

A fic that made you cry: reasons wretched and divine by @stammiviktor​

Allison has been one of my favorite writers for a good long while, and this fic is just one of her amazing works.  It’s touching and meaningful and so moving even in only a few thousand words, and between her characterization and writing style... this one packs a punch in the best of ways

A fic that inspires you: The Name of the Star is Wormwood by LusBeatha

So technically this could have gone up above, in the ‘stayed up too late reading’ category, because here’s another that was just too exciting to put down  From beginning to end, the author does and incredible job connecting the past and present, and introducing characters in such an engaging way that, even though the fic is quite long, it goes by super fast.  Probably my fave take on Raphael!Crowley :D

A fic you’d recommend to someone new to the fandom: Shotgun Wedding: sometimes a first date requires paperwork by @charlottemadison42​

Still a wip, and absolutely amazing!  Charlotte is an absolutely incredible author, and from the very beginning this fic does an amazing job of integrating canon characters (and even little nods and references to canon!) into an entirely different human au setting in a super engaging and clever way.  12/10 would recommend to someone new, and the slow burn is incredibly satisfying right up to the (current) resolution!

A comfort fic: it's a new craze by @areyougonnabe​, [podfic] it's a new craze by @niceandaccuratetheatre​

I’ve read this fic a few times, and it never gets old. attheborder’s humor is on point, and the conception itself- aziraphale and crowley on an advice podcast- is incredible!  I would highly, highly recommend listening to the podfic if you can; it’s excellently performed, and in all honesty the podfic that got me onto podfics ;D

A fic that found you at the right time: two dad shaped beings by @jarchivism​

i....... cannot express how much I love ineffable parents.  And this fic seriously, seriously hits the spot.  It’s super cute, super funny, and a really sweet and engaging read!  The author did a lovely job with keeping Az and Crowley in character even as they raise the antichrist together

A fic you’d love to see as a movie: All's Fair In Love And Serial Killing by @wyvernquill​

[Mind the tags] This fic does an incredible job of balancing darker content with humor.  The whole story is fast-paced and exciting, keeping the suspense right up until the last moment, and the author does a fantastic job of constructing a satisfying ‘mystery!’  Most of all, the more morbid moments are countered by Wyvern’s clever writing style and narrative voice, making this fic interesting and even surprisingly fun!

A fic by a favorite author: Four Cups of Wine by borealowl

I really, really love this fic.  The whole concept, of Aziraphale and Crowley getting to know a family of humans and learn about their cultural heritage through celebration is wonderful, and the author does a wonderful job of portraying the growth of their friendship! The entire series (both main fic and the one-shots that come after) is incredibly fun and interesting, and one of my faves in the fandom

A fic that made you laugh out loud: What's in a Name? by @rosen-ritter​

The first time I read this I was in public, waiting at a car rental place for my grandparents.  So the fact that I couldn’t stop laughing out loud was... honestly worth it.  This series is so fucking funny from beginning to end, especially on reread, and has such a fun take on who the archangel Raphael really is ;D

A fic longer than 20k: Dad Omens by @pookaseraph​

have I mentioned I love ineffable parents??? Because I really, really do.  This fic is hilarious, sweet, and adorable, and I absolutely love the progression of Crowley and Aziraphale’s relationship as they raise Adam together-- and, despite not being human, raise him well :D  An absolutely wonderful take on what if the baby swap had been even more confused?

A fic with the them: and i don't care if you don't want me (i'm yours anyhow) by @quidfree​

The main focus of this fic is Warlock, but the Them are featured pretty heavily and in a really important way!  It’s a lovely exploration of kids growing up and going to college, and learning who they really are, and written so well and with such nuance that I really couldn’t put it down!

A fic with a line you still remember: A More Nourishing Love by @qorktrees​

This fic is just.  Really powerful.  It’s so, so clear how much Aziraphale and Crowley care for each other, how much they love and support each other, and their unconditional love for each other makes me tear up every time <3  

A GO: Lockdown fic: New slang by @carishouldbesleeping

This fic is super super cute!  A lovely take on Aziraphale and Crowley’s reunion post-lockdown, complete with fluff and love confessions <3  So well-written and absolutely adorable!

[luci-cunt]

this is the same anon from the book rec ask! i originally followed you bc i kinda fell in LOVE with Avoiding War (bones... absolutely adore them) but seeing how u post abt aftg n how u just rec'd it hmmmm i might actually read it!!! i only know a lil bit abt the series (they play a made up sport??? exy and neil is apparently a whore for it jhgbdk) although i do tend to skip over the posts. i'll definitely have to check it out !!!!

AHH!!! Oh my god well Anon I already loved you but if you like Bones then you’re like akjsd;flajsdfl literally my favorite person on the planet. 

ALSO!!! I would 100% reccomend AFtG EXCEPT: here’s some warnings XD

First though: here’s your hook: 

Neil Josten has been on the run for almost his whole life, he can barely remember a time when he wasn’t running from demons hiding in his past. Before, he had his mother by his side, but after a close call in Seattle he leaves her in a burning car on a sandy California beach and has to go it alone. With his mother gone and life feeling helpless he turns to Exy--a fictional sport that’s a bit like if Hockey and Lacrosse had a hate child. He’s good, good enough to catch the attention of one David Wymack, also known as Coach of the Palmetto State Foxes, a team infamous for their questionable choice in players. Wymack gives people second and third and fourth chances, he uses the team to recruit people who otherwise would be left face down in gutters and pulls them out. 

With his entrance and the  possibility of a new life Neil has to make a choice--toss aside everything his mother taught him and put his life on the line, or ignore his only opportunity to gain a real home. 

He picks, but if life was easy he wouldn’t be Neil Josten. 

Why you should read!!

FOUND FAMILY!!!

NEIL IS A SNARKY BASTARD BOI WHO IS 100% AN EXY WHORE

Gays!

Really cool complex characters

The fandom is fucking AMAZING

You WILL fall in love with the characters

The first book is $0 on amazon as an ebook and the other two are $0.99 what have you really got to lose?

Why you might NOT want to read:

It’s graphic and dramatic and ridiculous and over-the-top and a bit... we’ll say interestingly written

Don’t get me wrong I love these books to DEATH but the first book especially is a bit of an exposition slog fest XD. There is QUITE a bit of violence including a character who deals with sexual abuse + multiple, pretty damn explicit, torture scenes. I couldn’t find it but somewhere around her there’s a completed trigger warning list for the series and--yeah it’s LONG. 

I ripped through all three books in about a dayish (reading overnight too) because I legitimately couldn’t stop. It’s just gripping and intense and in my top ten favorite books of alltime. 

Anyways, if you’re sold here’s the Amazon ebook links, happy reading!!!

Book 1: the Foxhole Court 

Book 2: the Raven King

Book 3: the King’s Men

[roccinan]

《According to logic like that, Berlin also did nothing wrong because the writers made him that way. It wasn’t Gandia’s fault Nairobi died because the writers made him do that. While we’re at it, Palermo’s not sexist either because that was a writing choice TM. Alicia never tortured Rio because the writer did that. 》LOL even I find this logic absolutely ridiculous 😂 this made me laugh, so thank you! Which character were they bashing tho?? Tokyo? She gets a lot of flak and tbh i dislike her too

But even with my dislike, there's always a limit. I hate when stans of Character X excuse all their character's actions and then bash some1 else just for breathing. It's why I always feel guilty for disliking literally ANYONE else from lcdp because my brain goes hello? you stan berlin?? that bastard, rmbr him? + I don't see how others just completely gloss over their character's mistakes, you can just accept they have flaws? Come off that high horse lmao and don't blame the writers 😆

and that thing about fans being salty their char/ship isn't as popular and it's less abt the morals than shaming others abt the worshipping of their CHOSEN ONE》that is also SO TRUE! And I hate fans like that. Just let people enjoy what they enjoy? At the end of the day, this is all FICTION, but there's also limits to that, fiction isn't an excuse to romanticise toxic stuff. There's a fine line and far too many idiots acc me. Anyway, I am up for hearing that rant lol :)

Welcome back, anon! LOL you’re welcome ;) And right?? What kind of clown logic is that. So it’s not the writer’s fault when characters you don’t like do “bad” things, but it is the writer’s fault when your fav isn’t perfect. Do these people hear themselves...

Oh, this isn’t about my girl, Tokyo (I in fact love seeing comments hating on her LOL I think because I’m tired of female characters always having to be unproblematic cinnamon rolls in order to be loved-- female characters deserve to be dumpster fires too and Tokyo embodies that!). If you pm me off anon, I can go into more detail about what “inspired” my rant haha Here, let’s just say it’s not about Tokyo. They were bashing Berlin/Palermo which is why I said, “valid” lmao. It’s the fact that they followed it up with that stupid apologizing logic for their own favs that I had to say no to the clown car.

So without disclosing anymore, I assure you this clown is not a berlermo or serquel or Tokyo fan, so this has got nothing to do with any fan of those ships/chars. That’s all I can say for now lol.

“I hate when stans of Character X excuse all their character's actions and then bash some1 else just for breathing.” This drives me crazy, anon!! You’re so right! This is peak clown behavior. And was exactly what was happening. On another note, you’re free to dislike whoever you want- no need to feel guilty! And you already know I share the guilt in liking Berlin LMAO, but what are we gonna do? He’s not real, and also dead.

Back to the main point, I have seen such wild takes even about Berlin/Palermo (unrelated to what inspired the rant, but adjacent to it!). With my own two eyes:

Palermo was possessive towards Berlin. WHERE??? I must have missed the part where Martin said, “andres, I forbid you from marrying Tatiana” in the flashbacks

Berlin pretended to love Palermo back as part of a sick practical joke. Guess I also missed the part where Andres went, :LOL Martin look at your face!!” in 4x08

And it’s like, people are free (and tbh encouraged) to dislike these two, but that doesn’t mean they can go around outright lying and expect to be taken seriously. Just admit your least favorite characters aren’t one-note villains and move on with your day. 

And it’s like, confident people don’t have to bash other characters to uplift their favs! For example, granted I haven’t read many serquel discussions but from what I have seen, most serquel fans acknowledge Sergio’s faults repeatedly. I know berlermo fans do the same for Andres. And from what I gather, Alicia fans don’t pretend she didn’t torture Rio of her own free will. 

I’ve also seen in passing someone say something like they were sick of scrolling through ten posts of berlermo per day. There’s a way to filter tags, first of all. Secondly, to be frank, that person should be grateful berlin and palermo are bad people. If they were good people, it’d be 100 posts per day! And it’s telling when someone with exclusively het ships hates on the one popular mlm pairing that doesn’t even affect anyone in their own ship lmao. And the only reason they can hide behind moral reasons is because the characters in question are that way- like, I really believe if berlin and palermo were actual saints, these people would still be salty over their chars/ships being less popular. Same trick, different fandom.

LOL to be fair, lcdp itself is romanticizing bank robbers XD I think most things can get a free pass in fiction, so long as the creators in question are aware of what they’re doing and warn beforehand and (preferably, but this might be expecting too much of professional creators) really think about the implications/views of certain subjects, and how to present them. It’s easier in the world of fanfiction, because tags are a blessing!

Anyway, that’s just my rant- thanks for taking some of it off my chest lol. Like I said before, everyone can love and hate what they want- it’s just a show, as you pointed out. But boy oh boy, do hypocrites drive me up the wall! If they can’t practice what they preach, I really have no obligation to take anything they say seriously. A clown is not a preacher, amen.