#I write fan fiction about my life because my real life is trash

[defacing-paper]

1000 ways…only 998 more depictions to go.

[requiemforthepoets]

overcooked 𖦹 LN4

PAIRINGS: lando norris x female!reader

SUMMARY: play overcooked they said, it’ll be fun they said.

AUTHOR’S NOTE: i just can’t help write about the idea lando playing overcooked, so i did. hope you’ll enjoy this! :)

REMINDER: this is purely fiction, the way how the character is portrayed in my story does not reflect the person that is portraying my character in real life. always separate fiction from reality, and do not repost or copy my work in any way.

WORD COUNT: 1k

WARNINGS: typos and ferrari strategy meme

Lando’s twitch stream was in full swing, and the chat was buzzing as you settled beside him, controller in hand.

“Alright, babe, let’s see how well we work together,” Lando teased, flashing you that signature grin. You rolled your eyes, already sensing that this game of overcooked might be more than what you bargained for.

You both dove into the first level, the kitchen chaos unfolding on the screen as you both tried to chop, cook, and serve orders with as much coordination as two people shared a life, but perhaps not a kitchen.

“Lando, the onions! You missed the onions!” You shouted, pointing at the screen as the virtual kitchen teetered on the brink of disaster.

“Relax, I’ve got this!” Lando replied, but his character was already running into walls, the pot burning on the stove. You could feel the frustration bubbling up, your competitive nature kicking into high gear.

You took charge of the kitchen, barking orders like a seasoned chef, while Lando scrambled to keep up. “Chop the onions faster, Lando!” You yelled as the kitchen timer ticked down. Lando, flustered, accidentally tossed the onions into the trash instead of the pot.

“Oops,” he said, trying to suppress a laugh.

“Oops?” You shot back, incredulous. “Lando, we’re running a restaurant, not a garbage disposal service!” The twitch chat exploded with laughter, and Lando couldn’t help but chuckle as well.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity of trying to manage orders, avoid fires, and stop Lando from accidentally throwing perfectly good ingredients into the trash, you both managed to complete the level. The result? Two stars. You stared at the screen, eyes narrowing.

“Unacceptable.” You muttered, “this is unacceptable!” You declared, your voice suddenly dropping into a perfect Gordon Ramsay impression.

“Oh look, baby we got two stars! That’s not bad!” Lando said excitedly as he pointed on the screen.

“Not that bad? Are you kidding me, Lando?” You snapped, fully embodying the spirit of Gordon Ramsay. “We were all over the place! No communcation, no strategy. Honestly, what was that—your best effort? Do you want to serve that to people? Do you?!”

Your sudden intensity caught Lando off guard, but before he could say anything, you were now pacing back and forth in front of him. But before he could say anything, you were off on a tirade, launching into an elaborate explanation of your strategy. You gestured wildly, pointing at the screen, completely absorbed in your monologue.

“Okay, listen. First, you need to stay on your side of the kitchen. I’ll handle the chopping and the prep work—because clearly, you’re incapable of doing both without setting something on fire. We need to streamline the workflow. I’ll chop, you’ll cook, and we both plate. But!” You pointed at him, your expression deadly serious, “no more improvisation. We need to stick to the plan. No more running around like a headless chicken.“

Lando blinked and nodded at you, clearly taken aback by your sudden switch into full-on chef mode. He opened his mouth to respond but then quickly shut it, his eyes darting between you and the camera that was still live streaming every second of your tirade. The chat was exploding with messages, his fans throughly entertained by your unintentional transformation into a culinary dictator, and Lando knows better than to interrupt you when you’re in the zone.

“And another thing,” you continued, pointing to the screen like you were delivering the world’s most important TED talk. “Timing and synchronization is crucial. We need to strategize and work like a well-oiled machine, not a circus act, okay? I handle the chopping, you’ll cook, and we both plate. We’ll divide and conquer!”

The chat exploded, the fans losing it as she continued, hands flying everywhere in wild gestures. Meanwhile, Lando was trying his hardest not to crack up, the corners of his mouth twitching as he watched her go on.

“Babe…baby,” Lando finally managed to interject, struggling to keep a straight face. “You realize we’re live, right?”

You froze, eyes widening as you remembered the twitch stream, the hundred of his fans who had just witnessed your unhinged rant. Slowly, you turned to the camera, a sheepish grin spreading across your face.

“Oh…hi, chat,” you said, your voice suddenly much softer, the intensity draining from your expression. “I’m sorry for that. That was not very demure, very cutesy, and very mindful of me.”

Lando burst out laughing, nearly doubling over as he clutched his stomach. “I think you’ve been watching too much Hell’s Kitchen, love. Gordon Ramsay has become your new personality,” he teased, pulling you back down and sat you on his lap. You groaned, burying your face on his neck, as he put an arm around your waist, but even you couldn’t help laugh at yourself.

“Come on, let’s get you that three stars.” Lando said as he chuckled again. You settled down beside him and gave you a kiss on your temple.

The rest of the stream was just as chaotic as when you both started playing the game, filled with rage, frustration, and hilarious uncoordination. Orders were still missed, pots were still burning, and Lando’s character even managed to fall off the kitchen at one point, but you were both too busy laughing to care. By the end of the game, you hadn’t earned a single three-star rating that you had intentionally wanted, but the stream had been a massive hit, and the chat was flooded with memes of your intense strategy session.

As Lando ended the stream, he leaned over and kissed you on the lips, still chuckling. “We may not be the best team in overcooked, but I think we’re the most entertaining,” he said, his eyes twinkling with amusement.

You rolled your eyes, but a smile played on your lips as you rested your head ok his shoulder. “Yeah, well, next time we’re getting three stars. I don’t care how long it takes.”

“Deal.” lando replied, wrapping an arm around you as you both relaxed, your own competitive sprit finally at peace—for now. “And can I say, it really turned me on when you started yapping.” His eyes wiggling, suggesting something that you knew fully well as you slapped him playfully on the chest.

“Oh shut up you.” You both laughed.

The kitchen might have been a disaster, but at least your relationship had survived the heat—well, barely.

twitter posts

[newtthetranswriter]

This is a call out post

To the people who judge and criticize those of us who read or write fan fiction: If you don't like it don't read it. simple as that. I'm tired of scrolling through a tag looking for something to read and seeing a post telling me I'm gross or disgusting for reading about a fictional character, simply because the character is 17. I have a few points I'd like to make.

They are a fictional, ie. they do not actually exist

if you want to get real technical about stuff, if you look at canon birthdays a lot of these characters you have a problem, if they were real would be over the age of 20

What people say and do online is not a direct reflection of real life, just because I write a story about stabbing some one doesn't mean i'm going to do it, same for if I write a story about going on a date with a fictional character who is 16. These are fictional characters they are meant to be perfect versions of real things, if you have ever spoken to a real 16 year old you would know they are typically trash

Most of the characters I like who are under 18, I liked long before i turned 18. I was watching MHA and Haikyuu in high school, I was the same age as characters. And I will admit I'm not as interested in the younger characters any more, but sometimes that's all there is

If people are being respect full why worry. If someone is writing a fluff piece about cuddling after a hard day at school leave them alone, or if they state that it takes place in the future leave them alone. Stop policing peoples work

LASTLY THEY ARE FICTIONAL CHARACTERS THEY DO NOT ACTUALLY EXIST.

Yes there are weirdos out there who make it weird or who actually have bad intentions, but if it's not actively causing someone else harm leave people alone. People just want to enjoy their interests and connect with the community, stop shitting on people for their interests. Any way thanks for coming to my ted talk, Remember to Hydrate or Diedrate.

p.s i also know i will likely get some colorfull messages over this but i don't care, i'm tired of feeling like trash for reading about a comfort character.

[distractedducky]

So I was thinking about it… why sterek

I’ve shipped a lot in my time. From the classics like spirk and destiel, to the straight vampire diaries nonsense, from murder husbands to buddy to name a very small few. They all hold weird little places in my heart and mind but they fade and as I flow in and out of fandoms I move on to the next hyperfixation. But sterek just keeps sticking around.

It’s an old ship for me. If you go on my ao3 all the way back to 2013 you’ll see my first ever book mark was a sterek fic. That fic is still a comfort fic for me today and is something I read when my anxiety is uncontrollable.

It was something I read late in 2022 when the reality of the pandemic and the last few years hit me hard and got me back into Teen Wolf so hard it actually pushed me out of the supernatural hole the start of the pandemic put me in.

I’ve always been a shipper and I have my ride or dies, my OTPs and Ot3s, and so on and so forth, but fandom has always been weird for me. I started young and witnessed the birth in Tumblr and ao3, as a tween my taste can only be described as pure trash* Affectionate * but as I got older, like most things in life, my taste changed. And though I still love me some hot garbage, I engage with it differently than that little 12-year-old who thought werewolves and vampires were cool no further explanation necessary.

Now I’m an academic, a librarian, who actually studied critical lit analysis, book studies, and religion. Who spent years learning how to dissect prose and poetry to look beyond text in an professional setting. And though I don’t regret it and it has led to some fun changes in the way I engage with fiction it also kinda ruined the fun engagement I had with things back in the day when baby me bookmarked that first fic.

I need more from my characters now, more from my fandoms and it has led me away from and into the arms of content that I never saw coming. (Looking at you Danny phantom phandom) I needed depth or the potential for depth that some shows just didn’t lend themselves to cleanly enough to satisfy me and yet… sterek persisted.

One of my problems is I didn’t really engage with the fandom when the show was airing and only watched a few season sporadically until recently, so I wasn’t there when things were forming organically. It has left me out of step with the primary directions fan content creators have taken with the ship and the directions they took, though fun and interesting, aren’t really my usual thing.

I hate the infantilization of stiles and other teen wolf characters like Isaac. I generally hate infantilization of adults, hyper feminization of certain types of characters and so on and so forth and it has to do with my own gender stuff, but I usually avoid it in fanfiction. I am also not a huge fan of modern werewolf romance erotica. I have a lot of opinions on real supernatural mythology and legends and I don’t like the anthropomorphism that shows up a lot in werewolf stories. Not that I haven’t read some amazing takes on werewolf lore, especially in the Teen Wolf fandom but I’m speaking generally. I’m also not a fan of pack mom stiles (again my own gender stuff) and though I think Scott’s inconsistent character and writing throughout the show lens him to be whatever your fic needs to be (best friend, hype man, wingman, idiot, genius, villain, so on and so forth) I don’t like a lot of the 'Scott sucks just because' fics. I don’t like the hate in the fandom around that. I also don’t like the hypermasculine depictions of Derek in a lot of fics and on and on. I have read a lot of TW and sterek and by all accounts, it should be a fandom I wouldn't personally engage with this much. Yet for all that, I have found there is an exception to every trope I hate, every hard line i draw for myself, because the fic was just so good. For every dozen or so fics that seem to tell me that this isn’t the fandom for me, there is that one amazing thing that says “No! This is exactly where you wanna be”.

Like I said, I need more from my fandoms now a days and most of what that boils down to is plausible deniability. I need enough gaps in the narrative to fill them in myself, but with enough connective pieces that everything can make sense when put together. The fatal flaw of telling without showing, which allows people to extrapolate out what they want from certain things -all the subtext with none of the text - is exactly where my degree comes in handy.

And sterek well… I think what it is for me as a shipper is the inconsistencies. That is kind of why I still ship it so far and for so long. It's the fact of why was Stiles in Derek's dream at the end of 3b? We can talk about all the things with him being his anchor and the grasping at straws that we as shippers all love to do but the narrative fact is they did not spend that much time on screen together or even saying they were doing things off-screen together. That leads us to a lot of whys. Why were they together at the beginning of season two talking about the alpha pack? Why were they in certain situations in season four that ld them to work so well? What happens in all of this dead time? What happens in season six? We see stiles in episode one be like "Oh my God Derek is a mass murderer wanted by the FBI" and at the end of the season, they've apparently driven and or flown back to California together, apparently spent some time together. They're not on the run from the FBI so that got cleared somehow, stiles isn't limping so his foot healed. There's so much dead time like that throughout the show so when scenes happen like the hand on Derek's shoulder after the death of Boyd you're left thinking that's kind of off, we haven't seen any interactions with them that would show that they have that kind of deep solemn relationship where comforting him would make sense.

The show notoriously has a terrible timeline, but all that does is fuel the fact that we don't know how much time any of these characters are really spending off-screen together. We can only assume that it happened in this weird dead time. This is why somehow Derek's view of Stiles in his head is like a calm stable dependable figure who can help him talk through an issue. This is why they always gravitate towards each other in fights. This is why they work so well together in a crisis. Like we have to assume that happened before which is stupid and I know it's so much reaching, but in my little brain, it's the only way that makes all of this random shit fit together- so I gotta ship it. Obviously, the real-world explanation is inconsistent writing plus putting space between them once the writer stopped wanting people to ship it, but because you get all of these disjointed scenes where they're too intense for what we've been previously seeing there is some type of disconnect here -what is that? and if you're looking at the show, not as a work of fiction, but as a narrative, what else are we gonna do then assume that they have spent way more time emotionally connecting than we have seen on the screen.

And for me that’s everything I want in a ship, that ability to play and extrapolate random events and ask, okay now how would these all fit! And that’s what spawns great ideas and stories and art and why I ship it, dispute the fact that it really shouldn't work for me personally.

I think it’s why a lot of people still stop sterek despite the fact that the attitude towards it and the show has shifted a lot and in many different ways in the last decade.

Sorry for the rant, I’ve been thinking about this for days and had to get it out there. I hope I didn’t offend anyone. I truly love the Teen Wolf fandom and everything it’s done and everything it created and I’m so happy to be able to engage with it.

[angelofverdum]

Station 19 S07e10

19!

I'm overwhelmed by feelings. It's amazing how much fictional characters can make you feel.

My hope and wish for the end of these characters was for them to have a resolution and be happy.

Honestly, I can't complain. Maybe I should wait for the excitement to die to write anything about it.

But I love the ending for every character. I loved how they incorporated these "dreams" into the action scenes.

Andy as Chief is a great resolution for her. Jack being her true love was not something I was expecting. I feel it was something they pulled out at the last minute, and don't get me wrong I'm not opposed to it, Andy and Jack could have worked if they had more seasons and Grey wouldn't have left.

Ross. I'd hoped Natasha had something more in mind than marrying Bob but she is always being "My man My man My man" so it's fitting

Robert. One thing I loved about these flashforwards was that they were connected. Sully dreamed of that because in Ross's dream, they were already married, so he got to be with her.

Travis's most important relationship is with Vic. If I had Vic as a friend, I'd be like that too. Uprooting your life like that to move with your best friend is really brave.

Warren is probably my least favorite character but that's because he is boring but he is a good man. I was emotional watching his kids all grow.

Beckett is so unserious because why is he dreaming of Ross' sister.

Vic. She made me cried because she deserves everything that it's good in life. I'm so so so happy she didn't end up with Theo. She is helping people and living her best life. My beautiful queen.

Carina's dream is so important bc she had no one, her brother and mom died, and her father is trash. She was alone and then met this stubborn firefighter and said I want a big family with her, and that's what she did. Bring her back to Grey's you cowards.

Maya. My sweet beautiful, reckless, bisexual, hot, brave, selfless, stubborn, broken Maya. Her future was so bright without clouds. She falls asleep thinking about her wife and three kids. Maya who made me come back for season 2, and here I am seven seasons later, just a mess of emotion.

When I saw Carina enter that bar, it took me a whole ass minute to realize what they were trying to do. Why Carina was there. I'll never forget that excitement and I'll always be thankful for pairing them.

It's so weird to see that kind of representation. We didn't need coming out stories or the usual homophobia. Also, they were proud bisexuals and I'm always thankful that Maya said that with her whole chest. That was so important.

Now, my random thoughts about the episode.

I love the scene with the aluminum thing. That was cool and terrifying.

I loved it when Andy showed up. I was crying like she rescued me.

Danielle is so bad at screaming, her voice cracked up so much.

I loved Maya worried about Andy

I loved Carina suiting up finally. It was so funny.

I loved that we got to see adult Prue, and my god the legacy she is carrying.

I loved to see Andy as chief and Maya as captain.

I loved Carina doing what she preaches. Like Maya my god make yourself useful and give that woman an orgasm.

I'm not a fan of the Deluca-Bishop name tag because I just don't like hyphenating last names in general but I think it is cute they did that little detail for the fans who have really been asking for it.

Now for the last scene, keep in mind, that I've been crying the whole episode. Then this hit

I just laughed out loud. Omg, those are some terrible wigs. What was the point? What were they trying to achieve? To make them look older?

You should have put some gray hair and move it along. Like why they were having a bob off. Why would you do that to them?

Let me clean my eyes with Maya's real bob and the hottest she looked in the show.

Anyway, I'm always thankful when I get to experience a TV show so deeply. Even tho the cancellation is unfair. At least we got a proper ending.

I'm also glad that we got actors who cared deeply about their characters and respected them so much.

I'm a mess but 19 forever.

[graciecatfamilyband]

The Info-Dumpers who Love Characters Website is totally sleeping on the best Info-Dumping Character of All Time:

Jade Daniels, the 17 year-old half-indigenous girl from Stephen Graham Jones’ My Heart is a Chainsaw.

In everyone’s defense, character-driven slow-burn literary fiction that is also a slasher (stab stab 🔪🔪🩸) is a hard genre to sell. Many of us who love one part of this equation don’t love the other.

But Jade has captured my whole chainsaw ♥️, and I CANNOT be normal about it. Jade has never met a person at whom she wasn’t willing to spout random facts that they have exhibited no interest in. She can bring ANYTHING back around to connect to her hyperfixation which is, coincidentally, slasher movies. And she is the most vivid, alive, real-to-me protagonist I have ever encountered. Because of the way she hyperfixates and info dumps, not in spite of it. (Which surely says something about me but again, I am among friends on this webbed site!)

Jade makes completely normal, totally hinged choices like:

(When we the audience are first introduced to her) Going up to a group of construction workers having a trash fire in the middle of the night and being like, “If we were in a slasher right now, this is what the plot line would be. Also, have some random slasher movie facts.” (Their response: Are you okay? You seem like you are not okay.)

Writing extra credit essays for her history teacher about the tropes and conventions of the slasher genre. For four years. Not what he asked for, but what he got. (These essays are included in the book and are a godsend for those of us who are not already slasher fans! They literally help the reader understand the story beats as they unfold, while simultaneously giving life to Jade’s voice and helping us understand what makes her tick.)

Deciding the New Girl At School has all the qualities of a Final Girl, the slasher film trope in which there is one girl left alive to confront the killer and stop the slasher cycle.

Trying to warn the New Girl At School that she is going to be The Final Girl, by putting a VHS copy of the 1971 slasher Bay of Blood and all of Jade’s slasher extra credit essays in her mailbox. With a note. A note that says that she is going to be The Final Girl in a slasher cycle that seems to be starting up. (Jade is just trying to help! So helpful.)

Of course, the core of this novel is: What is going on with Jade? After all, she actually wants a slasher cycle to start in her town. (She also wants the slasher cycle to be stopped at the proper moment, to ensure that the vengeance of the slasher is balanced by the justice of the Final Girl.) She does not see herself as a possible Final Girl, but she is willing to help the richer, prettier, more appropriate classmate who she thinks is that girl. Why, why, why?

To be clear, the novel does not posit that something must be wrong with a person to be intensely, obsessively interested in something or for that thing to be horror- even slashers! But Jade’s behavior is, like I said, not entirely hinged, even for a slasher fan. Something must be up.

The novel gives us all the clues we need to peel back the layers of what’s really happening, and when truths are revealed, everything just *clicks.* Themes are introduced and then reinforced on multiple levels. There is a bear. 🐻 (The bear is the not the slasher.)

And throughout, Jade gets to be fully-human and fully seven-fucking-teen. Even though she is on the cusp of adulthood, she is still a child, and a wounded one at that. (Her wounds in no way fucking diminish her.)  Her judgment is often impaired. Her actions are often questionable. Her hair-dye jobs gets so bad, even she thinks its gross. She is so alive, and so deserving of love. 🥹 

I love her.

I would fight for her.

I desperately want to make soup for her, and let her tell me about the Scream franchise (I do not care about the Scream franchise), and give her a safe place to sleep. Even if doing so makes it way more likely that I’m about to get murdered.

Jade Fucking Daniels. My chainsaw-hearted, info-dumping hero protagonist. I salute you, my final girl.

[trash-gobby]

✨🦇 Trash Gobby Intro 2.0 🦇✨

AO3: severenvansickle

Ways of Supporting me

Ko-Fi Link!!!

Redbubble: DreamScapeSev7n

Hello! I am trash_gobby, also known as trash. I kinda disappeared for a really long time from this tumblr account, only really showing up in small spurts to post or reblog stuff.

I've been dealing with a LOT of personal stuff that has made it really hard for me to keep up with this blog in general. Not for lack of desire. What's been going on in my personal life isn't really something I want to share here or anywhere regardless of my anonymity. Needless to say it's been rough and now things have really started to improve for me. I've even gotten published in an indie published anthology which was a real special thing for me.

Now I've been focusing a lot on my original works of fiction and improving things personally. I still want to post here. However, I won't be taking requests anymore and will be reformatting my content around posting only fanfics or headcanons which I will come up with. There are some stuff which people have requested in the past which I may consider working on if the mood strikes me.

A lot has changed for me in the past two years so I want to focus more on content which personally interests me right now.

There will most likely be a follow up post which goes into more detail about formatting and how things are gonna be organized once I've actually found time to devise a proper system for my old works. It might take a while though, considering I'm working full time now, and also doing a lot of important life stuff outside this blog.

Rules

1. I will DON’T encourage anyone who interacts with NSFW content who is underage.

2. Be respectful!!! No hate speech allowed (this includes anything transphobic, homophobic, transphobic, racist, fatphobic, antisemitic, ableist, Islamophobic etc.)

3. Constructive criticism is ALWAYS WELCOME!! This is a place where I want people to feel welcome to give respectful critiques of my work as I’m always trying to improve.

4. I won't be writing things from specific fandoms I've grown a certain sourness towards (usually because of the person who is in charge and not the fandom itself). I.e. Harry Potter is a bit of a sore spot for me and I have no interest in writing for it (I don't have an issue with others doing so since it's not up to me what others write and I think everyone is entitled to their own opinion and feelings about a fandom or work).

5. Relating to rule 2. - please don't bring any anti-palestinian sentiments to this space (this is not an invitation for others to be anti-Semitic so don't get things twisted. I support Judaism and the right for Jewish people to exist in peace and security within ALL countries and to be able to self determine. I think the same rights should also be extended to the Palestinian people who have been ignored by many and have had their rights and humanity stripped from them). This is not the blog of a Zionist and I would encourage others to follow or unfollow accordingly. Free Palestine 🇵🇸

✨ What I Write!!: Fluff, Headcanons, platonic/friendships, NSFW, Dating/SFW, LGBTQ+, tragedy/angst, crossover, reader x insert, character x character, mini-fics, character preferences

✨ What I WON’T write: p*dophelia, r*pe/non-con, tortue p*rn, BDSM that’s to outside of my comfort zone, b*astiality, incest, raceplay

Fun Facts About Me

1. I crochet lots of things for fun

2. I am a gender gremlin

3. My favourite all time characters are Severen (Near Dark 1987), Bishop (Aliens 1986), David (TLB 1987)

4. I am a huge A24 movie studio fan, because I am a pretentious film school graduate (I'm not a fan of Christopher Nolan or Quentin Tarantino though. Which I guess means I'm not as pretentious as I thought?? 🤔)

5. I have an AO3 account which has more stuff on it then this blog.

6. I am an aspiring author with a short story already published in a small indie press anthology (won't name here because my irl name is in the anthology). Little Ghost Books is the publisher though, and I would encourage y'all to check them out if you like 2SLGBTQIA+ horror often published indie and major horror titles. They are very worth it 💖

Masterlist for works

[takami-takami]

I've seen you write darker kinks, it's just in the past you have definitely inferred that there are acceptable kinks and non-acceptable kinks. You've said yourself that it's near predatory when a writer describes the Reader as small. Or that age regression is only ok when it's strictly sfw, because your type of age regression is acceptable. I don't like ageplay, quite squicked by it, and I'm not really a fan of aged-up characters either. But I don't call victims on here predators. Especially since those writers get real death threats on a weekly basis, some near daily basis. Have you seen the post "It's really fucked up when you treat characters like people and people like characters"? Because it describes your view of people who write about obviously grown up characters. I'm a human trafficking victim, and I personally find it wild that someone who wants to torture Hawks in a basement, calls other writers predators for having an idea of what married life with a fictional character 10-20 years after canon could be like. At the same time, I'm not going to start calling you a predator in danger of kidnapping someone or you having a red flag, you know? It's just nice over the past few months that you're not as angry at those who have kinks or fics that trigger you. You used to be so angry, that if someone had told me it was your IP that has been sending all the death threats to the aged-up authors, I wouldn't have been surprised.

This is blatantly untrue. I am supportive of ageplay/cgl. I was adamant that people do not sexualize MY age regression fic SPECIFICALLY because it would trigger me. I find it disgusting that you would attempt to twist my words in such a way, and I do not appreciate the backhanded language to make this ask make you look good or civil in your accusation.

I have never said it's predatory to describe reader as small? I said it's fatphobic? LMFAO? It's not inclusive to constantly talk about how fucking tiny the reader is. I also said not to describe reader as blushing red, am I also ableist against those with rosacea?

I do NOT want to torture Hawks in a basement. Are you fucking okay? I have ONLY talked about being on the receiving end of yandere because that is all I am interested in. I spent the first 13 years of my life locked in a fucking attic barely allowed to see the sun with the windows boarded by trash bags, I wasn't allowed to talk to other children for a decade because of being trapped inside, don't pull the "uhm actually it's problematic to write about trauma that isn't yours sweetie" card on me, it's not going to fucking work. Sorry it wasn't a basement specifically I was held in. Christ.

Why have you been here for the last few months if you thought I was the kind of person to send death threats? Lmfao. If I'm so scary, why have you stuck around?

Jesus christ, you are a piece of work. Since you seem so intent on reading anger in my past posts, here's what angry ACTUALLY looks like.

Go fuck yourself. <3

[madame-fear]

What is with this HOTD fandom?! Never have I ever been part of a fandom that attacks each other the way this one does. I have never seen “fans” as malicious, cruel, and relentless as the ones in the HOTD fandom! It’s insane. Vicious people are running content creators into the ground or off Tumblr or ao3 completely simply because they don’t like a certain ship, or trope, or tag, or dynamic, or a certain character etc etc. Its like the thought process is “I don’t like x, y, or z so instead of simply ignoring that content and not reading it, I’m going to make this everyone’s problem and find the people that make this content and harass them as much as possible. I’m also going to find as many ppl to help me gang up on this person and destroy them! You like something I don’t so that makes you bad. You don’t think the way I do so you need to be dealt with!” Like come on y’all, so you don’t like smut, or fluff, or lucemond, or rhaenicent, or character x reader, or modern fics, or dead dove, or enemies to lovers, or alpha/omega, or bottom/top, or you hate Lucerys, or Aemond, or rhaenyra, or daemon, or Jace, or the Blacks, or the Greens or whatever there may be, like no one cares! No one cares you don’t like something in fandom! What happened to “ship and let ship?” If you don’t like something, that’s fine, that’s great, I hope you are able to find all content you do like, but you don’t have a free pass to trash other people! Just ignore it, don’t read that story, block that specific creator if you want, just move on and find the stuff you do like. Why do these ppl feel the need to turn into a vicious pack of hyenas, relentlessly attacking content creators, literally running them off with death threats and doxxing etc etc like damn y’all! You just experienced this a few days ago with an “anon” who turned out to be a username I recognized and have seen around for a long time. And here they are acting the way they did. Like what?!

HOTD isn’t real! It’s fiction! It can be whatever people want it to be, people can use whatever trope they want, completely random ships between completely nonsensical characters can exist, a story can be set in the Amazon or freaking space, a story can be the sweetest, fluffiest story to ever exist or it can be the strangest, darkest, most messed up thing you’ve ever read and that’s fine! It’s fine! Surround yourself with what you do like and just let other people live, why is that so hard?! So sorry for my rant, I had to get that out

FUCKING PREEEACH ANON, SAY IT LOUDER! Please please please rant as much as you wish, darling. 🗣🗣🗣

No you literally said EVERYTHING there was to be said about this fandom. I joined the fandom a day or two after the series ended, on October 2022 and BELIEVE me when I tell you that the fandom has gone completely deranged by now. I don’t like blaming anyone in particular, but I kind of have the feeling these big accounts that are always in the centre of some drama are the cause of the toxicity lingering in the fandom :/

I mean, I for example don’t like certain ships like Lucemond. It makes me feel so uncomfortable and off, and you know what I did? I filtered the tag, blocked some people on those tags, and went on with my life. I live and let live. I never even harassed someone or commented on their posts against their likings. This one big account that also started a huge ass drama recently was telling everyone to stop writing for bimboism because its anti-feminist or something — LIKE EXCUSE ME???? You don’t like something and you are making it EVERYBODY ELSES problem? Naur. And its worse when they send a troop of minions to attack and stupidly doxx... damn. I wouldn’t even be surprised if you already saw on other occasions the user harassing me previously... 🙄

I don’t like the concept/trope bimboism either and I never even considered on writing about it. But does that give me the right to tell everyone to stop writing for it because I simply dislike it? No, not at all! Because its also the right of other people to read and write for whatever they enjoy the most. Yes, she has her right to have her own opinion on her blog — but this shouldn’t apply only to a certain group of people! As far as I’m concerned, there’s something called freedom of speech; meaning we can all say and like whatever the fuck we want, unless you want to establish a mediocre social media dictatorship.

I also love how their friends stick up to them while they pretend to be on a hiatus to victimise themselves further. This one friend of them told a mutual "you will stand down" and "you will not win this" like the CLOWNING in here is real. Babygirl you are arguing against strangers online for a fucking fanfic trope, we aren’t in the middle of some medieval battlefield, wdym??? 😭😭

And also they blamed this same mutual telling her that she’s been harassing this one account for over a year (the big account mentioned previously that she had never seen my mutual before or something like that, and they never even talked before this???) even if the drama is recent, and said that... The drama was triggering the miscarriage this account had like a year ago. I swear to God this is too much to handle and it too sad. Especially to bring such tragic personal event like a miscarriage to put the weight on somebody else for an online argument about fictional tropes.

You literally said everything about this. I can’t believe we have to argue about this. And then the friend of a mutual said that its the right of the big account to have her own opinion but they aren’t respecting the opinions of others? Like damn just block people and filter tags, man. I don’t know what to tell you, because why would the world stop merely because you don’t like something and then everyone is like "OOO ESOKEEE🥺" to immediatly boost their ego by hating on other people going against what they say.

yk what, nonnie? You are absolutely fucking right. HOTD is fictional and we can do whatever the hell we want. And we shouldn’t be scared of speaking up. I’m tempted to publish my drafted post about this because I’m sick and tired of having to walk on knife edge just to not be harrassed. Thank you for the rant!

[mariacallous]

Many times a year, as if on a hidden schedule, some tech person, often venture-capital-adjacent, types out a thought on social media like “The only thing liberal arts majors are good for is scrubbing floors while I punch them” and hits Send. Then the poetry people respond—often a little late, in need of haircuts—with earnest arguments about the value of art.

I am an English major to death. (You know us not by what we’ve read but by what we are ashamed not to have read.) But I learned years ago that there’s no benefit in joining this debate. It never resolves. The scientist-novelist C. P. Snow went after the subject in 1959 in a lecture called “The Two Cultures,” in which he criticized British society for favoring Shakespeare over Newton. Snow gets cited a lot. I have always found him unreadable, which, yes, embarrasses me but also makes me wonder whether perhaps the humanities had a point.

By the time I went to college, in the mixtape days, the Two Cultures debate had migrated to corkboards. In the liberal arts building, people tacked up pro-humanities essays they had snipped out of magazines. A hot Saturday night for me was to go and read them. Other people were trying drugs. I found the essays perplexing. I got the gist, but why would one need to defend something as urgent and essential as the humanities? Then again, across the street in the engineering building, I remember seeing bathroom graffiti that read “The value of a liberal arts degree,” with an arrow pointing to the toilet paper. I was in the engineering building because they had Silicon Graphics workstations.

Wandering between these worlds, I began to realize I was that most horrifying of things: interdisciplinary. At a time when computers were still sequestered in labs, the idea that an English major should learn to code was seen as wasteful, bordering on abusive—like teaching a monkey to smoke. How could one construct programs when one was supposed to be deconstructing texts? Yet my heart told me: All disciplines are one! We should all be in the same giant building. Advisers counseled me to keep this exceptionally quiet. Choose a major, they said. Minor in something odd if you must. But why were we even here, then? Weren’t we all—ceramic engineers and women’s studies alike—rowing together into the noosphere? No, I was told. We are not. Go to your work-study job calling alumni for donations.

So I got my degree, and off I went to live an interdisciplinary life at the intersection of liberal arts and technology, and I’m still at it, just as the people trashing the humanities are at it too. But I have come to understand my advisers. They were right to warn me off.

Because humans are primates and disciplines are our territories. A programmer sneers at the white space in Python, a sociologist rolls their eyes at a geographer, a physicist stares at the ceiling while an undergraduate, high off internet forums, explains that Buddhism anticipated quantum theory. They, we, are patrolling the borders, deciding what belongs inside, what does not. And this same battle of the disciplines, everlasting, ongoing, eternal, and exhausting, defines the internet. Is blogging journalism? Is fan fiction “real” writing? Can video games be art? (The answer is always: Of course, but not always. No one cares for that answer.)

When stuff gets out of hand, we don’t open disciplinary borders. We craft new disciplines: digital humanities, human geography, and yes, computer science (note that “science” glued to the end, to differentiate it from mere “engineering”). In time, these great new territories get their own boundaries, their own defenders. The interdisciplinarian is essentially an exile. Someone who respects no borders enjoys no citizenship.

You could argue that for all the talk of the university as an “intellectual commons,” it is actually an institution intended to preserve a kind of permanent détente between the disciplines—a place where you can bring French literature professors together with metallurgists and bind them with salaries so that they might not kill each other. The quad as intellectual DMZ. But those bonds are breaking down. Universities are casting disciplines to the wind. Whole departments are shuttering. The snazzy natatorium stays open, French literature goes away. And then the VC types get on Twitter, or X, or whatever, to tell us that poetry is useless. The losses are real.

And so what, really? Well, what I mourn is not a particular program at a college I never visited but the sense of institutions being in balance. I’ve spent most of my life wanting desperately for institutions to be disrupted, and now I find myself entering the second half of my existence (if I’m lucky) absolutely craving that stability. The delicate détente is vanishing, that sense of having options. A shorter course catalog is an absolute sign of a society in decline.

But also, we’re cutting off the very future that the tech industry promises us is coming. If the current narrative holds—if AI is victorious—well, liberal arts types will be ascendant. Because rather than having to learn abstruse, ancient systems of rules and syntaxes (mathematical notation, C++, Perl) in order to think higher thoughts, we will be engaged with our infinitely patient AI tutors/servants like Greek princelings, prompting them to write code for us, make spreadsheets for us, perform first-order analysis of rigid structures for us, craft Horn clauses for us.

I see what you nerds have done with AI image-creation software so far. Look at Midjourney’s “Best of” page. If you don’t know a lot about art but you know what you like, and what you like is large-breasted elf maidens, you are entering the best possible future. You might think, Hey, that’s what the market demands. But humans get bored with everything. We’re just about done with Ant-Man movies.

The winners will be the ones who can get the computer to move things along the most quickly, generate the new fashions and fads, turn that into money, and go to the next thing. If the computers are capable of understanding us, and will do our bidding, and enable us to be more creative, then the people in our fields—yes, maybe even the poets—will have an edge. Don’t blame us. You made the bots.

Perhaps this is why they lash out, so strangely—a fear of the grip slipping, the sense that all the abstruse and arcane knowledge gathered about large language models, neural nets, blockchains, and markets might be erased. Will be erased. At least art goes for the long game, you know? Poems are many things, and often lousy, but they are not meant to be disposable, nor do they require a particular operating system to work.

All you have to do is look at a tree—any tree will do—to see how badly our disciplines serve us. Evolutionary theory, botany, geography, physics, hydrology, countless poems, paintings, essays, and stories—all trying to make sense of the tree. We need them all, the whole fragile, interdependent ecosystem. No one has got it right yet.

[corvidcrossbow]

hihi ! i just read your intruders fic and it was so good, do you have any tips on how to write Daryl properly?

Hiii!!! For one, thank you 😭🫶🫶 You're so sweet (this is a little lengthy, the nerd got out)

As for writing Daryl; one of my favoritest things is media analysis, especially in regards to the structuring and development of characters: so when watching shows/movies/etc., I try to pay a lot of attention to major and minor details in the plot and a character's mannerism, actions, dialogue, etc. since I not only find it fun, but I think it really helps in giving and understanding the depth of characters writing (yes there's a lot of reading into things too much & overanalyzing, but in this house we assume everything happened for a reason and was meticulously planned ‼️) (except for when we ignore canon because sometimes writers don't know what they're doing) (*cough*, Leah)

It's pretty straightforward; it helps in learning how a character behaves, reacts and would handle certain situations (since you're essentially studying how they do it). I generally get to a point where I know a character well enough that I can see something and just be like "oh yeah they would/wouldn't like that" or "*this* is how they'd do that" (still I am guilty of indecisiveness in headcanons 😔🤞)

But beside all that, turning to other people's interpretations is also really helpful! Norman Reedus himself is obviously a good resource; listening to and reading the extra things he's said about Daryl in interviews and stuff (and what other cast/crew say too) Then of course other fan content (fanfics and headcanons are a key ones. I also end up on old reddit comment threads pretty often with people discussing episodes) I'm on his Fandom page all the time (occasionally the Survival Instinct/Onslaught specific one too, but take that one with a bigger grain of salt cause there's always gonna be inconsistencies)

I also used to be a really big role player so pretending to embody Daryl or put yourself in his shoes might also be useful(?) (I think I do this subconsciously 🗿), and I find Daryl to be very relatable so that inherently aids

I think Daryl in particular can be a more challenging character to feel like you've written "properly" (in a way that feels in character) because of how complex certain parts of his personality are (like most characters or people with years worth of trauma), and the way he handles things is very dependent on his relationship to the those involved, what it is, what period of his life it's in (like how he's much harsher and hot-headed in the early seasons, but shuts down a lot in mid seasons, but towards the last ones we get to see more of who he actually is; so his behavior is gonna vary a lot depending on context)

But don't let feeling ooc hang you up! The more you write for Daryl (or any other character), the more you'll understand him, and subsequently the better you get. No matter how long I've loved a character or how well I feel I understand them, I'll still always be having sort of realizations or developments in my thoughts

OH THIS IS A BIG THING; imagine him as a real person, blissfully ignore the word "fictional" – this helps me connect to him way more and on a deeper level because I'm viewing him as someone that genuinely exists and has experienced these things (am I little out of touch with reality?... maybe)

His thoughts, emotions, inner monologue, how all these things had an impact on his development in childhood and adulthood, etc. Eliminating the idea of him being fictional might help you see him as a fully rounded person rather than bits of writing and acting we watch and read.

Think about how real world events & circumstances would've affected him (I view him as being born in 1975, so raised post-Vietnam war, lower income in a conservative area, redneck and white trash, War on drugs, 9/11, etc.) (Some of these aren't that important in writing him, but they might help in formulating ideas about who he is/ again, understanding him) – that idea in general is important though; theorize about how certain events/ scenarios (big world things or more mundane ones) would affect him/ how he'd react to them — all this wraps into the first things I said; about analyzing his character.

Okay maybe I'm rambling now, but overall just go for it and have fun with it! As I said, the more you do it, the faster it'll come to you, and the more solid idea of Daryl you'll formulate. Everyone has different interpretations of things and I love to see how others view characters compared to my own!

[broomsticks]

Wolfstar + Remadora pls, since you straddle writing for both <3

not just writing - they're also my #1 and #4 most read ships last year! probably #1 and #2 tbh, after filtering out background ships

WOLFSTAR: Ship It

What made you ship it?

my first read of the shrieking shack scene. their intensities, the symmetrical darknesses inside of them. suddenly lupin’s knocking everything over all book long made sense, and i the reader FELT this epiphany alongside lupin. it really is a brilliant bit of story construction and i was shipping it as a nine year old or whatever long before i knew what a ship even was.

What are your favorite things about the ship?

the balance between the known and unknown! perfect mix of known character traits (and within these, such a nice blend of strengths and flaws) and backstory and plot points. there’s a lot of space to play around (canon-plausible is my favorite genre of fic) and it’s wonderful

also how massive the fandom is. so much beautiful writing. so many imaginative stories about them! i know i’ve already recced you ignipes’ man-eaters of kumaon, but 1920s south america au! 1960s south georgia, usa! australia! 1930s britain! canonverse wolfstar escape with harry to hong kong! i could truly read only this ship forever and never run out of things to read.

Is there an unpopular opinion you have on your ship?

i prefer angst to fluff, and i like their unhappy ending.

i’m a very picky reader in general, and i’m probably at my worst with this ship because i can be so picky, but in particular i’m very eh about what fluff, raising harry au, and muggle aus i’ll read.

REMADORA: Ship It

What made you ship it?

1) writing my own remadora chaptered fic 2) realizing that it is possible to multi ship. you can ship two things at once. one ship coming before the other, which can happen in real life too, or parallel universes, because that is a thing in fiction. no seriously. i had to learn that, when i first started out in fandom i had this vague nebulous idea that you had to Pick A Side, which thankfully i have properly torn up and thrown in the trash ❤️ 3) honestly their unhappy canon ending helped, because it a) narratively made sense to me and b) i felt compelled to explore it more in fic. i’m drawn to tragic endings okay, lmao

What are your favorite things about the ship?

rielle’s fanart

bikelock’s fic

spite-shipping the anti-remadora wolfstar crowd (not gonna lie)

the repressed one is soft for the colorful one

kinky metamorphmagus sex

consternated andromeda (it’s very cute when her feathers are ruffled)

also the mutual pining in HBP is A+

Is there an unpopular opinion you have on your ship?

i don’t hate the ending - i really rather like the fact that they both died, although i’m not a big fan of how exactly. also, is the fact that i’m down for remus/sirius/tonks an unpopular opinion, for both these asks? because i am

thank you for the ask!

[very-straight-blog]

I know that it was John Lydon who was against the creation of this series, but in my opinion "Pistol" gave him justice. He showed that he was right from the very beginning, that he was the heart of this team that was worried about his friends. I haven't read Steve's biography that inspired this series (because I can't get it anywhere in my country ☹️), I don't know if maybe there was something inappropriate there, or maybe John just didn't want to share his private life in this way, but it's good that this series was created and showed that this nonsense from "Sid & Nancy" is just nonsense. It felt more like fan fiction than something related to a biopic. I don't recommend it. I didn't like Gary Oldman's Sid, even though I think he's a good actor, but Louis Partridge's one made me like him (but I'm still not a fan of the real Sid). Maybe it was because it felt like he was a young man and not an adult pretending to be twenty, or maybe it was because he and Anson Boon had really good chemistry together. I'd rather watch them than Sid and Nancy, lol. There was a sense that they cared about each other like brothers, and it hurt Johnny when they started to grow apart. (And although I consider RP fanfiction to be yuck, I'm not surprised that after the series premiere on AO3 they started being shipped more. But still yuck) I love that even the way he dresses, his hair, and his tension changed throughout the series. There was a lot to read from it. And that scene with his mom when he invited the band after the album was released! It meant so much to him! And then it started to go wrong :(

Yes, yes and yes again. It's a real shame that this show didn't get any awards for HOW it was made. Everything you mentioned was at the highest level and you could feel that Danny Boyle put a lot of heart into it. He and the entire gang, so it's a great pity that the series ended up in the trash due to low viewership :( In my country, it was on Disney+ a few months before it was canceled. It didn't even get a single review from any pop culture portal. It's a disgrace :(

I don't know anyone who watches the series, only you and another person on tumblr, so I'd love to read everything you write about 😊

Sorry for the slow answer, I was very very busy!

Now I'm reading John's autobiography and everything he tells there was pretty accurately shown in the series, I didn't find any significant differences, so yes, I agree. I started watching Pistol without knowing anything specific about the band members and John instantly won my love and respect - which means the creators did everything right, even if the real John was against this project.

In general, the book is wonderful, I advise you to read it if you're suddenly interested in the band. It covers the time period from John's childhood to the breakup of the band. It's wittily written and really reveals John's relationship with the people around him, including Sid. I marked the places I found interesting and ended up with them on every page lol.

And yes, in my country, even the series itself was very difficult to find, especially in English with subtitles. I spent several hours on this.

The actors did a great job and it can be seen. Sid and John have amazing chemistry. Despite the fact that I can't stand Sid, I almost started to sympathize with him simply because of their relationship with John and how everything that was happening affected him. Weird huh.

I think how much content could have been obtained if the series had gained more popularity and I feel sad. I need art, fics and stuff(

[dimiclaudeblaigan]

It's the underdog/victim complex. They think they're being oppressed/harassed/attacked by everyone else for liking their fave when no one really cares. Plus purity culture sorta screwed the fandom perceptions where now you apparently can't like a character or be a fan of them if they do bad/problematic things. This isn't just a FE thing either, there was an article that basically said that people can enjoy villains for being villains and requested everyone to not woobify or justify their actions. Guess what happened? People got salty over it and started attacking the article. And yeah it's not just a bunch of teenagers sadly, there are people in their 30s doing this kind of nonsense behavior and it's really sad and pathetic. And fwiw I'm not implying nor intending that people 30 or above can't be in fandoms or anything like that, it's just..you expect them to know or be better than to act like they're half their age with this nonsense.

Yeah, that's so wild to me when they do exactly that - attack others for their faves (especially Dimitri). Like yeah, I hate their fave but I don't go out of my way to attack them for liking her.

Purity culture really, REALLY pisses me off. Not only do people who like EdeIgard erase her wrongdoings, but they only like the version of her they created and not her canon self (i.e. the self that did wrong, but they can't handle the concept of that and their waifu has to be perfect and have her hands clean). Following that, they get aggressive toward Dimitri and his fans for liking him because uwu he did so many bad things. Like, yes, we are aware of that and he actively addresses that fact on a regular basis. He doesn't hide behind "uwu I did it for Fodlan", he doesn't make excuses, and his fans accept his faults for what they are. For some reason the stans seem to think we're just like them and that we erase any faults of our fave and pretend he's a perfect, clean handed individual.

I remember hearing or seeing once in this old Tumblr RP group that they banned Miklan from even being selected as a written character. Like bruh, if you're gonna write roleplays, don't you... want conflict? When I write I find it boring when there's no conflict whatsoever. Even in my dmcl writing, there's still a sort of internal conflict, like Dimitri having doubts about himself and thinking he's not worth being with someone he loves. No matter what I write, I prefer to have some sort of conflict because it helps to strengthen the positive result.

It's funny, too, because these are always the same people who like Hopes Claude more but yet don't think doing anything wrong is okay. They defend his actions instead like with their waifu because it's okay to invade a country and murder its people!

Reminds me of the stan that showed up in my inbox once trying to defend Claude, saying "what innocents did Claude even kill, he only killed soldiers" as if to say soldiers automatically lose all their innocence and rights as human beings for signing up to defend their country. That anon should probably stop and think about what they said and how that applies to real life, because they basically told me my sister deserves to die because she used to serve in the military. Oh no, how dare she be a soldier! She's no longer innocent and it's okay if she dies! Forget the fact that she has three children at home who are very young and need their mother! Forget that her parents and sisters are still alive and would grieve for her! She's a soldier, so it's fine if she dies!

That anon needs a real good look in the mirror and a smack in the face by reality. These people say a whole lot of shit to defend their fictional pixelated waifu without considering how that reflects on them in real life and the fact that what they say does have a reflection on their real life values. Anyone who tells me it would've been okay if my sister died simply because she was in the military is trash and I wish on them what they would wish on her.

I heard about that article! It's pathetic. There is literally nothing wrong with enjoying media and concepts. I have a section I decided to put at the end of this ask explaining how I feel about particular antagonists (Ashnard, Zelgius, Sephiran and Miklan), but since it's a biiiit off course here I wanted to avoid it splitting up my more direct reply to this ask.

Yeah, I know it's not only teenagers and that's also pathetic. While I wouldn't say I just forgive teenagers for being like that (they're old enough and there's no excuse imo, as I mentioned before), it's a lot more understandable that they might be like that and just eventually grow out of it. The fact there are people my age or older acting like angry babies who had their binky taken away is honestly so ridiculous that the term "pathetic" is not even strong enough to explain how ridiculous it is. They act like they're a little kid who had their favorite sticker stolen by some random kid in their class. These are people who should be looking for or having a job, being at least somewhat damn mature online and being a reasonable, mature person.

I was hoping "karens" would die out with the older generations (let's face it, a good chunk of today's karens are bored, angry old/older people with nothing to do and are just miserable people), but evidently we're never getting rid of that lot! It's okay to invade a country and murder its people, just like it's okay to harass and bully people off of social media, didn't you know?! 🙄🙄🙄 Really, how did some of these people get like this? And no, I'm not asking for their uwu backstories to redeem them LOL.

Some of these people are so insufferable that it's disgusting.

Regarding the villain discussion:

It's like I always say and you're about to hear it again: I love Ashnard as a villain because he's a villain, and he's a villain who fully embraces his actions and behavior. He doesn't think he's morally just. He's fighting for the world he believes in. He believes the strong should be on top and should rule the weak. However, he's extremely fair about that viewpoint and if he's defeated by someone because they were stronger than him, that is fair to him and he accepts his defeat. Since he believes the strong should be on top, he believes he should be on top... until someone comes along who can slay him, in which he believes they do deserve to be on top. If he's bested, he no longer deserves to be on top. He's a fantastic villain who never makes excuses and doesn't go back on what he says he believes. There's no "the strong should be on top but only as long as I'm the strongest and will be ruling". Plain and simple, the strongest should be on top whether it's him or not, and he's not, I guess you could say, "fake" about it.

Then you have Hopes Miklan who turns out to be a better person than people gave him credit for. He's someone I always had headcanons about based on Dimitri's take on him being disowned. I felt that he could've been a better person if pointed in the right direction and being told and shown that he was capable as a person even without a crest and that having a crest doesn't dictate whether he's useful or not. Dimitri put him in charge of a massively important, and arguably the most important, area of defense in the entire country. He proved he believed that Miklan had the strength to handle that and proved that he believed if Miklan had a better life and situation in front of him that he wouldn't resort to banditry. The thing is, he was right. Miklan not only started becoming a better person, but he even gets a line where he basically says he liked helping the people in a place that got destroyed in the war. He liked helping them rebuild.

Both of those are fantastic stories and characters. One of them had a redemption arc while nobody ever let any bullshit slide. He wasn't allowed to slip up or get away with any tiny "mistakes". It was literally do or die, but being forced into that situation did genuinely make him a better person. Even if he had to be forced to help them, it's not like he didn't come out on the other side and be better for it. Being forced to do those things didn't mean it just stayed that way and that he was hateful and angry that entire time.

Then one of them is just... a villain. A perfectly written villain who lived and died as a villain. Nobody made excuses for him and he didn't make excuses for himself. There's a reason I don't like Zelgius, and it's not that I think his character itself is terribly written, but it's the forced redemption that he didn't earn that makes me not enjoy his final arc. In contrast, what does Sephiran get? No redemption allowed from Ike until he gets up and proves he's willing to redeem himself. Zelgius could've easily been a character made to earn his redemption, such as being a playable character and having supports to flesh out his new arc, or even just being a story only character who protects and saves the main characters (besides Just Micaiah tee em) and maybe even guides them safely to the Tower of Guidance (no pun intended). Instead he just gets to say he admired his teacher and had a sad backstory so suddenly... nobody is mad anymore. Certainly not Tibarn, who had like 50+ percent of his nation wiped out, that being any able bodied man who could fight besides the ones who were lucky enough to be with Tibarn's fighting force at the time all that happened. 🙄

[lethalfragmentation]

FOAMING AT THE MOUTH. I DEMAND YOU TO GIVE ME YOUR HEADCANONS ON THE CHARACTERS FROM 斑紋胡蝶譚 (AND THE PREVIOUS 3 MUSIC VIDEOS) OR WHATEVER YOU WANNA SAY ABOUT THEM.

HI!!! I’m really glad to find someone who also appreciates this MV series, it definitely deserves more recognition!

Idk if I have too many specific thoughts on them but I’ll give it a shot!

Disclaimer: While the lyrics are very literal my understanding of Japanese is minimal, so for things that don’t have an EN translation I’ve been using Google Translate + going off things that JP fans on Twitter have mentioned about it (also using Google Translate…..OTL). If anything is inaccurate feel free to correct me!

I don’t think the characters formally have names (Bakui’s wavebox had multiple people asking but nothing was ever confirmed…?) so I’ll just refer to them by titles.

The Thief/Writer/Young Man: Headcanons… He gives me the impression of having a reserved and somewhat finicky personality even prior to his spiral into sin. For some reason he struck me as the kind of person to try to write a mystery novel, but since he ends up mired in the crime and underworld business that he once thought of for fiction, it eventually loses its charm and becomes the source of his writer’s block. Although the lyrics in 斑紋胡蝶譚 seem to indicate that he’s reached the end of the road, I like to think someone found some of his manuscripts once he fled and at least preserved them so they didn’t just end up in the trash… 

I’m also a little curious about the specifics regarding his family history since the songs drop hints here and there… In Romance in Full Bloom, he mentions that the heiress is out of his league and that he doesn’t know much about dancing and wine, and in Cheap Visionary, he’s obviously struggling financially, saying that the money that he took from his parents before leaving has dried up. But in 狂犬夜行譚 it looks like he was part of a wealthy family prior to his entanglement with his boss… maybe this is why he’s so good at keeping a mask and performing thievery? Also, it seems like his boss had a hold on those associated with the young man’s history, so I’m not sure if he’d been a target/accomplice the whole time or was just particularly unlucky.

^ I really like this shot for some reason... I think his forehead is a charm point lol

^ I also love this sequence in Cheap Visionary/狂犬夜行譚 a lot! The variations he rotates though are really fun and it's really effective at portraying his struggle with his sense of self

Unrelated but I think he and Narou (from For Dear Life) should meet since they both embody the struggling artist archetype haha

The Heiress/Young Woman: Despite growing up in such a stifled environment she gives me the impression of having an assertive and crafty personality when allowed to express it. Although it isn’t the first time someone has gotten close to her with the intention to steal her inheritance, it’s been a long while since she’s made the mistake of letting her guard down. The young man considers his soul stained from all the crimes he’s committed, but I feel like if they met again, she would be pretty understanding aside from forgiving him for stealing.

Also, it’s kind of subtle but she doesn’t seem at all surprised when she enters the dream in 斑紋胡蝶譚 unlike the young man, who seems a little disoriented to me (well, he did just kill a man). Maybe it’s because she’s used to dreaming and imagining scenarios to escape the current cage of her life...?

I'm glad she got a larger role in the series! Her design is really simple but cute... My post-MV cope is that the young man follows the railroad tracks to where the young woman's train is going, eventually meeting in real life and helping him change his identity/sponsoring his writing endeavors. He is similarly familiar with the workings of upper class dealings and how easily they can coexist with underworld business, so I think he could help her navigate affairs once she inherits the company from her family. At the very least, he would be able to alleviate the boredom by weaving the stories that were unable to escape his pen while he was selling his soul.

For some reason 御涙頂戴 by Miyuu/Teniwoha makes me think of them too… but it might be because they're close together on one of my playlists.

Random thoughts about the 斑紋胡蝶譚 MV:

Although it’s bittersweet, I think it’s a perfect place to end on. I’m not sure if Makabe-san has any more plans for this series, but I hope he and Bakui-san work together again in the future!

Nene’s vocals complement the dreamy mood and Makabe-san’s vocals so well! <3 I like the softer direction this song took compared to the previous three, which were high energy and chaotic.

The butterfly motif… people mentioned how butterflies are associated with the departed (especially given the lyrics), but I couldn’t help but think about how the use of dreams reminded of me Zhuangzi’s Butterfly Dream, esp in regards to the two characters’ regrets finally resolving despite not actually meeting in person 🥹

My favorite part is at 3:13 where the action has a rotoscoped feeling to it… it’s totally different from Bakui’s usual animation style which makes it more impactful to me! I love the color scheme as well, the limited color palette is reminiscent of the dream sequences in THINGS SO FAR and DIE IN THE SEA.

I was saying this earlier but this series is a really good showcase of Bakui-san’s growth as an animator/artist and I’m really glad Makabe-san lets them have a noticeable amount of freedom when handling the MVs…(me pointing at the first mural in 斑紋胡蝶譚: nunokami sighting ⁉️👆) 

Like... they’ve been trapped in the Nilfruits basement for part of this year (lol) and since he’s really popular there are probably stricter guidelines for the MVs and promo material? So it's nice they can exercise their own flair outside of their original works. I remember Bakui saying they like drawing characters’ angry faces the most, and it really looks like they had fun portraying the young man’s inner turmoil and the MVs in general for this series!

...I did not mean to write this much... But thanks for reading my disorganized thoughts, I hope they're to your liking :-]

If you have any headcanons/etc I'd love to hear them as well! Thank you for the ask! :'D

[flakeybakey]

I have wanted to be a published author my whole life. I can’t remember a time when I wasn’t writing - poetry, fan fiction, original fiction, even a screenplay. I dreamed about being able to write for a living.

Then I told my dad and his ever so helpful and encouraging response was to tell me hardly anyone can make money off writing and support themselves. I need to get a real job. I was in fourth grade.

This killed me. I lost all faith in my ability as a writer. And I’m still dealing with it now. I still think my writing is boring, repetitive, and basically shit. I still get jealous of writers who are so much fucking better than me, thinking to myself I can never be that good. I live for the good comments on my fics, but they never fill the hole in me that my father dug with one throwaway comment he probably promptly forgot.

I start things and don’t finish them. I’ve started so many original works and then thrown them out when I get sick of my own writing again. I don’t believe in myself and I don’t know how to start, or if that’s even possible. It makes me so sad, but I don’t know how to change or if I can.

I wanted to be like Stephen King. I wanted to write things that made people feel and were different. But then every time I write something it always ends up smutty. And romance books have always been called trashy and not respected like other genres, so if romance and porn are all I can write, I must not be a very good writer, right?

It’s just one big, stinking pile of failure and I hate it. I feel like I’ve let the best writing years of my life be wasted. You get better through practice and I gave up for a long time. Is it too late now? I don’t know, because I don’t know how to like my work. I don’t know how to look at it and think it’s not cringeworthy and worthless and trash.

I blame my father for failing me, and he did. But I’m old enough now where it’s my fault I can’t feel better about my work.