#also yes loveless was a huge influence on this story

[inerciasss]

Wanted to take a moment to properly introduce my oc's and story!!! I've been slowly posting them on here so I thought an introduction would be nice :D

(these are their art fight references btw!! Did them in a meet the artist vibe cause they're both art students <#)

So!! The story is called Never Bloomer and it's a silly slice of life following Archer (they/them), a teen in their last year of high school. In their world, soulmates are the norm. When you hit puberty, a soulmate mark appears somewhere in your body: a closed flower bud, same kinda flower and color as your soulmate. When you meet your soulmate, the flower blooms the closer you get (emotionally). But my baby Archer never got a soulmate, and nobody knows why, cause doctors didn't find anything wrong with their body. So eventually they accepted they are just that way for some reason, and the only people that know about it are their parents and younger sibling (fun fact!! Their dad is a biology teacher that was absolutely flabbergasted after discovering having no soulmate is an option. Now he tells his students about it even if it gets parents angry <#)

Right now, Archer is just trying to survive high school. Cecil and them are on different classes, but go together to theatre/drama class. And during an exercise on Valentine's Day, Cecil is pretty open about not giving a fuck about romance or soulmates, and after class he asks Archer if they're okey cause they looked very unconfortable during said exercise. That's the first time they talk, and Archer ends up thinking Cecil is SO cool that they get a huge squish on him.

Problem: Archer is autistic and extremely introverted and shy. They have no idea how to make friends. They only have their childhood best friend they've known since they were six, and the popular kid in class that befriended them because they take the same bus to school every day. So Archer ends up just asking said popular kid for help, and he and his friend group play matchmaker to get Archer and Cecil to become friends <#

That's the plot, but if you asked me, this story is about friendship, family, amatonormativity and aromanticism. Those are the main themes, but I also wanted to create a story me and my friends could feel represented with. So being from South Madrid and being art students are also HUGE parts of the story. Every single character is inspired by my experiences and my friends, and all of them are people that couldve easily been my classmates when I was in high school. It's my passion project and i'm so so happy to share it with y'all <# will probably be updating this post when i have more character references!! I have 2/4 from the popular kids drawn, and then I want to make reference for Archer's bestie, Fabiola (she's a secondary character but has a huge impact on the story), and Cecil's bestie, Marta, one of my absolutely favourite characters!! And at some point I want to design everyone's families too :D

[o-wild-west-wind]

So I’m still breaking down my thoughts, and something I keep returning to re: the politics of the Gliyeraba Thropple™ is the multifaceted question of class and power.

While Glinda is the epitome of privilege and the “rich girl” archetype, Fiyero AND Elphaba arguably start the show with more power and influence than Glinda does. Fiyero, of course, is the prince of the Vinkus—but Elphaba is notably the daughter of the governor of Munchkinland, which puts them nearer in terms of political/royal/class standing (and yes…the arranged marriage AUs DO go hard).

Now, the reason this is all so interesting is because it situates Glinda as someone with a huge outset motivation to social climb. Because while Elphaba clearly doesn’t have actual power, she and Fiyero share one thing that Glinda doesn’t have—a position that has them primed for disillusionment. Although Elphaba clearly still believes that it gets better at the top (a.k.a. the Wizard), she already has a lifetime of experiencing how hypocritical and loveless life in the "aristocracy" can be. Meanwhile, Fiyero’s very introduction is one of a depressed nihilist (all wrapped up in a flashy dance number); he’s transgressive from the start, which is perhaps the privilege one has when you’re already born at the top of the food chain—all the while also indicative of a genuine dislike of the system he’s in (and this is where I have MORE thoughts on gender and queerness, but I think that’ll deserve its own post). So although their actions are unequivocally brave, there's a lot less disillusionment E&F need to unpack before they break out—and, one could argue, an inherent privilege in their already being closer to the "truth."

Where I’m going with this is that I think Glinda represents something fascinating about the psyche of the bourgeoisie/upper-middle class—something that has real-world implications today. Because there’s something about her specific rung of power—the one that is just powerful enough to remain perpetually aspirational, like the peak of a bell-curve of ignorance—that taps into an important facet of “how wickedness happens.” It’s the story of the people who vote against their own interests because they think of themselves as "future billionaires;" the people who arguably lack the privilege of knowing that their race to the top is meaningless. It's the mindset that leaves you abandoning your morals and deepest loves for a system that forever dupes you into thinking your heart's desire is still just behind the curtain.

It’s all another part of why Glinda’s character is so lushly complex. She's complicit, but it stems from a genuine ignorance and vulnerability—and we get to watch her rise and fall so we don't fall victim to the same falsehoods. And I think it's also part of why our tellings and re-tellings of The Wizard of Oz, the true "American fairytale," still continue to resonate with us over a century later.

[crowleyholmes]

Can you tell me about your Sherlock Holmes interest? You blogging about it has intrigued me!! Do you have a favourite adaptation you'd recommend? What do you love about the dynamic? I'm very interested to hear your thoughts!

(totally all good if you don't feel like answering, no stress 🩵 your posts just made me super interested but I wouldn't know where to start with engaging in such a huge volume of media)

Ohhhhhh what an ask to wake up to. I hope you know what you've done. You've just given me permission to unleash my full insanity on you. (I love you I love you I love you I lo- bless you)

I'm gonna be so honest I didn't even know where to start until I decided to just tackle your questions one by one so HERE I GO

(Under the cut so everybody who doesn't care can just scroll right by <3)

“Tell me about your SH interest”

Alright, I'll just out and admit it, it all started with BBC Sherlock – I'm sure I'm not alone with this. I absolutely fell in love with this show, then got so thoroughly disappointed by the last season I thought okay, this can't be right. I refuse. So started to read the original ACD Holmes stories and feLL EVEN MORE IN LOVE. The next christmas my brother (bless him) got me this absolutely Stunning collection of (almost) all the Holmes stories:

And I dove headfirst into them. Couldn't get my nose out of them. Started teaching myself to play the violin because Holmes plays it and I loved him so much, that's how obsessed I was.

For a while my irl best friend and I read the stories together, 1 or 2 per day, and we'd send each other voice messages discussing what happened and what we THOUGHT the solution was and then we'd read on to the end and discuss again and it was soooo fun. We stopped eventually and I read the rest by myself but those evenings are such fond memories for me I just had to include them here too <3

Okay but before this gets too personal, let's move on to the actual questions you asked!

“Do you have a favorite adaptation?”

DO I EVER.

OHHHHH DO I.

YES I DO.

I'm sure every adaptation out there is brilliant in one way or another but, for me, THE Sherlock Holmes will forever be Jeremy Brett in the 1984 Granada TV series. Unfortunately they had to recast his Watson, but fortunately both Watsons are WONDERFUL and no matter how many times I rewatch I can never decide who I love more. Both David Burke and Edward Harwicke are absolutely brilliant.

There are. Several things that set Granada Holmes apart from other adaptations, to me. Let me attempt to list a few of them without getting too carried away.

I have to start with Jeremy Brett because he's just so wonderful. Also, when I read the Holmes stories, the character my brain conjured looked almost exactly like Brett, even before I'd ever seen him. Perfect casting. I mean just look at this legend.

Also, the way he cared about this character – he came up with an entire backstory for Holmes, and it influenced his acting choices and there are some moment where it clearly shines through and it's so heartbreaking. There is a moment in one episode where Watson is talking about another character who was very lonely growing up (while giving Holmes a meaningful look), and Holmes doesn't get any direct verbal response to it but you can see on Jeremy's face that Holmes relates and it still hurts to think about, and YEAH IT HURTS ME TOO.

In the books, Holmes often goes days without eating when he's on a case, because food is a distraction to him – Well, during filming, when everbody else would go have lunch, Jeremy would often stay on set and study the scripts to perfect and refine every nuance of the way he played it. Once again, perfect Holmes.

Also, in Granada Holmes, Holmes is allowed to be silly. So often, Holmes is portrayed as this cold, loveless logic-machine, but that is not who he is!! In Granada, he gets to laugh and have fun and hum and twirl and jump over furniture and just. Be human. Watson brings out that side of him, and Brett portrays that so beautifully.

It was also extremely important to Brett that the TV show remain as faithful as possible to the books - and I've heard that, more than once, he made the writers change the script because he didn't agree with their take on Holmes. (And judging from the way he plays him: he was most likely correct.)

But you know what they changed? The ONE thing that's in the book that they very intentionally changed, that they very VERY purposefully left out? Watson's marriage.

In Granada Holmes, Watson never marries. He's always with Holmes.

Now, you could argue that they simply didn't want to bother with casting a Mary who would never show up anyway, or write it in there just to have it in there when they could be focussing on the fun cases instead. But. And this may be conjecture on my part, but nevertheless. Jeremy Brett was openly bisexual, so I don't think it's absurd to assume that when he read the books, he saw the same thing so many of us see. Which is that these two characters are in love. They weren't allowed to be, by the times they lived in, or even by their author (though there are theories around that which I will not get into now), but nevertheless, the love is very much there.

Another thing this adaptation does in regard to Watson (which I feel many others fail to do) is that it lets Watson be both Holmes' best friend and ALSO his equal. Of course, most of the time Holmes is doing the deducing and Watson is doing the watching and adoring and cheering on, but sometimes, every now and then, Watson gets to do some clever deducing and Holmes watches him and whenever that happens Brett's Holmes gets such heart-eyes it's unbearable to watch. (allow me to link to just this one example) So often in Holmes adaptations Watson gets belittled and made fun of and is under-appreciated, but in Granada, the opposite is true. Holmes states himself, more than once, that he needs Watson, that he would be lost without him, and Brett himself has emphasized this in interviews as well, said that Holmes would likely have died of an overdose years ago if he didn't have his Watson. Watson loves and adores Holmes, but the same is true the other way around. And it comes through So Beautifully in this show.

Have this gif, just because I like it:

.... I have not managed to keep this short, have I. Sorry.

Shall we move on?

“What do you love about the dynamic?”

I think I already party answered this in the last paragraph about why I love Granada Holmes so much, but. Let me elaborate again. Why shouldn't I? You asked, and you shall receive answers, and I could talk about this all day anyway.

I love that Holmes is very clearly and loudly Different, and not always in an easily-digestible way, but Watson doesn't mind. Not one bit. In fact, he loves him for it.

Holmes can be rude at times, because he forgets about societal conventions – Watson reminds him to be polite, but always with gentleness and kindness and amusement even.

Holmes can be an obnoxious show-off. He loves to talk about how he collected his Clues and got to his Conclusion, he loves to be clever and to be the most intelligent person in the room, he loves to be admired and praised. And Watson loves to listen to him, and loves to praise him. I kid you not, there is a passage where Watson praises Holmes for his cleverness and Watson says. Actually, let me find the passage for you, I need you to see this.

“My companion flushed up with pleasure at my words, and the earnest way in which I uttered them. I had already observed that he was as sensitive to flattery on the score of his art as any girl could be of her beauty.”

Watson knows how much it means to Holmes to be appreciated, verbally, out loud. And he does it, again and again, because it makes them both so happy.

I love how good they are for each other. Holmes provides the adventure, the excitement of the cases, and Watson is his constant, he provides the stability, the calm, routine, he's the home Holmes can come back to after his wild escapades (on the rare occasion that he does go off alone).

I love how protective they are of each other. Most often we see Watson's side of this, there are so many instances where Holmes is threatened by another character, most often a suspect in a case, and the MOMENT they even LOOK at Holmes wrong, Watson will stand up and hover protectively, glare at them, step between them, put his hand on his revolver, or actively throw hands. In most instances, Holmes doesn't need his protection. He's perfectly capable of protecting himself. Still, even knowing that, Watson is more than willing to step between Holmes and whatever perceived danger presents itself, take the punch for him, and make the other party pay.

HOWEVER. There are a few moments, here and there throughout the books, where we see Holmes' side of this. Moments where he knows an investigation will be dangerous, and he apologizes to Watson for involving him in this. (Watson never minds at all). Sometimes he tells him that he understands if Watson would rather not stick around for (insert xyz dangerous thing). (Watson always stays). One time he actively argues with Watson that he has to leave because it is too dangerous and he can't have it on his conscience if something happens to Watson. (Watson does not leave).

In one case, he lets a murderer go free because the crime was done in revenge for a murdered loved one, and Holmes muses that he likely would have done the same, if someone he loved was killed. A few cases later Holmes tells someone that “if [they] had killed Watson, [they] would not have got out of this room alive.”

I love the TRUST between them. So often, Holmes jumps into actions that seem so insane and dangerous, and all Watson can do is follow him and trust that Holmes has a plan. And sometimes (I'm thinking of a specific case here that tore my heart out) Holmes' entire plan hinges on Watson's actions, and specifically Watson's love for him, but Holmes can't TELL him because Watson is a lousy actor, so Holmes just has to trust that Watson will do exactly what needs to be done. “Don't forget, Watson. You won't fail me. You never did fail me.”

And, finally, not really a question but “I wouldn't know where to start.”

I think, personally, I would recommend starting with the first collection of short stories, which is “The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes”.

I found the novels a bit harder to get through because of the way they're structured, but that's down to personal preference I'm sure.

If you want to get a feel for the characters before you dive into the books, I can absolutely recommend simply watching the first few episodes of the Granada series. I believe they're all online? Yeah, I found them [here]!

Scandan in Bohemia was never my favorite case (for many reasons, most of which being the way every adaption seems to love to force a love story between Holmes and Irene Adler – thankfully Granada doesn't do this, but it's still simply not my favorite case), but episode 2 and 3, The Dancing Men and The Naval Treaty are two of my ABSOLUTE favorites in the whole series.

So go ahead and treat yourself!!

And if you decide to read the short stories, don't forget that most collections do not include “The Casebook of Sherlock Holmes” - but that one contains one of the most infamous moments in the entire series which fans just go absolutely insane over, so make sure to read that too.

And now I've accidentally written 3 A4 pages.

Whoops. I'm sorry. I hope this is what you wanted.

[halliescomut]

Look I understand why you thought what Alice said in what seems to be a very old screenshot is problematic and I feel like I'm not gonna change your mind anyway but here's to trying.

Alice is aroace. They also never expected to influence people as much as they do now, they were just creating things they can relate to and ended up gaining a lot of following and success naturally, so they just weren't careful with what they used to say and weren't expecting people to screenshot old stuff and spread them around and believe they were twisting their mustache back then planning on world domination and on making everyone sexless lmao. They were literally just some guy on good old Tumblr doing things and saying stuff lol just like you.

People are allowed to not be interested in sex just like people are allowed to be interested in sex, and what they said is not completely untrue. Yes there is bl that isn't fetishizing and eroticizing and yes it's getting better, but they didn't say all of them are, they said they tend to be. And it was true. Doesn't mean they think they're better for doing something that pleased them more than erotic bl, it doesn't mean they don't want erotic things to exist, it doesn't even mean they don't enjoy stuff that has sex in it (they have recommended plenty of content that is very sexual in the past), just that they weren't interested in it and didn't want to create stuff like that, that's all.

And even then, Nick and Charlie do have sex. This was in her novels and it'll be in Heartstopper, it's just not explicit, because that's not the point of the story. It's not a story to make people horny, it's a story about learning and growing up and being yourself. It's really nothing to do with purity. It just resonates with people who aren't overly sexual because we just barely have queer stories that aren't overly sexual.

Saying they're racist is also a really huge stretch given they're obviously giving space for black and asian characters in their story. It's not gonna be as well done as if it was created by an asian or black person but they're clearly not racist.

Again, I do under where you're coming from, if they DID think they were better and wanted all shows to be sexless I would even agree with you, it's just not what they meant at all.

I'm answering this because I appreciate you being open-minded towards me as well. The screenshot is from around 2017, which while that is quite a while ago, they were still around 22 at the time, which I think does show that they deserve some grace in having the opinion they did/possibly still do. It's not necessarily my issue that they felt this way at that time, my concern comes from them not really addressing the statement in any way since then. Now, at 28 years old, if they felt differently, why not clarify? Especially considering that this is a topic that gets brought up regularly. Whether she chooses to double down on this opinion or express how her thoughts have changed in the last six years, I do feel that they are certainly aware that this is a concern people have.

I am also Ace, for clarity. I understand that having pieces of media based around romantic relationships SO heavily focus on the physical/sexual aspect is not something people want all the time. I'm not arguing that it's a necessary thing in all media, just that it shouldn't be demeaned, as it is a part of romantic relationships for a lot of people. I'm incredibly happy to see representation that I relate to in Loveless, it's a beautiful story and I think Alice is a really good author. I also believe that it's incredibly important to have queer media that can be rated PG or PG-13 available so that kids have an opportunity to see queer stories. Having that type of media exist means that any kid can enjoy these stories and develop empathy for queer people, as well as potentially explore their own queerness at an age appropriate level.

I 100% agree that HS doesn't need explicit sex, I state that in my original post. It would be out of place for multiple reasons in the universe that Alice created. I would like to say though, that explicit scenes in media of any type are not always included with the purpose of making someone horny. Can they be? Sure. But they can also be included as a way of further exploring the personal connection between characters, to add detail to the growth of their relationship, depth to their characters. In visual media specifically, it's important to SHOW growth as opposed to just saying it's happening. Written work gives us a lot more insight into characters thoughts and feelings, but that's limited in visual media, and seeing how characters interact in intimate scenes is a way to show internal feelings.

As for the last point about racism, I do not think Alice is overtly racist. I appreciate the diversity of her characters, but the inclusion of diverse characters doesn't automatically indicate a lack of racist ideology. JKR is a prime example. Do I think they were being intentionally racist? No. But subconscious racism and biases will ALWAYS be present in white people. It's literally something you have to actively work against. And while they may not have seen their comments then as being potentially harmful or racist, that doesn't mean they are not. Your intentions do not dictate how your words are received or the level of harm they can have. Making blanket statements as a white person about an entire genre that is created and developed by non-white people stereotypes that media and is racist. While Alice at that time may never have imagined the reach her words would have, they still said them, and they have the ability now, with an even greater scope of influence, to express any potential changes in their thoughts regarding things like BL.

[themoonlily]

Hi! I found your stories on a ficrec list for Eomer/Lothiriel and WOW!!! MUCH LOVE!!!!! I can't wait to read more wonderful stories from you! Can I ask what got you into this pairing, and what draws you to them? Also: any headcannons about them? (Physical/personality/hobbies/etc.)

Hi there! I am so glad to hear you like my stories. :)

I would say that I got to Éothiriel thanks to Éomer. I can't say I fell in love with him straightaway - I was your typical Aragorn fangirl back in the day (mind you, he’s still one of my favourite characters in the legendarium). I had always enjoyed the bits with Rohan in particular, and the more I watched the films, the more I liked Éomer, and once I had read the books a couple of times, I realised there was so much more to this guy. I loved his integrity, his unashamed passion, his loyalty and devotion to his family and friends, and how he strives to do better and learn. 

His arc in the books is such a fascinating one. He starts out as a scion of one of the leading families of Rohan (and is a son of a princess, no less), but is orphaned along with his sister at an early age, and then raised by the King himself. What kind of a trauma did that loss leave him with, and how did it affect his relationship with his sister? Were his teenage years very difficult thanks to this? At the time of the events of LOTR, he’s a fairly young man - among the youngest of the entire cast - and yet he has this hugely important duty as the Third Marshal of the Mark. He’s passionate but also ready to put himself and his own needs aside in order to do what’s right. The whole House of Eorl dynamics are just so fascinating, even though a lot of it happens outside the actual narrative of LOTR. What are his relationships with his uncle, his cousin, and his sister? How does this partnership with Théodred grow (to the point of Saruman seeing these two as the chief obstacle of the easy conquest of Rohan)? What does it feel like to watch his beloved uncle fall under the influence of ill-intended counsels (not to mention the threat of Wormtongue against Éowyn)? Éomer is portrayed as a fairly temperamental guy, so I can only imagine the fury he must feel at the situation. 

But then Théodred dies, the noose tightens around everybody’s throats, and one may just imagine the desperation and dread he must feel at this point. He’s still figthing and trying to do the right thing, even if that may now mean treason. But he’s still friendly to Aragorn and co. when they meet, recognising them as an opportunity to help Rohan almost immediately. 

He’s so loyal to his family that even after he’s been disgraced and humiliated by Wormtongue by the proxy of Théoden, he still knows where the true malice is coming from, and is ready to fight again for his uncle the moment he’s released. And he slips straight back to being the King’s lieutenant without even blinking his eyes. 

There’s also how Éomer becomes king. I’m fascinated with what it would feel like to him. I mean, he’s been second in line to the throne his whole life, so he probably always realised there’s a chance he’ll be king one day. But the circumstances he comes to the throne - the near ruin of his country, the tragic and violent death of his cousin he might have been able to prevent if not for Wormtongue, the brief time he has with his restored uncle, and then the whole mess of the War of the Ring... all that must feel pretty surreal for him. And, of course, the Battle of Pelennor’s fields, and his scenes in it... wow. Him nearly losing his mind over thinking his sister (and whole family) is dead, charging like a madman over the field, composing some pretty amazing poetry in the spur of the moment, and then just laughing in sheer defiance against what seems like imminent death. What a dude. 

And then there are so many other interesting aspects: how he must have felt over those long years (was he unhappy? was he lonely?), what he expected his life to be versus what it turned out to be, and what it did to him to watch his family leave one by one. I could go on, but then we would be here whole day. 

So, enter Lothíriel. Of course I was eager to know what happens to Éomer after the war is over, and fortunately, Tolkien had an answer ready - although he could really have told us more about them! Not that in canon there is anything to imply it was a love marriage, but personally, I don’t think that a man with a disposition like Éomer would submit to a loveless or faithless marriage (or that he’d risk his relationship with Imrahil by being faithless). I just can’t see it happening. Also I just want him to be happy, and find someone who brightens up his days, someone who won’t leave him. It’s nice to imagine him having a new start with her.  

Sadly, of her personality I can’t say anything that would be indicated by canon, but if we imagine her being anything like her father, then she might be a proud, strong and brave woman. Well, she would probably have to be courageous to leave her homeland for marriage (another reason I think it was a love union, because I want her to be happy, too)! I like to imagine her finding some unexpected, unimagined freedom in Rohan, perhaps even fulfilment of ambition in her role as a queen. Also, maybe with her background and if she had access to some kind of education, she’d be uniquely qualified to helping Éomer to rule and counseling him. Perhaps she even feels some personal pride over the fact that together, they are starting a new dynasty (or a new line) to rule in Rohan. Also, having a fairly big family, I think she would be well equipped to show him the love he has missed most of his life.  

I recall at some point reading the appendix about the House of Eorl, and that Éomer married Imrahil’s daughter, Lothíriel, and thinking yes, this makes sense. It’s just the sense I gleaned from the interactions and circumstances of the story. Of course Éomer would have strong feelings for Imrahil, since he was the one who saw that Éowyn was still alive and hastened her delivery to safety. Being a man of strong emotions, I think Éomer would hold Imrahil and his entire family in high regard thanks to this. Maybe it’s even a ground from which some attachment did grow between him and Lothíriel. Also, Rohirrim are a culture based on horses, and apparently the Princes of Dol Amroth also maintain a cavalry (the Swan Knights who, with Imrahil, took part in the Battle of Pelennor fields). So I see there definitely being a lot of points of connection! 

Of course, it also fits the socio-political frame we are left with at the end of the story: the new unity among the Free Peoples, the task of rebuilding after the war, and this new blooming of the friendship between Rohan and Gondor. On a purely logical level, it is reasonable that he’d marry the daughter of a powerful house like Imrahil’s. But for my purely headcanonish “aesthetic” (if that’s even the right word) reasons I do like the contrast these two make: their different cultures (and all that they entail from songs and poetry to foods and habits), their union as the union of earth and sea, his gold to her silver, the warrior and the lady... also this is purely headcanon/tropes but I definitely think of them as tol/smol and embodying the pair where A is the reason B began to smile again. (Tol/smol is at least half canon because Éomer is apparently as tall as Aragorn, like 6 feet 6 if I recall right. Since he’s also a professional warrior, he’s probably built like it too.)

So, yeah - I guess that’s already a lot of reasons for why I love this pair! There’s just so much potential there, so many avenues to pursue, and so much food for imagination. If you’re interested in more of my headcanons, you could try searching the tag “Éothiriel” in my blog - I’ve got plenty of posts about them! 

Thanks for the ask, and sorry for this answer being so long! I rather got carried away and Éomer deserves every bit of the love he gets, and so does Lothíriel. 

[raavenb2619]

I have been reading about loveless aros and also read the KA Cook essay you have linked in a couple of your asks, and it increasingly feels really good to identify as loveless.

But I still really like the idea of a QPR?

Is it possible to want both? It feels hypocritical, but I am quite new to the aro community so I'm not sure how people think if it.

Thank you for your time and I hope you have a good day :)

I’ve been thinking about this a lot, and I don’t have an answer, for a few reasons. 

First, I wouldn’t really say that there’s been much discussion on loveless aromanticism at all, let alone how it relates to QPRs. “Loveless aro” as a phrase is starting to pop up more, and there are definitely anons that have told me they’ve found the concept helpful, but I wouldn’t say there’s a loveless aro community, or even a proto-community right now. (At least, none that I know of.) That means that getting a balanced, nuanced opinion on a particular topic is hard, because it ends up being just a few voices. 

It’s also complicated because the way we think and talk about QRPs are complicated. QPRs are vague and nebulous and diverse and can be (or is it must be?) distinct from both friendship and romance, and yet we often talk about them as being a blend to the two, somewhere in between friendship and romance. I’ve tried describing and explaining QPRs on this blog many times, and I feel that despite my efforts, it boils down to “QPRs are like romantic relationships without the romance”. Does the concept simplify down to “basically romance” because that’s easy to explain, because that’s what’s commonly explained, or because that’s true? When do the former questions start to influence the latter? I feel like you’re probably asking this in part because of that simplification; if the question was “can I be loveless and still have friends?” or “can I be loveless and also be affectionate with my friends?”, maybe you would have assumed the answer was yes. What does that say about the community (assuming I’m not massively projecting my own thought process on QPRs onto the entire community)? 

Part of why it feels hypocritical to you, I think, is wrapped up in the question of closeness and partnership. The aro community feels better about this now, I feel, but there used to be a very intense focus on QPRs (likely from shifting the amatonormative “everyone needs romance” to “everyone needs a QPR”). That definitely alienated some aros, some of whom found words “nonpartnering” or “nonamorous”, some of whom never really found a way of expressing themselves. So on one hand, to take a word that’s in many ways a rejection of conventional expectations about interpersonal behavior and dictate that it’s compatible with partnering, it might take away some of its power. But at the same time, closeness and partnership needn’t be the same as love, so opening it up and saying that it’s compatible with partnering strengthens that valuable distinction. 

It’s clear that there’s huge potential for discussions about love and aromanticism, acknowledging the wide variety of relationships we can have with love, from simple to complex, to very connected to incredibly disconnected. But whether you can be loveless and still be in or want a QPR isn’t something I think I can answer. I leave you with the following quotation from the essay you mentioned by K. A. Cook:

I don’t know if I will ever wish “love” applied to me. I write about it, yes! Most of my stories are about connection and affection, and many of those stories name this, purposefully and specifically, as love. I think it’s part of my healing to depict relationships where love supports and natures. Maybe, if I write enough, I’ll come to trust love, to feel some connection to it that doesn’t remind me of all the ways it has scarred me.

Or maybe I won’t! It’s safe to express and explore love in a story where those characters aren’t me. The affection and connection that I sometimes name “love” is free of pain, manipulation and domination. It’s free of other people’s assumptions and misunderstandings. In my writing, love can be what I need it to be.

[smkkbert]

Olicity Fanfic Recommendation

Here we go again with another one of my Olicity Fic Reviews. Admittedly, it’s a little late because now we have Arrow back on our screens, but I guess there is always some time to read a nice story. Hence, here’s my review for Can’t escape this now by @callistawolf.

OVERALL PLOT

I think it’s safe to say that the first major topic of the story is about all types of family – the one you are born with and the one you gain during your life, the one you are related to by blood and the one you are related to by law or maybe just bonds you connected in whatever way.

Family or rather family politics is actually the starting point of the story. Readers are immediately pulled into the powerful even if very dark side of the life of the Queen Family. It’s Malcolm Merlyn’s personal problems who actually prompts Moira’s idea that the best idea to protect her family from gold diggers and inappropriate relationships is to get Oliver married to a girl of her choosing. Her plan is very simple – Oliver gets married to a sweet, little girl who just nods along to everything and is not much of an inconvenience.

Of course Oliver’s reaction isn’t characterized by excitement. For the most part, he’s actually quite against the idea. Oliver isn’t a man to get married, so he doesn’t want to. Oliver might not want to do so, but, unfortunately, in the words of Moira Queen, his opinion doesn’t matter. That’s what being a Queen is mean after all.

Anyway, Oliver isn’t the only one opposed to the idea of getting married. Moira’s choice for Oliver’s bride is the daughter of a guy who owns the family a lot of money. Giving his daughter into a marriage with her son is supposed to waive him all his debts. Suffice to say, that our lovely bride Felicity Smoak is not happy about getting married, either.

Just like Oliver, she doesn’t have much of a choice now because, just like Oliver, she is putting her family above her own needs and desires. Her father, Jerry Smoak, might not deserve his daughter’s help, but he is family to her.

The family theme continues as Oliver and Felicity get married and are family, at least legally. Of course the circumstances of their marriage are not ideal to be a real family to each other. Can you love a person you have been forced to get married to? A person you don’t know and don’t want? Can someone who has been forced into your family by your parents be someone you actually consider a family for the connection of your hearts rather than the connection of your legal status? Well, that’s the question that the family-theme revolves around, and the question is actually raised quite soon and prompts a quick back and forth that is exciting (even if at times maddening) to read.

The second theme of the fic could be called The crazy women from Oliver Queen’s past. Honestly, that man has really bad taste in women (Felicity being the one exception), or maybe he’s just attracting these crazy women.

The question you will ask yourself when reading the fic is which of the women from his past is going to create the greater mess.

It’s a lot of fun because, honestly, there is always the excitement and tension of not knowing who will attack at the end. I can spoil someone is going to attack and it’s a really huge BOOM!

TONE OR RATHER TONES OF THE STORY

I’d say there is a little bit of everything. There is dark Bratva-Style.

There is sweet bonding.

There is romantic fluff.

There is even a little bit of smut which, if you ask me, never hurts. 

Oh, and of course there are a lot of moments where you will feel like you want to jump into the story and kill someone… or something like that.

FELICITY

What Moira Queen looks for in a possible daughter-of-law is “someone innocent, respectable and easily groomed […] a sweet, timid girl that she could easily steer and direct and influence.  She would make her the perfect society wife; the sort of woman who turned a blind eye to her husband's infidelities, who looked good on his arm and said yes to everything the family required of her.”

Everyone who has even the slightest idea who Felicity Smoak is will think – well, she’s safe than because that is certainly not who Felicity Smoak is. Since Moira Queen doesn’t know our girl the way we do, it’s safe to say she misjudges her entirely for exactly that kind of girl.

Felicity Smoak is everything but this. She agrees to the marriage to save her father. She selflessly gets into this loveless marriage and agrees to live her life like that. Since Felicity is who she is, she is trying to make the best out of it, though. She connects with her sister-in-law, and, eventually, she even connects with the role of being a Queen.

Things are complicated, though. The life as a Queen is dangerous, not just for Oliver but also for her. Things are destined to go wrong, and, when things go wrong and people are vulnerable, feelings can start to show.

OLIVER

Oliver’s story begins in Russia where he has been sent to more than a year ago after he killed the man who killed his father – Poor guy never gets a break in fics (which obviously is no complaint because I do the same when I write fics, so it’s all good). Though his time there changed him, marriage is just like a little too far out of character for him. Like said before, Oliver has no choice here, though, and so the story started going.

Being in this marriage is no easier for Oliver than it is for Felicity. Since he has no idea what to do with a wife he doesn’t really care for, Oliver does what he thinks is best – he just avoids her as much as possible. Yet, it’s hard to do that when you are living together. Even the most spacious house doesn’t give the room to avoid each other forever. Besides, when little sparks of getting to know the person you are married to already set your heart on fire a little bit, it’s even harder to resist the temptation. 

Despite the messy situation, Oliver starts seeing things from Felicity’s point of view. He understands that she is just as much an unwilling participant in this as he is. The logical consequence is that he starts making things easier and better for her as much as he can. Well, as much as he thinks he can.

OLICITY

I guess it’s redundant to repeat that Olicity does not have the best starting point in this, but usually that makes the best stories.

The way they are brought together is complicated and easy at the same time. Of course, with the framework conditions of their wedding, they are not supposed to have a happy married life like so many normal people do which does sound complicated. Since they agree on this with the same knowledge of what to expect it’s kind of easy on the other side. They are married, but they don’t live as married people – a lovely marriage on the outside, strangers without feelings on the inside. It’s not that hard, right?

To quote Reddington from Blacklist: “You know what’s the problem with drawing lines in the sands? With a breath of air they disappear.”

It’s destined to happen eventually, so, of course, it does happen. The lines start blurring. Feelings start showing – on both sides luckily.

It does not make it any easier. Oliver and Felicity feel it’s complicated as it is. Hence, they are both playing safe again and again, pretending nothing is going on when the other is around. Fake marriage is complicated as it is after all.

Or in the words of Speed (1994): “I’ve heard relationships based on intense experiences never work.” “Okay. We’ll have to base it on sex then.”

CONCLUSION

I really, really loved the fic. There can’t be enough stories of Olicity in any universe, but fake marriage is something to become particularly fond of. This story just reminded me on why I love this setup so much. Two people brought together by complicated lives and, against all odds, developing feelings is just something to never get tired of.

I particularly loved how early things were starting to shift, but how hesitant they both were on reacting on it. I also loved the threats that were dropped on this lovely not-so-married-yet-married couple all through the story and the action parts of the last chapters. They kept me on my toes.

It was a great read with an amazing story and wonderful writing!

[ridleykemp]

Pandemic Notes #5 (notes on a note-free meme)

If you’ve been anywhere near social media, mostly Facebook I presume, you’ll have seen this one: Day X of "20 Albums In 20 Days". Covers only, no explanations. Albums that impacted your life in some way. Nominate someone else to do the same thing each day.

That kind of list-making is absolute catnip to me. There’s one little problem: “no explanations.” If there’s anything I love more than music it is talking about why I like music. So, while I did the thing over on FB, I’m going to cheat now and provide the stories that go with my selections. Why? I don’t even know what day it is anymore, so cut me some slack on this one.

1. Oil and Gold - Shriekback

“Nemesis” was absolutely all over the clubs back in the day, which is appropriate because it’s a great song. When I finally bought the records, though, I was shocked. It was maybe the sixth or seventh best song on the album. Literally everything on Oil and Gold is great. These albums were in no particular order, but this was as easy a pick as I’d get to make.

2. Viva Terlingua! - Jerry Jeff Walker

I was raised on showtunes (mom) and 70s country music (dad). This was a particularly bloodless era in the history of C&W. The “Nashville sound” just didn’t work for me. This, however, is not Nashville. This was my introduction to “outlaw” country, which was much more my speed. It was my first exposure to country where the band seemed as important as the singer, and the Lost Gonzos were one hell of a band.

Jerry Jeff was my first concert, too, at Billy Bob’s in Fort Worth. I won tickets to a New Year’s Eve all-you-can-drink show. Not a bad first show, huh?

3. Suffer - Bad Religion

Matt, one of my co-workers at the record store, recommended this to me. Or, rather, he recommended Christian Death’s record and I mis-remembered it. Some accidents work out. This changed how I looked at punk with the intelligence, the quality of the vocals, and the energy of the performance. I was reliably told that real punk doesn’t have harmonies, but I can live with that.

4. Hearts of Oak - Ted Leo + Pharmacists

Newly divorced and in a strange city, I was re-discovering discovering music in the early 2000s. Canadian music video channels and especially Spin magazine were two of my more reliable sources. I loved Ted Leo before I heard a single note of his music, so it was a tremendous relief when I finally got hold of this album and found that the music lived up to the hype. Leo was obviously influenced heavily by the stuff from the 80s that I wasn’t cool enough to like then.

5. Loveless - My Bloody Valentine

Sigh. I was given the promo copy of Loveless (on cassette, no less!) at the record store. I listened to it once, decided it wasn’t really my thing, and gave it to Curtis. A decade or so later, I heard “Soon” in some random place and realized I’d made a huge mistake.

6. Fear of a Black Planet - Public Enemy

Stefan, a guy I waited tables with, knew I was heavily into Nine Inch Nails and thought I’d dig this. So I went over to his house and he put on “Welcome to the Terrordome” and damned if he wasn’t right. This did for hip-hop was Suffer did for punk, at least for me. I had to re-evaluate everything I thought about the genre because Fear of a Black Planet is undeniable. And Bob, if you’re reading this, I still remember your take on the title track.

7. Flood - They Might Be Giants

In 1990, there were two albums that were reliably in the record collection of every girl I knew: This one and Yaz’s Upstairs at Eric’s. I was already a TMBG fan, but the fact that they covered a song my mom used to sing to me (“Istanbul”) kind of freaked me out. At the show on this tour, instead of shirts, they sold fezzes, which has to be the most TMBG thing ever.

8. Pretty Hate Machine - Nine Inch Nails

This album was my life for longer than I care to admit. Every track still works for me. In August of 1989, when “Down In It” hit the clubs, none of us had heard anything like it (well, Skinny Puppy fans had…*cough* ). I don’t think I wore anything but black for a couple of years. I got the CD at the most alternative store in Dallas (that would be the Hastings at Valley View and yes that’s a joke) in November and haven’t stopped playing it since.

9. LP - Ambulance, LTD.

One of two bands on this list that were murdered by label issues. I found Ambulance by accident. I went to a SxSW showcase at the Red-Eyed Fly to see Stellastarr* (who were terrific) and got there in time to see an opening act that played absolutely perfect guitar pop, stuff Matthew Sweet might have come up with if hadn’t listened to so much Television. Anyway, the flyer for the show had the band order wrong I thought I was looking for The Unicorns, and it took me a couple weeks to find out who I’d really seen. This is a strong contender for best album of the millennium.

10. Young Team - Mogwai

I choked on this selection. I love the album, and Mogwai Fear Satan is one of my favorite songs to play loudly (if not well) on guitar. But…if I were to pick a Mogwai record, it should probably be Rock Action, which was my first and I still use the intro from “2 Rights Make 1 Wrong” as my alarm song.

11. Electric Version - The New Pornographers

Another Spin discovery. The reviews were glowing but didn’t really give me any sense what they sounded like. Eventually, this album was added to the jukebox at Casino el Camino and I got to give it a listen. It was love at first note. All of their albums are hook-stuffed, harmony-rich power pop perfection, but this one is my pick of that very fine litter. The first four songs would make the best EP in rock history.

12. This is the Day…This is the Hours…This is This! - Pop Will Eat Itself

1989 was weird. “Can U Dig It?" got a smidgen of airplay on the corporate-indy station in Dallas for some reason. It was the first time I’d heard music that was largely sample-based that actually rocked. The whole album is a mad cut-and-paste collage with Clint Mansell and Graham Crabb rapping over the top (very over the top, in fact). They’re one of five bands on this list I’ve never seen, but it’s not for lack of effort. They cancelled their last show due to visa problem, and when the opened for NIN on The Downward Spiral (and their own, equally excellent Dos Dedos, Mis Amigos), well…that a memorable night.

13. We Are Beautiful, We Are Doomed - Los Campesinos!

I love Los Campesinos! unapologetically, and that is the only way to love them. Their heart is on their sleeve and their sleeve is in your face. The title track, a minor masterpiece of tweeXcore, has one of my favorite lines:

”Oh we kid ourselves there’s future in the fucking, but there is no fucking future.”

They’re a band I can listen to any time I need to feel exactly that way. They also figure several times in Kieron Gillen and Jamie McKelvie’s Phonogram, and they capture how I feel about Los Campesinos! perfectly:

14. Over-Nite Sensaton - Frank Zappa and the Mothers

“Montana” was my introduction to Zappa. In Jon Lamendola’s car outside Collin Creek mall, he put this tape in and..it was so dumb, and so funny, and yet also so good. It was like listening to a Loony Tunes soundtrack with the smarted, weirdest guy you know making up a narration. It’s probably not my favorite Zappa record, but it’s certainly the one that means the most to me.

15. Dusk - The The

I bought this at the Sound Warehouse on Park and Preston one night after work because I kind of liked the single, “Dogs of Lust”. At the time, I was a little disappointed because the rest of the record is far less aggressive, but it stuck with me through all these years. The bookends, “Love Is Stronger Than Death” and “Lonely Planet” are absolute masterpieces but it’s strong start to finish. I tend to come to things late, and this album got me through the early 2000s in style.

16. Like This - The dB’s

Oh, college radio. KCOU in Columbia, Missouri was my first college radio station and they were playing all the college-appropriate bands of the era (Smiths, REM, U2, and a lot of Zappa), but there’s no question as to the identity of the biggest band of my freshman year: The dB’s absolutely dominated airplay that year. Five songs from Like This got huge play. This is the other band destroyed by their label, which went belly-up right after the release of Like This. The Holsapple-led dB’s should have been one of the giants of their day. Instead, it would be a decade before this record ever made it to CD.

17. Discipline - King Crimson

I was an Adrian Belew fan before I was a Crimson fan. “Big Electric Cat”, from his Lone Rhino album, was the first music video I remember seeing on a video-only show. Anyway, for as weird as their record is (and it ain’t normal), it’s incredibly accessible as well. My sister was on a date with her eventual husband and they stopped by his flat before going out. He told her to put a record on and this is the one she pulled from his collection. He was both shocked and impressed, but he shouldn’t have been; my sister has always been much cooler than me.

18. OK Computer - Radiohead

There seems to be a lot of Radiohead backlash now and I don’t get it, but there’s a lot that I don’t get. I’d heard “Creep” and thought it was pretty good, but I hadn’t really kept up. Driving down to south to go camping with Andi and her mom, we listened to this and The Bends over and over…in no small part because I kept asking her to put it back on. Like the Crimson record, it was weird (duh) but accessible (huh?) and hypnotic. Those two remain my favorite Radiohead albums, with OK Computer getting the nod because the last three songs are perfect.

18.5 Peter Gabriel (third album) - Peter Gabriel

Uh oh…I’ve got too many albums to list and not enough space to do it! So, I cheated and went with 18.5 because I was not going to leave this album out. It’s still my favorite Peter Gabriel record. This is the “melting face” album, and I had a button with the cover of the album on my jacket. At the arcade (because we all went to arcades back then), a kid came up to me, looked at that button, and said “Eww! I bet that’s a sick rock guy!” That’s Pete, all right: A sick rock guy.

19. Reckoning - R.E.M.

I’m an unabashed R.E.M. fanboy and love all of their records, but Reckoning is the one that is “mine” more than any. I saw them do “So. Central Rain” on Letterman and there may have been a great deal of alcohol ingested by the band prior to the performance, but it only served to make it hazier and more southern-Gothic. I’d put side 1 of Reckoning up against any other album side out there.

20. Three Sides Live - Genesis

No, it’s not the best Genesis record. It may not even be their best live record. But, I saw them for the first time on this tour and side three may have impacted my life more than any other piece of music. That’s the side that has “In The Cage” and “Afterglow” with an extended instrumental medley between them consisting almost entirely of Tony Banks keys and Phil Collins’ dueting with Chester Thompson on drums. The instrumental section still gives me chills. The primary reason I’ve owned (and even tried to play) the dozens and dozens of pianos and synths I’ve owned is down to that one section of music.

So, that’s the list from Facebook. It’s not perfect. In fact, it’s not even really the right top 20. If I were to do it again, I’d probably leave Mogwai off the list. I’d have to find some way to shoehorn in The Pixies’ Doolittle or Sisters of Mercy’s Floodland or Arcade Fire’s Funeral. Anyway, those the short versions of the stories behind the 20 album covers.