#I love to talk about my opinions but i have so many

[moanz111]

i stumbled upon this while scrolling and it's such a well-written post that i just had to share my thought on this too!

first of all, i've been a fanfic reader since i was very young so i know what it feels like to be on the other side. i've been anxious and nervous to reblog or write comments and have never even thought of messaging the authors i read and liked just because i was terrified of being perceived. but trust me, writers are so incredibly grateful for every little interaction they get. i know it can be nerve wracking but you will never be judged for what you have to say! every single piece of feedback and opinion i get means the whole world to me and every time i get a comment, a reblog or an ask makes me so happy, it seriously makes my whole day.

i've been on the writer side since summer 2023 and a couple of months ago i came back after an extremely long hiatus and was so scared and worried because almost a year had passed since i had last promised updates yet i had failed to come back due to many reasons. but then i saw that people still cared and even though i lost most of my readers from back when i first started writing, i was so happy to see that new people were getting interested and were actually willing to talk to me and share their feedbacks. so thank you, to those who have been doing that <3

i don't judge people who decide to stay silent but trust me, there's nothing to fear! writers don't bite, we're human too so of course, naturally we thrive off interactions too, just like anyone else. there isn't a barrier between the two groups - all of us are fans of the same things and share the same interests, this is always a two way relationship.

writing is my hobby and something i like doing but sometimes the silence is killing me especially after coming back from a hiatus 😭 i don't write for notes, i do it for my own enjoyment but still, hearing something nice about your works always feels good and validating!

and about the genres - i see too what's more read and what's popular but it's so sad to hear that authors force themselves to write something that they don't originally really want to just to have someone read their stories. every story is worth giving a chance and authors shouldn't be required to fit themselves into certain boxes just so people pay attention. no one can be forced to read anything of course but my whole point is to be kind to authors and give them a chance because sometimes you can find such gems when you least expect it.

of course, there will always be genres that are more generally liked but we need diversity too so please, writers do what you want and what you love - the right people will appreciate it.

and on that note...i've been mostly writing smaus/texts so i feel like like sometimes it's even harder to get feedback and i think these are not as read as before but i still think it's worth keeping even this genre alive just because it's so fun (at least to me).

i just hope our community here stays alive for longer and starts thriving because it's so sad to see so many people leave :(

just be brave, interact and encourage others to do so too! support your favourite writers because they all are amazing and deserve all the love in this world!

to a dying? atinyblr

i don't usually speak about these things, but a lot of blogs (amazing writers) are leaving this platform or taking time off bc of lack of engagement which serves as a big demotivating factor. especially and specifically in this atiny fandom, some things have come to my attention and i just want all readers and writers to take a look at this post and refresh some reading and writing etiquettes, as well as revive the essence of being a part of this fandom.

feedback:

i understand that there are a lot of silent readers on here, but since tumblr is dying and our fandom is not very huge, the least you can do to show the writers some support is like the post. 

which brings me to the point that the like function didn't even exist in the past. this site still runs on reblogs. as readers, to show your favourite writers some semblance of support, you should be reblogging with tags. a simple ‘#ateez x reader’ or ‘#ateez fics’ is enough. it's literally not asking for much– reblogs are the only way writers can get reach.

if you cannot do that bc of your blog's aesthetic or whatever, side blogs exist. if you still cannot do that, a simple anon ask appreciating the writer sometimes saves them.

also, what has happened to the quality of reblogs? readers consume years of writers’ work and efforts in mere hours and don’t even leave any feedback? art in general in all forms is very underappreciated and with all sorts of problems like plagiarism, ai writing and everything, true art and writing is dying and needs to be appreciated now more than ever. we’re literally the last generation witnessing ai take over in all fields of arts. appreciate content creators before it’s too late, don’t be a content glutton!

updates and requests:

asking writers for updates when they specifically mention that they would prefer posting at their pace is wrong for so many reasons– we all have a real life. you, the reader, do too. just like you don't always have time to read, writers don't always have time to write. do you ever see the writers asking their readers 'why have you not read my latest chapter?' 

most of the times, writers mention in their bio/faq post or elsewhere that they do mind being asked about updates. respect your writers, please, and do a little scroll before you send such demanding asks (also, sugarcoating when asking for updates does not make it any better!)

if you are only asking about updates, it demotivates a lot of writers bc these same people will disappear when it is time for feedback. writing is a form of art. we can write, artists can paint, musicians can compose music, but all of it has no meaning unless it is shared with an audience and appreciated. readers are just as important as the writers but there is no way of knowing fics are valued unless feedback is given.

the same goes for requests. you can only send a request when the requests are open, which is usually mentioned in the writer’s bio/faq post. it’s literally not that hard to check if requests are open and it’s basic decency to not send a request when the writers specifically mention that requests are closed. when sending a request, please be courteous. a ‘please’ or ‘thank you’ are examples of being courteous when sending requests.

the fanfics in atinyblr:

i understand that you can read whatever you like, but why is it that in the atiny fandom, fics that do not contain smut hardly ever get attention? as a writer, i enjoy writing and reading smut, and while i am not specifically a smut blog, i have noticed how fics containing smut get far more reach than fics that do not contain smut– not just in my case, but other amazing writers as well. 

there are such amazing fictions in this fandom. all fics are crafted with dedication and care, yet stories without smut often get sidelined. writers are not able to express themselves in their writing freely anymore and they simply conform to a genre they know readers will consume, as they are forced to consider adding smut to their stories so they can get more reach in this fandom. i have heard accounts from a lot of writers who were inclined to add smut to an otherwise smut-free fic just for reach.

this is by no means hate to the smut writers. i am also not placing blame on them. smut drabbles have always been in this fandom, and there are amazing smut writers out there, doing their thing. it is the readers here who are failing the writers. readers are quick to talk about the lack of ‘good fics’ or ‘plot’ yet will not even bother searching for these works. there used to be a good balance and appreciation for all genres alike.

i know that smut is what's hot and trendy these days, and drabbles in general, no matter the genre, are easier to read when you want to take a short break. but there is such a lack of longfics in this fandom, especially as of lately, and as someone who has personally witnessed the ratio of longfics decrease exponentially, i felt the need to point this out. appreciate all writers! appreciate all genres! longfic writers need as much validation and encouragement as drabble writers, and vice versa! don't be too harsh on longfic writers for not pumping out fics at the same speed as shortfic writers.

and on that note, smut drabble writers experience a lack of quality feedback despite the high engagement, so readers, please don't hesitate to point out exactly what you liked about a fic, even if it's a short drabble! be kind to those writers, give them time to write and be kind when sending requests! they may post more often but they, too, have a life.

tags:

this is specifically for the people who will post a very normal picture of a member, no caption, but tag it something like #ateez smut, #ateez hard hours, #ateez x reader. and for the people who tag their asks with irrelevant tags– literally learn to tag your post properly, and stop crowding the wrong tags. you're just proving the point that if you don't tag a post with the smut tag or something similar, it won't get reach. if you've posted with a caption, that makes sense (though it still doesn't warrant some of the tags being used there).

as for writers, also learn to use your tags appropriately. fics that do not contain smut should not be tagged with smut related tags. believe in yourself. i get that there is the problem of reach but do not overcrowd tags with irrelevant material.

disclaimer:

this is by no means about me. if i cared about the notes, or lack thereof, i would have stopped writing a while ago. while it is challenging to be a writer here, especially as of lately, i still enjoy posting whatever i write no matter the genre or the word count. but it's a bit disappointing that my planned out fics get much less attention than a simple smut headcanons post that i wrote in the heat of the moment with my friend in literally a few hours as a joke (which has reached almost 10k notes btw in a span of 2 years). sure, it has exposed my blog to new readers but that's about it.

this post is for all the amazing writers who have left, are thinking of leaving, or are struggling to voice these problems because they are afraid of being marked as 'problematic' or a 'hater' or something worse. i am not afraid to voice my opinion on here, and if you think that i am wrong, feel free to interact with this post and correct me because i am not claiming that i am right about this.

these are just the observations i have made as someone who has been actively writing on this platform for about 4 years now, and since i have a decent number of followers, i hope this post gets more reach. do not be afraid to reblog this if you agree, and even if you do not, reblog this so someone else gets educated. i may have missed some points so feel free to add if you want too.

[perasperaadastratoday]

I Want to Hold Your Hand is for real such a beautiful song. On the surface it has that sort of "generic" 60s pop sound, but the melody and lyrics are so touching and tender, I get a lump in my throat everytime I listen.

Paul and John sat and composed this song side by side on the piano, eyeball to eyeball. They wrote for the fans, they wrote for themselves, they probably wrote for their many past and present romantic relationships, but they must also have written it partly for each other. Listen to the song when it's played on the piano, the way they composed it.

"Yeah, you got that somethin'

I think you'll understand

When I say that somethin'

I want to hold your hand"

No mention of kisses or beauty or looks, just the expression of love that reaches so deep that you just want to hold someone's hand. In my opinion, the most profound expression of love. Babies will grab onto their parent's hand from they're born, we hold hands with our siblings, friends and our spouses. We hold each others hands when we're scared, sick or when we're happy or dancing with each other.

You've got that something, that something that I love. You're you, and that makes me want to hold your hand. We know they wanted to hold each others hand, they talked about how they'd do a handshake instead from embarrassment. I'm glad they could express their feelings in music though.

Love this song.

[the-uninformed-zennial]

Okay so I wanna talk about the ecosystem of a fandom space like Fable/Bound SMP and those that extend off of it.

(long post below)

So one of the things that kinda stands out to me is that many of the popular ships are just canon. Like… off the top of my head the only two popular ships that aren’t necessarily canon in Fable are Kaleidoscope (Midas x Malitae) and Prison Duo (Centross x Icarus). But even one of those has been hinted at being canon by Sherbert in a few streams so like???

Looking at this from the outside it’s almost worrying. But the thing is, I think it has to do with three different things that are all unique to the Fable/Mer/Bound (and adjacent) fandom(s) and might actually be the sign of a really warm and welcoming community (as the Fable & adjacent fandoms have always been imo).

Firstly, the medium. If these were not lore-heavy, highly improvisational, live-streamed stories the fandom wouldn’t be able to provide feedback and the creators wouldn’t be able to react to said feedback in time to adjust. Think about Hermitcraft, it’s highly improvisational, yes. But lore-wise it’s not super heavy and thus all ships kinda teeter on the edge of being canon or not canon. Likewise smth like Whitepine where it’s recorded beforehand (and I think scripted??) doesn’t give the creators the flexibility to adjust the content in the same way the fandom is moving as quickly as the fandom moves.

Secondly, the fact that the creators interact with the fandom. Hi, hello, I’m living proof of this cause if I hadn’t gotten picked up by Heyhay and Art I never would’ve gotten to become one of said content creators. But this goes far beyond that. This has to do with the fact that they listen and interact and bounce ideas off of their fan base. Even if it doesn’t always feel like it, the opinions and ideas you guys share out here do influence the story, even if it’s just confirmation that you guys are picking up what the creators are laying down. It still serves as a sounding board to see how well things are coming across, and speaking as a creator myself (albeit a newer one) I find it incredibly helpful.

Thirdly, the size. Obviously if this venn-diagram of fandoms was as large as say Hermitcraft or QSMP the content creators simply wouldn’t be able to keep up with the fandom and many ideas would get lost in the jumble. Even just with how large Fable got at it’s peak, there came a point where it was nearly impossible to keep up with the amount of fan art and theories that were being made. So I think this point kinda feeds back into the second, that having a smaller size helps the content creators keep up with the feedback they receive from their art and lead to the fandom having more influence on the story than anyone really realizes.

These three things work together to create a space where people get to feel heard and seen. One of the most enticing things about being a community member for me was having that ability to influence the story, to talk to the characters themselves, to poke them about things I wanted to know the answer to. And when they responded?? It was so cool! I remember I used to keep a tally of little things in the world that I had affected because of messages that had been sent during live chat. It wasn’t ever anything big, but sometimes it’s the little things that count. That’s why, as a creator now I try really hard to interact with community members. I know I’m obviously not one of the big creators in this space, but I still want to help you guys feel seen and heard, because that’s where so much of the magic of being a part of this fandom space comes from imo. And if I can help recreate what helped me fall in love with this fandom space even a little bit, I’ll do what I can.

Anyway, I’m just super grateful to this community and the fellow creators within it. I have been so lucky to be able to get to experience this fandom from both the community member and creator side and honestly it has just been one of the most overwhelmingly positive experiences of my life, from both sides of the spectrum. I know things like that are fickle. I know fandoms and people are always growing and changing and maybe that won’t always be the case. But I just wanted to say I really appreciate the community that has been built here and all the work that goes into keeping it a positive and safe space. So, thank you guys 💕

[bluebirdlester]

some of the potential in this

its like the phan twt videos. we can (in a filtered nonthreatening way) let them in on our goofs and japes that extend beyond a single post easy to show in a video. i wish this post was real rn so we could broadcast WT MD IF to all of phanniedom and find who did this

you know how we love their react videos cause its such a wonderful parasocial watching videos with my besties feel. dnp react to phannies react. we can do more layers

segment called "what is the weirdest place you have watched a dan and phil video"

all the little indirect ways they have impacted us that we wouldnt necessarily comment. both heartwarming and cringe. my first ever boy haircut where i brought in a pinof screenshot and got a Karen. the specific mutual follows ive carried across MULTIPLE ACCOUNTS AND PLATFORMS from when i was first in the phandom TEN YEARS AGO. the domino chain that led to me getting an award in high school for the best student from all the teachers in the english department based, humiliatingly, on the phanfic i didnt even bother to change names before submitting for assignments and at least one passionate essay defense of rpf.

get specific! about the themes and concepts of this current era!

i do think it would be kinda funny to watch someone squirm as dnp grill them like "how many words of phanfic DID you write". questions like that: not specific enough to be weird but pointed enough to tell them exactly what kind of parasocial demon theyre speaking to today

i'm generally fascinated by how attention online can feel like a single sentient creature. anyone who's ever been dogpiled knows this, for one example. when you're facing a wall of Commentary on something you've done, it's impossible to pull out just one person without really making a specific effort to do that. it's just the wall of opinions, and the Vibe of that wall. maybe it could be interesting to pull individual voices out of a crowd, this monolith that is "phannies" and the stereotypes that have grown up around us and examine them closer.

something about now that we're old, we understand them better. it's something, to be 24 and look at 2012 dan and be like oh. you're 21. that explains literally everything. when i was 12 back then, i could not have possibly gotten it but think i get it better now.

the playing field is more equal than its ever been, possibly? not fully equal & never will be obv but one would hope all of the following: we are more grown up/emotionally mature/willing to listen when they express boundaries, they are more stable careerwise and less scared of us leaving or turning on them or w/e (based on some comments in the suit podcast) and also they are no longer closeted

this is a persistent theme/unresolved trauma for me personally but i would wanna talk to them about what it was like to be the point of obsession for specifically an audience of overwhelmingly teen girls (at their peak. many of us are no longer girls etc), when "anything that teen girls like" is such a societally derided category. i got a lot of weird misogyny directed at me for talking about how much i loved watching dan and phil. how did they experience that? i think they must have in some ways, because misogyny and homophobia are so deeply entwined.

oogh this turned into projection city fast but feel free to add your own. what would you do if you were interviewed by dnp

i think the next step in the dnp mutual parasocial relationship journey should be them interviewing US

[klayfruit]

hi i really hope this doesnt come off as like. Ohh theres rtvs drama i need to add MORE and show these guys need to be Cancelled!!!! boiling down the crew’s immature response to being criticized as racist as just, Drama and controversy, is really shitty. what i wanna say next is just something completely unrelated to that, i just felt more Encouraged to say it at this time because i feel less afraid that im gonna get called silly for it.

ok so my main point is, i am concerned with how often rtvs (mostly specifically wayne, i cant recall anyone else in rtvs doing this) still uses ai in their stuff. by this i’m talking about the recent-ish novelai stream and to an extent the songs in the bbvr stream. i absolutely love the bbvr stream and i do appreciate what wayne’s said about the songs themselves, that theyre more comedic than meant to be Actual Art—same with whatever novelai writes being nothing but comedic and not actual art—and i agree with that partially. ai Can be funny as fuck in a very specific kind of uncanny and disgusting way that cant really be achieved by humans. but, by using that ai to create jokey stuff, you are still feeding the ai to be used by people that are genuinely serious about using ai. and whats most important to me is the environmental damage that comes with using ai, which i have not seen anyone in rtvs mention at all.

one thing thats kind of made me scared to talk about this is when i mentioned this on twitter (though admittedly i brought it up in a very Dumb way, it was me being afraid that scorpy’s section in the pizza tower stream was written by ai bc it just felt really convincingly nonsensical in the same way ai writes stuff, but now i know i was just Straight up wrong thats just how scorpy writes), scorpy qrted me without really addressing my concern and led to lots of people in my replies. again, what i was concerned with really Wasn’t as major as i was worried it was + my response to it was silly because i wasnt expecting so many eyes on a tweet i made just for my followers, but it would have seemed a lot better to talk to me directly about this instead of not even giving me a solid answer.

i am a minor so i cant go into wayne’s discord to talk about this/look at discussion (and i hope me being A Minor doesnt also diminish my opinion as well), so i’m sorry if im regurgitating stuff thats already been talked about by the crew!

[manlvrr]

Not gonna reblog their post *cough* unlike this fuckass *cough* cause whatever, have ur opinion ig but I hate Cait/CaitVi stans—honestly, I hate everyone who can't let others have opinions without personally attacking them for it—butttt

I hate CaitVi stans sm

"frothing at their mouth"

Honey (derogatory), it's a rant on the internet—do you expect me to be all nice and kind? No. Fuck you. I can be as feral as I'd like. This isn't English class, I don't have to proofread my work if I don't want to. Did you really see me talking about Steb in red panties and me eating out Vi and think my rant was gonna be some serious philosophical shit? No. It's just a rant. Plain and simple.

"over lesbians making love 'impurely'"

I hate CaitVi in general. Don't expect me to like any CaitVi scenes. If it was Vi and Gert fucking like rabbits in a prison cell, I would be all for it, but Vi getting it on with a cop in a prison cell? Being on her knees on a hard floor? Seeking out sex as a coping mechanism which I'm supposed to be. . . Okay with? I wouldn't hate the sex scene if it wasn't for the dynamics CaitVi have and the writers thinking lowly of Vi and Zaunites in general.

Fuck cops. Fuck copaganda. Like Caitlyn if you want, but you can like her while acknowledge the propaganda the show portrays and how insufferable the dynamics people think are cute are actually horrible.

Omg so cute Vi can't read so Caitlyn reads for her 🥰🥰 Omg Vi is Caitlyn's mutt haha Caitlyn is so sophisticated and smart and Vi is a dirty street rat who can barely read 😍😍 people are so stupid the council didn't deserve what happened to them because they were just now starting to get things done (and only to instantly switch and want to start a war because of what ONE Zaunite did) 🤬🤬 Caitlyn is a good person—everything she did was justified 100%!1!!1!1

I like Jayce, but I won't hate on those who don't like him because I understand he is far from perfect. There're so many things I see from various Arcane fans that tick me off because of how they treat characters that are minorities, but CaitVi's/Caitlyn's stans are the worst of them

[heister-shmeister]

holy shit hello saateco. firstly i want to say a huge thank you for reblogging this and having such a long response i love reading long responses and having talks like this. secondly i fucking love your artwork and when i saw it was you my jaw dropped. your art brings me so much joy

i wanna respond to a couple things in your reblog. i didnt intend to be as potentially ignorant sounding or insensitive in my original post as i was. its a pretty old post now i think and seeing my notifications blow up about it made me reread it and jesus christ i dont know if i agree much with it anymore. i guess i can thank you for the boost as well. i wanna say that i was not trying to say anything in the post as fact and the post was inspired by how i see the payday community talk about sokol as well as some of my opinions on him

im gonna admit the primary character trait being communism mark is entirely incorrect and i rescind it. communism does have smth to do with him though in some way, seeing as his mask is based off of the soviet navy flag. in fact it fascinates me how he references putin in his voice lines but also chose the soviet navy flag as the reference for his mask- but it probably doesnt go beyond “russian stereotype” and that makes me sad

another thing is my shock with his technological prowess comes from a character writing standpoint. this is all purely my opinion and how my weird brain processes character writing, but it simply eluded me why sokol built the bfd and has that engineering knowledge when many other characters were equally capable of creating the bfd, considering houston and wolfs engineering prowess is far more emphasized in the games. it just confuses me why sokol made the bfd and not the others and how nobody in the fandom brings it up

as for the comment on jacket. when it comes to the payday community a lot of people notice that logically jacket would not like sokol, even if he is completely neutral in the text of the game. in the game jacket is from, hotline miami, his best friend was killed in a nuclear bombing done by russia. in the hotline miami universe the cold war evolved into a full on war in which jacket fought against mainly russians. the core plot of the game revolves around jacket slaughtering the russian mafia in miami. that is why i mentioned it in the list, because people talk about their potential rivalry a lot. explaining this is not to imply that you didnt know i was just explaining things for example. i agree in not thinking payday 2 jacket actually hates sokol. i actually think theyre a little gay.

also this is not to say jacket is justified in his xenophobia in the hotline miami games just throwing that out there for anyone not directed at saateco just saying this in general. i think wanting to get revenge against the people that killed your best friend is reasonable BUT it is literally one of the points of hotline miami that the patriotism and hatred for russians was stupid.

idk how to close this out

thank you so much for the reblog im genuinely grateful

sokol is a fucking hilarious character

the purpose he serves as a character in payday 2’s story is so fucking funny his skillset is so god damn funny. but like. not even unrealistic

he has so many gimmicks

hes relevant for three seconds in the grand scheme of the payday story

hes.. russian. he is a professional hockey player. he- he can. build. shed-sized laser cutting drills

why can he do that who let him do that

he never mentions his engineering prowess in any of his voice lines (iirc)

he just. can do that

it gives someone with adhd taking their adderall for the first time and it kicking in right as theyre browsing the wikipedia article for nuclear fission and next thing they know theyre wanted by the fbi

its not like its unrealistic for people to have more than one interest but its just so funny how unrelated and irrelevant sokols engineering knowledge seems when put next to everything else about him. especially since theres already other characters who fill the role of awesome engineer dude already

houston isnt THE engineer but hes the mechanic and wolf literally has his own workshop

sokol made. the fucking bfd.

and his primary character trait isnt even that

its communism

his engineering smarts are like the last thing anyone remembers about his personality and it is the reason in lore why he is in the payday gang

sokols attributes in the order most often noticed by people who get into this game

russian

hockey

russian which means jacket wouldnt like him

burgers

prison nightmare voice lines

HE MADE THE FUCKING BFD..

THE BFD!!

[oakheartedmuse]

Lily Evans defined by life, not just love:

A woman of strength, light, and action

okay. so, i’ve been thinking about this a lot, and i decided to write it down for the sake of my own sanity. forgive me if it lacks a bit of coherence. here it goes:

Much has been said about Lily: as a mother, wife, best friend, member of the Order, and how her love is the foundation of the entire saga. We all know that it was her love that saved Harry and allowed the whole story to unfold. But there is a question that lingers: who is Lily beyond the roles she is inevitably placed into? Who is Lily for herself? I know there are many discussions about the need to portray Lily as a flawed character with her own will. Unfortunately, Lily was constructed to always be tied to a man—whether her husband, her best friend, or her son. But today, I want to talk about Lily as a person, about Lily as a woman.

When I write my stories about Lily, I always try to portray her as a living character. And I don’t mean "living" in the sense of being physically present —of course, in my stories, she isn’t dead— but rather in the sense of someone full of vitality. Here, I’d like to bring in some testimonies from the characters who knew Lily to support my perspective.

One of the first accounts we have of Lily's image comes from Hagrid, who tells Harry that his mother was one of the kindest, most talented people he had ever met. Hagrid even says that some of the greatest wizards he knew were Muggle-born and asks Harry to keep his mother in mind. In other words, Lily, as a person, had a natural talent. We see this even when Harry buys his wand, and Mr. Ollivander tells him that his mother had a wand suited for charms, indicating that Lily already had a predisposition for great magical talent.

In my opinion, the fact that someone is born a wizard does not automatically mean they are highly gifted in magic. Lily’s talent suggests something deeper: she had a profound connection with magic and, even more so, with life. Lily had a lot of life within her. She had a greater dimension of magic, a deep connection with it. Unintentionally, she even performed ancient magic—something barely studied even by the most knowledgeable wizards. This only reinforces how deeply connected Lily was to the magical world, in a vivid way, not just through predisposition.

When I talk about "vivacity," I mean this fluidity of energy within a person, the ability to see life as something vast and rich. Sirius also possessed this; despite the adversities he faced. Even in the most difficult moments, such as when he was locked in Azkaban or at Grimmauld Place, Sirius had this vibrant energy that pushed him forward. And Lily, like him, possessed this vivacity that made her life radiant, a force that always propelled her forward.

However, Lily's vivacity was not restricted to the fact that she was a witch. It was directly tied to her humanity. Above all, Lily was an extremely human person, but at the same time, she had a brilliant facet of humanity. She knew how to recognize beauty in small things, in moments of genuine happiness. An example of this is when Harry describes the scene of Lily, arm in arm with James at their wedding, alight with happiness. Of course, it was their wedding, and both would naturally be happy, but the fact that Harry specifically highlights how Lily was particularly illuminated by happiness indicates her unique perception of life and how she could transmit this to others – even through pictures. Being filled with happiness is something profoundly human, even though humanity's destiny is often far from that. This only shows how exceptional Lily was—more full of life and humanity than most.

Another point that highlights Lily's vivacity is that she was a righteous person. She had the courage to tell James directly about his mistakes without worrying about possible repercussions. She also confronted Snape, telling him that she did not agree with his association with the Dark Arts and that she could not support his choices because her perspective was different. This act of standing her ground, with her own opinions, is deeply connected to Lily's vivacity. Many other wizards or muggles would have chosen to remain silent. An example of this is Remus, who, although also brave and just, often distanced himself from this vivacity due to the circumstances he faced. He preferred to wait in silence, unlike Lily, who would not hold back.

And once again, I’m not referring to Lily as a member of the Order because it is clear that all members followed Dumbledore’s orders. If he said something should not be done or should be delayed, people would obviously follow. But I see Lily as someone who, perhaps, would be troubled by certain orders. She would follow them, no doubt, but her vivacity would cause a disturbance regarding what she believed was right.

(Here, it would be interesting to discuss the different notions of justice and how they were perceived in contrasting ways by Lily and Sirius—but that is a conversation for another time.)

Returning to the books, we have Slughorn’s testimony, where he tells Harry that Lily was one of the most brilliant witches he ever taught. She gave him an aquarium with a flower that turned into a fish. She was charming, lively, and captivating. Lily had an energy that not only made her live intensely but also made everyone around her feel her vivacity. One can imagine that people at Hogwarts wanted to be near Lily because of this energy she radiated. Yes, she probably suffered for being muggle-born, but those who did not harbor prejudice against her certainly saw in her a symbol of joy. This becomes clear in the last book when we see Lily as a child, swinging on a playground. She had this vivacity from an early age, pushing her own limits without worrying about getting hurt or facing consequences. I’m not saying she was reckless, but rather that she was open to challenges.

I believe that Lily's vivacity, this vibrant energy flowing through her veins, made her more than just a student or a young woman at Hogwarts. It led her, at 18, to volunteer for a secret organization fighting against Dark Wizards—a completely subversive act. Yet, Lily did not hesitate, and this decision reflects her vivacity, her sense of justice, and her desire to fight for a better world. She put her body and spirit into battle to make a difference, to try to build a fairer world, even knowing the dangers she faced.

The analogy between Lily’s vivacity and her willingness to fight for a better world is clear. Fighting for a world that is trying to destroy her is a sign of someone who is truly alive, who has something within them that drives them forward. Ultimately, this is also a demonstration of love.

To conclude, I would like to emphasize that Lily’s love is directly connected to her vivacity. Lily was not alive because she loved, but rather, she loved because she was full of life. This life, this pulsating energy, made her see the world as something worth fighting for, and this nurtured her with love—not just for the world, but for her family, her friends, and especially for Harry.

In conclusion, Lily Evans Potter was, is, and always will be a symbol of love, courage, determination, and, incomparably, of life.

| a canon compliant meta for @lilyfesthp ♡ |

[brynnsasha191]

why do you hate aaravos?

Complicated answer. I think he's really interesting and complex. I guess it's just because I don't think he's justified. What happened to Leola was horrific and those stary murders who are my main opps and sol regem deserve punishment for what they did to her, the rest of the world don't. They don't deserve to die and suffer because of something beings from the stars did over a thousand years ago, while Aaravos may not necessarily want to directly punish them and he's just gunning to destroy cosmic order, he's still doing this to them and making them suffer. And destroying the world will arguably affect them more than the freaking stars. Some people also defend him saying he loves and defends humans against the mean elves (lowkey don't understand the elf hate in this fandom) but when he says he wants to help humans, it's a straight up lie. And ik there's the whole 'Aaravos doesn't lie' thing but he literally unleashed eternal night on all of them, including humans, he claims to like humans but he uses them as puppets and preys on their weaknesses for his own gain. He literally doesn't care about anyone or anything other than Claudia beyond his own goal/endgame. (His relationship with Claudia is very interesting and complex and I'd love to get into it some other time)

And idk if this is what they call an "unpopular opinion" but I'm also just starting to get really sick of the 'villain with tragic backstory/heart of gold' trope. Maybe it's just because I've dealt with so many narcissists in my life, but I desperately want people to understand that some people are just bad. Some people just want to hurt you and want to see you suffer. Not everyone is a poor uwu baby who are carrying around a heart of gold that was buried by a tragic backstory, some people are just bad because they are. And that trope wouldn't annoy me nearly as much if there were only a couple of these stories but I literally cannot escape the villains who aren't really villains trope these days, every damn villain has a tragic backstory these days and I hate it. That's why I was a huge Aaravos fan before the Leola reveal because he was just bad, he was a real villain. It's ironic that the Leola reveal actually made me dislike him. (Not hating on the Leola scenes in and of itself, it's a beautiful and tragic sequence and no matter my feelings I'm glad it saw the light of day)

Not even talking about Aaravos now and idk who needs to hear this but please remember that not everyone deserves your forgiveness or sympathy. Not everyone is sorry for the way they hurt you, and not everyone didn't mean to hurt you. Just because the person who victimized and abused you was once the victim and abused does not give them an excuse for hurting you and you don't need to make excuses for them. Some people don't have tortured golden hearts buried inside. Some people are just bad.

[bigtiddygothhusband]

17, 23, and 24 for the music asks!

its hard to puck just one song and also not to write like a paragraph long thing for each of these lmao. did still do a paragraph long thing for one of them, i think i deserve to ramble about music i just also deserve to not spend two hours on this chchchdbc.

17: Tides I by Sarchasm.

23: Blast Doors by Everything Everything.

24: Secret by Suffer Club. this one was tough, cause i dont normally pay any attention to bands outside the music itself. even then i often dont keep up with new releases and stuff. so i dont really know what bands i like have broken up vs haven't released anything in a while vs have been continually releasing for years and i just haven't paid attention to the newer stuff.

But I found this band recently. because I was looking for the song Suffer by Secret Club and this came up instead. ended up listening to their one ep, but when i tried to click the links to their merch page and stuff they were dead and their social media hasn't updated in awhile and that was disappointing.

[hyperions-light]

I am going to answer this one myself and just drop it regardless of the schedule because it’s my game lol

Warden M. Tabris (you will not ask her first name if you like your head connected to your body) probably is mildly amused + has a generally positive opinion of Leth, but she is very quiet and generally unimpressed- looking so she would make Leth uneasy. She mostly just talks with the people she’s closest to + the most genuine with (Sten, Morrigan, Zevran, hardened!Leliana) so she has a tendency to make people uncomfortable.

Vigilance Hawke eh… she’s so tired =( Idk if post-DA2, cynical + bitter Hawke would get along too well with Leth, who would probably remind her of her younger self. She’d think Leth was being kind of naive by spending so much time doing whatever their friends want without question (Vi did not kill Anders, but she didn’t like being lied to about the Chantry thing and she felt betrayed. She was a little… idk carefree and flippant during DA2, but not after =/). Leth would be wary. Vi is dangerous + sharp.

I think Leth would be a bit overwhelming for Revas Lavellan, honestly? She’s very diplomatic + reserved and the whole *everything* with Inquisition made her feel so isolated and and disconnected from people. She was very lonely and was hyper-aware that she was in a precarious position as a Dalish elf in the middle of an almost entirely human organization, and then the one person she managed to form an intense connection with turned out to be Fen’Harel lol. So she would be very polite and outwardly friendly with Leth, but they wouldn’t… hang out. Leth respects her a lot, though + she influences their thoughts about/decisions around Solas.

Companions below the cut!

DAO: Leth would not like Wynne, Oghren or Alistair. Wynne + Alistair would annoy them, Oghren they like… would want him dead lol. They would think Shale is amazing. They like Morrigan but their questions might irritate her, and they would DEFINITELY annoy Sten. They would get along with Leliana! Fashion + assassination? Match made in Heaven! They would attempt to kill Zev on sight, but eventually decide the reward was not worth it and then they would get along famously. Bringing Dog so many treats. Loghain, they would actually really like, I think. They love grumpy people! Love bothering them!!

DAA: still stabbing Oghren with knives. Velanna… they get her, but she’s too intense about stuff for them. They like DAA Anders and Sigrun, although Sig would probably not approve of their rampant disregard for the law and complete lack of remorse about it. They would have a lot of questions for Justice, but he would hate them, so they would just fight lol. Nathaniel would bore them.

DA2: Isabela + Leth would be an amazing/terrible combo lol. Varric is very special to them— first mentor that like… isn’t intense and harsh and paranoid lol. They would detest Aveline and Sebastian. Merrill they would adore and would happily enable whatever inadvisable experiments she was doing and ask a million questions. DA2 Anders is too intense for them. Fenris… they’re sympathetic, but I’m not sure they’d know how to handle him. Bethany would probably bore them a little tbh, but they’d think she was really sweet.

DAI: oh boy. Well they would/do like: Dorian, Leliana, Bull, Varric and ESPECIALLY Sera (particularly post-inquisition). They would have mixed feelings on Cole (they do NOT want to talk about their issues, but they do have SO many questions for him and think he’s fascinating), and Solas (SO many questions, again, but DAI Solas would make them suspicious and they’d think he was too uptight). Blackwall.. they’d be bored by him and suspicious of him pre-reveal, and chill with him after. Vivienne, they admire her intelligence, poise and style, but they really hate the nobility so much. I don’t think Vivienne would like them, though lol. They’d feel bad for Cullen, but probably not like him. They’d like Cassie okay, but the piety is a bit much for them. Leth is like… maybe the only person who doesn’t get along with Josie lmao, they cannot stand the Antivan nobility/merchant princes. She tries so hard but they are so resistant— maybe she could wear them down, eventually?

Hey! It’s Friday! That means it’s Rook Intro Hour <3

How it works: I ask you a question about your Rook(s) and you answer it with as much brevity or verbosity as you desire. You can do this whenever you want, and I’ll reblog it + add some comments! There’s no time limit— if you want to do the older ones, they are collected here! (The post is updated on Fridays!)

Today’s Question(s): Let’s do something special, today, to celebrate DA. What would your Rook think of your other DA protagonists? How about the other companions? Is there anyone they would particularly like or dislike? Why? What would the other protagonists/companions think of Rook?

Answer as much or as little as you like. Hope you’re well <3

[gnomewithalaptop]

Rereading the Our Worlds at War tie-in again and God I miss their friendship every day

[petricorah]

ngl i did not expect izzy hands to be my favorite character in season 2, but here we are. [id in alt]

[budugaapologist]

still dont see how so many people say that dawntrail is poorly written in comparison to other expansions like. what, did you realize you had to learn about a new culture and immediately not care anymore lmao? you've done it before, was this one not white enough for you?

genuinely i think more people should do side quests during msq so idk you can form a heart about the characters you're interacting with if you struggle with that and understand the land better so when impactful shit happens your illiterate ass can actually read and have empathy. theres no excuse for this.

if you can't handle storybuilding and character introductions from the expansion that feels like stormblood and shadowbringers had passionate gay sex that got one of them pregnant and birthed a beautiful daughter they both love and care about then idk what to tell you, maybe youre just lame and can't read. best of luck with that.

[eri-pl]

Lots of super interesting thoughts!!! I'll probably keep rotating them in my head for some time.BTW sorry for replying to you like in an old-school email, but it's the most convenient here.

There seems to be some in-world mythological confusion about what "the end of the world" even means, similarly how "the Void" can be either the interstellar void or the void outside of Existence

Oh, yes. The void is also confusing. And think this is not wholly unrelated. Limits of time; limits of space. [Reminds me of how @eloquentsisyphianturmoil said that the Door of Night is related to the Halls of Mandos, those two discussions have the same vibe for me — oh wait, they are related!

Because if end of Ea = Morgoth jumps in = it destroys the Halls somehow (I still don't quite like it but not for factual reasons)… OK, are the Halls of Mandos Arda-specific? This feels like a moot question, because only on Arda there are Men and Elves— or are we certain about it?

There's a whole bag of worms here.

We know that Elves are bound to Arda for as long as it lasts, but the Ainur are instead bound to Ëa.

Yes, but it's a scale issue. There is still the question of what do they do when Ea ends. But yes, you are right that this may be read as separate question from the Second Music.

Also, Athrabeth is late writings, adjacent to the round-Arda-from-the-start and generally, more scientific vibe, so I guess here we're talking a bit more like "the sun dies out" end of Arda... maybe.

Also also, I need to check what are the Valar bound to, I think it may have been "various Ainur for various planets, bound to them".

OK, my Silm says "World", so… I'm not sure. BoLT is even more vague. Also I only now realized that the part where I've drawn a smiley face on my Silm and on my BoLT are probably evolutions of the same point in text. :) <3 [yes I do underline and comment on some books. In pencil! Or eraseable ballpoint pen. I did it with non-eraseable pen when I was a kid, and staying in the thematic area of this post, iirc my copy of CSL's "the last battle" had a certain sentence or couple of them underlined back in the time when I thought they were cool and not "you should have taken some lessons from John and learn what to omit"… I'm not even sure what is my opinion now tbh. anyway back to the post.]

The First Music created the whole universe, but apparently the Second Music is not played after the end of that universe, only the end of Arda

This may be a version incompatibility issue, and I think it is, because myy intuition for what Tolkien wanted says "Second Music after/at the end of Ea".

Though just like with some other ideas, I could probably make it work, as long as we throw away the "Arda is our mythic prehistory" I think I could roll with this… But not n any particularly canon way… Hmm. Needs more thought. You people keep saying very interesting things recently! <3 (Even more interesting than usual)

Which makes me think that the Second Music is not a separate thing (as in, another work of art), but an extension of the First.

I've always assumed it's more like a reprise than an unrelated work.

neither is it limited to the Timeless Halls (which would exclude not only the Elves

I think this is based on an assumption that the Silmarillion does not confirm or deny.

I generally treat the term "Music" as quite abstract, the closes thing to what actually happened that the Incarnates could comprehend. I imagine the Second Music for people living in Time to be just that - living. The whole life makes the Music.

Oh, I love the last sentence!

Not necessarily the whole construct of Arda ends → Second Music → Ea ends much later. On the other hand, I have no idea on what version Tolkien settled or would settle, and I can see where this would be coming from, also, funnily—

OK, a short summary of a large interpretational idea, which can probably be detalized in many various ways— Arda as our mythical past, but as in "our actual world [is/is made of/whatever] the Second Music".

Or, you know, like in an album (I'm not thinking about Les Mis, you're thinking about Les Mis) where you have song1, song2,… many songs and then a reprise that is like a medley of all those and, like, closes all of them.

I didn't have enough sleep, so excuse me if that's too chaotic to read. Also I'm bad at thinking about Silm canon without making a lot of assumptions. I hope other people, who are better at it, will add their thoughts about what you wrote too.

Hmm sometime later I should look at all the replies I got on this (I love them) and write a summary of our thoughts. This would be nice to have.

Let's discuss:

What do you think: what happens to the Valar after Arda breaks (or whatever it does, anyway it ends somehow)?

(Or should I say "what will happen"? But for fictional end-of-the-world present tense feels more natural to me. I'm not sure why.)

Both in the terms of "what Tolkien intended at various points of his career" and of "what makes the most sense with the Legendarium". With whatever version.

Let's ignore Morgoth (and Sauron etc), assume they've been dealt with in some way that works (if you prefer this including "Sauron is good now", ok, why not) and that no other Ainur got depressed because of it.

Whatever happened, we're discussing just the good guys now. Because it is a mess anyway so let's try to narrow it down for now. It's still a very difficult question, I think.

So, the Second Music. Where is it sung and is it material? (well as much as music is material anyway, but I think you know what I mean)

On one hand, the Music of the Ainur was clearly not material (because matter did not exist), and its being a music feels somewhat like an approximation. And took place (it's not a place but whatever) in the Timeless Halls.

On the other hand, Men are said to sing in the Second Music (and maybe the Elves too, unclear), so… will it be material? Or does this mean "the spirits of Men"? Will it be more of a literal music than the first one, or not? Where will it be sung?

(If we simply copy and paste a solution from outside the Legendarium, it still leaves a lot of questions, depending on how much do we copy)

(Also, Athrabeth Finrod ah Andreth is not an answer. It is a question (and no, I don't mean a "the answer is yes" question (though this too), but an open question. It's a discussion of two characters, not anyt sort of explanations, and it leaves more questions than it answers. but if you want to elaborate starting from this text, you're welcome.)

But yes, even with those disclaimers, "the Second Music immaterial; spirits; it reboots Arda into Arda Healed" seems like the most fitting solution. Especially if we ignore the whole "and then Feanor reboots the Trees" thing which… for me the important part of that is "Fefe gets over his issues", and that we can keep.

And generally, what do the Valar do afterwards?

On one hand, in Ainulindale chapter (or was it in Valaquenta? nvm) it seems like their being on Arda is temporary. On the other, with Arda Healed… It's still Arda, in a way.

So do the Valar still govern it (I need to remind myself that Manwë having a burnout is not canon), or… what? Do they live there, or in the Timeless Halls, or are they free to move between those (and somehow the Elves and Men don't get jealous about it).

And if the answer is "the Timeless Halls effectively get moved to Arda" – ok, this solves some questions, but why? why. All the other Ainur were not interested in material existence. Why would this be a thing? It seems quite out-of-the-blue and random.

I'd love to see your thoughts (plural "you", though I'm sure some will have more intense thoughts than others :) )

[funtime29nm]

Sans au human redraws that i wont ever finish but did exclusively for @nu1lst4rs bc i love her

I ramble in the tags btw if u wanna read it

Also theyre all girls now btw and theyre wlw and poly cuz i say so