#I’m suspending disbelief for a lot of this plot cos I’m enjoying it a lot so far

[pigglepiephi]

So it wasn’t suspicious to May when she returned and Oom didn’t remember anything about their relationship, the reasons for their separation, May’s career, the fact she’s blind etc etc…

BUT her girlfriend suddenly NOT having a fear of cockroaches could have given the game away 😅

Never shared a bed together but someone in the relationship is a ‘dedicated pest controller’ 🪳🪳

[gubler-garbage]

Dude you don’t know how cathartic it is to read your thoughts on the shipping culture in always sunny. Whenever I get into a piece of media for the first time my go-to move to get content about it is to go on tumblr, and when I did that for iasip I genuinely thought I was going crazy. Seeing the sheer amount of shipping posts made in complete sincerity made me wonder if I was missing something? So I suspended my disbelief thinking maybe some crazy shit happened in the seasons I hadn’t seen yet, but lo and behold that’s not the case lmao. Also this is a way smaller thing to complain about but the fandom’s intense focus on Mac and Dennis (on tumblr at least) makes it so there’s way less content for Charlie (that’s how it feels to me, but maybe I’m wrong) which bums me out. Anyway, sorry for the long ask, I just wanted you to know that someone did read your long post and appreciated it a lot.

thanks you so much!! It's been really lovely hearing from y'all. I don't want to come off too critical of the fandom because generally speaking and having been on this garbage site for almost 10 years, the people in this fandom are kind and respectful towards each other with very little vicious or angry discourse and even if I don't agree with quite a few takes, I do enjoy reading what everyone thinks because a lot of y'all have really thoughtful critiques of the show and its creators. It's really just the really hardcore shippy side of the fandom that puts me off a bit. I don't have any problem with shipping or anything, macden is a ton of toxic fun but I definitely agree with you that the way people talk about them as if its not just a ship but a foregone canon conclusion is quite strange honestly. Like I think it would be a really interesting direction for the show but the way people talk about them seems like a incredible reach and a recipe for intense disappointment. I feel like its a more common thing now that people aren't just content with shipping something, they need it to be canon. There is no such thing as a "correct" interpretation of art, interpretations can be ill informed, ignorant etc but it isn't "wrong" and trying to impose your interpretation on others is really just obnoxious. Imo half the fun of shipping is exploring the dynamics of characters that would never be addressed in the show or expanding on different plots or characters that you think are interesting but never really made it to being a large part of the show or movie or whatever. I just personally don't understand this attachment to something being made explicitly canon (but obviously when I say that I'm not referring to queerbaiting and the like from shows like supernatural, I definitely understand where people are coming from with that, like I was a Richonne stan in twd fandom lol). I have seen people try and make the "queerbaiting" argument for sunny and that one really gets me goin like absolutely livid like some of you really love to try and co-opt serious issues of representation for your dumbass shipping discourse, it drives me up a god damn wall. It's really transparent when there is so so (cannot be over expressed) so god damn much to criticise about sunny but (and of course this is only my personal opinion but I feel like it's a pretty solid consensus) the way Mac's sexuality and coming out was treated (in the latter half of the show once the decision was actually made to take that path with his character) was with the utmost reverence and respect that it deserved. Of all the misteps made by sunny Mac's coming out and acceptance is absolutely not one of them. Personally I feel Mac is one of the most important pieces of representation currently on tv and the idea that out of the incredibly long list of criticisms for the show some of the fandom have decided "queer-baiting" is the primary issue is unbelievable to me. Like first of all the fundamental misunderstanding of what the term even means is endlessly frustrating but also reeks of that Community meme "I can excuse racism but I draw the line at my gay ship not being canon". It's petty and childish and devalues all of the very important discussion to be had surrounding representations of queer characters.

I'm so sorry, I got so off track on this one gang. One last thing I really have absolutely no problem with the popularity of macden, they're a real fun ship and people are free to post whatever they please. Personally I love my sweet baby rat boy charlie and wanted to see more of him so I jumped headfirst into that brainrot and made the content myself lol.

Just really wanna reiterate cos I feel like I might come off a bit aggressive in this, I love you macdens y'all are making super cool content and amazing art and if that's the direction the show ends up going I'll be more than happy! All fandoms have some bad takes goin on, thats half the fun lol.

[dancer-me]

Fic Writer Questions

@hopeintheashes tagged me (that was pleasantly surprising, so YAY) as well as anyone who wants to play (so if you want do - just do it!!!) 1) How many works do you have on AO3?

I have nine!

2) What’s your total AO3 word count?

106,461! I broke 100,000 on AO3 and didn't notice =O

3) How many fandoms have you written for and what are they?

For posted fanfiction, I have written for 5 fandoms at this point. Naruto (this was my early days, around 2007 to 2015, with pretty huge gaps inbetwen), Merlin (oops), High Seas (just the one small fic because Netflix had me angsting hard enough to break my hiatus), and of course 9-1-1 and 9-1-1 Lone Star!

4) What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

1. Express to Nowhere (911 / 911 Lone Star) 2. Giving up Ground (911 / 911 Lone Star) 3. Quarter Life Crisis (911) 4. Pull me Under (911) 5. Coming Soon to a Theatre Near You (911)

5) What’s the fic you’ve written with the angstiest ending?

I hesitate to say this about a WIP but I'm pretty sure it's going to be Giving up Ground when it's done. Not that it's going to have a sad ending, but that it's part of a continuous series and I already have the next part planned out and partially started (titled "Overdrawn" for anyone interested) so it will leave things feeling hopeful but open-ended, which can be construed as angsty. But really, all my other stories, while they have angst for the most part, have happy endings because I'm a sucker for it. Chaotic Energy is slow burning itself to the happiest of endings.

6) What’s the fic you’ve written with the happiest ending?

Hmm... I think it's Coming Soon to a Theatre Near You! This story was just such a fun blast of drama, hijinks, and hilarity, with our two leads getting their love story at the end of it all :) All my completed works have very happy endings, but this one resonates because there really wasn't any angst at all in the whole thing. Just good fun!

7) Do you write crossovers? If so what is the craziest one you’ve written?

The only cross-over I have ever written or been compelled to write in my life has been with 9-1-1 and 9-1-1: Lone Star, and that's my Chaotic Energy series. I don't know if it's "crazy", though it's turning out to be crazy long, since my original plan for it was 5 separate one-shots and Captain, that ship has long since sailed. We're deep at sea now, SOS. I love what it's become, though, and I hope everyone who reads it is enjoying the journey :)

8) Do you write smut? If so what kind?

Weeeeeeeeell. Here's the thing. I wrote m/f smut back in the day, on ff.net and carried my one shots over to AO3 when I made the move. I'm talking way back in the day - those two "E" stories are dated 2015 but I actually originally posted them in 2011 - TEN years ago!! I haven't written smut since (I'm not counting TK and Carlos getting frisky in chapter 2 of Giving up Ground). It's not that I wouldn't, but that I haven't been inspired and with time somehow I have also become ragingly self-conscious over whether I could still do a good job. My smut has always been emotion based though, as I've never been able to truly go PWP. That said, I'm actively open to and considering some m/m smut for my current fandom. Fingers crossed I don't embarrass myself.

9) Do you respond to comments, why or why not?

I do on all my recent work on AO3 (basically my 9-1-1 and lone star fics that I've written since coming out of hiatus).

10) Have you ever received hate on a fic?

Not on any of my AO3 work, though I have received hate on my much older work on ff.net to varying degrees of reasonability. So far the AO3 community has been very kind to me! I’ll get some comments where I think readers had hoped I’d go in a different direction, but nothing has ever been too much.

11) Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not that I know of! Imitation is the greatest form of flattery but also no, stop, don’t do that.

12) Have you ever had a fic translated?

Yes, actually! I wrote my first ever published fic for Naruto called “Stand Alone” back between 2007 and 2011 (took a couple years off in the middle there to, you know, finish high school…) that someone asked me if they could translate into Russian. At the time I thought that was super cool, and it still is, but now I look back at that story and I think oof, now we can cringe at it in multiple languages. (more on that later)

13) Have you ever co-written a fic before?

No, but I’m not opposed to it! I’ve seen some excellent fic partnerships and it’s so great seeing writers leverage the creativity and talents of their friends and peers.

14) What’s your all time favorite ship?

Y’know, before 9-1-1, it was Merlin x Arthur, but Buck x Eddie have 110% of my heart and attention now.

15) What’s a WIP that you want to finish but don’t think you ever will?

On the topic of Merlin… I started writing “The Quest for the Knife” back in 2015 at the peak of my Merlin fixation after painstakingly planning it out. I have pages upon pages of outlines and notes for a 14 chapter adventure… somewhere. I found a piece of it like an archeological dig when I was moving this pandemic season, but the rest seems lost to time. I’m sad because I had gotten so excited about it and loved my first two chapters, but I don’t think I’ll ever finish it. I might take it down so I can stop wallowing in guilt.

16) What are your writing strengths?

I like to think I write good action / adventure scenes and plot lines, because I love painting vivid pictures of what I see playing out in my head whenever I think through my stories. I like to incorporate subtle (and not so subtle) humour as well in my work, which is born from my very active internal narrator voice as I go through my day-to-day and try to find the humour in everything. I also like to make outlines before all my bigger stories too, which ‘usually’ means I avoid cringey plot holes and can make some fun connections.

17) What are your writing weaknesses?

*looks at the camera very seriously* writing convincing smut. Well, that, and the kind of emotional, flirty love and fluff that I love devouring in fics. I don’t think I do nearly as good a job there. Get in a character’s head and angst them up? Sure. Wax poetic in a convincing and not jarring way about how much Character A is in love with Character B without making it seem like it was a bit too much of a leap? Debatable.

Also… I tend to require my readers to suspend a lot of disbelief to enjoy my fics with elements of adventure, because I tend to do exactly 5 minutes of Google research for something before I decide I’ve had enough and go ahead.

18) What are your thoughts on writing dialogue in other languages in a fic?

Here we revisit the cringe of “Stand Alone,” where I tried in the first half (the 2007 portion) to incorporate Japanese since I watched the anime in Japanese and felt this was the best way to try and have the character’s voices come off the page. It… is really just a big ol’ cringe, because I didn’t know the language, and I definitely didn’t use suffixes right at ALL. So… I tend to avoid it personally because I don’t want to cringe at how wrong my use of other languages is.

But if it fits you, your story, fits your character, and you know the language confidently enough to not embarrass yourself? You do you *carefully side steps around discourse and leaves the room*

19) What was the first fandom you wrote for?

Naruto!

20) What’s your favorite fic you’ve written?

I think it has to be “Express to Nowhere” these days. It was wanting to write that fic that pulled me out of hiatus and helped me find joy in writing and sharing my work again, and I have nothing but love for it and how it turned out.

Holy Cow I was warned that this level of introspection was going to take a minute but whew this was a good chunk of time. Fun to do and think about though!

Tagging: @221bsunsettowers, @onelonelytortillachip, @blueeyedbuckley and anyone who sees this and thinks, "hey, I have an answer for these questions." Because I am madly curious and would love to see your take!

[ashtcnirwin]

1, 2 and 17 for the writing asks, if u havent gotten them already <3

ghkjhkjgd all answered but ima c/p the answers🧡

1. What’s a trope you want to explore this year?

okay well see the thing is that there are a number of tropes that i consider to be the “big ones” when it comes to fanfiction (friends to lovers, enemies to lovers, fwb, high school AU, etc.) and there are two really big tropes on that list that i’ve never properly written in any fandom, and those are fake dating & college/uni AU. (i’ve written some shorter works where the characters happened to be in college but their school life played no role whatsoever and was mostly just referenced, so i don’t count those)

i recently (like..a few days ago-recently) started writing my fake dating fic (named tightrope, hence the meme jess kindly put together, if anyone wants to know), which has been in the planning stage since early september actually. it’s famous!ashton, non-famous!luke, and trying to achieve some level of realism for what goes down has been…uhh…difficult, lots of potential plot holes so i’m just hoping i’ve been able to fill them all. suspending disbelief will likely be required for anyone who’s gonna read it tho lmao. anyway, i hope to start posting that sometime before the summer, and as soon as i’ve completed it and have recovered from the writing-related exhaustion i know is gonna hang over me for a few weeks after, i’m gonna start working on a college AU!

college AUs is something that i to a certain degree feel like i’ve outgrown, not because i don’t enjoy reading them, to be clear (because i do! very much so, i love them to bits), but because while i technically am i college, i don’t lead a typical college/uni student lifestyle anymore the way i did in my early 20s. like, travel back five years and you’ll find an anna who has a very different life than the 2022-version. but it’s also something that i’ve been wanting to write for a long time, and i’m very much looking forward to it! the main reason i haven’t tackled the trope yet is honestly that reading up on and understanding foreign education systems is awful lmao. can’t wait to trample amanda’s texts with questions about the US education system

(those will both be of the lengthier variety, 100k+)

as far as tropes go, those are the only two i know for sure that i wanna delve into, i think? gardener!ash doesn’t count as a trope, does it? i’m side eyeing a couple of other ones but nothing’s set in stone there, so

2. Is there a fic you hope to finish this year?

the only two fics i know for sure i’m gonna write this year are tightrope & a college AU, and i’ll be damned if i don’t complete them both before the end of 2022

17. Any AUs you want to try this year?

how many times can i mention the same two fics in the answers to these questions? i’m not gonna ramble on, i’m just gonna say tightrope, which is a fake dating AU, and a yet-to-be-named college AU. i’m sniffing at the possibility of writing an exes to lovers AU (cos i like the idea in theory but i struggle to find executions that i enjoy), an…uhhh let’s say it’d be relatively nsfw but in a mostly comedic way, and (like i mentioned in a previous ask) a part of me also wants to try something supernatural like vampires/werewolves/witches, so…we’ll see!

new year writing asks!🧡

[silverbastardgoldenfool]

ANTI-MOFFAT POST not being mean just discussing some thoughts but if criticisms of Moffat's writing upset you feel free to just move on!!

Bro it's actually kind of sad realising how horrendous of a showrunner (in my opinion!!!) Steven Moffat really is bc like. I remember me and my sister going to see the 50th anniversary special at the cinema and having the best time surrounded by a bunch of whovians in costume and everyone clapping at the end and now rewatching it I'm just like..... I want to like this but it makes not a scrap of sense!! I can suspend my disbelief massively when it comes to Doctor Who. I can forgive plot holes and inconsistencies galore, truly, but w Moffat shit is nonsensical literally from scene to scene. And when I say he's a horrendous showrunner I don't mean he lacks the ability to be a good writer, and in fact with oversight he can be a great writer. But without oversight he gets way too far up his own arse, plants and plants and plants with no payoff, and his real-life misogyny (among other things) bleeds into the very fabric of his characters, INCLUDING the Doctor (and then he had the audacity to have the Twelfth Doctor lecturing the First on sexism..... The lack of self-awareness is astounding).

Like genuinely I'm not a Moffat hater for the sake of it. When I was younger I did enjoy the early Matt Smith seasons and assumed the reason I never really understood or remembered the finales was bc I was too dumb, rather than bc it's just a bunch of loosely related scenes strung together and called an answer. I had issues with a lot of things at the time like Amy's weirdly sexual (yet rooted in childhood???) obsession w the Doctor, the fact we're supposed to believe that the Doctor and River are in love but only get that information in references or more weird hypersexualisation, the way the Doctor became the goddamn centre of the universe instead of just a traveller, humble in the face of the unknown. But I could still get something out of the show. Now, between catching up on S12 and restarting RTD era, I'm reminded of how it feels to really love this show without having to make so many excuses for it. No, it has never been and never will be perfect. A lot of the issues in MoffatWho were crumbs in RTDWho that he simply seized on and magnified. And I know there are ppl who genuinely love his era and you know what, I'm happy for you, cos I wish I did. But that's the thing, being a fan of MoffatWho was always something I was trying at; it was always an effort. Yet even as prepared as I was to give up on Doctor Who altogether by the time S11 came around, loving Chibnall's run is as effortless as it was to love S1 when I was 11. It makes it really hard to go back to something I mostly dislike just bc it's Doctor Who and I don't want to write off Eleven and Twelve.

Anyway I'm sure I will revisit those eps in the future as I'm a completionist; I doubt I'll be able to just skip them on a rewatch, and for all my negativity there IS good stuff in those seasons, whether it's Vincent and the Doctor or Hell Bent (edit: oh nononono I meant Heaven Sent I always get those two mixed up lol, Hell Bent is actually atrocious) or just Twelve being a crotchety janitor. But I'll never be as naive as I was when I first watched it again. I'll never be able to give Moffat credit that all his little "mysteries" are actually going somewhere. And after reading the disgüstingly misogynistic things he's said in real life I will never be able to give him the benefit of the doubt that the misogyny in his writing is just an unfortunate accident.

I really don't like to dump on creators for no reason so this is not about that. It's more just reckoning with the fact that something I was watching in formative years just does not hold up at all and that good memories I have of things like the 50th anniversary are tainted by the knowledge that the 50th anniversary..... Is bad actually. Like actually quite bad. And that just sucks dude!!

[vuelie-frost]

Living in the woods

aka, vuelie-frost verbally babbling why Elsa lives in the forest instead of Arendelle.  This is still a part of the ending that flickers my unease, even this morning after having slept on it. This isn’t a post to convince anyone, but literally just my own thoughts and processing. Hopefully by the end I’ll be more accepting, or even excited about Elsa’s development. I don’t like it, but it doesn’t mean it’s bad or the wrong decision. Separating the part of me that has desires (ie that Elsa would be queen in Arendelle forever and ever) and the part of me that recognizes cinema as a series of complex character arcs (ie what I desire might not actually be best, or in character) is REALLY HARD. But I posit it’s essential to interpreting media in a healthy way.  I 100% trust Jen Lee and Chris Buck, not because I idolize them, but because they so obviously care about these characters and this world. Maybe I’m too starry-eyed, but I don’t get the sense that they did this sequel for the cash cow. Now Disney execs probably pushed them in this direction for that reason (Disney is a corporation at the end of the day,) but Jen has stated that they didn’t want to make a sequel if there wasn’t a story to tell. They still felt parts of the story were left unsaid, and that’s why they pursued this film.  That said, the movie takes on a LOT, and I have a hunch that’s why it feels so fast paced. Not only is it a kids’ movie and therefore has to hold your attention at all times, but it packs in a lot of plot and character development into a short timespan. The sacrifice of a fast pace is the realism of some situations. Is it realistic that Anna would process her grief over Elsa so quickly? In the real world, no. Probably not. Is it realistic Elsa would so easily hand over the throne when it was something she enjoyed and was good at? Probably not. But (and the first movie had some similar issues too,) we have to suspend disbelief a bit. This isn’t exclusive to Frozen; it happens in all movies. You see it in small bits where someone hangs up the phone without saying “bye,” or when people make eye contact and something spoken goes unsaid. That doesn’t really happen in real life. But we turn a blind eye to those details because the larger purpose of the story is more important than those details. And as these details in Frozen are only rushed, not invalid or stupid, we can still accept them.  The idea that Elsa belongs in the forest/among nature is hard for me to accept, but again, that doesn’t mean it’s wrong. It just means my vision for her wasn’t what the writers thought was best. And the writers know her better than I do. They did her such justice in the first film and even in this film (her poor skills at charades? GOD RELATABLE.) I’ve often fantasied, albeit unconsciously, about the Elsa I’d like to see. I realize that in the 6 years since Frozen, I’ve loved the idea of Elsa as a mysterious, snow-bound sorceress type, living a somewhat solitary life. Still as human, flawed, and precious as ever, but becoming “larger than life” figuratively. Someone revered, respected, maybe a little bit feared upon first impression, but ultimately gentle and warmhearted. Loved by all. Feared by her enemies. (In fact, I write an RP character who is partially inspired by Elsa and partially an infusion of my own personality, and to my own surprise, this character is on that exact path. Unconscious channeling much?) Maybe.. that’s exactly what she is now. The fact that I’m uncomfortable with this just development testifies that 1) she feels out of my control, which makes me feel vulnerable, which makes me feel angry and 2) I’ve at least partially idolized her for her job (queen) instead of her as a whole person Note that I’m not using the reasoning of “she belongs with Anna all the time” as a cause for my uneasiness. This is more about Elsa as a standalone character than their relationship. One, I’m not an Elsanna shipper, so the physical dislocation of two siblings doesn’t scream “heartbreaking” to me. It’s incredibly normal to have family you love with your entire heart and not live with them full-time, if at all. Maybe it’s because I’m the oldest sibling and can see this dynamic more clearly. Two, Elsa could not step into her new role if she didn’t have the unbreakable support system that is Anna behind her. If there was ANY doubt of their relationship’s strength, I’m positive Elsa wouldn’t leave her baby sister to rule alone. It’s not that they don’t need each other. On the contrary, and perhaps paradoxically, they need the other so much that the epilogue could not come to fruition if their bond wasn’t ironclad.  I’m still going to miss Elsa as queen. I’m not..... totally unconvinced that she’s not still a “queen,” someone with political leverage in Arendelle, as she’s still its protector and a royal by birthright. It hasn’t been ruled out that they’re co-rulers, just operating in different spheres. I’m waiting for more interviews/podcasts with Jen that I hope will address this detail. If not and Elsa’s technically a princess again, that’s cool too. She’s still part of the royal family and therefore can’t be a commoner or anything. But I wonder why I’m so hooked on her status as a queen, and I realize: it’s just a role. It’s not who she is. I’ve enjoyed it for the inflation of my own ego- seeing someone who’s like me in a position of leadership and reverence is incredibly validating. Watching her walk with beauty and grace as a beloved queen lets me live vicariously. But I have a working hypothesis that escapism in fictional characters is actually our attempt to connect with the real world better. I’ve so badly wanted her to remain queen because it validates ME. It helps ME believe that someone with her set of quirks and nuances can succeed. The issue isn’t with Elsa abdicating the throne- it’s with me assuming that she’s not herself if she’s not in a position of power, and then it throws my own identity into question.  And it admittedly has to do with the ambiguity of being the “fifth spirit.” I was worried Elsa would transform into a spirit being, or ghost, or ethereal creature that was no longer human. That doesn't happen, to as much as I understand the movie (she transforms her dress, steps onto a symbol that unites the four spirits, and then unfreezes after the dam breaks.... but there isn’t some spirit-world complete transformation of her essence.) The part of her that’s magic IS inhuman, which is self-evident (no other human in this universe has magic abilities LOL), but that’s not to say she’s inhuman.  I’ve also mentioned that I interpret this role as descriptive, not prescriptive. She was a gift to Iduna and Agnarr from birth. This is who she was meant to be from day 1- the potential was inside her the whole time, manifesting in the form of ice magic. I theorize she’s awakened into the 5th spirit role, but it was never something where she had to change in order to become it. (Now deeper lore, like how a 5th spirit existed when Agnarr was a kid and what subsequently happened to it, is still a mystery. I’m interpreting it to mean that the 5th spirit is a role of unification, not a spirit in and of itself. And once the forest became trapped, it dissipated by definition. Elsa was born to fulfill that lost role again, OR to be the first physical catalyst to hold it. Not to mention Anna is imperative here as well- they’re both the bridge.) Someone else mentioned that since their mother was Northuldra, Elsa’s actually among her own people. This is important too, I think. Imagine if Elsa went back to the castle canonically after all that happens. They’d be leaving a huge part of their family history out there, not to mention Ahtohallan which Elsa obviously has a mysterious connection with. I think if Elsa did go back to Arendelle permanently, we’d be having similar conversations in reverse by claiming that she really does belong near Ahtohallan and in nature with the spirits. We can’t win. She belongs in both places- among her family & among her predestined purpose. And she’s able to come and go among them both whenever she’d like. That’s her true independence. She’s FREE, wholehearted and integrated. I also mentioned in a previous post my penchant for a savior complex, probably stemming from my own issues with codependence and infatuation. I won’t get too far into those here again except to say: I liked “needy” Elsa because I wanted to envision myself as the one saving her. That’s my own thorn. It originates from a total infatuation with her that I’m still working on letting go (ha.) But I’m sure I’m not the only one who experiences this. It’s because she’s a character so meaningful to me that I care so much about her, even to an unhealthy degree. I know she’s not real. I know the fantasy of knowing her and “fixing” her is irrational, weird, unfounded, and impossible. But that’s ME, not her. Show Yourself, which is beautiful and emotional, unexpectedly made me feel a little sad to know she’s no longer aching to find herself. Maybe I want that kind of certainty for myself, especially as I’m on the cusp of finding a new job & moving. Maybe it’s my unhealthy fixation on her that wants her to remain insecure so that I can feel validated as her “protector” (again, weird and irrational. I can’t explain my brain’s projections.) Maybe it’s not as clear cut as I want it to be, and I just need to- brace yourselves- let it go. ; ) Granted I still have reservations about her new role, like how someone who was pampered all her life & is known for her pose & grace will adjust to essentially camping 24/7, but those are details and inherently flexible. You can’t say she doesn’t belong in the forest just because she’s not acclimated yet.  Now what I feel a lot of people feel unease over is the loss of the first movie’s ending. And by that I mean, we have to disregard our previous headcanon that Elsa remained queen for her lifetime. I mean, we assumed that for 6 whole years and had all that time to flourish in our creative exploits built on that premise. So it undoubtedly feels a little dissonant to have a sequel that goes “nope, not true.” I think that’s normal, and it’s the kind of thing that becomes accepted with time. Shifting our mental framework of Elsa & Anna’s respective futures will take some getting used to. Again, it doesn’t make it a bad ending (you’re free to think that, of course! But something unexpected =/= something bad.) tl;dr vuelie-frost has a lot of feelings and concerns that are pretty indicative of her own issues, not the movie’s. Frozen 2 isn’t perfect but a lot of my grief could be alleviated by focusing on my own projections and expectations, and shifting my perspective to be more open and accepting. You know how people say attitude is everything? It’s annoying but it’s true. And I mean, I still love this movie and want to buy all the merch and draw Elsa endlessly, so my love for the franchise is obviously still THRIVING

[dangerscully]

Some messy thoughts on Rm9sbG93ZXJz

I assume this one will be an unpopular opinion, but I really hated a lot of the opening scene. The lack of dialogue felt forced in that scene, whereas I loved it later on when it felt more organic (feels good). Mulder and Scully don’t shut up. They talk. A lot. It felt off-balanced to me. Had a reason been given for the lack of dialogue, I’d have enjoyed it a lot more.

Similarly, I really struggled to suspend my disbelief for the setting. Somehow, the hundreds of robots later attacking them felt more believable than a totally robot-run restaurant - in 2018 - where they were the only two people. I guess the latter felt like more of an X-File, whereas the original sushi restaurant was just... odd.

(Opening scene disclaimer: it still made me grin. I just wasn’t submerged into their world because it didn’t feel real).

It’s been said a million times, I’m sure, but Fox “Paranoid” Mulder would not have a hundred different synced apps. What happened to Trust No One? 

I’m waiting on fic writers to fix the fact that Scully has such a ridiculous house. I love that she’s in a house and not just an apartment tbh, but that one? 

I’m glad Scully’s haircut wasn’t given a Reason. Woman Gets New Haircut doesn’t have to be a big deal or a plot point. 

Other parts I loved. I loved their ease of being around each other once again. I loved that Scully laughed (that probably makes it what, 5 times total in 25 years that she’s been allowed to?). I loved Mulder’s frustration with being on hold. 

It had the potential to be a great 2018-version of some of the early tech-horror episodes. I just think it needed to be more in-character at its core.

The one part where I laughed at the episode rather than with it, was the sudden escalation from the robots. We go from them ~following~ Mulder and Scully menacingly and not really doing anything (ice cube-catapulting aside...), to suddenly shooting 3D-printed bullets at them. For the sake of $5.50.

Nit-picking now (cos it’s what I do best), and I’ve said it before about this season, but WHERE ARE THE X-FILES? There have been 3 episodes that have had even hints of an actual case (Plus One, Kitten, and Ghouli). I’m kinda sad that these MOTWs aren’t giving us killer cases that are literal X-Files rather than just “weird things happening in Mulder and Scully’s lives.

And yes, Scully having her own sexuality that wasn’t just to please a man, or to cause her trauma? here4that.

I enjoyed it overall. Bits were a mess, bits were great.

^ And that statement, really, is The X-Files in a nutshell.

[ashtcnirwin]

1, 3, 6, 11, & 16 for the beginning of the year writer's ask! -megs 💙

helloooo miss megs (that has a really nice ring to it?? hope you don't mind me calling you that)🧡

1. What’s a trope you want to explore this year?

already answered, c/p

okay well see the thing is that there are a number of tropes that i consider to be the "big ones" when it comes to fanfiction (friends to lovers, enemies to lovers, fwb, high school AU, etc.) and there are two really big tropes on that list that i've never properly written in any fandom, and those are fake dating & college/uni AU. (i’ve written some shorter works where the characters happened to be in college but their school life played no role whatsoever and was mostly just referenced, so i don’t count those)

i recently (like..a few days ago-recently) started writing my fake dating fic (named tightrope, hence the meme jess kindly put together, if anyone wants to know), which has been in the planning stage since early september actually. it’s famous!ashton, non-famous!luke, and trying to achieve some level of realism for what goes down has been...uhh...difficult, lots of potential plot holes so i’m just hoping i’ve been able to fill them all. suspending disbelief will likely be required for anyone who’s gonna read it tho lmao. anyway, i hope to start posting that sometime before the summer, and as soon as i've completed it and have recovered from the writing-related exhaustion i know is gonna hang over me for a few weeks after, i'm gonna start working on a college AU!

college AUs is something that i to a certain degree feel like i’ve outgrown, not because i don’t enjoy reading them, to be clear (because i do! very much so, i love them to bits), but because while i technically am i college, i don’t lead a typical college/uni student lifestyle anymore the way i did in my early 20s. like, travel back five years and you’ll find an anna who has a very different life than the 2022-version. but it’s also something that i’ve been wanting to write for a long time, and i’m very much looking forward to it! the main reason i haven’t tackled the trope yet is honestly that reading up on and understanding foreign education systems is awful lmao. can’t wait to trample amanda’s texts with questions about the US education system

(those will both be of the lengthier variety, 100k+)

as far as tropes go, those are the only two i know for sure that i wanna delve into, i think? gardener!ash doesn't count as a trope, does it? i’m side eyeing a couple of other ones but nothing’s set in stone there, so

3. Is there anything new you want to try with your writing? A new genre? Style of writing?

does supernatural count as a genre? the concept, i mean, not the series jfjsghj. it’s not something i gravitate towards in fics, neither for writing nor reading, but i certainly don’t mind it either, and i’d like to give it a whirl at some point just to have tried! it would be something very standard tho, like vampires or werewolves, or maybe witches? idk, it’s something i’d like to try, maybe for halloween!

6. Is there a trope you’re going to leave behind?

i’m not gonna say it 100% certain of course cos you never know but i’m pretty sure i won’t write anymore lengthy canon verse fics, neither this year nor...ever. i’ve written two now, they’re both lashton, and as much as i enjoy all the ships, i don’t see myself ever writing anything lengthy for any other ship than lashton, and....well, i don’t think i have another decent 100k+ non-AU lashton fic in me, yk? but never say never ig, if a solid idea randomly drops into my head, i’m not gonna push it away!

11. What story you think will become your most popular this year?

uhhh...well, kinda hard to say considering i only know of two fics that i’ll 100% definitely write, but i know fake dating is a popular trope, and according to my stats, people seem to enjoy slow burns, so...i guess it could be tightrope? but i mean it depends on what variables you use to define “popular” too, like...are we talking views or kudos (or views to kudos ratio, that’s an interesting topic) or comments or general interaction? very hard question to answer jhskjdfh

16. What’s a trope you know you’re not going to write for this year?

like, ones i know i’m not gonna write this year specifically rather than tropes i know i’m never gonna write alltogether? uhhh...not to repeat my answer to 6 but (lengthy) non-AU lashton is almost definitely not gonna make an appearance this year. i also don’t think i’m gonna write any mcd, and as of right now, i don’t think there will be any friends to lovers either. idk, i don’t have a whole lot of clear fic-plans this year and i change my mind very quickly about what i wanna write and what i don’t wanna write, so🤷‍♀️

new year writing asks!🧡