#and post s2 fic bc I keep thinking about it

[yamisnuffles]

I know I'm not the first to say it, but everyone really should reread their own fic. It's such a treat lol.

[brittlebutch]

The 'Enjoying watch you suffer' line in Broadcast has always been hard to pin down; Tim's leg getting broken is the biggest incident in Entry #35, so it's natural to want to tie the two together, but it seems to fit so indelicately into what we know about the timeline of totheark's internal relationship that it almost causes more problems than it resolves. However, even though it's very blink and miss it, Tim does actually manage to stab Alex in the arm before he gets knocked down -- we hear Alex cry out in pain, can see blood on the blade when Jay picks it up, and then in the recovered corrupted footage from that tape that Jay posts as Entry #36 Alex says "I did what I had to... he'd just stabbed me" -- and that injury being what totheark was trying to call attention to, to me, reads a lot more clear and consistent than anything else does

[ad-astra-per-aspera-1389]

This is totally random, but as far as the JONAS (LA) X BTR crossover (either one, really) goes...

Macy's favorite of the btr boys is carlos, because sports, and also bc he's just fun to hang out with. macy seems normal and put together at first, but she loves physical activity, as we know from s1, and carlos (platonically) matches her freak in the places nick doesn't

Stella's favorite is...and isn't james. she's basically that post that's like "you're in his dms. i'm pissing him off, i'm ruining his day" but in the most convoluted way possible, they also, platonically, match each other's freak. all in all, stella would rather spend time with the other girls, and she obviously adores joe, bc he understands her thoroughly, but james is like...the opposite. they understand each other and fucking hate it.

Katie and Frankie deserve the most insane sublot that builds up over time, until their scheme eventually collides with the main plotline and wreaks absolute havoc. they're ten years old and evil geniuses with famous brothers, you know the two of them meeting will bite everyone in the ass in the end.

I do think Nick and Logan would get along, but the thing is, logan is a science and math nerd and nick is a writing and music nerd. they're slightly different species of nerd. but I think nick would get along best with logan and kendall, bc even though they can go off the deep end sometimes, they're easier to handle than carlos and james.

I'm gonna ramble about Kevin and Lucy again bc I want to. it's so hard for me to imagine lucy with like, any other guy, just bc james is clearly gay, and the subplot with her and kendall was a total mess since he hadn't broken up with jo first... Anyway, they're both rockstars, and Kevin had a lot of character development in s2. he's kind, responsible, ambitious, and Lucy is headstrong, confident, and clever. I feel like they'd actually have a very normal relationship timeline compared to a lot of other ships/couples, simply bc by the time they're both in the narrative they're 18/19 and living on their own.

Joe...he would get along best with kendall, not just for the main character energy, but also bc I feel like they react similarly in a lot of situations, but joe is also a little more self-sufficient than kendall is, which isn't a bad thing, and is mostly due to living in la without his parents for a/multiple (depends on crossover fic) summer(s), whereas kendall's always had his mom and friends doing everything together.

Kevin's an interesting one, bc while s1 era kevin would definitely be best friends with carlos, by the time jonas la rolls around he's mellowed out. he's still a little dramatic sometimes, but post-HMA Kevin is very different bc of the responsibility for his brothers he gained over the summer. I feel like he'd sort of keep that older brother role he's grown into, so, besides his relationship with lucy, he's mostly helping clean up the trouble and not cause it. at the same time though, i think he'd get wrapped up in the katie and frankie subplot the most

Joe and Camille would also get along pretty well, mostly bc they have acting in common, with joe wanting advice from camille solely due to her years of experience. she's also easier to talk to than bigger names in the industry, so it's more of leaning on a friend instead of a mentor

Jo and Macy definitely spar every so often, mostly bc jo likes that there's another girl around that she can connect with about physical sports. it's not the same trying to spar with kendall, and now she has someone who's an even match against her.

Mona is one of the few people that aren't afraid to go toe to toe against griffin, given she doesn't work for him, and she's definitely screamed at him for Kelly's sake. gustavo is a little afraid of mona, and rightfully so. she's proud of that.

Still no one likes DZ

[slexenskee]

JJK Recs

Got a comment on this and figured I'd turn it into a post. Here are some of my favorite Gojo-centric JJK recs that basically live rent-free in my head and also very much so helped me form my own characterization for Gojo. Most of these are GoYuu bc I'm a shameless fan.

I keep the warmest truth - dehawny: Gojo/Yuuji | just adore this ace!Gojo headcanon. lowkey so torn on Gojo's sexuality bc I absolutely can see him being asexual and maybe even a bit touch-averse with the whole Infinity thing, but I also can see him being a total slut lol. This is one of my favorites and the only ace!Gojo I've found I think? The tags are just perfect and very much so aligned with my own personal Gojo heacanon 😂 "Gojou is confident about everything and that includes his sexuality", "he's also good at everything except maybe communicating"

A Duty and Responsibility - googlehome: Gojo/Sukuna this fic definitely pushed my 'bottom Gojo agenda' idk I can see this man with any sexuality I swear. Another great characterization of Gojo, and also Sukuna. I adore very serious fics with a splash of humor in the narrative. I can't imagine Gojo as a person who takes himself entirely seriously, no matter how much responsibility he accepts, or how many burdens he carries for others, or what kind of nonsense gay crisis he ends up in, so I just love his voice in this.

Countdown - Rizna: Gojo/Yuuji a fandom classic as far as I'm concerned. This is such an excellent role reversal AU - if you're into S2 teenage brat Gojo, this delivers. I love all versions of Gojo, including mouthy teenage twink Gojo deeply obsessed with his adult sensei who's Trying His Best™ to be the adult in the relationship.

Enough (A Cinderalla Story) - athena_crikey: Gojo/Yuuji in an absolutely fucking hilarious twist of irony, I actually didn't read this story for a long time because it was a rockstar AU and when I first got into this fandom I was desperate for canon stuff. Meanwhile I then go on to bust out 400k+ words of my own rockstar!Gojo AU, so I guess I'm just a fucking clown.

Heart Laid Bare - athena_crikey: Gojo/Namami incredible introspection on how Gojo handles (or rather, doesn't handle) the burden of being invincible and the strongest told in Nanami's POV. I could wax poetic about this fic and the way Gojo comes across so multi-faceted as both a man who can do everything and also a man who can't even remember to adequately feed himself. I drew a lot of the inspiration for Gojo's cursed technique in my fic from this, how Infinity is both his blessing and his curse and the parallels to his overuse of RCT being a kind of toxic spiral.

Shared Infinity - athena_crikey: Gojo & Yuuji - read the tags on this one it deals with some heavy stuff (not with Gojo) I love the way this fic showcases Gojo as a mature adult deeply protective over his students while still maintaining his kind of flippant/uncaring outer persona we see in the show. Just completely love fics that really naile the dichotomy of Gojo being both caring and yet rather unkind.

Take Two - athena_crikey: Gojo/Yuuji - specifically love how this AU fic deals with the idea of Gojo's own fame being his shield between himself in the world around him where his Infinity technique doesn't exist. I love how Gojo is handled in this one, so jagged around the edges, and just his own worst enemy when it comes to his own feelings. Also love me a Gojo who can own up to his own mistakes, look at our baby go, showing emotional maturity and everything!!

Still, More Firsts - hngr4fngr: Gojo/Yuuji man do I adore this whole series. Great porn with ridiculously excellent plot/characterizations lol like I came here for the bottom!Gojo and left with way too many feelings about how Gojo deals with his trauma and how that would effect his sex life. Also has a super interesting take on how Infinity works!

little lamb to the slaughter - voxofthevoid: Gojo/Yuuji still obsessed with the astoundingly incredible smut, just absolutely shook by how god-tier this writing is, it is so hard to write good smut, just pacing, flow, word choice... this could be a masterclass on how to write really great smut that can actually pull a visceral reaction out of a reader. I think a great deal of that ability comes from a mastery of the tone of voice of the characters, too. Gojo is just incredible in this Yuuji POV, the way he describes Gojo is just utter perfection. On a related note, in general Yuuji's voice is so fucking funny in a way that doesn't detract at all from the mood of the story. In fact I think this would be too heavy without his hilarious occasional inputs.

there is no try (but it's still going to take a while) - juurensha: Gojo/Geto I love me a star wars AU jfc. I'm not even a fan of SatoSugu but this is just *chefs kiss* Jedi Master Gojo is such a mood.

anchor - valleykey: Gojo/Geto I love this one mainly for the Suguru characterization, which I truly never thought I'd say bc I'm just not normally a fan of his character/relationship with Gojo. He's just perfect in this fic though - it just makes so much more sense for his characterization, and idk, pulls it altogether in a way I think it falls flat in canon. That isn't to say Gojo's not great in this, he's just really not the main character at all. But it deals well with Gojo's loyalty to those he deems worthy of it (even if the recipient isn't considered 'proper' by jujutsu society) and just offers a good take on supportive (and smitten) Gojo

[trashquisitor-shirozora]

Was browsing through early BOBF/Mando S3 criticisms on Tumblr and WOW, 93% of S2’s viewership dropped when S3 finished airing for an extremely understandable reason. As someone who got into Dinluke after all the dust settled I can only imagine what it was like becoming invested in Din’s story and being floored by the S2 finale only for it to get totally swerve-balled after a long-anticipated wait. How did you avoid the disappointment and burnout?

Spite is an incredibly powerful motivator, let me tell you.

I'm halfway joking about that, btw. I could say I'm used to disappointment and I also worked really hard not to take things too personally after being disappointed time and again year after year by fandoms I was in. Imo the healthiest attitude is that no show/movie/book/videogames/etc will ever play out the way you want/think it should so take what you can get and trash the rest. By the time I started watching The Mandalorian, I'd been burnt badly by Star Trek AOS, the Sequel Trilogy, the MCU, and the Disney machine, and I had to figure out how to accept that I like what I like, I can't change what I can't change, and I can/will run the fuck off with what I can change, which is making wildly fun and fulfilling transformative shit like fanfics and fanart.

I was actually excited about TBOBF and was utterly betrayed by the executive decision to throw him and Fennec to the side in order to absolutely trash the Season 2 finale of the Mando Show by having Din and Grogu reunite just like that. I guess I got lucky in that I had a long-running fic series that I was heavily invested in and I was not about to let Disney stop me from finishing it. Instead of letting my frustrations kill my interest in the show and fandom, I turned it into motivation to keep telling the story I wanted to tell based on the fallout of Season 2. It also helped that Andor happened.

I quit Season 3 of the Mando Show after the 1st episode and it was the best decision I ever made. I had a really rough time with it and was encouraged to step away if it was giving me too much stress. I'm glad for that. Less time and energy picking about Filoni&Favreau and Disney Lucasfilm's decisions and disappointments, more time and energy spent writing and drawing the dinluke I want to see. The nice thing about Star Wars is that it is an old and vast sandbox. Plenty of room here to build whatever sandcastles and dig however many holes you want while canon goes floundering by.

I think also that it really helped to find spaces to share with people who vibe on the same wavelength, so I'm not alone to my thoughts and spiraling myself out of a fandom I enjoyed (like what happened with TLJ but I shan't go there bc this response is long enough). Those posts about having friends you can shit-talk things with? Valid af. You need outlets to vent your grievances without setting bridges on fire, and it'll help your enjoyment of things in the long run.

I didn't avoid the disappointment but I figured out how to make something of it, so I'm still writing dinluke, I'm still drawing dinluke, I'm still getting giddy over dinluke. I actively choose to do what I want with them, and nothing Disney Lucasfilm puts out is ever going to stop me.

[stuck-in-the-ghost-zone]

MAC ik ur mark winters posting rn but i finished ep 11 of s2 today and i HAVE 2 just. aghgh. virian chose to go back to prime THAT'S HIS HOME NOW....... HELLO. HI. like god yes dakota is a dense motherfucker and william gets jealous when virian even so much as looks at a girl their age but THEY ARE HIS FAMILY ;-; THEY ARE DUMBASSES AND THEY ARE STUPID AND THEY ARGUE AND FIGHT OVER WHO GETS TO DRIVE AND MAKE EACH OTHER POSSESS CHICKENS AND THEY ARE HIS FAMILY. he's been wanting to go home for ages but even his mom being back on fauna wasn't enough to keep him from going home with his best friends. hi im whiskey and im gonna be thinking about virian sol a lot <3 also i thought william's wiwi nickname was from the fandom I DID NOT KNOW DAKOTA CALLED HIM THAT CANONICALLY!!! that's adorable :3 if william wisp is wiwi..... then on fauna, WARLOCK william wisp... is wawiwi!!!!! anyway i hope ur having a great time thinking about that depressed bisexual man <3 im gonna start writing a pd fic now that i've met the greats properly and might b able 2 write them better. i love the greats i love ram so so much my beloved cowboy. grabbing him in my hands and squishing him like a stress ball

IM SORRY ABOUT MY MARK POSTING. IM HABING A MOMENT I DONT KNOW WHWRE IT CAME FROM. IVE LITERALLY BEEN ON THE VERGE OF TEARS FOR LIKE A HALF HOUR I HAVE *GOT* TO PUT MY PHONE DOWN AND PLAY SDV OR SOMETHING. HRGGGHR

anyway oh my godddddd vyncent sol I love you. the prime defenders are his family too. prime has become just as much of a home to him as fauna . ALSO YEAH WIWI IS CANON HEHEHE. WAS RLLY EXCITED FOR U TO LEARN THAT. man I thought the dnd episodes were so cool dakota is so monk coded already and william is the world's lamest warlock they're so perfect <3

I LOVE THE GREATS A LOT TOO. im a little upset we didn't get to hear them talk more outside of vyncents head. really REALLY hoping we get to see more of them in season 3 bc that feels like such a loose thread ... man. I just think theyre cool . ram is my favorite too i think but alphonz and min are VERY close seconds :] I really like the dynamic between alphonz and william hehe

[raayllum]

I love how we are basically opposites on the whole theory thing :

You predict plot points by making jokes that end up coming true

meanwhile me and my overdramatic mind obssesses over dark scenarios that would never fit into 9 episodes and then I'm surprised when they don't happen XD

Listen as long as you're enjoying what you're doing, I say have all the fun you want in fanon and taking insp from canon! That's the best part sometimes! <3

Although I have some things that started out as jokes that ended up being canon (my absolute favourite of which being this joke I made about Ezran in 2x04 that was then an actual thing in the s2 novelization) the weirdest thing for me has been like... the ultra specific thing / things I thought would be more metaphorical that ended up being more literal

AKA a list in no particular order

Me assuming since Through the Moon came out that Callum would inevitably play into Aaravos's hands and that the struggle to not do so would be his main conflict in arc 2 (which looking back, the possession plot line seems so thematically obvious I am genuinely a little sheepish I didn't see it coming)

The game motif being my favourite motif and then s4 fucking Delivered it was beautiful

Viren's atonement arc because of his eye symbolism

That the rune cube placement could be trusted to foreshadow things, specifically the Ocean rune in finding the prison and in foreshadowing Callum's dark magic use

Me going "Hey wouldn't it be Fucked Up if whatever comes out of the cocoon is like a child version of Aaravos?" (hi Sir Sparklepuff my beloved)

For that matter: that Aaravos would ask one of the mage fam to kill Sir Sparklepuff for a deep magic spell, and that they'd refuse to do so

Callum's interplay with freedom being too tethered to Rayla that I banked on her eventually being taken hostage and Callum doing morally ambiguous shit to save her like 3+ years in advance

Seeing Callum's S4 design for the first time and noting that the circlets around his wrists invoke chain symbolism but thinking "Nah him and Rayla being in chains like tarot cards will just be metaphoric right". Haha, no!

Ezran as the embodiment of Justice / the series' Witness (hell yeah thank you 4x03 & TOX for making Justice his highest value)

Predicting Rayla's entire arc 2 arc thus far re: her paranoid and restless nature being what puts them on the path to finding Viren and her wanting a rematch, the coins, and her self worth issues, written March 2020 (months before TTM came out)

Callum and Viren as each other's primary foils (begun before this but started being highlighted further from Nov 2019 onwards with specifically thinking that S4, as opposed to s3, would crank it up to an 11)

Rayla and Callum's whole ass light-dark motif that I thought would be a fun consistency in the background rather than a whole ass arc defining Thing

Characterization wise but Ezran as an Enneagram Nine The Peacemaker personality wise (once again thank u 4x03)

Back in Aug 2021 I noticed that bloodbending had thematic similarities to dark magic (in terms of framing, notions of control & agency) but again, didn't think it'd amount to literal likewise puppeteering (Aaravos is/was even imprisoned like Hama too!)

Seeing parallels between dark magic and thematic/metaphorical cannibalism / positing Aaravos as a cannibal in a fic I wrote in 2019 but never ever thinking it'd be more than metaphorical bc kids show, am I right? (when I tell you I screamed)

Like 3 weeks post s3 I came up with Political Trio Theory in which Ezran and Rayla are at odds about something and Callum is caught in the middle, as he agrees more with Rayla but feels like he should side more with Ezran, which an Ezran / trio centric conflict along those lines seems to be what we're going to get personally with Runaan / the coins in future seasons

Which, not only is it mostly to keep my English major-y brain sharp and my enclosure enriched (parallels are my perpetual hamster wheel), but it's also like... obviously predicting from theme/motifs isn't perfect, but it does mean you have all the right pieces. Then it just comes from running through the options to assemble what the puzzle might look like, & also thinking through the constraints of structure and run time (ergo I wasn't surprised when Callum didn't figure out the mirror himself in early S4 cause I just didn't think the show would have time for that kind of slow build).

Like following S2 I never really thought Callum's journey with dark magic was precisely over, firstly because I saw him absolutely as someone who would do dark magic / things he morally is against again if put in the exact circumstances he was in S5 (hence the CHET predictions post up above), but also because as our primary mage character and with dark magic being the core ethical dilemma for mage characters in the show, it just didn't make sense to assume that it'd be entirely resolved with a neat little bow 2/6 (since at the time we thought it'd be 6 seasons) in. Like - what? So that's something from an analytical standpoint of characterization, theme, and structure, for example, and TDP gives us a decent amount of time to get used to all those things especially in the first three seasons and then we can kind of build our predictions neatly from there.

So what usually happens is that I'll have a passing thought / gut reaction, think "huh maybe it's something," and then actually think about it for like 2 days to 2 weeks and realize that it loops back in with a lot of other stray thoughts and that there's something Substantial there. It never stops being wild

Anyway this was definitely way too long a response so TLDR; I'm always pleasantly surprised / excited whenever I predict anything correctly and also adore when the show throws me a curve ball (hi Terry <3), and the fun of theorizing (and sometimes throwing spaghetti at the wall) for me comes down to the themes and parallels and fun (fanon if nothing else) possibilities I can find. I love writing meta, speculative or purely analytical, even if/when they're often time consuming. My instincts haven't steered me too 'wrong' with TDP thus far, and I don't think they ever will!

[menlove]

hello ... james menlove. my request is that you answer any of the fic writing ask things that you would like to answer. sincerely, Millie Forthlin (nee Soetrys)

HELLO MILLIE FORTHLIN (NEE SOETRYS). it is always a pleasure to hear from you, my good normal mutual

i shall answer three!

do you listen to music while you write? if yes, what have you been listening to recently?

i looove listening to music to write. i can't edit while listening to music, but writing definitely. lately i've been listening to this mclennon playlist i made w all of their most insane songs and also somehow my favorite playlist that i always come back to is this charles xavier one. i wrote my capstone to this playlist until i got sick to death of it.

what is your favorite world that you’ve created for a fic?

LOVED the world for "the star to every wandering bark". written by me & my ex and we never finished it rip. we were going to after s2 came out but it just never happened & now we no longer keep in touch (my beatles posting proved too much.... tragic). but i just really enjoyed this world we came up with and i still think about it a lot bc there's a couple ocs from this universe that just make me sit and stare at a wall. BUT out of this, which is just a role-swap good omens au, we wound up creating an au of that set in like. a medieval type fantasy world with sorcerers and warlocks and necromancy and all that jazz. and it got pretty detailed. and i LOOOOVED that one. it never made it to any fic but like. we put an insane amount of worldbuilding into it. if i ever wrote a novel it would probably inspire it and i'd have to go ask him for permission fasdjfasdf

in "i want you, i need you, i love you", is there a deleted scene/idea you wish you could have included? why did it get cut?

OHOHO SO GLAD U PERSONALLY ASKED THIS AND I DIDN'T JUST CHOOSE THIS QUESTION AND THE FIC... but i have a whole doc just called "killed darlings" & my favorite one is paul's pov of 1967-68 from "i need you (never leave me alone)". but it goes over brian's death, him proposing to jane & losing john, a lil snippet from the "hey bulldog" recording session, and paul writing "i will" in india for john while john could Not give less of a fuck :( i think it's honestly pretty important to understanding paul's character and motivations in "i need you," but it got cut for a few reasons. "i need you" started out as what was going to be My Fic Only, whereas miles was gonna take "i love you." however we are both big babies and like each other too much & writing w each other that we both started on each respective one and then went "this feels too fucking weird". so all of that was what i wrote Before we decided to write "i need you" together, which necessitated some john pov & thus cutting out a Huge Chunk. and then it stayed cut bc there was just no good way to work any of it in without being out of place & the word count on i need you is already insane.

buuuut i am highly considering polishing it up and fleshing it out and posting it as a lil one-shot extra to the series bc like i said, i do think it's super important to understanding paul in this universe

fanfiction writing asks

[batsplat]

hello, love your blog! it’s so fucking funny how you’re a lesbian motogp blogger who is into buffy, bc hey that’s me too but actually I first encountered your blog bc of your smallville posts. not to mention tennis (which I was only a very casual fan of thankfully afdhjkk)…….cool to know that there are several ppl like this apparently sgfhhjhjk.

anyways, buffy s6 is my beloved season and I like it for how dysfunctional it is. the only season I might like more is maybe s5. I am a spike fucker unforch

and as for motogp? sachsenring 2003 made me giggle. very embarrassing for you valentino. by 0.06 seconds??? and commentators made it worse by crowning him a winner before they even crossed the line. you just know if positions were reversed vale would capitalize so hard off this win, more ppl would be talking about it still. and well he did actually use that loss to reinvigorate himself. like valentino’s ability to make his wins (and losses too) narratively important is unparalleled. but regardless sete/vale rivalry is insane,

sadly only hot girls get it:(((

anon?? marry me??

such an incredibly funny overlap of interests sdfhjkdf well always nice to learn this is a Type Of Person who Exists. I love buffy season five!! I am very much a spike fucker!! undoubtedly one of THE great characters, him and buffy is one of those ships where I don't really seek out fics because it's like?? I'm actually thrilled with what canon gave me!! I love the slapstick, spike as a lovesick freak, the dark and toxic stuff where buffy used him as a way to punish herself, and all the more melancholic season 7 stuff where they found refuge in each other. spike is like. such a great Device to explore all kinds of emotions and themes and all that... so many of my all time fave eps are very much spike eps. love s2's school hard and halloween, s3's lovers walk, s4's something blue (also just like, so much of his s4 scenes, when they chain him up in the bathtub and against the chair and all that), s5's fool for love (!!!!!!!!!!!!! one of THE episodes, his 'death wish' monologue to buffy and then showing up wanting to kill her and ending up comforting her oh GOD), s6's life serial and doublemeat palace AND when buffy confesses to spike she was in heaven AND all their scenes in once more, with feeling, s7 the buffy/spike church scene.... spike's "all these years and there's only one thing I've ever been sure of" speech likeeeeee.... I get all the issues people have with that relationship and how it was written, I know it's not for everyone, and I don't even 'ship' them in the sense of thinking they belong together or whatever... but I just love it!! it compels me so much, did so when I first saw it and still does now!! and spike is such a FUN character, like they let him be pathetic, they let him be cool, and he's #gender enough that yeah he's very hot to me too. all those scenes where buffy's throwing him around,,,,, yes character of all time. just has a real place in my heart too idk like the emotional landscape really GETS me

sharp pivot to sachsenring 2003, which takes place a mere few months after the buffy finale......... that's as smooth a transition as I can manage yeah. thematic overlap between btvs and motogp question mark. the buffy x dawn dynamic is either a bit marc x alex or to a lesser extent vale x luca when u think about it? not just in the 'congrats you've spotted they're siblings' way, but well the siblings' respective statuses in the worlds of motogp & vampire slaying, and the older sibling often being 'prioritised' because they have a lot on their plates, younger siblings as a kind of way to keep them grounded and feeling human, also unconditional devotion to your younger sibling... plus actually all the death wish stuff, surely? the fool for love speech...

btvs and motogp both very much about the ties you need to the world, I reckon... also sports is inherently adjacent to chosen one narratives

ANYWAY sachsenring 2003, I think every detail about it is perfect!! whatever valentino says, I still reckon there's just no way he couldn't have made a move before that - and implicitly he acknowledges that by saying he will never leave it that late again. idk there's just something so deeply charming about that specific flavour of valentino to me, where he's so obnoxiously good he can get away a little bit with basically scripting his races BUT obviously that's only okay when he still ends up being the one who wins. and he gets so much shit for it!! it's so funny listening to the brno commentary like they are on his ASS and they're saying the italian press has been on his ASS and calling him washed and finished and even the commentary is going 'yeah he's been having a rough season' and it's very??

oh no! the horror!! what a flop!!

obviously in retrospect we remember it as a great season because after that he only lost one more race, but back then they didn't know that!! and at like. the perfect time of the season too, because obviously that's when you have to go off and Sit On It for the whole summer break and can't immediately redeem yourself.... but as you say, he used that!! it's part of his story now, it became such good fuel for motivation. like, the mistake itself is kinda.... I mean it's not great, but it's one of those things that also wouldn't be a massive issue if you did it five laps earlier? he basically just picks too defensive a line that ends up killing his drive out of the corner, allowing sete to beat him to the line. which - the bit that I imagine really got to him is how dumb it was. like it wasn't a riding mistake as much as it was a decision making mistake, it wasn't his race craft it was just a literal dumbass moment. it's silly!! it's both a moment that shows valentino was maybe a bit too cocky, but also kinda rattled by sete? that man got to him! he did it! he flapped the unflappable valentino rossi!

and it IS incredible how it's now not really Discussed any more, and in his autobiography it's so neatly integrated into his own narrative. like!! it's always the laguna 2008 and catalunya 2009 performances that get me - he knew those were going to be memorable victories IMMEDIATELY and he played to that!! kissing the corkscrew drives me insane because it's literally... he's doing this on the cooldown lap for something that happened LAP FOUR and wasn't technically the race winning move, or definitely not the only one!! but he immediately zeroed in on that element and his post-race narrative is unquestionably ONE of the reasons why that's something we all remember now. he gets it!!

the commentators did fuck him over though lmaoooo... I mean at least you have to say he learned from his mistakes. imagine losing a race by .06 and doing this in the very next race against the same guy

bringing back this too

sicko

it IS only the hot girls who get it but that's for the best....... only the select few can see the vision I fear

[frankiebirds]

started binging criminal minds, i was gutted when elle left & now watching the next couple of s2 episodes i really felt her absence. especially in 'the last word' when a women has to pretend to be dead so they can catch one of the serial killers (they so needed to have a frank convo about making elle relieve her trauma + this couldve been a great intro to that). i read your post, i agree it did make sense why elle left considering her background as a sexual offence specialist & what she says to reid but i found the writing lacking. her exit felt rushed + not final bc she only really shared scenes with hotch. also she also seems the type to not wanna give up the bau bc that would mean the fisher king wins + is a determined person so it would've been better to see her slow realisation she cant do the job she desperately wanted in s1. also the fact her relationships with the rest of the team + their reactions weren't fully explored is annoying since she was quite friendly with everyone particularly close to morgan, reid even gideon. especially since gideon inadvertently caused her get shot as he didnt want to follow the rules then said elle would understand?? so a confrontation w gideon similar to the one w hotchner wouldve been nice. i miss morgan's fun bantery friendship with elle in the later eps when she wasn't there to partner up with him (idk they seemed to be a go to partnership to me) & the elle/morgan/reid trio is sorely missed. ive largely enjoyed everything so far (just finished 2x09) but i wish they'd more deeply explore the characters' history. like the inclusion of reids mom was interesting & really liked how garcia respected reids privacy to keep her illness a secret. it was a missed opportunity i felt not to see elle & morgan not bonding over losing their cop dads or hotch and gideon talking about fatherhood when hotch is missing out on his babys key milestones (ik there was that bit in s1 when hotch tells gideon to get in touch w his son but more of those moments wouldve been nice). whilst i feel the team all like each other and there's some interesting/fun friendships (reid&gideon , garcia&morgan etc) id be nice to have some downtime scenes showcasing them as a makeshift found family (sorry i love that trope & c'mon they spend more time with each other than with their acc families). anyway sorry for the long rant this show is eating at my brain lord my brain mass will be equivalent to a pea by the time i finish this show. <3

thats fair and i get what you mean! there are definitely moments when i felt elle's absence and there are definitely things about her leaving that i would change if i had the power—i absolutely agree that the reactions from the rest of the team to her leaving and the actions leading up to it were sorely lacking, and a slower realisation that she cant do the job anymore would have been very cool to see, although i think the latter was less due to writing problems and more to the fact that elle left the show because lola glaudini chose to leave (ie they couldn't write a fully fleshed out leaving arc for elle because it was driven by out-of-show events and therefore not planned/they had limited time to execute it). the lack of reaction from the team is a writing problem though, so again i very much agree with that!

i hope you enjoy the rest of the show and get some of your wishes, and if you dont, you can find some good fics to fulfill them <3

[jennifersminds]

So I’m in your inbox 🙈 because I saw your recent post, and have you ever wondered what an Elejah ‘Pride and Prejudice’ AU would be like? Like, I swear I’m not asking you to write it, but Elena and Elijah in the english countryside living in castle and analysing Dickens together would be the best ❤️❤️❤️ I feel like it would suit their personalities. Damon can be Mr. Wickham and spend his life in prison lmao.

Anyway, I hope it was okay for me to ask this!

omg no bc I have been screaming the Elijah (specifically s2 tvd Elijah) / 2005 Mr. Darcy agenda for a good minute now so I appreciate the validation lmao.

tbh I NEED to write an elejah historical fic,, but I'm so lazy and can't be bothered with researching cough the time travel fic cough.

There's just so much about a p&p fic that would work for both of their characters, Elena deserved to be melancholic beside large bodies of water and I deserve to read about them dramatically dancing at a ball lmao its a win-win.

But yes this is totally okay to ask !! pls spill any thoughts into my inbox lmao I love talking.

tbh i still have way too many prompts to fill for my 1k so I might see if I can work this into one of them because (I'm so sorry everyone I promise they'll get done)

But no, I think the yearning of p&p is what really sells it for me, there was something very idk victorian/ old world about their interactions and dynamics, especially in s2. That Daniel quote that lives rent free in my head I think really goes with that.

"I don’t think he needs anything from her as much as The Salvatore’s do – I just think he could watch her forever." (x)

Like the longing is almost recreational, there isn't an end goal in mind for him, not really, there are probable thoughts and hopes and likely dirty af fantasies but he's not like,, scheming, or working to get her to reciprocate or even acknowledge them. He's just, trying to keep her alive so he can keep existing in the same world she does.

Anyway tysm !! for the ask seriously I love it and any chance I get to wax badly poetic about these two dumbass soulmates lmao

[hollywoodsargeant]

i knew it! i knew they would fuck when you posted that snippet. i LOVED that scene, so breathless with want and SO trusting, they love each other SO MUCH (and somehow they STILL do not get it that fucking each other is NOT A NORMAL FRIEND THING) like come on you WANTED to be each other's firsts GET THE MESSAGE and though i know nothing about american high schools and what they call football i absolutely shrieked when logan was like "yeh oscar is wearing my jersey" like NO. come on logan. THE GIRLFRIEND WEARS THE JERSEY. mia is not cool like grace. you done fucked up man. also POOR KYLE. he was like "you fucking dumbasses". when they do get their shit together kyle is gonna hold th BIGGEST "i fucking told you so" party. he is gonna go to dalton and be like, "we have to celebrate these two IDIOTS finally growing a brain cell". i feel bad bcause i keep being suspicious of ben, even though he has done absolutely nothing to deserve it. he seems chill so far. i am also trying to be forgiving of mia because they're sixteen-seventeen, that's a time when Big Feelings can get even Bigger out of control bc hormones but i do NOT like. grace was cooler. logan your taste in girls sucks. (also 100% oscar's parents are so surprised because the boyfriend is Not Logan) in Conclusion: THEY ARE SO FUCKING DUMB.

when i posted that snippet i was like hehe... i think we all know what i am implying here... no way oscar actually told him to fuck off and go take a cold shower. that was so not in the cards. but they are definitely making some decisions there was a part of me that was like. am i Really gonna have them fuck then the immediate scene After is oscar getting a boyfriend. and yeah. i did do that

yeah logan made an oops. he amended it following. but how could you give your jersey to anyone but your girlfriend for your first varsity game... you fool. i still don't think he actually Gets It but he has submitted to the fact that he will abide by The System. and the system demands mia wears his jersey. this is proving to be a very important piece of fabric isn't it

kyle deserves financial compensation for the shenanigans he's been forced to witness and Boy you do not even know the half of it yet. on one hand he literally just doesn't know certain things but ALSO. yeah. i know things. bc i am writing the fic. and therefore. know things. :) loscar shares one brain cell between them and fucking kyle kirkwood has it. whoops

i'm suspicious of ben but solely bc i binged heartstopper s2 then named him ben anyway. i lit almost changed it just for that but i am already so bad at naming characters i just went with it. if oscar ever ends up with a boyfriend called evan know i have failed fundamentally and all of you should laugh at me. ben is cool though

BUT MIA IS FINE... i will fix her. she has thoughts in her brain and i am the only one with access to them. i have. more scenes in my brain. eventually they will become scenes on the doc. for now. in my brain

but i agree they are stupid. thank you for entertaining me with this ask i love talking about this fic. in case anyone was not yet aware

[thestobingirlie]

i've been reading this fic for a while that's handling the s2 cheating so strangely. like, it's flat out acknowledged as cheating and jonathan tells steve what happened at murray's. steve just kind of swallows down his reaction then never talks about it again which imo doesn't align at all w his previous behavior but if it was further addressed later i wouldn't mind that much. then, nancy (and jonathan as her doormat) keep forcing steve to spend time w them even tho he's clearly uncomfortable; steve also doesn't say anything about this even tho, in the situations shown, he would have no reason to be willing to force down his feelings about this. then eddie (this is set immediately post s2 btw and makes steddie friends for unrelated plot reasons) is like "she cheated on you, that's fucked up, why are you still friends w her" and steve says it's complicated bc of the upside down but nothing to do w the upside down is happening at this point to make steve willing to look past this. this is also made further annoying by a scene of eddie and wayne talking where wayne outright says eddie seems more bothered by the cheating than steve which ???? this all keeps going until nancy ends up apologizing for hurting steve w the bullshit speech and w/e but not for the cheating or the lying by omission which led to jonathan telling steve instead of her? as in the cheating is not mentioned at all in the scene. then stoncy are all besties. like it makes no fucking sense to me. steve should be absolutely furious for like 15 different reasons at this point. like nancy cheated on him, lied to him about it by omission, put the onus of the breakup on him in the process, just let him say all that stuff about being a shitty boyfriend (tho she did apologize for that specifically and said he wasn't), forced him to interact w her and her new boyfriend she cheated with despite steve clearly being uncomfortable, and potentially just let jonathan be the one to tell steve about the cheating w no comment or acknowledgement. it's unclear whether nancy knows jonathan told steve. but steve just does not get to be angry or feel any type of way about any of this, forgives nancy after one conversation that barely touched on any of that, and is now completely comfortable being friends w jancy. anybody would be Going Through It atp but esp steve considering his canonical issues w infidelity like wtf. then i feel like all of this is made worse by the purposeful juxtaposition w eddie's reaction which is heavily implied to be bc he's jealous since he has a crush on steve, as opposed to him possessing baseline empathy for other human beings. it's just so baffling but i am unfortunately invested in the main plot of this fic so i just keep suffering. sorry this got so long it is just so confusing to me.

people are so weird about the cheating. some of it comes from the person writing preferring j/ncy, and so not wanting to acknowledge it. and then i think some of it comes from people just not wanting to… shit all over jonathan and nancy? they don’t really know how to fully recognise that the cheating was bad without totally vilifying jonathan and nancy.

i think fics like you’re talking about are also influenced by the way steve’s depicted as a total doormat within the fandom. people just don’t know how to write him standing up for himself, putting himself first, and not needing someone else to fight his battles.

this is obviously just my opinion, but i fully believe neither steve or nancy spoke, like, at all post s2. steve because he was heartbroken, and nancy because it was fucking awkward! and she’s not gonna put herself through that lmao. so i always find it… idk, maybe a little ooc when people have them immediately jump to spending time together post s2.

i think with eddie, people want to push the romance as quickly as possible, so any empathy or anything he feels for steve is obviously being influenced by his feelings. so, you end up with stuff like the fic you’re talking about, where eddie only seems to feel bad for steve because he wants to date him.

[astorytotellyourfriends]

Twenty Questions for Fic Writers

tagged by @magicalrocketships, thank u pal! 💛

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

252 😅😅

2. What's your total AO3 word count?

3,190,822 😅😅😅😅

3. What fandoms do you write for?

i tend to stick to one fandom at a time, so for now i'm writing hellcheer for stranger things, but in the past i've written for: 1d, julie and the phantoms, shadowhunters, 911, and young royals! (some of those were just one-offs tho)

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

can't help falling in love with you (1d - narry)

keep me up all night (jatp - peterpatter)

tell me how to feel about you now (1d - louis/harry)

if we don't leave this town (we might never make it out) (stranger things - hellcheer)

damn bitch are you okay (julie and the phantoms - multi/prompt collection)

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

yes! i try to respond to every comment i get, tho sometimes i don't reply to ones that are like replies to my previous comments bc that gets to be too much. i also moderate all my comments so i tend to delete the ones that are rude (which truthfully i do not get a lot of, which is nice!)

6. What is a fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

oh without a doubt that's always have & i always will. i set out to write a very sad fic and that's exactly what i did.

7. What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

i'd say this could apply to pretty much every other one of my fics bc i do prefer a happy ending since isn't that what we're mostly all here for??? happy endings for our blorbos???

8. Do you get hate on fics?

i have in the past. it's part of the reason why i started moderating comments. i simply don't understand why someone would take time out of their day to read something when they usually know they aren't going to like it before they've even started, and then take MORE time to write a nasty comment to someone who shared their work FOR FREE. go be miserable somewhere else, thank you!

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

yes! all kinds, i suppose. i'm not really sure what that second question means.

10. Do you write crossovers? What's the craziest one you've written?

i don't think AUs count as crossovers so ... no? i once had an idea for a 1d/teen wolf crossover a million years ago but that never really made it out of my head much less onto ao3. once upon a time i also had an idea for a jatp/hellcheer crossover ... that could maybe still happen.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

yes. someone once reposted several jatp fics of mine to fucking wattpad (derogatory) and only deleted them after i commented on every. single. one. calling them out for it. wattpad did fucking nothing.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

no, but i've had a couple people ask over the years.

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

yes! so far i think the only one that's ever been posted is the only thing i want (when one drop hits my mouth) with my dear friend @cunnninghams, but many fics have been brainstormed over the years with grand plans of one day being written! (the omfd s2 we dreamed up lives on in our hearts if not our memories @magicalrocketships)

14. What's your all-time favorite ship?

how DARE u ask me this i refuse to answer on principle.

15. What's a wip you want to finish, but doubt you ever will?

ughhhh i don't want to say i'll never finish it but we're edging towards a year since i last updated i roll 'til i change my luck and i just have zero will to go back to it. but! i really don't want to delete it either so we'll just have to wait and see :(

16. What are your writing strengths?

i take very great pride in my dialogue. my sister read one of my works recently and complimented my dialogue and i was all 🥰🥰🥰 over it. i've also had multiple people compliment my ability to write scenes well enough that they can see/hear them in their heads and i absolutely love that because that's exactly how i write!! i have a very vivid imagination and it takes a lot of effort to try and get it right on the page.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

BREVITY.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic?

english is bad enough i don't need to be stupid in another language.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

once upon a time i wrote self-insert lotr rpf fic that will never, ever see the light of day (shut up i was like eleven) BUT the first fic i actually posted for other people to read (which has subsequently been deleted from internet existence) was a bandom fic specifically about simple plan lmfao

20. Favorite fic you've written?

oh, that's so hard. if i'm going by fandom, for 1d it's these four walls and me bc that fic has a piece of my soul forever. for jatp, it's a tie between coping and stubborn, selfish, easily jealous (the former because it helped soothe the sting of the show getting cancelled, and the latter because i love my stupid fucked up boys who can't get their shit together to say i love you). and for stranger things, it's if we don't leave this town (we might never make it out) because i had the most wonderful time writing it and i'm so glad so many people felt so deeply connected to the story.

wow that was a lot so i'm passing along this enormous task to @cyraclove, @gorgeousgreymatter-x, @medusasfinalgirl, and @staceymcgillicuddy

[pensbridgrton]

Thoughts of the S3 Polin? I love them and I'm so excited

i'm clearing out this inbox of mine... and i haven't properly ranted about this in a while, so... yeah. So if you're excited about S3 and don't want to hear anything negative, this may not be the post for you. (I'd classify it as bittersweet, maybe.)

I still HATE the idea of Polin being S3. I hated it when it was rumored, I hated it when it was announced, and even if I've now accepted that it's happening, I still think it was a TERRIBLE decision and actively ruins some of the elements of Polin I love the most (Namely: two characters growing up individually until they're in the right time and space to fall in love and grow together; the spinster and the bachelor; Penelope being successful for a DECADE at LW before being ready to move on; Colin enjoying his travels but being ready to settle down.)

But here we are.

Ignoring the past two weeks, I've been pretty pessimistic about S3. For me, in order to LOVE a romance I need to LOVE both individual characters. I can still like and enjoy a romance if that isn't the case, but with Polin - a book ship that is one of my all time favorites - I had high expectations in S1. My expectations post-S2 were pretty much on the floor because Show!Pen and Show!Colin - while not terrible characters in any way - are not MY characters, or at least not the ones I would die on a hill defending. In addition, while I do not care about plot in the slightest (and therefore do not care about the - frankly, sparse - RMB plot being done away with) I DO care about vibes and keeping characters in character. I love fic, obviously, but I love IN CHARACTER fic... and the show is wildly OOC fic right now. Not my cup of tea. So... really, in the end, I'm just here to support Nicola and Newts. I have always believed that S3 would be wildly popular, eaten up by the casual audience, and generally well-loved... I just felt that S3 wouldn't be my all time favorite season with my all time favorite couple as Show!Polin had the potential to be (especially if it had been S4 and had gone through with the actual slowburn, individual character development route).

Now, ever since TUDUM and some of the interviews that have come out... I wouldn't say I'm cautiously optimistic, but I am choosing to have more of an open mind and be open to the possibility that I might enjoy the main romance without having to turn my brain off. I know there are probably going to be things I dislike/despise (jealous/possessive Colin, Pen not apologizing to Marina, Marina dying, an overemphasis on the sex and not enough on the friendship, Colin's costuming, etc. who knows what else) but I know I will enjoy watching Nicola and Newts play these characters on my screen (the stills had me giddy!)

More importantly, while I try not to read TOO much into interviews, everything Nicola and Newts have said about the season so far does give me hope about Penelope and Colin as individuals. Again, I don't care about the plot. The quotes? Are fun! I'm definitely really happy about "you're my mess" and any other book quotes/scenes were get. But hearing Nicola talk about how Penelope needs to grow up, how she's terrible with men, how she's made mistakes.... hearing Newts talk about how S3 is basically a different Colin... THAT is what gives me hope. Because for me, I am always drawn to character-driven romances but it's hard to be invested in that romance if you're not invested in the characters. And again while Show!Pen and Show!Colin are fine, I really miss their book characters and hearing that they both might be GROWING into their book selves (especially Colin, imo, bc Show!Pen just needs to grow in general and I'll be happy whereas I really didn't like the writing for S2 Colin) does, actually, get me a little excited.

But yeah, I'm still here. I'll watch. I'll keep an open mind because Nicola and Newts clearly care about these characters and the romance and I do appreciate that and at the end of the day, it's an adaptation of the show and if I hate it (wouldn't be the first time!), I'll always have the book.

[stregoniconiconii]

Was the its just a character ask about Billy? Because if it is I feel like that shit became irrelevant the moment that character collected a fan base of people who were way too eager to justify or erase abuse and racism :)

lmao who else? i honestly don’t care if ppl like billy he really is just a character but my original complaint was bc i was reading a max pov fic set post s2 and the writer decided to go with the “actually billy had a point to be weirded out by steve hiding the fact that max was there with a bunch of boys” thing which fair but it’s also. it’s immediately clear that billy doesn’t really care if what he’s implying is true or what it means for max he just cares about keeping max in line and that involves making sure she doesn’t associate with lucas. and going with the choice that all of his actions are bc of his dad’s racism just feels like a cop out to me. racists have all sorts of reasons to justify their racism and maybeee one of billy’s is that it would piss off his dad and he has a vested interest in keeping his dad calm but i feel like billy is also the type of guy to try to find power in whatever situation he can and he canonically does that by controlling max and i think he would buy into white supremacy bullshit. which is again a character choice i’m making when i’m conceptualising billy’s character. it’s just one that doesn’t care about making billy sympathetic lol